View allAll Photos Tagged because
Clouds appear white because the water droplets inside them reflect sunlight.
When it's about to rain, clouds darken because the water vapor clumps together into raindrops, leaving larger spaces between drops of water
Because there is happiness to be found under the surface.
The Finnish cousins checking it out at Shoal Bay Beach on Anguilla, BWI.
Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！
My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！
If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。
Most people really don't know how fat cells work, how the fat burning process takes place or where the fat goes when it's burned. It's actually quite a complex biochemical process, but I'll explain it as simply as possible.
When you "lose" body fat, the fat cell (also called an adipocyte) does not go anywhere or "move into the muscle cell to be burned. The fat cell itself, (unfortunately) stays right where it was - under the skin in your thighs, stomach, hips, arms, etc., and on top of the muscles - which is why you can't see muscle "definition" when your body fat is high.
The fat is not burned right there in the fat cell,it must be liberated from the fat cell.
Fat is stored inside the fat cell in the form of triglyceride. The fat is not burned right there in the fat cell, it must be liberated from the fat cell through somewhat complex hormonal/enzymatic pathways. When stimulated to do so, the fat cell simply releases its contents (triaglycerol) into the bloodstream as free fatty acids (FFA's), and they are transported through the blood to the tissues where the energy is needed.
A typical young male adult stores about 60,000 to 100,000 calories of energy in body fat cells. What triggers the release of all these stored fatty acids from the fat cell? Simple: When your body needs energy because you're consuming fewer calories than you are burning (an energy deficit), then your body releases hormones and enzymes that signal your fat cells to release your fat reserves instead of keeping them in storage. To know more visit www.yogagurusuneelsingh.com Pic by Vijay Gautam Monty
First off, I wasn't sure about this day's theme. This is because i never showed my face on flickr and i prefer being in back of the camera. But since i don't want to back down, I decided to try a silhouette shot. So there you guys have it, my 1st attempt at a silhouette shot. Plus I have a couple of tags so lets get on w/ those. (awesome timing, right?)
>>Tagged by empress jacqueline ♛♫ for 10 wishes
Before we start, i would like to point out that i would save my 10 wishes for when i reallyreallyreally need them. I'm a careful wisher and would rather wish on simple things. But if I had to choose now...(in no order)
1>More wishes that i can save when i really need them.
2>For a healthy, safe, clean, eco-friendly, happy, peaceful, and ect. earth.
3>For it to rain and not be so hot&humid outside.
4>For it to be someonewhodeservesit's lucky day.
5>To just stop overthinking stuff and be me.
6> To remember and not forget what i learned this year in school, including Spanish.
7> To always remember all my happy memories.
8> To save up money
9> To figure out how to use my film camera correctly and not ruin the film
10> To take a photography and art class/to improve my photography and art
RANDOM: I've always wanted to freeze time for a short period of time and for just me or whoever i choose to be unfrozen!
>>Tagged by armedwithacamera for list of current 5 favorite movies and songs.
Movies: (just some of my faves from the top of my head)
1. Bridge to Terabithia
2. Harry Potter
3. Raise Your Voice
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. A walk to remember
Songs: (currently listening to)
1. Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix)-The Killers
2. Heiress of Valentina (Alessp Remix)
3. When 2 Worlds Collide- Monomania
4. Your Love Is a Mystery-Hawk Nelson
5. Do What You Do-Cute is What We Aim For
And tagged by ohheyitskaitlin...
1. What's the last movie you watched? Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire (HP primere)
2. What's your favorite noise? rain <3
3. Do you like some kind of light on when you go to bed, or just darkness? Nope, darkness.
4. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Er..fried Shampura
5. What's something you really want right now but don't need?
6. What's your hair look like right now? Loose, sorta messy high, side ponytail
7. Have you seen waldo? No
TAG, your it (unless you've done this or well..if you just don't want to)
Because silks tends to fray really bad I did not cut off the back part of the sewn silk square, neither the heavy clothes fabric. So I hope this will give the quilt stability.
Eagles always look like they're angry. Maybe they just don't care much for all the paparazzi? Anyway, we who take their images are very glad to see them.
Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！
My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！
If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。
"I'm still too dumb to make choices just because it's going to be successful. In terms of this being a giant production, I still chose the same way I choose other films. I really saw something in the character I could do something with."
- Johnny Depp on taking the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Is there anyone out there who hasn't heard of or seen this movie?
