View allAll Photos Tagged asthmatic
It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words. T. S. Eliot
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Madeleine Peyroux - Smile
To continue our observations of the inland habitats of the Tobago Plantations: I have mentioned that strips of woodland have remained between the greens of the golf course. The rufous-vented chachalaca is essentially a woodland species.
This strange, turkey-like, gallinaceous bird has a world distribution almost entirely restricted to Venezuela -- and Tobago. (It is not found in neighbouring Trinidad.) On Tobago it is abundant; its loud, raucous, cackling "coc-eri-co, coc-eri-co!", sounding like an asthmatic with whooping cough, can be heard along the forest edges in the early morning and must disturb many a slumber on the island. Female answers male at a slightly higher pitch. With their large bodies, long tails and short wings, they hop clumsily from branch to branch in the trees, and seem ill-adapted for flight, although they are quite capable of it. An ungainly bird with an ungainly name.
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Rotsteißguan
Краснохвостая чачалака
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These are bagpipes. I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig.
(Alfred Hitchcock)
The theme this week is 'COMPOSITE IMAGES' - HSoS!
~~~ Thank you all for viewing, kind comments, favs and awards - much appreciated! ~~~
The Oculus which is a 53 foot diameter glass dome directly above the four-level aluminum skinned main rotunda that allows sunlight to be ‘funneled’ down to the basement level of the new Fulton Center transportation hub that opened on November 10, 2014 in downtown Manhattan just south of City Hall. Contained within conical shape of the main atrium is what can be seen here surrounding the glass Oculus, the “Sky Reflector-Net” which is actually and integrated artwork by James Carpenter Design Associates (JCDA), Grimshaw Architects and Arup which is made up of 112 tensioned cables, 224 high-strength rods and 10,000 stainless steel components that distribute the light to the lowest level of the center. The center will eventually be joined with the World Trade Center Transportation Hub underground a few blocks away creating an impressive center for transportation in lower Manhattan.
What I captured here in late February of 2015, the Oculus and part of the “Sky Reflector-Net” is truly spectacular, the atrium is beautifully lit, escalators, multiple elevators (helpful to an asthmatic like me) and digital kiosks abound. It is a 21st Century building that is the only all digital signage transit hub in New York and there were many digital screens for advertising throughout. This was taken with Olympus E-5 with Olympus Zuiko Digital 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 lens processing in Adobe Lightroom.
Visually impressive, and since it hasn’t been opened long, very little of the retail tenants like Shake Shack had actually opened, so that was a little disappointing. Also there were not many Metrocard machines for such a large hub, I wanted to refill my Metrocard but decided I would do it at my destination in Brooklyn because the lines on the few Metrocard machines were rather long on a Sunday, so I can’t imagine during the work week. Also the new all-digital station with Wi-Fi, well the train platforms themselves didn’t have Wi-Fi , there was no signal. The ultimate goal was to create hub of 9 subway lines & 4 subway stations that were difficult to navigate because in truth the confusion stems from the fact the 4 stations were from the 3 competing early 20th Century transit companies the IRT, the BMT and the IND and never meant to be linked. Is this 1.4 billion dollar station better than the mazes and catacombs that linked the four old stations? The answer is yes, but how much better? The complex is beautiful, but the signage (which can be improved) and the actually getting to the platforms, well not as clear as it could be. Hopefully they are surveying I’d love to give my feedback because even though I do love this wonderful city of New York, I’ll be the first to admit, I picked up Boston’s ‘T’ and Washington DC’s Metro very quickly when staying in those cities for work. MTA is still confusing, which is why I will go out of my way to help out of towners that just don’t get it. It took me several years before I got it, and really only I’m talking about the subway lines I frequent.
www.mta.info/news-fulton-center/2014/11/10/welcome-new-fu...
So this week we were asked to look further into a subject to see details that were worth looking at. So here you have a dusty venetian blind, which looks more like a desolate plain with this long thin crop.
Sorry to gross all you clean freaks out, but as I was cleaning in the garage I noticed all the dust on the bottom blind and couldn't help but think it would make a great macro. You will be happy to know it is now clean.
This image has been generated in collaboration with my friend Steve Dondero. We wanted to generate an image that was unique and conveyed the eerie landscape generated by the total eclipse. So Steve scouted for days in the mountains of Idaho till he found this perfect little lake. It had submerged tufa type formations that made it feel like an alien planet. The lake would line up perfectly for the total eclipse. On the day of the eclipse we started our steep hike into the mountains. Steve as usual with the grace of a speeding gazelle, and me lumbering behind like a drunken asthmatic hippo. A few hours later we reached this spot and realized there was no one around for miles. I shot this image with the hope of rendering the scene at totality. This is a multiple exposure blend mainly to show some of the interesting cloud formations during the shoot, Steve for the human element (playing with his lens ball here) and the totality phase of the eclipse. The foreground has been shot with a wide angle and the sun with a 400 mm lens. I chose to use the image from the longer lens to have a clearer picture of the totality phase, and was using the wide angle to indicate the position of the sun at totality. A few stars made an appearance as well. Would love to hear your thoughts on this rendition.
