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What was life like on a Russian North Pole Drifting Station? Some scientists and researchers were kind enough to lend us photographs, taken on various stations.
This station member climbed around on the ridges and hummocks of the ice floe. Like all who ventured away from camp, he carried a rifle for protection from polar bears.
Just prior to the start of World War II, the USSR set up a research camp on drifting ice near the North Pole in 1937. The drift continued for 274 days during which the station travelled more the 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles), obtaining the first scientific observations from that high latitude. In 1950, USSR set up a second station. Between 1937 to 1991, 88 polar crews drifted on ice flows for a total of 29,726 days. This research program is unequalled in the 20th century by duration, variety of observational material, and importance of scientific discoveries. On average researchers spent nine months at each camp.
Credit: Environmental Working Group
An extension of HACKFACE (from Music Hack Day Helsinki) that, for Last.fm genres (well, technically tags, via www.last.fm/api/show/tag.getTopTags), finds photos of the top 1,000 most listened to artists/bands, fetches, detects faces using a face detection algorithm, intelligently resizes them and composites them into a single image giving you an image of what the average music artist for each genre looks like.
A subset of Last.fm's top 250 genres: secure.flickr.com/photos/hugovk/11274726536/in/set-721576...
...but having spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to make something of it, I've posted it anyway.
EASTERN YELLOW BELLY RACER, Coluber constrictor flaviventris
NON-VENOMOUS
The adults average 3 to 4 feet in length.
Adults are olive to light green on top with a yellow belly. Juveniles are blotched patterned with a brown or gray background. They feed on reptiles and sometimes rodents and birds. When they are in the tall grass, they tend to hold their head high up above the grass for observation
Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston, Patrick Magee, Nigel Green and Skip Martin.
Brief Synopsis
In 12th-century Italy Prospero, a Satan-worshiping prince, jails two peasants, Gino and Ludovico, for defying his authority to tax citizens. Francesca, Ludovico's daughter and Gino's fiancée, pleads for their lives, and the intrigued Prospero agrees to spare whichever one she chooses. Later, the prince sees evidence of the Red Death plague in the village and orders all houses in the infected area burned. The disease obliges Prospero to retreat to his castle, and he forces Francesca to accompany him, intending to dress her in courtly attire and have her watch him indulge in sadistic pleasures as part of her instruction in diabolism. Juliana, the prince's mistress, is jealous of Francesca but aids her attempt to help Gino and Ludovico escape. The plot is foiled, however, and at one of the events preceding Prospero's annual masked ball, the prince orders the men to cut themselves with five knives, one of which is poisoned. Ludovico is impaled on Prospero's sword when he attempts to kill the prince with one of the weapons, and Gino is banished to the burning village, promising to return. Juliana, meanwhile, sacrifices herself to Satan while Prospero watches unperturbed. On his way back to town, Gino meets a strange figure in red, who takes him back to the castle and instructs him to wait outside for Francesca. As the mysterious intruder enters the ball, Prospero and his guests die of the Red Death, but Gino and Francesca are permitted to survive.
“The Masque of the Red Death” was apparently the story that inspired Roger Corman to start making movies based on the works of Poe. You might ask why, in that case, his first crack at the subgenre was The Fall of the House of Usher, and I honestly couldn’t give you an answer. But for whatever reason, Corman didn’t get around to filming The Masque of the Red Death until 1964, when it was obvious to everyone except possibly the director himself that he was getting sick of Poe adaptations, and the result was a disjointed, muddled, and nearly lifeless movie that just barely squeaks by on the basis of excellent visual composition and a splendid performance from star Vincent Price.
This would have been a difficult movie to make under the best of circumstances, though, because the original story is scarcely five pages long, and is written like a campfire tale. Characterization is literally at the level of “there’s this guy, see, and one day he...”, while months’ worth of action is passed over in single sentences, and every other element of the story is utterly subordinated to the final shock in the last paragraph. As temptingly cool as the underlying premise is, it would be a challenge to turn “The Masque of the Red Death” into a fifteen minute short, let alone a feature film. So inevitably, screenwriter Charles Beaumont was forced to invent scenes, characters, and motivations wholesale, and even then, he felt compelled to splice in a second Poe story, “Hop Frog,” as a subplot in order to bulk up his script to the required length.
The film begins with an old peasant woman encountering a strange man in a hooded red robe, sitting beneath a tree and dealing himself a Tarot hand. The man flags the old lady down, and gives her something to take with her to her village. She is to be his messenger, the hooded man explains, and sends her on her way.
Just hours after her arrival back home, her village finds itself playing host to its lord, Prince Prospero (Price). The prince has come to announce the date of the annual feast he holds for the nobility at his castle, the leftovers from which he has traditionally given back to the peasantry in what could arguably be seen as the feudal equivalent of an income tax refund. But this year, the peasants are not so placid in their acceptance of Prospero’s “generosity.” As a young man named Gino (Witchcraft’s David Weston) explains, one of their women met a holy man in the woods that evening, who told her that their day of deliverance was at hand. With news like that, Gino and his people feel little inclination to kiss Prince Prospero’s ass, whatever his rank. The prince is enraged, and he orders his soldiers to kill Gino, as well as an older man named Ludovico (Nigel Green, from The Skull and Jason and the Argonauts), who makes the mistake of sticking up for Gino. And when a lovely young girl named Francesca (Jane Asher, who had a tiny role in The Creeping Unknown/The Quatermass Xperiment) sticks up for both condemned men (she’s Ludovico’s daughter and Gino’s fiancee), Prospero plays the sort of nasty trick on her that Vincent Price characters are justly famous for, “magnanimously” agreeing to spare one of the men, and insisting that Francesca choose which it will be.
