View allAll Photos Tagged ability
One of the massive Marine Iguanas on Isabella
Marine Iguana
The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches. On his visit to the islands, Charles Darwin was revolted by the animals' appearance, writing “The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.” In fact, Amblyrhynchus cristatus is not always black; the young have a lighter coloured dorsal stripe, and some adult specimens are grey. The reason for the sombre tones is that the species must rapidly absorb heat to minimize the period of lethargy after emerging from the water. They feed almost exclusively on marine algae, expelling the excess salt from nasal glands while basking in the sun, and the coating of salt can make their faces appear white. In adult males, coloration varies with the season. Breeding-season adult males on the southern islands are the most colorful and will acquire reddish and teal-green colors, while on Santa Cruz they are brick red and black, and on Fernandina they are brick red and dull greenish. Another difference between the iguanas is size, which is different depending on the island the individual iguana inhabits. The iguanas living on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela (named for the famous rulers of Spain) are the largest found anywhere in the Galápagos. On the other end of the spectrum, the smallest iguanas are found on the island on Genovesa. Adult males are approximately 1.3 m long, females 0.6 m, males weigh up to 1.5 kg. On land, the marine iguana is rather a clumsy animal, but in the water it is a graceful swimmer, using its powerful tail to propel itself. As an exothermic animal, the marine iguana can spend only a limited time in the cold sea, where it dives for algae. However, by swimming only in the shallow waters around the island they are able to survive single dives of up to half an hour at depths of more than 15 m. After these dives, they return to their territory to bask in the sun and warm up again. When cold, the iguana is unable to move effectively, making them vulnerable to predation, so they become highly aggressive before heating up (since they are unable to run away they try to bite attackers in this state). During the breeding season, males become highly territorial. The males assemble large groups of females to mate with, and guard them against other male iguanas. However, at other times the species is only aggressive when cold. Marine iguanas have also been found to change their size to adapt to varying food conditions. During El Niño conditions when the algae that the iguanas feed on was scarce for a period of two years, some were found to decrease their length by as much as 20%. When food conditions returned to normal, the iguanas returned to their pre-famine size. It is speculated that the bones of the iguanas actually shorten as a shrinkage of connective tissue could only account for a 10% length change. Researchers theorize that land and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor since arriving on the islands from South America, presumably by driftwood. It is thought that the ancestral species inhabited a part of the volcanic archipelago that is now submerged. A second school of thought holds that the Marine iguana may have evolved from a now extinct family of seagoing reptiles. Its generic name, Amblyrhynchus, is a combination of two Greek words, Ambly- from Amblus meaning "blunt" and rhynchus meaning "snout". Its specific name is the Latin word cristatus meaning "crested," and refers to the low crest of spines along the animal's back. Amblyrhynchus is a monotypic genus in that Amblyrhynchus cristatus is the only species which belongs to it at this point in time. This species is completely protected under the laws of Ecuador. El Niño effects cause periodic declines in population, with high mortality, and the marine iguana is threatened by predation by exotic species. The total population size is unknown, but is, according to IUCN, at least 50,000, and estimates from the Charles Darwin Research Station are in the hundreds of thousands. The marine iguanas have not evolved to combat newer predators. Therefore, cats and dogs eat both the young iguanas and dogs will kill adults due to the iguanas' slow reflex times and tameness. Dogs are especially common around human settlements and can cause tremendous predation. Cats are also common in towns, but they also occur in numbers in remote areas where they take a toll on iguanas.
Only in Galagapagos! The sign says, "Beware, Iguana's crossing"!
Isabella
Shaped like a sea horse, Isabela is the largest of the the islands in the Galapagos, more than 4 times larger than Santa Cruz the next largest. Isabela is 80 miles (100 km) in length and though it is remarkably beautiful it is not one of the most visited islands in the chain. Its visitor sites are far apart making them accessible only to faster boats or those with longer itineraries. One of the youngest islands, Isabela is located on the western edge of the archipelago near the Galapagos hot spot. At approximately 1 million years old, the island was formed by the merger of 6 shield volcanoes - Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf. Five of the six volcanoes are still active (the exception is Ecuador) making it one of the most volcanically active places on earth. Visitors cruising past Elizabeth Bay on the west coast can see evidence of this activity in the fumaroles rising from Volcan Chico on Sierra Negra. Two of Isabela's volcanoes lie directly on the equator - Ecuador and Volcan Wolf. Volcan Wolf is the youngest of Isabela's volcanoes and at 5,600ft (1707 m) the highest point in the Galapagos. Isabela is known for its geology, providing visitors with excellent examples of the geologic occurrences that have created the Galapagos Islands including uplifts at Urbina Bay and the Bolivar Channel, Tuft cones at Tagus Cove, and Pulmace on Alcedo. Isabela is also interesting for its flora and fauna. The young island does not follow the vegetation zones of the other islands. The relatively new lava fields and surrounding soils have not developed the sufficient nutrients required to support the varied life zones found on other islands. Another obvious difference occurs on Volcan Wolf and Cerro Azul, these volcanoes loft above the cloud cover and are arid on top. Isabela's rich animal, bird, and marine life is beyond compare. Isabela is home to more wild tortoises than all the other islands. Isabela's large size and notable topography created barriers for the slow moving tortoises; apparently the creatures were unable to cross lava flows and other obstacles, causing several different sub-species of tortoise to develop. Today tortoises roam free in the calderas of Alcedo, Wolf, Cerro Azul, Darwin and Sierra Negra. Alcedo Tortoises spend most of their life wallowing in the mud at the volcano crater. The mud offers moisture, insulation and protects their exposed flesh from mosquitoes, ticks and other insects. The giant tortoises have a mediocre heat control system requiring them to seek the coolness of the mud during the heat of the day and the extra insulation during the cool of the night. On the west coast of Isabela the nutrient rich Cromwell Current upwelling creating a feeding ground for fish, whales, dolphin and birds. These waters have long been known as the best place to see whales in the Galapagos. Some 16 species of whales have been identified in the area including humpbacks, sperms, sei, minkes and orcas. During the 19th century whalers hunted in these waters until the giant creatures were near extinction. The steep cliffs of Tagus Cove bare the names of many of the whaling ships and whalers which hunted in these waters. Birders will be delighted with the offerings of Isabela. Galapagos Penguins and flightless cormorants also feed from the Cromwell Current upwelling. These endemic birds nest along the coast of Isabela and neighboring Fernandina. The mangrove finch, Galapagos Hawk, brown pelican, pink flamingo and blue heron are among the birds who make their home on Isabela. A colorful part to any tour located on the western shore of Isabela, Punta Moreno is often the first or last stopping point on the island (depending on the direction the boat is heading). Punta Moreno is a place where the forces of the Galapagos have joined to create a work of art. The tour starts with a panga ride along the beautiful rocky shores where Galapagos penguins and shore birds are frequently seen. After a dry landing the path traverses through jagged black lava rock. As the swirling black lava flow gave way to form craters, crystal tide pools formed-some surrounded by mangroves. This is a magnet for small blue lagoons, pink flamingos, blue herons, and Bahama pintail ducks. Brown pelican can be seen nesting in the green leaves of the mangroves. You can walk to the edge of the lava to look straight down on these pools including the occasional green sea turtle, white-tipped shark and puffer fish. This idyllic setting has suffered from the presence of introduced species. Feral dogs in the area are known to attack sea Lions and marine iguanas.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.
Spectators from Ability First wait for the arrival of the space shuttle Endeavour as it is maneuvered through the streets of Inglewood on its way to its new home at the California Science Center, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. Endeavour, built as a replacement for space shuttle Challenger, completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit, and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles. Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the CSC’s Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, embarking on its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.
One of the amazingly colourful Marine Iguanas from Suarez Point on Espanola
Marine Iguana
The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches. On his visit to the islands, Charles Darwin was revolted by the animals' appearance, writing “The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.” In fact, Amblyrhynchus cristatus is not always black; the young have a lighter coloured dorsal stripe, and some adult specimens are grey. The reason for the sombre tones is that the species must rapidly absorb heat to minimize the period of lethargy after emerging from the water. They feed almost exclusively on marine algae, expelling the excess salt from nasal glands while basking in the sun, and the coating of salt can make their faces appear white. In adult males, coloration varies with the season. Breeding-season adult males on the southern islands are the most colorful and will acquire reddish and teal-green colors, while on Santa Cruz they are brick red and black, and on Fernandina they are brick red and dull greenish. Another difference between the iguanas is size, which is different depending on the island the individual iguana inhabits. The iguanas living on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela (named for the famous rulers of Spain) are the largest found anywhere in the Galápagos. On the other end of the spectrum, the smallest iguanas are found on the island on Genovesa. Adult males are approximately 1.3 m long, females 0.6 m, males weigh up to 1.5 kg. On land, the marine iguana is rather a clumsy animal, but in the water it is a graceful swimmer, using its powerful tail to propel itself. As an exothermic animal, the marine iguana can spend only a limited time in the cold sea, where it dives for algae. However, by swimming only in the shallow waters around the island they are able to survive single dives of up to half an hour at depths of more than 15 m. After these dives, they return to their territory to bask in the sun and warm up again. When cold, the iguana is unable to move effectively, making them vulnerable to predation, so they become highly aggressive before heating up (since they are unable to run away they try to bite attackers in this state). During the breeding season, males become highly territorial. The males assemble large groups of females to mate with, and guard them against other male iguanas. However, at other times the species is only aggressive when cold. Marine iguanas have also been found to change their size to adapt to varying food conditions. During El Niño conditions when the algae that the iguanas feed on was scarce for a period of two years, some were found to decrease their length by as much as 20%. When food conditions returned to normal, the iguanas returned to their pre-famine size. It is speculated that the bones of the iguanas actually shorten as a shrinkage of connective tissue could only account for a 10% length change. Researchers theorize that land and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor since arriving on the islands from South America, presumably by driftwood. It is thought that the ancestral species inhabited a part of the volcanic archipelago that is now submerged. A second school of thought holds that the Marine iguana may have evolved from a now extinct family of seagoing reptiles. Its generic name, Amblyrhynchus, is a combination of two Greek words, Ambly- from Amblus meaning "blunt" and rhynchus meaning "snout". Its specific name is the Latin word cristatus meaning "crested," and refers to the low crest of spines along the animal's back. Amblyrhynchus is a monotypic genus in that Amblyrhynchus cristatus is the only species which belongs to it at this point in time. This species is completely protected under the laws of Ecuador. El Niño effects cause periodic declines in population, with high mortality, and the marine iguana is threatened by predation by exotic species. The total population size is unknown, but is, according to IUCN, at least 50,000, and estimates from the Charles Darwin Research Station are in the hundreds of thousands. The marine iguanas have not evolved to combat newer predators. Therefore, cats and dogs eat both the young iguanas and dogs will kill adults due to the iguanas' slow reflex times and tameness. Dogs are especially common around human settlements and can cause tremendous predation. Cats are also common in towns, but they also occur in numbers in remote areas where they take a toll on iguanas.
Espanola (Suarez Point)
Approximately a 10-12 hour trip from Santa Cruz, Española is the oldest and the southernmost island in the chain. The trip across open waters can be quite rough especially during August and September. Española's remote location helped make it a unique jewel with a large number of endemic creatures. Secluded from the other islands, wildlife on Española adapted to the island's environment and natural resources. The subspecies of Marine iguana from Española are the only ones that change color during breeding season. Normally, marine iguanas are black in color, a camouflage, making it difficult for predators to differentiate between the iguanas and the black lava rocks where they live. On Española adult marine iguanas are brightly colored with a reddish tint except during mating season when their color changes to more of a greenish shade. The Hood Mockingbird is also endemic to the island. These brazen birds have no fear of man and frequently land on visitors heads and shoulders searching for food. The Hood Mockingbird is slightly larger than other mockingbirds found in the Galapagos; its beak is longer and has a more curved shape. The Hood Mockingbird is the only carnivorous one of the species feeding on a variety of insects, turtle hatchlings and sea lion placentas. Wildlife is the highlight of Española and the star of the show is the waved albatross. The island's steep cliffs serve as the perfect runways for these large birds which take off for their ocean feeding grounds near the mainland of Ecuador and Peru abandoning the island between January and March. Known as endemic to the island, Española is the waved albatross's only nesting place. Each April the males return to Española followed shortly thereafter by the females. Mating for life, their ritual begins with the male's annual dance to re-attract his mate. The performance can take up to 5 days consisting of a series of strutting, honking, and beak fencing. Once the pair is reacquainted they produce a single egg and share the responsibility of incubation. The colony remains based on Española until December when the chick is fully grown. By January most of the colony leaves the island to fish along the Humboldt Current. Young albatross do not return to Española until their 4th or 5th year when they return to seek a mate. Geographically Española is a classic example of a shield volcano, created from a single caldera in the center of the island. Over the years as the island has moved further away from the hot spot, the volcano became extinct and erosion began to occur. Española's two visitor sites offer an exceptional island visit. Punta Suarez is one of the highlights of the Galapagos Islands. The variety and quantity of wildlife assures a memorable visit. Visitors find migrant, resident, and endemic wildlife including brightly colored Marine Iguanas, Española Lava Lizards, Hood Mockingbirds, Swallow Tailed Gulls, Blue Footed and Masked Boobies, Galapagos Hawks, a selection of Finch, and the Waved Albatross.Found on the western tip of Española, Punta Suarez offers great wildlife such as sea lions, sea birds and the largest marine iguanas of Galapagos. This is one of the best sites in the Galapagos. The amount of wildlife is overwhelming. Along the beach there are many sea lions and large, colorful lava lizards and marine iguanas. As you follow the trail to the cliff's edge masked boobies can be found nesting among the rock formations. After a short walk down to a beach and back up the other side blue-footed boobies are seen nesting just off the trail. The Galapagos Dove and very friendly Hood Mockingbird are commonly found in this area. The nearby bushes are frequently home to the large-cactus finch, warbler finch, small-ground finch and large-billed flycatcher. Continuing down the trail you come to the only place where waved albatross nest in the islands. Some 12,000 pairs nest on Española each year. The feeling is very dramatic and it seems like a desolate wilderness as the waves crash on the jagged cliffs below and the blowhole shoots water 50-70 feet/15-30 meters into the air. The sky above is full of sea birds including red-billed tropicbirds, American Oystercatchers, swallow-tailed gulls, and Audubon's Shearwaters.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
"[Barrel racing] combines the horse's athletic ability and the horsemanship skills of a rider in order to safely and successfully maneuver a horse through a clover leaf pattern around three barrels (typically three fifty-five gallon metal or plastic drums) placed in a triangle in the center of an arena." Wikipedia
I am always impressed watching these cowgirls in the Barrel racing competition. And these horses can easily cost over $60,000. I have a lot of respect for their skill. I can ride, but I can't ride anywhere near this level. But I do hold on the the saddle horn like this when I gallop :)
The Parada del Sol Rodeo is held annually in the Equidome at Westworld in Scottsdale. The 56th Annual Parada del Sol Rodeo was a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association ( PRCA ) Sanctioned Rodeo. Each performance consisted of bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, team roping, tie-down roping, barrel racing, steer wrestling and bull riding.
Ride Martina McBride
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pmn7MhNXw0
Life is a roller coaster ride
Time Turns the Wheel and Love Collides
Faith is believing you can close your eyes and touch the sky.
so Shine while you have the chance to shine
Laugh even when you want to cry
Hold on tight to what you feel inside and ride...
Ride, ride
So shine while you have the chance to shine
Laugh even when you want to cry
Hold on tight to what you feel inside and ride
John Lidstone starting to set up the lodge room.
