The Taj Mahl "crown of palaces",is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

400-390 BC - Winged Horses - National Archaeological Museum Tarquinia

L'altorilievo dei cavalli alati fu rinvenuto nel 1938 da Pietro Romanelli sui resti del grande tempio, definito "Ara della Regina", sulle alture di Civita.

L'opera, universalmente riconosciuta come uno dei maggiori capolavori della scultura etrusca in terracotta (coroplastica) è percepita dalla comunità di Tarquinia come il simbolo della città.

The winged-horses hight relief was discovered by Pietro Romanelli in 1938 on the ruins of the large temple identified as "Queen's altar" on the hill of Civita.

The work, universally recognized as one of the major masterpieces of Etruscan terracotta sculpture (coroplastic art), is considered by Tarquinia community as the symbol of the town.

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648, but work continued on other phases of the project for another five years. The first ceremony held at the mausoleum was an observance by Shah Jahan, on 6 February 1643, of the 12th anniversary of the death of Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹32 million, which in 2015 would be approximately ₹52.8 billion.

The building complex incorporates the design traditions of Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture. It employs symmetrical constructions with the usage of various shapes and symbols. While the mausoleum is constructed of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, red sandstone was used for other buildings in the complex similar to the Mughal era buildings of the time. The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded as one of the best examples of Mughal architecture and a symbol of Indian history. The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than five million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World initiative. The Taj Mahal and its setting, surrounding grounds, and structures are a Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India.

(Canon PowerShot G1X Mark III, 1/800 @ f/4.0, IS0 100)

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal. A bucket list place. Wish I’d brought a better camera, but at my age, I’m happy to have made the journey at all :)

The Taj Mahal meaning "Crown of the Palace" is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658), to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The tomb is the centerpiece of a 42-acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (U.S. $827 million).

The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history.

(Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark lll, 1/800 @ f/4, 20mm)

It was a fabulous night to be embraced by the Dancers as they coloured the night sky in their fabulous flowing forms. No minute the same as the last as the light ripples and rounds reaching out and pulling back returning in new hue and a replenished splendour. Above the sight, within the brain lifting and the heart following the dance and below the frame of the canvas holding everything both seen and unseen all together in every moment brilliant bright and shadowed night thrilling the soul and joy available at each precise instance and every such sought and unsought experience. Please note this feeling of the awesome character of the Dancing Aurora Borealis is not universally found.

Q. Why did the Aurora Photographer cross the road?

A. To follow the dance through the Constellations of coarse.

It needs work...

These pictures taken with Minolta16mm f2.8 Fisheye lens, Lightroom and other recognition software believes that it is SAL16F28 a Sony 16mm f2.8 Fisheye lens. There are no lens profile adjustments made to the images. Just as I do not make adjustments to the images to be treated as taken by a Sony Lens I do not try to find out how to undo any incorrect attribution. The two lenses could be very similar even near identical, all I know is that this wonder is from Minolta. This description is way too long, is it oft stated if I had more time then I would send better in fewer words?

© PHH Sykes 2024

phhsykes@gmail.com

This mural was painted as part of the Balkan Trafik festival, organized by the non-profit association ‘1001 valises’. The work is inspired by and based on universally recognizable symbols and themes.

The background of the mural has been created through the interplay of surfaces and colored patterns which provide rhythm to the work, making it dynamic and playful.

The mural delivers a stimulating metaphorical message: despite appearances and however small and fragile, an individual can fulfil their dreams – the sky is the limit!

Location: Rue Vanderhaeg, Brussels, Belgium

An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.

.....under the azure sky.

San Gimignano, Siena, Italy.

Taken with the 10.2mp Nikon D60, refreshed from JPEG with my latest post processing workflow, for nostalgia. Loved the series of shots I took at this location, this one as I was making my way to the medieval town center in the late afternoon hence the sun was low, peeping through from above the roofs on the left side thus partially illuminating the buildings on the right and the bell tower ahead. Regrettably I did not shoot RAW back then.

I've always loved the colors coming from this humble camera with CCD sensor. Personally Nikon dropped the ball when they 1st moved from CCD sensors to CMOS, never warmed up to the colors from my subsequent D7000 and sold it after a brief ownership. This mostly boils down to different color filter arrays being used when Nikon shifted from CCD to CMOS. Modern CMOS sensors are usually optimized for high ISO and high resolution (instead of color) which is typically what the market wants.

Newest is not universally the greatest as shills will like us to believe.

Gear forums can be a good place for learning but it is such a minefield for beginners these days as forums get infiltrated with insufferable fanboi shills.

You get Nikon shills proclaiming that the Nikon Z7ii autofocus is at least as good as the A9ii which has a stacked sensor! This was coming from a fanboi shill who shot mostly landscape and hardly anything else that moves even moderately. It's like saying the Toyota 7-seater MPV is as fast as a Ferrari just because the driver never drove the Ferrari beyond 1st gear!

For beginners, best way to protect ourselves when we peruse gear forums is to look at the uploaded photos from forum participants. Oftentimes the quality of the photos and their seemingly expert proclamations do not match! Way too much "hot air" in gear forums! Fanboi shills typically only worship their preferred brand like totems with a severe lack of ability to say anything good about competing brands. After a while it’s not difficult to identify the shills from the truly skilled, honest hobbyists whom we can learn from.

Originally taken in September 2016, converted to B&W using Silver Efex Pro 2 and processed using DxO Photolab 4.

The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of London. The building is a leading example of radical Bowellism architecture in which the services for the building, such as ducts and lifts, are located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.

Twenty-five years after completion in 1986, the building received Grade I listing in 2011; it was the youngest structure ever to obtain this status. It is said by Historic England to be "universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch".

Information from Wikipedia.

I re-edited this image to give what I think is a more "honest" interpretation of the photo - you can see it here: flic.kr/p/2qYsMrH

A few years ago I bought a Kodak Reflex 1A (the TLR, not the 35mm Retina Reflex) and did a few tests with it, but found the results universally disappointing. The Anastigmat lens it's equipped with is pretty sub-standard, IMO. It is grotesquely unsharp and loaded with aberration when used wide open (or close to it) and extremely prone to flare, as you can see in this example photo. But when stopped down to f11 or f16 it can make a reasonable image (I think this was shot at f11.5)

Kodak Tmax 400 shot at 200 ASA, developed in Adox XT-3, 1:1 for 9 minutes.