But Prospero’s fun is soon interrupted by prolonged and hideous screaming coming from one of the village huts. When he sends one of his men to investigate, that man finds the old lady from the first scene, keeled over dead on the floor, her skin covered in hundreds of tiny hemorrhages. The symptoms are unmistakable— the dreaded Red Death has come to Prospero’s domain. When the prince hears that, he orders his soldiers to pack up Gino, Ludovico, and Francesca, and burn the village to the ground while he and a handful of men escort the prisoners to the castle. Prospero may fear the Red Death, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let it spoil his fun.
Then again, Prospero is almost certainly damned anyway. It isn’t just that he’s an evil bastard, although he certainly is that; more importantly, Prince Prospero and his wife, Juliana (Hazel Court, from The Curse of Frankenstein and Dr. Blood’s Coffin), are practicing Satanists. That would go some way toward explaining all the evil, wouldn’t it? In the prince’s case, Satanism looks a lot like a combination of sadism and hedonism. Whether he’s torturing prisoners, trying to force Gino and Ludovico to fight a duel against each other, or romancing the captive Francesca, all Prospero is really interested in is his own pleasure. And so it is scarcely surprising that he takes advantage of the need to quarantine his estate against the Red Death to convert his planned banquet into a weeks-long debauch. The assembled nobility will be plied with all the food and drink they can keep down, and presented with amusements ranging from dancing midgets to a lethal game of chance involving Gino, Ludovico, and five daggers, one with a poisoned blade (think of it as a renaissance version of Russian roulette). And as the climax to the celebration, an all-night masquerade will be held in the great hall of the castle. All Prospero’s nobles need to do to get in on the excitement is follow a few simple directions in traveling to his estate: stay the hell away from any peasant villages where the Red Death might have broken out. The fate of one lord who disregards the prince’s instructions is enough to ensure that everyone else does exactly as they are told.
Meanwhile, Prospero has been working on Francesca, and the girl proves surprisingly susceptible to persuasion. Though she professes a firm belief in Christianity, her simple peasant’s faith has no answer for the thorny philosophical questions with which the prince bombards her— how, for example, does one reconcile an all-powerful, benevolent deity with the undeniable domination of the world by cruel and evil men? When Prospero asserts that if ever the universe was ruled by a god of love and mercy, that god is now long gone, Francesca can offer no reply. The prince’s interest in converting the girl makes Juliana very nervous, however. She, after all, has no desire to see her place at Prospero’s side taken by some low-born wench who just happens to be a better-than-average piece of ass. Unfortunately for Juliana, though, her strategy for shoring up her position yields results rather different from those she sought, and the scheming lady ends up with a whole new appreciation of the capabilities of hunting falcons.
Juliana’s fate is only slightly less grisly than that of Prospero’s friend, Alfredo (Patrick Magee, from And Now the Screaming Starts and Dementia 13). Alfredo has, over the course of his stay with Prospero, developed quite a letch for Esmeralda (Verina Greenlaw, who was all but invisible in The Haunting the year before), the beautiful midget dancer who performs at Prospero’s court. But given that Alfredo is one of the prince’s closest friends, it goes without saying that his affection for the girl doesn’t lead him to treat her any better than he would any other commoner, and his sustained nastiness toward her brings upon him the vengeance of Hop Toad (Skip Martin, from Vampire Circus and Horror Hospital), the male dwarf who works as Esmeralda’s partner in her act. Hop Toad gets his revenge by suggesting a costume for Alfredo to wear to the masquerade. The dwarf knows that Prospero owns (for no very good reason) a gorilla suit that should fit Alfredo nicely. Hop Toad contends that if Alfredo wears this costume to the masque, and makes a big scene by molesting all the women and generally causing a ruckus, he’ll be the life of the party. Hop Toad can then come in and pretend to bring him under control for further laughs and hilarity. Alfredo agrees that Hop Toad’s idea sounds like a hoot and a holler, but what the dwarf neglected to mention was that he would “bring Alfredo under control” by chaining him to the chandelier, hoisting him to the ceiling, and setting him on fire. But Prospero gets the joke, and when it’s all over, he orders Hop Toad rewarded with five pieces of gold.
And now, at last, we have arrived at the point of the movie, and the only part of it that has much to do with the story from which it takes its title— the masquerade. Gino breaks out of Prospero’s castle, and on his wanderings through the surrounding woods, he meets up with the same red-robed man as the woman in the first scene. After a short talk, in which Gino explains who he is and where he has come from, the hooded stranger has Gino lead him to the castle, and before sneaking in, the man in red promises his companion that he will see to Francesca’s safety. Now obviously, there can be little question at this point who the hooded man really is, though Prospero himself doesn’t get it at first. The prince’s initial assumption is that his unannounced guess is his long-awaited master, Beelzebub, or at the very least his emissary. But when his guests start hemorrhaging to death all around him, Prospero puts the pieces together, and he is stunned to learn that his life-long devotion to Satan is no protection against the Red Death.
If you ask me, I think what Corman should have done was get Richard Matheson to write a “Masque of the Red Death” segment into the script for Tales of Terror back in 1962. Then the story’s greatest strengths— its brevity and directness— could have been deployed in service of the film adaptation, rather than standing as the basis for an unfavorable comparison. Poe’s story just doesn’t have enough meat to it to support a feature-length treatment, and all the extraneous material Beaumont was forced to add mainly serves to bog the movie down in directionless subplots. But there is one thing Beaumont added to the story that I really did enjoy. After all the plot threads are tied up, and everything seems to be fully over, the camera returns to the Red Death, sitting, as is his wont, beneath a tree, playing with his Tarot deck. Suddenly, he is joined by a similarly garbed figure, but wearing a black robe, rather than red. That’s right, the Red Death and the Black Death have gotten together to compare notes! And before long, a veritable rainbow of multicolored Deaths have arrived on the scene; I gave up guessing which diseases they were supposed to represent after Yellow Fever put in his appearance. It’s a fun scene, and it makes a great ending to a mostly forgettable movie.