Kudos to all those who have been posting beautiful images of the eclipse. Really enjoying each creative take on the event.
Me and my son left the Bondowoso hotel at 1145pm and reached the Paltuding trailhead at 0115am. We then began our torturous 4 km hike up Mount Ijen at about 0130am which included several short stops here and there. You don’t need to be super fit to do this but I must admit I am getting old. Coupled by the fact that I climbed Bromo the day before and had a mild fever, I was worried to the point of contemplating quitting the climb altogether. There is another option to take a taxi up in the form of a double wheeled wheelbarrow pushed by the local miners. But I felt I would lose all my self-dignity if I do that. After removing the non-essentials from my back pack we climbed up the rather steep slopes in the dark where I was told that black panthers still roam in the vicinity. I reached the crater rim 1.5 hours later, surprisingly still in one piece.
Then we took the precarious and health-questionable trip down the crater lake. In the dark, on a narrow footpath shared by a gazillion people, all it take is a misstep and you'll be on your way down and beyond. Twisting your ankles is the least of your concern. We had to be careful --it took us about 45 minutes to descend from 2185m to 2045m . There was a steady flow of people going down, mixed with some early folks already making their way up. Once in a while the local miners with up to 100kg of sulfur would climb up the same path and all tourists made way for these guys.
Upon reaching the crater pit, the atmosphere then changed to one that is truly out of this world. I think the only other place you can observe this phenomenon is in Iceland. There was continuous (poisonous) sulphur gas flowing out of the crater floor that once in a while would engulf everyone and make us cry - quite unbearable. The gas masks helped a lot. Wouldn’t recommend this for asthmatics. And finally, the reason why we went through all this madness is that we get to witness the amazing blue fire from the burning sulphur. After taking a few shots, we climbed up the crater rim which in itself is another torturous 1 hour hike against the flow of downward traffic.
By the time we reached the crater rim, it was already time for sun rise. Luckily for us, the colours in the sky really popped that morning and the volcanic smoke didn’t cover the entire turquoise acidic lake. Together with the edelweiss shrub in the foreground I took several handheld shots overlooking the Ijen crater and the distant Mount Raung.I think I will visit East Java more in the future…
Rory Seydel of the fantastic Indy Rock band Shapes and Sizes (Asthmatic Kitty Records) live in a hometown performance, Victoria BC.
I guess you thought the tittle was about me, well at least till you got to the part about charm...
But I speak about the MC we bought last spring, a 2000 mod. Harley Davidsen Ultra Classic. I have to say that I have dreamt of Harleys since I was a wee lad, but never thought I would be able to own one. But when we found this one in Bergen, fairly priced as it has a few minor scratches, I couldn't resist it.
The old Kawasaki Drifter that we had was a great bike to start with, but it was a little asthmatic with its 800ccm, and it was also a bit too small for Mette to be comfy on longer drives. This 1450ccm is in a very different league. It is far from fast, but it has enough torque to push us up any mountain pass. And though it is about 380 kg (840 lb) is it amazingly easy to handle.
I feared owning a Harley would be just a hype, that it was just a famous brand with little else to offer. But I have to say that I have grown very fond of it, it has given me many wonderful miles, with or without my boss on the rear seat. And she can sit on for 2-.3 hours without any problem, it is very comfy.
I know this is a pretty tasteless bragging, but I can't help it. This bike has really brought us many wonderful days out and about.
The main photo is from Urabukti here in Fjærland.
There is a load of extra photos in the first comment.
I spent the day putting up the tree. As an asthmatic, we have only had artificial trees for years and years. Bought a new pre-lite one this year. I have been looking forward to Christmas so I can use the tree for photo experimentation. LOL Shows you where my priorities are.
This made Explore.....many thanks to everyone!!
Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one...
This is Emput (short for Semput, or asthmatic in Malay). Emput is a stray cat that started appearing around my mother in law's apartment block about a year and a half ago. Contrary to all the other cats that linger around the area, we've never seen Emput while he was still a healthy little kitten. Instead, he just came out of nowhere, all sickly and thin. His health is lacking to say the least. He was so thin that when I touched & petted him, I could see that he was barely more than skin & bone. His body and fur was covered in dried scabs & cuts from fights he had with the other neighbourhood cats. How he fared in those fights I can barely think about. In addition, he always breathed in this ragged gasps, his flanks & sides moving up and down erratically. As if he had asthma. That's how he came to be known by me as Emput.
Being a stray, he had no owner & no home to speak of. What he had was an elderly Chinese couple living in the same apartment block who took rudimentary care of him and fed him at least once a day with cat food and boiled fish with rice. What he called home was the entire ground floor of the apartment block. This however, was his favorite spot.