For those of you who haven't seen Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, here's the scoop: The drive to make this movie was described as Disney's effort to revitalize a 40-year-old theme park ride called Pirates of the Caribbean. But the film isn't really based on the ride, which doesn't have a story to it. Apparently, the writers somehow incorporated a few of the ride's characteristics and minor characters for familiar audience members to wink at as they watched the movie, but they created an original story that could stand on its own. I believe it because there's no way a theme park ride could have such an intricate backstory. At the end of the audio commentary on the DVD, co-writer Ted Elliott actually lists out the plot points one-by-one, ending with, "See? It makes sense, right?!" It does, I swear!
Having several simultaneous stories going on is part of what makes this movie so good! The story begins in the late 1700s or so on a sailing ship with the governing body of England's Port Royal, including Governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and his 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth, aboard. Peering in the distance, Elizabeth discovers a boy drifting in the ocean and rescues him. She learns that his name is Will Turner and steals the medallion around his neck to hide it from the others for fear that it marks him as a pirate. Ten years later, Elizabeth (Kiera Knightly) and Will (Orlando Bloom) are still friends but have a societal gap between them: She's the Governor's daughter being courted by Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport), but she's really in love with Will, who is just a working-class blacksmith. (Isn't that always the case!)
Elizabeth doesn't realize that the medallion she stole all those years ago set a hunt in motion: Everyone comes looking for it. Led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), pirates sail The Black Pearl and attack Port Royal, looking for the trinket and its owner. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), previous captain of The Pearl before his crew committed mutiny and left him stranded on an island, arrives in search of his ship but soon discovers that Elizabeth possesses the rare medallion. So, things get interesting: Ultimately, Elizabeth is captured by the Barbossa's crew, with the medallion, and Will enlists Jack--who has his own vested interests--to help rescue her. Adventure ensues. Enjoy the ride!
Johnny's gone to the other side!
When word got out that Johnny had signed on to star in a Disney production focused around one of its faded theme-park rides, everyone said he had sold out: He'd given up his indy roots and infiltrated "the enemy camp" for blockbuster success! This idea never occurred to me and hearing it over and over started to irritate me. Do critics really think that signing Johnny Depp to star in a Disney movie about pirates in a story based on an old theme-park ride is a successful recipe? It really didn't sound like one to me. Johnny has never approached his roles thinking about the money he's going to make from it. In fact, he's done the opposite and worked for free just for the experience or as a favor to his friends.
Signing on for a Disney movie was a definite surprise, but surprises are one of the many Joys of Johnny. I chalked this decision up to Johnny having kid movies on his brain since the birth of his daughter in 2001 and left it at that. But Johnny doesn't go into those details to explain these things. Instead, he says things like, "I just had a good feeling about it--a really, really good feeling." He's telling the truth here. He goes on, "It was mentioned that they were considering a movie based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and I said I was in. There was no screenplay, no director, nothing. For some unknown reason, I just said I was in."
Trusting Johnny's instincts, I wanted this movie to be really great--mainly just to disprove all the speculation and skepticism around it. Though wild with anticipation, a part of me feared that it could go horribly wrong. This was a new experience and a risk but no more or less exciting to me than any of Johnny's other movies were when they premiered: I didn't see what the big deal or difference was about this one. Good or bad, I knew Johnny would do something different to keep things interesting, which is good enough for me.
I have a date with Captain Jack Sparrow!
One day, I came home from work, sifted through my mail, and found two free tickets to see an early preview of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl at my local theater in Georgetown. I don't remember asking for these, entering any contests, or giving out my address to strangers. I have no idea how they ended up in an envelope addressed to me in my mailbox. Creepy? Yes, but I squealed and jumped around in my apartment anyway! In reality, these tickets were no big deal because I planned to be first in line to buy tickets to this movie, but I prefer to see these surprise treats--magic tickets to see this movie few days earlier than everyone else--as fateful Johnny Gifts that make my day. Thanks, whoever sent them. (Was it you, Walt Disney?)
While my friend and I were among the first to arrive at the theater that night (because I'm neurotic that way), it was eventually packed. (Apparently, I wasn't the only one to get free tickets.) More important, I'm pretty sure we all really enjoyed the movie! I was relieved.