Kavalcare Solar System for Jhpiego Mid-Wife Clinic Dec8, 2014
Every year, 12,000 women in Pakistan die of birth complications. The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Services Component, implemented by MCHIP/Jhpiego, aims at preventing maternal, newborn, and child deaths by ensuring skilled birth attendance (SBA) through a total market approach, empowered community, timely referral of obstetric and neonatal complications to an emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) facility, and improved access to child care.
Lack of electricity in remote areas is a major issue that often leads to obstetric complications and newborn deaths. Refrigerated storage is vital for the effectiveness of life saving drugs and vaccines. Ice boxes are used in remot areas of this purpose but it is an ineffective method especially when easy availability of ice is a problem. To overcome these issues, Lodhie Foundation in association with Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program/JHPIEGO, extended its Kavalcare program and provided a Solar Powered System to a remote clinic located at village Haji Usman Jhakro near Makli, District Thatta. System provides sufficient power to operate a small refrigerator, a fan and 3 lamps 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It was designed, manufactured and installed by Shaan Technologies private Limited Karachi. After installation of Solar System in August 2014, this small remote clinic is serving a community of 10,000 plus persons who lives in village Haji Usman and surrounding areas. On an average 10 patients visits this clinic each day. Clinic also provides up to 15 birth attendance and new born care in a month.
Name of Village HAJI USMAN JAKHRO, MAKKLI, District Thatta
Name of Midwife. Zoriyat.
Surrounding population 10,000. (Ten Thousand)
Delivery in Solar Light 10 to 13 per month.
OPD patient / day 10.
System Installation Date Aug/12/2014
Preset Style = Color Bloom
Format = 6" (Medium)
Format Margin = None
Format Border = Straight
Drawing = #2 Pencil
Drawing Weight = Heavy
Drawing Detail = Medium
Paint = Natural
Paint Lightness = Auto
Paint Intensity = More
Water = Tap Water
Water Edges = Blurry
Water Bleed = Average
Brush = Fine Detail
Brush Focus = Everything
Brush Spacing = Wide
Paper = Watercolor
Paper Texture = Medium
Paper Shading = Light
Options Faces = Enhance Faces
Hi, i am Sana Kokab, a professional Graphics designer having experience of 4 years. I have worked for many industries and have many happy clients. If you need any logo design service for your business or products then contact me at: www.fiverr.com/ultraperfect
Tirana - Railway station.
Tirana is the capital of Albania and enjoys a beautiful setting between the ranges of Dajti mountain from one side and the coastal plains on the other one. Tirana is 110 m above sea level. The average annual temperatures are in July 24°C and in January 7°C. Annual rainfalls are 1200 mm per year. Tirana’s city superficies is 31 km 2. Tirana is on the same parallel as Naples, Madrid and Istanbul and on the same meridian as Budapest and Krakow.
Finland's Berlusconi-class media monopoly with a strange neo-racist message: "Finlanders are mentally degraded lazy race and we need new blood. -- Preferably from countries with average IQ below 70 where only women do any work."
I went back to my local city museum BM & AG, to check out the brand new permanent galleries that is the Birmingham History Galleries (it opened on the 12th October 2012).
Free entry
Birmingham its people, its history
A Stranger's Guide to 18th Century Birmingham
1700 to 1830
Fortune Smiles - Average Means - Hard Times
Something that you can spin in the museum. There was more like this in the History Galleries. I took one more after this one.
Cistus salviifolius L., syn.: Cistus fruticans Timb.-Lagr.
Family: Cistaceae Juss.
EN: Sage-leaved Rockrose, Salvia Cistus, Gallipoli Rose, DE: Salbeiblättrige Zistrose
Slo.: kaduljelistni brškin
1.
Dat.: April 25. 2006 and April 26. 2006
Lat.: 44.36009 Long.: 14.77670 asl 38 m (125 feet)
Code: Bot_0116/2006_DSC0189 and Bot_0117/2006_DSC_0258
Place: Adriatic Sea, Zadar archipelago, island Olib; at about 2/3 of the distance from village Olib to the church St. Nikola, Zadar region, Croatia EC.
and
2.
Dat.: April 28. 2006
Lat.: 44.35844 Long.: 14.79300 asl 58 m (190 feet)
Code: Bot_0118/2006_DSC_0306
Place: Adriatic Sea, Zadar archipelago, island Olib, halfway from village Olib to South Slatina bay, Zadar region, Croatia EC.
_____
Habitat: Road side, next to a stony dry-wall delimiting (mostly abandoned) fields; almost flat terrain; calcareous, stony ground; open, sunny and dry place; average precipitations ~ 1.000 mm/year, average temperature 13-15 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region.
Substratum: red karst soil.
Comment (pertains to pictures in the Flickr album Cistus salviifolius): This showy wildflower is native to the Mediterranean region, southern Europe, parts of Western Asia and parts of North Africa. If it particularly beautiful when it grows mixed with similar Cistus creticus L. = Cistus incanus L. ssp. creticus (L.) Heyw.. Both species bloom approximately at the same time in spring and both have very similar habit, namely low bush with dark green appearance. Cistus creticus has somewhat larger flowers and they are vividly pink. Both taxa form sometimes extensive stands and, when in bloom they display wonderful, typically Mediterranean, vistas. On east Adriatic shores and islands there exists a third similar species of this genus – Cistus monspeliensis L. It has white flowers similar to Cistus salviifolius. Yet, both can be easily separated by the shape of their leaves. Cistus monspeliensis has narrow, unstalked, narrow elliptic to linear-lanceolate leaves while Cistus salviifolius leaves are broad, stalked, egg-shaped,
oval or broadly elliptical.