Note: after reviewing this recent roll of film shot with the Reflex 1A, I decided I had no further use for it and donated it to the local thrift shop. It wasn't worth the effort to re-roll film onto 620 spools.

Italie

Les trois sommets de Lavaredo sont des montagnes situées en Vénétie parmi les spectaculaires Dolomiti.

C'est un endroit dont la beauté est universellement reconnue et attire des touristes de loin, surtout en été. En 2009, la montagne est devenue Patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco pour leur beauté et leurs paysages uniques, mais aussi pour leur importance scientifique.

Les Tre Cime di Lavaredo sont l’un des emblèmes des Dolomites, trois montagnes très caractéristiques qui surprennent par leurs formes uniques et magistrales et offrent une vue imprenable sur le paysage alentour et les lacs du parcours.

Le massif des Tre Cime di Lavaredo se compose de 3 cimes distinctes : la Cima Grande, « grande cime » d’une hauteur de 2999 mètres, la Cima Piccola, la « petite cime » ( 2857 mètres ) et la Cima Ovest, « cime ouest » ( 2973 mètres).

The three peaks of Lavaredo are mountains located in Veneto among the spectacular Dolomiti.

It is a place whose beauty is universally recognized and attracts tourists from far away, especially in summer. In 2009, the mountain became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their unique beauty and landscapes, but also for their scientific importance.

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo is one of the emblems of the Dolomites, three very characteristic mountains that surprise by their unique and masterful shapes and offer a breathtaking view of the surrounding landscape and the lakes of the course.

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo Massif consists of three distinct peaks: the Cima Grande, a 2999-metre-high "high peak", the Cima Piccola, the "small peak" (2857 metres) and the Cima Ovest, a "high west" (2973 metres).

© Philippe Haumesser. TOUS DROITS RESERVES - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©.

Merci beaucoup pour vos visites , commentaires et favoris♥

Thank you very much for your visits, comments and favorites

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The Taj Mahl "crown of palaces",is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Italie

Les trois sommets de Lavaredo sont des montagnes situées en Vénétie parmi les spectaculaires Dolomiti.

C'est un endroit dont la beauté est universellement reconnue et attire des touristes de loin, surtout en été. En 2009, la montagne est devenue Patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco pour leur beauté et leurs paysages uniques, mais aussi pour leur importance scientifique.

Les Tre Cime di Lavaredo sont l’un des emblèmes des Dolomites, trois montagnes très caractéristiques qui surprennent par leurs formes uniques et magistrales et offrent une vue imprenable sur le paysage alentour et les lacs du parcours.

Le massif des Tre Cime di Lavaredo se compose de 3 cimes distinctes : la Cima Grande, « grande cime » d’une hauteur de 2999 mètres, la Cima Piccola, la « petite cime » ( 2857 mètres ) et la Cima Ovest, « cime ouest » ( 2973 mètres).

The three peaks of Lavaredo are mountains located in Veneto among the spectacular Dolomiti.

It is a place whose beauty is universally recognized and attracts tourists from far away, especially in summer. In 2009, the mountain became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their unique beauty and landscapes, but also for their scientific importance.

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo is one of the emblems of the Dolomites, three very characteristic mountains that surprise by their unique and masterful shapes and offer a breathtaking view of the surrounding landscape and the lakes of the course.

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo Massif consists of three distinct peaks: the Cima Grande, a 2999-metre-high "high peak", the Cima Piccola, the "small peak" (2857 metres) and the Cima Ovest, a "high west" (2973 metres).

© Philippe Haumesser. TOUS DROITS RESERVES - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©.

Merci beaucoup pour vos visites , commentaires et favoris♥

Thank you very much for your visits, comments and favorites

www.flickriver.com/photos/philippe_haumesser/popular-inte...

www.facebook.com/groups/lalonguevuedalsace/?fref=ts

www.facebook.com/philippe.haumesser.9

A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. The chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover bird feeders, make it one of the first birds most people learn

My story starts outside a fortified tower and a church under the dazzling blue Mediterranean sky in Tzokeika and around the wild,stark Mani,which was for centuries the inaccessible domain of the reputed latter-day Spartans ...

It was a setimental journey in the footsteps of Patrick Leigh Fermor and his Greek hideaway.

A Tribute to Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor (11 Feb.1915 - 10 June 2011)

(knighted in the 2004 New Years Honours).

*It was in the early 1960s on his travels around the southern Peloponnese that he stumbled upon the exotic Mani peninsula and found a place to create his own Elysian Fields, (the final resting place in Greek mythology) ,built on a Maniot cliff top surrounded by olive groves where a new era in his life started.

“We saw a peninsula ending in crescent-shaped beaches.

We walked down into a gently sloping world of the utmost magical beauty.The Mani feels like another world,a reclusive patch of land where fortified medieval towers and a craggy coastline mix with Christian Orthodox churches and the fruity smell of Mediterranean olives.”Patrick Leigh Fermor

*The Mani has some of the most dramatic and varied scenery in Peloponnese.It's a wild,rugged region with steep foothills running down to the pristine coastline.Tiny villages and Byzantine churches nestle amid olive groves and centuries-old olive trees.

*Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor,universally known as Paddy,was one of the most charismatic and adventurous personalities of the last century.

An author,scholar,decorated hero,and a daring adventurer;

he was widely regarded and celebrated as the finest travel writer of his generation.As a member of the British Military mission to Greece,he played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War.A great admirer and lover of Greece,he chose to live in the Mani for the rest of his life.

A Tribute to Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor - The Journey Continues ...

[ comments closed,moving on to my patriotic duties ... ]

The GrainCorp Silos at Sea Lake were painted by Joel Fergie, aka The Zookeeper and Travis Vinson, aka Drapl in October 2019.

The artwork depicts a young girl swinging from a mallee eucalyptus tree gazing out over the endless vista that is Lake Tyrrell. A powerful Wedge Tail Eagle saws above the girl and emus run off into the night. For millennia this lake has existed, unchanged and untouched. It is a place of wonder and story. In this ever increasing busy day and age, people universally long for space and solitude.