Because of his ill health and because I have always had a soft spot for stray cats, I took a liking to him. I'd always make it a point to stroke & pet him as much as I could whenever I walked by him. I guess I pitied him...when I gave his head & chin a rub, he would roll over and expose his stomach just like house cats do. That's the only time he felt safe & loved like one, I think. In spite of his condition, Emput held on to life for the longest time, like an old hardy soldier. For that, I respected him. I've always had it in mind to do something for him to make him better, like take him to the vet. I made a resolution to myself that I would do so in 2 months time, after Eid. I told him once while I gave him a head rub..."Hold on for 2 more months, okay?". I guess that was too much to ask.
Ever since he appeared, I have always wondered how long he could last. My wondering has ceased...
I went back to my mother in law's house yesterday. Emput was nowhere to be seen. Previously, if I didn't see him anywhere, I would ask my father in law where he was and he'd say "Oh, he was there just now, I saw him"..and then I'd feel at ease. After asking them the same question yesterday, his reply was in the negative. Instead, my father in law told me that there was a new burial mound in the little yard at the back of the apartment block. I should explain...the aforementioned elderly Chinese couple had always took it upon themselves to bury the cats they fed & took care of when they died. They did so by digging up a hole in the yard and later, when the hole was covered, they would put bricks & stones on top so that other scavenging animals can't get to the corpse. Up till recently, I noticed that there were 3 such burial mounds in the yard. Yesterday, I saw there were 4.
In the last couple of weeks, I began to do a strange thing. I began photographing Emput in his daily environment. Whenever I went back to my in law's place, I took one of my cameras along with me, always loaded with film. I photographed Emput as much as I could. Somehow, a part of me already knew that Emput had not long to live, and if no one else took photos of him (like house cats whose pictures were frequently taken by their owners)...then at least I did. If there are no photos of him at all in this whole wide world, then at least there are some in my archives. It's almost like I wanted the photos to be a record, proof that a stray cat called Emput once existed at Block F10, Seksyen 2, Wangsa Maju.
I didn't know it then, but this is the last photo I took of him.
I just wish I had done something for him earlier. Here's a photo of you Emput, published on the this crazy thing called the Innernet where everyone can see you. Turns out, it's the very least I can do for you.
Rest in peace, my friend. May Allah SWT have nicer things in store for you.
Kodak Retinette Type 022 ~ Schneider Kreuznach Reomar 45/3.5 ~ Expired Kodak Gold 100 ~ Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
with the recent proliferation of dengue in the philippines this particular weed gained a sudden popularity. it is locally named 'tawa tawa', and is believed to have medicinal properties.
according to a medicinal website, the snake weed is considered to be anti-asthmatic, antibacterial, antidote, antifertility, antifungal, antimalarial, anti-spasmodic, anthelmintic, antidysenteric, diuretic, expectorant, pectoral, hemostatic, sedative, soporific.
it is normally boiled, together with its roots, and the brew taken as tea.
source: stuartxchange.org/
do you like the color orange? do you like kittycats? well friend there is finally a shirt just for YOU! clothe the whole clan!
asthmatickitty.com/music.php?releaseID=51
a tshirt i did for the good people at asthmatic kitty records!
Germany, Simonsberg,...“…run Forrest, run“,…actually she is Paula, a lady, but maybe inspired by the film Forrest Gump.
Paula belongs to friends of mine who live in Simonsberg right at the dyke.
Simonsberg is a municipality in the North Friesland/Schleswig-Holstein district with just little over 800 inhabitants. The idyllic village is located directly on the North Sea & the “Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park”.
When the lawnmowers/sheep aren't grazing on the dyke or the cows are spending the day in the pastures, she can romp freely around here in the endless nature that any city dog would envy.
As a resident, however, you should own a historic tractor & at least one family member should be in the volunteer fire department, whether active or inactive, the main thing is to be part of the community, otherwise you could be ignored in the village; in any case it is a nice place without swarms of tourists, but with a lot of fresh, spicy sea air, perfect for asthmatics.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
Banana Spider (Non-venomous)
Banana spiders vary from reddish to greenish yellow in color with distinctive whiteness and the beginning of the abdomen. They have striped legs specialized for weaving. Their contrast of dark brown/black and green/yellow allows warning and repelling of potential predators to whom their venom might be of little danger. They reach sizes of 1.5 to 2 inches in, not including leg span, The largest specimen ever recorded was 2.7 inches. The venom of the Banana Spider is potent but not lethal to humans. It has a neurotoxic effect similar to that of the black widow spider; however, its venom is not nearly as powerful. The bite causes local pain, redness, and blisters that normally disappear within a 24-hour interval. In rare cases, it might trigger allergic reactions and result in respiratory troubles (in asthmatics) or fast-acting involuntary muscle cramps.
They are widespread throughout Southeast Georgia and build large yellow webs for capturing prey.