The story is rich with side characters and story lines among the stars handling the main plot. Everyone in the cast, straight down to the extras, have distinct personalities, detailed histories, and their own little quirks. It makes for an entertaining soup. To top things off, the script--which really what sold Johnny on the project--is filled with smart humor. During the entire production, scriptwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were on set to make changes, so director Gore Verbinski, Johnny, and the rest of the cast had plenty of freedom to give input and test ideas on the spot. I was also impressed with the special effects. There are things in this movie I'd never seen before, and it's all so detailed! (I love details!) For example, the curse in this story only appears in moonlight, making the night-time scenes and battles extra special. And, instead of your typical treasure hunt, this curse requires that the pirates return rather than keep the goods. I think all these different elements made Pirates of the Caribbean the summer blockbuster it became--I mean, aside from the obvious key ingredient.
Johnny's in his element.
You have to think back to a time before you ever saw or knew Captain Jack Sparrow. I know it's difficult because he may be in everyone's psyche at this point, whether you're a fan or not. If you think back to before you first saw him, you'll realize what an amazing transformation Johnny made into this one-of-a-kind pirate. He disappeared into this role with the costume, the walk, the voice--every movement and every joke. Granted, I'm biased, but I gasped during Johnny's first scene when he started interacting with people. I really couldn't believe that it was the same person.
As always, Johnny did a ton of research for this role. After reading a bunch of books about pirates during that time period, he considered them the rock stars of their day. So, most noticeably, the captain is based on Kieth Richards, guitarist for the Rolling Stones, who Johnny considers the greatest of all rock stars. Johnny also spent a lot of time in saunas thinking about the character and what it'd be like to be on the ocean fighting the elements for hours on end. Captain Jack, he assumed, would be a little off due to the intense heat on the high seas. "With Jack, it was more that I liked the idea of being ambiguous, of taking the character and making everything a little bit....questionable." Also in the mix are bits of Lee Marvin's character from Cat Ballou and the great Pepe Le Pew. (I love it!)
When Johnny showed up at the studio in his costume, the rest of the cast was baffled. "That first day, we were all like, 'What's he doing?'" says Kiera Knightly. When the studio heads saw the dailies, they thought Johnny was ruining the movie. "I was sure I was going to be fired, absolutely!" Johnny says. "They had a few questions: Is he gay? Is he drunk? Is he gay and drunk?" Johnny also had to barter for his look. The studio felt that a mouthful of gold teeth was too much for audiences to bear, but Johnny counted on this concern and removed the two extra gold teeth he considered his barginning chips."When you hire Johnny, you want him to do something unique and different," producer Jerry Bruckhiemer says. They got it. "The characterization, the personality of Jack is what we wrote," screenwriter Ted Elliott notes. "The expression of that personality is purely Johnny Depp. It was exactly what we described but nothing like we anticipated." Johnny is pretty genius in this role, no matter how sick of Captain Jack you may be by now.
But you have to keep it all in perspective, I suppose. Scriptwriter Terry Rossio expains, "Johnny's performance is amaazing, but it's framed by all the other characters and sustained by the situations he gets put in. Everything goes into a performance like that--the cinematography, editing, but particularly the surrounding characters who have to create the environment for him to play off of." It's true. All the supporting characters perfectly fit their roles. Aside from Jack, everyone loves the beautiful people--Orlando Bloom as Will and Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth--who are fantastic. But no one ever mentions Geoffrey Rush. The more I watch his performance, the more I marvel at his Captain Barbossa, who is your classic "Argh!" kind of pirate up against Johnny's uncategorical Captain Jack. As Terry Rossio notes, "Geoffrey Rush's eyeballs deserve an Academy Award nomination." It's true.
Well, they didn't get one, but Johnny did! Did you hear me scream and jump around the moment his nomination was announced? Only Johnny could get nominated for starring in a Disney summer blockbuster as an ambiguously gay, drunk pirate. Granted, he should have at least five Oscars by now, but it's delicious that, after all this time, this is the one that got him nominated. I never would have guessed, yet I wasn't surprised. Johnny probably didn't care as much as I did. Maybe it was the 17-year wait, but I Was Thrilled!!! Alas, he lost to his friend, Sean Penn, who won for Mystic River. Johnny was probably relieved that he didn't have to make a speech. But the only reason I'm just the tiniest bit relieved about his loss is that Johnny didn't go down in history holding an Oscar sporting that night's weird greasy hairstyle. You know I would have had to keep that photo forever, despite what his hair looked like that day. Crisis averted.