Ref.:
(1) A. Martinči et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnična Založba Slovenije (2007), p 423.
(2) M. Blamey, C. Grey-Wilson, Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean, A & C Black, London (2005), p 141.
(3) I. Schӧnfelder, P. Schӧnfelder, Kosmos Atlas Mittelmeer- und Kanarenflora, Kosmos, (2002), p 126.
(4) W.K. Rottensteiner, Exkursionsflora für Istrien, Verlag des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins Kärten (2014), p 386.
Graph showing the average annual appreciation rate of 403(b)s as a retirement saving strategy.
When using this image please provide photo credit (link) to: www.aag.com per these terms: www.aag.com/retirement-reverse-mortgage-pictures
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)
Definition
Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas, winter, spring, summer and autumn (or fall). These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Spring, when defined in this manner, can start on different dates in different regions. In most of Northern Hemisphere locations, spring occurs during the months of March, April and May[1]. (Summer is June, July, August; Autumn is September, October, November; Winter is December, January, February.) The vast majority of Southern Hemisphere locations will have opposing seasons with spring in September, October and November.[2]
Astronomically, the vernal equinox (usually 20 March in the Northern Hemisphere, and 22 September in the Southern Hemisphere), should be the middle of spring (based on the angle of the sun and insolation) and the summer solstice (usually 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere and 21 December in the Southern Hemisphere) should be mid-summer (because the sun is at its highest) but daytime temperatures lag behind insolation by several weeks because the earth and sea have thermal latency and take time to warm up.
Some cultures, such as those who devised the Celtic and East Asian calendars, call the spring equinox mid-spring, but others (especially in the USA and sometimes in England) regard it as the "first day of spring". For most temperate regions, signs of spring appear long before the middle of March, but the folklore of 21 March being the "first day of spring" persists, and 21 June as the "first day of summer" is common in the USA. In South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, spring begins on 1 September, and has no relation to the vernal equinox.[3]
In East Asian Solar term, spring begins on 4 February and ends on 5 May. Similarly, according to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane).
The phenological definition of spring relates to indicators, the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.
Events
In spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt toward the Sun and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name. Snow, if a normal part of winter, begins to melt, and streams swell with runoff. Frosts, if a normal part of winter, become less severe. Temperate climates have no snow and rare frosts, the air and ground temperature increases more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom this time of year, in a long succession sometimes beginning even if snow is still on the ground, continuing into early summer. In normally snowless areas "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince, or August (Southern Hemisphere) in the same way. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, or monsoonal, or cyclonic. Often the cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season more consistent with the need for water as well as warmth. Subarctic areas may not experience "spring" at all until May or even June, or December in the outer Antarctic.
While spring is a result of the warmth caused by the turning of the Earth's axis, the weather in many parts of the world is overlain by events which appear very erratic taken on a year-to-year basis. The rainfall in spring (or any season) follows trends more related to longer cycles or events created by ocean currents and ocean temperatures. Good and well-researched examples are the El Niño effect and the Southern Oscillation Index.
Unstable weather may more often occur during spring, when warm air begins on occasions to invade from lower latitudes, while cold air is still pushing on occasions from the Polar regions. Flooding is also most common in and near mountainous areas during this time of year because of snowmelt, accelerated by warm rains. In the United States, Tornado Alley is most active this time of year, especially since the Rocky Mountains prevent the surging hot and cold air masses from spreading eastward and instead force them into direct conflict. Besides tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms can also produce dangerously large hail and very high winds, for which a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning is usually issued. Even more so than in winter, the jet streams play an important role in unstable and severe weather in the springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.
In recent decades season creep has been observed, which means that many phenological signs of spring are occurring earlier in many regions by a couple of days per decade.
Spring is seen as a time of growth, renewal, of new life (both plant and animal) being born. The term is also used more generally as a metaphor for the start of better times, as in the Prague Spring. Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is different in several significant ways to that of the Northern Hemisphere. This is because: there is no land bridge between Southern Hemisphere countries and the Antarctic zone capable of bringing in cold air without the temperature-mitigating effects of extensive tracts of water; the vastly greater amount of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere at all latitudes; at this time in Earth's geologic history the Earth has an orbit which brings it in closer to the Southern Hemisphere for its warmer seasons; there is a circumpolar flow of air (the roaring 40s and 50s) uninterrupted by large land masses; no equivalent jet streams; and the peculiarities of the reversing ocean currents in the Pacific.
#5_MobilePhone_ICM_GeneralPostProcessing_AverageCameraPro
June 4, 2022: The Griffith Park Railroad is a 16" gauge miniature train that circles the Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. The miniature train has operated since 1978. Image made by panning with Average Camera Pro.
Ok, my very average photo sparked a couple of comments, so here's the non-fountain from the opposite or 'southern aspect'. The 'lavender' in question in part 1 is beyond the non-fountain in this picture, and you can see that there are actually further lavender quadrants just in front of, and just behind, the non-fountain.