This evening I have the pleasure to attempt to explain the Holy Royal Arch, The reason for its being and the arrangement of the Chapter Room. I will try to do this to the best of my ability.
First, let me explain that the Supreme Degree of the Holy Royal Arch is the completion of the M.M°. In the M.M°., they inform us that something is lost. Surely then, to the thinking man he must wonder, what is that which is lost. In the Royal Arch that which is lost is found. When the candidate has taken the obligation, a brief history of the R.A., degree, follows which sets the stage for the remainder of the ceremony. Briefly the history is as follows: 400 years after the completion of the Temple by King Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre and Hiram Abiff; the Army of the King of Babylon destroyed this Temple. They took the Jews, except the menial class, into captivity to Babylon. There they were to remain for 70 years.
At the end of this period, a Prince of the House of Judah, by the name of Zerrubable, convinced Cyrus, then King of Persia to release the captives. Let them return to Jerusalem, there to rebuild the Temple. King Cyrus, with the Lords help, agrees. The candidates represent men who arrive late, seeking a chance to help rebuild the Temple. They tested them, obligated them and then allowed them to enter the Chapter Room. Here they meet four obstacles. Four veils represent these obstacles, which are coloured, blue, purple, scarlet and white. Each veil has its own Scripture Lesson. The candidates having proven themselves worthy are admitted, and make known their request to help rebuild the Temple.
They tell them that due to their lateness, the only job available is clearing away the rubble, for the foundations. They agree and in carrying out their task, they find a cave in which they make an important discovery. This discovery is found later in the ceremony to be that which is lost in the M.M°.
The form of the Chapter Room is as you see it here this evening. The Three Principals sit in the EAST. They represent the Copestone of an Arch, i.e., that stone that holds the whole building together. It is to them that the Companions look for light and instruction. You will note six lights, the larger lights placed as an equilateral triangle, the three smaller bisecting the lines of the larger. Thus forming four smaller, but equal, equilateral triangles. These triangles represent the four divisions of Masonry, viz. E.A., F.C., M.M., and Holy Royal Arch.
The Twelve banners seen in the Chapter Room, represent the bearings of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, each with their own lessons. The four large banners in the East represent the four divisions of the army of Israel. They consist of a Man, a Lion, and Ox and an Eagle. Christianity adopted these four to represent the four evangelists: The Man shows the humanity of St. Matthew’s Gospel; The Lion the strength and power of St. Mark; the Ox represents the docility and the gentleness of St. Luke; while St. John, whose gospel reaches to greater heights than the others, is aptly represented by the highest flyer of all birds, the Eagle.
The V.O.T.S.L., square and compass remind the Companions of their Craft lodge affiliation and the Truth and Justice of God. The sword and trowel remind us of the trials and tribulations suffered by those who rebuilt the Temple. Their enemies were everywhere and they must be prepared to defend themselves always. These tools also remind us to pay due obedience to lawful authority and to resist lawless violence.
The sojourners used the pick, shovel and crowbar to clear away the rubble to make a place for the foundations of the Temple. This means to us to clear away the accumulation of ignorance and vice in our own selves. That we may build our own bodily Temple of Morality and Truth. Our ancient brethren considered the triangle on the V.S.L., as a most sacred emblem, it is also the emblem of the Deity.
The whole purpose of the Holy Royal Arch is to make its members wiser, happier, and to encourage them to practice the virtues of, Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. Based on the principals brought to us in the V.O.T.S.L..
If they ask the question, “Why did the Royal Arch Appear?”, the answer is that a further ceremony, or a separate “Fourth Grade,” was inevitable, and our knowledge of the evolution can best explain this of the three Craft Degrees. If we go back as far as we dare in English Masonic History, to the point where they were evolving the separate grades or degrees. It is almost certain, that the first Masonic ceremony was designed for the Fellow or Fellow-craft, i.e., the fully trained Craftsman.
The system of apprenticeship in England makes its first appearance in the 1200s and it is safe to assume that the next degree evolved an admission ceremony for Apprentices. At this stage, and up to the late 1600s, it is certain that the Craft had no more than two admission ceremonies. One Degree for the Apprentice, or Entered Apprentice and the other for the “Fellow Craft, or Master.” Eventually it was inevitable that there would be a demand for a separate ceremony to distinguish the Master from the Fellow Craft. Both were equal in their technical capacity. Nevertheless, the Fellow craft was an employee, and those who were fortunate enough to set up as Masters, would quite naturally have wanted a separate degree to themselves.
At this stage all three working grades had separate ceremonies, only one grade remained unrepresented. However, there was still no ceremony for the men who had presided in the lodge. That is for the Masters of the lodges; this ceremony appeared around 1740. This is, of course, an over simplification of the whole story and it represents my own opinions. It is based on historical foundations and the dates mentioned are supported by documentary evidence1.
The origins of the R.A. ceremony.
If we exclude the minor details, the main body of the Royal Arch Ceremony is based upon two separate stories.
The true Biblical story describing the return from Babylon and the building of the Second Temple.
The ancient legend describing the discovery of a Vault, the Altar and the Sacred Word.
Place of Origin
It is impossible to say, with certainty, that the R.A. took its rise in any particular country. It seems possible that the ceremony came to England from Ireland. Several of the earliest references to the R.A. are undoubtedly Irish. When they constituted the first Grand and Royal Chapter of the Royal Arch of Jerusalem (‘Moderns’) in July 1767, The ‘Antients’, who had always counted the ceremony as the ‘root, heart and marrow of Masonry’, had not realized the need for a separate controlling body. Their Grand Chapter minutes begin in 1782, after a series of resolutions in their Grand Lodge in December 1771.
Masonry grew by change. It is still changing, right under our very noses. Furthermore, it will continue to change, even after we have all passed on.
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. The Aswan Dam was built in Egypt in 1967. It was expected that it would prevent the flooding of the Nile, and produce hydroelectric power. Which it did, but along with the change in the normal flow of the waters came such evils as the loss of the rich silt which for centuries had fertilized the valley. Nutrients were lost with a 97% drop in the local sardine industry. It is estimated that the losses to Egypt due to the Aswan Dam amount to some 550 million dollars per year. Unpredictable results have also happened in Freemasonry. Some adopted changes have proved to be beneficial to the Craft, whereas others have been unexpectedly questionable. The point is that each one of us, one of these days, will be called upon to decide whether to accept or reject some proposed change in our Institution. The decision should be made knowingly, intelligently, and not emotionally. To do so one must be acquainted with the Story of Freemasonry’s evolution, and understand its present structure and mission. It was Confucius who gave the advice “Study the past if you would divine the future. “
As an object lesson two innovations in Masonry can be reviewed, one in America, the other in England. Several American Masonic Jurisdictions sent delegates to the 1843 Baltimore Convention. One of the innovations there adopted was that lodge business should be transacted only in a Master Mason’s lodge. The purpose, apparently, was to block impostors. But the result was that Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts were excluded from lodge membership. For instance, Holland Lodge, when under the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, conducted its business in an Entered Apprentice Lodge. Fortunately, some jurisdictions are at this moment attempting to correct that misguided resolution.
In England, in the year 1730, there appeared an Exposure called Masonry Dissected, which proved so very popular that many non-Masons bought the six-pence booklet, learned the secrets, and clandestinely conferred degrees for profit. Grand Lodge was very disturbed and reacted by transposing the words of the two Degrees, the purpose being to make it possible to detect impostors. Unfortunately, other results developed. The Grand Lodge, founded only some fifteen years previously, had limited powers. Some lodges in the City of London and the provinces disagreed with the transposition and began, with recent Irish and Scottish immigrants to form irregular lodges which culminated in the creation of a new Grand Lodge of their own, referred to as the Antients.
“ This new Grand Lodge, under the leadership of its ambitious and pugnacious Grand Secretary, Bro. Laurence Dermott, introduced ceremonial items that emphasized the gap that was to exist between the two Grand Jurisdictions and give the Antients a supposed superiority over the Premier Grand Lodge The first change was to keep the Words of the First Two Degrees in their original order. Secondly, they adopted a new Substitute Word for the Lost Word of a Master Mason. In the third place, they introduced an esoteric portion called the “Inner Working” into the Installation Ceremony. And finally, the biggest innovation in 18th century Freemasonry was the grafting of the Royal Arch as a fourth degree on to Ancient Craft Masonry.
It seems, therefore, that the Premier Grand Lodge’s decision to transpose the words of the first two degrees unwittingly contributed to the start of the rift in the English Craft, which lasted well over half a century. But at the same time it did afford the Antients the opportunity to bring about an almost universal adoption of Royal Arch Masonry.
Early references to Royal Arch Masonry are vague, and it is difficult to say when it became a completely separate degree and attained the full development of its present-day ritual and ceremonial. It may be taken as an accepted fact that the Royal Arch ceremony was being worked at York, London and Dublin about the year 1740 in a systematic way. There is a 1744 reference to the Royal Arch as “an organized body of men who have passed the chair.” Later, in 1746, Laurence Dermott was exalted to the Royal Arch in Lodge No. 26, Dublin, Ireland shortly thereafter he emigrated to England. But the really first unchallenged dates of exaltation are 1752 in Ireland, 1753 in America, 1756 in Scotland and 1758 in England. It is of interest to note that the earliest Minutes which definitely re-cords a Royal Arch Exaltation is of “A Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons” in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The historical Minute of December 22, 1753, record that three Brethren were “Raised to the Degree of Royal Arch Mason.” By the way, one month earlier in this same lodge on November 4, 1753, George Washington had been made a Mason.
So much for a very sketchy description of the Royal Arch’s evolution and acceptance as a Degree of Masonry. The development and growth of its doctrinal content and ritual is also very hazy. There does not seem to be any evidence to support the statement made by some Masonic scholars that the Royal Arch was originally a part of a Craft Degree. The Master Mason’s Degree does not appear to have been mutilated to provide a separate and additional degree. Some students believe the Royal Arch was compiled in France as one of the many degrees created after the spread of Freemasonry to the Continent of Europe, and then “exported” back into England. However, the prominent Masonic writer, Bernard E. Jones, felt that the arranger, editor or compiler might well have been English. For, it is true, that in the years after the establishment of the 1717 Grand Lodge in London, there were those who found themselves dissatisfied with the simplicity of the teachings of the Craft and embellished it with all kinds of additional ceremonial items and degrees.
In that shadowy background from which the Three Degrees of Craft Masonry had emerged, there continued to float around several vague traditions.
There were stories of the loss and recovery of vital secrets; of two antediluvian pillars designed to carry and pre-serve the knowledge of Mankind; and in the Graham MS. of 1726 the legend of the loss of knowledge on the (natural) death of Noah. In the 16th and 17th Centuries literature introduced the idea of a Being so dread that His name was not to be mentioned; and in 1726 an advertisement referred to the necessity for a Master to understand well the Rule of Three. It has to be admitted that early references to Royal Arch Masonry are vague, and it is difficult to say when a completely separate and fully developed Degree emerged.
Although Royal Arch Masonry gained impetus and definitely established itself as a corollary of the questionable “transposition” decision made by the Premier Grand Lodge in 1730, it is also true that much distress was caused by hasty and uninformed decisions of both the Americans and British. It also seems true that the Royal Arch Degree would have eventually gained recognition and acceptance without the help of a disturbing innovation.
In conclusion, a knowledge and an understanding of Freemasonry’s past will help each individual Mason make wise decisions in the future, for the Wisdom of the Ages has already stated that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat the mis-takes of the past. The prophet Hosea (Chapter 4:6) put it this way: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
George H. T. French (Texas)
Royal Arch Magazine Winter1984 Vol 14 No 12.
It’s that time of the year for each of us to get out into the backyard and begin our preparations of tilling the ground. We must loosen the soil in order to prepare it for growing. We must then plant the seeds in order for anything, other than weeds, to grow and bear fruit. When planting the seeds, we plant them in rows. Thus, it will be easier to cull out the weak and permit the strong to grow and prosper, and the weak to strengthen themselves by our culling.
Soil needs to be fertilized for it to keep its strength. There are many ways to fertilize and enrich the soil. A weak plant, in poor soil, can prosper and become the most beautiful flower in the bed and bear the most fruit if it is properly cared for and enriched.
Do we not all take pride in these accomplishments of our work and efforts, as much as we enjoy the fruits of our labours?
Is it not time for each of us to till that soil in our communities? By our talk and actions, we begin io plant those seeds about the Masonic Fraternity throughout the community. Search out those whom we know to be strong; and those whom we believe will become the strong. If we do not till and sow the Masonic story in the community, then we will never know who can and will be the strength and pillars of our Fraternity in the future.
The young men in today’s society are looking for something in which to believe. We have that something for them. But we must make them aware of that something. Sow before them the seeds of Masonry. Then add a little fertilizer each and every day. Don’t drown them with facts or over-fertilize them with figures, but nourish them as you would your favourite rose. Let them know that they must ASK.
If you plant the seeds in fertile ground and give the proper amounts of water and fertilizer, you might be pleasantly surprised at the strong and beautiful plant that you could “raise.’
Quietly let them know that Masonry is not a “Secret Society,” nor is it a “Religious Club”; but till the soil by letting them know that we are a Fraternity built upon moral lessons taken from the Bible which we teach through allegory or plays.
Answer all of their questions, honestly. And if you do not know the answer to a particular question, tell them so, but that you will seek out the answer for them from some Brother more knowledgeable than yourself. By all means let them know you are a Mason and proud of it.
It is not time for each of us to break the hold, that the long habits of folly have held us in its grip, and till the soil by speaking freely about the Fraternity? Nurture and enrich the soil by not hiding your pride in being a Mason.
Sow the work add a little sprinkling of facts and carefully add your fertilizer of knowledge. Watch with pride, as the Fraternity Grows and Prospers for the Beautification of the World, Our Community.
Paul C. Howell, Grand High Priest of Michigan
"He's a quiet person, whether it's practice or the game,'' coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's just a worker. He's kind of like E.F. Hutton: When he speaks, everybody listens."
Johnson quietly has become one of the top receivers in the NFL in his six seasons with the Texans. Johnson has caught passes in 48 consecutive games and he's caught at least one pass in 82 of 83 career games. Johnson surpassed the 100-catch mark for the second time in his career.
Kubiak is always trying to find ways to tap into Johnson's talent.
"I carry a little sheet with me in the back of my pocket, I've done it for years,'' Kubiak said. "How do you get 'X' the ball, how to get 'Z' the ball, how to get 'Y' the ball. Believe me, his list is long."
Kubiak might appreciate Johnson's unselfishness more than his talent.
"The reason he is so special is because I can move him all over the place and it doesn't bother him," Kubiak said. "There are some players that you ask them to play too many spots and they get bogged down. He says, 'Where do you want me to go? I'll play inside, outside. I'll do whatever you want me to do.'"
As the seconds ticked down in the game and it was obvious the Texans had pulled off the upset, Johnson was among the most excited players on the field, jumping up and down and hugging teammates. Quarterback Matt Schaub, in his second season with the Texans, understands Johnson's elation.
"I can understand all the tough years he's been here and he can sense that times are changing and headed in the right direction with him and Chester Pitts and Petey (Faggins) and Kris Brown," Schaub said. "You can sense the excitement."
Johnson was the Texans' first-round pick in 2003. Pitts, Faggins and Brown are original Texans.
Schaub and Johnson have become a lethal pass-catch combination.
"He has that big-play ability, a way to spark us and to get a big catch," Schaub said. "He did that numerous times for us today. He just brings a lot of excitement and energy to our team when he goes up like he did on the go route and catches the ball over 31's (Cortland Finnigan) head.
"He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's always something important and we always listen. It doesn't happen very often. We're all thankful for the guys on this team. That's the kind of bond that we have."