Source" Savannah Hash House
I managed to drag my coughing, wheezing, asthmatic carcass out in the dark and up a hill with two of the finest night photographers around. I wasn't happy with the composition on this one so I flipped it backwards for a diagonal line. More to come from here when my wheezing chest allows!
Playing around a lot with the composition of macro minimalism for the last few days. I really like the delicacy of this, to me, the image feels so fragile.
When I was a kid, we'd blow dandelions and count the number of breaths it took to blow them bald. That told you the time. We'd call them puff clocks. But I was asthmatic, and always estimated it was far later in the day than it really was!
Germany, Simonsberg,...“…run Forrest, run“,…actually she is Paula, a lady, but maybe inspired by the film Forrest Gump.
Paula belongs to friends of mine who live in Simonsberg right at the dyke.
Simonsberg is a municipality in the North Friesland/Schleswig-Holstein district with just little over 800 inhabitants. The idyllic village is located directly on the North Sea & the “Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park”.
When the lawnmowers/sheep aren't grazing on the dyke or the cows are spending the day in the pastures, she can romp freely around here in the endless nature that any city dog would envy.
As a resident, however, you should own a historic tractor & at least one family member should be in the volunteer fire department, whether active or inactive, the main thing is to be part of the community, otherwise you could be ignored in the village; in any case it is a nice place without swarms of tourists, but with a lot of fresh, spicy sea air, perfect for asthmatics.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
The venom of the golden silk orb-weaver is potent but not lethal to humans. It has a neurotoxic effect similar to that of the black widow spider; however, its venom is not nearly as powerful. The bite causes local pain, redness, and blisters that normally disappear within a 24-hour interval. In rare cases, it might trigger allergic reactions and result in respiratory troubles (in asthmatics) or fast-acting involuntary muscle cramps. As the genus possesses relatively strong chelicerae, the bite could leave a scar on hard tissue (such as fingers)
Source:Wikipedia.
This is Floyd, my sister's dog. He is ten years old and like me he is asthmatic:-(
Wishing you you all a good weekend and let us hope that the sun shines on at least some of us:-)
WDS6 No. 36312 shunts at Bangalore City Jn on 3rd December 2022. These large locos are a bit of a sheep in wolf's clothing, with just a tiny 6 cylinder Alco 251 power unit of 1350 hp under that enormous hood. For years, India generally relied on small asthmatic diesel hydraulic shunters classed as WDS-4, but train sizes simply outgrew the haulage capacity of these 600 - 700hp locos.
India always had a fleet of WDS-6 locos for heavyweight shunting duties, the WDS-4s were replaced by a mixture of life expired WDM2 locos on their last legs before the scrapyard and these new build WDS-6 locos. The lack of wires above the carriage sidings suggests the WDS-6 wont be out of a job anytime soon.
This photo was fueled by a lot of things, and caused much amusement and merriment during taking it. :-)
Some time ago, three of the guys from the Kiwi quarter of this photographic world I know decided they'd get together and do a small road trip away from Auckland where most of them lived, and head out round The Coromandel peninsula. Now, from what I can gather, the combined amount of decent photographs from the trip amounted to >< that much, due largely to crappy weather. So said bunch of guys got their thinking hats on and decided to do it again, and threw the invite out to a wider audience. (This is where I came in).
Cue worried looks amongst those going traveling during the week before the trip as they watched day after day of dire weather reports. Add to this me sat there looking like a sad bugger as I'd done my own research on the designated area we were due to visit, and realised it looked like something from a postcard. I don't 'do' postcard landscapes, they make my teeth itch.
The original idea was to fly up late Fri night to Auckland, meet the rest of the gang (one of whom had flown over from Australia), head up to the peninsula, camp down in a bach (holiday home) overnight and get up for dawn to shoot sunrise at this place called Cathedral Cove. (Yes Cathedral Cove is the place I'd seen sickly picture postcard shots of).
So anyway, I arrive in Auckland, we drive, we arrive at the bach, we get the TV working, watch the Olympics and get mildly drunk. I get about an hours sleep, hear my mate's alarm go off at 4am, notice it raining and go back to sleep. 10am arrives and we all get up to see sun, and then the trip was on.
40mins walk from the car park to the cove passes ( I won't mention the asthmatic heap I was in walking back up the hill) and we arrive at this beach, and true to form the sun is out and it just looks frankly, ****ing jaw-dropping. It was the most idylic place to sit down in the sand and watch the world go by I've ever visited. Awesome. Also truly shyte for photos unless you wanted to take picture postcards. And so we get to this...
Alex Boyd admins (and apparently so do I) a group called 'Scotland is not a postcard' and he found my stream after seeing my rather grim interpretation of Rannoch Moor. Alex Boyd is a truly talented chap and his recent collection of work Sonnets from Scotland is something I find truly awe inspiring. If you combine this with the realisation I wasn't gonna take a single photo of the landscape there that wasn't sickly sweet, with the realisation I'd not done a self portrait in a while, and thoughts of Alex's images we get this.