They are so beautifully done and were definitely one of my favourite Silo Art pieces we saw on the trip.

IMG_0133

44871 heads up 45407 pausing at Rugby on a very cold but sunny winter morning, 24-12-2014.

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951. Members of the class survived to the last day of steam on British Railways in 1968, and eighteen are preserved. This class of locomotive was often a favourite amongst drivers and railway fans. (From Wikipedia)

*Working Towards a Better World

A truly moral health care system should start out by covering all of its citizens with basic health care. It would not be seduced by its technology and fancy buildings.

Richard Lamm

Universal coverage, not medical technology, is the foundation of any caring health care system. Richard Lamm

As long as we decline to allow sick, uninsured people to just lie down and die on the side of the road, everybody has to have insurance for the health care system to work sanely.

Gail Collins

For the wealthiest country in the world…to not have figured out access to basic healthcare as a fundamental right for individuals, I think is a little bit of a national embarrassment."

John Jay Shannon, MD, CEO of Cook County Health & Hospitals System (Chicago)

For he who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

Owen Arthur

A tremendous amount of needless pain and suffering can be eliminated by ensuring that health insurance is universally available.

Daniel Akaka

Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

The Taj Mahal ultimately from Arabic, "crown of palaces" is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

Canna (or Canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of approximately twenty species of flowering plants.[1][2] The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc

Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. Such a family has almost universally been recognized by taxonomists. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.

The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered, brash, bright and sometimes gaudy, garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant

Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they can enjoy about 6 hours average sunlight during the summer. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.

The name Canna originates from the Celtic word for a cane or reed

he plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock. The broad, flat, alternate leaves, that are such a feature of this plant, grow out of a stem in a long narrow roll and then unfurl. The leaves are typically solid green but some cultivars have glaucose, brownish, maroon, or even variegated leaves

The flowers are composed of three sepals and three petals that are seldom noticed by people, they are small and hidden under extravagant stamens. What appear to be petals are the highly modified stamens or staminodes. The staminodes number (1–) 3 (–4) (with at least one staminodal member called the labellum, always being present. A specialized staminode, the stamen, bears pollen from a half-anther. A somewhat narrower, 'petal' is the pistil which is connected down to a three-chambered ovary

The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles (thyrses). Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds and bats. The pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialized. Pollen is shed on the style while still in the bud, and in the species and early hybrids some is also found on the stigma because of the high position of the anther, which means that they are self-pollinating. Later cultivars have a lower anther, and rely on pollinators alighting on the labellum and touching first the terminal stigma, and then the pollen

The wild species often grow to 2-3+ meters but there is a wide variation in size among cultivated plants; numerous cultivars have been selected for smaller stature.

Canna grow from swollen underground stems, correctly known as rhizomes, which store starch, and this is the main attraction of the plant to agriculture, having the largest starch particles of all plant life.[3]

Canna is the only member of the Liliopsida Class (monocot family) in which hibernation of seed is known to occur, due to its hard, impenetrable seed covering.

The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southern United States (southern South Carolina west to southern Texas) and south to northern Argentina

Although all cannas are native to the New World, they have followed mankind's journeys of discovery and some species are cultivated and naturalized in most tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Canna cultivars are grown in most countries, even those with territory above the Arctic Circle, which have short summers but long days, and the rapid growth rate of Cannas makes them a feasible gardening plant, as long as they get their 6 hours of sunlight each day during the growing season and are protected from the cold of winter.

The first Cannas introduced to Europe were C. indica L., which was imported from the East Indies, though the species originated from the Americas. Charles de l'Ecluse, who first described and sketched C. indica indicates this origin, and states that it was given the name of indica, not because the plant is from India, in Asia, but because this species was originally transported from America: "Quia ex America primum delata sit"; and at that time, one described the tropical areas of that part of the globe as the Western Indies;[8] English speakers still call them the West Indies.

Much later, in 1658, Pison made reference[9] to another species which he documented under the vulgar or common name of 'Albara' and 'Pacivira', which resided, he said, in the shaded and damp places, between the tropics; this species is Canna angustifolia L., (later reclassified as C. glauca L. by taxonomists).[1]

Without exception, all Canna species that have been introduced into Europe can be traced back to the Americas, and it can be asserted with confidence that Canna is solely an American genus. If Asia and Africa provided some of the early introductions, they were only varieties resulting from C. indica and C. glauca cultivars that have been grown for a long time in India and Africa, with both species imported from Central and South America. Canna is an American genus, as pointed out by Lamarck were he argues that "Cannas were unknown to the ancients, and that it is only after the discovery of the New World, that they made their appearance in Europe; Since Canna have very hard and durable seed coverings, it is likely that seed remains would have survived in the right conditions and found by archaeologists in the Old World. If the soils of India or Africa had produced some of them, they would have been imported before the 1860s into European gardens.

* Some species and many cultivars are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes, they are also grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental cultivars have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, tropical plantings, and as a patio or decking plant.

* Internationally, cannas are one of the most popular garden plants and a large horticultural industry depends on the plant.

* The canna rhizome is rich in starch, and it has many uses in agriculture. All of the plant has commercial value, rhizomes for starch (consumption by humans and livestock), stems and foliage for animal fodder, young shoots as a vegetable and young seeds as an addition to tortillas.

* The seeds are used as beads in jewelry.

* The seeds are used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.

* In remoter regions of India, cannas are fermented to produce alcohol.

* The plant yields a fibre - from the stem - it is used as a jute substitute.

* A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making paper. The leaves are harvested in late summer after the plant has flowered, they are scraped to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking. The fibres are cooked for 24 hours with lye and then beaten in a blender. They make a light tan brown paper.

* A purple dye is obtained from the seed.

* Smoke from the burning leaves is said to be insecticidal.

* Cannas are used to extract many undesirable pollutants in a wetland environment as they have a high tolerance to contaminants.

Wild Canna species are the Cannas unaffected by mankind. There are approximately 20 known species, and in the last three decades of the 20th century, Canna species have been categorised by two different taxonomists, Paul Maas, from the Netherlands and Nobuyuki Tanaka from Japan. Both reduced the number of species from the 50-100 that had been accepted previously, and assigned most to being synonyms.