The season has been big for character building. The Texans lost their first four games after entering the season with hopes of making the playoffs.
"There's been a lot of frustration at the beginning of the season," Johnson said. "I've talked about it. I put that all behind me. I said to myself before that Colts game I'm going out to do whatever I have to do to help this team win.
"It's been a long road. I didn't think it would take this long when I first got here. We've grown and learned a lot about ourselves and now we're starting to see that we're starting to find our niche."
Andre Johnson was amazing enough on the field Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. He did something even more astounding in the postgame locker room: He spoke.
Johnson, the quiet leader of the team, caught 11 passes for a club-record 207 yards, scored one touchdown and was the driving force in the Texans' 13-12 victory that snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Titans.
Then, he reminded his teammates how far they'd come this season to win four games in a row for the first time in franchise history, and just how thankful they are to have each other and how far they've come together.
"The week after Thanksgiving everyone was talking about what they were thankful for in the chapel service," Johnson said. "It was shocking to me because other than the guys' kids or family, the first thing that came out of their mouths was this team."
That's what Johnson wanted to remind his teammates Sunday.
"I was just telling everybody about that, even the ones who weren't there (at the chapel service), I was letting them know that the guys here are thankful for their teammates," Johnson said. "I think it's been shown over the past month that guys are giving it up for the team. It's not about one guy. It's about everybody. We've been able to go out and get the job done."
The Texans' closeness proved a winning formula again on Sunday. After a frustrating loss to Indianapolis that could have pulled the team apart, the Texans beat Cleveland on the road, Jacksonville on Monday Night Football, the Packers in frigid Lambeau Field and now they've whipped the team with the best record in the NFL.
And no one gets more credit for the Texans' surge than Johnson.
Andre Johnson was amazing enough on the field Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. He did something even more astounding in the postgame locker room: He spoke.
Johnson, the quiet leader of the team, caught 11 passes for a club-record 207 yards, scored one touchdown and was the driving force in the Texans' 13-12 victory that snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Titans.
Then, he reminded his teammates how far they'd come this season to win four games in a row for the first time in franchise history, and just how thankful they are to have each other and how far they've come together.
"The week after Thanksgiving everyone was talking about what they were thankful for in the chapel service," Johnson said. "It was shocking to me because other than the guys' kids or family, the first thing that came out of their mouths was this team."
That's what Johnson wanted to remind his teammates Sunday.
"I was just telling everybody about that, even the ones who weren't there (at the chapel service), I was letting them know that the guys here are thankful for their teammates," Johnson said. "I think it's been shown over the past month that guys are giving it up for the team. It's not about one guy. It's about everybody. We've been able to go out and get the job done."
The Texans' closeness proved a winning formula again on Sunday. After a frustrating loss to Indianapolis that could have pulled the team apart, the Texans beat Cleveland on the road, Jacksonville on Monday Night Football, the Packers in frigid Lambeau Field and now they've whipped the team with the best record in the NFL.
And no one gets more credit for the Texans' surge than Johnson.
"He's a quiet person, whether it's practice or the game,'' coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's just a worker. He's kind of like E.F. Hutton: When he speaks, everybody listens."
Johnson quietly has become one of the top receivers in the NFL in his six seasons with the Texans. Johnson has caught passes in 48 consecutive games and he's caught at least one pass in 82 of 83 career games. Johnson surpassed the 100-catch mark for the second time in his career.
Kubiak is always trying to find ways to tap into Johnson's talent.
"I carry a little sheet with me in the back of my pocket, I've done it for years,'' Kubiak said. "How do you get 'X' the ball, how to get 'Z' the ball, how to get 'Y' the ball. Believe me, his list is long."
Kubiak might appreciate Johnson's unselfishness more than his talent.
"The reason he is so special is because I can move him all over the place and it doesn't bother him," Kubiak said. "There are some players that you ask them to play too many spots and they get bogged down. He says, 'Where do you want me to go? I'll play inside, outside. I'll do whatever you want me to do.'"
As the seconds ticked down in the game and it was obvious the Texans had pulled off the upset, Johnson was among the most excited players on the field, jumping up and down and hugging teammates. Quarterback Matt Schaub, in his second season with the Texans, understands Johnson's elation.
"I can understand all the tough years he's been here and he can sense that times are changing and headed in the right direction with him and Chester Pitts and Petey (Faggins) and Kris Brown," Schaub said. "You can sense the excitement."
Johnson was the Texans' first-round pick in 2003. Pitts, Faggins and Brown are original Texans.
Schaub and Johnson have become a lethal pass-catch combination.
"He has that big-play ability, a way to spark us and to get a big catch," Schaub said. "He did that numerous times for us today. He just brings a lot of excitement and energy to our team when he goes up like he did on the go route and catches the ball over 31's (Cortland Finnigan) head.
"He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's always something important and we always listen. It doesn't happen very often. We're all thankful for the guys on this team. That's the kind of bond that we have."
The season has been big for character building. The Texans lost their first four games after entering the season with hopes of making the playoffs.
"There's been a lot of frustration at the beginning of the season," Johnson said. "I've talked about it. I put that all behind me. I said to myself before that Colts game I'm going out to do whatever I have to do to help this team win.
"It's been a long road. I didn't think it would take this long when I first got here. We've grown and learned a lot about ourselves and now we're starting to see that we're starting to find our niche."
Nothing can ruin the plans of a pilot skimming the earth at 120 knots in pitch darkness like an unseen power line. Except maybe an insurgent with a rocket propelled grenade or the myriad other things that threaten low-flying helicopters.
One of the U.S. Army’s most fearsome weapons, the AH-64A Apache attack helicopter is really only as good as its ability to evade or destroy the dangers that lurk on nighttime battlefields. Now the Apache’s original Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system is being replaced with the most advanced technology available, Lockheed Martin’s Arrowhead Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS), or simply Arrowhead.
In 2000, the Army awarded a $78.5 million development contract to Lockheed Martin and Apache manufacturer Boeing to begin the Arrowhead upgrade, and deliveries began in 2005. Last June, Lockheed Martin was awarded the Lot 3 follow-on production contract, valued at $385 million. Work is being performed by the company’s Missiles and Fire Control unit in Orlando and Ocala, Fla. As of this year, $925 million had been committed for the U.S. Arrowhead program, with a Lot 4 contract expected this month.
The Army requires 704 Arrowhead systems, which are being installed in theater. Four battalions are scheduled to be equipped by the end of 2008, and 10 by the end of 2010. Fielding will be completed to the Longbow Apache fleet by 2011, according to the Army.
The system will be installed on British AH Mk 1 Apaches beginning in 2009, and Arrowhead is the sensor of choice for the Apache Longbow Block III upgrade, slated to begin production in 2011.
Descended from the sensor suite of the canceled RAH-66 Comanche scout helicopter program, the Arrowhead M-TADS/PNVS provides significant improvements over the current Apache FLIR in all areas. It has received rave reviews from the first Arrowhead-equipped Apache battalion, which has been putting the system to the test in Iraq. The Army says Arrowhead is the number one requested upgrade from Apache users.
With Arrowhead, pilots can see better and further at night than ever before, more than double the range of the legacy system. In fact, Apache crews can finally see further at night than the range of their weapons, allowing them to strike from the same standoff distances they would enjoy during the day. Spotting wires and power lines or insurgents crouching in doorways is also much easier.
The whole of the improvement is greater than the sum of its parts because Arrowhead drastically reduces the intense pucker factor associated with maneuvering a helicopter in the dark while man and nature conspire to kill you.
"The crews are much more relaxed and they can stay in the seat for six or seven hours now, whereas with the first generation system, which was designed back in the 70s, you’d fly a two-hour mission and you were pretty much soaked through your flight suit just from the stress," said Bob Gunning, Lockheed Martin’s Apache Fire Control program director. In Iraq, he said, some Arrowhead-equipped Apache pilots are logging as many as 100 flying hours per month, more than most airline pilots.
Maintainers are as pleased with the new system as the pilots, says the Army. Arrowhead’s modularity and vastly improved reliability have taken the pressure off crew chiefs and eliminated one of three levels of maintenance, saving nearly $1 billion in operation and support costs over the system’s 20-year life, according to Lockheed Martin.
When Arrowhead components fail, which occurs less frequently than with the legacy system, maintainers quickly locate the problem with the system’s built-in diagnostics. They then replace the bad part right on the flight line. Broken modules are shipped back to Lockheed Martin for repair and returned to the unit in 15 days on average.
"They’re setting records for flying hours with the new systems because they can," Gunning said. "The pilots can handle it better and it’s a lot less maintenance and consequently it’s a lot less operational support cost for the Army."
Second generation
Widely used on a variety of ground vehicles, ships and aircraft, FLIRs work by sensing temperature differences. Everything radiates heat in the infrared spectrum, and FLIRs build images by comparing the objects’ heat to their background. The heart of the system is an array of detector elements which is cooled to 67 degrees Kelvin (-339 Fahrenheit). The focal array, made up of photon-gathering units called detectors or pixels, looks at the world through a set of optics similar to a telescope. Because the array is so cold, it is extremely sensitive to differences in temperature. The FLIR unit electronically takes data gathered by the detectors, runs it through an image processor and then displays it to the user.
First generation arrays, built in the 1980s, had one row of anywhere from 120 to 180 detectors. The system scanned across the detectors, picking up light from each one to build a picture. These first-generation systems operated in the 8-to-12 micron part of the electromagnetic spectrum, considered long-wave for infrared. Second-generation systems, also long-wave and scanning, came out in the 1990s with four sets of 480 detectors.
To illustrate the improvement, the first-generation Apache system had a one-by-180 array, which the scanner swept across as many times as necessary to build a composite picture. The second-generation system has a four-by-480 array (1920 pixels), which alone accounts for 20 times greater resolution without counting Arrowhead’s improved optics, image processing and other features.
Arrowhead’s detector assembly was originally designed by the Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate to satisfy Comanche’s tough requirements. Gunning calls it the most advanced detector in production.
While night-vision experts dispute the exact definition of third generation, FLIRs have continued an evolutionary development since the second generation with more pixel-dense arrays (640 x 480 is becoming more common), mid-wave length light gathering and staring technology that gathers light like a video camera instead of scanning across the array.
Scanning allows Arrowhead to optimize the sensitivity of a scene for targeting application and the resolution of the scene for pilotage applications.
"The pilot at the controls needs to see wires, whereas the targeting guy needs to have higher sensitivity to pick out a man that’s hiding in the doorway of a building," Gunning said.
Arrowhead offers the co-pilot/gunner, who sits in the front seat of the Apache, a wide, medium and narrow field of view for finding, identifying and engaging targets. In the narrow field, there is an electronic zoom for zeroing in on human-sized targets, a plus in Iraq. The pilotage sensor has one-to-one magnification.
When moving into or out of a combat area, the co-pilot typically puts his M-TADS sensor in the wide field of view to help the flying pilot navigate and dodge obstacles. Each Arrowhead sensor is gimbaled to slew wherever its pilot is looking, so the crewmen can swivel their heads in opposite directions. Pilots have three options for viewing FLIR imagery: the Apache’s Multi-Function Display and Integrated Helmet Display Sighting System and Arrowhead’s new Target Acquisition Designation Sight Electronic Display and Control (TEDAC).
In contrast to the two older displays, TEDAC is a high-definition screen without which crews would be unable to receive the full benefit of Arrowhead’s vision. The Apache program office is upgrading the helmet display so it can optimally display the new imagery, an upgrade that should be fielded in a year.
Lockheed Martin also has completed the development of a low-light television camera that it has been evaluating with the Night Vision lab. The low-light camera, which looks in the visible spectrum, would pick up city lights, tower lights and other urban illumination that the FLIR, which only sees heat, might not see.
The low-light imagery will be blended with the FLIR so the pilot can simultaneously see both spectra, a big plus in an urban combat situation. The system has already been flight-tested, and Gunning said the Army was pleased with the results. If given the go ahead, he said the company can field the low-light camera as a spiral development in 18 to 20 months.
Lockheed Martin also wants to fuse the targeting imagery from Arrowhead with the Longbow fire-control radar, the cheese-shaped radome perched above the Apache’s main rotor hub, which the company also makes. Longbow can detect motion and identify targets. Currently, the radar cues the pilot if it finds a threat and the pilot looks for the threat. With image fusion, the system would help the pilot find things he might otherwise have missed.
For example, the radar would point out a threat to the FLIR, which automatically would slew to place the threat in the pilot’s crosshairs.
The night vision community now is pursuing 1000-by-1000 pixel arrays. That incredibly high level of resolution will pose tough image-processing challenges, but prototypes are already available, and Gunning said he expects to see these kinds of third-generation systems fielded in the next 10 years.
While the hardware improvements are impressive, they are worth little without the software to rapidly process the vast amounts of data they gather.
"The biggest and most dramatic improvements have come in the software algorithms that do the actual image processing," Gunning said. "We’ve got a team of guys who have probably half a dozen patents for things that are in the Arrowhead system."
The ultimate goal for FLIR is to completely break down the differences between night and day, and do it in living color. That day will come, say industry sources, with systems that are increasingly reliable without being heavier or bulkier.
"The pressure on cost and weight and size that we had on day one in the 1980s is every bit as intense today. That is the universal constant," said Jeff McConnell, business development manager with Raytheon. "And there are great reliability expectations with the product that are being fulfilled."
FLIR Use Spans Services
Although the AH-64D is the only helicopter in the U.S. Army’s conventional fleet with a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, the cameras are standard equipment for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The Air Force’s HH-60G Pave Hawk and MH-53 Pave Low III helicopters are equipped with FLIRs, as will be the service’s CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor. In the Navy and Marines, the MH-60R and S Seahawk, MV-22 Osprey and CH-53E Sea Dragon have FLIR cameras. FLIRs are proving their value in the Iraq theater, where the Marine Corps’ giant CH-53E cargo helicopters have been equipped with Raytheon’s AN/AAQ-29 system.
The systems are saving lives in Iraq because of the huge improvement they provide in situational awareness, said a spokesman at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md.
People in industry see a rising demand for these systems considering the improvement of FLIR technologies, more affordable prices thanks to better manufacturing techniques, and the simple fact that having FLIR on board virtually eliminates the possibility of flying into terrain or wires.
"I think we’re going to see, certainly in the military area, there’s not going to be a platform out there that doesn’t have capability like this," said Jeff McConnell, business development manager with Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.
McConnell said he sees the opportunity extending to even light utility helicopters that typically are not in harm’s way and traditionally have not been considered candidates for FLIR packages.
The Army has been so impressed with Arrowhead that Lockheed Martin is marketing a scaled-down version for the service’s cargo and utility helicopters, a system known as the Pathfinder Pilotage Sensor. Lockheed Martin developed the system from the Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS) side of the Arrowhead program, said Bob Gunning, Lockheed Martin’s Apache Fire Control program director.
Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters are not getting any cheaper, and many of the accidents that destroy or damage them could be avoided with a pilotage FLIR, Gunning said.
Pathfinder is being marketed as an appliqué system that can be mounted easily without altering the system software or operational flight programs of the aircraft.
Lockheed Martin and the Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, stationed at Fort Belvoir, Va., planned to begin flight demonstrations in January with Pathfinder on a UH-1 Huey.
Montblanc Wrist Watch wall display case.
Chronograph - Nicholas Rieussec time piece.
Swiss made.
Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Automatic Watch Review
WRIST TIME REVIEWS
JANUARY 3, 2011 BY ARIEL ADAMS
This watch review is going to be a bit different than how I usually do them. Why? Because shortly before the review I was actually able to visit the manufacture making the movements of this watch. That experience offered me some special insight that allowed me to understand this timepiece more.
