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Vacant office
Because I’m new to my job, I get to work the days everyone else takes off, like Christmas Eve.
My office was crazy quiet on Christmas Eve. I joked that there were only five people at work (but of course there were more than that). It felt like there was nobody home.
Jacket, XOXO (thrifted). Dress, Under Skies (thrifted). Turtleneck, A New Day. Boots, Fergie. Scarf, consignment
Photo is cropped with other people likely cut out because two names written on back read Sue and Beth. Boy might be named Sue like in the Johnny Cash song. A date reads "...ly 1970" so photo likely was taken in July. Photo part of lot bought on eBay.
Because, why not?
No, he is not THE Makuta. every Island has a Makuta in charge of it, so if I make my own island, it's got to have a Makuta for it. And why not make it Blacktron?
Because I have some Polish blood in me I reckon I can get away with wondering why a suitable surname wouldn't be Jetski! OK, enough bad humour. This chap was heading out from suburban Shorncliffe for a spin around adjacent coastal Moreton Bay in South East Queensland.
yes please choose if you like!!
i obvy dont know how to count because i made 16 not 12~~
i have three extras in case anyone wants to do a side swap
a navy teal turq
a robins egg lime gray
a robins egg turq gray
Because of the unique head and bill markings this is one of the easier female ducks to confidently identify. The nearest lookalikes are the Scaup family... but their females all have all-gray bills that lack additional decorations. The bill markings become more pronounced and defined as the breeding season nears.
IMG_9528; Ring-necked Duck
Dharavi (Hindi and Marathi: धारावी; also spelled Daravi, Darravy, Dorrovy) is a slum in Mumbai, India. It is one of the largest slums in the world.
Dharavi slum was founded in 1880s during the British colonial era. The slum grew in part because of expulsion of factories and residents from peninsular city center by colonial government, and from rural poor migrating into urban Mumbai (then called Bombay). Modern day Dharavi came to be founded in the 1940's once the British left India, and once the majority property holders of the area, Shantilal Nemchand and Co sold off there property holdings allowing houses to be built. It is currently a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, diverse settlement. Dharavi's total population estimates vary between 300,000 to about 1 million.
Dharavi has an active informal economy in which numerous household enterprises employ many of the slum residents. It exports goods around the world. Leather, textiles and pottery products are among the goods made inside Dharavi by the slum residents. The total annual turnover has been estimated at over US$500 million.
Dharavi has suffered through many incidences of epidemics and other disasters. It currently covers an area of 217 hectares.
HISTORY
In the 18th century, Dharavi was an island. In February 1739, Chimnaji Appa attacked Bassein. Before that, he took possession of Dharavi. The area of present-day Dharavi was predominantly mangrove swamp before the late 19th century, inhabited by Koli fishermen. Dharavi was then referred to as the village of Koliwadas.
COLONIAL ERA
Mumbai has been one of the centers of India's urbanization for 200 years. At the middle of the 19th century, after decades of urban growth under East India Company and British Raj, the city's population reached half a million. The urban area then covered mostly the southern extension of Mumbai peninsula, the population density was over 10 times higher than London at that time. Most parts of Mumbai faced an acute shortage of housing and serious problems with the provision of water, sanitation and drainage. Residential areas were segregated in Mumbai between European and 'native' residential quarters. Slums were heavily concentrated in areas meant for 'native' Indian population, and it attracted no planning or London-like investment for quality of life of its inhabitants. Unsanitary conditions plagued Mumbai, particularly in the so-called Native Town, the segregated section where Indians lived. In 1869, as with 19th century epidemics in European slums, bubonic plague spread in Mumbai and then across most of India. The epidemic killed nearly 200,000 people in Mumbai and 8 million in India. In 1880s, concerned about epidemics, the British colonial government expelled polluting industries and many Indian residents of the Native Town, away from the peninsular part of the city, to a distant edge of the city in the north in the village of Koliwadas. Thus was born Dharavi.