Up to this point, Johnny performances generally received critical acclaim, but his characters were always labeled "outsiders" or "oddballs." Hiring Johnny was considered a risk because "he can't open a weekend" or "he's too weird." He's always described his career as one built on a bunch of box office failures. Johnny's movies were not mainstream, and many people didn't see them unless they were in the know and made the effort.
Imagine the shock of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl becoming a gazillion-dollar blockbuster overnight, Captain Jack and all the characters going down in Disney history, and talk of sequels already buzzing! Did I fully express the inexplicable magnitude of my joy about this? Really, I felt this couldn't have happened to a better person after all the equally stellar work before this crazy pirate movie. Making this movie didn't mean that Johnny sold out: No one could plan for or predict the ridiculous meteoric success of The Pirates of the Caribbean.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was nominated for four other technical Oscars and at a bunch of different award shows that season. It earned quite a few awards. Most exciting to me was that Johnny won the Best Actor award that year from the Screen Actor's Guild, an honor voted by other actors. Ah, the love gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (even if he couldn't attend to accept it in person).
The Kitties have already heard of Captain Jack Sparrow.
I've actually submitted a couple Illustration Friday drawings inspired by Captain Jack already. Illustration Friday's word of the week, "skyline," stumped me for a few days in 2006. But, eventually, my brain made its way to the last line of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which Johnny mentions the horizon. (It counts, right? They're synonyms, aren't they? Well, even if I tried, I couldn't think of anything else once the seed was planted.) Everyone was stumped on how to end this movie, but Johnny had a eureka moment and ran to the writers like a little kid, yelling, "I've got it! I've got it!"
See that drawing here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2006/07/illustration-friday-....
By 2007, the word "captain" instantly and only made me think of the captain on his ship, The Black Pearl. (It still does.)
You can see that drawing here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2007/08/illustration-friday-....
But drawing a specific tribute to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for Johnny Kitties was daunting! At first, I thought I'd have to draw several illustrations to cover the entire cast of beloved characters. Then, I figured I'd have a few more chances to capture them later. So, I went with my original idea, which flashed in my head when I first thought up the Johnny Kitties project. It's true that Johnny's character shines best when all those "normal" people are reacting around him, but ultimately the greatest thing this movie does is introduce audiences to Johnny's Captain Jack Sparrow. Not only should his entrance go down in film history as one of the best ever, but--once introduced--there's no turning back. As soon as he sets foot in Port Royal, you know you're in for something special. And, he's here to stay. Savvy?
What's Next?
And now for something completely different: Johnny represents the CIA in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and I'm guessing they wish he didn't.
For more information about Johnny Kitties or images from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, see my original blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2012/11/johnny-kitties-celeb....
Because the ground is rocky, they can only dig a few feet down at most, and so their graves / crypts are all partially above ground, which makes their cemetery like a cross between a traditional in-ground burial cemetery and the above-ground crypts of New Orleans. I found it interesting.
St. Pierre; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Overseas Collectivity of the Republic of France.
because when you have to write an essay about mathematics and it's rainy and cold outside, you've got to find ways to make yourself laugh.
Because I wore my sense depriavator I was able to sleep the whole night through without being disturbed by any noises. Feeling therefore rested I felt it was time to practise one of my skills that I haven’t used in a while because of certain prohibitions from the kitchen department.
But since the authorities where nowhere to be seen it felt quite safe and therefore got out some sticks and had a go at the good old plate spinning.
It took me a while and maybe three or four plates but I got quite good at it again spinning the plates, throwing them up in the air and catching them again. If I find the right piece of music I might open up a little vaudeville act and tour the country.
German postcard in the Moderne Künstler series by MMB, no. 459. Photo: F.J. Wesselsky.
German film actor Ludwig Trautmann (1885-1957) was the first German film star. Between 1912 and 1955, he appeared in 69 films, and also wrote, produced, and directed several films. In the Nazi period, he was prosecuted because of 'homosexual acts'.