If you're still reading (and I'll understand if you've given up), there's a rather good cine film from the East Anglian Film Archive, in colour, shot in 1953, the year of the Coronation and when the fountain was built: www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/5617
It's a fascinating insight into an earlier age (well it IS more than half a century ago now), with some excellent views of old cars and people going about their business - even the people in a hurry look far less frazzled than we do today! The fountain is filmed at 3mins 50 seconds. Also look out for the urban beekeeping at 1min 30, the horse and cart at 7:55, the cows at 9:25, the steam train at 10mins, the man and daughter and the rather restrained Christmas lights at 11:30 onwards and the winter scenes towards the end.
I still think the concept for the centre of quite a large commuter town has proved itself as a successful and lasting model. Shame it wasn't used in many of the other New Towns. Good for Welwyn, I say, even if I didn't get to see the fountain that I remember so clearly from 50 years ago.
Average temperature for Slidell is 61F high and 41F low in January. Today's high is 27F. Bayou Bonfouca, Slidell, LA (Jan 21, 2025)
Average Americans are up in arms over the idea that medical professionals could ever be employed by the government.
Because, you know, that's... SOCIALISM.
And that's, like, bad. And stuff. Right?
...
Apparently these people have never met a friendly teacher, police officer, or fire fighter.
Turns out it's no big deal.
Who knew?
* * * * *
This image is based on this original by Monterey Public Library. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Middle September is when the small white (a different variety is pink) flowers of the buckwheat crop color the fields. Normally the prime land is reserved for rice and smaller remnants not otherwise in use will be planted with buckwheat since it can thrive in places where rice does not grow well. Thiamine is one thing lacking in a rice-centered diet, so buckwheat fills this nutritional gap well. People in the Edo period discovered this, although they did not use the same reasoning or language.
Today the diet of the average person is dominated by processed, refined, or manufactured eatable products, some of which would still be recognizable by people living during feudal days, but other things unknown. With vitamin and minerals supplemented in some foods today, the nutritional deficiencies of the less diverse, coarser food culture of long ago are not a big concern today. But the taste and texture of buckwheat noodles (soba) served hot or chilled still makes cultivation of the grain worthwhile. The brief burst of this flower is peculiarly reminiscent of dog poop, something that seems to attract flies from far away and thus presents a reliable way to pollinate the flowers and produce the Central Asia (before that, S.E. Asia) grain.
See full-image view by pressing 'z' or clicking the image; screen-fill by pressing 'L'.
The Finale to the BARC Club Car Championships Weekender at Brands Hatch and after a Very Thrilling set of both Qualifying Sessions and Races which took place on the Saturday it was Time once again for each Driver to strap in and get ready for some high speed Racing Action thought the Sunday.
In Tribute to the Marshall who was Tragically Killed on the Saturday Some Car and Driver Pairings were Racing with Orange Hearts on their Cars as a Tribute to all of Motorsports Family of Marshalls for who without Racing would not be possible. Thank You!
So Lets get started and see what the days events Haver to Offer and who can Push their Machinery to the Limits and beyond for a Victory.
Britcar Endurance Championship - Trophy Category (Race 1 Results FINAL)
The Britcar Endurance Trophy was the First up and it was time to see who could claim that elusive Pole Position and to see if anyone else could challenge the Top Three Drivers Lets see how things turned out.
In First Place was the Pairing Of (Datum Motorsport's Axel Van Nederveen and Adriano Medeiros) in their Ginetta G55A with a Best Lap Time of 52:193 and an Average Speed of 64.75mph. Congratulations Axel and Adriano a Really Fantastic Drive and A Super Victory.
In Second Place was (SVG's Mark Lee) in his Ginetta G56A with a Best Lap Time of 52.086 and an Average Speed of 64.70mph. Amazing Drive Mark Keeping that Ginetta on the Track and Taking Second Place while Nearly Matching the Speed of Axel and Adriano. Well Done.
In Third Place was (Terry Stephens) in his Peugeot 308 with a Best Lap Time of 53.421 and an Average Speed of 64.50mph. Well Fought Terry a Fantastic Finish in Third Place and Staying Ahead by just over 11 seconds to the Pair of Jasver and Bryan in 4th. Amazing Job.
A Really Enjoyable and Exciting First Race of the Sunday with High Speed Action and Incredible Victories on Track. Congratulations Axel Adriano Mark and Terry. Lets see what Race 2 Brings in terms of the Action.
Britcar Endurance Championship - Trophy Category (Race 2 Results FINAL)
Race 2 For Britcar Next and after a Very Fast and Action Packed First Race Will we see a New Face on the Top Step of the Podium? Lets find out.
In First Place was the Pairing of (Woodrow Motorsport's Simon Baker and Kevin Clarke) in their BMW 1 Series with a Best Lap Time of 51.837 and an Average Speed of 78.22mph. Amazing work Simon and Kevin who have Beaten the Pairing Of (Datum Motorsport's Axel Van Nederveen and Adriano Medeiros) to Victory. An Incredible Drive by Both of them Well Done.
In Second Place was (SVG Mark Lee) in his Ginetta G56A with a Best Lap Time of 52.281 and an Average Speed of 76.89mph. Again a Huge Congratulations to Mark Lee for hanging onto that Second Place Despite Fierce Competition during The Race. Amazing Drive.
In Third Place was (Simon Green Motorsport's Pairing of Jasver Sapra and Brian Branson) in their BMW M3 E46 with a Best Lap Time of 52.718 and an Average Speed of 76.88mph. Congratulations Jasver and Brain Brilliant Drive and well Defended to keep that Third Place in Tact.
Two Incredible Races with Two Very Different Outcomes of Race Winners and Runners Up The Britcar Endurance Trophy is Proving to be Very Competitive this Year.
A Huge Congratulations to Simon Kevin Mark Jasver and Brain for some Amazing Racing and Victories and Good Luck to All Other Drivers. Keep working Hard and Pushing for that All Important Victory.
