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Finally made it through day 1 of a 30 day tutorial on CAD software, please don't ask how many day it took me! I'm sure as I get more into it I will be even slower, no hurry I guess no one watching me...
It was either sheer genius or complete madness on the part of the person who decided that there was ever the possibility of a stage adaptation of Lanarkshire author and broadcaster Damian Barr’s very personal, though surreal yet so-real rollercoaster ride and darkly witty 2013 memoir Maggie & Me (www.amazon.co.uk/Maggie-Me-Damian-Barr/dp/1408838060).
It showed at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre recently (hence the Maggie cardboard cutout frightening the bejeezus out of everyone passing the theatre bar window with lots of double-takes) - and sort of worked, but in many ways was a therapy session as I guess we all have our own visions of growing up in the era of Maggie.
At least with the real Maggie you knew where you stood with her - often badly, but at least you always knew where you stood with her! Unlike this present lot, as nobody knows where they stand with them, and nor do they know where they stand with themselves.
Deservedly, they are set to tip over an epic electoral abyss in Thursday’s General Election. Yet ironically for a country that needs healing and brought together, getting shot of the Tories has turned into the biggest show of national unity since the 2012 Olympics.
Canon RP & Canon RF24-105mm f/4-7.1
Olean, NY. August 2017.
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If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media elsewhere (such as newspaper or article), please send me a Flickrmail or send me an email at natehenderson6@gmail.com
Oil on canvas
I cannot tell you how glad I am that I have finally finished this painting. It has driven me mad!
A simple, quick, and very cheap circuit to turn on an LED when it gets dark. Read more about this project here.
Beautiful Vintage Lugged Mercian Complete Bicycle.
About the Frameset:
- Size 57cmx57cm (center to center), ST: 71.7deg, HT: 74.2deg, DT:47.3
- 70's era frame brazed in Derby, England
- Lugged Chrome Fork with classic bend
- Partially Chromed Seat-stays and Chain-stays
- Elegant bullet point seat stay caps
- Repainted in the 80's with many cool gold accent lines and the name "Eric Woodward" painted on the top tube
- 531 DB Reynolds tubing
- Hand carved Nervex lugs
- Semi-horizontal rear dropout
- Cable pulley wheels on the BB shell (not currently used in build)
- A bit of "beausage" including many chips & scratches in the paint
Parts List:
- "Antique Brown" Brooks B17 Saddle (pre-worn-in for your comfort)
- Velo Orange Grand Cru Silver Seatpost (great setback for Brooks Saddle)
- Nitto Noodle Handlebars (44cm)
- Rivendell Silver Bar-end shifters with friction "power ratchet" action (brand new UV safe washers installed, includes second backup set)
- Brand new 3mm Fizik Performance Handlebar Tape (wow, great cushion!)
- Nitto Technomic Long Quill Stem 90mm
- Brass Crane Suzu Bell (Polished with Brasso cream!)
- 1" threaded Silver Sotto Voce Chris King Headset
- Campagnolo Clamp-on cable stops
- Shimano UN55 Square Taper Bottom Bracket 118mm (New!)
- Sugino Mighty Tour Double Crankset 48/34 170mm
- Velo Orange Touring Pedals, Sealed Bearing PD-0003 Includes half toe-clips (designed without straps, can be easily removed)
- Matching Shimano Front and Rear Derailleurs "Light Action"
- Shimano 9-speed cassette 11-28t
- TRP RRL SR Retro Brake Levers with gum hoods and classic drillium style levers
- Rivendell Silver Brand Caliper brakes (with quick release levers & cable adjusters)
- Brand new white Jagwire Housing and Cables & matching blue cable tips!
- Brand new wheelset! Alexrims R450 laced to Shimano Claris hubs & Shimano quick release skewers, all silver for a classic look with modern design.
- Vittoria Randonneur Tires 700c x 29mm (measured on rim)
- Hammered Honjo Fenders, with red accents painted in flutes with matching nail polish
- Berthoud Leather Mudflaps (Treated with Nikwax Waterproof Leather Conditioner!)
- Portland Design Works Fenderbot Rear Battery Taillight (pefect angle for the rear light mount!)
I got my final border fabric on Monday and was able to cut and sew it yesterday. I'm thrilled!