It's the middle of winter here, and that water isn't so warm. I took a few shots with the help of Tim, the visiting Australian and wasn't happy, so I decided to add a burst of flash into the scene. It's at this point I realised that my long off-camera flash cord was in the van at the top of the hill, and that one of the other guys who carries Elinchrom Skyport flash triggers had also left them in the carpark, all in the name of saving weight. Damn. The best we could manage was an ST-E2 infrared thing, and with the combined knowledge of five camera nerds who'd never actually used infrared flash triggering like this, we stood there on the beach for 20mins looking like idiots (me especially with my wet legs and rolled up jeans) whilst the other assembled tourists looked on. We, basically, looked like cocks.
And then we get the two old guys who had bedded down in the sand watching us take all our photos, partly to try and ask as many dumb questions as possible, partly to try and seem 'cool' to the guys with the big cameras and partly just because they were like stalking vultures. These two old guys really didn't take kindly to my colourful use of of the English language at times, and proceeded to give me a lecture. Great!
Thank god the photo came out in the end. ;-)
(Thank you hugely, Chris, Tim, Mark and Andrew, I never realised this would end up being such a saga, but thanks for the patience!)
Strobist info: one 580EX II fired via infrared from an ST-E2 on camera at about 4 o'clock to me from about 2.5 mtrs away)
May 20, 2011.
Keep Calm and Remember to Breathe
Have you ever had difficulty breathing?
Or do you even remember a time, when you were not breathing? Most probably the answer is no, unless you've had asthma - or have asthma.
Most people don't know what the sensation is like; the fear of your windpipe closing up, the fear of not having enough air, the fear of not getting oxygen to keep going.
The thought of having to rely on an inhaler so you won't have an attack, the reminder that basically you're carrying around something that could save your life. It's an unpleasant, reluctant feeling. That panicky moment when your hands are scrabbling in your bag for your inhaler because you feel like you can't breathe. The short gasps for air escaping from your mouth as your heart rate accelerates exponentially. The knowledge that people's eyes flit and land on you when you're taking a puff on your inhaler; the judgement passed as they automatically jump to ridiculous conclusions; and the sensation that now everyone thinks you're physically weak - they all contribute to the ongoing emotional struggle.
If you haven't guessed by now, I'm an asthmatic - an on/off one, meaning I can go long spans of time without having it, and after a while it appears again. Right now, I'm supposed to be on an inhaler for three times a day. I can feel myself resisting it. Showing any sign of weakness makes me feel overly emotionally exposed to everyone, and I consider this- this medical condition, a weakness. I have managed to bury most of my emotions from public view for so long it's begun to feel normal.. I really don't want to feel fragile in front of anyone.
Who thought it was a good idea to call at Pets at Home with the muppets to get a few bits 😂 they liked the sprouts but they sounded like an asthmatic seagull! and the pumpkins were too big and pricey! We got food lol. Olive climbed on a shelf to snaffle a random biscuit lol.
They enjoyed themselves, but paying at the desk was challenging with two excitable girls who want to meet everyone 😂
During the current mini heat-wave Colas Grid 56087 sets the pulses racing for rail fans and asthmatics alike as it makes a show restarting the 14.50 Washwood Heath (Met Camm) - Boston Docks empty metals (6E07) from the down loop at Meadow Lane, Long Eaton.
I spent many happy hours at this spot in the 70s but shooting straight into the sun would have been a no-no. The flyover in the background carries traffic direct from Toton Yard to the south (including Ratcliffe PS) and was built to avoid the busy, and at the time complex, track layout around Trent Junction.
29th June 2015
Last year I volunteered for the first time at the Open House New York yearly event that had been held since 2001 when it was organized by Scott Lauer, a former Open House London volunteer that brought the principals of what Victoria Thornton had established yearly in London since 1992 opening public and private buildings that were generally closed to the public for one weekend and as an added bonus after the shift the volunteers were allowed on the cupola of the McKim, Mead and White designed Manhattan Municipal Building with spectacular views [ flic.kr/p/Ppq1ac ]. Well I volunteered again this year and was assigned the Essex Market which is closing at the end of this year and was excited. Well I got news on the Wednesday before the October weekend that Essex Market was going to reduce the number of hours and my services would not be need, Open House New York is completely at the disposal of each location and each proprietor/manager has the right to change accessibility as they see fit. Disappointed, I put myself in the standby pool, thinking well maybe not this year. So starting Thursday night, I started getting emails with lists of Open House events throughout the city that needed volunteers, I tried for 3, they were all filled by the time I responded. Finally Saturday I got the latest list, they needed someone on Governors Island National Monument Sunday, I got it, now I would have to coordinate to get there on Sunday morning. I had posted earlier this year about the National Parks Service Governors Island National Monument [ flic.kr/p/Y2H1Ae ], a small island located just south of Manhattan that served as a military installation protecting New York since after the American Revolutionary War, then a Coast Guard facility and finally a national monument that is only accessible via ferry, though now there are private ferried both from New York Waterway and the ‘new’ New York City Ferry system in addition to the free ferry service. I got to Manhattan late, missed what would have been the ideal free ferry and had an Uber shuttle me over to the Wall Street Pier of New York City’s Mayor De Blasio’s new New York City Ferry system for my inaugural ride on the ferry to get me to Governors Island, albeit 15 minutes late. I called the Governors Island coordinator Shane Brennan PhD who is the Assistant Director of Program Development for the Trust of Governors Island, who told me told me that it would take me an additional 15 minutes to get to the location from the ferry, Liggett’s Terrace but it was OK because the actual tour actually began 45 minutes into our shift as we were the first crew so to not run and thanked me for going. When I got there, I met Shane and the other two volunteers at the large archway at Liggett Terrace.