I know there is a lot of talk on the "manufacture" movement. In fact, a recent panel discussion I had with fellow watch expert journalists allowed me to realize that there is no strict definition of "watch manufacture" or "manufacture movement." This definitional ambiguity hurts my ability to explain things properly, but let it be said that Montblanc makes the movement in each of the Nicolas Rieussec watches themselves. Of course there is some help from suppliers, but this is about as "in-house" a job as most people want it to be. My understanding is that the components of the movements are made at the Valfleurier facility in Buttes Switzerland. The pieces are then sent to Montblanc Le Locle for assembly and testing.
What fascinated me most about the Montblanc manufacture in Le Locle Switzerland was just how modern it was. I mean it is true that many watch manufactures feel like you are in some combo of a hospital and science lab, but the machinery available to the watch makers at the Le Locle facility was impressive. I have a larger feature length article on this topic that will come out soon - but in short, when it comes to the Nicolas Rieussec line of timepieces, Montblanc relies on a clever environment that combines the human approach of watch makers with the precision assistance of machines.
A few example of this synergy between man (or woman) and machine? Here are two. One of the images here is of a machine that robotically applies lubricant to designated spots in a watch. Such lubricant must be precisely applied with an exact amount. The more consistently applied the better. While a human assembles the movement, a robot is used to apply the lubricant better and with more precision in terms of amount than any human can do consistently. Another example is a machine that allows a watch maker to adjust the screws on a balance wheel and test the accuracy of the rate in real time. Basically the machine combines a magnifier, computer controlled screw driver, and a watch movement rate tester in one. While it is operated by a person, the machine makes it easy to adjust a traditional weighted balance wheel to its most precise weight distribution in the escapement assembly.
One of my favorite images here that illustrates the culture of the manufacture is the image of the watch tools with the computer mouse. If you look closely you'll also notice the presence of a Montblanc pen. Each work station gives watchmakers a computer terminal as well as watch making tools. While I have seen this before, it certainly isn't common.
With their movements all made in Switzerland by Montblanc, the Nicolas Rieussec collection currently consists of a few watches. My main focus here is on the Automatic Chronograph that also has a GMT and date complication (that I tested). The movement is known as the R200. The two manually wound variants (with slightly different functions) are the R100, R110, and R120 (a limited edition that used a silicium escapement). I am not going to go overboard with technical details, but the movements represent an interesting medium between the ultra-high end, and mass manufactured pieces.
The R200 has a lot of impressive features on paper. Notable to the watch nerd is that it has a column wheel based chronograph that uses a vertical clutch. These features offer more durability and precision when using the chronograph. There are very few European chronographs that feature both of these features. I should also note that some of Seiko's higher-end chronograph movements also feature column wheels and vertical clutches, as do pieces by brands such as Patek Philippe and (the former) Daniel Roth. Why all the focus on the chronograph? Well that is the new signature complication of Montblanc. The brand latched on to the complication for good reason (as well as to Mr. Nicolas Rieussec). "Chronograph" literally means "time writer." What is Montblanc known for? Yes, making pens. Sound too good to be true to have a watch in your collection that is a "time writer?" So the emphasis on this complication make perfect sense. Nicolas Rieussec is guy credited with "inventing the chronograph." Montblanc adopted him.
A while ago Rieussec created a device that looks like an early seismograph. It was a clock with a stop and start function that pulled a disc of paper along a smaller writing tip. This device was the first known "chronograph." It was meant to measure time in horse races and actually "wrote." The look of the chronograph on the watch is taken from this early device. Montblanc keeps replicas of them around the manufacture for inspiration. Each Nicolas Rieussec watch uses two discs that move along stationary hands to show the chronograph time (up to 30 minutes). These are also monopusher chronographs that use a single pusher to cycle through "start, stop, and reset" functions for the chronograph. The pusher is large, easy to find, and placed at the 5 o'clock position on the watch. Don't miss the exposed synthetic palette rubies exposed on the top of the chronograph dials.
This chronograph style is the signature look of the Nicolas Rieussec collection. The time is displayed on an off-centered dial at the top of the face. While small, Montblanc really helped that dial standout and be legible. It uses that fancy looking font that you'll find on most Montblanc Star watches. I really do love that font.
On the manually-wound versions of the Nicolas Rieussec, the time dial has a third hand used for the date. On the automatic, the third had is GMT hand. Working just like you would assume, the main time hour hand can be independently adjusted to alter the time when moving through time zones when traveling. To the left of the dial is a day/night indicator linked to the GMT hand. This useful complication help you know if it is day or night on your second timezone given that it is displayed on the 12, versus 24 hour scale. Who'd a though this would turn out to be such a useful travel watch? Both time zones share the minute hand. I was generally impressed by the GMT functionality of the watch and feels that the R200 movement's use of the third hand is better than having it be a date indicator.
While the left of the dial has the day/night indicator, the right has a date wheel. For symmetry Montblanc uses a window of a similar shape, but I don't much care for "open" date windows. It also does not look spectacular with the upper and lower date being partially under the dial - though that does actually help with keeping your focus on the actual date. While the windows that flank the time dial look nice, I have a feeling Montblanc might work to revise or polish the design in future generations of the watch.
Coming in a few tones, the dial of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec is an interesting creature. It took me a while to warm up to it, but I am enjoying the design. While totally different than other collection Montblanc offers, the Nicolas Rieussec does share the brand's DNA nicely. Of course the crown has that lovely white Montblanc star, and the case is very much inspired by the Star collection. To create visual depth, the power part of the dial is partially "eclipsed" by a plate of Geneva stripe polished metal - plus, the dial looks to be made up of a few layers. The chronograph dials are covered with a sort of wish-bone like bridge that uses blued steel screws (blued steel is also used for some of the hands). This is a nice element, but I had one suggestion for Montblanc. While this might increase the cost a bit, I think it would be really welcome. The bridge is made from stamped steel. What if it could be made from milled and hand-polished steel? It would provide a wonderful visual cue and reminder that this is a hand-assembled watch. Perhaps in the future.
Let's visit the R200 movement again. It is an automatic version of the R100 with a few addition complications (as mentioned above). You can see the rotor placed over the movement, with the small Montblanc star shaped hole that is designed to pass right over the column wheel opening window. The movement has two mainspring barrels for a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement operates at 28,800bmp and can be adjusted to be very accurate. I saw a movement at the manufacture that was adjusted to operate within less than one second of deviation a day. I love that the movement combines modern technology and traditionalism. Like I said, it uses a free-weighted balance spring and column wheel, enjoys helps from highly sophisticated machinery in its assembly and manufacture.
The Nicolas Rieussec watch case is 43mm wide and 14.8mm tall. It isn't a small watch, but it does wear like a medium one. Its height is visually reduced by the highly curved lugs. Front and rear crystal are sapphire (with the front crystal having double AR coating), while it is water resistant to 30 meters.
Montblanc has assured me that their dedication to the Nicolas Rieussec collection is intense. The collection will receive more attention in the future, which is aided by the fact that the watch is a marketing success. One of the reasons for this is the pricing. While the watches aren't cheap they are more reasonable that you'd expect. The pieces come in gold, platinum, and steel. The gold models are in the $30,000 range. Not cheap, but Montblanc isn't asking for $50,000. Actually, their platinum version is about $50,000 - which in the luxury market isn't that much for a platinum watch. In steel the watch retails for about $9,200. It comes in a steel bracelet or an alligator strap (black or brown). I am told that soon Montblanc will develop a brand new metal bracelet for the Nicolas Rieussec collection.
Overall these are enjoyable watches. The Montblanc identity is a major positive, and I enjoy the visual design and functionality of the R200 movement. While unique in its looks, this is an easy watch to wear daily. Montblanc isn't making a mere collector's piece here. Designed to prevent boredom but maintain utility the Nicolas Rieussec watch collection is intended for all types of watch lovers to worn daily.
SIHH 2013 will see the release of a brand new version of the now well-known Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watch. I find it rather interesting to see how Montblanc continues to explore and expand this collection that started the in-house made Montblanc movement watch collection. Made in Le Locle, timepieces like the Nicolas Rieussec collection represent the in-house made mid-range of watches in the Montblanc collection. Above them are the Minerva Villeret produced Montblanc watches.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours evolves the design of the dial to play around with the complications once again. Gone is the second time zone, but added in is a day of the week indicator opposite the date. The off-centered time display is where the real difference can be found. Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watches typically have day/night (AM/PM) indicators, but this model offers this function in a much more beautiful way. The time dial has a normal minutes hand, but now comes with a wandering disc to indicate the hours. This is opposed to a jumping hours disc, or just an hour hand. The numerals on the hours disc are hollow, showing another disc underneath. This second disc is half dark gray and half blue. It moves under the hour indicators to indicate day or night. It is a very clever and interesting addition to the Nicolas Rieussec line.
SIHH 2013 will see the release of a brand new version of the now well-known Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watch. I find it rather interesting to see how Montblanc continues to explore and expand this collection that started the in-house made Montblanc movement watch collection. Made in Le Locle, timepieces like the Nicolas Rieussec collection represent the in-house made mid-range of watches in the Montblanc collection. Above them are the Minerva Villeret produced Montblanc watches.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours evolves the design of the dial to play around with the complications once again. Gone is the second time zone, but added in is a day of the week indicator opposite the date. The off-centered time display is where the real difference can be found. Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watches typically have day/night (AM/PM) indicators, but this model offers this function in a much more beautiful way. The time dial has a normal minutes hand, but now comes with a wandering disc to indicate the hours. This is opposed to a jumping hours disc, or just an hour hand. The numerals on the hours disc are hollow, showing another disc underneath. This second disc is half dark gray and half blue. It moves under the hour indicators to indicate day or night. It is a very clever and interesting addition to the Nicolas Rieussec line.
Like last year's version of the Nicolas Rieussec, the dial of the watch is classically decorated and very attractive. This style really does help the core design look its best. Inside the Rising Hours model is a Montblanc MB R220 automatic movement that is visible through the sapphire case back. The movement has about three days of power reserve as well as other features including the date and a monopusher 30 minute chronograph. It continues to be one of the most interesting Montblanc watches around for those looking for something non-standard.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours watch case is about 43mm wide on a strap or metal bracelet.Montblanc will offer the Rising Hours in steel, rose gold, as well as a limited edition of 28 pieces in platinum. A great looking piece, I think it is a winner, though I will have to see it in person. The skeletonized minute hand does concern me a bit as I fear it may be hard to spot on the live watches. We will be sure to check this watch out more when we get some hands-on time with it.
Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister in 2012, has seemingly turned the ability to lie into an art form.
According to others she has lied about: the dismissal of Kevin Rudd (her predecessor); the new Carbon Tax; the Education revolution; the surplus which will turn into a deficit; the promise to bring in Gambling reforms; and the list grows almost every week.
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.
When can baby go in pool - Baby has a reflex that makes it look capable of swimming, although in fact the baby is not born with the ability to swim.
Swimming with baby has the risk of drowning or swallowing a lot of water.
Physically, the baby also has not been able to hold his breath for a long time, let alone keep his head fixed above the water level.
Taking baby swimming are not recommended for a swimming program or exercise before reaching the age of at least one year, however, at least babies are allowed to enjoy playing in a water bath with their beloved parents.
For the sake of keeping this fun moment still going on safe, parents need to pay attention to some things, like when the baby can start splashing in the tub, how long and how the technique.
After six months of age, babies begin to be able to play water in a shallow pool. But keep in mind that this activity is not intended to practice real swimming skills.
When can babies swim? Children will be ready to receive real swimming lessons when they reach 3-4 years old.
Here are some techniques how to teach a baby to swim
Before starting swimming in the pool
Usually a baby with a fun shower routine to get used to the water. When bathing, sprinkle water onto his body or position himself on the surface of the water and gently move to the right or left.
You can also soak in the tub with your baby on your chest.
Once accustomed to playing water while bathing.
Father and mother can start trying to use the pool. Start with a 10-minute session, and then still be possible, try lengthening the duration to 20 minutes.
Limit the duration to a maximum of 30 minutes if the baby is under the age of one year. Babies can lose body heat faster than adults so it does not take too long in the pool.
Regarding swimming lessons for babies, there are many pros and cons about this.
For those of you who accompany babies, focus on your baby, do not believe in a false sense of security or feel all okay without bothering to determine whether it is really safe.
Experts fear parents' negligence at swimming moments together, there are indications that parents are not really worried about babies in the pool and just have a false sense of security.
In addition, swimming lessons may be traumatic for children or children can suffer from water intoxication after swallowing pool water, hypothermia or chills, skin infections, and gastrointestinal infections.
When in the pool
Hold your baby and keep it close to your body. In other words, do not let him escape our view.
When he's already enjoying himself and the more confidence, try to slightly extend the scales of the mother while gesturing herself around.
Put a happy or fun face
Throw a compliment on him, although he may not be able to understand the words of adults, the mere expression can help him feel happy and safe to play water.
Position the baby supine
With his head propped against his father's shoulder or mother to keep his head above the water. With this position, the baby will be free to kick her feet in the water while keeping the baby warm.
Put your mouth underwater
To show the baby how to blow a bubble, this is an important lesson because when he blows bubbles, water will not be inhaled. It can also be trained in every shower routine. Blow the bath toy in front of the baby so he imitates it and makes it start to blow.
Prepare before swimming
In addition to swimming techniques, parents also must be ready to stand by baby equipment before starting swimming. Here are some things that need to be prepared.
Towel
Milk bottle is warm
Snacks
Baby diapers
In addition, a study suggested being careful in swimming pools with chemicals, such as chlorine.
Actually chemicals in the pool function to inhibit bacterial growth, but according to the study, exposure to chemicals in excess can cause interference with the eyes, upper respiratory tract, and skin.
A child specialist explains that if you get to kiss the chlorine baby from the pond water, then the chlorine level is too strong for the baby. The smell of chlorine itself smelled like the smell of a typical swimming pool,
Also, make sure the baby swimming pool water temperature is warm enough. Infants under the age of six months require a water temperature of about 32 degrees Celsius, Father and mother can use a thermometer to check the temperature.
If the baby is shivering immediately remove from the pool and dressing with a towel or cloth to warm his body.
In addition, the health condition of infants before swimming should be noted as well. If the baby looks unwell, such as flu and stomach pain, do not force to swim until the condition is really healthy
more info @ www.babygifa.com
I think that the ability to really focus on the task at hand and nothing else, especially in a lively environment, is an admirable one. Today, Kire was so absorbed in his work that he didn’t even hear his name being called out a few times.
the ability to choose and arrange the rainbow's spectrum can be transformed into an intellectual motif -- the rainbow of consciousness and the explosion of the individual within the whole.
all of us are born into this social contract of humanity. we don't have any choice about this. we are raised and reared within the boundaries of these social contracts.
currently, in this part of the world, there is a loosening of the moral and religious hold on sexuality and the range of the human heart's ability to be bigger than the limited and challenging gender roles of the past.
both sexes, men and women, are starting to understand themselves inside a much greater context and understanding than we think the past afforded.
it is just one of the outgrowths of a materialized capitalistic system of social contracting.
with moving imagery and invisible worlds now firmly entrenched across the country, the powerful syndrome of "the emperor who wore no clothes" can take full effect.
in the original tale, the narrative stops short on the exclamation of a small girl child who says, "but, mommy, he's not wearing any clothes!"
and of course, the moral right and the rigid uptight sexual judgers all come down on the period with their verdict -- which really is that the emperor has been cheated and defrauded in front of everyone.
but we already know of this lesson.
so perhaps we really should be asking where our true naked leaders are -- not the one who got cheated and defrauded and paraded in front of his subjects by clever tailors. we should be asking where our naked leaders of greatness and awesomeness and full human glory might be.
we really should be considering the idea that our leaders shouldn't need to be covered up in metaphorical or physical buffers and boundaries.
but our leaders are weapons manufacturers and drug dealers and pornographers.
our leaders spread disease and pestilence and cause wars in other countries.
our leaders are not rainbow warriors. they are gold and diamond collectors. they use time and drugs to rule and reign. they use entertainment and news to delight and bemuse.
we are the fire children.
we love our energy.
but we don't worship the sun like we used to in the alleged past.
we worship ourselves.
and this worship of the self is the exploding dahlia.
we are these dahlias floating through space. and each of us explode one day.