The reduction in numbers is also confirmed by work done by Kress and Prince at the Smithsonian Institution, however, this only covers a subset of the species range.

Cannas became very popular in Victorian times as a garden plant and were grown widely in France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

As tender perennials in northern climates, they suffered severe setbacks when two world wars sent the young gardening staff off to war. It took many years for the frugalities of war and its rationing subsequences to change to the more prosperous times of the late 20th century. We have recently experienced a renewed interest and revival in popularity of the Canna genus.

There were once many hundreds of cultivars but many of these are now extinct. In 1910, Árpäd Mühle, from Hungary, published his Canna book , written in higher German. It contained descriptions of over 500 cultivars.

In recent years many new cultivars have been created, but the genus suffers severely from having many synonyms for many popular ones. Most of the synonyms were created by old varieties re-surfacing without viable names, with the increase in popularity from the 1960s onwards. Research has accumulated over 2,800 Canna cultivar names, however, many of these are simply synonyms.

See List of Canna hybridists for details of the people and firms that created the current Canna legacy we all enjoy.

In the early 1900s, Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey defined, in detail, two garden species (C. x generalis and C. x orchiodes) to categorise the floriferous Cannas being grown at that time, namely the Crozy hybrids and the ‘orchid-like’ hybrids introduced by Carl Ludwig Sprenger in Italy and Luther Burbank in the USA, at about the same time (1894) The definition was based on the genotype, rather than the phenotype, of the two cultivar groups. Inevitably, over time those two floriferous groups were interbred, the distinctions became blurred and overlapped, and the Bailey species names became redundant Pseudo-species names are now deprecated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants which, instead, provides Cultivar Groups for categorising cultivars

The Canna Agriculture Group contains all of the varieties of Canna grown in agriculture. Canna achira is a generic term used in South America to describe the cannas that have been selectively bred for agricultural purposes, normally derived from C. discolor. It is grown especially for its edible rootstock from which starch is obtained, but the leaves and young seed are also edible, and achira was once a staple foodcrop in Peru and Ecuador

Many more traditional varieties exist world-wide, they have all involved human selection and so are classified as agricultural cultivars. Traditionally, Canna 'edulis' has been reputed to be the variety grown for food in South America, but there is no scientific evidence to substantiate the name. It is probable that edulis is simply a synonym of C. discolor, which is grown for agricultural purposes throughout Asia.

Cannas grow best in full sun with moderate water in well-drained rich or sandy soil. Cannas grow from perennial rhizomes but are frequently grown as annuals in temperate zones for an exotic or tropical look in the garden.[2]

The rhizomes are marginally cold hardy but may rot if left unprotected in freezing conditions. In areas which go below about −10 °C in the winter, the rhizomes can be dug up before freezing and stored in a protected area (above +7 °C) for replanting in the spring. Otherwise, it is recommended that Cannas are protected by a thick layer of mulch overwinter.

Cannas are largely free of pests but in the USA plants sometimes fall victim to the Canna Leaf Roller and the resultant leaf damage can be most distressing to a keen gardener.

Slugs and snails are fond of Cannas and can leave large holes in the leaves, preferring the tender young leaves that have not yet unfurled. Red Spider Mite can also be a problem for Cannas grown indoors or during a very hot, long summer outdoors. The Japanese Beetles will also ravage the leaves if left uncontrolled.

Canna are remarkably free of disease, compared to many genus. However, they may fall victim to canna rust, a fungus resulting in orange spots on the plant's leaves, caused by over moist soil. Cannas are also susceptible to certain plant viruses, some of which are Canna specific viruses, which may result in spotted or streaked leaves, in a mild form, but can finally result in stunted growth and twisted and distorted blooms and foliage.

The flowers are sometimes affected by a grey, fuzzy mold called Botrytis. Under humid conditions it is often found growing on the older flowers. Treatment is to simply remove the old flowers, so the mould does not spread to the new flowers.

Seeds are produced from sexual reproduction, involving the transfer of pollen from the stamen of the pollen parent onto the stigma of the seed parent. In the case of Canna, the same plant can usually play the roles of both pollen and seed parents, technically referred to as a hermaphrodite. However, the cultivars of the Italian Group and triploids are almost always seed sterile, and their pollen has a low fertility level. Mutations are almost always totally sterile.

The species are capable of self-pollination, but most cultivars require an outside pollinator. All cannas produce nectar and therefore attract nectar consuming insects, bats and hummingbirds that act as the transfer agent, spreading pollen between stamens and stigmas, on the same or different inflorescence.

Since genetic recombination has occurred a cultivar grown from seed will have different characteristics to its parent(s) and thus should never be given a parent’s name. The wild species have evolved in the absence of other Canna genes and are deemed to be ‘true to type’ when the parents are of the same species. In the latter case there is still a degree of variance, producing various varieties or minor forms (forma). In particular, the species C. indica is an aggregate species, having many different and extreme varieties and forma ranging from the giant to miniature, from large foliage to small foliage, both green and dark foliage and many different coloured blooms, red, orange, pink, and yellow and combinations of those colours.

Outside of a laboratory, the only asexual propagation method that is effective is rhizome division. This is done by using material from a single parent, and as there is no exchange of genetic material such vegetative propagation methods almost always produce plants that are identical to the parent. After a summer’s growth the horticultural Canna can be separated into typically four or five separate smaller rhizomes, each with a growing nodal point (‘growing eye’). Without the growing point, which is composed of meristem material, the rhizome will not grow.

Micropropagation, or tissue culture as it is also known, is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a large number of progeny plants. Micropropagation using in vitro (in glass) methods that produce plants by taking small sections of plants and moving them into a sterile environment were they first produce proliferations that are then separated from each other and then rooted or allowed to grow new stem tissue. The process of plant growth is regulated by different ratios of plant growth regulators or PGRs, that promote cell growth. Many commercial organizations have attempted to produce Canna this way, and specifically the “Island Series” of Cannas was introduced by means of mass produced plants using this technique. However, Cannas have a reputation of being difficult micropropagation specimens.