Ludwig Trautmann was born in Dachsbach, Germany, in 1885. He learned for salesman but in 1901 he made his stage debut. He later worked for theatres in Bochum, Konstanz und Hermannstadt. A cinema owner in Baden-Baden introduced him to film. In 1912 he signed a contract with the Bioskop-Filmgesellschaft (Bioskop Film Studio). It was the first film contract ever signed in Germany. Trautmann appeared in such short silent films as Madeleine (Emil Albes, 1912) and Die schwarze Natter/The Black Adder (Franz Hofer, 1913). He soon became known as detective Brown in short silent films directed by Harry Piel, starting with Der Triumph des Todes/The Triumph of Death (Harry Piel, 1912) and Schatten der Nacht/Shadows of the Night (Harry Piel, 1913). In Austria he played a priest in Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld/The Priest from Kirchfeld (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1914) starring Max Neufeld. He appeared opposite Henny Porten in Gretchen Wendland (Curt A. Stark, 1914), Das Ende vom Liede/The End of the Song (Rudolf Biebrach, 1915) and Die Ehe der Luise Rohrbach/The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach (Rudolf Biebrach, 1917), also with Emil Jannings. In 1916 he appeared opposite the other superstar of the silent German cinema, Asta Nielsen in Dora Brandes (Magnus Stifter, 1916) and Das Liebes-ABC/The ABC of Love (Magnus Stifter, 1916). Ludwig Trautmann had become a very successful film actor. He was the darling of the women and at the height of his career, he bought a castle with 22 rooms for the in those days the outrageous sum of DM 480.000.--. He was in a position to found his own film company, and during World War I, he directed, produced, and wrote several films. Among these films are Das Geheimnis der Villa Dox/The Secret of Villa Dox (Ludwig Trautmann, 1916) and Filmelend: Das Glashausmädchen/Film Misery – The Glass House Girl (Ludwig Trautmann, 1919).
Ludwig Trautmann worked in the early 1920s with director Siegfried Dessauer on such films as Frauen…/Women… (Siegfried Dessauer, 1920) and Die goldene Mauer/The Golden Wall (Siegfried Dessauer, 1921) with Mabel May-Yong. He had a small part in the epic Marie Antoinette - Das Leben einer Königin/Marie Antoinette, the Life of a Queen (Rudolf Meinert, 1922) starring Italian diva Diana Karenne and filmed on location in Paris, but the film offers became scarce. Between 1925 and 1932, Trautmann did not appear in the cinema, but then he reappeared in supporting roles in films like Die elf Schill'schen Offiziere/The eleven Officers of Major Von Schill (Rudolf Meinert, 1932) with Hertha Thiele, and Trenck - Der Roman einer großen Liebe (Ernst Neubach, Heinz Paul, 1932) starring Hans Stüwe. He also appeared in the Ufa production Ein Mann will nach Deutschland/A Man Wants to Get to Germany (Paul Wegener, 1934) with Karl Ludwig Diehl and had a bit part in Ein idealer Gatte/An Ideal Husband (Herbert Selpin, 1935) based on the famous play by Oscar Wilde. Between July and October 1935, Trautmann was imprisoned for homosexual acts. (Homosexual acts between males were a crime at the time in Germany and many other countries. Trautmann was imprisoned because of paragraph 175, a notorious provision of the German Criminal Code dating from 1871. The Nazis broadened the law in 1935; in the prosecutions that followed, thousands died in concentration camps. Between 1871 and 1994 around 140,000 men were convicted under the law).
After he was released from prison, Ludwig Trautmann was banned from the Reichstheaterkammer and the Reichsfilmkammer, so it was impossible for him to work as an actor in Nazi-Germany anymore. He left for France, but in 1939 he returned to Germany. In 1940 he was again imprisoned for six months because of his homosexuality. After the war, Ludwig Trautmann worked for the Volksbühne Berlin. He produced the documentary Eine Fröhliche Fahrt in die Vergangenheit/A cheerful trip in the past (1949). In 1951 he was a member of the jury at the 1st Berlin International Film Festival. He also played a few more film roles. He had bit parts in the comedies Postlagernd Turteltaube/Poste Restante Turtledove (Gerhard T. Buchholz, 1952), and in Briefträger Müller/Mailman Mueller (Hohn Reinhardt, 1953) starring Heinz Rühmann. His last film was the DEFA production Robert Mayer - der Arzt aus Heilbronn/Robert Mayer, the Doctor from Heilbronn (Helmut Spiess, 1955). In 1957 and after a long illness, Ludwig Trautmann died in a Berlin hospital. He was 71.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
"because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"
...