Captured at an ability awareness service provided by SEASPAR at St. Francis Xavier School in La Grange.
One of the amazing colourful Marine Iguanas striding across the beach on Espanola.
Marine Iguana
The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches. On his visit to the islands, Charles Darwin was revolted by the animals' appearance, writing “The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.” In fact, Amblyrhynchus cristatus is not always black; the young have a lighter coloured dorsal stripe, and some adult specimens are grey. The reason for the sombre tones is that the species must rapidly absorb heat to minimize the period of lethargy after emerging from the water. They feed almost exclusively on marine algae, expelling the excess salt from nasal glands while basking in the sun, and the coating of salt can make their faces appear white. In adult males, coloration varies with the season. Breeding-season adult males on the southern islands are the most colorful and will acquire reddish and teal-green colors, while on Santa Cruz they are brick red and black, and on Fernandina they are brick red and dull greenish. Another difference between the iguanas is size, which is different depending on the island the individual iguana inhabits. The iguanas living on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela (named for the famous rulers of Spain) are the largest found anywhere in the Galápagos. On the other end of the spectrum, the smallest iguanas are found on the island on Genovesa. Adult males are approximately 1.3 m long, females 0.6 m, males weigh up to 1.5 kg. On land, the marine iguana is rather a clumsy animal, but in the water it is a graceful swimmer, using its powerful tail to propel itself. As an exothermic animal, the marine iguana can spend only a limited time in the cold sea, where it dives for algae. However, by swimming only in the shallow waters around the island they are able to survive single dives of up to half an hour at depths of more than 15 m. After these dives, they return to their territory to bask in the sun and warm up again. When cold, the iguana is unable to move effectively, making them vulnerable to predation, so they become highly aggressive before heating up (since they are unable to run away they try to bite attackers in this state). During the breeding season, males become highly territorial. The males assemble large groups of females to mate with, and guard them against other male iguanas. However, at other times the species is only aggressive when cold. Marine iguanas have also been found to change their size to adapt to varying food conditions. During El Niño conditions when the algae that the iguanas feed on was scarce for a period of two years, some were found to decrease their length by as much as 20%. When food conditions returned to normal, the iguanas returned to their pre-famine size. It is speculated that the bones of the iguanas actually shorten as a shrinkage of connective tissue could only account for a 10% length change. Researchers theorize that land and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor since arriving on the islands from South America, presumably by driftwood. It is thought that the ancestral species inhabited a part of the volcanic archipelago that is now submerged. A second school of thought holds that the Marine iguana may have evolved from a now extinct family of seagoing reptiles. Its generic name, Amblyrhynchus, is a combination of two Greek words, Ambly- from Amblus meaning "blunt" and rhynchus meaning "snout". Its specific name is the Latin word cristatus meaning "crested," and refers to the low crest of spines along the animal's back. Amblyrhynchus is a monotypic genus in that Amblyrhynchus cristatus is the only species which belongs to it at this point in time. This species is completely protected under the laws of Ecuador. El Niño effects cause periodic declines in population, with high mortality, and the marine iguana is threatened by predation by exotic species. The total population size is unknown, but is, according to IUCN, at least 50,000, and estimates from the Charles Darwin Research Station are in the hundreds of thousands. The marine iguanas have not evolved to combat newer predators. Therefore, cats and dogs eat both the young iguanas and dogs will kill adults due to the iguanas' slow reflex times and tameness. Dogs are especially common around human settlements and can cause tremendous predation. Cats are also common in towns, but they also occur in numbers in remote areas where they take a toll on iguanas.
Espanola (Gardener Bay)
Approximately a 10-12 hour trip from Santa Cruz, Española is the oldest and the southernmost island in the chain. The trip across open waters can be quite rough especially during August and September. Española's remote location helped make it a unique jewel with a large number of endemic creatures. Secluded from the other islands, wildlife on Española adapted to the island's environment and natural resources. The subspecies of Marine iguana from Española are the only ones that change color during breeding season. Normally, marine iguanas are black in color, a camouflage, making it difficult for predators to differentiate between the iguanas and the black lava rocks where they live. On Española adult marine iguanas are brightly colored with a reddish tint except during mating season when their color changes to more of a greenish shade. The Hood Mockingbird is also endemic to the island. These brazen birds have no fear of man and frequently land on visitors heads and shoulders searching for food. The Hood Mockingbird is slightly larger than other mockingbirds found in the Galapagos; its beak is longer and has a more curved shape. The Hood Mockingbird is the only carnivorous one of the species feeding on a variety of insects, turtle hatchlings and sea lion placentas. Wildlife is the highlight of Española and the star of the show is the waved albatross. The island's steep cliffs serve as the perfect runways for these large birds which take off for their ocean feeding grounds near the mainland of Ecuador and Peru abandoning the island between January and March. Known as endemic to the island, Española is the waved albatross's only nesting place. Each April the males return to Española followed shortly thereafter by the females. Mating for life, their ritual begins with the male's annual dance to re-attract his mate. The performance can take up to 5 days consisting of a series of strutting, honking, and beak fencing. Once the pair is reacquainted they produce a single egg and share the responsibility of incubation. The colony remains based on Española until December when the chick is fully grown. By January most of the colony leaves the island to fish along the Humboldt Current. Young albatross do not return to Española until their 4th or 5th year when they return to seek a mate. Geographically Española is a classic example of a shield volcano, created from a single caldera in the center of the island. Over the years as the island has moved further away from the hot spot, the volcano became extinct and erosion began to occur. Española's two visitor sites offer an exceptional island visit. Gardner Bay is a favorite destination for swimming and snorkeling as well as offering a great beach andis located on the northeastern portion of the island offers a magnificent long, white sandy beach, where colonies of sea lions laze in the sun, sea turtles swim offshore, and inquisitive mockingbirds boldly investigate. The beach considered an open area where you are free to explore. Snorkeling at Gardner Bay is fantastic. This is often your first chance to swim with the Sea Lions and this is an opportunity not to be missed. Further out towards Tortuga Rock and Gardner Island schools of large colorful tropical fish including yellow tailed surgeon fish, king angelfish and bump-head parrot fish swim along with an occasional manta ray gliding by and white-tipped sharks napping on the bottom.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
via Tumblr lawrence9gold.tumblr.com/post/107993948912
A T T E N T I O N:P S Y C H O A C T I V E______________________
INSTRUCTION IN THE SOMATIC ABILITY
TO DISSOLVE THE HIDDEN GRIP OF AFFLICTION
OR THE COMPULSION TO BE ANYTHING, IN PARTICULAR
— horse training —
— You’re the horse. | You’re the trainer. — Finding Ourselves Out
First thing: I should know about what I’m talking about. I’m an expert on identity formation, as I’ve been running and reforming this identity for years. One of these days, somebody’s going to find me out and we’ll all end up in show-biz.
In show-biz, to the degree that an actor/ess is free within his/her identity set and free to change, to that degree he or she can play different roles well.
(This could be a clue.)
No one of us has a single identity — and that doesn’t necessarily mean we all have Multiple Personality Disorder. It means that our identity changes (more or less), from moment to moment, and in the circumstances of the moment, as we resonate with our circumstances.
The one thing that persists in some way is the vague idea of “self” — the one to whom this identity purportedly belongs. People rarely talk about that one! (It’s our ‘sacred cow’ self — the one “outside it all” and viewing it all, the one who ostensibly never becomes hamburger, supra-Kosmic or otherwise.)
The expression of self changes, but the owner of it seems somehow the same: the secret identity. The Continuity of Memory.
But behaviors, and the provisional identity of the moment, fluctuate. Which one is the “real” identity? Ha-HAH!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~and now, a very important disclaimer:
That doesn’t mean that we’re the political flip-flopper
who flips and who flops with every passing wind
whose words are as passing wind
and whose meaning has no reliable connection to a functional outcome
whose integrity has big gaps, or lots of little gaps
whose principles are weak
whose equilibrium is easily upset
who takes an unstable stand
the dependent
who has too little active capacity to bring order,
who is not yet educated enough
to create forms with integrity,
who has too little capacity to reverse the course of entropy
in his environment and himself
who uses the word, “fight”, instead of “create”
the secret nature of a mediocre nincompoop
in a position of responsibility beyond him
whose primary interest is
to get rich and avoid getting into trouble
to avoid any kind of crisis, lest he flub his response
he, in a position of visibility,
who fears to look like an incompetent
— or worse — have to face consequences.
Maybe it’s what makes him a schlimazl
for whom nothing good ever seems to happen
since he can’t marshal all the forces needed
to make it happen.
or makes him a shlemiele
(closely related to a no-account fool)
not good at much of anything,
fallen back into being a good-for-nothing freeloader,
an imbiber by days
and something of a hapless dimwit at twilight
walking into lampposts
or, alas, maybe he’s just a poor putz —
a person who’s a total loss
uneducated
unperceptive
incomprehending
wrong and insistent.
Maybe he’s a shmoygeh,
or its sillier version, shmegeggie
whatever that is
a slob
a nudnick (dumb-kopf!)
or a no-goodnick in our eyes
but look!
He has a nice suit!
NO! This is a smart person!
a wonderful person!
He cleans up after himself.
He picks up his clothes.
He can read.
He’s nice.
He’s also a clever person, having learned a thing or two.
He knows the difference between
“flip” and “flop”
knows when it’s OK to be flip
and knows when his flippancy has flopped.
Oh, most unflappable one,
I see you keep your equilibrium pretty well —
— most of the time.
You are intelligently mindful of how we are unavoidable affected by each other
and inextricably interconnected,
with everything unified in the present moment,
not as an idea or ideal, but as a perception
of how things actually are,
feeling and observing how we are affected by this moment
in a resonant and moving equilibrium
continuous in moment to moment experience
participating and yet mystified,
faithful in nothing in this life made of change,
in which the currents of our own existence
carry murky, turbulent memories
that shape and color our times.
You sound like a wise man (or woman).
How did that happen?
~~~~~~~~~~
So, when I speak of identity, I’m not speaking of socialization or role. I’m speaking of something much more fundamental, something that explains human behavior, how we get stuck in behavior, and how we may deliberately grow or evolve through an “unhooking” or “unlocking” process.
To the point:Four steps are involved in identity formation:
experience: the emergence of the “present” from the unknown: self, others and things, the momentary and total condition of “now” | Without the gathering and coalescing of attention and aggregations of memory, experience is void, without meaning, without significance, without object, just movements of the unknown
memory : persistence of experience, the experience of “now” (immediate memory), meaning, recognizable events, holding on to experience and experiences, having experience “be in your face”
identification: choosing to stick with a certain experience at any moment : assigning importance, assuming memory (persistence) is reality : taking remembered experiences of self as self and our perception of other things as “the way they really are.” (The Myth of Actuality = “The Myth of the Given”)
perpetuation: intending, inviting, seeking to make more, or refusing, seeking to make less, all motivation, all “go”, all “stop”, all spin, all involvement with, all imagining
The four Stages of Things Becoming a Priority. Obviously, I have to define my terms, so here goes.
EMERGING EXPERIENCE: ” BEING”, BECOMING
(“the One” multiplied by becoming “the Many”)
At every moment, we have a sense of “how things are”. It’s our most obvious sense of the plain-old present.
It consists of our experience of our situation and our sense of ourselves. Most of this sense of experience is submerged in subconsciousness. But we experience it every time we meet a new person and visit a new place. It’s our first impression — which fades with familiarity, into the background.
This first impression, or sense of the moment, is, at first, of “unknown" (yes, I wrote that rightly). Our first impression is of "unknown". Gradually, with enough time and enough exposure, "unknown" fades-in into "something known" — a memory is formed. Until a sufficiently vivid memory is formed, no experience is being had.
The motions of experience inscribe upon memory an ongoing trail, movements of attention from one thing to another.
MEMORY : THE BASIS OF THE MOVEMENT BETWEEN HARMONY AND DIS-HARMONY
We resort to memory as a proxy for (approximation of) actual experience, so we can more easily focus on experiences that have that pattern, and look for what’s changing, moving, happening. It’s beginning from a presumed base of knowledge.
As we get familiar with anything, we form a memory of it. That memory constitutes our knowing of “how things are”.
Then, the experience of the moment is seen always in terms of existing memories, which grow in a moving, changing pattern. The growing edge of memory is experiencing what is emerging out of the unknown, clothing it in imagination so it may seem known, then forming memories and bridging them with other memories. Impressions form over time about the “realities” of life, colored by memories brought to life by imagination, imagination informed by memory and going beyond.
We form our memories from our experiences of the moving moment of life, the changing harmonics of life. All sensory impressions that go into memory refer to movements and harmonics of life, memories of persons, places and things. Our memories of “the movements and harmonics of life” flavor or dress up all of our sense-impressions of the moment.
A memory of “a movement and a felt harmonic” gets called up every time we recall something and every time we put ourselves in a situation to experience anything familiar. Memory creates expectation.
A way of finding the force of a memory is to notice how much it matters to you.
ASSUMING MEMORIES are REALITY, TRUTH or SELF
We give our memories the status of “truth”, and memories of our own state the status of “self”.
To the degree that something feels, “in your face”, that’s the degree that you take it for truth, for reality, or as self. That’s how solidly set your / my attention is in memory, how solidly fixated, how ingrained, how entranced. That’s how much experience has “got us” by the ….. (ooch!) .
PERPETUATING and/or REFUSING THE EXPERIENCES WE REMEMBER
Persistence and resistance (or intending and refusing) are two forms of the same thing: one is “wanting to make it more” and the other is “wanting to make it less”; the difference, only one of direction; both are “wanting”.
When someone “knows” something, they want (to some degree — strongly or mildly) either to reinforce/assert their knowledge or to minimize/deny it. They want to rely upon it or they want to forbid it. Either way, they want to do that for themselves, for their own sake.
By those acts, they form an attitude, a key part of the ability of identity to express itself, a felt memory.
Once a person has an attitude, they want to impose it upon the world. (Even the idea of “not wanting to impose it on the world” is an attitude.)
That’s the activity of identity, of self-propagation, the genetic imperative that distinguishes itself from others on the basis of memories.
A case in point: Take, for an example, ten year old Jimmy.
experience
Jimmy has never been to a baseball game.
His father comes home with tickets to see the Cardinals.
They go on a Saturday.
At the ballpark, Jimmy takes it all in, eyes open wide.
Dizzy Dean is pitching.
He winds up. There’s the pitch.
Foul ball. Into the stands.
Jimmy catches the ball.
memories
Now, Jimmy has a story to tell the guys in the neighborhood.
What does that do for his social status?
Jimmy likes the attention. He brings the ball to school, he tells the story at Sunday School, around …
The more Jimmy tells the story,
the more he reinforces the memory of it
and his place in it.assuming memories are truth, reality, or self
Jimmy takes credit for catching the foul ball,
lays claim to special status, reason for pride.
casts himself into a self-image that he takes for himself
and shows around.perpetuating what we remember as extended forms of “self”
Soon, Jimmy is a fan.
He’s read up on Dizzy Dean, knows his statistics,
roots for the Cardinals,
feels the glory when they win
feels the humiliation when they lose.