CTCRC Edmundson Electrical Classic / Historic Thunder Saloons (Race 1 Result FINAL)
Next Up was the CTCRC Electrical and Historic Thunder Saloons and After a Thrilling Qualifying Session Yesterday Lets see what Each Driver has got and who can Push to the Limits for that All Important Victory.
In First Place was (Jason West) in his BMW E46 M3 3200 with a Best Lap Time of 51.907 and an Average Speed of 59.84mph. Congratulations Jason for Another Incredible Drive for First Place and a well Deserved Victory Amongst some Stiff Competition.
In Second Place was (Andrew Wilson) in his Holden Monaro 7000 with a Best Lap Time of 52.418 and an Average Speed of 59.96mph. Well Done Andrew Fantastic Driving and a Super Defensive Drive for Second Place.
In Third Place was (Samuel Wilson) in his Aston Martin V8 Vantage with a Best Lap Time of 52.699 and an Average Speed of 59.50mph. Amazing Work Samuel and a Beautiful Example of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage on Display Showing its Raw Power and Racing Pedigree to Finish in Third Place.
A Fantastic Finish to The Historic and Electrical Thunder Saloons Racing at The Weekend. A Huge Congratulations to Our Top Three Finishers Jason Andrew and Samuel. Fantastic Racing from all Three of you and Good Luck to all other Drivers Keep Tuning and Working Hard and I'm sure Victory Will not be too Far Away from you.
CTCRC JEC Saloon & GT Championship & Burton Power BOSS (Race 2 Results FINAL)
Next Up CTCRC Saloon and GT Championships and with some Fierce Competition on Display during not only Qualifying but also Their First Race on the Saturday Which saw Malcom Harding Storm to an Insane Victory who Will be able to Take him on and Potentially Steal his Crown during the Next Race Today? Lets See.
In First Place was (Malcom Harding) in his Ford Escort MK2 Zakspeed 2500 with a Best Lap Time of 53.888 and an Average Speed of 78.49mph. Another Incredible Victory for Malcom that Highly Modified Zakspeed Escort Really Shows off the Power and Performance of a True Champion and a Fantastic Driver. Congratulations Malcom.
In Second Place was (Steven Goldsmith) in his Ford Anglia 105e 260 with a Best Lap Time of 54.335 and an Average Speed of 78.21mph. Another Storming Drive to Achieve Second Place for Steven. Fantastic Driving and Amazing Car Control through Every Corner. Congratulations Steven.
In Third Place was (Tom Robinson) in his Jaguar XJ6 4000 with a Best Lap Time of 55.481 and an Average Speed of 55.481mph. Congratulations Tom Superb Display of Driving Ability behind the Jag and a Well Deserved Third Place for Him.
Another Incredible Weekend of Racing for the CTCRC Saloon and GT Championships with Some New and Some Old Drivers Stepping onto the Podium. Massive Congratulations to Malcolm Steven and Tom for their First Second And Third Place Finishes. Keep Up the Good Work and Never Stop Trying.
CTCRC Laser Tools Pre 93 & Simply Serviced Pre 03 Touring Cars (Race 1 Results FINAL)
Now Its Time for The Laser Tools Pre 93 and Simply Serviced Pre 03 Touring Cars to make their way back onto The Track for what Looked to be a Spectacular Race. A Whole Range of Different Cars to Race Against and Stiff Competition after Qualifying Proves that This Race will be One not to be Missed. Lets See what Unfolded.
In First Place was (Gary Prebble) in his Honda Civic EG 2000 with a Best Lap Time of 54.100mph and an Average Speed of 78.60mph. Well Done Gary a Really Well Deserved First Place Victory and an Amazing Drive to the Flag.
In Second Place was (David Griffith) in his BMW E36 M3 3058 with a Best Lap Time of 54.558 and an Average of 78.42mph. Incredible Drive their David Pushing that BMW For Everything that it Has got to Achieve Second Place.
In Third Place was (Kam Tunio) in his Honda Civic EK9 1595 with a Best Lap Time of 55.347 and an Average Speed of 77.05mph. Well Driven Kam Super Driving on Display and a Well Deserved Third Place Finish.
Another Amazing Race for The Pre 93 and Pre 03 Touring Cars and a Huge Congratulations to Gary David and Kam for their First Second and Third Place Victories. Keep up the Hard Work and Good Luck to everyone Else wherever your Next Races take you.
CTCRC Poultec Classic Race Engines Pre 66 Touring Cars (Race 1 Results)
Now it was Time for the Fan Favourite to Enter onto the Brands Hatch Circuit with the Pre 66 Touring Cars Championship. With Mini's Lotus Cortina's and Ford Falcons. This was One Race that No One Wanted to Miss. After a Very Fast Paced Qualifying Session on the Saturday Which saw (Alan Greenhalgh) take Pole Position who Will be able to Challenge Him During the Race and Snatch Victory Away from Him.
In First Place was (Alan Greenhalgh) in his Ford Falcon with A Best Lap Time of 58.707 and an Average Speed of 72.63mph. Congratulations Alan A Beautiful Example of the Ford Falcon and Certainly a Very Fast One too. Congratulations on Your Victory.
In Second Place was (Robyn Slater) in his Ford Anglia 1550 with a Best Lap Time of 58.992 and an Average Speed of 72.06mph. Very Good Drive their From Robyn to Secure Second Place in The First Race of the Day for the Pre 66 Touring Cars.
In Third Place was (Barry Sime) in his Morris Mini Cooper S 1293 with a Best Lap Time of 59.116 and an Average Speed of 71.95mph. Fantastic Work their Barry Keeping that Little Rocket on The Track looked to be Very Challenging but A Very Well Deserved Third Place.