Liggett Hall as it’s known actually traces its origin back to the turn of the 20th Century in 1904 when then US President (POTUS-President of the United States) Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary of War Elihu Root put together a master plan to upgrade the US army’s defense facilities on Governors Island to modernize as the troops posted on the island the 16th Infantry Regiment were living in substandard wooden barracks and using outdated dilapidated warehouses. While the whole master plan was not executed, after World War I and several fires the need for barracks became urgent. Again the design firm of McKim, Meade and White got the assignment and what they designed beautiful brick nearly 400,000 square foot Georgian Revival Liggett Hall which was modeled after French Barracks used by the United States during the First World War. Interesting side note is New York City Mayor La Guardia had been eyeing Governors Island and the open spaces to the south of Fort Jay as a airstrip for New York City, possibly a small city airport. Well, the McKim, Mead and White design stretched across the half the width of the island basically putting the kibosh of his honor’s idea. There was a small strip used by the military just to the south of Liggett Hall, but it was short and airplanes soon needed longer strips so it became outdated very quickly. As defenses became more mechanized, the need to actually army bases to defend key cities has led to closing of the bases, Governors Island was no exception, though in it was really an amazing place, Officers Row, directly to the north of Liggett Hall, housing for offices are beautiful house, the base had its own Broadway sized theater, its own YMCA, a Burger King and various other establishments on the island, literally a little city. The island had more than doubled in size, when landfill as a result of the New York City Subway was added to the southern end early in the 20th Century. Here’s a factoid for those who like this kind of stuff about Broadway Theaters and what’s considered a Broadway Theater. So a Broadway Theater in the city of New York is a theater that seats 500 or more, and off-Broadway Theater seats 100-499 and an off-off-Broadway theater has 1-99 seats. The Coast Guard would take over the island after the US Army departed until 1996 though their footprint and use of the island was greatly less than the Army.
So the center of the Liggett Hall Barracks is the massive archway that divides the building and like I said before that where I met Shane and the other two volunteers, it is an impressive mammoth structure. So Shane takes us up to our destination, this part of the Barracks had never been open to public before and actually had been closed to all for about 9 years and not utilized for 20 years since the Coast Guard’s departure. There was no electricity as we wound up 5 flights of stairs (not the greatest thing for an asthmatic like me), dust everywhere was witness to length of time as was the peeling in probability lead based paint up to the top where I think my fellow volunteer’s and I were completely blown away by what we saw. We walked into a massive gymnasium, 3 stories up, with hoops that had been utilized by the Coast Guard until they departed in 1996 and had the Coast Guard Badge center court. It was huge, plain and simple but Shane explained the length of the gymnasium was the same as the Chrysler Building is tall 1,049 feet actually and it was not originally designed as a gymnasium. One of the issues the army troops had on the island was the winters of New York. So the original purpose of this massive area in the center of the barracks was as a massive drill hall. The soldiers could drill no matter what the weather outside was. So in the image I’ve posted, take under one of the basketball hoop so not even the entire length, the size of the gymnasium can be seen as well as the dust on the floor and if you examine closely, the peeling paint. The McKim, Mead and White design is amazing because from the outside looking at the building, one is hard pressed to realize that there is this mass open space within.
The Trust of Governors Island is looking to preserve this space, figure out what to use it for, maybe an indoor arena for venues like concerts? The organization is looking to preserve some of the historical edifices on the island by creative re-use, looking for private investors to buy in. When the US Government, actually President Bill Clinton specifically sold the island to New York State and New York City for a buck at the end of his term, they put certain conditions on both. One was no permanent residents, so it would not become like Roosevelt Island, it was to be public space. Each year they keep the island open a little long and open a little earlier. Shane said one of the goals is to get it to be a year around public space, national park.