He’s even gotten into a couple of fights over it.
He can’t help himself.
But then, he’s only ten.
That was a long, long time ago.
Now, Jimmy’s a Republican.
another case-in-point:
George enlists in the army.
Goes to war. It’s his patriotic duty.
He’s sent to the front. Wounded.
Now he has a limp. And a medal.
He’s honorably discharged and sent home. He gets special recognition, special privileges. (This was an earlier time.)
He’s sent to an innovative form of therapy that promises he can walk, again. In fact, he’ll lose the limp.
But now, George doesn’t know “who he’d be” without his war wound. He’d seem ordinary. He also can’t imagine walking normally, again. He’s forgotton his “pre-army” state. His wound and his status as a wounded war vet, based in memory and the seeming permanence of his wound, have made him into something else.
The therapy doesn’t work.
He gets into politics. Eventually, he runs for political office.
Now, he gets some mileage out of being a wounded war vet. His wound is his badge of courage. He cherishes the identity of “War Vet”, keeps it low-key on the campaign trail. He imagines that it is some of the basis of the respect with which people treat him, that it’s a “trump card”: On certain topics, no one dares challenge his position.
And, of course, years later, he’s a Republican.
An identity is a standpoint and general ways of operating based on memories of experience, a standpoint that wants to reinforce (or perpetuate) its way of operating in the world.
Everything we know, we want to continue to be “right knowledge”. That’s why people dislike “being wrong” and why “being made wrong” is such a politically incorrect social impropriety. It’s about what “wanting to be right” means — not having to change.
So, first we experience something. And then, as we experience it, we remember it. Then, we assume that memory represents and actually says something reliable about either oneself or something or someone other. We carry all the accumulated memory patterns that form out of the interaction of the world with our memoried self. We act as if life exists in terms of those memory patterns — and so act accordingly — either to perpetuate and reinforce or to refuse or counteract.
That explains how we form behavior patterns, how we get stuck in behavior patterns (egotism, arrogance, “anything goes” or cold-fish authoritarianism), and also how we learn to grow and evolve. It’s a spooky business.
Just as we form innumerable memories from moment to moment, we form innumerable identities for each moment — and hopefully they’re all well interconnected, so we don’t get trapped in one.
The tricky thing about all this is how to avoid getting stuck in the sheer mass and momentum of accumulated memories.
One answer is, to reverse the process. What would happen for Jimmy if he imagined himself going back up the chain of identity formation?
I present The Gold Key Release ( which a New Age Flower Child might call, “The Somatic Crystal Decrystallization Process”, a soul brother: “Da Big, Divine Kosmic Kiss” (mmmWAH!) or, an academic professor, rather stuffily, “A Somatic Faculty”) —- viz:
(NOTE: vizier = one who writes, “viz”.
“Vizier” is Arabic for “wise guy”.)
"Somatic Awakening" is not an "awakening to" or "awakening into"; it’s an awakening as and then an awakening from.
It’s “awakening as” what most ordinarily IS,
scanning it with attentiveness,
feeling it, inhabiting it,
enfolding it,
assessing its “charge”: how one feels implicated (i.e., compelled to act),
the force of memory,
detecting imagination in memory,
then awakening from imagining,
releasing the sense of “something there”, feeling it dissolve into the formless root of attention, feeling attention as no-self.
There. Which is Here.
It’s going backward through
the stages of priority
"upstream" of the creative process,
to awaken, undefined, as self-source — the Natural State, the experience of which feels like A Big, Divine Kosmic Kiss, which we may symbolize by the word,
"mmmmWAH!!!"
which is also what it feels like, as we dissolve into the undefined Condition.
See? No? You will.
He feels his position, attitude, standpoint, or whatever he is stuck with or is perpetuating — his knowledge, his chosen identity, his refuge to the immunity of rightness. Whatever it is, it’s a sensation, felt bodily, with a location, size, shape, and intensity in the overall body-sense (kinesthetic body, subtle body, etheric body, dream body). Feel each term. Pretty similar, huh?
It may occur to him that he may have “bought in to something” — assigning the status of “reality” to his memory-shaped-colored perspective in the world: “the truth” or “The Truth”, “oneself” or “the Self”. It may occur to him that, that he does not “have” it, but that it “has” him. That he lives “inside” it and is subject to its limitations, which he takes as a product of Reality and not a product of his way of remembering and seeing things, his perspective. To him, it’s solid, real, and consequential. The mood is, “This is real." or "This matters" (to a greater or lesser degree— but note: If something makes a difference to you, you’ve bought into it and it has you.)
He feels how much of this sense of “solid truth” or “things mattering with consequences” feels like memory and how much of memory feels like imagination. It’s a “feel” thing, not an “answer” that he comes up with. He traces the feeling from the sense of solid truth to memory to imagination.
He imagines the appearance of a scenario that’s developing and has expectations that are informed, in part, by memory, and so his perception is shaped by memory.
Remembering is re-imagining something into our experience. The seeming persistence, the solidity or reality of anything you can put your attention upon is memory. Memory fades unless refreshed by imagining. The denser the memory, the more persistent it is.The way we do it:
We put attention on the feeling of having some experience.
We sense the feeling of experience without words,
as a sensation someplace within us
We feel its size, shape, intensity.
We pump up our ability to sense our somatic state
with “attention maneuvers”.
We sense how much (not “what”) intention we have toward it
We notice how steadying attention solidifies intention.
We feel the whole package as a single, contained force:
the thing we are experiencing
and our intention toward it made solid by attention.
How intention + attention = memory.
Now, we feel how much it matters
in order to bring ourselves into the relationship
and acknowledge how much we are involved.
How much it matters has to do with our relation to the world.
Try it.
We may then own the intensity of the memory
even if we don’t know what the memory is
and we may sift that intensity
for the movements of imagining.
We feel how much it feels like “solid reality”, how much feels like memory, and how much of the memory feels a bit like imagining (or as we like to say, “daydreaming” or “being entranced”).
We feel “remembering” and “imagining” and alternate between them until we can zero in on each equally steadily and equally easily, and so can balance them. What makes it easier to alternate more to one side than the other is that we are more entranced by it. These words make sense with experience, but perhaps not before. Save yourself the brain-fog; instead of “trying to figure it out”, just do it. (Once.)
If you have trouble with this step, deliberately remember something. Feel what remembering feels like. Then imagine something. Feel what imagining feels like.
Now apply those distinctions to your sense of “solid truth”.
Feel the dissolution of his “fix” (or fixation) — the thing he has been perpetuating — as his discovery or sense of “how much of it is imagination” is “the little valve” through which the “air” that has inflated his sense of “solid truth” (and ego) escapes. Simpler if he just does Step 3. (Imagination is easier to let go than “solid truth”.)
He takes a breath, lets go and falls into his identity-less, natural state, at least for the moment. (Don’t do this while driving or try to understand this by reading it. Do the procedure. Do it well at least once.)
He checks the remaining intensity of the feeling. If anything is left, he starts at Step 1.
QUESTION: Would he quit being a Republican?
I ask you.
From here, we go to the first magical process for decrystallizing crystallized identity patterns:
The Gold Key Release
MORE:Other Magic Following Upon the Gold Key ReleaseThe Wish-Fulfilling Gem
Esoteric Somatics and Tibetan BuddhismSEARCH KEYWORDS:(to return to this entry again, later.
caring | | 42
harmony | 85 | 94
memory | | 89
identification | 7 | 148
perpetuation | 78 | 162
copyright 2014 Lawrence Gold
This writing may be reproduced only in its entirety
with accurate attribution of authorship.
Do it for yourself - somatics.com/page7-htm
ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png via Blogger lawrencegoldsomatics.blogspot.com/2015/01/somatology-ulti...
A few weeks back I blogged about the latest Flickr feature, galleries. I've been using and making galleries now for a few weeks and thought I'd take a second to record my follow up observations after my initial post on the launch. I've been making one new gallery a day since Flickr launched the service.
Conceptually I think the idea of allowing users the ability to curate galleries of images on Flickr super interesting -- one of the more interesting ways to use the service actually. Practically speaking though I think that their are some serious flaws to how this service has been designed and I think that it could be significantly improved.
Problem #1: Flickr will not allow either moderate/restricted images or secretly NIPSA (not in public site areas) censored material to be put into galleries.
Flickr has three ways that they censor your images. The first is simple. If they don't like your image they just delete it (and maybe your entire account along with it).
The second is a less harsh public way. Either you can voluntary mark your own images as restricted or if you don't they might. When they do this your images are marked "moderate" or "restricted" on the image and you are made aware of the Flickr act.
The third way is a secret more nefarious way. Flickr uses a method whereby they will secretly mark your image NIPSA. Sometimes this happens even while to your face they will let you know that your image has been reviewed as "safe" by Flickr staff. You have no way of knowing which of your images have been secretly marked NIPSA and which have not. For a while Flickr had my entire photostream marked as NIPSA.
Whatever the case, neither moderate/restricted content or secret NIPSA content can be included in galleries. This is too bad. As a curator I should not be precluded from making galleries of whatever content I'd like.
Recently I made a gallery of images of Photo Realism painter Chuck Close's painting "Mark" that hangs in the NY Met. If someone wanted to make a similar gallery of say Photo Realist Painter Mel Ramos' work, they could not included two of my images of a painting of his that hangs in the all ages gallery at the Oakland Museum of California. The reason why? Flickr has marked these Ramos painting images of mine as "restricted." It sucks that something that can exist in a real life gallery in an all ages major metropolitan museum gallery, cannot exist in a virtual gallery on Flickr.
This problem would be easy enough to fix by simply attaching a "restricted" or "moderate" rating to any gallery that held "restricted" or "moderate" images. There is no reason why if you've opted in to view this material that you should not be able to both create and view galleries that include this material. Precluding them prevents me from making a kick ass gallery of images by one of my favorite photographers Merkley (for instance). Even though Merkley had a real life gallery showing of some of his work at 111 Minna, a physical gallery. I cannot create a comparable virtual gallery of his work because Flickr won't allow it. Flickr has a method whereby users can opt in to view material that is rated moderate or restricted.
Problem #2: User Created Galleries largely languish in obscurity. Once you go through the work of making a gallery there are no easy ways for other people to get to them. The people whose images you include in the gallery are notified of this fact on their recent activity page so they come and visit. But other than them, people largely don't visit galleries. These are the last five galleries where people have used my own images. Plug1 (0 views), mannequin (0 views), Swoon worthy B&W (23 views), Galactic (2 views), and Cocktails (8 views). These galleries will likely have more views when you look at them, but that's largely because I've posted links to them in this blog post. If someone goes through the work of curating a gallery it would be nice to see other ways on Flickr where people could access them.
The only method that Flickr has for promoting galleries right now is through a handful of galleries on the mostly stale gallery explore page which appears to be hand-curated by flickr staff, mostly, it appears, on the basis of whether or not flickr staff likes you or decided to include you as a user in the beta of the feature.
Problem #3: How can I see my friends/contacts galleries? At present there is no easy way to view the galleries of your contacts on Flickr. You are not notified when they make a gallery (unless your image is in it). There is no page like the "your contacts" photo page where you can go to see them. Without the tedious method of digging deep down into their photo page to find if (and most don't) they even have galleries you'd never know that they exist.
I believe that these three problems above could easily be corrected. The first problem is easy. Simply allow any images to be included in galleries, rather than restrict publicly or privately censored images. There is no good reason why Flickr should not do this. It might not fit into staff's vision of community shaping or moderation or whatever they call it, but prohibiting good users like Merkley from being included in this feature sucks.
In terms of the second problem, Flickr needs a central place where users can explore galleries. The page should be repopulated with new galleries as they are created every day and should rely on objective data around the interestingness ranking of galleries (rather than if Flickr staff likes your or dislikes you -- they already have the flickr blog for that).
The third problem would also be easily solved by creating a tab on an explore gallery pages that featured all of the galleries created by your contacts/friends and family. If friends of mine create galleries, I want to see them.
Galleries on Flickr has enormous potential. Curation is an incredibly significant discipline that all artists ought to consider pursuing. But as it stands right now, the new service from Flickr feels half-baked. I'm still going to make a gallery a day on Flickr for a while and continue promoting my galleries elsewhere than Flickr on the web, but Flickr needs to consider that as it stands now the new feature lacks serious teeth, which is too bad because the feature does in fact have so much potential.
Here are the galleries that I've created so far on Flickr:
The Owls are Not What They Seem
Recent Favorites from the Lightbox
You can see my galleries page where I am adding a new gallery every day here.
Several Ikarus "Blue Danube" bodied Volvo B10Ms made their way to Ireland in later life. Ability-Drive of Craughwell, County Galway, 88-G-6437 had been new to Greyhound of Dundee as E737 KSP and had spent its entire time with Scottish operators until moving to the Emerald Isle. It was seen here in November, 2004.
© Elisabeth de Ru | 2015
PYRAMIDE DU LOUVRE
"Of all the Grands Projets in Paris, none created such a stir as the Pei Pyramids in the courtyard of the famous Louvre Museum. Spectacular in concept and form, they provide a startling reminder of the audacious ability of modern architects to invigorate and re-circulate traditional architectural forms...
The main Pyramid is basically a complex inter-linked steel structure sheathed in reflective glass. In fact it is an entrance doorway providing a long-overdue entrance portico to the main galleries of the Louvre. As one descends into the interior entrance foyer, the dramatic nature of the intervention becomes apparent. The main Pyramid, which certainly disturbs the balance of the old Louvre courtyard, is countered by two smaller pyramids, which provide further light and ventilation to the subterranean spaces."
— Dennis Sharp. Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History. p407.
"Probably the pièce de résistance of Pei's extraordinary legacy to modernism, his sense of quiet good taste, consummate attention to detail, and clarity of concept is his intervention into the Cour Napoleon at the Louvre. Beneath the new, elegantly 'hard' and restrained surface of the Cour is accommodated a vast new program of 650,000 square feet of much-needed support spaces for the Louvre. Poised as perfect complement and counterpoint, and rising only a modest 71 feet above the ground, is the symbol of the project, the central entrance pyramid. Despite an almost ephemeral presence that derives from an ingeniously conceived triangular web of supports, clad in a wonderful warm ochre, lightly tinted glass especially drawn by St. Gobain to be compatible with the honey-colored stone of the Second Empire facades of the old Louvre, it was controversial from its announcement in 1985 as one of President Mitterand's most ambitious 'grand projets.'
Obviously any insertion would have been anathema to those who hold sacred and untouchable the integrity of the Louvre's classical presence. Time has somewhat blunted the critics against this example of modernism at its most elegant, although it remains less than successful as a sheltered entrance against the elements and the three much smaller flanking pyramids seem aesthetically gratuitous. However, at times the almost fluid, dematerialized presence of the pyramid establishes without bombast, a compelling brave concept whose intent is to be neither aggressive nor subservient but to complement through restraint. Through simplicity the new stands with the old, each acknowledging the other."
— from Paul Heyer. American Architecture: Ideas and Ideologies in the Late Twentieth Century. p275-278
ADDRESS
Cour Napoleon, 75001 Paris, France.
Telephone: 40.20.50.50
Patience is not only the ability to wait, but also the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting. - Joyce Meyer
More Joyce Meyer Quotes and Sayings>
Picture Quotes on Patience & Timing
12 Beautiful destinations in Thailand to explore, besides Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai
Original photo credit: Daniel Nebreda
Karate For Kids
Karate for kids classes in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona are taught in a method to develop life skills such as respects, enhanced self-discipline, greater confidence and respect in children. The karate for kids programs with the local ATA martial arts schools doesn’t only teach how to kick and punch. The karate classes will teach kids the valuable life lessons of self-control and the ability to defend themselves. All of the Karate Kids classes teach the attributes necessary to be a confident individual within our community.