The most polluting industries were tanneries, and the first tannery moved from peninsular Mumbai into Dharavi in 1887. People who worked with leather, typically a profession of lowest Hindu castes and of Muslim Indians, moved into Dharavi. Other early settlers included the Kumbars, a large Gujarati community of potters (another polluting industry). The colonial government granted them a 99-year land-lease in 1895. Rural migrants looking for jobs poured into Mumbai, and its population soared past 1 million. Other artisans, like the embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh, started the ready-made garments trade. These industries created jobs, labor moved in, but there was no effort to plan or invest in any infrastructure in or near Dharavi. The living quarters and small scale factories grew haphazardly, without provision for sanitation, drains, safe drinking water, roads or other basic services. Dharavi's first mosque, Badi Masjid, started in 1887 and the oldest Hindu temple, Ganesh Mandir, was built in 1913. A large influx of Tamil migrants came in the 1920s. Bombay's first Tamil school and Dharavi's first school was constructed in 1924.
POST INDEPENDENCE
At India's Independence from colonial rule in 1947, Dharavi had grown to be the largest slum in Mumbai and all of India. It still had a few empty spaces, which continued to serve as waste dumping grounds for operators across the city. Mumbai, meanwhile, continued to grow as a city. Soon Dharavi was surrounded by the city, and became a key hub for informal economy. Dharavi's Co-operative Housing Society was formed in the 1960s to uplift the lives of thousands of slum dwellers by the initiative of Shri. M.V. Duraiswamy, a well-known social worker and congress leader of that region. The Dharavi co-operative housing society promoted 338 flats and 97 shops and was named "Dr. Baliga Nagar". By late 20th century, Dharavi occupied about 175 hectares, with an astounding population density of more than 2900 people per hectare.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The total current population of Dharavi slum is unknown, and estimates vary widely. Some sources suggest it is 300,000 to about a million. With Dharavi spread over 200 hectares, this corresponds to an average population density estimate between 1500 and 5000.
About 33% of the population of Dharavi is Muslim, compared to 13% average population of Muslims in India. The Christian population is estimated to be about 6%, while the rest are predominantly Hindus (60%), with some Buddhists and other minority religions. Among the Hindus, about 20% work on animal skin production, tanneries and leather goods. Other Hindus specialize in pottery work, textile goods manufacturing, retail and trade, distilleries and other caste professions - all of these as small scale household operations. The slum residents are from all over India, people who migrated from rural regions of many different states. The slum has numerous mosques, temples and churches to serve people of Islam, Hindu and Christian faiths; with Badi Masjid, a mosque, as the oldest religious structure in Dharavi.
LOCATION & CHARACTERISTICS
Dharavi is situated between Mumbai's two main suburban railway lines, the Western and Central Railways. To its west are Mahim and Bandra, and to the north lies the Mithi River, which empties into the Arabian Sea through the Mahim Creek. To its south and east are Sion and Matunga. Both its location and poor drainage systems make Dharavi particularly vulnerable to floods during the wet season.
Dharavi has a high population density, and as with other worldwide slums, overcrowded. It is mostly low rise structures surrounded by Mumbai city. In most large cities, the floor space index (FSI) varies from 5 to 15 in the Central Business District (CBD) to about 0.5, or below, in the suburbs. Dharavi's FSI is very low. Still, in expensive Mumbai, Dharavi provides a cheap alternative where rents were as low as US$4 per month in 2006.
There is a disagreement if Dharavi is the largest slum in Mumbai. Some sources claim other slums in Mumbai have grown to become larger than Dharavi. Other sources disagree, and rank Dharavi as the largest slum in India.
ECONOMY
In addition to the traditional pottery and textile industries in Dharavi, there is an increasingly large recycling industry, processing recyclable waste from other parts of Mumbai. The district has an estimated 5000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories.