"Perché per me l'unica gente possibile sono i pazzi, quelli che sono pazzi di vita, pazzi per parlare, pazzi per essere salvati, vogliosi di ogni cosa allo stesso tempo, quelli che mai sbadigliano o dicono un luogo comune, ma bruciano, bruciano, bruciano, come favolosi fuochi artificiali color giallo che esplodono come ragni attraverso le stelle e nel mezzo si vede la luce azzurra dello scoppio centrale e tutti fanno Oooohhh!"
(J.Kerouak-On the road)
Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！
My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！
If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。
In Ambrym, there is almost no car because there is absolutely no road. Most villages have nakamals, which are village clubhouses. They serve as a meeting point for men and as a place to drink the typical kava beverage. Kava is made from the roots of the pepper plant. It is served in a shell and drunk in one go. It is said to relax the nervous system and anesthetize the mouth. Like in Malekula, they have headed tamtams and statues. Villagers make many beautiful wood carvings. The wood is sculpted and each representation on it has a meaning. The eyes of the statues are in a half-moon shape, its surroundings symbolize the clouds in the sky, and the red circles filled with white colour on the body are the representation of a fruit called « wayou ». The grade statues are carved out of the tree-fern’s trunks, on the occasion of the grade-taking ceremony. The ritual also includes the sacrifice of pigs or boars and feast giving. The pig tusks some people sport on their chest has a great value. The ones which make a whole circle are very rare, since it takes up to 40 years to get it from a pig. It is weared by the chiefs and often represented on the statues. When Queen Elisabeth visited Vanuatu years ago, she was offered a tusk coiled 3 times on itself, which is exceptional. People also believe in magic stones, supposed to make them invisible, that they hide in the forest. Actually, Ambrym is full of believes and magic. The Rom dance is an initiation dance performed during the grade-taking ceremonies called Maghe. Women are not allowed to share the dance, but only men. The Rom masks are used for each ceremony. The body of the dancer is covered with leaves, which makes sound effects when they move. Nobody knows who is under it. When the dance is over, the masks are burnt. For marriages, tons of bananas, manioc and other products are offered to the couple. The bride and groom stay under a tent where all the village comes to make gifts. They are covered by talc by the mother of the bride. To be married, a girl usually costs around 8 pigs and 1000 euros to the prospective husband, which is a huge amount in Vanuatu.
A Ambrym, il n’y a presque aucune voiture parce qu’il n’y a absolument aucune route. La plupart des villages ont des nakamals, qui sont les clubs des villages. Ils servent comme lieux de rencontre des hommes et comme endroits pour boire la boisson typique appelée « kava ». La kava est faite à partir des racines de poivrier. Elle est servie dans un coquillage et bue d’un trait. On dit qu’elle apaise le système nerveux et anesthésie la bouche. Comme à Malekula, ils ont des tam-tams et des statues à tête. Les villageois font de merveilleuses sculptures en bois. Celui-ci est sculpté et chaque représentation a une signification. Les yeux des statues sont en forme d’une demi-lune, leur contour symbolise les nuages dans le ciel, et les cercles rouges remplis de couleur blanche sur le corps de la statue sont la représentation d’un fruit appelé « wayou ». Les statues de grade sont taillées dans des troncs de fougères arborescentes, à l’occasion de la cérémonie du passage de grade. Le rituel implique également le sacrifice de cochons ou de sangliers, et des banquets en cet honneur. Les défenses de porc que certains portent sur leur torse sont d’une grande valeur. Celles qui font un tour entier sont très rares, puisque cela prend jusqu’à 40 ans avant de pouvoir les prélever sur les porcs. Elles sont portées par les chefs et souvent représentées sur les statues. Lorsque la reine Elisabeth II a visité Vanuatu il y a des années, on lui a offert une défense enroulée 3 fois sur elle-même, ce qui est exceptionnel. Les gens croient aussi aux pierres magiques, supposées les rendre invisibles, qu’ils cachent dans la forêt. En fait, Ambrym est pleine de croyances et de magie. La danse Rom est une danse initiatique réalisée lors des cérémonies du passage de grade appelées Maghe. Les femmes n’ont pas le droit de partager la danse, mais seulement les hommes. Les masques Rom sont utilisés pour chaque cérémonie. Le corps du danseur est couvert de feuilles, ce qui provoque des bruitages quand ils bougent. Personne ne sait qui se trouve dessous. Quand la danse est finie, les masques sont brûlés. Lors des mariages, des tonnes de bananes, manioc et autres produits sont offerts au couple. Les mariés restent sous une tente où tout le village se rend pour faire des cadeaux. Ils sont couverts de talc par la mère de la mariée. Pour se marier, une fille coûte en général environ 8 porcs et 1000 euros au futur mari, ce qui constitue un montant très élevé au Vanuatu.
