Where the footprints fade the imagination stops, but that scratch that precedes some footprints gives me the certainty of who has been there.

Even ‘they’ in the presence of 30-50 cm of fresh snow, move on lonely roads saving effort.

Appennino Piacentino quota 1200 mt.

Dove le impronte svaniscono l'immaginazione si interrompe, ma quel graffio che precede alcune orme, mi regala la certezza di chi è passato lì.

Anche "loro" in presenza di 30-50 cm di neve fresca, si muovono su strade secondarie risparmiando fatica.

All rights reserved © Nick Outdoor Photography

He's certainty not being taken down :)

Another Amanita identified with some certainty!

Captured in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, London.

View On Black

Please no glittery or big awards

the antidote to fear

Spanish postcard by Falgra, Barcelona, no. 1136. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Summer Storm (Douglas Sirk, 1944).

American film actress Linda Darnell (1923-1965) progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theatre and film as an adolescent. The ravishing beauty appeared in supporting roles in big-budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s, and rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power in adventure films. She established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947), and won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).

Monetta Eloyse Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1923, as one of four children to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and the former Pearl Brown. She was the younger sister of Undeen and the older sister of Monte Maloya and Calvin Roy, Jr. Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil. Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry. She believed that Linda was her only child with potential as an actress and ignored the rearing of her other children. Darnell was a model by the age of 11 and was acting on the stage by the age of 13. She initially started modeling to earn money for the household, and performed mostly in beauty contests. Darnell was a student at Sunset High School, when in November 1937, a talent scout for 20th Century Fox arrived in Dallas, looking for new faces. Encouraged by her mother, Darnell met him, and after a few months, he invited her for a screen test in Hollywood. In California, Darnell was initially rejected by film studios and was sent home because she was declared "too young". Darnell was featured in a ‘Gateway to Hollywood’ talent-search and landed a contract at RKO Pictures. There was no certainty, though, and she soon returned to Dallas. When 20th Century Fox offered her a part, Darnell wanted to accept, but RKO was unwilling to release her. Nevertheless, by age 15, she was signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox and moved to a small apartment in Hollywood all alone in 1939.Her first film was Hotel for Women (Gregory Ratoff, 1939), which had newspapers immediately hailing her as the newest star of Hollywood. Loretta Young was originally assigned to play the role, but demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darryl F. Zanuck instead cast Darnell, advertise her beauty and suggested a Latin quality. Although only 15 at the time, Darnell posed as a 17-year-old and was listed as 19 years old by the studio. Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films.

Linda Darnell was assigned to the female lead opposite Tyrone Power in the light romantic comedy Day-Time Wife (Gregory Ratoff, 1939). Although the film received only slightly favourable reviews, Darnell's performance was received positively for her breath-taking looks and splendid acting. Life magazine stated that Darnell was "the most physically perfect girl in Hollywood". Following the film's release, she was cast in the drama comedy Star Dust (Walter Lang, 1940) with John Payne. The film was hailed as one of the "most original entertainment idea in years" and boosted Darnell's popularity, being nicknamed 'Hollywood's loveliest and most exciting star'. After appearing in several small films, Darnell was cast in her first big-budget film opposite Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (Henry Hathaway, 1940), regarded as the most expensive film 20th Century Fox had yet produced. Darnell and Power were cast together for the second time due to the box office success of Day-Time Wife, and they became a highly publicized onscreen couple, which prompted Darryl F. Zanuck to add 18 more romantic scenes to Brigham Young. Darnell began working on the big-budget adventure The Mark of Zorro (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940), in which she again co-starred as Power's sweetheart. Critics raved over the film. The Mark of Zorro was a box office sensation and did much to enhance Darnell's star status. Afterwards, she was paired with Henry Fonda for the first time in the western Chad Hanna (Henry King, 1940), her first Technicolor film. The film received only little attention, unlike Darnell's next film Blood and Sand (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941), in which she was reteamed with Power. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. Thereafter the studio was unable to find her suitable roles. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected. Months passed by without any work, and in August 1941, she was cast in a supporting role in the musical Rise and Shine (Allan Dwan, 1941). The film was a setback in her career, and she was rejected for a later role because she refused to respond to Darryl F. Zanuck's advances. Instead, she contributed to the war effort, working for the Red Cross, selling war bonds, and she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen.

Linda Darnell and Twentieth Century-Fox weren't on the best of terms, and as a punishment, she was loaned out to Columbia for a supporting role in a B movie called City Without Men (Sidney Salkow, 1942). In 1943, she was put on suspension. Darnell had married, which caused the fury of Zanuck. Darnell was reduced to second leads and was overlooked for big-budget productions. Matters changed in 1944 when Look Magazine named her one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood, along with Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, and Gene Tierney. The studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm (Douglas Sirk, 1944), opposite George Sanders. She played a type of role she had never before: a seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered. The film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl. Shortly after, Darnell was again loaned out to portray a showgirl in The Great John L. (Frank Tuttle, 1945), the first film to feature her bare legs. Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Zanuck to cast her in the Film Noir Hangover Square (John Brahm, 1945), playing a role she personally had chosen. The film became a great success, and she was added to the cast of another Film Noir, Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945), which also included Dana Andrews and Alice Faye. Despite suffering from the "terrifying" Preminger, Darnell was praised by reviewers so widely that there was even talk of an Oscar nomination. In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam (John Cromwell, 1946) with Irene Dunne, and Centennial Summer (Otto Preminger, 1946) with the legendary Lillian Gish. Then she went on location in Monument Valley for the classic Western My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) with Henry Fonda end Victor Mature. It was another hit and garnered Linda some of the best reviews of her career.

In 1946, Linda Darnell won the starring role in the highly anticipated romantic drama Forever Amber (Otto Preminger, 1947), based on a bestselling historical novel that was denounced as being immoral at that time. Although she had to work with Preminger, she was delighted to play the title role. However, Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. The following year, Darnell portrayed Daphne de Carter in the comedy Unfaithfully Yours (Preston Sturges, 1948), also starring Rex Harrison, and was then one of the three wives in the comedy/drama A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949). Darnell's hard-edged performance in the latter won her unanimous acclaim and the best reviews of her career. Darnell became one of the most-demanded actresses in Hollywood, and she now had the freedom to select her own roles. She was cast opposite Richard Widmark and Veronica Lake in Slattery's Hurricane (Andre DeToth, 1949), which she perceived as a step down from the level she had reached with A Letter to Three Wives, though it did well at the box office. She then co-starred opposite Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in the groundbreaking No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950). But her later films were rarely noteworthy, and her appearances were increasingly sporadic. Further hampering Darnell's career was the actress's alcoholism and weight gain. Her next films included the Western, Two Flags West (Robert Wise, 1950), The 13th Letter (Otto Preminger, 1951) and The Guy Who Came Back (Joseph M. Newman, 1951).

In 1951, Darnell signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that allowed her to become a freelance actress. Her first film outside 20th Century Fox was for Universal Pictures, The Lady Pays Off (Douglas Sirk, 1951). She was responsible for putting the film behind schedule, because on the fifth day of shooting, she learned that Ivan Kahn, the man responsible for her breakthrough, had died. Darnell then headed the cast of the British romantic war film Saturday Island (Stuart Heisler, 1952), which co-starred Tab Hunter and was filmed on location in Jamaica. There, Darnell fell ill and had to be quarantined for several weeks. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the lot of 20th Century Fox for the Film Noir Night Without Sleep (Roy Ward Baker, 1952) with Gary Merrill and Hildegarde Knef. It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, since she was released from it in September 1952. The competition of television forced studios all over Hollywood to drop actors. This news initially excited Darnell, because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe, but the ease and protection enjoyed under contract was gone. Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate (Raoul Walsh, 1952). In Italy she made Donne proibite/Angels of Darkness (Giuseppe Amato, 1954) with Valentina Cortese and Giulietta Masina. The second collaboration, the French-Italian comedy Gli ultimi cinque minuti/The Last Five Minutes (Giuseppe Amato, 1955) with Vittorio De Sica and Peppino De Filippo proved disastrous, and was never released in the United States. Back in Hollywood, she accepted an offer from Howard Hughes to star in RKO's 3-D film Second Chance (Rudolph Maté, 1953) with Robert Mitchum, filmed in Mexico. Because of her then-husband, Philip Liebmann, Darnell put her career on a hiatus. In 1955, she returned to 20th Century Fox, by which time the studio had entered the television field. She guest-starred in series like Cimarron City and Wagon Train, and also returned to the stage.