Dharavi exports goods around the world. The total (and largely informal economy) turnover is estimated to be between US$500 million, over US$650 million per year, to over US$1 billion per year. The per capita income of the residents, depending on estimated population range of 300,000 to about 1 million, ranges between US$500 to US$2000 per year.
REDEVELOPMENT PLANS
There have been many plans since 1997 to redevelop Dharavi like the former slums of Hong Kong such as Tai Hang. In 2004, the cost of redevelopment was estimated to be INR5000 crore (US$810 million). Companies from around the world have bid to redevelop Dharavi, including Lehman Brothers, Dubai's Limitless and Singapore's Capitaland Ltd. In 2010, it is estimated to cost INR15000 crore (US$2.4 billion) to redevelop.
The latest urban redevelopment plan proposed for the Dharavi area is managed by American-trained architect Mukesh Mehta. The plan involves the construction of 2,800,000 square metres of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 3,700,000 square metres of residential and commercial space for sale. There has been significant local opposition to the plans, largely because existing residents are due to receive only 25.0 square metres of land each. Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before 2000 are slated for resettlement. Concerns have also been raised by residents who fear that some of their small businesses in the "informal" sector may not be relocated under the redevelopment plan. The government has said that it will only legalize and relocate industries that are not "polluting".
SANITATION ISSUES
Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, due in turn to the fact that most housing and 90% of the commercial units in Dharavi are illegal. As of November 2006 there was only one toilet per 1,440 residents in Dharavi. Mahim Creek, a local river, is widely used by local residents for urination and defecation, leading to the spread of contagious diseases. The area also suffers from problems with inadequate drinking water supply.
EPIDEMICS & OTHER SISASTERS
Dharavi has experienced a long history of epidemics and natural disasters, sometimes with significant loss of lives. The first plague to devastate Dharavi, along with other settlements of Mumbai happened in 1896, when nearly half of the population perished. A series of plagues and other epidemics continued to affect Dharavi, and Mumbai in general, for the next 25 years, with high mortality rates. Dysentery epidemics have been common throughout the years and explained with the high population density of Dharavi. Other epidemics reported include typhoid, cholera, leprosy, amoebiasis and polio, through recent years. For example, in 1986, a children cholera epidemic was reported, where most patients were residents of Dharavi. Typical patients to arrive in hospitals were in late and critical care condition, and the mortality rates were abnormally high. In recent years, cases of drug resistant tuberculosis have been reported in Dharavi.
Fires and other disasters are common. For example, in January 2013, a fire destroyed many slum properties and caused injuries. In 2005, massive floods caused deaths and extensive property damage.
GUIDED TOURS THROUGH DHARAVI
A few travel operators offer guided tours through Dharavi, showing the industrial and the residential part of Dharavi and explaining about problems and challenges Dharavi is facing. These tours give a deeper insight into a slum in general and Dharavi in particular.
MEDIA DECIPTION
- Dharavi has been depicted in a number of Hindi films produced by the Mumbai film industry. These include Salim-Javed films such as Deewaar (1975), Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988) where several child actors were from the Dharavi slum, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda (1989), Sudhir Mishra's Dharavi (1991), Ram Gopal Varma's "Indian Gangster Trilogy" (1998–2005) and Sarkar series (2005–2008), Vikram Bhatt's Footpath (2003), Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2004) and No Smoking (2007), Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal (2007), Rajeev Khandelwal's Aamir (2008), and other films based on the Mumbai underworld.
- Dharavi has been depicted in films from other Indian film industries, particularly the Tamil film industry. Several films by Mani Ratnam based on the experiences of Tamil immigrants to Mumbai have depicted the Dharavi slum, including Nayagan (1987) and Bombay (1995).
- Dharavi features prominently in Danny Boyle's 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, where several of the child actors in the film are from the Dharavi slum.
- The movie Mankatha was shot here starring Ajith kumar.
- The movie Businessman was shot here starring Mahesh Babu.
- In Kaminey, the 2009 Hindi movie, starring Shahid Kapoor.