Note Micropropagation techniques can be employed on specimens infected with Canna virus and used to dis-infest plants of the virus, it is possible to use a growing shoot tip as the explant, the growing tip is induced into rapid growth, which results in rapid cell division that has not had time to be infected with the virus. The rapidly growing region of meristem cells producing the shoot tip is cut off and placed in vitro, with a very high probability of being uncontaminated by virus, since it has not yet had contact with the sap of the plant which moves the virus within the plant. In this way, healthy stock can be reclaimed from virus contaminated plants.

and justice where no man's skin, color or religion, is held against him. "Love thy neighbor" is a precept which could transform the world if it were universally practiced. It connotes brotherhood and, to me, brotherhood of man is the noblest concept in all human relations. Loving your neighbor means being interracial, interreligious and international :-)

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955), last will and testament, written 1953

HGGT!! PROTEST INJUSTICE!! VOTE!! RESIST!!

magnolia blossom, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

The Taj Mahl "crown of palaces",is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary architects as a typical and traditional building feature. Such spaces in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court. Both of the words court and yard derive from the same root, meaning an enclosed space. See yard and garden for the relation of this set of words. In universities courtyards are often known as quadrangles.

Courtyards—private open spaces surrounded by walls or buildings—have been in use in residential architecture for almost as long as people have lived in constructed dwellings. The courtyard house makes its first appearance c. 6400–6000 BC (calibrated), in the Neolithic Yarmukian site at Sha'ar HaGolan, in the central Jordan Valley, on the northern bank of the Yarmouk River, giving the site a special significance in architectural history. Courtyards have historically been used for many purposes including cooking, sleeping, working, playing, gardening, and even places to keep animals.

Before courtyards, open fires were kept burning in a central place within a home, with only a small hole in the ceiling overhead to allow smoke to escape. Over time, these small openings were enlarged and eventually led to the development of the centralized open courtyard we know today. Courtyard homes have been designed and built throughout the world with many variations.

Courtyard homes are more prevalent in temperate climates, as an open central court can be an important aid to cooling house in warm weather. However, courtyard houses have been found in harsher climates as well for centuries. The comforts offered by a courtyard—air, light, privacy, security, and tranquility—are properties nearly universally desired in human housing. Almost all courtyards use natural elements.

The central uncovered area in a Roman domus was referred to as an atrium. Today, we generally use the term courtyard to refer to such an area, reserving the word atrium to describe a glass-covered courtyard. Roman atrium houses were built side by side along the street. They were one-storey homes without windows that took in light from the entrance and from the central atrium. The hearth, which used to inhabit the centre of the home, was relocated, and the Roman atrium most often contained a central pool used to collect rainwater, called an impluvium. These homes frequently incorporated a second open-air area, the garden, which would be surrounded by Greek-style colonnades, forming a peristyle. This created a colonnaded walkway around the perimeter of the courtyard, which influenced monastic structures centuries later.

The medieval European farmhouse embodies what we think of today as one of the most archetypal examples of a courtyard house—four buildings arranged around a square courtyard with a steep roof covered by thatch. The central courtyard was used for working, gathering, and sometimes keeping small livestock. An elevated walkway frequently ran around two or three sides of the courtyards in the houses. Such structures afforded protection, and could even be made defensible.

31418 enters March station with travelling post office stock, passing 31250 and 31125 heading towards Ely with a train of aggregates.

This is another image from my day at March in Cambridgeshire from July 1991 ( flic.kr/p/G4idpq and flic.kr/p/EA8xut ) when Phil_Marshall and I headed to the former railway town to photograph it’s (then) numerous Speedlink trains.

However, this particular working I have been unable to identify. It was probably from Cambridge (which at the time was a hub for the mail sector of British Rail) but beyond that, I have no information.

For the curious, ‘Brian’ is one of a number of derogatory nicknames applied to class 31 by the British enthusiast community. Brian in this case is a reference to Brian the snail, a character from the 1970’s children’s television programme, ‘The Magic Roundabout’. Class 31s were universally considered as slow and underpowered, hence the nickname.

The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of London. The building is a leading example of radical Bowellism architecture in which the services for the building, such as ducts and lifts, are located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.

In 2011, twenty-five years after its completion in 1986 the building received Grade I listing; at this time it was the youngest structure ever to obtain this status. It is said by Historic England to be "universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch". Its innovation of having key service pipes and other components routed outside the walls has led to very expensive maintenance costs due to their exposure to the elements.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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

Image stitched in Microsoft Image Composite editor from multiple camera jpegs, then further processed in SilkyPix Developer Studio Pro 10

100x: The 2024 Edition

35/100 London landmarks by night

The Wanderings of Consensus©

Farewell, the dulling meteorological effect didn't work as the rain teems down

And out are my powers of healthy deduction, un-policed defences remain lawless

With rioting pain open till late in the build-up to the run-in of final quest

That which presents a vaccinated gift of brightness, vigour and a sequined night sky

Illuminating the foundations of a new year hope that resolves hopefully at mercy's behest

For now though it's too dark to find the definitions for the words of encouragement

Those far away are so needed while close at hand are the lines of life cut

Shorter and shorter like December daylight, every second counts on the one hand

It instils an immediacy together with an intimacy on the other hand of fate

If thumbs are the peers for the palms that sway with thoughts at their command

Then let them press upon the need of the temples with eyes closed may it help

Soon the nauseating rain becomes the soothing sound we were born to love

From the womb of learning the comforting tones that never quit our deeper sense

The revelling of warmth, safety and love so often missing from practice

Do we remain what we are to sacrifice it all for the sake of society's pretence

Selling our Soul to the devil is the ultimate crime against the salvation of life

Those gratuitous decadent's who roam the lands bringing rich tears to the poor's fears

Do they have a conscience at all? If not, then different worlds we do walk

One day will dawn a dampening mirror to reveal the human sickness

Then they shall see all they can be is servant to their own perversions of which judge and jury talk

The promise of inhalation is conceived, but is it not enough to live in the present?