Linda Darnell’s last work as an actress was in a stage production in Atlanta in early 1965. At the time of her death a few months later, she was preparing to perform in another play. She died in 1965, from burns she received in a house fire in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. The house of her former secretary and agent caught on fire in the early morning and Darnell died that afternoon in Cook County Hospital. Linda Darnell was only 41. She had been married three times. In 1943, at age 19, she eloped with 42-year-old cameraman Peverell Marley in Las Vegas. Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problems. In 1946, during production of Centennial Summer, she fell in love with womanizing millionaire Howard Hughes. She separated from Marley but when Hughes announced that he had no desire to marry her, Darnell returned to her husband. Because Darnell and Marley were unable to have children, they adopted a daughter, Charlotte Mildred "Lola" Marley (1948), the actress's only child. In mid-1948, she became romantically involved with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and filed for divorce. Mankiewicz, however, did not want to leave his wife for Darnell, and though the affair continued for six years, she again returned to her husband. In 1949, Darnell went into psychotherapy for hostile emotions that she had been building since childhood. Darnell and Marley finally divorced in 1951. In 1954, she married brewery heir Philip Liebmann but the marriage ended in 1955 on grounds of incompatibility. From 1957 to 1963, Linda Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson. Darnell's final screen appearance was opposite Rory Calhoun in the low-budget Western Black Spurs (R.G. Springsteen, 1965).

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

*Copyright © 2013 Lélia Valduga, all rights reserved.

Comments always appreciated, as long as you keep it clean - I love to hear your feedback! xx

Another old favourite dress. Time was it was a certainty that if I was going out, I'd be wearing either this dress or the pink one from the previous set.

You can't go wrong with a little black dress, and I've always loved this one from French Connection.

Uncertainty

Powerfully shakes hands

With knowledge.

Certainty

Unreservedly embraces

Wisdom.

Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 19, Agni Press, 2000

Urbex ✧ Diablo, What Else

Nous découvrons un bâtiment tout juste touché par le vandalisme. Certaines parties de ce sanatorium ont été entièrement détruites, sans ménagement, et d'autres sont exceptionnellement bien préservées.

Une drôle d'ambiance, sans aucune certitude sur ce qui nous attend derrière la prochaine porte.

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Urbex ✧ Diablo, What Else

We found a building just hit by vandalism. Portions of this sanatorium were completely destroyed, with a lot of violence, and others are exceptionally well preserved.

A strange atmosphere, without any certainty, every corner keeping a bunch of surprises.

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Lasioglossum sp. probably L. callomelittinum

Family: Halictidae

Order: Hymenoptera

Five of the world's seven bee families are found in Australia and we have some 2000 known species. Identification from photographs is prone to error and certainty cannot be achieved without expert examination of specimens. Having said that, I think this is a Sweat Bee or Halictid bee - probably Lasioglossum callomelittinum.

The species can be found across eastern Australia. However not a great deal is known about the bee's natural history.

Like other Halictid bees, they have a short pointed glossa or tongue (Ref Kit Prendergast - Australian Bee Taxonomy & Identifications) and feed from shallow flowers.

Halictid bees are solitary or communal but not eusocial. Generally the females make nests in the ground or sometimes in decaying wood. Males do not make nests but sometimes clump together at night to maintain body heat.

As these photos illustrate, they are polylectic, in that they don't specialise in one type of flower but feed off multiple species.

These individuals were seen at the National Botanic Gardens at Black Mountain in Canberra. The species has been recorded there quite often in the past.

DSC06214 and DSC06166

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move.

Matthew 17:20

Faith 1

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris, France.The inspiration for Sacré Cœur's design originated on 4 September 1870, the day of the proclamation of the Third Republic, with a speech by Bishop Fournier attributing the defeat of French troops during the Franco-Prussian War to a divine punishment after "a century of moral decline" since the French Revolution, in the wake of the division in French society that arose in the decades following that revolution, between devout Catholics and legitimist royalists on one side, and democrats, secularists, socialists, and radicals on the other. This schism in the French social order became particularly pronounced after the 1870 withdrawal of the French military garrison protecting the Vatican in Rome to the front of the Franco-Prussian War by Napoleon III,the secular uprising of the Paris Commune of 1870-1871, and the subsequent 1871 defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart (also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacratissimum Cor Iesu in Latin) is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ′s physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity. This devotion is predominantly used in the Roman Catholic Church and in a modified way among some high-church Anglicans, Lutherans and Eastern Catholics. The devotion is especially concerned with what the Church deems to be the longsuffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The popularization of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a Roman Catholic nun from France, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a series of apparitions to her between 1673 and 1675, and later, in the 19th century, from the mystical revelations of another Roman Catholic nun in Portugal, Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart, a religious of the Good Shepherd, who requested in the name of Christ that Pope Leo XIII consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism, particularly with Saint Gertrude the Great.The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross, and bleeding. Sometimes the image is shown shining within the bosom of Christ with his wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of divine love. Historically the devotion to the Sacred Heart is an outgrowth of devotion to what is believed to be Christ's sacred humanity. During the first ten centuries of Christianity, there is nothing to indicate that any worship was rendered to the wounded Heart of Jesus. The revival of religious life and the zealous activity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Saint Francis of Assisi in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, together with the enthusiasm of the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, gave a rise to devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ and particularly to practices in honour of the Sacred Wounds. Devotion to the Sacred Heart developed out of the devotion to the Holy Wounds, in particular to the Sacred Wound in the side of Jesus. The first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart are found in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the fervent atmosphere of the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, in the world of Bernardine thought. But it is impossible to say with certainty what were its first texts or who were its first devotees. Saint Bernard (d. 1153) said that the piercing of Christ's side revealed his goodness and the charity of his heart for us. The earliest known hymn to the Sacred Heart, "Summi Regis Cor Aveto", is believed to have been written by the Norbertine Blessed herman Joseph (d.1241) of Cologne, Germany. The hymn begins: "I hail Thee kingly Heart most high." From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have been embellished. It was everywhere practised by individuals and by different religious congregations, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carthusians. Among the Franciscans the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has its champions in Saint Bonaventure (d. 1274) in his Vitis Mystica ("Mystic Vine"), B. John de la Verna, and the Franciscan Tertiary Saint Jean Eudes (1602–1680).Bonaventure wrote: "Who is there who would not love this wounded heart? Who would not love in return Him, who loves so much?” It was, nevertheless, a private, individual devotion of the mystical order. Nothing of a general movement had been inaugurated, except for similarities found in the devotion to the Five Holy Wounds by the Franciscans, in which the wound in Jesus's heart figured most prominently. In the sixteenth century, the devotion passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism. It was established as a devotion with prayers already formulated and special exercises, found in the writings of Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, the Benedictine Louis de Blois (d. 1566) Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut, John of Avila (d. 1569), and Francis de Sales (d. 1622). The historical record from that time shows an early bringing to light of the devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to the Jesuits placing the image on the title-page of their books and on the walls of their churches. The first to establish the theological basis for the devotion was Polish Jesuit Kasper Drużbicki (1590-1662) in his book Meta cordium - Cor Jesu (The goal of hearts - Heart of Jesus). Not much later Jean Eudes wrote an Office, and promoted a feast for it. Père Eudes was the apostle of the Heart of Rayn, but in his devotion to the Immaculate Heart there was a share for the Heart of Jesus. Little by little, the devotion to the two Hearts became distinct, and on 31 August 1670 the first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in the Grand Seminary of Rennes. Coutances followed suit on October 20, a day with which the Eudist feast was from then on to be connected. The feast soon spread to other dioceses, and the devotion was likewise adopted in various religious communities. It gradually came into contact with the devotion begun by Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray-le-Monial, and the two merged. According to Thomas Merton, Saint Lutgarde (d.1246), a Cistercian mystic of Aywieres, Belgium, was one of the great precursors of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A contemporary of St. Francis, she "... entered upon the mystical life with a vision of the pierced Heart of the Saviour, and had concluded her mystical espousals with the Incarnate Word by an exchange of hearts with Him." Sources say that Christ came in a visitation to Lutgarde, offering her whatever gift of grace she should desire; she asked for a better grasp of Latin, that she might better understand the word of God and sing God's praise. Christ granted her request and Lutgarde’s mind was flooded with the riches of psalms, antiphons, readings, and responsories. However, a painful emptiness persisted. She returned to Christ, asking to return his gift, and wondering if she might, just possibly, exchange it for another. “And for what would you exchange it?” Christ asked. “Lord, said Lutgarde, I would exchange it for your Heart.” Christ then reached into Lutgarde and, removing her heart, replaced it with his own, at the same time hiding her heart within his breast. Saint Mechtilde of Helfta (d.1298) became an ardent devotee and promoter of Jesus’ heart after it was the subject of many of her visions. The idea of hearing the heartbeat of God was very important to medieval saints who nurtured devotion to the Sacred Heart.[11] Mechtilde reported that Jesus appeared to her in a vision and commanded her to love Him ardently, and to honor his sacred heart in the Blessed Sacrament as much as possible. He gave her his heart as a pledge of his love, as a place of refuge during her life and as her consolation at the hour of her death. From this time Mechtilde had an extraordinary devotion for the Sacred Heart, and said that if she had to write down all the favors and all the blessings which she had received by means of this devotion, a large book would not contain them. Saint Gertrude the Great was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Book 2 of the herald of Divine Love vividly describes Gertrude's visions, which show a considerable elaboration on the hitherto ill-defined veneration of Christ's heart. St Bernard articulated this in his commentary on the Song of Songs. The women of Helfta—Gertrude foremost, who surely knew Bernard's commentary, and to a somewhat lesser extent the two Mechthildes—experienced this devotion centrally in their mystical visions. Painting representing the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.