- In the 2009 Swiss/German documentary Dharavi, Slum for Sale of director Lutz Konermann.
- In a programme aired in the United Kingdom in January 2010, Kevin McCloud and Channel 4 aired a two-part series titled Slumming It which centered around Dharavi and its inhabitants.
- The poem "Blessing" by Imtiaz Dharker is about Dharavi not having enough water.
- For The Win, by Cory Doctorow, is partially set in Dharavi.
Because it reminds me of this great (if overlong) animated Japanese movie of the same title.
This shot was actually a bitch to take. The slope is far steeper than it looks and since these were several second exposures my tripod kept falling backwards halfway through each shot - very annoying! I thought asking Laura to twirl the umbrella whilst looking up at the palace would add a great little fantasy element to the composition.
Afterwards we climbed the little hill and explored the palace Monserrate at the top. It had really spectacular views of the valleys and sunset plus the Moorish castle was completely deserted which just added to the fantastic atmosphere.
Another Cinderella Story
The text on the picture says:
"You know what sucks about falling for a guy you know you're not right for?
You fall anyway because you think he might turn out to be different."
-Said By: Selena Gomez as Mary Santaigo
This picture was edited by me
If you want to use it tell me .. and credit me
Thankyou.
Question of the picture:
What did you think of Another Cinderella Story? If you watched it, that is.
[Comment To Answer]
All Rights Reserved ©
Just because you're not a big toy, doesn't mean you don't deserve a good chair.
I got the toy version of this chair a long time ago. One day, a great friend told me they no longer had room for the grown up version in their home and that they would sell it to me for about 30% of its value because they knew I would love it.
I totally love it. Rich, you rule.
Strobist info: NEW (just got it - adore it) Westcott 26" mono light softbox with Nikon SB900 on 1/64 power pointed at the human sized chair about 3 ft back and 4 ft higher. Nikon SB600 on 1/16 power with grid spot about 2.5 ft slightly to the front and camera left of the toys.
Camera info: ISO 125, NEW 85mm (I spent all my food money on camera stuff), f/2.2, 1/200 sec
from ift.tt/1NKysKI
Well, I survived my surgery.
Yay!
I got to the hospital on time & got checked in/taken to pre-op almost immediately. Of course I had to do the required pregnancy test.1
Eventually, a nurse2 came in to set-up an IV—she only stuck me once, thus allowing her to join my unofficial Hall of Fame—while my nurse3 reviewed my medical history, medications, allergies, and the results of the unnecessary pregnancy test.4 I praised Candi for her achievement and tried to interact with Danielle. I was more calm and relaxed once the IV56 was set up. Danielle said the change in my demeanor after the IV was very noticeable.7 She wasn’t really thrilled, at first, with my mom saying that she was there to mock me while my IV got set up, but my mom explained why she does that.8 But she didn’t need to.
One big fear down, a couple more to go.
The antibiotic they used was clindamycin. It’s amazing how my old acne medicine is one of the few antibiotics my atopy-prone body has not declared war on. I guess it’s because it’s not really used that often. Danielle said that typically they’ll give Keflex9 and, if the person is allergic, they’ll use penicillin.10 Or the other way around? Having a Keflex allergy while having a penicillin allergy isn’t exactly normal, despite their being related. It probably happened in me because of genetics11 and because my first antibiotic allergy was Ceclor, which is related to both Keflex & penicillin somehow. Anyway, Danielle made sure I was not allergic to clindamycin before they officially hooked it up.
When the anesthesiologist came in, he insinuated that I wasn’t allergic to the medicines I listed. That changed as I explained the reactions. Each person who reviewed my list, including him, did not understand why I listed my orange juice allergy12 under the section for food allergies. Hmm. I wonder why a person would list a food allergy as a food allergy.