Broken time and again according to legend and sin is ill-afforded

It's debt mounted by clueless expense upon the hunt for overfed habit

Now grossly obese is this pallid list of heavy emotional calories

Stolen from the starving children of today, the bones of tomorrow's world graves will inhabit

So speak in hope, sound a soothing victory cry of one in the eye in the fight for good

Climb the mountain reach out across the valleys, watch your step and look over the edge

Mass hysteria is no more our nauseous threat as we touch the sobriety of our true world

Distance measured according to feeling, effort judged by heart, love recorded universally

With a conscientious spirit, as one of Nature, to a perfect sleep we accordingly curled.

by anglia24

10h20: 11/12/2008

©2008anglia24

© Fran Brown ALL rights reserved. This image may not be used for ANY purpose without written permission.

Pennypack Trust, PA, USA.

NIKON D7200 with Nikon 500 mm f/4 lens and 1.4 converter.

ISO 640 1/1600 f/5.6 with fill flash

A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. The chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover bird feeders, make it one of the first birds most people learn.

Thanks to all my Flickr friends for viewing, commenting on and favoring my images.

Death Valley Lake! Panamint Range Water Reflections in Flooded Salt Basin Lake! Death Valley National Park Winter Storms Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape & Nature Photography! Nikon D850 & AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Nikon!

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

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Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

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Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

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A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! dx4/dt=ic! Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Physical: geni.us/Fa1Q

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

John Muir: All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.

British QF 13 Pounder at the First Battle of Ypres, 1914. British Expeditionary Force Artillerists prepare to loose a barrage on entrenched German forces. In the wake of the previous Race to the Sea that saw the failure of the Schlieffen plan and mass casualties on both sides, morale and ammo was universally low, causing both sides to seek shelter and avoid direct combat in favor of fortifying defenses. The battle lines drawn this early in the war remained virtually the same until 1918, due to the static nature of trench warfare on the Western front.

More birds coming; it has been a good spring season for birds. But for now, and while I catch up on processing, a morning sky with an amazing combination of altocumulus clouds and crepuscular rays.

Rule of thirds? Forget it! It works a lot of the time, because it's about universally accepted principles of visual design and spatial organization. But if I'd been thinking "thirds", I would have missed this composition. With a reasonably blank mind - easier to achieve the older I get - I was able to respond to my subject, rather than try to impose or overlay something on the subject. This is an important distinction.

If I had been following a formula, placing the horizon line one third of the way up from the bottom, I would have chopped important cloud detail from the top. Because of the extreme contrast that results from shooting directly into the sun (even a sun mostly masked by the clouds), I knew the land mass in the foreground would be nearly solid black. Did I want to fill up one third of my image with solid black? I see this fairly often in landscape images; it rarely works out. The glory lay in the light, not the featureless foreground, so I knew in an instant that I would fill most of the frame with sky. You can't go wrong when the light itself is your subject!

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Photographed the Kleemann MC110i EVO2 Mobile Jaw Crusher on display at the Brandt Tractor Ltd located on Highway 101 West in Mountjoy Township in the City of Timmins Northeastern Ontario Canada

The mobile impact crusher MOBIREX MR 110i EVO2 can be universally deployed and produces first-class final grain quality. With a crusher inlet of 1100 mm and numerous technical highlights, a formidable production rate can be achieved with the best cost effectiveness. Thanks to its compact design, the machine is easy to transport and can be assembled and disassembled quickly. Source Wirtgen Group a John Deere Company

©Copyright Notice

This photograph and all those within my photostream are protected by copyright. The photos may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written permission.

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648, but work continued on other phases of the project for another five years. The first ceremony held at the mausoleum was an observance by Shah Jahan, on 6 February 1643, of the 12th anniversary of the death of Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹32 million, which in 2015 would be approximately ₹52.8 billion.

The building complex incorporates the design traditions of Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture. It employs symmetrical constructions with the usage of various shapes and symbols. While the mausoleum is constructed of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, red sandstone was used for other buildings in the complex similar to the Mughal era buildings of the time. The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded as one of the best examples of Mughal architecture and a symbol of Indian history. The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than five million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World initiative. The Taj Mahal and its setting, surrounding grounds, and structures are a Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Home is different places to different people. Home might be a big, luxurious landscaped mansion on a hill, or home might be a crooked little house on a cleared out flat in the woods. One thing is universally the same, though. A house is only a house unless it is filled with love. Love is what makes the walls of any house come alive so that it can be called "home." Fill your house will love today........enjoy your sweet and precious home wherever it might be!

Note: Thanks in advance for your visits, comments, and invites. Every one of you helps to fill my life with love and make my house a warm and joy-filled home. Thank you! :-)

Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with six to nine species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. Plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Most species of Schlumbergera have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear from areoles at the joints and tips of the stems. Two species have cylindrical stems more similar to other cacti. Recent phylogenetic studies using DNA have led to three species of the related genus Hatiora being transferred into Schlumbergera, though this change is not universally accepted.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlumbergera

"Roma, you've both won an amazing birthday prize! That's right, it's an exciting getaway vacation for two (So that you can be accompanied by Mom) to a destination of your choice! "

"Oh, wow, isn't it great, Roma??"

"Sure is, Mom! Where can we go?"

"You can choose one of these four thrill-packed tours. First, Cooperstown! That's right, kids, it's the nexus of all things Sindy! You can see the Sindy palace (alwaysunderconstruction) and all the famous sites including the the local Café, the stables, the Winterbottoms home, the universally famous Sky News studios, and more! Meet incredible stars like Nigel! Patch! And Super Chicken that might look small but is really really big if you zoom in and count all the heroic stuff that he's done until your head explodes and then some!"

"Wooow, Cooperstown! Let's go there Mom! Those Sindys are pretty!"

"That's true, Roma, but, aren't the Sindys kind of opinionated? And scary. And aren't there a lot of Blythes there now? I heard it's not as genteel since they arrived."

"Next is folksy West Clampett! Tour the wilds and backroads of the most adventurous locale east of... of something! Visit Dr. Steel's dojo! Go camping with Big Jim! Learn ranching with the West family as they tend their livestock! Learn shooting with the Wests as they open fire on Sam Cobra and other dastardly criminals! Learn medicine with the Wests as they undergo various surgeries related to brittle Marx plastic! And don't forget to visit Fort Apache and be involved in lots of real battles! If you survive, you cannot leave West Clampett without getting your photo taken in the legendary Marigold Patch!"