Image captured on an Olympus E-5 using an Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 SWD lens on MeFoto tripod, because of the light coming through the windows the broad dynamic range this is an HDR of 3 images processed in Photomatix Pro and cleaned up in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
I had the opportunity the past two months to have many of my images pitched for a very big project for Canon in Japan. As part of this presentation I was asked to remove the images that were being pitched from my website and Flickr. I got news today that the project is not moving forward this year and as a result, I need to slowly work these images back into my photostream. These were some of my favorite images and to be honest, I am glad I get to bring them back, so if you see an image and think, hey...that looks familiar then that is probably why. I learned quite a lot during this experience about exclusivity and had to go on a mission trying to find where on the internet my images were being used and get those removed as well. One image, that I will share later, had actually made it's way onto a well known website where they offer images for download for the purpose of editing or adding to them creatively. You can imagine my surprise when I found one of my favorite waterfall images, right here on flickr, with a mermaid photo-shopped onto one of the rocks in my foreground. At first I was pretty pissed, but in the end it was funny and before I made them remove the image, I downloaded it for a future post. :) Anyway, if you have not seen this image before and you are wondering about the title, I have placed the original story down below for those of you that want some light reading. Happy waterfall Wednesday!
So here's the story: :)
Before this weekend I had not visited this PNW gem, Ruckel creek falls. It's no secret that I won't be trying out for any fitness weekly competitions this month but I can keep up on most hikes with the best of them. Just because I SOUND like a asthmatic horse who just tried to compete in the Kentucky derby doesn't mean I am actually getting my ass kicked. Besides...I recover quickly. :) I met up with Don, Zeb, Dani, Matt, Kathy and her husband Wayne for a early morning hike and as usual forgot my water. I realized this about a half mile into the hike when the incline of the trail went from Wahkeenalike to WTF in very short order. Halfway up the trail Zeb proclaimed it to be the last of the switchbacks. 10 more switchbacks later and we finally reached the top. I took a few breaks to make sure everyone was doing okay. :) I didn't want anyone to get too tired.
When we finally reached the top, no one knew where the trail was. Kathy pulled a picture out of her pocket of a mossy rock and said this was the marker for the trail. I did a quick sweep of the area and saw at least 7 or 8 mossy rocks. We're screwed I thought. Zeb ran around for about 10 minutes with the rock photo in his hand before finally finding the trail. Earlier on the trail we had discussed and spotted poison oak along the sides of the trail. Now we had to cross an entire field of it. No problem. lol
It was at this point that the effects of Poison oak were explained to me. Now, I had always thought it just made you itch really bad. Okay I thought, I can deal with that if I have too. Unfortunately, ignorance is not always bliss and I was told that poison oak actually creates boils that fill with fluid and fester. What? A freaking fluid filled boil is bad enough...then is has to freaking fester? Oh hell no. I made it through the field and didn't fall down. I did however get my tripod all in the poison oak. Great.
Finally we make it to the top of the trail. We get to go downhill now! Wait a minute....that means we have to come back up! The trail down in comprised of two things...loose rock and slick clay. It sucked, but we made it. Everyone told me not to touch my face or arms after touching my tripod but I was sweating buckets when I got there and there were flying bugs everywhere. This area is also known to have a decent amount of ticks and I hate the thought of getting a tick so I was constantly wiping my head face & neck. I couldn't help but think about how freaking sweet it would be to have festering fluid filled boils, severe itching and blood sucking bugs burrowing into my skin all at the same time.
Fast forward to after we made it out of this nightmare..... After saving Don from a tick just as it was about to have lunch on his neck, I got on my phone and started looking at boil images. Nice. When we got back into town we stopped and bought a scrub to treat and eliminate poison oak oil. I drove 100mph to Zeb's house so I could hop in the shower. One of the ticks made it all the way to Zeb's house but didn't get either of us. Sorry Wendy! :) I didn't even bother to read how much of this scrub I was supposed to use, I just used it all. I don't know if I have ever been that clean. I mean, I had to have gone through at least 4 layers of skin.
2 hours later we started our workshop and about an hour into it my entire head, face and neck was on fire. The midday sun was playing tricks on me and I could swear I saw a rash developing on my thumb. In the end, I think it was a combination of the sun, the medicine and my own paranoia because halfway through the workshop the sun went down and I began to feel better.
I am still not completely comfortable though and hope I dodged a bullet. I don't want festering fluid boils!
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Day 97
I SHOT THIS TODAY. I couldn't sleep last night because I couldn't breathe, but I finally drifted off sometime after 5am. Then I got up half an hour before my shift started and worked until nine! I didn't think I was going to feel up to shooting but I guess the caffeine in the Pepsi(s) I drank at work gave me the boost I needed ;)
Thank you John for helping me shoot this! It was cold and it would have taken me a lot longer without you :)
I think this picture is pretty funny. Ya know, 'cause I'm asthmatic and all. Haha. Okay I'm gonna go to bed before my jokes get any cornier. (Is that how you spell that?)
***Before and after of this photo is on Facebook! Check it out: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=580501892022503&set=a...
Whilst in Kyabram, we spent an afternoon walking around Horseshoe Bend and Moama Wharf. Living in Melbourne, I didn't realise how close this part of the NSW border was to me, and it's so beautiful.