Maybe because:
Oranges and other fruits contain proteins that are chemically similar to pollen; eating these can cause itching and irritation of the mouth in certain people, many of whom also happen to be allergic to pollen… (via Newsweek)
That article points out that orange juice allergies can be worse for asthmatics because of our already inflamed airways. There are also some who believe that orange juice allergies can be a result of salicylate (aspirin-relatives) allergies/sensitivities.13 Basically, this orange juice allergy stuff is serious as fuck.
But I digress…again.
Before taking me to the OR, I was given a dose or so of Versed, aka midazolam.14 In some people,15 there is an unexpected reaction16 and medical professionals can go into denial mode over it because it is pretty much the opposite of what the drug is meant for.
Eventually, I was rolled off to the OR. Special latex precautions were taken, which was expected, and was the reason my surgery took place at the hospital instead of an outpatient surgery facility. I think I was the last surgery on the schedule and there may have been a good reason. The anesthesiology team consisted of the anesthesiologists ans 2 nurse anesthetists—the 3 were monitoring me for allergic/adverse reactions. Seriously. The patient board in the OR also mentioned I had multiple allergy issues.17
Eventually, the sleepy-time doc gave me the propofol and I zonked out. My parents said the surgery took five minutes and that my orthopedist, who I saw one time today…before the surgery, said my meniscus and fat pad were fine, but that the debris in my patella was made of bone flakes and that I definitely have arthritis. He also said I need to start exercising and trying to lose weight. I got pissed when he said that because this particular doctor always dismisses that I do exercise. I told him with a previous injury that I was injured while exercising. I told him this issue became noticeable while exercising.
As for trying to lose weight?
I’ve lost around 27% of the weight I wanted to lose. I’ve lost 32% of what I need to lose to reach a healthy weight. I would have lost more if my knee hadn’t been fucked up since Spring. Being fat doesn’t mean I should be dismissed like this.
Pretending like all of this is due to weight and weight alone is also bullshit.18 I’m having a hard time believing that the meniscus and fat pad1920 are totally okay, given the symptoms. I just think he’s used this to tell me that he thinks poorly of me for my weight. And that’s pathetic and superficial crap. If he’d ever bothered to listen to me, he could have come to that conclusion on his own.
After surgery, I started talking like crazy21 to the nurses in the recovery section, including Danielle, who was literally keeping watch over me afterward. She got so busy talking to me that she almost forgot to give me a dose of Fentanyl.22 And she almost forgot once again with my Demerol dose. At first, I wondered if she wanted to give me the pain relief injections because she thought it would shut me up. It just made me worse. It wasn’t long before I was getting discharged; we did have to wait for a drug-induced23 vertigo spell to pass.
I also had the lovely experience of a different nurse doing a bad job of removing my IV. She was trying to take the tape off without tearing my skin. I would be grateful for that effort except that, while doing that, she ended up removing the catheter24 rather violently. It started bleeding. A lot. As I mentioned earlier on Instagram, removing an IV so violently is not only painful and dangerous to people with conditions like Ehlers-Danlos or any other chronic health issues, it is painful and dangerous for able-bodied, healthy folks, too. And if you factor in the time it takes to stop the bleeding, taking it out that way costs you more time. Be careful with IVs.
Soooo…
As you have probably figured out, the IV bleeding finally stopped & it didn’t kill me. Yay!
Anyway, it’s been several hours since I got home. I’m still pretty wired and may be so for several days to come.