What A First Race for The Historic Pre 66 Touring Cars showing The Power and Pride Each Driver takes in Both Racing and Preservation on Their Beloved Racing Machines. Congratulations to Alan Robyn and Barry on their First Second and Third Place Finishes. Lets See what New Challenges Await Them in Race 2 The Final Race of The Day for Them.
CTCRC Poultec Classic Race Engines Pre 66 Touring Cars (Race 2 Results FINAL)
The Epic FINALE To The Pre 66 Touring Cars Race was A Race in Wet Conditions Making it even more Challenging for The Top Three Drivers. Who would Win and be able to Retain if not Take on thease Three Giants of Touring Car Racing in thease Conditions. Lets See How Things Concluded.
In First Place was (Barry Sime) in his Morris Mini Cooper S 1293 with a Best Lap Time of 1:11.482 and an Average Speed of 58.62mph. Amazing Work Barry to take Home a Superb Victory and a Brilliant Bit of Wet Weather Driving in The Mini Well Done.
In Second Place was (John Davies) in his Austin Mini Cooper S 1293 with a Best Lap Time of 1:11.416 and an Average Speed of 58.38mph. Amazing Work John Racing A Mini in thease Conditions is Very Tricky and Yet both You and Barry made it look Easy.
In Third Place was (James Ibbotson) in his Hillman Imp Super 998 with a Best Lap Time of 1:11.518 and an Average Speed of 58.12mph. Well Done James Sliding that Imp around in the Wet for a Magnificent Third Place was Well Deserved.
What A Race to End the Day for the Pre 66 Touring Cars and with So many Old and New Winners Lets Hope we Get to see More Races like This One Thought the Rest of the 2021 Season. A Big Congratulations to Barry John and James on their Respective Victories and Keep Trying Everyone Else The Hard Work will Pay off.
CTCRC Shell Oils Pre 83 Touring Cars (Race 1 FINAL)
Up Next The Pre 83 Touring Cars took to the Track for Their Only Race of The Day and from what We Have Seen Already This Race also looks like its going to be a Very Strong Battle for First Second and Third Place. Lets See who Came First and Took that All Important Victory.
In First Place was (Mark Lucock) in his Ford Escort MK1 RS2000 2040 with a Best Lap Time of 57.687 and an Average Speed of 74.53mph. Amazing work there Mark Pushing All the Power the RS2000 Engine Has and Keeping it on Track to Score an Amazing Victory.
In Second Place was (Stephen Primett) in his Ford Escort MK1 2037 with a Best Lap Time of 57.503 and an Average Speed of 74.52mph. Another Brilliant Drive from the Likes of Stephen Keep the Pace with Mark and Making for some Fierce Competition Thought the Race.
In Third Place was (Mike Luck in his BMW E21 320 1998 with a Best Lap Time of 57.236 and an Average Speed of 74.46mph. Super Driving there Mike to take Third Place and a Very Classic Looking BMW Indeed.
What A Race from the Pre 83 Touring Cars showcasing Speed Power and What a Touring Car was Made to do around a Race Track. A Big Congratulations to Mark Stephen and Mike on their First Second and Third Place Finishes. Keep Racing and Keep Having Fun Out There.
Junior Saloon Car Championship (Race 1 Result FINAL)
The Junior Saloon Car Championship was Up Next and Even Though the Age Range of thease Next Drivers Taking to the Circuit Might Shock you at The Fact that Many of them are as Young as 15 Years of age don't be Fooled Because thease Guys Know how to Race Having been brought up from Carting since the age of 4. They are always a Fan Favourite and After Qualifying on the Saturday its Anyone's Game as to Who Wins and Who Losses in Thease Races.
In First Place was (Ruben Hage) in his Citroen Saxo VTR 1600 with a Best Lap Time of 59.967 and an Average Speed of 65.65mph. Congratulations Ruben What A Drive and an Incredible Run for First Place Fending off the Other On Coming Drivers. Truly a Championship Winning Drive.
In Second Place was (Harvey Caton) in his Citroen Saxo VTR 1600 with a Best Lap Time of 59.629 and an Average Speed of 65.64mph. Very Well Driven there Harvey Staying very Close to Ruben in First Place and Keeping Him on His Toes Thought the Entire Race.
In Third Place was (Charlie Hand) in his Citroen Saxo VTR 1600 with a Lap Time of 1:00.006 and an Average Speed of 65.57mph. Solid Third Place there Charlie Keep Up the Momentum and Never Give Up Chasing Your Dreams.
What a Fantastic Race from the Junior Saloon Car Championship with New Winners on the Podium and Some Close Wheel to Wheel Action Thought the Race Thease Guys will be Fantastic To see in Future Racing Series All Over The World. Congratulations to Ruben Harvey and Charlie for First Second and Third Place and Good Luck to All Other Aspiring Young Drivers Following in the Footsteps of Your Greatest Racing Heroes.
Kumho BMW Championship (Race 1 Results)
Finally it was Time for the Last Two Races of the Day the Kumo BMW Championship. Featuring The Makes and Models of Many BMW'S taking to the Circuit for Race 1. After a Busy Day Qualifying on Saturday Lets See what Each Driver Cando in The Frist of Two Races for their Championship.
In First Place was (Niall Bradley) in his BMW E46 M3 with a Best Lap Time of 50.920 and an Average Speed of 83.60mph. Brilliant Driving There Niall Pushing the Power of the BMW Engine to Max and Putting the Pedal to the Metal the Whole Race. A Superb Victory.