© Eric Lafforgue
Because of the lovely hot sunny weather today the butterflies were out in force on my allotment. Catch of the day was this Hummingbird Hawk Moth. First time I have seen one here.
Because celebrating Christmas is always associated with Winter, it already seems like we've been into that season for a while now. But it just started. Poor Fall. It gets short changed around mid November.
So I look forward to my favourite of the four seasons. Shorter days, cooler temps, and the sun is lower over the horizon. That's when I go photo crazy because that good natural lighting lasts all day.
Please check out my newest images here:
1. streaks and petals, 2. shoes and the waves, 3. three day weekend., 4. i should..., 5. you can dance on the breeze, 6. Spontaneous ~ Bench Monday ~ 151:365, 7. The Karate Kids, 8. Cupcakes, 9. sky watcher, 10. The old tire swing..., 11. Fence Friday {Echinacea Edition} 319/365, 12. Buffalo | 5:04:39, 13. their name liveth forever more
Because I am leaving for three weeks vacation I didn't have time to make a special creation for the "pink challenge". But I didn't want to skip this month's challenge because the theme is so special. So I decided to send in this earlier made pendant which is for almost 50% pink!
Because I love color, I've become a big fan of Wood Ducks, like this male that I saw this morning at Santee Lakes in San Diego County. The lakes are wonderful this time of year as it's cooler, and there are a lot of birds, and wonderful areas to walk.
Other pictures that I've taken at Santee Lakes, including infrared, birds and reflections can be seen here. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157627547766547/
Other bird pictures that I've taken can be seen in my Birds set. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157628206812625/
I share because I care.
This panoramic shot was, by my standards, a significant effort. For a weekend in Yosemite it looked like the hike to Dewey Point was probably one of the best vistas to go after. The upper elevations above the valley floor are mostly inaccessible in winter except for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. Since Dewey Point offers a great view and one I hadn't seen before, along with being among the shorter winter trails we decided to go for it.
I'm not so keen on cross country skiing so this was my first ever attempt at snowshoeing. I figured it would be slightly more challenging that normal hiking but not significantly. I don't know if it was just the conditions that day or what it was, but this was a serious hike.
It was supposed to be 3 miles each way, but that neglects the fact that it's almost one and a half miles to the trailhead. All together this hike was just under 8.5 miles in the snow and absolutely exhausting every step of the way. Plenty of people were out doing it and maybe they struggled too but if I can offer some advice - start off with something shorter than you think you can hike for snowshoeing if you're trying it for the first time. Man it was tough.
Enough about that, we eventually reached the destination which was the incredible Dewey Point vista. From here you're looking straight down on the Cathedral Rocks with El Capitan in plain sight across the valley (and actually at a lower elevation). In the distance you can see Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Sentinel Dome - many of Yosemite's greatest hits (view the larger size for more detail). We were very fortunate to have warm sunny days over the weekend in the park which made for a beautiful panorama. I stitched this from 12 separate shots, though I've actually cropped this to highlight the main features of the valley. The actual 'point' of Dewey Point is just off to the left.
Yosemite is absolutely amazing! Go if ever you have the chance.
Nikon D40 | Nikon 18-200VR@20mm | ƒ/11 | 1/500s | ISO200 | Handheld
Why Chichester? Because the inspiration was Chichester market cross
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chichester_market_cross_2002-0... which has 8 entrances, so I made 8 round "windows"... since I started naming pendants after English cities (I guess it's because of the 2012 Olympics that got me started), I though why not make it a bit more "relatable", so... :))) I don't know what 's next one gonna be, it all depends on my moods, but I 'd like to make a Liverpool one, because that's the city I've lived in for a year and as much as I hated it at the time, it's very dear to me..
Because it occurred to me that it's a long time since I had a picture of me in me compact little kitchen.
Just because I feel like it and am enjoying how feminine I look in this one. Just a peek of stocking top, and I don't think anyone seeing me in my usual male look would realise in this they were looking at the same person. Possible could be classed as a bit of Cougar? Maybe not, being in my sixties apparently I'm too old and of course I'm not looking for any man. younger than me or not.