I chose to avoid going to the bathroom upon waking to make sure I could take the test. If I hadn’t, they might have refused to do the surgery. They almost refused my endoscopy-colonoscopy procedures a few years ago because I didn’t have enough urine to take the test. Part of that lack of pee was from the dehydration that resulted from prep. ↩
Candi ↩
Danielle ↩
Danielle apologized for that multiple times, especially since she knew I was taking hormonal birth control. It’s funny how the nurses who wanted dehydrated, virginal me to take the pregnancy test a few years ago for my endoscopy-colonoscopy combo didn’t apologize for demanding the test. The one who did when I had my D&C and hysteroscopy did. ↩
Candi gave me lidocaine to ease some pain, which isn’t the greatest to use in Ehlers-Danlos patients. ↩
The IV itaelf was quite painful. ↩
She understood what it was like to be a hard stick. The last time she had an IV, it took ten times. I almost asked her if she was some long-lost cousin. ↩
I’ve repeatedly mentioned the hard stick issue. I used to, as a small child, get blood work done a lot and had IVs started, and there were always vein issues—including when, as a preschooler, I had blood work done using a vein in my foot. I also was admitted to the hospital for asthma issues and the nurses setting up my IV wouldn’t let my mom come in while they did it. I kicked and screamed and cried and they just were mocking and not compassionate. I remember that as one of the few truly dissociative moments I’ve ever experienced. As a result, I was terrified of needles until I was a teenager. My mom—who I get my bad veins from, so she’s got an idea of how terrifying and painful vein stuff can be—could keep me calm by telling jokes. The calmer I was, the easier it was to hit the veins. It’s amazing how that works. ↩
My latest antibiotic allergy. ↩
It was my fourth antibiotic allergy. ↩
Thanks, Nana & Mama. They had allergies to antibiotics, pain killers, and anesthetics, too. ↩
I vomit, have uncontrollable stomach pains, and have asthma flare ups whenever I ingest it. This even happens when it’s an ingredient in a dish. I have to check ingredient lists closely for it & caffeine, or related products. ↩
Guess what over the counter pain medication Nana has an anaphylactic reaction to when she takes it?! Even in the form of cream for arthritic joints. ↩
Midazolam is a benzodiazepine that is used in lethal injections to calm the convicted individual so they don’t panic as they are exposed to other drugs that stop their hearts or suppress their breathing. ↩
Children, some death row inmates who were executed in the recent past, and me… ↩
They don’t fall asleep or stay asleep; hyperactivity & its short-term sedative effect is actually well-documented. ↩
There were also my bright protocol bracelets. ↩
Yes, my weight contributes. That’s part of why I was trying to exercise. ↩
He’s never acknowledged that the MRI wasn’t the “nothing is wrong here” situation he has suggested. Maybe he doesn’t realize I’ve seen the results. ↩
It was swollen enough yesterday that there was a lump right over it. ↩
I think if I ever imbibed, I would be a chatty drunk. More specifically, a chatty, giggly drunk. Alas, I shall never know, unless you count my drunk-like state when dehydrated and my intoxicated state on anesthetics and pain killers. , booze, I think we could have had some fun, bur jt apparently wasn’t meant to be. ↩
She told me I’d already had two other doses of it. ↩
There were quite a few meds in my system. ↩
The tubing that goes under the skin & into the vein that connects it to the IV. ↩
Related Posts:
Bad Blood (Vessels) June 22, 2015
Anaphylaxis and You April 17, 2015
Get A Location on That July 4, 2015
“Unspecified” Knee Pain October 2, 2015
Something Stitch-ed This Way Comes December 2, 2015
Because this Boot Camp series is all about connecting with your community, I wanted to find an outdoor space in my immediate neighborhood that really represented what it was like to live here. This taco stand is about three blocks from my house, and we probably get food here about once a week. The workers are friendly and you almost always encounter a few characters while you wait for your food. It is on a tiny triangle of land with a busy intersection out front and the Metro train passing diagonally behind.
I wanted to capture the urban quality, the all-night energy (open 24 hours!), and the vibrant neighborhood interactions that occur. I spent time there photographing on four different days, figuring out the time of day, composition, and lighting. Some of that process is detailed below in the comments.
Once I had all the elements worked out, I invited six local friends to come hang out for an hour while I took pictures. Between hitting just the right window of dusk and capturing a good set of light streaks from the traffic, I had no flexibility when it came to waiting for a crowd to build at the window. So I brought my own starter crowd! That guaranteed that I'd always have at least a few people, and any other customers who showed up would be icing on the cake.