In Second Place was (Michael Vitulli) in his BMW E36 M3 3200 with a Best Lap Time of 51.158 and an Average Speed of 83.45mph. Another Incredible Driver Pushing Hard and Taking Second Place. Well Done Michael.
In Third Place was (James Card) in his BMW E46 M3 3200 with a Best Lap Time of 51.154 and an Average Speed of 83.42mph. Very Well Done their James Keep Pushing.
Three Fantastic Drivers in Niall Michael and James all Fighting for that Victory and Showing The Racer Inside each and Everyone of them. Lets see what Their Final Race of the Day Brings Them.
Kumho BMW Championship (Race 2 Results FINAL)
In First Place was (Niall Bradley) in his BMW E46 M3 with a Best Lap Time of 53.581 and an Average Speed of 77.79mph. Another Well Deserved First Place Finish to Round of The Days Racing. Congratulations Niall Go and Celebrate with The Team In Style.
In Second Place was (Darren Morgan Owen) in his BMW E46 M3 3200 with a Best Lap Time of 53.200 and an Average Speed of 77.43mph. Super Drive There Darren for Second Place and a New Winner onto The Podium.
In Third Place was (Brad Sheean) in his BMW E46 M3 3200 with a Best Lap Time of 53.227 and an Average Speed of 77.13mph. Fantastic Drive there Brad and Some Incredible Car Control thought the Entire Race to Finish Third.
And That Concludes Racing for the Kumho BMW Championship with 4 Different Winners Across two Races and A lot of Really Fast Action you could not Have Asked for a better Finish to The End of The Days Racing. Massive Congratulations to Niall Darren and Brad and Good Luck to all Other Competing Drivers who are still Looking for that almighty Victory.
That Concludes Racing for The BARC Club Car Championships Weekend A Big Congratulations to All of the Drivers of Every Team and a Huge Thank You to Marshalls Far and Wide as Without Your Support Events like This and Champion Drivers May Never Get to Achieve Their Dreams.
See You All At The Next One!
Natalia Dudinskaya as Odile in 'Swan Lake' - late 1950's. Natalia Dudinskaya's stage career started in 1931 and lasted till 1962. Het powerhouse technique placed her in the line of ballerinas such as Pierina Legnani and Matilda Kschessinskaya, although in Dudinskaya's age a certain charm to mask lack of artistry was not sufficient any longer. However, the shrewd Swanson-look-alike dancer was backed by Vaganova who, in her capacity as artistic director, secured her rise in the company anyway. Dudinskaya married premier danseur and stager Konstantin Sergeyev. Her dominance over the female tableau arguably thwarted many a career, most important examples were Ulanova's eventually joining the Bolshoi Ballet, and the overshadowing of Alla Shelest, who was not only able able to beat Dudinskaya at her own game (virtuosity), but superior as an artist too. The Vaganova/Sergeyev/Dudinskaya treatment of Petipa's ballets proved detrimental to his art and changed the world's perception of it. The average female variation in any given Petipa ballet is an adaptation of Dudinskaya or Vaganova - for Dudinskaya, the technical whizz, remained Vaganova's favourite pupil. When her husband's 'Sleeping Beauty' was filmed in 1964, he annihilated whatever was left of Petipa's original Carabosse. The void was made on purpose, to be filled by his 53-year old wife - on pointe. Later, as a teacher in the Vaganova School herself, Dudinskaya graduated many dancers, among whom Uliana Lopatkina is the last well-known.
The average Goldfinch is 12–13 cm long with a wingspan of 21–25 cm and a weight of 14 to 19 grams. The sexes are broadly similar, with a red face, black and white head, warm brown upperparts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast patches, and black and yellow wings. On closer inspection male Goldfinches can often be distinguished by a larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. In females, the red face does not reach the eye. The ivory-coloured bill is long and pointed, and the tail is forked. Goldfinches in breeding condition have a white bill, with a greyish or blackish mark at the tip for the rest of the year. Juveniles have a plain head and a greyer back but are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. Birds in central Asia (caniceps group) have a plain grey head behind the red face, lacking the black and white head pattern of European and western Asian birds.
if you went to somervilleopenstudios.org and took all of the images from all the artists that described their work as "landscape" and averaged those images, you'd get this
Food court. It was average, with slightly-better-than average tennants (Arthur Treacher's!!!).
Stroud Mall, Stroudsburg, PA - 3/1/10
Grimaldi Lines car carrier
Gran Bretagna
In the Solent heading for Southampton Docks.
Vessel's Details
Ship Type: Ro-ro/passenger ship
Year Built: 1999
Length x Breadth: 184 m X 32 m
Gross Tonnage: 51714, DeadWeight: 18461 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 15.9 / 12.4 knots
Flag: Italy [IT]
Call Sign: IBFB
IMO: 9143702, MMSI: 247290000
Uh, not that I think I'm going back to school or anything. I took the test for the lulz. AFAIK, I'll just use this for braggage. 8D Ehehehehehe. I joined a 1337-y Facebook group and will make a shitty t-shirt. :)
I'd taken the test a few times before and got grades between 1.0 (first try) and 1.6 (twice). 2.0 WAS REACHED BY 0.7% OF THE TEST-TAKERS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA XD
Edit: I did go back to fucking school. Twice. Most importantly veterinary nursing school. I'm supposed to graduate in 2018. D:
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Vegan FAQ! :)
The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See.
Please watch Earthlings.
if you went to somervilleopenstudios.org and took all of the images from all the artists that described their work as "glass" and averaged those images, you'd get this
An average of ~400 frames from Groundhog Day, quickly thrown together to demonstrate the following answer on Stack Overflow: stackoverflow.com/questions/17291455/how-to-get-an-averag...