You may notice in some of these images a dark mark on the tree trunks. This marks the level of the water as it rose up over the immensely tall river banks during the catastrophic floods last year. According to local authorities, the levels rose 94.94 metres (from sea level)! It is truly humbling to see.
One of the off-tracks led to a marsh that had hundreds of white cranes wading through the green plant beds - mesmerising!
On the way back I stopped to watch as dozens of lorikeets, galahs, and cockatoos flew overhead and filled the tree canopy high above.
Then I heard a toot and was flooded with emotion - was it a famous steamer?! A little known geeky fact about me is that I have had a long fascination with Murray River steamboats but have never seen one - this was my opportunity! In the cold evening air, with asthmatic lungs filled with bronchitis, I ran as fast as I could to get back to the Moama Wharf. From atop my perch there I took so many images of an actual steamer as it chugged along down the Murray River. Glorious!
I've finally got round to capturing the reliveried 43002 with what is undeniably the best livery ever applied to an HST power car. Excellent work all round for those who organised and applied the retro livery, and it works fabulously to this day even with the slight modifications to lights (in fact I think that bit looks better).
All you crackheads who want a Valenta engine back, you can die early from the extra fumes they push out. As an asthmatic I certainly approve of any emissions regulations to protect my oxygen supply...
Anyway I've edited an InterCity carriage in from the Banbury set which Chiltern run just to match with the power car, which I think looks fairly neat!
i didn't have to dosh on me to get four. so i guess the priority is on the asthmatics in the house.
yes, there's always been fires, no they've never been that bad. i can't imagine what the people in them are dealing with.
Whilst in Kyabram, we spent an afternoon walking around Horseshoe Bend and Moama Wharf. Living in Melbourne, I didn't realise how close this part of the NSW border was to me, and it's so beautiful.
You may notice in some of these images a dark mark on the tree trunks. This marks the level of the water as it rose up over the immensely tall river banks during the catastrophic floods last year. According to local authorities, the levels rose 94.94 metres (from sea level)! It is truly humbling to see.
One of the off-tracks led to a marsh that had hundreds of white cranes wading through the green plant beds - mesmerising!
On the way back I stopped to watch as dozens of lorikeets, galahs, and cockatoos flew overhead and filled the tree canopy high above.
Then I heard a toot and was flooded with emotion - was it a famous steamer?! A little known geeky fact about me is that I have had a long fascination with Murray River steamboats but have never seen one - this was my opportunity! In the cold evening air, with asthmatic lungs filled with bronchitis, I ran as fast as I could to get back to the Moama Wharf. From atop my perch there I took so many images of an actual steamer as it chugged along down the Murray River. Glorious!
I took this a year ago and what a difference a year has made.
On 23 December I came home from work feeling really ill, I was vomiting and had a temperature of 38.4. By Christmas day, I was in bed with the most awful headache, every time I moved my eyes it felt like knives in my head. Because of my other health issues I thought it was probably another infection but as Boxing Day came and went I decided to have a Covid test and sure enough I tested positive.
"Astrida Plenty (Account ID: af45779e)
You have tested positive for COVID-19 so you must stay at home and self-isolate until 2nd of January (including this date)
If you still have fever after 2nd of January, you are advised to continue to stay at home and self-isolate until you feel better. This is because you may still be infectious with COVID-19.
Members of your household must stay at home and isolate for 10 days from when your symptoms started (or from when your test was taken if you have not had symptoms).
For more information visit the stay at home guidance on self-isolation:"
I got out of bed for the first time on Sunday and yesterday was the first day I managed to stay upright all day. I did not have a cough, did not lose my sense of smell but did have breathing difficulties (I am asthmatic anyway) and also lot my appetite. My chest is still not 100% but every day I am feeling a bit better.
I hope you all keep safe out there - it really is a dreadful virus and has completely knocked me for six
Tom makes supergrand animations and also posts comics on the asthmatic kitty sidebar!
more from him : www.goodeaton.com/
Sources seem confused on the ID but both are certainly worth avoiding as the obvious hairs cause contact dermatitis and are shed so a danger particularly to asthmatics if inhaled as they are very fine.
Museo del Che - Alta Gracia -Cordoba 2023
Processed with VSCO with ke1 preset
Museum dedicated to Ernesto “ Che” Guevara in his childhood home in Alta Gracia, Cordoba, Argentina.
His family moved to A.G. when he was 5 looking for a better climate for his asthmatic condition. He lived there his childhood until he moved to the city of Cordoba to study in High School and later to Buenos Aires where he studied Medicine.
He made two trips while he was in university, the first by bike in Argentina and the second, and more famous, through different countries in South America by motorcycle with his childhood friend Alberto Granados.
The rest of his story is well known, a man who lived his life in his own terms, according to his beliefs and ideals.
Ernesto Guevara, “El Che” , Rosario , Argentina 1928 - La Higuera, Bolivia 1967.
“Hasta la victoria siempre”