Lighting: An SB-900 at 1/2 power with a 1/4 CTO gel and a diffusion dome clamped to the "no crossing" sign on the green traffic light and aimed toward the near corner of the building. An SB-800 at 1/4 power with a 1/4 CTO gel and a diffusion dome clamped to the railroad crossing sign and aimed at the left side of the building. You can actually see this flash firing, but it doesn't stand out much with all the other point sources, so I left it in. Both are fired with PocketWizards. The shutter speed is at 1 second, there's a circular polarizer on the lens, and I changed the WB to standard fluorescent.
“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.”
(Thich Nhat Hanh - Vietnamese Monk, Peace Activist and Writer, b.1926)
Saurabh is an architect in Delhi, he wanted his portrait by me so we met recently for lunch in Hauz khas village which is in South Delhi.
As he was living in Milano for a few years, we spoke Italian for fun, he had many expressions and most of all an amazing smile.
We went outside to the Deer Park and I took several shots.
I selected this one where everything on his face is smiling, it is the universal language in the world and a source of joy and happiness.
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Because it's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!
Taken in Copan, Honduras.
Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
...because someone received a happy furry postcard from NYC. Someone now insists to get his dinner served in a happy furry bowl because someone thinks that would be the newest big city style and someone doesn't want to live an olden country dog's life:-)))
Thank you sooooo much sasquahtch for this beautiful postcard. hugs and snuggles to you and the cowboy:) xo
So I didn't load a photo yesterday because I had a very very very busy day, which centered around attending a memorial service celebrating the life of a very good friend of mine, Nigel Gough, who was recently killed in a horrific cycling accident. I am going to load a photo later and write a little about him, so take a look if you're interested... which you should be cause he was amazing and my friend and I miss him with all my heart. A very good thing about last nights memorial is that it allowed me to see many friends I haven't seen since I moved to England thirteen months ago. I find it kind of weird and comforting that I happened to be in Canada at this time, when Nigel died and for his memorial as well. He was doing much the same thing I was; visiting family in Canada after living abroad for a long time (we came back to Canada from England actually, around the same time I did.)
I took this in my friend Meg's house after the memorial. I wasn't in a smiley photo mood. Her house was very photogenic and a bit creepy so it makes for an awesome photo, in my opinion.
So far this is my favourite one of the project, which isn't saying a lot cause the 365 photos so far have kind of sucked.
Also, I JUST realised this sort of looks like a painting called Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother by J.M. Whister.
Song of the Day - Mumford and Sons - Winter Winds
"We'll be washed and buried one day my girl
And the time we were given will be left for the world
The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague
So let the memories be good for those who stay"
(no making fun of me for liking Mumford and Sons!)
Safaris are so much more than just shooting. These pictures are some of the sights and scenes that make the long journey so worthwhile. As we look at these photos we can smell the grass, feel the cool wind and warm sun, and hear the voices of our friends and companions.
"Ons mis Afrika!" We miss Africa.
This set of the Lego racers series fascinated me because the base of the vehicle is remote controlled. After plying a while with the original I got bored and wanted to build something more realistic and interesting on top of the driving unit. Hence the base itself is quite thick the best thing I could come up with, was this rally car. The rally Dakar is an extreme event in the world of motor sport. I liked the old VW Tuareg which crossed the dunes rather successfully. Nevertheless, I wanted to include many or I dare say most of the parts from the original set. As I wanted to make a realistic car it really nice to see it been even driven by a more or less talented minifigure accompanied by his co-pilot who is navigating. :-) The two of them are taking up the challenge of the Lego Rally Dakar. The wheels are pretty small, therefore i changed the back ones for a bigger yellow pair. Unfortunately, the steering is often a bit too lash for a rally car. So its strengths are still on the tarmac. Focus when building was of course on stability while incoporating an aggressive, sportive line of Design. I am quite happy with the outcome of the front bumper, which is definitely one of the big characteristics of this unique car. If you have not already, let's have a look on the back of the car, where I packed very handy tools.