Our Local ATA Martial Art schools in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona have carefully designed the karate programs for the youth within the community- age appropriate programs that are specifically aimed at the child’s development both physically and mentally. These karate lessons are taught through a top ranked and nationally recognized “Karate For Kids” program, that has a well established training curriculum designed school aged students.
bullying seminars, martial arts business coaching mesa karate, chandler karate, cave creek karate,
#1 with parents in the ATA Karate Schools in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is the renowned Karate for Kids character development “ATA Life Skills” program designed for personal Victory in Martial Arts with skills such as perseverance, integrity, courtesy, self-esteem and the respect for others while incorporating social life skills that develops naturally within the group.
It is always a good time to start a program at one our three locations as the #1 Karate For Kids schools in Las Vegas and Henderson. Together with kids their own age, every youngster can mature and grow with the self confidence that a karate kids program develops within them.
Martial Arts Classes For Women
In today’s world of fitness, women are looking for a structured and interesting workout in a manner to stay fit that breaks away from their traditional daily routine. Repeating the same exercise every day can be draining and break ones motivation and is rarely goal oriented. It isn’t the normal daily gym workout. ATA Martial Arts of Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is a training facility that women are finding the variety of goal oriented conditioning that is exciting. While the physical nature of martial arts is rewarding and a personal martial arts victory, it also teaches the self defense and survival tactics that is needed in todays ever changing world.
There are many important mental and physical health benefits in our women’s martial art classes in Las Vegas and Henderson. While toning vital muscles and building coordination will enhance self-confidence, awareness and increase cardiovascular is health. Women who Attend ATA karate classes will improve balance, flexibility, increase exercise stamina levels while developing a greater sense of self-esteem, hence the term… “Victory” in Martial Arts.
Martial Arts have been known to provide much needed stress relief, promote self-control, concentration, and boost the ability to remain calm under stress. ATA Martial Arts routines are even helping women keep their memory sharp on a day-to-day basis!
Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona ATA Martial Arts facilities are the community martial arts experts that provide rigorous karate classes for women of all ages to develop their strength of body and mind.
It’s a fact! Women are breaking away from their traditional exercise routines such as gym workouts and finding balance, freedom and motivation at ATA Martial Arts. It’s time for you to experience the benefits of karate classes designed for women with the community Martial Art experts in Las Vegas and Henderson.
Adult Martial Arts Classes for Men
Martial Arts classes for men in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is more then just kicking and punching. ATA Karate Classes create a stronger self awareness, enhanced confidence, greater focus, and a true Victory in Martial Arts for men of all ages.
In an adult class a karate student will train will practical concepts in a safe, clean and enjoyable facility, while incorporating life skills to de-stress from life’s everyday challenges. Las Vegas ATA Martial Arts and Henderson ATA Martial arts offers three location to serve our community. Learning a skill set that will stick with you for life, no matter what age, allowing you to gain the self confidence desired so that you can feel comfortable with confrontation in any real life situation.
As one of the top martial arts training facilities in the community our Martial Arts programs such as Karate for Kids, Taekwondo and MMA and Fitness is a key method of enhancing the body’s functions, including flexibility, coordination, and balance with strength and endurance. Yes! It relieves stress while having some fun as well as meeting new people. As an adult, you do not need to have prior training before you get into a Martial Arts class. ATA Martial Arts has a defined teaching curriculum designed to take each student to the peak of their performance while greatly enhancing their skills creating a personal “Martial Arts Victory”.
KRAV MAGA & MMA FITNESS
Krav Maga and ATA’s MMA and athletic training is combined to provide a diverse full body workout while incorporating real life scenario drills for self defense.
This class features a structured curriculum that is in continuous motion utilizing all levels of MMA and Krav Maga skills with self defense drills in a manner to enhance cardio-respiratory for your cardiovascular system. Krav Maga students don’t’ just perform blocks, punches, kicks and movements you would find at a gym to music or in the mirror, students train in an environment that is preparing them for real life conditions.
The Krav Maga & MMA Fitness in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is a true Conditioning Program that specializes in a Total Body Workout that doesn’t feel like to boring fitness class you may have taken before. Krav Maga Conditioning Program brings a fresh experience and keeps each and every student motivated in class on a day to day basis.
With a strong dedication and commitment to the Krav Maga and MMA Fitness Training student, Krav Instructors teach a combination of strength training, combatives, flexibility skills, and workouts with our top notch academy training facility. There is a emphasize on muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance for Krav students in Henderson and Las Vegas while instilling the distinctive awareness and self defense techniques needed for street survival in our ever changing world.
Correct body alignment to maximize efficiency can be key, our team of professional instructors will work on refining Krav Maga technique through exciting repetition drills and training.
All levels of Krav Maga, MMA & Fitness from the beginner to the experienced can train at anyone of our three locations. Call today and don’t delay.
U.S. Army Photo by David Ruderman
U.S. Army Africa’s G-4 Mobility Division added a sophisticated piece of equipment to its inventory recently that will augment the command’s ability to deploy and re-deploy a wide range of vehicles and cargo in short order.
The arrival at Vicenza of the Deployable Automated Cargo Measurement System (DACMS) drew more than a dozen logistics professionals from Army Africa and the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza Directorate of Logistics to a briefing, demonstration and hands-on training at Caserma Ederle Aug. 30.
“What we learned last year during exercise Natural Fire 10 is that U.S. Army Africa may be supported by National Guard and Reserve units,” said Alex Menzies, USARAF, G-4 Mobility Division, Air Branch. Many units deploy without their unit movement officers, said Menzies, so Army Africa needs the capability to process and move equipment in country, often in remote locations and under austere conditions.
“This will help us with our through-put at any node, any APOD or SPOD (Aerial Port or Seaport of Disembarkation). With that set-up, you’re saving a lot of time,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Terry Throm, G-4 mobility warrant officer.
Lacking tools such as the DACMS made re-deployment of equipment a time-consuming and, occasionally, an iffy proposition.
“We did it the old-fashioned way, with pen and pencil and spreadsheet. We decided we needed the equipment … to be self-sufficient,” Throm said.
The DACMS, which consists of two-laser enabled reading posts and a set of digital, floor-pad sensors, is marketed by Intercomp Weighing of Medina, Minn., and costs $127,000. It electronically measures key data points and automatically enters them into electronic load planning systems, Menzies said.
The latest in vehicle processing technology, the unit is being fielded throughout U.S. military force projection platform locations, including Ramstein, Germany, and Aviano, Italy, said Menzies.
Its efficiency will reduce Installation Staging Area processing time significantly and minimize the deploying organization’s manpower requirements, he said.
“It alleviates a lot of the hands-on we have to do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Marina Dennis, USARAF G-4 Mobility NCOIC. “It cuts down a lot of the time.”
As if to make her point, garrison logistics personnel drove a trailer-bearing Highly Mobile, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) through the electronic reading posts and over the weighing pads. Within 15 seconds, and without the vehicle operator having to come to a halt, the DACMS had measured and recorded its length, breadth, height, weight, number of axles and center of weight.
Army Africa is likely to put the unit to full use during exercises and training in the year ahead such as the 2011 episodes of Atlas Drop, Judicious Response and Natural Fire, said Menzies.
In addition to deploying the unit to the field, Army Africa can make the DACMS available to other commands and units in Vicenza, for instance the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the garrison Directorate of Logistics, said Throm.
And when it comes to going mobile, The DACMS can fit on a standard Air Force load pallet and be moved quickly to wherever it is needed.
“It’s part of our fly-away kit,” said Menzies.
“We’re hoping it’s a system for the 21st century,” said Throm.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
Four years in uniform and you'll have the ability, the experience and maybe the desire to be a detective. If you like to fly by the seat of your pants, this is where you belong. For every crime that's committed, you've got three million suspects to choose from. And most of the time, you'll have few facts and a lot of hunches. You'll run down leads that dead-end on you. You'll work all-night stakeouts that could last a week. You'll do leg work until you're sure you've talked to everybody in the state of California.
People who saw it happen - but really didn't. People who insist they did it - but really didn't. People who don't remember - those who try to forget. Those who tell the truth - those who lie. You'll run the files until your eyes ache. ......
Dragnet
E is for EMPATHY
The ability to identify with or understand another's situation or feelings.
Here at Rikki’s Refuge, not only to we strive daily to meet the needs of all the animals in our care (through proper nutrition, shelter and appropriate veterinary care), we also seek to meet the needs not so easily seen on the outside. Many of our animals come to us knowing too well how it feels to be cold, hungry, frightened, rejected, hurt and forgotten. We also work hard to give them security, love, compassion and acknowledgement. It’s more than just filling food bowls every day, it’s also about taking time for a gentle touch and a kind word.
Rikki's Refuge
Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc.
21410 Constitution Hwy.
Rapidan, VA. 22733
(540)-854-0870
mail@rikkisrefuge.org
WEB: www.rikkisrefuge.org
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/RikkisRefuge
SUPPORT: www.rikkisrefuge.org/feedme
an elegant waterbird renowned for its long tail and remarkable ability to walk on floating vegetation. Its habitat primarily includes freshwater wetlands, such as shallow lakes, marshes, and ponds rich in aquatic vegetation like lotus, water lilies, and floating weeds. These environments provide not only ample food—mainly insects, snails, and seeds—but also safe nesting sites, as jacanas build their nests on floating leaves. The species is particularly well adapted to the monsoon cycle, with its breeding season coinciding with the peak of water availability when wetlands are most productive.
In India, the pheasant-tailed jacana has a wide distribution, being found throughout the plains and lowland wetlands from the Gangetic basin to the southern peninsular region. It is a resident breeder in many parts of the country but also displays seasonal movements, with northern populations migrating short distances in response to changes in water levels. During the breeding season, adults display their striking plumage with elongated tail feathers and bright colors, whereas in the non-breeding season, they appear duller and lack the ornate tail. India hosts healthy populations of this species, though local declines can occur due to wetland degradation, pollution, and encroachment. Conservation of freshwater ecosystems is therefore vital for maintaining stable populations of this distinctive bird.
The College Scholastic Ability Test of Republic of Korea
November 12, 2014
Kyungbock High School, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Korean Culture and Information Service
Korea.net (www.korea.net)
Official Photographer: Jeon Han
This official Republic of Korea photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way. Also, it may not be used in any type of commercial, advertisement, product or promotion that in any way suggests approval or endorsement from the government of the Republic of Korea.
--------------------------------------------
수능시험일
2014-11-12
경복고등학교, 종로구
문화체육관광부
해외문화홍보원
코리아넷
전한
Can you believe that beauty such as this can have the ability to cause pain??? LOL
those thorns hurt!!!!
"He's a quiet person, whether it's practice or the game,'' coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's just a worker. He's kind of like E.F. Hutton: When he speaks, everybody listens."
Johnson quietly has become one of the top receivers in the NFL in his six seasons with the Texans. Johnson has caught passes in 48 consecutive games and he's caught at least one pass in 82 of 83 career games. Johnson surpassed the 100-catch mark for the second time in his career.
Kubiak is always trying to find ways to tap into Johnson's talent.
"I carry a little sheet with me in the back of my pocket, I've done it for years,'' Kubiak said. "How do you get 'X' the ball, how to get 'Z' the ball, how to get 'Y' the ball. Believe me, his list is long."
Kubiak might appreciate Johnson's unselfishness more than his talent.
"The reason he is so special is because I can move him all over the place and it doesn't bother him," Kubiak said. "There are some players that you ask them to play too many spots and they get bogged down. He says, 'Where do you want me to go? I'll play inside, outside. I'll do whatever you want me to do.'"
As the seconds ticked down in the game and it was obvious the Texans had pulled off the upset, Johnson was among the most excited players on the field, jumping up and down and hugging teammates. Quarterback Matt Schaub, in his second season with the Texans, understands Johnson's elation.
"I can understand all the tough years he's been here and he can sense that times are changing and headed in the right direction with him and Chester Pitts and Petey (Faggins) and Kris Brown," Schaub said. "You can sense the excitement."
Johnson was the Texans' first-round pick in 2003. Pitts, Faggins and Brown are original Texans.
Schaub and Johnson have become a lethal pass-catch combination.
"He has that big-play ability, a way to spark us and to get a big catch," Schaub said. "He did that numerous times for us today. He just brings a lot of excitement and energy to our team when he goes up like he did on the go route and catches the ball over 31's (Cortland Finnigan) head.
"He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's always something important and we always listen. It doesn't happen very often. We're all thankful for the guys on this team. That's the kind of bond that we have."
The season has been big for character building. The Texans lost their first four games after entering the season with hopes of making the playoffs.
"There's been a lot of frustration at the beginning of the season," Johnson said. "I've talked about it. I put that all behind me. I said to myself before that Colts game I'm going out to do whatever I have to do to help this team win.
"It's been a long road. I didn't think it would take this long when I first got here. We've grown and learned a lot about ourselves and now we're starting to see that we're starting to find our niche."
Andre Johnson was amazing enough on the field Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. He did something even more astounding in the postgame locker room: He spoke.
Johnson, the quiet leader of the team, caught 11 passes for a club-record 207 yards, scored one touchdown and was the driving force in the Texans' 13-12 victory that snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Titans.
Then, he reminded his teammates how far they'd come this season to win four games in a row for the first time in franchise history, and just how thankful they are to have each other and how far they've come together.
"The week after Thanksgiving everyone was talking about what they were thankful for in the chapel service," Johnson said. "It was shocking to me because other than the guys' kids or family, the first thing that came out of their mouths was this team."
That's what Johnson wanted to remind his teammates Sunday.
"I was just telling everybody about that, even the ones who weren't there (at the chapel service), I was letting them know that the guys here are thankful for their teammates," Johnson said. "I think it's been shown over the past month that guys are giving it up for the team. It's not about one guy. It's about everybody. We've been able to go out and get the job done."
The Texans' closeness proved a winning formula again on Sunday. After a frustrating loss to Indianapolis that could have pulled the team apart, the Texans beat Cleveland on the road, Jacksonville on Monday Night Football, the Packers in frigid Lambeau Field and now they've whipped the team with the best record in the NFL.
And no one gets more credit for the Texans' surge than Johnson.
Andre Johnson was amazing enough on the field Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. He did something even more astounding in the postgame locker room: He spoke.
Johnson, the quiet leader of the team, caught 11 passes for a club-record 207 yards, scored one touchdown and was the driving force in the Texans' 13-12 victory that snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Titans.
Then, he reminded his teammates how far they'd come this season to win four games in a row for the first time in franchise history, and just how thankful they are to have each other and how far they've come together.
"The week after Thanksgiving everyone was talking about what they were thankful for in the chapel service," Johnson said. "It was shocking to me because other than the guys' kids or family, the first thing that came out of their mouths was this team."
That's what Johnson wanted to remind his teammates Sunday.
"I was just telling everybody about that, even the ones who weren't there (at the chapel service), I was letting them know that the guys here are thankful for their teammates," Johnson said. "I think it's been shown over the past month that guys are giving it up for the team. It's not about one guy. It's about everybody. We've been able to go out and get the job done."
The Texans' closeness proved a winning formula again on Sunday. After a frustrating loss to Indianapolis that could have pulled the team apart, the Texans beat Cleveland on the road, Jacksonville on Monday Night Football, the Packers in frigid Lambeau Field and now they've whipped the team with the best record in the NFL.
And no one gets more credit for the Texans' surge than Johnson.
"He's a quiet person, whether it's practice or the game,'' coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's just a worker. He's kind of like E.F. Hutton: When he speaks, everybody listens."