"Oh, I wanna go there, Mom!"

"I don't know... That's... that's a lot of shooting."

"Third is Happy Wondersland! Enjoy a bright sunshine filled expedition across a variety of fantasy landscapes! Travel with Ginger and her fun crew of Sylvanians, Woodzees, and Honey Bee Acres pals by VW bus, plane, and even a boat across silken seas! Where to? Perhaps the Enchanted Forest where one might encounter the fabulous Fuchsia! And keep your eyes open for a sighting of Draconaflora and little Petalina! Once you're out of the woods, visit the parks where you may even meet the Moomin! Still not enough? Then hit the beach for some great classic rock fun! Happy Wondersland even has swimming pools on the beach!"

"I definitely wanna go to Happy Wondersland, Mom! That's it, right??"

"I'm sure it lives up to its name, Roma, but I did hear that a little girl out in the woods ran into an owlbear! Or a wolf! Maybe both.'

"Finally, how about hanging out with King Kong 21? A wider array of interesting characters would be hard to find! Meet SpongeBob! And Mickey! And lots of Karens! All the superheroes from DC and Marvel! Get chased by aliens! And Mojo! And Ghostface! And dig in to lots of food! If you are a foodie, this is the trip for you as King Kong 21's place is overflowing with pizza, candy, pastries... all the healthy stuff!"

"That sounds AWESOME, Mom! Let's go there!"

"I... I don't know how to say this... I heard there is a decidedly unhealthy obsession with poo there. Poo everywhere. I think there's even talking poo that smoke cigarettes."

"Aw, Mom, you don't wanna go anywhere! I wish Diana was here! She's the Princess of Play, but you're the Baron of Boredom!"

"I am NOT, Roma!"

Decisions, decisions! Which locale will Roma and Mom choose? The good news is you don't have to choose! Visit all of these super funtastic places with just a click!

Coopers Town!

West Clampett!

Happy Wondersland!

King Kong 21!

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

Love, Diana

Princess of Play

Birthday Bash

2021, Far Out Toys

"Also, I think the cake candles are going to set the monitor on fire. Let's go."

"Aw, MOM!!"

"This Bijou Planks theater is just too dangerous. Even the audience is dangerous."

"But, Mom, which trip!?"

-- Available November 20 @ Tannenbaum --

✨ Glitter season approaches! ✨

Make your eyes sparkle for the holidays with the Charmed palette, a fun kit comprised of 6 glitter options, 4 inner corner options and an elegant, universally flattering liner to bring it all together - mix & match to your heart's desire! ♥

The Charmed palette is available in the following packs:

■ Lelutka Evo/EvoX: HD appliers for Lelutka Evolution heads (Classic & EvoX) + BoM layers for EvoX

■ Genus: appliers + BoM layers for Genus Project heads

■ Catwa HDPro: HD appliers + BoM layers for Catwa HDPro heads

■ Fatpack: all contents listed above

The BoM tattoo layers provided have modify permissions, so you can fine tune each tone to taste.

(shown on Lelutka Avalon - skin from Amara Beauty, hair from Doux, eyes from Avi-glam, nose ring from Little fish; earrings from Ysoral; other WarPaint items shown include: Coquette lashes (bottom), Rain lashes (top), Camellia lip oil, (im)perfect chin scar, #IWokeUpLikeThis6)

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. m a i n s t o r e .

. m a r k e t p l a c e .

. f l i c k r _ g r o u p .

. i n s t a g r a m .

. f a c e b o o k .

The Great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr) is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world.

The bagpipe is first attested in Scotland around 1400, having previously appeared in European artwork in Spain in the 13th century. The earliest references to bagpipes in Scotland are in a military context, and it is in that context that the Great Highland bagpipe became established in the British military and achieved the widespread prominence it enjoys today, whereas other bagpipe traditions throughout Europe, ranging from Portugal to Russia, almost universally went into decline by the late 19th and early 20th century.

“All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.”

― Upton Sinclair

Visit Valmoor.

SL Prompt Project 2023

Excerpt from vanderkrogt.net:

In the garden of the Montreux Palace Hotel are six half figures of Jazz musicians who played at the Montreux Jazz Festival:

B.B. KING BY MARCO ZENO

Born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925 in Indianola, Mississippi B.B. King is universally hailed as the reigning king of the blues.

Since 1979, B.B. King has regularly been one of the stars of the Montreux Jazz Festival. The love and talent he shares with the Montreux audience will always remain in our memory.

Barbara Riley Levin is not only a dedicated fan of the Festival but also a philantropist who commissioned this bronze bust by Marco Zeno, a sculptor born in Milan and whose artwork, in both bronze and marble, has been exhibited all over the world.

If you had been here in the years following the civil war,you might have seen one of the most dramatic sights in the history of the west. For along this way came the enormous herds of Longhorn cattle on their way to market along the legendary Chisholm Trail.In it's brief existence from 1887 to 1884 more than 5 million Longhorns and a million Mustang horses followed the Chisholm. It was the greatest migration of livestock in history.

The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, a half Cherokee Indian trader and interpreter who,ironically,never drove cattle over the trail that bears his name. He did mark the route of the trail from the confluence of the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers to his trading post southwest of present day Oklahoma City,but his business was in trade goods,not cattle. In his time,Chisholm was largely known for his fluency in some 14 different Indian dialects. He served as interpreter for Sam Houston at many councils in Texas,Indian Territory and Kansas,often diffusing conflicts between hostile cultures.He was universally known for his fairness and neutrality. His language skills helped him negotiate for the freedom of children captured by the Comanche and Kiowa. Most of these were Mexican children whom he adopted and raised as his own.

The Chisholm Trail was finally closed by barbed wire and an 1885 Kansas quarantine law.

Jesse Chisholm died ingloriously in 1868 from eating rancid bear meat.

China, Beijing, the Beijing National Stadium, universally referred to as the "Bird's Nest"

On March 15. 2008, ...only 5 month & 23 days previous

…………………………………………………………......................................

to the electrifying opening event on August 08. 2008

………………………………………………………………….……..…………..…

of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.