The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), a nun of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who claimed to have received apparitions of Jesus Christ in the Burgundian French village of Paray-le-Monial, the first on 27 December 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, and the final one 18 months later, revealing the form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a "Holy hour" on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. She said that in her vision she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. In probably June or July 1674, Sister Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart, also saying that, when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially on the first Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy hour. During the octave of Corpus Christi in 1675, probably on June 16, the vision known as the "great apparition" reportedly took place, where Jesus said: "Behold the Heart that has so loved men. ...Instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of humankind) only ingratitude," and asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult her confessor Father Claude de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray le Monial. Father de la Colombière directed Sister Margaret Mary to write an account of the apparition, which he discreetly circulated in France and England. After his death on 15 February 1682, his journal of spiritual retreats was found to contain a copy in his handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account – an "offering" to the Sacred Heart in which the devotion was explained – was published at Lyon in 1684. The little book was widely read, especially at Paray le Monial. Margaret Mary reported feeling "dreadful confusion" over the book's contents, but resolved to make the best of it, approving of the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion. Along with the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly the Capuchins. The reported apparitions served as a catalyst for the promotion of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Jesuit Father Croiset wrote a book called The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Fr. Joseph de Gallifet, SJ, promoted the devotion. The mission of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus. Window detail, All Saints Catholic Church, St. Peters, Missouri. On the night of 14 February 1876 a domestic servant Estelle Faguette lay in Pellevoisin dying of pulmonary tuberculosis, and reportedly saw the Virgin Mary. Four days later, during the fifth apparition, Estelle seemed to be healed instantaneously. Altogether she said she experienced fifteen apparitions in the course of 1876. On 9 September the apparition drew attention to a small piece of white cloth, a scapular resting over her chest. Faguette had seen it there before, as plain white cloth, but on this day it bore the red image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The following day the lady appeared again, saying she had come to encourage people to pray. The final and culminating vision took place on Friday 8 December 1876, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: You will go yourself to the prelate and will present to him this copy that you have made. Tell him to do everything within his power to help you, and that nothing would be more pleasing to me than to see this livery on each of my children. They should all strive to make reparation for the outrages my Son is subjected to in the sacrament of his love. See the graces that will be poured forth on those who will wear it with confidence and help you to spread this devotion. Immediately following this last apparition, Estelle sought and was granted an audience with the Archbishop of Bourges, Monsignor de La Tour d'Auvergne. By 12 December 1876 she had received his permission to make and distribute copies of the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. Another source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was Sister Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899), the former countess of Droste zu Vischering and nun from the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who reported to have received several interior locutions and visions of Jesus Christ. The first interior locution Maria Droste zu Vischering reported was during her youth spent with the family in the Castle of Darfeld, near Münster, Germany, and the last vision and private revelation was reported during her presence as Mother Superior in the Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Porto, Portugal. Based on the messages she said she received in her revelations of Christ, on 10 June 1898 her confessor at the Good Shepherd monastery wrote to Pope Leo XIII stating that Sister Mary of the Divine Heart had received a message from Christ, requesting the pope to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart. The pope initially attached no credence to it and took no action. However, on 6 January 1899 she sent another letter asking that in addition to the consecration, the first Fridays of the month be observed in honor of the Sacred Heart. Painting representing the vision received by Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering. Jesus had revealed to her: "By the brightness of this light, peoples and nations will be illumined, and they will be warmed by its ardour." her second letter included: One might find it strange that Our Lord should ask for this consecration of the entire world and not content Himself with [that of] the Catholic Church. But his desire to reign, to be loved and glorified, and to set ablaze all hearts with his love and his mercy is so ardent that he wants Your Holiness to offer Him the hearts of all those who belong to Him by Baptism to facilitate their return to the true Church, and the hearts of those who have not yet received spiritual life by Holy Baptism, but for whom he has given his life and his Blood, and who are equally called to be one day children of the Holy Church, to hasten by this means their spiritual birth. In the letter she also referred to the recent illness of the pope and stated that Christ had assured her that Pope Leo XIII would live until he had performed the consecration to the Sacred Heart. Theologian Laurent Volken states that this had an emotional impact on Leo XIII, despite the theological issues concerning the consecration of non-Christians. Sister Mary of the Divine Heart died in her monastery in Portugal when the Church was singing the first vespers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 8 June 1899. The following day, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1353 Pope Innocent VI instituted a Mass honoring the mystery of the Sacred Heart. After the death of Margaret Mary Alacoque on 17 October 1690, a short account of her life was published by Father Croiset in 1691 as an appendix to his book De la Dévotion au Sacré Cœur. In 1693 the Holy See imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart, and in 1697 granted the feast to the Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to all, with special Mass and Office. The devotion spread, particularly in religious communities. The Marseille plague in 1720 furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious communities. Other cities of southern Europe followed the example of Marseille. In 1726 Rome was again asked for a feast with a Mass and Office of its own; this was refused in 1729, but granted in 1765. In that year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi-officially by the episcopate of France. In 1856, at the urgent entreaties of the French bishops, Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the Roman Catholic Church under the rite of double major. In 1889 it was raised by the Roman Catholic Church to the double rite of first class. After Pope Leo XIII received several letters from Sister Mary of the Divine Heart asking him to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he commissioned a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. The outcome of this investigation was positive, and so in the encyclical letter Annum sacrum (on 25 May 1899) he decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on 11 June 1899. The encyclical letter also encouraged the entire Roman Catholic episcopate to promote the First Friday Devotions, established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and included the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart. Pope Pius X decreed that the consecration of the human race performed by Leo XIII be renewed each year. Pius XI in his encyclical letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (on 8 May 1928) affirmed the Church's position with respect to Saint Margaret Mary's visions of Jesus Christ by stating that Jesus had "manifested Himself" to Saint Margaret and had "promised her that all those who rendered this honor to his Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces." The encyclical refers several times to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Margaret Mary[21] and reaffirmed the importance of consecration and reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pius IX's institution of the Feast, instructed the entire Roman Catholic Church at length on the devotion to the Sacred Heart in his encyclical letter Haurietis aquas (on 15 May 1956). On 15 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, on the 50th Anniversary of the encyclical Haurietis aquas. In his letter to Father Kolvenbach, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Roman Catholic acts of consecration, reparation, and devotion were introduced when the feast of the Sacred Heart was declared. In his papal bull Auctorem fidei, Pope Pius VI praised devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, Leo XIII in his encyclical Annum sacrum (25 May 1899), as well as on June 11, consecrated every human to the Sacred Heart. The idea of this act, which Leo XIII called "the great act" of his pontificate, had been proposed to him by a nun of the Good Shepherd from Oporto (Portugal) who said that she had supernaturally received it from Jesus. Since c. 1850, groups, congregations, and countries have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart. In 1873, by petition of president Gabriel García Moreno, Ecuador was the first country in the world to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart.

Peter Coudrin of France founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on 24 December 1800. A religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, the order carried out missionary work in Hawaii. Mother Clelia Merloni from Forlì (Italy) founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Viareggio, Italy, on 30 May 1894.

Worship of the Sacred Heart mainly consists of several hymns, the Salutation of the Sacred Heart, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. It is common in Roman Catholic services and occasionally is to be found in Anglican services. The Feast of the Sacred Heart, in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, is now a solemnity and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost, which is always a Friday. The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic ceremony in which a priest or head of a household consecrates the members of the household to the Sacred Heart. An image of the Sacred Heart that has been blessed, either a statue or a picture, is then placed in the home as a reminder. The practice of the Enthronement is based upon Pius XII's declaration that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is "the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations." In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated: "The spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus."[21] The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is sometimes seen in the Eastern Catholic Churches, where it remains a point of controversy and is seen as an example of liturgical Latinisation. The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. It falls 19 days after Pentecost, on a Friday. The earliest possible date is 29 May, as in 1818 and 2285. The latest possible date is 2 July, as in 1943 and 2038. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ's physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity. Saint John Eudes defended the mystical unity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological, and spiritual links in Catholic devotions between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the seventeenth century by Saint John Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological, and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually, through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword.[30][31][32] The devotions and associated prayers grew into the twentieth century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima saying that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary. Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis aquas, Pope Pius XII encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor hominis, Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart.[35] In his Angelus address on 15 September 1985, John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal. The Sacred Heart has also been involved in and depicted in apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830, and appears on the Miraculous Medal,[40] where the Sacred Heart is crowned with thorns. The Immaculate Heart of Mary also appears on the medal, next to the Sacred Heart, but is pierced by a sword rather than being crowned with thorns. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified. Religious imagery depicting the Sacred Heart is frequently featured in Roman Catholic, and sometimes in Anglican and Lutheran, homes. Sometimes images display beneath them a list of family members, indicating that the entire family is entrusted to the protection of Jesus in the Sacred Heart, from whom blessings on the home and the family members are sought. The prayer "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee" is often used. One particular image has been used as part of a set, along with an image of the Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her Immaculate Heart. The dual images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts. The Scapular of the Sacred Heart and the Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are worn by Roman Catholics. Devotion to the Sacred Heart may be found in some Eastern Catholic Churches, but is a contentious issue. Those who favour purity of rite are opposed to the devotion, while those who are in favour of the devotion cite it as a point of commonality with their Latin Catholic brethren. Margaret Mary Alacoque said that in her apparitions Jesus promised these blessings to those who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart. The list was tabulated in 1863. In 1882 an American businessman spread the tabular form of the twelve promises throughout the world, in 238 languages. In 1890 Cardinal Adolph Perraud deplored this circulation of the promises in tabular form, which he said were different from the words and the meaning of the expressions used by Saint Margaret Mary, and wanted the promises to be published in their original words. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life. I will give peace in their families. I will console them in all their troubles. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy. Tepid souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour. Promises made to Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart

Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering said that in her mystical experiences Jesus Christ inspired her to build a shrine dedicated to his Sacred Heart. The imposing Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (also referred as Church of the Good Shepherd or Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) was built between 14 July 1957 and 21 April 1966, in the civil parish of Ermesinde in north Portugal, and consecrated to the Heart of Christ in fulfillment of the vow made by the nun. According to the writings of Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, Jesus had made this promise: "I will make it a place of graces. I will distribute copiously graces to all who live in this house [the Convent], those who live here now, those who will live here after, and even to their relatives." Jesus also promised her: "Know this, My daughter, that by the charity of My Heart I desire to pour out floods of graces through your heart over the hearts of others. This is why people will come to you with confidence; it will not be your personal qualities which will attract them, but Me. No one, even the most hardened sinner, will leave your presence without having received, in one way or another, consolation, relief, or a special grace." The body of Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, entombed for public veneration in the Church-Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ermesinde, was found incorrupt at its first exhumation.

The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also involve the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. Prior to the existence of a formal Roman Catholic devotional scapular, Margaret Mary Alacoque made and distributed badges bearing an image of the Heart of Jesus.In 1872 Pope Pius IX granted an indulgence for the badge. Following the claims by Estelle Faguette that the Virgin Mary had appeared to her in 1876 and requested a scapular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a scapular of the proposed design was approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. It bears the representation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side and that of the Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of Mercy on the other side.

Eastern Orthodox Christians disapprove of the actual worship of the physical heart of Jesus as being a form of naturalism and Nestorianism; the Feast of the Sacred Heart has however been inserted in certain Calendars of Western Rite Orthodoxy.[47] Pope Pius XII's encyclical Haurietis aquas, in response to these criticisms, said that the Sacred Heart is venerated as belonging to the Divine Person of the Eternal Word and as "a symbolic image of his love and a witness of our redemption."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart

There is a church in Sedlec in the Czech Republic in which the bones of c. 40,000 individuals have been stored. Most of the bones are in piles like this but some have been made into macabre ornaments such as chandeliers, ceiling decorations and even a coat of arms. It's apparently a reminder of the certainty of death.

Explore on 9 Feb 2009

Monastery and Cave of Saint Andrew the Apostle

Few things are known about the cave of Saint Andrew the Apostle. One of those things that can be said with certainty is that it was discovered in 1918 by Jean Dinu, a lawyer. After dreaming one night, he came in this area to find the cave in an advanced state of degradation. After cleaning it of the vegetation inside, he built a couple of cells and the first monks came in a short time.

It was sanctified in 1943 by the bishop Chesarie Paunescu but during the communist period it was destroyed and turned into a shelter for animals.

Only in 1990, with the blessing of IPS Lucian, father Nicodim Dinca, the monarch of Sihastria Monastery, along with the hieromonarch father Victorin Ghindaoanu, started to restore the cave and to build the monastery.

The cave shelters the icon of Saint Andrew, known as the apostle who christianized the lands at the North of the Danube. There is a bed carved in stone in a niche of the pronaos. It is said that that was used as a resting place by Andrew the Apostle. In the course of time this has been a place to light candles, and now it is used by those in need of comfort from disease. Here, the priests also read prayers for sick people and the Mass of Saint Basil the Great.

Today the monastery has a smaller church built during the years of 1994 – 1995, sanctified with the Holy Virgin’s Protection as its dedication day and the third bigger church was built during the years of 1998 – 2002.

In the small church are kept the relics of Saint Andrew. A cross in the shape of “X” can be found, on the left, in front of the altar of the smaller church. In the center of this cross is placed a part of the finger belonging to Saint Andrew. The finger was brought from the Trifiliei Metropolitan Church of Greece. On the four extremities of the cross there are the relics of the martyr saints of Niculitel from Dobrogea: Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos, Epictet the priest and Astion the monk.

Near the cave there is a spring about which the legend tells that it appeared after Saint Andrew struck the rock with his staff in search of water.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims come each year to the Cave of Saint Andrew and this made this place to be rightfully named the Bethlehem of Romanian people.

To get here, the pilgrims must first reach Cernavoda, afterwards head south to Ostrov. In the locality Ion Corvin, an indicator points them to a side road that takes them to the monastery in a forest, after 3 – 4 km.

Short biography

The Saint Apostle Andrew was the brother of Saint Apostle Petre. At first he and Saint Apostle and Evangelist John were apprentices of Saint John the Baptist. After the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ and the Descent of the Holly Spirit, the apostles drew the chances on where to go to preach this faith, and Saint Apostle Andrew reached the area of the Black Sea, including Scythia Minor of the time or today’s Dobrogea. He secluded in that cave with two apprentices and he started to preach. He then went to the region of Kiev, and returned to Dobrogea. Because all went well, he headed to Patras in Greece where he was crucified on a cross in the shape of “X”.

Looking back at my first year building mocs as an adult, I can say with certainty;

it's been my best year yet!

In retrospect

10 builds (cheating a bit with the superbanshees). I think I did pretty good for a first year, trying to feel my way trough all the new type of bricks out there and with limited resources. Though the focus has clearly been scifi (this just comes most naturally to me), I think they're pretty diverse in both size and shape.

Thanks to everyone for all the positive feedback and criticism! It's been a great and powerful motivation for me to build new things.

Happy new year!

Still + PS = Total falta do que fazer, kkkk

Update: Eu fui convidado para dizer 16 coisas sobre mim, pelo jrsloboda, pela Bárbara e pela Carol ,então...

#1 - Eu vivo fotografia, e com certeza irei ser um fotógrafo reconhecido um dia, e comecei a trabalhar com ela desde 2008, e sonho em ter meu estúdio. / I live photography, and with certainty I will be a recognized photographer one day, and I began to work with her from 2008, and dream in having my studio.

#2 - Sempre aprendi as coisas sozinho, nunca ninguém me ensinou a fazer nada, acho que isso me ajudou a chegar aqui. / I am self taught, never nobody taught me to do anything, I think that helped me to arrive here.

#3 - Sou perfeccionista ao extremo. / I am perfectionist to the end.

#4- Sou terrível em lembrar nomes, mas talvez te reconheça na rua anos depois. /I am terrible in reminding names, but maybe it recognizes you in the street years later.

#5 - Não sou bom em receber elogios, principalmente pelas minhas fotos, principalmente de profissionais do ramo, que em geral, me dizem que falta algo, logo depois de elogiarem. / I am not good in receiving praises, mainly for my pictures, mainly of professionals of the branch, that in general, they tell me that it lacks something, just after they eulogize.

#6- Não vejo a hora de me ver livre da escola, e poder correr atrás do meu real futuro. Ela me atrapalha em muito em começar a batalhar pela minha carreira. / I don't see the hour of seeing me free from the school, and to run behind my future. It disturbs me in a lot in beginning to battle for my career.

#7- Sou viciado no filme Poderoso Chefão, já assisti inúmeras vezes, e o considero o melhor filme. /I am addicted in the Godfather Trilogy , I already watch them a countless times, and I consider him the best films.

#8- Toco teclado, piano, toco não muito bem, mas quebro um galho / I play keyboard, piano, I play not very well, but I break a branch

#9- Às vezes desacredito na humanidade, devido a certas coisas que vejo diariamente, e eu não falo apenas de noticiários, mas também pensando em quem eu realmente posso confiar... / I sometimes discredit in the humanity, due to certain things that I see daily, and I don't just speak about news sections, but also thinking on whom I can really trust...

#10- Não vivo sem música, e tenho mais de 10.000 delas no meu PC. / I don't live without music, and I have more than 10.000 of them in my PC.

#11- Sou ansioso demais, principalmente pois quero que as coisas aconteçam rápido, apesar de nem sempre isso funcionar. / I am too anxious, mainly because I want the things to happen fast, in spite of not always that to work.

#12- Já pensei em ser Químico, em trabalhar com Computação, em ser Músico, mais recentemente em trabalhar com Publicidade, mas hoje sei que a fotografia é o meu caminho, em especial a fotografia publicitária. / I already thought about being Chemical, in working with Computation, in being Musician, more recently in working with advertising, but today I know that the photography is my road, especially the advertising photography

#13- Não acredito totalmente em Dom, acho que todo mundo que quer alcançar um objetivo, pode conseguir, se se dedicar integralmente a isso. / I don't totally believe in Talent, I think everybody that wants reach an objective, it can get, if you dedicates integrally to that.

#14- O que me faz me manter no flickr ainda hoje, e postando, são as amizades que fiz aqui. / the one thing that does stay me in the flickr still today, and posting, they are the friendships that I did here.

#15- Na vida além do QI de Quociente Inteligente, você tem que ter o QI de "Quem Indicou"...infelizmente. / 15 - in the life besides QI of Intelligent Quotient, you have to have QI of "Who Indicated"... unhappily.

#16- Tenho 16 anos ainda, muitos não acreditam, acham que eu fui registrado com uns anos depois de nascer, mas é verdade. Apesar que em geral as pessoas acham que eu tenha 21 anos, o que é engraçado principalmente porque a maioria diz que tenho 21, não 20 e nem 22. / I am 16 years old still, many don't believe, they think I was registered with one years after being born, but it is true. In spite that in general the people think I am 21 years old, what is funny mainly because most says that I have 21, no 20 and nor 22.

Strobist Info: Merge of 3 shots, one with 430EX at 45º back left of the subject, one with flash above the subject, and one at 45º back right of the subject.

http://fernandodelfini.com

Photographs taken in occupied Germany in the years 1946 - 48 buy either a British or American staff photographer. This set may have not been part of the official record, as some of the girls don't seem to be wearing a lot of clothes.

The tonality of this set is different from the other ones, so there is no certainty that the two sets were taken by the same photographer. Alas, no girls with clothing falling off or absent in those others.

In Hamlet Kraton Temon Village District Trowulan I tried to explore the kingdom of Majapahit, who supposedly said gate or queen Bajang temple built of bricks glued to each other degan rub system, except in the doorway and stairs made of andesite stone.

Rectangular building measuring 11.5 m long and 10.5 m wide. Building height and 16.5 m wide entrance hall 1.4 m. The temple is also referred to as Mercury Mix gate or gate that has a roof, which has three parts such as legs, the body, and the roof and walls and fences that have the wings on both sides. And this photo I took of the side wing or side of the temple.

The frosting on the roof in the form of:

1.Head flanked lion.

2.Relief Sun.

3.Naga legged.

4.Garuda head.

5.Relief one-eyed.

At the foot of describing the story of Sri Tanjung has a function as a protective or repellent distress and the right wing decorated with Ramayana story. There are carvings on either side of the door in the form of long-eared animals. According to the beliefs and myths that developed societies allegedly gate are closely related with the King Jayanegara. Of the public trust and the myths that have been circulating Bajangratu alleged temple entrance to a shrine to commemorate the death of King Jayanegara the Saka year 1250 or the year 1328 AD.

However, based on relief contained in the estimated building the temple was built in the 13th century - 14.

Bajangratu themselves in the ancient Javanese language "Mix" means small, ascended the throne as king as a boy, and supposedly it happened to King Jayanegara. Establishment Bajangratu temple itself is still not known with certainty.

Mystical side of this temple, is also still very strong. According to the story it is said there is a prohibition or taboos for government officials to cross or enter the temple gates Bajangratu this. According to the belief that there is, someone who has a job in government and violating these restrictions, it is believed will have bad luck.

One of the residents who live around the location of the establishment of the temple Bajang Queen, said. When Queen Bajang temple not much different from the temple - the other temples. However it has its own mystical side radiated of building the temple.

Bajang queen is not much different from the temple - the other temples. But if we look carefully, the temple was kept a separate mystical power. In fact, of the belief there are special restrictions for government officials while in the temple Bajang Queen. Prohibition is forbidden to enter or pass through the gates of the temple. If restrictions were violated, the person believed to be affected by bad luck. According to him, if the temple Bajang beauty queen exceeds temple - other temples in the area Trowulan.

This is because the park is in the court of the temple arranged neatly and beautifully. The beauty queen Bajang more prominent temple of the temple - the temple to another. In addition, if we are in the temple area. Then the peace of the soul we can feel, from here we can also feel strongly that radiated mystical side of the temple, "he said.

Which I guess in that place is beautiful and clean and take care of every detail in the building and its surroundings, so there is a ladder in the middle of the temple door accidentally closed to the public and are not allowed through the door of the temple. But this photo I took from the side of the stairs so the picture is not visible because it lies in front of the stairs there. Photos uploaded to the stairs I had before. ©Data temple of source wikipedia

* * * Copyright ©

All of which include an image is copyrighted, with all rights reserved please do not use, copy or edit any images without written permission from me Shantyrof (the rightful owner). If you want to use these photos please contact my email address: santirof@yahoo.com

Cover your crystal eyes and

Let your colours bleed and blend with mine

~ Of Monsters and Men

This is the story of a girl, and a bear.

A girl with impossibly curly hair, and an immense black bear.

No-one knew where they came from, or how or when they met. No-one could remember a time in which the two had not been inseparable.

This unlikely pairing spoke little, but moved together as if as one. Their shadows blended and intermingled. They drew in and exhaled the same ice-chilled air.

The child's spiralling hair was as deep ebony as the bear's dense coat, and their eyes bore an identical amber hue.

Elders and old folks muttered amongst themselves as the child and the bear passed over their lands. With narrowed eyes the wizened ones whispered of guardians, of spirit animals, of souls leaping from bodies and dividing themselves asunder, of the pieces of fractured soul taking corporeal form.

But no-one knew with any certainty.

And so the pair were left to their business, and the old men to their dusty murmurings.

They covered continents and lands, mile after endless mile.

Together the child and the bear travelled the the world, and together they returned fallen stars to the sky.

As the stars shot downwards - searing alight the atmosphere and crashing through the heavens, tumbling and tossing and twisting - the pair would watch the skies, and mark the illuminated path.

And then with grave intensity, she would gather together their few belongings.

Again and again they would embark on new journeys to unfamiliar lands - over snowbanks and dried parched plains, mountains and ranges. Until they reached the star.

Often embedded deep into the earth or underwater from the sheer force of the fall, the celestial bodies would still glow with a faint and delicate grace. The girl would gently lift the fragile star free - and they would depart.

That night, as the darkness huddled round their shoulders, blanketing and covering the world, the bear would wind itself around, curling into a tight ball of dense black fur, with the child curled by its chest, the star cupped lightly in her hand.

Nothing was said. The two sat curled together, intently watching.

Slowly, slowly, the double, conjoined rhythmic pulsebeat of bear and human heart warmed the stars. Slowly, light returned. Slowly, sparks of azure blue and deep gold began to illuminate the girl's fingers. Until - revitalised and almost blindingly bright - the star flamed alight once more, and flew back to its rightful place in the sky.

They continued their tireless task for year upon year - the child growing into womanhood, the bear into maturity. Countless stars were located - and each coaxed back to blazing life by the steady and thunderous beats of two intertwined hearts.

They continued until old age crept stealthily up and found them, once-dark tresses and pelt turning to silver, their joints aching and eyes clouding.

The ancient woman and the venerable bear were last seen slipping away like silverthreaded shadows, into the darkness one winter evening, into the silence and the snow.

Some say they were found the next day, frosted with ice and lying so completely still. White hair and grey fur flowing into each other, a massive paw gripped tightly in a small hand. Two companions bound together in a fiercely devoted friendship - in death as in life.

But others say the two followed the last star into the skies, and there they became bright constellations.

You can look for them on winter nights, for they are indeed there - burning with their own quiet, proud flames.

and they loved each other

suspended on a thread

of snow

~ Maxence Fermine

..............................

This was drawn for my friend Rita, who said all sorts of kind things about my artwork, and who requested a picture of her own. She asked me to draw anything I wished (within the folk-tale-universe, and in my silhouette style). So I did.

This little story and characters have been rolling round my head, half-formed, for a long while now - and it was Rita's open invitation that finally focussed it.

But a great many pre-existing stories and artworks fed into the idea, including.....

East of the Sun, West of the Moon (one of the oldest, and best bear-and-child stories I know of)....

Jim Henson's Storyteller - and particularly the poignant bond between heroine Anya and her loyal lion companion - and their epic journeys 'over cliff and cavern, crevasse and chasm, cave and canyon....' - and onwards....

Everything about Jackie Morris' bears.

.... And her hauntingly beautiful modern re-interpretation of East of the Sun, West of the Moon

.... Penny Gaj's Harvest Moon: Winter Hare painting...

... and it has been some years since I read it all, but I am certain that I owe a debt to Philip Pullman, whose stunning Northern Lights trilogy - and his glorious tales of armoured bears, of extraordinary lands, and of children and their animal dæmons - have long lingered in my creative unconscious.

And, as ever, music has played a hugely important part in this process. Of Monsters and Men - with their fable-like sweeping songs - wound a deep vein that flowed through this piece (with this melody in particular..... and with this one too.)

And they were interspersed with the deliciously dark and subversive cabaret-like performances of Gavin Friday - and the intricate, poetic raw verses of Patti Smith.

I am immensely grateful to them all for sharing their beautiful music and words with the world.

I find comfort in the sound

And the shape of the heart

How it echoes through the chest

From under the ground

As the hills turn into holes

I fill them with gold

Heavy stones

Fear no weather

~ Of Monsters and Men

Death is the only certainty we have in life, but I haven’t met anyone that was happy about dreaming about it.

Macro Monday project – 12/20/10

"Nightmare”

View Large (1024 x 680)

More from the Portrait Set

Nikon D300: Lens: AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED ISO 250: Aperture f/3: White Balance Auto

Processing: Adobe Photoshop CS3 custom curves and Contrast adjustment.

Listening to Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain

Lyrics

High tide is a mathematical certainty

6 hours goes up, 6 hours goes down

-

More high tides on The Guardian

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View more photos at on my Blog or on my Instagram

"Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion" (Mark Twain)

Two Fames and the coat of arms of pope Clement XII, created by Paolo Benaglia in 1739. Palazzo della Consulta, Rome.

The Palazzo della Consulta (1737) is a late Baroque palace in central Rome, that since 1955 houses the Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic. It was designed by Ferdinando Fuga.

It sits across the Piazza del Quirinale from the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, the Quirinal Palace.

----

"La fama es vapor; la popularidad, un accidente; la única certeza terrenal es el olvido. " (Mark Twain)

Dos estatuas, representando a la Fama, y el escudo de armas del papa Clemente XII (familia Corsini), creadas por Paolo Benaglia en 1739.

El Palacio de la Consulta, cuya construcción terminó en 1737, alberga el Tribunal Constitucional de Italia. Está situado en el Quirinal, a pocos pasos del palacio presidencial.

Drove down to Murwillumbah this morning to meet up with Soren, we went for a drive to look for some fog, we didn't see much fog but we still had some great views.

Thanks for a great morning.

HDR Panorama from 8x3 images

The blush on the stipe is probably enough to identify this more specifically. The concave cap, cap color and blush on the stem are likely enough to identify it with some certainty. My intent was merely to capture this uniquely colored specimen.

Morris dancing can be traced back to the mid fifteenth century with certainty. earlier mentions are disputed. it is very probable that the folk dance does have some sort of antecedents from much earlier.

By 1492 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille succeeded in driving the Moors out of Spain and unifying the country. In celebration of this a pageant known as a Moresca was devised and performed. This can still be seen performed in places such as Ainsa, Aragon. Incorporated into this pageant was the local dance – the paloteao. This too can still be seen performed in the villages of Aragon, Basque country, Castille, Catalonia and northern Portugal. The original "Moresca" is believed to be a sword dance. The sticks in Morris dance are a residual of the swords in the "Moresca". Wikipedia

It is possible that pre-Christian spring and fertility rituals where merged with the Spanish dancing and became established as an English tradition, especially at Whitsun.

Vouni palace is 9 km west of Gemikonağı in Northern Cyprus and 250 m above sea level on a cliff top.

Its origins are not known with certainty but it is thought to have been built during the Persian occupation in the 5th century B.C. The palace was burnt down by a fire in 330 B.C. In a later document it was found that its foundations were destroyed by the soli inhabitants. Its original name is unknown.The moderin meaning of it in Greek is “mountain”.

A Swedish expedition excavated Vouni at the same time they excavated nearby soli. It is one of the most important and unusual sites on the island of Cyprus. The site comprises a small township grouped on the steep slopes of a conical hill a few miles west of the ancient city of Soli There is a ruined Temple of Alhena perched on the precipitous edge of the hill on the landward south side and a superb palace site on the summit of the hill facing the sea and the north. Only the palace site and the temple site have been fully excavated and both are open to visitors.

The palace was evidently a building of great wealth and luxury and during the excavations a group of sculptures and works of art were discovered along with treasure consisting of silver coins and two superb gold bracelets of the finest known examples of Persian gold work. The palace contained elaborate hot baths supplied by a water system from numerous deep and efficient wells. The living rooms of the palace were grouped round a central atrium which was surrounded by a colonnade. A " Royal road " led from the lower township into the palace.

Well, more of our adventures from the Omaha trip. I was so excited to go see these bridges!!! The Bridges of Madison County....yeah from the book and movie....I kept telling Mike how awesome it would be...and he kept telling me how..uh.."unmanly" it might be....Mike was just being a whiner.

I kept begging him to help me re-create some of the scenes..but he just wanted to take a nap....dammit Mike...I really love this movie..and loved this adventure....

Just sayin...we could have really made it "special"

I do enjoy losing each and every time my wife and I play this well known game but , and there is a big BUT, it is a certainty that sleep will overtake me if 10 minutes are taken each and every time it is her turn!

Uncertainly confident

The fog has faded away

dreams undreamt await

Photo: 2023-05-23 by Phil Wahlbrink

Another very early and very rare Toshiba radio. The 6TR-196 arrived on the Japanese electronics market sometime in 1958. There really is almost no information I can find on this table top/desk top portable set other than a schematic and a 1958 sales brochure.

I can say with certainty that few of these are in the hands of collectors and that this model was not available for sale outside Japan. I also know it was preceded by only a handful of other Toshiba radios such as the 6TR-127, 146, 169, 186 and the 5TR-193.

It is an AM only radio and utilizes a six transistor circuit and the transistor compliment is:

2S12, 2S13 x2, 2S14 and 2S22 x2.

It operates off of 4 ‘D’ cell batteries.

Inside is a relatively large 4 inch speaker. If this radio worked I’m sure it would produce a great tone.

Toshiba classified this as a 'desk top' transistor radio. It is 11.5 inches wide, 5 and a half inches tall and almost 3 and a half inches deep.

On top is a spring loaded, retractable carry handle. Very similar to what is implemented on the Zenth Royal 800 portable.

Below (on the left hand side) is the on-off/volume knobs are two earphone jacks. On the opposite side of the cabinet is a large tuning knob. Actually an inner and outer dial - one for coarse tuning and the outer dial for fine tuning. (Toshiba called it ‘micro-motion’ tuning)

There was a ‘cousin’ or companion radio released around the same time, the 6TR-200. I believe the chassis was identical but the cabinet was much different.

This 6TR-196 sports an automotive and atomic age motif. The plastic speaker grille is reverse painted gold and behind it is a silver, metallic looking mesh cloth with slight specks of gold . It’s a bold statement. Both the front and back cabinets are the same, yes a mirror image design much like the Sony TR-74 and TFM-151. This photo reveals the best side :) The opposite side has some small paint chips and some slight discoloration here and there.

The large front face is painted metal while the bottom base and side (brown) cabinet are plastic.

Fortunately it’s survived well over the years.

Trust is a confident reliance on that which is perceived to be firm, safe, and secure. Self-reliance, trusting in one’s own abilities and assets, is seen by many men as a mark of masculinity, but for a follower of Christ, trusting God first and foremost is the priority.

1. Trust in self alone, or in others, can be unreliable. Ultimate trust must center on God.

Psalm 118:8–9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. (NASB)

Jeremiah 17:5, 7 Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.… Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.” (NKJV)

Psalm 20:7

2. God is worthy of our trust. His presence in our lives is guaranteed.

Psalm 9:10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. (ESV)

Joshua 1:7–9; Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5

3. Faith brings certainty and reality to that which is otherwise unknown, and faith is necessary to please God.

Hebrews 11:1, 6 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.… And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)

Philippians 1:6

4. Trusting God for the unknown is a characteristic of faith.

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (NIV)

Matthew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:7

5. Trust in God must be constant, unwavering. This faith gets us through tough times.

Psalm 26:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. (ESV)

Habakkuk 3:17–18 Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (NASB)

Job 23:8–10; Psalm 33:4–5; 119:41–42; Isaiah 26:4

6. Trusting God expresses confidence that his timing is perfect.

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. (NASB)

Psalm 31:15; 130:5–6

7. Results of a life of trust:

SHELTER

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy; and may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exult in You. (NASB)

Psalm 91:1–2

GUIDANCE

Psalm 143:8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; for I trust in You; teach me the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift up my soul. (NASB)

STABILITY

Psalm 125:1–2 Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. (NASB)

OVERCOMING FEAR

Psalm 56:2–4 My foes have trampled upon me all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? (NASB)

GLADNESS

Psalm 64:10 The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; and all the upright in heart will glory. (NASB)

PEACE

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (NKJV)

BLESSING

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. (NKJV)

Psalm 84:12

CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

Psalm 112:7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. (NKJV)

CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (NKJV)

OVERCOMING PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS

Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. (NKJV)

Biblical Narratives

• Abraham trusted God’s promises, Genesis 17:15–19; Romans 4:3

• David, Psalm 18

• Three young men, Daniel 3:13–18

• Centurion trusted Christ to heal, Matthew 8:5–10

• Peter walked on water, Matthew 14:24–32

Practical Steps

• Study the names of God in the Old Testament, reflecting on his trustworthiness.

• Study trust in the Psalms using a concordance. List and categorize the verses that relate to your crisis situation.

• Meet with believing men who have similar work responsibilities as you. Pray and share with them.

• Paraphrase Psalm 145 as it relates to your trust issue. Select key verses to memorize. Keep them close at hand to remind you of God’s faithfulness.

Keith R. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 314–317.

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Václav Havel (5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011)

(picture taken out of an airplane; for hundreds of kilometers, there were amazing meandering rivers; contrast pushed)

It appears to have carbon fiber on the roof and deck lid. NISMO or not? I don't know with certainty.

Fiel resistencia del noray. Una metáfora de fuerza, constancia, y permanente servicio.

All Rights Reserved. All images on this site are © copyright Juan Pedro Gómez-51.

Please, don’t use this images in websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. Use without consent on my part of it, will report the formal complaint to the registration of intellectual property. Thanks.

Van Gogh

No stars here but i can dream though;@)))

Toujours la même dévotion sur les berges du Gange,les mêmes couleurs,les odeurs et cette sensations d'être dans un lieux unique au monde.

Le lien spirituel qui attache les Indiens à cet endroit est du domaine du divin et pour nous occidentaux la claque que l'on prends ici nous fait sortir de nos certitudes les plus tenaces.

.

Always the same worship on the banks of the Ganges, the same colors, the smells and this sensations to be in one places unique in the world.

The spiritual link which attaches the Indians to this place is of the domain of the divine and for us the Westerners the slap which one take here we made go out of our firmest certainties.

Despite looking in all the obvious places no identity could be found on this former Tees & District Bristol LH6L seen at Norths on May 1st 1996. Sadly the only certainty is that this example carried the diagonal yellow striped version of the red and yellow livery.

Sometimes there is nothing but the slow tick of time. Nothing to remember with any certainty, nothing to forget. Nothing to look forward to. The only company the beat of your own heart and the rise and fall of your own chest.

Maybe it's not that the world is too much with you, but rather that it's not with you at all. You are outside of it, outside looking in. Those glancing at you would find nothing but a shadow, a form so slippery and ethereal that their eyes would slide to the side, unable to register your presence. Your English teacher, in her quest to explain the world to a handful of those out to change it, once said that happy stories are not as interesting as sad stories, because happy people are all happy in the same way, but sad people are sad in different ways.

Tears come in so many forms. All the same chemistry, but some slow and cold and some hot and fast. Sometimes the world is so quiet around you that they each make a distinctly audible plunk into your lap. First slow and staccato and separate, plunk.... plunk....

plunk...

but soon fast and pooling in their plunkplunkplunkplunkplunk. Sometimes the sensation of them is enough to make you pause, such as the ones that come when you lie on your back and stare ceiling-wards - the ones that curl over the sides of your face and begin to flow like a trickling stream into your ears.

There are the kind that take you by complete surprise, that are borne up to your face on the wave of a keen aching, so quick and violent that your nose stings and pinches and you find your forehead pressed to the cool solid support of the nearest wall while your body shakes. And then there are the kind that you know are coming as soon as you crawl into bed and pull the sheet up and are forced to remember not what is present in your life, but what isn't.

And there are more, so many more. They all have different beginnings and different lives, but each the same end, as endless as they may seem.

---

Macro image of the flower Crocosmia Luficer, taken with my Nikon FM and a reversed lens, on Fuji Velvia 50.

trees in winter

‎"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

Vincent Van Gogh

"I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream."

— Vincent Van Gogh

Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2022

In less than festive weather, the second of WCRC Santa steam specials ran from Lancaster to Carlisle & return- again scheduled to be looped at Oxenholme 35018 is seen south of Oxenholme powering round the curve at the site of Hincaster Junc where the lines from Furness Rly metals joined the LNWR's WCML- the old LNWR signalman's cottages are still extant at this location

Again I think 47760 was attached the rear, but that's more of a guess than a certainty

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 216.

American film actress Linda Darnell (1923-1965) progressed from modelling as a child to acting in theatre and film as an adolescent. The ravishing beauty appeared in supporting roles in big-budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s, and rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power in adventure films. She established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947), and won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).

Monetta Eloyse Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1923, as one of four children to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and the former Pearl Brown. She was the younger sister of Undeen and the older sister of Monte Maloya and Calvin Roy, Jr. Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil. Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry. She believed that Linda was her only child with potential as an actress and ignored the rearing of her other children. Darnell was a model by the age of 11 and was acting on the stage by the age of 13. She initially started modeling to earn money for the household, and performed mostly in beauty contests. Darnell was a student at Sunset High School, when in November 1937, a talent scout for 20th Century Fox arrived in Dallas, looking for new faces. Encouraged by her mother, Darnell met him, and after a few months, he invited her for a screen test in Hollywood. In California, Darnell was initially rejected by film studios and was sent home because she was declared "too young". Darnell was featured in a ‘Gateway to Hollywood’ talent-search and landed a contract at RKO Pictures. There was no certainty, though, and she soon returned to Dallas. When 20th Century Fox offered her a part, Darnell wanted to accept, but RKO was unwilling to release her. Nevertheless, by age 15, she was signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox and moved to a small apartment in Hollywood all alone in 1939.Her first film was Hotel for Women (Gregory Ratoff, 1939), which had newspapers immediately hailing her as the newest star of Hollywood. Loretta Young was originally assigned to play the role, but demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darryl F. Zanuck instead cast Darnell, advertise her beauty and suggested a Latin quality. Although only 15 at the time, Darnell posed as a 17-year-old and was listed as 19 years old by the studio. Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films.

Linda Darnell was assigned to the female lead opposite Tyrone Power in the light romantic comedy Day-Time Wife (Gregory Ratoff, 1939). Although the film received only slightly favourable reviews, Darnell's performance was received positively for her breath-taking looks and splendid acting. Life magazine stated that Darnell was "the most physically perfect girl in Hollywood". Following the film's release, she was cast in the drama comedy Star Dust (Walter Lang, 1940) with John Payne. The film was hailed as one of the "most original entertainment idea in years" and boosted Darnell's popularity, being nicknamed 'Hollywood's loveliest and most exciting star'. After appearing in several small films, Darnell was cast in her first big-budget film opposite Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (Henry Hathaway, 1940), regarded as the most expensive film 20th Century Fox had yet produced. Darnell and Power were cast together for the second time due to the box office success of Day-Time Wife, and they became a highly publicized onscreen couple, which prompted Darryl F. Zanuck to add 18 more romantic scenes to Brigham Young. Darnell began working on the big-budget adventure The Mark of Zorro (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940), in which she again co-starred as Power's sweetheart. Critics raved over the film. The Mark of Zorro was a box office sensation and did much to enhance Darnell's star status. Afterwards, she was paired with Henry Fonda for the first time in the western Chad Hanna (Henry King, 1940), her first Technicolor film. The film received only little attention, unlike Darnell's next film Blood and Sand (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941), in which she was reteamed with Power. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. Thereafter the studio was unable to find her suitable roles. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected. Months passed by without any work, and in August 1941, she was cast in a supporting role in the musical Rise and Shine (Allan Dwan, 1941). The film was a setback in her career, and she was rejected for a later role because she refused to respond to Darryl F. Zanuck's advances. Instead, she contributed to the war effort, working for the Red Cross, selling war bonds, and she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen.

Linda Darnell and Twentieth Century-Fox weren't on the best of terms, and as a punishment, she was loaned out to Columbia for a supporting role in a B movie called City Without Men (Sidney Salkow, 1942). In 1943, she was put on suspension. Darnell had married, which caused the fury of Zanuck. Darnell was reduced to second leads and was overlooked for big-budget productions. Matters changed in 1944 when Look Magazine named her one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood, along with Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, and Gene Tierney. The studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm (Douglas Sirk, 1944), opposite George Sanders. She played a type of role she had never before: a seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered. The film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl. Shortly after, Darnell was again loaned out to portray a showgirl in The Great John L. (Frank Tuttle, 1945), the first film to feature her bare legs. Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Zanuck to cast her in the Film Noir Hangover Square (John Brahm, 1945), playing a role she personally had chosen. The film became a great success, and she was added to the cast of another Film Noir, Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945), which also included Dana Andrews and Alice Faye. Despite suffering from the "terrifying" Preminger, Darnell was praised by reviewers so widely that there was even talk of an Oscar nomination. In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam (John Cromwell, 1946) with Irene Dunne, and Centennial Summer (Otto Preminger, 1946) with the legendary Lillian Gish. Then she went on location in Monument Valley for the classic Western My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) with Henry Fonda end Victor Mature. It was another hit and garnered Linda some of the best reviews of her career.

In 1946, Linda Darnell won the starring role in the highly anticipated romantic drama Forever Amber (Otto Preminger, 1947), based on a bestselling historical novel that was denounced as being immoral at that time. Although she had to work with Preminger, she was delighted to play the title role. However, Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. The following year, Darnell portrayed Daphne de Carter in the comedy Unfaithfully Yours (Preston Sturges, 1948), also starring Rex Harrison, and was then one of the three wives in the comedy/drama A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949). Darnell's hard-edged performance in the latter won her unanimous acclaim and the best reviews of her career. Darnell became one of the most-demanded actresses in Hollywood, and she now had the freedom to select her own roles. She was cast opposite Richard Widmark and Veronica Lake in Slattery's Hurricane (Andre DeToth, 1949), which she perceived as a step down from the level she had reached with A Letter to Three Wives, though it did well at the box office. She then co-starred opposite Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in the groundbreaking No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950). But her later films were rarely noteworthy, and her appearances were increasingly sporadic. Further hampering Darnell's career was the actress's alcoholism and weight gain. Her next films included the Western, Two Flags West (Robert Wise, 1950), The 13th Letter (Otto Preminger, 1951) and The Guy Who Came Back (Joseph M. Newman, 1951).

In 1951, Darnell signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that allowed her to become a freelance actress. Her first film outside 20th Century Fox was for Universal Pictures, The Lady Pays Off (Douglas Sirk, 1951). She was responsible for putting the film behind schedule, because on the fifth day of shooting, she learned that Ivan Kahn, the man responsible for her breakthrough, had died. Darnell then headed the cast of the British romantic war film Saturday Island (Stuart Heisler, 1952), which co-starred Tab Hunter and was filmed on location in Jamaica. There, Darnell fell ill and had to be quarantined for several weeks. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the lot of 20th Century Fox for the Film Noir Night Without Sleep (Roy Ward Baker, 1952) with Gary Merrill and Hildegarde Knef. It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, since she was released from it in September 1952. The competition of television forced studios all over Hollywood to drop actors. This news initially excited Darnell, because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe, but the ease and protection enjoyed under contract was gone. Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate (Raoul Walsh, 1952). In Italy she made Donne proibite/Angels of Darkness (Giuseppe Amato, 1954) with Valentina Cortese and Giulietta Masina. The second collaboration, the French-Italian comedy Gli ultimi cinque minuti/The Last Five Minutes (Giuseppe Amato, 1955) with Vittorio De Sica and Peppino De Filippo proved disastrous, and was never released in the United States. Back in Hollywood, she accepted an offer from Howard Hughes to star in RKO's 3-D film Second Chance (Rudolph Maté, 1953) with Robert Mitchum, filmed in Mexico. Because of her then-husband, Philip Liebmann, Darnell put her career on a hiatus. In 1955, she returned to 20th Century Fox, by which time the studio had entered the television field. She guest-starred in series like Cimarron City and Wagon Train, and also returned to the stage.

Linda Darnell’s last work as an actress was in a stage production in Atlanta in early 1965. At the time of her death a few months later, she was preparing to perform in another play. She died in 1965, from burns she received in a house fire in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. The house of her former secretary and agent caught on fire in the early morning and Darnell died that afternoon in Cook County Hospital. Linda Darnell was only 41. She had been married three times. In 1943, at age 19, she eloped with 42-year-old cameraman Peverell Marley in Las Vegas. Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problems. In 1946, during production of Centennial Summer, she fell in love with womanizing millionaire Howard Hughes. She separated from Marley but when Hughes announced that he had no desire to marry her, Darnell returned to her husband. Because Darnell and Marley were unable to have children, they adopted a daughter, Charlotte Mildred "Lola" Marley (1948), the actress's only child. In mid-1948, she became romantically involved with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and filed for divorce. Mankiewicz, however, did not want to leave his wife for Darnell, and though the affair continued for six years, she again returned to her husband. In 1949, Darnell went into psychotherapy for hostile emotions that she had been building since childhood. Darnell and Marley finally divorced in 1951. In 1954, she married brewery heir Philip Liebmann but the marriage ended in 1955 on grounds of incompatibility. From 1957 to 1963, Linda Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson. Darnell's final screen appearance was opposite Rory Calhoun in the low-budget Western Black Spurs (R.G. Springsteen, 1965).

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

"Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security. "

~John Allen Paulo