Johnson quietly has become one of the top receivers in the NFL in his six seasons with the Texans. Johnson has caught passes in 48 consecutive games and he's caught at least one pass in 82 of 83 career games. Johnson surpassed the 100-catch mark for the second time in his career.
Kubiak is always trying to find ways to tap into Johnson's talent.
"I carry a little sheet with me in the back of my pocket, I've done it for years,'' Kubiak said. "How do you get 'X' the ball, how to get 'Z' the ball, how to get 'Y' the ball. Believe me, his list is long."
Kubiak might appreciate Johnson's unselfishness more than his talent.
"The reason he is so special is because I can move him all over the place and it doesn't bother him," Kubiak said. "There are some players that you ask them to play too many spots and they get bogged down. He says, 'Where do you want me to go? I'll play inside, outside. I'll do whatever you want me to do.'"
As the seconds ticked down in the game and it was obvious the Texans had pulled off the upset, Johnson was among the most excited players on the field, jumping up and down and hugging teammates. Quarterback Matt Schaub, in his second season with the Texans, understands Johnson's elation.
"I can understand all the tough years he's been here and he can sense that times are changing and headed in the right direction with him and Chester Pitts and Petey (Faggins) and Kris Brown," Schaub said. "You can sense the excitement."
Johnson was the Texans' first-round pick in 2003. Pitts, Faggins and Brown are original Texans.
Schaub and Johnson have become a lethal pass-catch combination.
"He has that big-play ability, a way to spark us and to get a big catch," Schaub said. "He did that numerous times for us today. He just brings a lot of excitement and energy to our team when he goes up like he did on the go route and catches the ball over 31's (Cortland Finnigan) head.
"He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's always something important and we always listen. It doesn't happen very often. We're all thankful for the guys on this team. That's the kind of bond that we have."
The season has been big for character building. The Texans lost their first four games after entering the season with hopes of making the playoffs.
"There's been a lot of frustration at the beginning of the season," Johnson said. "I've talked about it. I put that all behind me. I said to myself before that Colts game I'm going out to do whatever I have to do to help this team win.
"It's been a long road. I didn't think it would take this long when I first got here. We've grown and learned a lot about ourselves and now we're starting to see that we're starting to find our niche."
(Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL; 27.12.2009; 1/800 at f/1,8; ISO 100; white balance: Auto; focal length: 50 mm)
1 a : the quality or state of being able ; especially : physical, mental, or legal power to perform b : competence in doing : skill
2 : natural aptitude or acquired proficiency
[ View On Black ]
When it comes to family planning, apparently the ability to decide whether or when to have a child isn't part of Republican family values.
That's the message the GOP-controlled House sent by voting to cut not only all of Planned Parenthood's $75 million in federal funding for family planning but also the entire $317 million Title X budget. Title X money helps pay for birth control, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, breast and cervical cancer testing, prenatal care, sex education and vasectomies for men. About 4.7 million Americans get health care from clinics funded by Title X money, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence represented his successful gutting of the funding as a victory in preventing abortion, even though the Hyde Amendment, enacted in 1977, prohibits federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. And President Barack Obama signed an executive order last year preserving the funding ban under the new health care reform law.
In addition to the money from from Title X, which was signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970, Planned Parenthood and other health care providers receive Medicaid money for health services to low-income people. Under Pence's amendment, approved in a 240-185 vote, Planned Parenthood wouldn't be allowed to receive any federal dollars, including money from Medicaid.
www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/19/planned-parenthood-defun...
Karate For Kids
Karate for kids classes in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona are taught in a method to develop life skills such as respects, enhanced self-discipline, greater confidence and respect in children. The karate for kids programs with the local ATA martial arts schools doesn’t only teach how to kick and punch. The karate classes will teach kids the valuable life lessons of self-control and the ability to defend themselves. All of the Karate Kids classes teach the attributes necessary to be a confident individual within our community.
Our Local ATA Martial Art schools in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona have carefully designed the karate programs for the youth within the community- age appropriate programs that are specifically aimed at the child’s development both physically and mentally. These karate lessons are taught through a top ranked and nationally recognized “Karate For Kids” program, that has a well established training curriculum designed school aged students.
bullying seminars, martial arts business coaching mesa karate, chandler karate, cave creek karate,
#1 with parents in the ATA Karate Schools in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is the renowned Karate for Kids character development “ATA Life Skills” program designed for personal Victory in Martial Arts with skills such as perseverance, integrity, courtesy, self-esteem and the respect for others while incorporating social life skills that develops naturally within the group.
It is always a good time to start a program at one our three locations as the #1 Karate For Kids schools in Las Vegas and Henderson. Together with kids their own age, every youngster can mature and grow with the self confidence that a karate kids program develops within them.
Martial Arts Classes For Women
In today’s world of fitness, women are looking for a structured and interesting workout in a manner to stay fit that breaks away from their traditional daily routine. Repeating the same exercise every day can be draining and break ones motivation and is rarely goal oriented. It isn’t the normal daily gym workout. ATA Martial Arts of Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is a training facility that women are finding the variety of goal oriented conditioning that is exciting. While the physical nature of martial arts is rewarding and a personal martial arts victory, it also teaches the self defense and survival tactics that is needed in todays ever changing world.
There are many important mental and physical health benefits in our women’s martial art classes in Las Vegas and Henderson. While toning vital muscles and building coordination will enhance self-confidence, awareness and increase cardiovascular is health. Women who Attend ATA karate classes will improve balance, flexibility, increase exercise stamina levels while developing a greater sense of self-esteem, hence the term… “Victory” in Martial Arts.
Martial Arts have been known to provide much needed stress relief, promote self-control, concentration, and boost the ability to remain calm under stress. ATA Martial Arts routines are even helping women keep their memory sharp on a day-to-day basis!
Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona ATA Martial Arts facilities are the community martial arts experts that provide rigorous karate classes for women of all ages to develop their strength of body and mind.
It’s a fact! Women are breaking away from their traditional exercise routines such as gym workouts and finding balance, freedom and motivation at ATA Martial Arts. It’s time for you to experience the benefits of karate classes designed for women with the community Martial Art experts in Las Vegas and Henderson.
Adult Martial Arts Classes for Men
Martial Arts classes for men in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is more then just kicking and punching. ATA Karate Classes create a stronger self awareness, enhanced confidence, greater focus, and a true Victory in Martial Arts for men of all ages.
In an adult class a karate student will train will practical concepts in a safe, clean and enjoyable facility, while incorporating life skills to de-stress from life’s everyday challenges. Las Vegas ATA Martial Arts and Henderson ATA Martial arts offers three location to serve our community. Learning a skill set that will stick with you for life, no matter what age, allowing you to gain the self confidence desired so that you can feel comfortable with confrontation in any real life situation.
As one of the top martial arts training facilities in the community our Martial Arts programs such as Karate for Kids, Taekwondo and MMA and Fitness is a key method of enhancing the body’s functions, including flexibility, coordination, and balance with strength and endurance. Yes! It relieves stress while having some fun as well as meeting new people. As an adult, you do not need to have prior training before you get into a Martial Arts class. ATA Martial Arts has a defined teaching curriculum designed to take each student to the peak of their performance while greatly enhancing their skills creating a personal “Martial Arts Victory”.
KRAV MAGA & MMA FITNESS
Krav Maga and ATA’s MMA and athletic training is combined to provide a diverse full body workout while incorporating real life scenario drills for self defense.
This class features a structured curriculum that is in continuous motion utilizing all levels of MMA and Krav Maga skills with self defense drills in a manner to enhance cardio-respiratory for your cardiovascular system. Krav Maga students don’t’ just perform blocks, punches, kicks and movements you would find at a gym to music or in the mirror, students train in an environment that is preparing them for real life conditions.
The Krav Maga & MMA Fitness in Cave Creek, Chandler, Mesa, Glendale, Arizona is a true Conditioning Program that specializes in a Total Body Workout that doesn’t feel like to boring fitness class you may have taken before. Krav Maga Conditioning Program brings a fresh experience and keeps each and every student motivated in class on a day to day basis.
With a strong dedication and commitment to the Krav Maga and MMA Fitness Training student, Krav Instructors teach a combination of strength training, combatives, flexibility skills, and workouts with our top notch academy training facility. There is a emphasize on muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance for Krav students in Henderson and Las Vegas while instilling the distinctive awareness and self defense techniques needed for street survival in our ever changing world.
Correct body alignment to maximize efficiency can be key, our team of professional instructors will work on refining Krav Maga technique through exciting repetition drills and training.
All levels of Krav Maga, MMA & Fitness from the beginner to the experienced can train at anyone of our three locations. Call today and don’t delay.
U.S. Army Photo by David Ruderman
U.S. Army Africa’s G-4 Mobility Division added a sophisticated piece of equipment to its inventory recently that will augment the command’s ability to deploy and re-deploy a wide range of vehicles and cargo in short order.
The arrival at Vicenza of the Deployable Automated Cargo Measurement System (DACMS) drew more than a dozen logistics professionals from Army Africa and the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza Directorate of Logistics to a briefing, demonstration and hands-on training at Caserma Ederle Aug. 30.
“What we learned last year during exercise Natural Fire 10 is that U.S. Army Africa may be supported by National Guard and Reserve units,” said Alex Menzies, USARAF, G-4 Mobility Division, Air Branch. Many units deploy without their unit movement officers, said Menzies, so Army Africa needs the capability to process and move equipment in country, often in remote locations and under austere conditions.
“This will help us with our through-put at any node, any APOD or SPOD (Aerial Port or Seaport of Disembarkation). With that set-up, you’re saving a lot of time,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Terry Throm, G-4 mobility warrant officer.
Lacking tools such as the DACMS made re-deployment of equipment a time-consuming and, occasionally, an iffy proposition.
“We did it the old-fashioned way, with pen and pencil and spreadsheet. We decided we needed the equipment … to be self-sufficient,” Throm said.
The DACMS, which consists of two-laser enabled reading posts and a set of digital, floor-pad sensors, is marketed by Intercomp Weighing of Medina, Minn., and costs $127,000. It electronically measures key data points and automatically enters them into electronic load planning systems, Menzies said.
The latest in vehicle processing technology, the unit is being fielded throughout U.S. military force projection platform locations, including Ramstein, Germany, and Aviano, Italy, said Menzies.
Its efficiency will reduce Installation Staging Area processing time significantly and minimize the deploying organization’s manpower requirements, he said.
“It alleviates a lot of the hands-on we have to do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Marina Dennis, USARAF G-4 Mobility NCOIC. “It cuts down a lot of the time.”
As if to make her point, garrison logistics personnel drove a trailer-bearing Highly Mobile, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) through the electronic reading posts and over the weighing pads. Within 15 seconds, and without the vehicle operator having to come to a halt, the DACMS had measured and recorded its length, breadth, height, weight, number of axles and center of weight.
Army Africa is likely to put the unit to full use during exercises and training in the year ahead such as the 2011 episodes of Atlas Drop, Judicious Response and Natural Fire, said Menzies.
In addition to deploying the unit to the field, Army Africa can make the DACMS available to other commands and units in Vicenza, for instance the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the garrison Directorate of Logistics, said Throm.
And when it comes to going mobile, The DACMS can fit on a standard Air Force load pallet and be moved quickly to wherever it is needed.
“It’s part of our fly-away kit,” said Menzies.
“We’re hoping it’s a system for the 21st century,” said Throm.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
Don't you love finding those great homemade crafts on Pinterest. My Pinspiration "White Clay" activity caught my eye because of the gorgeous bright white color of the dough. And the cute cookie cutter ornaments made with the dough, and the ability to paint the baked ornaments.... Yada Yada Yada!!! All looks nice on the PIN.
Venting time: can't do any if this fun "white clay ornaments" and painting them afterwards if the dough flakes and when you finally do get an ornament made it disintegrates coming out of the oven. Vent complete.
We totally enjoyed the mixing, measuring, stirring and talking about our science, err um, I mean fun craft. I squeeze I learning everywhere we can!!! We ate lunch as the dough cooled for about 10 minutes or so.
Project Fail, White Clay Dough
Recipie we followed:
Bright White Clay Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups of baking soda
1 cup of cornstarch
1 cup of water
Directions:
1. Combine baking soda, cornstarch and water in a medium pot and stir over medium heat until all ingredients are dissolved.
2. Continue to stir over medium low heat until mixture thickens.
3. Once thick, immediately remove from heat and transfer mixture into a mixing bowl. Be careful, mixture will be hot!
4. Cover with a cold damp dish cloth until cool enough to knead.
5. Knead dough until soft and smooth. If mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water at a time and knead until a softer, workable consistency is reached.
6. Roll out dough to 1/4" and cut into shapes as desired.
7. Bake finished creations on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet in a warm oven (I do mine at 175 degrees F for about two hours, flipping them over about half way through baking.) Allow to cool completely in the oven.
8. Once completely dry, finished creations can be painted with acrylic craft paints and sealed with a craft sealant.
9. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap to keep it fresh.
We did make the dough by heating ingredients in the pot. My first tip that is failed was the smooth texture of our version. It should have been "stickies" and looked more lumpy. And just as every good scientist knows, you will learn during the process, and learn from your failures.
Here's younger son enjoying the warm dough.
Here my younger son is enjoying how warm it is to his hands. He's been under the weather so mommy's homemade chicken soups in the pic too.
My next indicator of failure was the lack if bonding in the clay / sticking to the table and not as pliable as it should be.
Younger son loved playing with his "mountain." He wasn't into ornaments and cookie cutter shapes. He instead had the "cat" eat the "fish" but applying one cutter image over the other. And I can't say enough about the gross and fine motor skills needed to push, press, pinch, and shape the dough.
He was not frustrated - as was the adult in the room (me) - with the dough flakes, pieces and chunks that were falling off said mountain.
Baby girl enjoyed watching us, and touching the warm dough. Otherwise he was more into the cookie cutter shapes, and less into playing with the dough.
I rolled out the dough, into thicker and thicker segments. The cookie cutter shapes would break apart. Then the dough would stick to the table. Just frustrating. Add the flaking dough and it was not fun (for mom).
However baby girl loved flaking pieces all over the floor. And throwing cookie cutters on top.
Afterwards I took my dozen ornaments in animal shapes into the oven for 60 minutes at 175.
Here's our table after the experiment. Younger son is putting flakey dough remnants into a Baggie (so older son can enjoy after school).
And like our favorite clean up time song says: "you can clean where it's small and I can clean where it's tall." For the first time my 4 year old used the vacuum cleaner and picked up the flakey pieces. Baby girl and I wiped up the table each with our own sponges.
Cleaning may have taken longer then the entire project - cooking and molding together.
As for the baking, everything went smoothly. Then I removed the ornaments, and as the tray cooled I nudged one, and the leg came off. I nudged the duck beak and it flaked apart. All the pieces disintegrated. All of them. And the little rolled "balls" of dough we thought we'd make marbles from, they cracked, and dented. So interesting flops all the was around.
But even with the failures, we had fun. And we lived a real experiment. We need to fail with our kids too. Talking about our projects. What we were making. How it felt. It was "fun mommy." And then as you know real life doesn't work 100% of the time. So my kids also need to experience failures so they know how to handle disappointment. And they can learn to persevere, and try again, and again until we reach success. And you can't beat that.
The flop
We think we didn't add enough baking soda. My younger son remembers adding 1 cup of everything instead of a single 2-cup ingredient.
We will revisit this project. And try a smaller batch recipie. It's a low cost flop, but a high impact failure experiment... Again positive for my kids experiences.
Make Mistakes (like I did). Breathe. Reflect. And Laugh.Out.Loud. It helps with coping skills and failures.