……………………………………………………………..

The whole construction of the 330 mtr long, 220 mtr wide & 69.2 mtr tall stadion, with a seating capacity during the games for 91.000 spectators, reduced after the games for following sportive & other events to 80.000 seats stretched over 5 years, construction of the stadium's bird´s nest steel outer shell began in 2005. One of the local government requirements was, that the stadium structure design be able to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.

The architects & engineers had to keep in mind the effects of thermal expansion that is the tendency for steel to expand & contract as the temperature changes. In Beijing temperature can range from far over +30°C in the summer to -20°C in the winter. The design team worked with Chinese steel producers Baosteel & Wuhan Iron & Steel to develop new steel grades that would meet the strength & flexibility necessities for the 42,000 tons of steel required to build the structure.

The total weight of construction materials, including concrete seating bowl, is over 110,000 tons

Three months of research led to the production of a new steel with low phosphor & low sulfur content, they termed as Q35. Q35 is a high-hardness steel able to bear stress up to 35 x 106 Pascals. This would be critical in the construction of the 24 trussed columns, each of which was 300 meters in length & expected to help bare a load of 11,200 tons. Wuhan Iron & Steel group designed the second grade of steel that would make up the remaining portion of the stadium's shell, referred to as Q460.

The steel sections had to be curved, lifted, placed & connected properly to each other. Making curving beams also required high professional skils. To bear the loads & create the right aesthetics, engineers came up with the box design. Four steel plates were welded together & bent into the required shape to form a twisted bar section.

On site the workers welded the beams together to form even larger sections, forming a truss, some of the steel timbering formed were up to 12mtr in length. Each weighed up to 350 tons & were hoisted by 800 ton cranes to the top of the roof. Positioning these heavy structures also required great skill because the pattern was random & was just as to fit pieces of jigsaw puzzle together. It was difficult to fit all the parts without any error because in positioning one end the other would go out. This took 2-3 days to weld the joints & secure them in place. As the strength of the structure also depended now on welds, so for welding of the special steel, over 1000 skilled workers were trained.

The new, high strength steels presented his own problems during construction, as higher than normal welding temperatures were required, often in very precarious & high locations. Welding could only be conducted at temperatures of +15°C - +16°C, which meant that workers had to weld during evening hours. In August of 2006, over 400 welders worked in changing sgifts for three straight nights to weld the 320 km of welding joins required to assemble the stadiums iconic, latticed steel frame.

In April 2003, the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron planed & built the stadium based on the original design of the international respected & controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

14 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

A Thaum is the basic unit of magical strength. It has been universally established as the amount of magic needed to create one small white pigeon or three normal-sized billiard balls.

-Terry Pratchett

At last! After cold winds my new idea of wildflowers in the garden looked like a bunch of weeds and I was considering digging it all up but today the first flower appeared!! (it’s a start)

Long-headed poppy an annual or overwintering weed of arable land especially cornfields and of waste places and roadsides. It has a similar distribution to the common poppy but extends further north and is more frequent in Wales. The distribution on upland areas is limited by the lack of cultivated land but it has been recorded at 1,400 ft. It is found on light, dry, sandy and gravely soils but also flourishes on heavy land. The plant can withstand drought and occurs in quite arid areas. It was considered to be comparatively rare in the early 20th century but 50 years later it had become universally common.

My Thanks for all visits and comments it is appreciated

Haven't had a plane for a while, please look at the specific album for more. Great building but done so much its hard to get something different.

The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of London. The building is a leading example of radical Bowellism architecture in which the services for the building, such as ducts and lifts, are located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.

Twenty-five years after completion in 1986, the building received Grade I listing in 2011; it was the youngest structure ever to obtain this status. It is said by Historic England to be "universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch".

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Thanks for your Views & Fave & your comments are always welcome.

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This Canada Goose took to the pond after his afternoon nap for a big stretch or showing off for his mate!

"This big 'Honker' is among our best-known waterfowl. In many regions, flights of Canada Geese passing over in V-formation -- northbound in spring, southbound in fall -- are universally recognized as signs of the changing seasons. Once considered a symbol of wilderness, this goose has adapted well to civilization, nesting around park ponds and golf courses; in a few places, it has even become something of a nuisance. Local forms vary greatly in size, and the smallest ones are now regarded as a separate species, Cackling Goose. "

from audubon.org

The Great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr) is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world.

The bagpipe is first attested in Scotland around 1400, having previously appeared in European artwork in Spain in the 13th century. The earliest references to bagpipes in Scotland are in a military context, and it is in that context that the Great Highland bagpipe became established in the British military and achieved the widespread prominence it enjoys today, whereas other bagpipe traditions throughout Europe, ranging from Portugal to Russia, almost universally went into decline by the late 19th and early 20th century.

A breathtaking view of these stunning works by artists, Drapl and The Zookeeper.

"The artwork depicts a young girl swinging from a mallee eucalyptus tree gazing out over the endless vista that is Lake Tyrrell. A powerful Wedge Tail Eagle saws above the girl and emus run off into the night. For millennia this lake has existed, unchanged and untouched. It is a place of wonder and story. In this ever increasing busy day and age, people universally long for space and solitude."

Best viewed full screen.

siloarttrail.com/home/

See below for a closer look...

As we were walking along the street, it stroke me as a sort of Tim Burton's Christmas Night scene.

@ London, England. UK

Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, as a result of a competition by the Royal Fine Art Commission in 1924, and despite the initial opposition to their red color, these Kiosks are still a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar

In 1935 the K6 (kiosk number six) was designed to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. K6 was the first red telephone kiosk to be extensively used outside London, and many thousands were deployed in virtually every town and city, replacing most of the existing kiosks and establishing thousands of new sites. It has become a British icon, although it was not universally loved at the start.

The red color caused particular local difficulties and there were many requests for less visible colors. The red that is now much loved was then anything but, and the Post Office was forced into allowing a less strident grey with red glazing bars scheme for areas of natural and architectural beauty. Ironically, some of these areas that have preserved their telephone boxes have now painted them red.

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

Courtesy : Wikipedia

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Wood is universally beautiful to man. It is the most humanly intimate of all materials.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright