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Because of course a Znap wing isn't quite as powerful as a regular wing...

 

Built for the 2012 MocAthalon in the "Will it Blend?" Category. I combined three themes, obviously - Znap, Fright Knights & Friends.

 

Because J*me & Sadaloha requested shirtless Gideon photos on J*me's thread about Manabu . Who am I to dissapoint? XD

Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

Introducing, my twin turbo Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo! If that sounds and looks familiar, that's because this build was heavily inspired by @pterodactyltactics aka Marc. This car has gone through several versions and has been sold, but this version is still one of my favorite car builds ever!

 

Onto the build! This was the car I was planning on building before my Rx7 in late 2023. However, I'm happy that this car was delayed because I got to use the new 2024 elements. Specifically, the new 1x2 wedge tiles, which I believe are game changing! Without these tiles, I think this build would have been very difficult. I also used a lot of the new 2023 round bricks with a stud, #3386. I also wanted to use the newer 2x2x2/3 wedges, but those are unavailable in this color atm, so I'll update it when I can.

 

On top of using those new elements, another reason this build is so awesome to me is the fenders/rear-quarter-panel. I used completely new techniques that I hadn't done before. For the rear quarter panel, I knew it had to be "paneled" in, just like my Rx7's rear hatch. That was the best way I could think of to replicate the multiple angles of that panel. Same for the front fenders. They had to be arched along the wheel, but also sloped when you look at it from the front. I really love how the front turned out and I would like to hear your guess on how those were done. ;) The rear quarter panel isn't perfect tbh, so I'll have to go back in the future, but I am okay with it for now. However, I especially love the double vents there.

 

Onto the front, I love the vented hood and all the wedge pieces of the bumper. They lined up so well by using some neat snot techniques. My biggest gripe though is the headlights. It looks really good in some angles, but in others, it's a bit iffy like the first photo lol. Although it's not perfect, I love that I got to use clear pieces for it. I could've gotten them in clear from the F40, but yellow hits for me!

 

There is more that I want to talk about and show, so stay tuned for my next posts!

 

Version: v1.0

Scale: ~1:17

Inspiration: @pterodactyltactics @lamborghini @sheepeyrace

Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

Because this flight (MH123) lands in Sydney, there is a Western dish served to passengers. The fish is served with some creamy and milky sauce. In this dish, the main source of carbohydrates are the potatoes. Meanwhile on the left are some crunchy baby carrots and broccoli. It was near to midnight when I had this.

Because it has been raining all week I'm posting some photos of sunny Essex.

Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

because even the rock raiders need mechs

It is five years since I was lat at St Andrew. That was on Heritage Day, when it is always a hectic day and blur getting round.

 

I was back this morning because it was the closest church I felt I needed to revisit, although from previous visits I know this is rarely open outside of Heritage weekend, but I found out later it is open most days now.

 

Tilmanstone is a former mining village, you would hardly know that now, as has reseverted back to a quiet and leafy place, with the Sandwich road passing close by, but the noise sheltered by trees.

 

Parking here is always difficult, as the church is on a single track lane, just round the corner there is just about enough room to park outside a cottage.

 

I take my camera bag up the slope to the church, and through the well-tended churchyard to find the door locked with a combination lock.

 

I take these shots, then on the way back to the car, the dog in the yard opposite was being very noisy, the owner came to see the source and asked me if I wanted to go inside the church?

 

Yes please.

 

He took me back to the porch, diddled the numbers and the porch door was opened.

 

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TILMANSTONE.

NORTH-eastward from Barson, the parish of Eythorne only intervening, lies that of Tilmanstone, in the survey of Domesday written Tilemanestone; but is now usually pronounced Tilmeston.

 

There are two boroughs in this parish, viz. Tilmanstone and Craythorne. The borsholder for Tilmanstone borough is chosen at North Court, it comprehends within its bounds the church and all the northern part of the parish, viz. the upper street and the three manor-houses of Dane-court, North-court, and Southcourt. The borsholder for Craythorne borough is chosen at Eastry-court, and comprehends within its bounds the southern part of this parish, viz. Lower street and Barfield farm, in all nine houses, over all which the manor of Eastry claims paramount.

 

THIS PARISH is pleasantly situated in a vale, adjoining to an open uninclosed country, with which the contiguous parishes abound. The soil, like that of the neighbourhood, is variable; the vallies more fertile than the higher grounds, which are generally thin and light. The northern part of the parish is more fertile than the southern part of it; the whole contains more than 1100 acres of land, 44 houses, and about 240 inhabitants; it is esteemed exceedingly healthy. This appears from the parish register, in which the ages of numbers of persons buried are from 80 to 100 years, on an average, throughout it, and the births exceed the burials full a third part in number.

 

There are two streets, or villages, called Upper and Lower Street, in the former of which is the church. The parish is long and narrow, being about a mile from east to west, and near two miles the other way. It is rather an unfrequented place, and has nothing further remarkable in it. There is no fair in it.

 

William Boys, esq. third son of William Boys, esq. of Nonington, by Mary Ringeley, resided in this parish in queen Elizabeth's time, in the 31st year of which reign, he served in parliament for Queenborough, and died s. p.

 

THIS PLACE was part of the antient possessions of the fee of Canterbury, and at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the 15th year of the Conqueror's reign, was held of the archbishop by knight's service, by William Folet, and it is thus accordingly entered in that record, under the general title of Terra Militum Archiepi.

 

William (Folet) holds of the archbishop Tilemanestone. It was taxed at one suling. In demesne there are two carucates, and five borderers, formerly it was worth twenty shillings, now it is worth thirty shillings.

 

After the name of Folet was extinct here, this manor appears to have been held in separate moieties, and in king Henry III.'s reign was in the possession of Sir John de Tiddenden, and Sir Roger de Tilmanstone, who held it of the archbishop by knight's service.

 

THAT PART OF IT, which was held by the former, afterwards descended down to William de Tiddenden, who died possessed of it in the beginning of king Edward III.'s reign. After which it appears to have come into the name of Warden, as will be further mentioned hereafter. THE OTHER PART, on the death of Sir Roger de Tilmanstone, in king Edward I.'s reign, s. p. was carried by Matilda, his sister and coheir, in marriage to John de Sandhurst, (fn. 1) who made a claim of liberties for this manor in king Edward I.'s reign, the 6th year of it; whose son, John de Sandhurst, of Knolton, succeeded him in it, and died possessed of it in the beginning of king Edward III.'s reign.

 

¶AFTER WHICH these moieties, from their respective situations, acquired the names of the manors of NORTH and SOUTH COURT; THE FORMER of which was carried by Christian, daughter and heir of John de Sandhurst, in marriage to William Langley, descended out of Warwickshire, whose son William de Langley was afterwards, in her right, of Knolton; and in the 37th year of king Edward III.'s reign had the former liberties granted to this manor confirmed by inspeximus; after which it passed in like manner as Knolton, to the Peytons, in which it continued till Sir Thomas Peyton, bart. alienated it to Sir John Narborough, admiral of the British navy, whose daughter and at length sole surviving heir Elizabeth, married to Sir Thomas D'Aeth, bart. succeeded to this manor among the rest of her inheritance, and their grandson, Sir Narborough D'Aeth, bart. now of Knolton, is the present owner of it. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.

 

A dark and atmospheric church on a steep hill above the village-end. Built of flint with stone and brick work of later periods it has changed little in a hundred years. The Victorian benefactors who refurnished the church did us a great favour – keeping the best of the old whilst giving us the best of the new. Most windows are by Kempe and some are uncommonly good – especially King David in the low side window of the nave. Both nave altars had their own arch and window and the Victorian Rood Screen creates a medieval effect. In the chancel is a fine late medieval brass to one of the owners of Dane Court – the big house of the village, because it has always been on the wall it is in pristine condition. The gorgeous reredos by Powell’s showing Christ the Alpha and Omega is especially fine. Outside the gate is a good set of village stocks!

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Tilmanstone

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, is a small mean building, consisting of a body and chancel, with a square tower at the west end, very low, but formerly higher, having been taken down a few years ago; there is one bell in it. In the chancel, against the east wall, is a brass plate, on it are the figures of a man and woman, on his side one son, on her's three daughters, all kneeling, with the arms of Fogg, with a label of three points, impaling Sackville, with a crescent, for Richard Fogg, esq. and Anne his wife; he died in 1598. A gravestone for Richard Fogg, esq. father of fourteen children, famous for his poetry, and skill in heraldry, obt. 1680. A gravestone for Jane, daughter of the Rev. Strangford Viol, late rector of Upminster, in Essex, and Jane his wife, daughter of Richard Fogg, esq. obt. 1719; she married Edward Jacob, surgeon, of Canterbury, who died in 1756. In the east window are three shields of painted glass; the first, the field gone, On a chief, azure, three lions rampant, or; on the sides in black letter, Sir John Lisle, knt. The field was probably or; second, Gules, a cross, argent; third, azure, a bend cotized, argent, between six martlets of the second, under which was formerly this legend, Orate p aia Wi. Tonge, now obliterated. In the north window are remaining four figures; first, a man in armour with a shield, having a plain cross on it, on his breast, in the attitude of thrusting a lance through the jaws of a beast lying at his feet; probably, by the cross designed for St. George; second, a young man crowned; third, an older man crowned, with a globe and sceptre in his hands, and seemingly weeping; fourth, an antient man kneeling, full bearded, on his shoulder a child holding a globe and sceptre, to which he is looking up. In the south window is the figure of a man bearded, with a palmer's bonnet on, and staff, holding in his right hand a book. In the body of the church, a marble monument against the north wall, near the chancel, and inscription, shewing that in the vault underneath are deposited the remains of Michael Hatton, esq. of Dane-court, obt. 1776; also Mrs. Alice Hatton, his widow, obt. 1791; arms, Azure, a chevron, between three wheat sheaves, or, impaling gules, three lilies, argent, stalked and leaved, vert. A monument against the same wall for Thomas Michael Tierney, late student of Brazen Noze college, Oxford, and son of Thomas Tierney, of London, by Savine his wife, obt. 1770, at Arras, in France, on his return to England, æt. 19. On seven different gravestones are memorials for the Smiths, resident at Thornton, from the year 1632 to 1664. In the windows of this church were formerly much more painted glass, both of figures and coats of arms.

 

This church was antiently part of the possessions of the knights hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, to whom it was appropriated by archbishop Langton, about the end of king John's reign; the archbishop reserving to himself and successors, the nomination and institution of a vicar, and at the same time he endowed the vicarage, decreeing that the vicar should receive the whole altarage, and the moiety of all the tithes belonging to this church, and a certain messuage, &c. belonging to it; (fn. 3) in which state the appropriation and vi carage of this church remained until the dissolution of the above order, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, when they both came into the king's hands, and remained there till the year 1558, being the last of Philip and Mary, when the advowson of the vicarage was granted among others to the archbishop; and the appropriation likewise in the third year of queen Elizabeth, this rectory being then valued at six pounds per annum; since which both the appropriation and advowson have remained part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, the archbishop being now possessed of them. The vicarage of Tilmanstone is valued in the king's book at 7l. 12s. 6d. It is now a discharged living, and is of the yearly value of forty-five pounds. In 1588 here were one hundred and nine communicants, in 1640 there were the like number of communicants, and it was valued at fifty pounds. In 1740 it was of the value of sixty pounds.

 

Archbishop Wake, in 1719, on the petition of Nicholas Carter, vicar of this church, gave licence for him to take down the old vicarage-house and to erect a new one. (fn. 4) This vicarage is at present endowed with one half of the great tithes, with a vicarage-house, and garden only, for the vicar's use. The remaining half of the great tithes belongs to the parsonage, with twenty-four acres of glebe land, held on a beneficial lease from the archbishop, by the two sons of the late Mr. John Curling, of Ham. There are fifteen acres of land in this parish allotted as a glebe to Eastry parsonage.

 

In the parish register (the antient part of it) are the names of Cocks, Fogg, very numerous, Arden, Willford, Billingsley, Bargrave, Pattinson, Burville, Capell, Boys, Picks, and Ower.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63613

Fordwich claims to be the smallest town in England, and depending on what criteria you use, it might be. Or not.

 

Fordwich lies alongside a narrow lane that winds down the Stour valley side and jumps over the river via a pack bridge. THe road is very narrow in places, wide enough for just one car and turns in 90 degrees in two places too, meaning that it is totally unsuitable for the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

 

Fordwich was the main prt for Canterbury and is the limit of navigation now on the Stour. It was also once presided over by Sandwich and so is one of the Cinque Ports despite being a few miles from the sea now. This is because of the silting of the Wantsum Channel I talked about at Stourmouth.

 

Fordwich has two fine pubs, as well as a well known town hall, on stilts, shots of which I have posted before.

 

St Mary is now under the care of the CCT, and is home to what may be the lid of St Thomas of Canterbury's tomb and a very fine William of Orange coat of arms on the Chancel Arch.

 

St Mary is also available for Champing; camping in historical buildings, and several of the box pews have camp beds set up.

 

On this day the writer found the church to be as cold a fridge, and more than a sleeping bag needed to be kept warm at night.

 

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Familiar as one of the locations in the cult film `A Canterbury Tale` it stands in the heart of the smallest town in England. A Norman church with later additions it contains much of interest. Most notable is the carved stone which reputedly formed part of St Augustine's tomb in nearby Canterbury. Probably of tenth century date it was brought here by the Victorians. There is a fine assemblage of glass - much of it medieval, although the east window is a fine example of the work of Martin Travers. At the west end is a series of shelves for doling out bread to the poor. The box pews are eighteenth century and the floor pleasantly uneven. Keyholder nearby.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Fordwich

 

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THE TOWN AND PARISH OF FORDWICH lIES at no great distance from St. Stephen's, a small part of the parish of Sturry only intervening, and about two miles north-eastward from Canterbury. It takes its name from the ford or pass, at the crooked winding of the river Stour, close to which it is situated. The liberty of the cinque ports claims over the whole of this parish, the town of which is a subordinate member to the principal cinque port of Sandwich, and in the survey of Domesday is said to lie within a hundred of its own name, (fn. 1) being called in the records of that time, Burgum de Fordwyc.

 

King Edward the Confessor, in the year 1055, gave all his lands in Fordwych to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, who were possessed of some property here before; but soon after the conquest, Egelsin, then abbot, to gain the favour of the powerful Normans, granted away several of the estates of his monastery to them, and among others this of Fordwych to Hamo de Crevequer, surnamed Vicecomes. But the king afterwards, at the instance of abbot Scotland, put him again in possession of this borough, which Hamo the sheriff then held, as well as the other estates which had been given away. And at the same time Odo, bishop of Baieux, the king's half-brother, gave to the abbot all the houses he had here. Soon after this, anno 1080, the survey of Domesday was taken, in which, under the general title of the lands of that abbey, it is thus entered:

 

In Forewic hundred, the abbot himself holds one small borough, which is called Forewic. Two parts of this borough king Edward the Confessor gave to St. Augustine, but the third part, which was earl Goduin's the bishop of Baieux granted to the same saint, with the consent of king William. It was taxed at one yoke. There were one hundred plats of land, all but four, paying thirteen shillings, now there are seventy-three plats, paying as much. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth one hundred shillings, now eleven pounds and two shillings. There are twenty four acres of land, which St. Augustine had separate where there were, and there are six burgesses, paying twentytwo shillings.

 

In this borough archbishop Lanfranc has seven plats of land, which in the time of king Edward the Confessor performed their service to St. Augustine, now the archbishop takes away the service to himself.

 

Night to the city of Canterbury, St. Augustine has half a suling, which was separately acquitted; and there is one carucate in demesne, with fifteen borderers, and seven acres of meadow; and there are four acres of arable land, which four nuns hold in alms of the abbot, and pay two shillings, and one seam of meal flour. The whole of this, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, and now, was and is worth four pounds.

 

This manor was confirmed to the abbot and convent by inspeximus, by king Edward III. in his 36th year, at which time it appears that the abbot had a prison here, and held land then called a park in his demesne in this parish. After which it remained part of the possessions of the monastery till its dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, where the manor of Fordwich remained till king Edward VI. in his 7th year, granted it, with the advowson of the church, to Sir Thomas Cheney, to hold in capite, who in the Ist year of queen Mary alienated both manor and advowson to Mr. John Johnson, gent. of St. Laurence, whose grandson Timothy Johnson, gent. of Fordwich, about the latter end of that reign alienated them to Thomas Paramour, gent. descended from those of Paramourstreet, in Ash, who resided here, (fn. 2) and in James I.'s reign sold them to the lady Elizabeth Finch, widow of Sir Moile Finch, of Eastwell, afterwards created viscountess Maidstone and countess of Winchelsea, whose surviving son and heir Sir Thomas Finch, earl of Winchelsea, in the beginning of king Charles I.'s reign, passed them away to his relation Sir J. Finch, afterwards a justice of the common pleas, keeper of the great seal, and in 1630 created lord Finch, baron of Fordwich, who at his death in 1660 devised this manor and advowson by his will to his kinsman Heneage, earl of Winchelsea, whose grandson Charles, earl of Winchelsea, alienated them to William, lord Cowper, afterwards created earl Cowper and viscount Fordwich, whose great-grandson the right hon. Peter-Lewis-Francis, earl Cowper, is the present owner of the manor and advowson of the church of Fordwich. (fn. 3) A court baron is held for this manor.

 

THERE is an estate in this parish, called TANCREY ISLAND, which, in king Edward I.'s reign, was the property of the family of Marins, called in old deeds de Marinis, one of whom, John de Maryns, had a grant of free-warren for his lands here in the 1st year of king Edward III. but in the next reign of king Richard II. it was the property of a family who took their name from it, when Bertram de Tancrey stiled himself lord of it, in whose descendants it continued down to king Henry IV.'s reign, when it passed to the Beverleys, of Beverley, in Harbledowne, who afterwards quitted that seat and resided here, in whom it continued till William Beverley leaving an only daughter and heir Beatrix, she carried it in marriage, about king Henry VIII.'s reign, to William Norton, of Faversham, second son of Reginald Norton, esq. of Sheldwich; and it appears by the arms on a gravestone in this church, that this branch of the family of Norton bore for their arms, Three swords, jointed at the pomels in triangle, on a chief, three maunches; and that the Beverleys bore, Barry, on a chief, two pales, over all, an escutcheon, a crescent for difference; by which correct the arms of Beverley, in Harbledowne. He afterwards removed hither, and in his descendants it continued till at length it became the property of Mr. George Upton, gent. of Canterbury. After which it passed by his will to his relations, the Jennings's, with whom it continued down to Anthony Jennings, who resided here, and died possessed of it in 1771, leaving his widow Mrs. Martha Jennings surviving, who is now possessed of it, and resides here.

 

THE TOWN of Fordwich was in antient time of much greater account than it has been for a long time past, for Leland, who lived in Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, mentions it as then having in it a poor mayor. During the time that Reculver continued one of the mouths of the Portus Rhutupinus, and the sea flowed up from thence as far as Fordwich, it continued the great resort for the shipping, which then frequented in abundance the river Stour, the navigation of which extended as high as the key of this town, where the ships were moored, and where all goods were laded and unladed; and in the time of the Saxons there was here a public collector of the customs and droits arising from thence, appointed by the king; which duties, after the gift of the manor of Fordwich by king Edward the Confessor, belonged to the abbot of St. Augustine, and continued so till the dissolution of that monastery in king Henry VIII.'s reign. But the prior and convent of the Holy Trinity, afterwards Christ-church, in Canterbury, claimed the privilege of a key here likewise, for the use of which they built a house in a meadow close to the town, which the abbot of St. Augustine's repeatedly threw down; but this produced continual controversies between them, which at last, in 1285, was settled by a composition made between them, by the justices itinerant, appointed by the king for that purpose. (fn. 4)

 

The town of Fordwich lies very low and unhealthy, close to the marshes, on the southern bank of the river Stour, a lonely place, of little or no thoroughfare. It is but small and mean, consisting of about thirty houses and cottages. The only remains of antiquity, of its having belonged to the abbey of St. Augustine for a great length of time past, was a losty arched gateway, built of brick, at the entrance to their wharf here, lately pulled down, and a small length of flint wall close to the river. Near which is a large handsome house, belonging to the Blaxlands, and now made use of as a soap manufactory. This house is known by the name of Hemphall, and was formerly part of the possessions of St. Augustine's monastery, parcel of their manor here, probably their manorhouse, and the same in which the Johnsons and Paramours, who afterwards had the grant of the manor, resided. Not long after which it seems to have been separated from the manor, and come into the possession of the Crispes, in which it continued, till at length Mrs. Eleanor-Anne, daughter of Henry Crispe, esq. of Quekes, carried it in marriage to Robert Darell, esq. who resided here, whose first wife she was; and afterwards, in like manner, to the Shorts, several of whom, as well as the Darells, lie buried in the chancel of this church, the last of whom, Samuel Short, esq. of this town, died in 1716. After which it was alienated to the Turners, and thence to the Blaxlands. Close to the above-mentioned house is the court-hall, or sessions-house, and the prison underneath it. In the southern part of it is an antient brick house, formerly of some note, and much larger, seemingly of the time of queen Elizabeth, and no doubt once a gentleman's habitation, now belonging to the Graydons; a little above which is a seat, called Hermesland, once belonging to the family of Harlestone, descended out of Suffolk, and bore for their arms, Paly, or, and sable, (fn. 5) one of whom, Simon Harlestone, resided here in queen Elizabeth's reign. After which it was purchased by the Osbornes, and was afterwards alienated by William Osbornes, A. M. rector of Fordwich, to John Graydon, esq. afterwards vice-admiral of the royal navy, who rebuilt it, and resided here at his death in 1727. He married Mary, grand daughter of Sir Edward Gregory, commissioner of Chatham dock, and dying in his eighth mayoralty of this town, was buried in Westbere church. John, his eldest son, succeeded him in this seat, and died s.p. Benjamin, his second son, was of Rochester, and left a son Benjamin, now of Fordwich, and owner of this seat; and Gregory, his third son, was of Canterbury, gent. and married a daughter of William Hougham, esq. of that city. They bore for their arms, Azure, three otters, each holding in its mouth a fish, argent. Mr. Ben jamin Graydon, of Fordwich, a descendant of him before-mentioned, is owner of this seat, which is at present untenanted. The church stands close to the east end of the town, and the parsonage-house at some distance southward of it, in the road leading to Stodmarsh, The river Stour, and the small spot of Tancrey island, over which the high road leads from Sturry to Fordwich, bound the north part of this parish, which extends about a mile southward up the hill, as far as the road next to the wall of the Moat park.

 

THE CORPORATION of the town of Fordwich and its liberties, extend over the town and the whole of this parish, and over part of the parishes of Westbere, Sturry, Northgate, and St. Martin's, in Canterbury, and likewise down the river Stour to Grove ferry, and thence as far as Plucks gutter, just below the Wingham water, opposite to the Isle of Thanet. It is a corporation by prescription, the members of which were at first stiled barons; but it is now governed by a mayor, jurats, and commonalty, of freemen, to which is added a high steward, treasurer, and town-clerk. The mayor, who is coroner by virtue of his office, is chosen yearly on the first Monday after the feast of St. Andrew, and with the jurats, who are justices within these liberties exclusive of all others, hold a general sessions of the peace and gaol delivery, (fn. 6) together with a court of record, the same as at Sandwich, and it has other privileges, mostly the same as the other corporations within the liberties of the cinque ports; and there was a gallows erected just below the key, for the execution of criminals, which has been down but a few years. It has a mace belonging to it, which is very handsome, of silver gilt, and given to the corporation by admiral Graydon; and the mayor, the same as at Sandwich, bears in his hand, when exercising his office, a black wand. The river Stour is still navigable for lighters and barges as far as the bridge just above the town, for the passage of carriages, over which the corporation exact a toll. The droits and duties arising from the coals and other ladings brought up the river and landed at the town-key, belong to the corporation, who likewise receive twenty shillings yearly from the dean and chapter of Canterbury, for the use of the crane and wharf here. There is a particular species of trout, which frequents the river Stour, and being for the most part caught within these liberties, is from thence known by the name of Fordwich trout; being esteemed of a superior flavour to most others, and there being but few of them taken in a year, they bear a high price, and are much sought after as a delicacy throughout the neighbourhood. They are of a silver colour, speckled with black spots, and the flesh of them is of a yellowish colour; they weigh from four to ten or twelve pounds. They are a very shy fish, insomuch that they are not often taken with a drag net, and seldom or never with a hook. It is supposed they never breed in the river, no small ones being ever found in it, nor large ones with any spawn in them, but that they come from the sea, many of them being taken without the mouth of the river, particularly in the set-nets in Pegwell bay, at the entrance of Sandwich harbour. There are not more than thirty caught here yearly on an average, though they were more caught formerly than for several years past.

 

SIR JOHN FINCH, (son and heir of Sir Henry Finch, younger brother of Sir Moile Finch, of Eastwell, ancestor of the earls of Winchelsea and Nottingham) who was speaker of the house of commons, and afterwards made chief justice of the common pleas, was in 1639, anno 15 Charles I. made lord keeper of the great seal, and created lord Finch, baron of Ford wich. He died in 1661, without male issue, and the title became extinct. (fn. 7)

 

WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ. son of Sir Wm. Cowper, bart. of Ratling-court, in Nonington, having been made lord keeper of the great seal in 1705, was on December 14, 1706, anno 5 queen Anne, created lord Cowper, baron Cowper, of Wingham, in Kent, and in 1707 made lord chancellor; and on March 18, 1718, anno 4 George I. he was further advanced to the dignity of earl Cowper, and viscount Fordwich. He died in 1723, and was buried at Hertingfordbury, being succeeded by his eldest son William, second earl Cowper, and viscount Fordwich, who died in 1764, having some time before prefixed the surname and arms of Clavering to his own, according to the will of his mother's brother. He was succeeded by his only son George Clavering, the third earl Cowper, and viscount Fordwich, who residing at Florence, was created a count of the sacred Roman empire, which title was confirmed by king George III. He died in 1789, having married Anne, daughter of Francis Gore, esq. of Southampton, and was succeeded by his eldest son George-Augustus, earl Cowper, and viscount Fordwich, who dying unmarried in February, 1799, was succeeded by the right hon. Peter-LewisFrancis, the fifth and present earl Cowper, and viscount Fordwich, who is at present unmarried. He bears for his arms, quarterly, Clavering, or, and gules, surmounted with a bend, sable; and Cowper, argent, three martlets, a chief engrailed, gules, on the latter as many annulets, or; supporters, Two bay horses, with tails docked, proper. Crest, On a wreath, a lion's gamb, erected and erased, or, holding a branch vert, sructed, gules.

 

Charities.

WALTER BIGG, jurat, by his will in 1631, gave three pieces of land, containing nine acres, for the relief of poor aged people, to be distributed by the mayor and jurats yearly on Good-Friday, and on the Friday before Christmas-day.

 

STEPHEN BIGG, of Fordwich, by will in 1646, gave the rent of 20 acres of land in Romney Marsh, to be distributed yearly to six poor housekeepers, and the like number of Sturry, 20s. to each; the remainder to put out poor boys and girls of each parish apprentices, and to remain in stock in for that use for ever.

 

THOMAS BIGG, by will in 1669, gave 50s. per annum, to be paid weekly to the overseers, to be distributed to the poor at their discretion. Which money is given away weekly in bread.

 

THERE ARE nine acres of meadow in this parish, late in the possession of Anthony Jennings, into which the resident freemen of this corporation have the liberty of turning any kind of cattle, except hogs, between the months of September and May.

 

FORDWICH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of the same.

 

¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, consists of two isles and a chancel, having a tall spire steeple at the west end, in which are four bells. It is situated so close to the river, and so much on a level with it, that it is sometimes overflowed, and always exceedingly wet and damp. There seems to have been some good painted glass in the windows, of which there are but few remains. In the south isle is a stone, with the figure of a woman, and inscription in brass, for Afra, wife of Henry Hawkins, gent. daughter of Thomas Norton, esq. obt. 1655; arms, Hawkins, of Nash, impaling Norton; with the quarterings of Martyn, Beverley, and Hide. Several memorials for the Jennings's, of Tancrey island, and the Nortons. In the chancel are several memorials and hatchments of the Darells and Shortes, of this parish; the latter bore, Azure, a griffin passant, between three stars of six points, or. In the church-yard is a memorial for John Graydon, esq. obt. 1774. In the west part of the body of this church, was placed a very antient stone shrine against the wall, which having been removed some years since, was cast out in the church-yard, where being soon likely to perish, by being exposed to the weather, it was purchased by the editor of this history, and brought to the precincts of the cathedral of Canterbury, where it now lies. It is one solid stone, Sculptured only on one side; the back part having two hollows, as if made to fasten it to the wall. There is no conjecture to be formed on whose account it was made and placed there. (fn. 8)

 

The church of Fordwich is a rectory, and was always an appendage to the manor, and as such is now of the patronage of the right hon. earl Cowper, the present lord of the manor of Fordwich. It is valued in the king's books at 5l. 15s. 2d. and is now of the clear yearly certified value of forty-two pounds. In 1588. it was valued at thirty pounds, communicants one hundred and forty. In 1640 it was valued at forty pounds, communicants one hundred. It is now of about the yearly value of one hundred and twenty pounds. There are three acres of glebe land.

 

The rector for some length of time received of the corporation, in lieu of tithes of the merchandize of the key here, by composition, five pounds, by the name of crane duties, which has not been paid since the year 1733.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp56-67

Adidas Superstar II Jelly Bean/PolkaDot

Because I was already arrived with Photo 679 in the Far East I will continue with a serie of photo’s that has been taken after WWII on different airfields of the armed forces in the Dutch East Indies (NEI). Dispicted are several aircraft dumpsite’s as where present till the mid 50’s when the remaining aircrafts where scrapped and sold as old iron to the higest bidder.

Unfortunateley I dont have the gift to investigate wat you can see in this photo’s so this is my best trial. No induvidual aircraft can be seen all B24J's

Photo’s are taken by a family member of Jan Wullink during that period in service than by the Dutch militairy Intelservice and probably visiting with his privat camera this dumpsites.

  

Because of the use of an ultra-wide Sigma lens there is much distortion and lens flare but I hope that these flaws are not too distracting.

because we all have a pet that died.

Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

Because i love jumping pictures!

Because everything is better in gingerbread

We started taking notes at how bad everything was because it was so much, it was hard to remember everything.

 

BACKSTORY: We had a gift card for Macaroni Grill (we usually have one every year, and have gone for over a decade). This year was the most god-awful experience of our lives! No wonder Macaroni Grill is going out of business. But we have to wonder if it was transgender & LGBT discrimination, because not only were we never treated like that at that same Macaroni Grill, but we saw the waiter treat others better.

 

I'm not that picky. I get a taco or two at Taco Bell almost every day I go out, and am very pleased with that experience. When I go out, I often go to buffets, because I don't mind what food I eat, as long as it's not completely messed up.

 

But taking my wife to Macaroni Grill on Valentine's Day was the absolute worst "romantic" restaurant trip of my entire life. I am frankly surprised at how much text I need to write just to explain everything that happened.

 

Note that the restaurant was NOT packed. We go there almost every Valentine's Day, for 10+ years. Last year it was a 45 minute wait and totally packed. This year it was a 5 minute wait, and there were empty tables in the restaurant. It was literally the least packed we've ever seen it on Valentine's Day. There are no "busy" excuses for this treatment

 

1) We didn't notice at the time, but going back: The first way we were treated differently was that the waiter didn't write his name on our placemat. Did he intend to give us bad service because we are visibly LGBT? Because he wrote it for the people next to us, on both sides. Just not for us. It seemed like he was so unwilling to even get near us, that he wouldn't approach us, write his name on the placemat, or visit our table -- ***even when visiting the one next to us repeatedly***, or give us good service.

2) Immediately he puts the olive oil and pepper on the saucer for the bread. This is a fun Macaroni Grill theatric that makes the customer feel good... Unless the saucer full of olive oil is merely pointing out how you have no bread for 20 minutes. Again, never in our life. Other people have bread. We don't.

Later, I explicitly ask for bread, because it's absolutely clear that it's NOT going to come, because this guy will serve the tables on both sides of us, but not us. It still doesn't come. Bread only finally arrives with our appetizer. Again: Never in our lives.

3) And then, guess what? The bread was too salty to eat! First time in 40 years that I have ever disliked restaurant bread. Later, when the waiter stopped coming to our table, we managed to ask *the cook* for more bread. It, too, was too salty to not eat. No amount of dipping it or mixing it with other ingredients made it edible. The bread I get from the dollar store is better. Why is Macaroni Grill so awful to us today?

4) The second thing the waiter actually does is ask us for a drink. Immediately. We don't know our drink order yet, but later, when we order everything at once, we do order ONE drink. But it doesn't come with the bread. It doesn't come with the appetizers. It doesn't even come with the entree! Later, while we are eating, the drink finally shows up. We had forgotten about it by that time. Who the hell serves drinks, appetizers, and an entree at the same time?

5) But at least we had water, right? Well, sort of. We asked for water with lemon. It took awhile -- an annoying amount of time if you have dysphagia -- but the finally water came. Most restaurants give you water without asking, or allow you access to a tap. We were left thirsty. So thirst. And when it finally came, NO LEMONS!

We asked for lemons. It took awhile, but finally he came back and said, "We're out of lemons, so I had to give you limes". I am unsure what to do, so I squeeze some of the lime juice in my water to try it out. It's awful. I can't drink it.

Meanwhile, I see lemons come out with water orders just 2 tables away. My drink (a mule) that comes later has a lemon in it--because the drink comes like that automatically. It is clearly our server who won't ask for stuff for us -- even while giving the same stuff to adjoining tables! My salmon that came with lemon on it! Why is this bigoted server telling us the restaurant doesn't have lemons? Macaroni Grill is most definitely NOT out of lemons. Why would he lie to us? There's a bar. Bars have lemon wedges for drinks. The restaurant is NOT out of lemon wedges.

But for the majority of the time I was there, I couldn't even sip my water, because it turns out lime water is awful. Who drinks that? Not me. I didn't know. I tried, and that was a mistake. And since our alcohol drink never came until the entree, I literally had nothing to drink that didn't taste awful. And getting water refill was nigh impossible. And of course no bread. Nothing enjoyable whatsoever - but the people 2 tables away got their water with lemon. EVERYONE who wasn't LGBT did.

6) Eventually, when the waiter disappeared, we actually had to go and ask THE COOK for lemons, and he brought them out and apologized. This was after the entree came. It's like the waiter was unwilling to do his job. Why is the cook bringing us our food and serving us? Where is our server? We were ALSO out of water at that point, and needed any kind of liquid to drink. I am prone to choking because I have dysphagia. Last time I had a choking episode, I had to grab the drink of a stranger off their table in an emergency. This is the kind of thing that happens when human beings are denied water, and have no way to get it.

7) We ordered the calamari appetizer. The menu says it comes with 2 sauces. A pepper sauce and a citrus aoli. We got the pepper sauce, but the other stuff? It was a red, thick mixture that was very obviously mostly spicy Sri Racha sauce. My girlfriend doesn't like spicy stuff as much as me. That's why we didn't order something spicy. That's why we use the menu to decide what to order. But what good is the menu, if the items on it aren't what it says they are? We needed at least one non-spicy dipping sauce.

8) By this point, the waiter had disappeared. He did not come around. Most restaurants check up on you to see if you are okay. They often do it TOO much. This guy? Despite the fact that we very obviously were not getting what we wanted, and had to ask for very basic things like bread and water -- he still wouldn't show up. Twice in a row, after minutes of being gone, he came and SERVED THE TABLE NEXT TO US, BUT KEPT HIS BACK TO US, THEN DISAPPEARED to the back again without even giving us an opportunity for service. Every time this happened, we needed something, and couldn't get it.

9) The salmon finally came. It was not even brought by our server (named Labrim), it was brought by the cook! (Who we had to ask for water, lemons, and more bread. Most of the food brought to our table WAS NOT BROUGHT by our actual server!)

It was the absolute worst salmon I've ever eaten in my life. It was so burned that each and every bite was a chore to get down. I woke up at 4AM nauseated, which is an unusual thing for me. We even tried cutting up the salmon and putting it inside our shrimp alfredo noodles, to mask the burning taste. It was impossible to mask. We have now messed up: water, bread, lemons, calamari dipping sauce, and salmon. Incredible.

10) At this point, we're done with our food, and we just want the dessert cake & ice cream, and a check. But he's nowhere to be found. For a good 5 minutes, we're just sitting there, unhappy with the experience, wanting to at least have a good piece of cake and ice cream, and leave. But the pause here is one of the longest service pauses during this entire visit.

During this time, 2 tables down, another couple was extremely angry at Labrim's service, and got up to leave. So atleast it wasn't JUST us having a bad time, even if they actually got lemons & drinks. Someone, either Labrim or a manager, intervened and convinced them to sit back down and have their meal.

The couple 1 table down? They ALSO were extremely unhappy with Labrim, and were complaining about the service a lot of the time. For example, they got the merchant receipt for their credit card, so there was no place for them to sign it, and they had to ask for the correct receipt. That's never happened in my life, but again, now at least THREE tables were having a bad time, so at least there was some incompetence mixed in with the malevolence. We just seemed to be getting the worst of it, and it felt like discrimination to be treated so differently the first year we were visibly LGBT.

11) It's finally time for dessert. Does he bring it? No! He brings us to go containers, and says, "You wanted the cheesecake, right?"

Literally, when we ordered the food, we gave him the complete order. I wrote it down on my placemat. I pointed at the words as I ordered them to him. He acted as if he was writing down the words I was saying and pointing at. His job is to take the order. He couldn't even do that! I never said cheesecake! WTF?! Not only was our dessert not here, but he didn't even know what we ordered! Just what was Labrim doing?!?!?!

12) So we tell him we wanted the chocolate cake & ice cream. It seems to take awhile, but it finally comes. HE THEN TAKES ALL OUR SILVERWARE! We manage to snag one fork, but how are we supposed to share this item between the two of us? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, LABRIM?

He comes back in a couple minutes to help the table next to us, but in typical fashion, keeps his back to us and doesn't offer any help. As he walks away, we have to raise our voice and ask for another fork. I don't think it ever came.

13) And the "cake" and "ice cream"? It's not a cake, it's some Costco store bought chocolate muffin, with a cup of chocolate drizzle next to it. And the "ice cream"? Literally one fork full of ice cream. Granted, it tasted good - but this is your "$45 Valentine's Day Special For Couples", so you are literally advertising and serving a valentine's day ice cream dessert to couples with ONE FORK that has ONE FORKFUL of ice cream. So yes. You found a way to make ice cream and cake disappointing, Macaroni Grill.

14) Labrim then asked us if the food was good, and we said, "No, it wasn't", and told him we didn't like the bread, water, salmon, or cake. He said he would get the manager to do something about it. Minutes later, a check came. No manager. No manager ever came. Just another lie.

15) Finally, it came time to pay. We don't trust him to ring up our money right, so we decide to use our $50 gift card, and pay the $5.14 balance in cash. I went off to change my $10 into two $5s, and my wife went off to change her $5 into five $1s. I approached the bartender, waited for eye contact, and asked, "Can I get two 5s for a 10?" He said, "Wait a minute", then "How are you?" {I'm sorry, do I need to have a conversation to ask for change? It seemed like he was chiding me for being short with him and not having a conversation. I'm not here to talk with you, guy. I'm here to pay you for your bad food}. The bartender then turned his back to me. He messed around with the register for an unacceptably long time, completely ignoring me. Obviously he decided NOT to make the change I needed made -- or even to tell me. This, too, is a treatment I've never experienced in my life. As I slowly moved away -- because I'm not going to sit there like an idiot holding a $10 bill out for minutes at a time -- I went to the hostess. She checks HER OWN POCKETS and somehow has two $5 bills, and makes change for me.

My wife fared no better. She asked someone for five $1s for her $5. Multiple people told herthey couldn't do it. She was finally told "only the bartender" can do this. She goes to the bar. Nobody is there. She looks around. Nobody to be found. This restaurant is full of aholes who won't do their job.

Finally, someone goes into the bar and starts doing stuff. She asks them if they can make change. "I'm not the bartender", the person tending the bar said, refusing to make her change. WHAT IS THIS PLACE?

We almost left the restaurant with a $5 shortchanging -- but then Carolyn ran into a random employee, who, also, had to get the money out of his personal money from his own pocket.

 

IN SUMMARY: You messed up in about 15 different ways, messing up: water, lemon, salmon, dipping sauce, cake, ice cream, properly keeping our order, making change... even the unhappiness of the people around us was a bring-down. This restaurant is not being managed properly, and Labrim is the 2nd worst server I've had in my entire lifetime.

 

I wish I'd had change, because the 85 cent tip Labrim got was an *incredible* overtip. It should have been a single penny. Frankly, I should be filing a credit card dispute for the cost of this meal... but we paid with a pre-paid gift card bought 2 years ago, so we take solace in knowing that no 2018 income went to Macaroni Grill for this awful 2018 visit.

 

Our annual almost-20-year tradition [based on our parents giving us gift cards every Christmas] is now over. We will not be returning to Macaroni Grill. Not on Valentine's Day. Not ever. The gift cards are apparently valid at several other restaurants... so we'll be going to one of those, from now on.

 

And I can't help but think some of this is because I am visibly transgender, because of the way he would repeatedly approach the table next to us (a straight couple), but not us. I was not visibly transgender a year ago, and was not treated like this during previous visits to Macaroni Grill. It just seems like that was a component, because we definitely got it the worst of everyone there.

 

notes, placemat.

 

Macaroni Grill, restaurant, Springfield, Virginia.

 

February 14, 2018.

  

... Read my blog at clintjcl at wordpress dot com

 

... Wildlife/Nature photography means that you go outside to photograph Nature

- Fritz Polking

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。

 

Because it wouldn't be Classic Space without some pointless greebles, right?

especially when you only slept 3 hours.

 

I was feeling so terrible in my stomach this morning since hubby and I are night owls but we had to take his mom to the airport this morning for her morning flight back home.

 

Hopefully I can recover back to normal in the next few days.

Beef Yakisoba - Satsuki AUD11

---

We recently noticed that Asatsuki has changed their name to Satsuki. So we gave them another try to see if anything had changed.

 

Nope, nothing changed. The Aussie chef is still there, and I presume his Japanese wife will be there for the dinner service. Later, when I was paying the bill, I asked about their new name and was told that they changed it to avoid confusion with Asakusa Japanese Restaurant down the road. Fair enough.

 

The food is still good, but being adventurous, we tried some new dishes, instead of the curry katsu don.

 

The Omurice was wrapped in a thin and fragrant egg omelette, hiding fried rice inside. The fried rice inside tasted more Chinese than Japanese though, despite the fruity tonkatsu sauce drizzled on top.

 

The yakisoba was also quite Chinese. I think the Japanese versions have are more tangy, probably because they use Worchestershire sauce.

 

Still, both were tasty, and had good firm grains of rice and slippery noodles.

  

Satsuki (previously Asatsuki)

458 Waverley Rd Malvern East 3145

(03) 9572 0200

 

Asatsuki in White Pages sitll exists. In fact, there's another Satsuki in Hawthorn, which adds to the confusion!

  

Reviews:

- Asatsuki - by Matt Preston, The Age 12 October 2005

- Asatsuki - Mietta's

 

Photo:

- Decor

- Salmon and Seaweed Sushi Rolls

- Spinach Salad with Sesame Sauce

- Omurice

- Insides - Omurice

- Beef Yakisoba

 

Bodhisattva from Gandara, Peshawar.

 

Here it is…my last big vacation of 2015. It also happened to be the longest of the year. I’ve actually put off editing these pictures (until this week – mid-January 2016). I’ve been putting this off because, honestly, I have very mixed emotions about the trip.

 

I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about India and all the Indians I met there – better things yet to say about Indian cuisine. However, I didn’t travel alone, and that caused quite a bit of headaches. So, I’ve been lazier than usual about going through these. However, in looking at them, I’m starting to dwell only on the good side, and hopefully will show that here. (I won’t mention anything else about what or why I didn’t enjoy the trip. Honestly, I hope to go back to India again sometime. It’s the 7th largest country in the world and has a lot to see…)

 

This particular trip was 13 days…and very localized. We only visited two states: Rajasthan (RJ) and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Also Delhi, though I didn’t go out in Delhi and don’t have a single picture to show for it. In those two weeks, we took the following tour, in this order: landed in Delhi (at 3:00 a.m.) on September 26. At 7:30 a.m., we were on a bus to our first destination: Rajasthan.

 

The first week we spent in Rajasthan visiting each of these cities for approximately two days: Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. (I found myself thinking, “There sure are a lot of ‘purs’ here…just like there are a of ‘zhous’ in China – Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Zhouzhou. ‘Pur,’ like ‘zhou,’ apparently means “town.”) Rajasthan is hot. Damn hot. Even in late September the daytime temperatures seemed to soar close to 40 degrees. At least 35, for certain… Rajasthan has a lot of desert terrain and many castles. Quite a few old palaces are out in Rajasthan, so it can tend to have a bit of a romantic feel to it.

 

After finishing in Rajasthan, we went over to Uttar Pradesh for literally one afternoon seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra, before shuffling off to the holy city of Varanasi (one of Hinduism’s most famous – if not the most famous – cities). From Varanasi, we took an 18 hour train ride (during which I apparently ate something so nasty that it stayed with me…for close to three months). Note to readers: Try to avoid eating on Indian trains. After another two days in Delhi, we flew back around 4:00 in the morning on October 9. For now…back to the beginning in Jaipur.

 

Jaipur is famously called the Pink City. A lot of the old town architecture is pink, so…well, you get the idea. It’s named for its founder, Jai Singh II (1688-1744), a great warrior-astronomer who assumed power at age 11 upon his father’s death.

 

The following is from Lonely Planet India: “Jai Singh could trace his lineage back to the Rajput clan of Kachhawas, who consolidated their power in the 12th century.” Their capital was at Amber (which is pronounced ahm-AIR…not AM-burr) about 10 kilometers northeast of town. This is northern India’s first planned city, if LP is being honest with me.

 

All I hope you get out of that is that this is an area with close to a millennium of “important” history to India, but the city of Jaipur as we see it now is only about 300-400 years old. Jaipur currently has a population of about three million. There’s an Old City (Pink City) which is where most of the tourists head – including yours truly – a new city, and….that’s about it. For my purposes (and in an attempt at brevity), I’ll say we went to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) south of the Old City. We also visited Hawa Mahal, Tripolia Bazaar (and Gate), and Jantar Mantar in the Old City. Other than that, we went to Amber Fort for a few hours.

 

Things started innocuously enough. We had left Delhi at 7:30 in the morning and gotten to Jaipur about 5 hours later. We had one stop on the bus for breakfast. I don’t recall what I ate…some type of curry, of course, but I don’t recall which. It may have just been mutter paneer. It was, however, delicious, and I didn’t feel hungry at all again until dinner.

 

The bus. Bus transportation in India, by the way, is rather interesting. Sometimes they are private buses (the small kind that only hold 8-12 people), sometimes sleeper buses, sometimes regular coaches…but the regular coaches didn’t seem too common. There doesn’t seem to be any uniformity in India about this.

 

Anyway, the bus dropped us off right next to Amber Fort. Since this was one of the small 8-12 person jobs, it could pretty much stop and go where it pleased, it seems, and this one didn’t actually take us to Jaipur.

 

As soon as we got off the bus here, we hired a tuk tuk (san lun che, for you Chinese readers) that took us down to the Old City. There, we switched to another one that took us the 2-3 kilometers west of the Old City to the more quiet and residential Bani Park where our hotel (the Hotel Anuraag Villa, which turned out to be about the nicest one we stayed in) was located. The second tuk tuk driver is the one we hired to take us around that afternoon and the next day. For the first day, I paid 500 rupees (~50 RMB/$8) for 4-6 hours’ work. We checked in and he waited patiently as we ate lunch in the backyard of the hotel.

 

Our driver took us first to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) where we spent an hour or two in mid-afternoon. The museum itself isn’t too bad. It has standard fare: tribal dress, Buddhist sculptures, even an Egyptian mummy. The building itself, though, is worth seeing. Anyway, an hour here was more than enough time.

 

From there, we went to the Sun Temple (I think that’s what it’s called) where I enjoyed the late afternoon sun (and rather smoggy view, though not quite as smoggy as Chinese cities I’m accustomed to). After that, we ended up going to a rather nice restaurant that cost about 2500 rupees (250 RMB/$40) for two. I splurged. It was fantastic.

 

After a night of sleep that may or may not have transported me to an alternate universe (I sleep more deeply than most bears), I woke up ready to go the next morning. I hired the same tuk tuk driver to haul us around, and we went first to the Old City (Hawa Mahal, the Tripolia Bazaar, Jantar Mantar, and Amber Fort…plus another fort in the middle of the water whose name I’ve forgotten). Though the time was a little shorter than the previous day, I paid him 750 rupee, since he actually drove us around farther. That’s still just under $15, so I had no problem with that.

 

Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) is the most recognizable architectural building in the Pink City (though it’s technically just outside the Old City). It’s a five story building that was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 to “enable ladies of the royal household to watch the life and processions of the city.” There are nice views of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace to the west and the Siredoori Bazaar directly across the street.

 

Jantar Mantar is an observatory that was built by Jai Singh in 1728. “Jantar mantar” is derived from the Sanskrit “yanta mantr,” which means “instrument of calculation.” There are some rather large, interesting, and certainly eclectic sculptures, all for measuring time among the heavens.

 

Amber Fort was the highlight of Jaipur for me. The Kachhawaha Rajputs ruled from here for over 800 years. This fort was built beginning in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh using war booty. It’s a royal palace built from pale yellow and pink sandstone with various courtyards. If you walk up the hill, you will enter the fort through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) and find yourself in Jaleb Chowk (Main Square) where the armies presented to the king. Walking up the stairs from Jaleb Chowk will bring you to the second courtyard and Diwan-I-Am (Hall of Public Audience) with its double row of columns. The maharaja’s apartments are located around the third courtyard, which you enter through Ganesh Pol. On one side of the interior courtyard is the Jai Mandir (Hall of Victory) which has many mirrored tiles. On the opposite side of Jai Mandir, across Maota Lake (a very small decorative pond, really) is Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure). The fourth courtyard has the zenana (women’s quarters), which were designed so the maharaja could make his nightly visits without the other women knowing about it. In all, the fort/palace and the views from the fort are wonderful. I won’t say “breathtaking” or “stunning,” but certainly worth the visit.

 

Once I bade farewell to the tuk tuk driver, we wandered around the Old City a little longer before heading over to the hotel for dinner and to see a puppet show (that was not free, but wasn’t advertised as costing anything; they basically try to shame you into “donating” when they’re done). After that, we headed to the train station for a midnight ride across the state on Indian Railways…the first of five train rides throughout these two weeks.

 

If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire, you saw Indian Railways in action…with people riding ON the cars, among other things. I didn’t see anything quite like that, but…the lowest class passenger cars were quite crowded. We were always in first- or second-class sleepers which, to me, didn’t differ too much from the style of sleeper cars in China, though they weren’t quite as nice. They were…very close to the same, at least from my experience.

 

So, goodbye Pink City and hello Golden City. Jaisalmer was a twelve hour ride due west from Jaipur, and we arrived sometime mid-morning. More to come…

For the wdydwyd? (why do you do what you do?) pool, part of a large-scale and wonderfully revealing project by Tony Deifell.

flickr.com/groups/wdydwyd

www.wdydwyd.com

 

BECAUSE I SEE, I take pictures.

More specifically: Because since birth I have seen everything in two dimensions (using only one eye), I love photography and all forms of art that involve a flat surface. Or at least that's the explanation that makes the most sense to me! I have never minded having no depth perception -- it's just the way it's always been, and I believe it has defined me and perhaps even given me certain advantages.

 

It's why I do what I do!

Yes, everything has to be clean, and Radja can do it without any problem!

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table

While I look outside

So many things I’d say if only I were able

But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

 

You’ve got opinions, man

We’re all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked

So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine

And get out of here fast

 

I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning

There’s no one here to save

 

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

 

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent

Swear you know best

But you expect me to jump up on board with you

And ride off into your delusional sunset

 

I’m not the one who’s lost with no direction

But you’ll never see

 

You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps

You got the talking down, just not the listening

 

And who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

 

All my life I’ve tried to make everybody happy

While I just hurt and hide

Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide

 

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

 

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

 

Let me hold your crown, babe.

Sara Bareilles

King of Anything

I have arachophobia so every spider looks deadly; it doesn't matter at all if the spider is little or big or venomous to humans or not. It is not a rational fear which is what makes it a phobia I guess. I can't look at a spider in a book or on the computer monitor. When I scroll through Explore, if one of the pictures is of a spider, I immediately shut my eyes and scroll further down the page so I don't have to see it again (I am writing this with the spider picture out of my view). If I see a live spider I scream (or at least eeek very loudly) and run away. I beg anyone around to kill it. They are the only living things that I KNOW want to die. If I have one on me, I absolutely freeze - I can hardly breath and and I'm to afraid to make make a sound of any kind.

 

Well, about 3 weeks ago, a spider built a web right in front of the window that my computer faces. This means for 3 weeks I have had to avert my gaze so that I don't get even a peripheral view of this thing. This morning, I decided to see if I could look at it through a lens knowing there were two layers of glass between us (it helped that Jimmy was there with me and he wasn't afraid of the spider). I almost couldn't do it but then I noticed that the image was too dark so I needed to either increase my aperture or decrease my shutter speed. Then the spider moved and the picture was out of focus so I needed to retake it ... This went on. I discovered that as long as I was seeing the spider through the lens and as a subject, I could do it. Unfortunately that new-found bravery didn't carry through to other situations. I couldn't look at the picture when I went to upload it onto Fickr and I can't look at it now. I'm not sure I will be able to keep it on my photostream because I can't have it keep popping up in front of me every time I scroll through my pictures.

 

Anyway, I hope someone likes this because it was the most difficult picture I've ever taken. That black thing up by his mouth used to be a bug. He rolled it around and it became this round tar-like looking stuff. He ate the whole thing and then left.

 

I've included a pretty flower in the comments in case you need something to get rid of that spider image that is burned onto your retinas.

Because a gurl has got to know her limitations.

Look at that branch… because that is what this is really about.

 

My brother would tell me my photos are getting dirty lately. I love dirt.

 

—-

I wrote when living in NYC on this day:

 

Today I'm sick, I keep missing my mom's calls and certain people I don't like are especially annoying and make me irritable today. On top of that all, I have this weird heightened sense of awareness that can be quite tiring. I keep struggling with censoring my content as more and more people I do know come to my website to see my pictures.

 

I struggle with the nakedness in my words: I know I've discussed this before and trust me, it is easier when complete strangers come here because they don't come with a fictitious, preconceived notion of who I am and what I'm suppose to be. They are surprised by nothing I say because they simply have no expectations. With that all said, I feel the friends that do come here understand and genuinely care about what I write and photograph, which is really awesome at the same time. This is something I will get comfortable with over time, I wreckon, or not. Who knows really.

 

I feel we are a generation of expression mostly because there are so many avenues to express yourself like YouTube, blogs and even Flickr. My avenue of choice has always been pictures and words. However, writing for me goes beyond being just another meandering avenue of expression. It is an opportunity for me to be narcissistic and raw. It gives me a chance to understand the joy, turmoil, or confusion just like a mathematician writes equations up on the board to eventually solve a puzzle. When I step back from what I write, I feel relief, as if I've found a hidden message of what my unconsciousness was trying to tell me. It can be as simple as: go eat some Terry's Chocolate Orange and go to bed. This is why I'd like to think my thoughts and words are meaningless for readers (sorry they don't contain the answers for a unifying theory) because they are so decontextualized and not generalizable. Whether that is true or not, I don't really know.

iPhone6, Union, Stackables

If you are familiar with my photostream, you know I have a passion for churches, especially old ones. Perhaps I am a bit partial to them because of my Christian faith, as well as the fact that I have been a Baptist preacher for over twenty years.

 

Another thing that tends to catch my eye are church steeples. Every once in a while, one will just "stick out" and grab my attention. While photographing this church, my eyes were drawn to the steeple more than the structure. After adding a couple layers of texture, I added this verse that I thought was appropriate to go along with the photo. I hope you enjoy.

 

East Cumberland Ave. Baptist Church / Middlesboro, Ky.

 

(Textures by SkeletalMess)

Because of the trees it is almost impossible to capture this artwork but I discovered that using a telephoto lens I could capture it from a distance.

smarties blizzard cake just because.

happy valentines day!

 

we dont do much for valentines around here because it's kind of dumb, and not in an anti mainstream sort of way. what's really going on here is i have no use for a gigantic teddy bear, flowers die, and restaurants are crowded!

 

willie cooks for me all the time, and shows me that he loves me all the time by doing nice things for me and winning me stuffed animals from the claw machine at denny's. we really don't need to designate a day to be nice to each other because we already are.

 

the day before v-day we found a good deal on snow crab so we got some, along with some steak, and a big piece of salmon. all of this was under $30 and you will not find that at a restaurant! it was yum.

 

the only thing we did do was today we went to see's candy because i havent been in a few years. line was out the door, but thank god they weren't running low on the bordoux.

 

i guess all the holidays are kind of low key for us. we like to celebrate, i LOVE to decorate and make a lot of the decorations myself, but nobody over here was rushing through wal mart to buy roses last minute.

 

plus, i kind of want to go out to dinner when david gets back to eat as a family. couple stuff is nice but i sure do miss david being around, and being the guy buying flowers at wal mart because he feels like it's not valentines day unless he does.

 

and i always let him.

 

and dare him to buy condoms and ky along with his flower and chocolate purchase. and we all lol.

 

le sigh.

 

love,

me

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