Project of Doom patterns available here: www.fandominstitches.com/2011/08/project-of-doom-archive....
WEEK 23 – Keeping Up with the McDonald'ses
A late January look at the finished Hernando McDonald's remodel. Not taken specifically for a McDonald's shot – rather, I was trying to get zoomed-out pictures of Commerce Street retail – but it'll have to do.
...and I do have to say, after these few months, it's grown on me ;)
McDonald's // 440 E Commerce Street, Hernando, MS 38632
Kroger Fuel Center // 2380 Mount Pleasant Road, Hernando, MS 38632
(c) 2015 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Completed in 2000
Design: Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekts
www.allmannsattlerwappner.de/en/projects/detail/60/info/#...
detail-online.com/inspiration/church-of-the-sacred-heart-...
You'll have to wait for my full thoughts on the iPhone 6/6 Plus and their cameras. And I haven't even looked at all of my photos yet. But I'm very pleased with many of shots I came home with today.
(OK, technically, "the shots I came to the Panera a few Green Line stops away" with.)
Completed 1924
Architects: Taylor & Fisher; Smith & May
Developer: J. Henry Miller & Son
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America_Building_%28Baltimo...
Historical American Buildings Survey report (pdf):
www.cr.nps.gov/hdp/exhibits/baltimore/B2L08.pdf
Now known as the Bank of America Building. Previous names include the Mathieson Building and the O'Sullivan Building.
Old photograph from Maryland Historical Society website:
Finally finished this! It's been a journey and a quite a learning experience. The airbrush is an interesting tool to use in 2D painting and I will be using it lots more for this.
Acrylic paint on paper
268mm x 152mm
ok so the shoes are not authentic but on an 18 year old i think they are much nicer and after all it is my fantasy
Finished, Complete, I can't believe I have actually reached the end to be honest.
Yes that really is 364 photos (4x6) stuck on my wall with bluetack, we had to more the whole room about.
Before I rabble on a bit I would like to thank every single person who has looked, liked, favourited (is that a word), mentioned, commented on my photos, without you I would have stopped as a good comment does loads for encouragement and a bit for your self esteem also :).
Thank you everyone who has been in the photos, helped me setting up the photos and have dealt with me talking about the project for the last year (I'm sorry if I have bored you that was not the intention I promise, Maria mostly x)
So 365 Days or most of the time..1 Year.
I have been meticulously taking photographs on every day for the past 365 days, No "If's or But's" ..every single day I have set made sure that a shot was taken within that 24 hours period.
It's been fun, hard, frustrating, addictive, enjoyable, stressful, enlightening, educational, satisfying and rewarding, just to name a few.
I have tried my upmost to keep the pictures to a decent standard, as what I didn't want was half-assed photos and a boring set.
Originally I starting this project without much thought of the implications it has, which I came to realise soon after but I'm not one to give up, I started it to throw me in the deep end as although always enjoying taking photographs I had never owned a SLR, so in November of last year (16/11/2011) I purchased my very first digital SLR in the form of a Canon 600D with the standard kit lens (18-55mm).
I found myself enjoying photography more and more, day by day and this project has really taught me things I don't think I would have learned in this amount of time otherwise.
And after returning from honeymoon I ordered a 7D which is a great great piece of kit I would strongly recommend, nothing wrong with the 600D just more options. (5D MKIII next would be nice, I xmas is coming lol)
A warning to anybody with a new SLR or thinking about getting into photography -IT IS ADDICTIVE- I'm not sure which drug you can compare it to but I'm sure it's similar.
I have found myself since buying this camera itching for another piece of equipment, and subsequently spending all my "spare" cash on such things (fiance and now wife gives my evil eyes at such times).
This is not to say I wouldn't whole heartedly recommend getting a SLR and perhaps even doing a 365 project as it a great thing to do with your time if you have it.
Will I do another?
I doubt it, but you never know. I think I will focus on different projects rather than repeating a 365.
What's next?
More competitions, working on my website and services more and taking up other projects to keep me thinking.
I hope you have enjoyed my 365, I know I have!
If you haven't looked through some of my pics, then please have a lil browse and see what you think, favourite or comment and I will take a browse too :).
Cheers!
STROBIST:
Canon 580exii camera right with diffuser bouncing off ceiling at 1/1 power fired using YN622 triggers
Canon 430exii in westcott 28/medium softbox in front of camera left a 1/1 power fired using YN622 trigger
Also I am sitting on a PhotoSel pop up background
The first stage of the tessellation is underway, it is so satisfying to fold it I am just in love with how it will look! It also looks lovely backlit but I will save that for the final showing ;)
Lack of time and a difficult upperhalf of a puzzle isn't a good combination for a speedy completion.
SCT006,SCT013 are about to depart from the Coonan crossing loop with 4PM9 SCT service after a cross had been completed on 25-8-11
*SURLY* pugsley complete bike
BLUE LUG custom
SPEC
Frame: *SURLY* pugsley
Stem: *NITTO* mt-16
Wheels: *SHIMANO* × *SURLY* marge lite
Tire: *SURLY* black floyd
Brake lever:*AVID*
Sifter: *MICROSHIFT*
FD&RD: *SHIMANO* deore
Headset:*CANE CREEK* 40
Brake: *AVID* bb7
Handle: *SALSA CYCLES*
Grip: *AME* mountain zone grip (red)
Saddle: *WTB* pure V pro
The switching layout is now pretty much finished. All areas are polished off and it’s a blast to operate. I’ve been quite happy with all the subtle details I’ve been able to model with this layout. It’s very fun to operate and I think really compliments whatever is running at the time!
Created for the Make It Interesting challenge #2 - Key.
Thanks to Brenda-Starr for the beautiful starter image.
Thanks also to:
= Intermayer for the awesome couple.
= Pareeerica for the beautiful texture.
(Replaced 10-28-09)
Finally finished the landing gear. Very happy with how it turned out... and still amazed that it DID turn out, in any kind of functional form. Now, onto the wings...
The French naturalist and physician Pierre Belon (1517-1565) was born in Soultière and is best known for his texts, works of a self-taught naturalist, than for his services as secret agent to cardinals du Bellay and of Tournon. He worked first as an apothecary and later as an agronomist. He studied Medicine in Wittenberg with Valerius Cordus in 1540-1541 and in Italy in 1551. At that time, helped by the political situation, he completed his studies in physic at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des Prés, from where he graduated "cum laude" in 1560, although he was never awarded the title of doctor.
Belon owed his career mainly to his political patrons. From 1542 onwards he was in the service of the Cardinal of Tournon and took part in various diplomatic legations. Entrusted with missions to the court of Charles V and to Germany, he later followed his teacher Valerius Cordus to Rome, collecting flora also from the gardens of Venice, Padua, Milan and the lakes of Northern Italy.
Again in the service of the Cardinal de Tournon, now minister to the king, Belon frequented the court and the palace of Saint Germain en Laye, admiring the monarch’s collection, which included curious specimens from all over the then known world, such as lions, panthers, ostriches, timber from Brazil and rare plants. It was then that Belon decided to translate Dioscurides and Theophrastus, collating ancient and modern plant names in his work. In 1546, at the age of just thirty, he joined Ambassador d’Aramon’s diplomatic mission to the East, a move that was to determine the rest of his life and work.
D’Aramon left Paris secretly in December 1546, with a numerous embassy, including for the first time a team of scientists. After crossing France and Switzerland, they arrived in Venice, from where they sailed away in three galleys, in February 1547. Coasting the Adriatic, the party arrived in Ragusa, from where the ambassador took the land route to Constantinople, via the southern Balkan Peninsula. Belon and Bénigne de Villers, an apothecary from Dijon, chose the maritime route through the Ionian Sea.
At Paxi, while Belon was collecting flora, his companion was kidnapped by pirates. In the spring of 1547, Belon arrived on Crete. He stayed in the house of Callergis, who provided him with guides to Mount Ida, Rethymnon and the mountains of Sphacia. The French naturalist observed the flora and fauna of the island, was tricked by the false labyrinth, watched how labdanum was collected, wandered about, collected and tried specimens, and asked questions on everything he was looking for or came upon.
Belon left Crete for Constantinople on a Venetian felucca. While sailing by Cea, the ship was attacked by pirates, but finally, by way of southern Euboea, it reached the Bosporus coast, probably in late spring. Together with Pierre Gilles, also attaché to the French embassy, Belon explored the maze of bazaars and alleys of the Ottoman capital. He became friends with a wise Turk who knew Arabic, with the help of whom and of the Avicenna Canon, which gave the names of the medicinal flora, he compiled a glossary of plants in Turkish. With this in hand, Belon explored the bazaars, in order to get to know all the edible and medicinal plants bought and sold in Turkey.
Such products were among the most important imports in the trade with the East, which was till in the hands of Venetian middlemen. Thus, Belon’s researches were to be of great help to France, mercantile rival of Venice.
Famous among the curative products of the time was “Lemnian earth” ("terra lemnia" or terra "sigillata"), the medicinal clay of Lemnos, which all European ambassadors sought to bring to their masters as a precious gift. Belon decided to visit the place of extraction of this mineral. Carrying his letters of recommendation, he embarked on a brigantine and sailed to Lemnos. Due to windless weather, the ship was again in peril from pirates and sought refuge in a harbour of Imbros, where it stayed for two days. Finally, the party reached Lemnos by rowing. In spite of Belon’s fervent wish to see the extraction of "terra lemnia", this was not possible as is it takes place only once a year, on 6 August, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Saviour. Nonetheless, Belon explored Lemnos in depth and studied its flora and fauna. He offered medical services to local patients, was housed by the island’s authorities, and finally managed to arrive in the area of the "terra lemnia" deposits, escorted by a janissary. From Lemnos, Belon reached Thasos, in the company of two monks, after a storm blew them off course near Skyros. Finally, he managed to sail by boat in four hours from Thasos to the coast of Mount Athos. He collected plants, fished, chased insects and birds and was only disappointed when he was unable to locate traces of Xerxes’ canal.
Within two days, Belon arrived in Thessaloniki. He was the first to visit and describe the metal mines of Siderocausia in the Chalcidice. He then took the route to the Strymon river, visited Serres and Drama, and toured the ruins of Philippi. He stayed in the "imaret" in Cavala and wrote on hospitality provided in similar "vakuf" ("waqf" – religious endowment) hostelries. He also passed through the lagoon of Porto Lagos, the city of Comotini, the alum mines at Sapes, and from Heraclea, Rhaidestos (Tekirdag) and Silivri in Eastern Thrace. There, he came across four thousand Ottoman troops bound for Persia, camped next to a caravanserai and moving about in exemplary discipline and quiet.
At the beginning of August 1547, Belon returned to Constantinople. In the company of Mr de Fumel and many other French noblemen, escorted by janissaries, subalterns ("çavuş") and dragomans (interpreters), they departed on the voyage to the East, starting from Egypt. Exiting the Dardanelles, Belon becomes the first European traveller to locate the ruins of Troy. He wrote on the edible plants of Lesbos, the mastic and the kindly women of Chios. Sailing by Samos, he speaks of the Greek sailor travelling with them, who was a native of that island. On visiting Patmos, he also mentions Saint John and the "Apocalypse", as well as the islands of Leros and Pserimos, Kos and Hippocrates. The ship finally dropped anchor in Rhodes. The city of the Knights, its market and port, local products and inhabitants unfold in Belon’s notes.
The company arrived in Alexandria at the end of August. They visited Cairo, Memphis, the Giza pyramids and reached the monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Egyptian part of Belon’s journey is one of the first and most insightful approaches made by a European traveller to the exotic Arab Muslim world of the East. The Nile and its canals, the markets and the fauna of Africa, the womenfolk, curiosities of dress, mummies, the pyramids, the oases and the desert of Arabia, boats on the Red Sea, minerals and wild animals find their place for the first time in a dense text with unique style.
From Egypt, the company proceeded to Palestine, where they arrived ten days later, and the Holy Land becomes Belon’s new field of research. He lists rare animals, semiprecious stones, fish, birds, the uses of water, wells, and identifies trees, shrubs and native flora. He does this according to his favourite model, that is, the contrasting of modern information with ancient testimonies, without failing to record the uses and the varieties of each species. Thus, he made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in his own way and was moved to tears in such hallowed places as Jerusalem, Galilee, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jericho.
After touring Palestine, the travellers headed northwards. Walking across fields of sesame and cotton, they reached Damascus within five days. Belon makes a systematic classification of every remarkable thing he sees: the walls of Damascus, Syrian medicine and justice, caravanserais and pilgrims to Mecca, rare flora of the land, cedars, local methods of cultivation, the ruins of Baalbek, Aleppo (ancient Beroea), alleyways and coins, Antioch and the remains of early Christianity, Adana and the fields where Alexander the Great fought his battles, and every curiosity he came upon in the Middle East.
In central Asia Minor, Belon makes observations on the local dietary habits, especially of the Turks, and on the textiles, without neglecting plants, therapeutic springs, horses and a local species of goat. By way of Iconium (Konya) and Aksehir (he makes mention of Ankara), Belon reached Afyonkarahisar, where he stayed the rest of the winter of 1547 and until early spring of 1548. In that city he was able to write the third part of his chronicle, which speaks of the origin of the Turks, their public and private life, the institutions and administration of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the customs and religious beliefs of the Muslims.
Belon then visited to Kütahya, and toured Bursa. When he finally arrived in Constantinople, the French ambassador d’Aramon was preparing to follow Suleiman the Magnificent on his campaign against Persia. The military expedition left Ottoman capital in May 1548. The indefatigable Belon, together with Gilles and Thevet, came along as well, but this time the French naturalist only made it to Nicomedia. He returned to Constantinople and sailed to Venice at the beginning of 1549. In 1550 he left France again on a new diplomatic mission to England.
Belon became a protegé of the Montmorency family. He divided his time between botanical explorations in the provinces of France and Italy (from where he brought cypresses, plane trees and rhododendrons to his country), and his clerical duties, becoming more and more fervently opposed to the Reformation. In the last years of his life he became embroiled in the religious wars as a fanatic supporter of the Catholics. He was murdered mysteriously in the Bois de Boulogne of Paris, on an April night of 1565, while on his way to the Château de Madrid, where he had been offered a place to stay. The perpetrator was probably a fanatical Huguenot. Belon was just 48 years old.
From 1551, Belon had dedicated himself to writing and publishing his works, starting with his essay entitled "Histoire naturelle des étranges poissons marins", with his own illustrations. In 1553, he published another work on fish, "De aquatilibus", which was followed two years later by its French version, "De la nature & diversité des poissons". Again in 1553, the chronicle of his voyage circulated, which was republished in 1554 and in a revised and expanded version in 1555, together with "Histoire de la nature des oiseaux". In that same year, Belon published two studies on two different subjects, "De arboribus coniferis" and "De admirabile operum antiquorum".
Belon’s travel chronicle was reprinted in 1558, 1585, and 1588. The last edition was enriched with two engravings absent from the previous editions (Mount Sinai and Lemnos-Mount Athos). It was translated into Latin, English and German during the eighteenth century, and into Bulgarian in 1953. Extracts from this work (on Lemnos and Mount Athos) have on occasion been translated into Greek, and a publication of the chapters on Crete is currently in preparation.
Belon was a man of the sixteenth century, a pragmatist, barely sensitive to the enchantments of nature. He is a fine example of a humanist traveller-researcher, devoted as he is to the quest for truth, in his case almost exclusively in relation to matters of botany or zoology. He is the first model of a truly reliable informant, and his work was the basic manual for all travellers until Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, who visited the Aegean archipelago and the East in 1700-1702, and whose work, published in 1717, became the model for the description of the Greek islands.
Belon travelled in foreign lands with the passion of the humanist naturalist. He abandoned his books in order to don the habit of the wandering researcher, with a zeal for life and scientific knowledge
Written by Ioli Vingopoulou
Fransız asıllı doğa bilimci ve doktor Pierre Belon (1517-1565) Soultière'de doğar. Adı, Du Bellay ve Tournon Kardinalleri hesabına gizli ajan olarak verdiği hizmetlerden çok kendi kendini eğitmiş bir doğa bilimci olarak kaleme aldığı kitaplar sayesinde tarihte kalır. İlk başta eczacı daha sonra ise ziraatçı olan Belon, 1540-41 yıllarında Witteberg'de Valerius Cordus yanında ve daha sonra İtalya'da (1551) tıp öğrenimi görür. Dönemin siyasal durumundan yararlanarak Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Près manastırında tıp öğrenimini tamamlayıp 1560 yılında üstün başarıyla mezun olur, ancak profesör doktor ünvanını hiçbir zaman elde etmez.
Kariyerini özellikle siyasi destekleyicilerine borçlu olan Belon, 1542 yılından sonra Tournon Kardinali hizmetine atanıp birçok diplomatik sefere katılır. Başta Şarlken (V. Karl) sarayı olmak üzere Almanya'da çeşitli görevlerde bulunur. Hocası Valerius Cordus'u Roma seyahatinde izler ve Venedik bahçelerinde, Padova, Milano ve kuzey İtalya göllerinde bitki incelemeleri yapar. Dönüşünde yeniden, artık kraliyet bakanı olan Kardinal de Tournon'un hizmetine girer; bu görevdeyken sık sık kral sarayı ve Saint Germain en Laye sarayında bulunup hükümdarın o devrin bilinen dünyasından derlemiş olduğu görülmeğe değer (aslanlar, panterler, zürafa kuşları, Brezilya odunu, nadir bitkiler) koleksiyonlarını hayranlıkla seyreder. İşte tam bu sırada Belon Anavarzalı Dioskorides ve Teofrastos'un eserlerini çevirerek bu metinlere bitkilerin eski ve yeni adlarını içeren bir listeyi eklemeyi kafasına koyar. Henüz 30 yaşındayken, 1546 yılında, elçi D’Aramon'un Doğu'ya yaptığı diplomatik sefere katılır; bu yolculuk tüm yaşamını ve yazarlık uğraşını belirleyecektir.
Elçi D' Aramon 1546 yılının Aralık ayında yanına güçlü bir maiyet alarak gizli bir diplomatik sefere çıkar. Bu sefere ilk kez bilimadamlarından oluşan bir ekip de katılır. Fransa ve İsviçre'yi geçip Venedik'e varırlar, buradan üç kadırgayla 1547'nin Şubat ayında denize açılırlar. Ekip, Adriyatik kıyılarını geçerek Ragusa'ya gelir; buradan elçi D' Aramon güney Balkanlar kara yoluyla İstanbul'a doğru yol alırken Belon da Dijon'lu eczacı Bénigne de Villers ile birlikte deniz yolunu seçip İyon denizini geçer ve İstanbul'a doğru yönelir. Paksos adalarında bitki araştırması yaptığı sırada oraya gelen korsanlar yol arkadaşını kaçırırlar. 1547 yılının baharında Girit'e gelir ve Kallergis tarafından misafir edilir. Kallergis ona İda dağında, Rethimno (Resmo) ve Sfakia (İsfakiye) dağlarında gezebilmesi için rehberler sağlar. Fransız doğabilimci adanın flora ve faunasını gözlemler, sözde labirentle yanılgıya düşer, laden (labdanum) toplamasını izler, gezinir, toplar, dener, aradığı her eski şey rasladığı her yeni şey hakkında sorular sorar. Belon, Girit'ten bir Venedik filikasına binip İstanbul'a doğru yol alır, gemi Kea adasından geçerken korsanlarla bir maceraları olur, nihayet güney Evia'dan (Eğriboz) geçerek İstanbul Boğazı kıyılarına gelirler, zaman tahminen bahar sonudur. İstanbul'da Belon kendisi gibi Fransa elçiliğinde ataşe olan P. Gilles ile birlikte şehrin dolambaçlı çarşı ve sokaklarını keşfe çıkar. Arapça bilen bir Türk bilge ile arkadaşlık kurup onun yardımıyla, İbn-i Sina'nın şifa bitkilerinin adlarını belirten Tıp Kanunu'ndan yararlanarak, türkçe bir dizin hazırlar ve bununla pazar yerlerini gezip Türkiye'de satılıp alınan gıda ve şifa bitkilerini öğrenmeye çalışır. Bu tür ürünlerin ithalâtı o devirde Doğu ile ticaretin en önemli öğelerinden birini oluşturmaktaydı. Ne var ki şifa otu ticaretini hâlâ Venedikli aracılar halletmekteydi. Bu yüzden Belon'un araştırmaları Venedik'in rakibi Fransa için büyük önem taşımaktaydı.
Şifalı türler arasında tüm Avrupalı elçilerin hükümdarlarına değerli bir hediye olarak sunmak istedikleri ve bu nedenle daima önemle aradıkları bir tür de "tıyn-ı mahtûm" (Limni toprağı) ürünüydü. Belon bu toprak türünün çıkarılma eyleminde şahsen bulunmayı aklına koyar. Birkaç referans mektubu sağlayarak bir perkendeye biner ve Limnos'a (Limni) doğru yol alır. Denizin sakin oluşu yolcuları korsan saldırısına uğrama riskine sokar, bu yüzden Gökçeada'nın (İmroz) bir limanına çekilirler, orada iki gün bekledikten sonra kürek gücüyle Limnos'a varırlar. Belon'un büyük arzusuna karşın "tıyn-ı mahtûm"un çıkarılma eylemi Limnos'ta yılda sadece bir kez, 6 Ağustos Tecelli bayramında (İsa'nın metamorfozu) yapılmaktadır. Belon adada uzun uzun gezip flora ve faunayı inceler, yerli hastalara tıbbî hizmetlerde bulunur, yerel yöneticiler tarafından misafir edilir ve, nihayet, bir yeniçeri refakatinde "tıyn-ı mahtûm"un çıkarıldığı bölgeye gelmeyi başarır. Belon Limnos'tan ayrıldıktan sonra fırtınalar gemisini Skiros'a sürükler ancak daha sonra iki rahiple birlikte Thasos (Taşoz) adasına gelir. Oradan bir sandalla dört saat içinde Ayion Oros (Aynaroz) kıyılarına yanaşır. Burada bitki toplar, balık, böcek ve kuş avlar, Aynaroz dağı tepesinden Ege denizine bakar, mamafih Kserkses'ten iz bulamayınca düş kırıklığına uğrar. Buradan ayrıldıktan sonra iki gün içinde Selânik'e varır. Halkidiki'nin Siderokapsa (Seder Kapı) maden ocaklarını ziyaret edip betimleyen ilk kişidir. Daha sonra Struma nehrine doğru yönelir, Seres (Serez) ve Drama'dan geçer, antik kent Filippi'nin harabelerini gezer, Kavala'da İmarette kalıp bunun gibi vakıf misafirhanelerinin misafirperverliği hakkında yazar. Belon daha sonra Porto Lagos iç denizinden, Komotini'den (Gümülcine), Sapes'deki (Şapçı) şap madeni ocaklarından, Tekirdağ, Marmara Ereğlisi, Silivri'den geçip bunlardan seyahatnamesinde sözeder. Bu sırada İran seferine çıkan, örnek olabilecek bir düzen ve sessizlik içinde hareket eden ve bir kervansaray yakınlarında karargâh kurmuş olan 4.000 kişilik Osmanlı ordusu ile karşılaşır.
1547'nin Ağustos ayında, Belon, İstanbul'a döner ve bay De Fumel'den başka birçok Fransız soylu, yeniçeri, çavuş ve tercümandan meydana gelen kalabalık bir maiyetle Doğu gezisine çıkar. Amaçları ilk olarak Mısır'ı ziyaret etmektir. Belon Çanakkale Boğazı çıkışında Truva harabelerinin yerini tespit eden ilk Avrupalı gezgin olur. Midilli'den geçerken adanın yetiştirdiği ürünler, Sakız'dan geçerken adanın sakızı ve sevecen kadınları, Samos'ta yanlarına aldıkları adanın yerlisi yunanlı denizci, Patmos'da Yuhanna'nın Vahiy kitabı, Leros ve Pserimos adaları, Kos'ta (İstanköy) Hipokrat hakkında yazar; en sonunda Rodos'a demir atarlar. Belon'un seyahat notlarında buradaki şövalye kenti, çarşı ve liman, yerli ürünler ve adanın sakinlerinden sözedilir. Gezginler Ağustos sonunda İskenderiye'ye varırlar. Kahire ile Memfis'i ve Giza piramitlerini ziyaret edip Sina dağındaki Azize Katerina manastırına kadar gelirler. Belon'un seyahatnamesinin Mısır'la ilgili bölümünde bir Avrupalı gezgin tarafından Doğu'nun arap müslüman egzotik dünyasına karşı yöneltilen ilk ve en keskin bakışlardan birini bulmaktayız. Nil nehri ve kanallar, çarşılar, Afrika faunası, kadınlar ve kıyafet gariplikleri, mumyalar, piramitler, Arabistan çölü ve vahalar, Kızıldenizdeki kayıklar, mineraller ve vahşi hayvanlar; bunların tümü ilk kez olarak bir kitap içinde yoğun ve özel bir tarzda konum almaktadır.
Gezginler Mısır'dan Filistin'e doğru yayan olarak yola çıkarlar, on gün sonra oraya varırlar. Kutsallaşmış Yerler Belon için yeni bir araştırma alanı olur. Metninde nadir hayvan, yarı değerli taş, balık, kuş adları sayar, suyun kullanımları ve kuyular hakkında yazar, ağaçlar, fundalar ve yerel bitkilerin adlarını özdeşleştirir. Daima yaptığı gibi çağdaş bilgileri eski metinlerdeki verilerle kıyaslayıp her türün çeşitlerini ve kullanım biçimlerini de kaydeder. Belon Kutsal Yerlere kendi bildiği gibi ibadet eder; ancak tabii ki huşu içinde olan Kudüs, Celile, Nasıra, Beytüllahim ve Eriha gibi mekânlar onu heyecanlandırır.
Kutsal Yerlerde gezilerini tamamladıktan sonra kuzeye doğru yürürler. Susam ve pamuk tarlaları arasından geçip beş gün içinde Şam'a varırlar. Yazar burada da aynı düzenli biçimde Şam şehrinin surları, Suriye'de tıp, hukuk ve kervansaraylar, Mekke'ye giden hacılar, bölgenin nadir faunası, sedir ağaçları, tarım biçimleri, Baalbek harabeleri, Halep sokakları ve eski sikkeler, Antakya ve erken hristiyanlığın kalıntıları, Adana ve Büyük İskender'in muharebe yaptığı ovalar ve Orta Doğu'da görülmeğe değer tüm garip şeyleri sırayla kaydeder.
Orta Anadolu'ya vardıklarında özellikle Türklerin beslenme alışkanlıkları ve dokumacılıkları hakkında gözlemler yapar, ancak bitki araştırmasından bir an bile vazgeçmez, ayrıca kaplıcalar, atlar ve bölgedeki özel koyun cinsini (tiftik) kaydeder. Gezginler Konya ve Akşehir'den geçerek Ankara'ya oradan da Afyon Karahisar'a gelirler ve 1547 yılı kışının geri kalan kısmını 1548'in baharına dek burada geçirirler. Belon bu arada seyahatnamesinin üçüncü bölümünü yazma fırsatını bulur. Bu bölümde Türklerin kökenleri, özel ve kamu hayatları, Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun toplumsal kurumları ve yönetimi, müslümanların adetleri ve dinî inançları hakkında yazar. Yolu Kütahya'ya doğru devam eder ve Bursa'yı ziyaret eder; nihayet İstanbul'a vardığında Fransa elçisi D' Aramon'u Kanuni Sultan Süleyman'ın İran'a karşı yapacağı seferde izlemeye hazır bulur. Seferberlik 1548'in Mayıs ayında gerçekleşir ve yorulmak bilmeyen Belon yanında Gilles ve Thevet ile beraber seferberliğe katılır. Ancak bu kez Fransız doğabilimci sadece İzmit'e kadar ulaşabilir. Buradan İstanbul'a dönüp bir gemiye biner ve 1549 yılı başlarında nihayet Venedik'e ulaşır. 1550'de ise yeni bir diplomatik görevle İngiltere'ye doğru yola çıkar.
Daha sonra Montmorency'lerin himayesine girip bundan sonraki zamanını Fransa taşrasından İtalya'ya kadar uzanan bir alanda bitki araştırmalarına ayırır - nitekim İtalya'dan ülkesine selvi, çınar ve zakkum çeşitleri götürür. Öte yandan gittikçe Reform rejimine karşı tavır alan kilisedeki görevini de sürdürür. Ömrünün son yıllarında, süregitmekte olan dinî çarpışmalarda kendisi de fanatik bir katolik taraftarı olarak faal rol alır. Nihayet 1565 yılının Nisan ayında bir akşam Paris'te esrarengiz bir biçimde öldürülür. Boulogne ormanında bulunan Madrid sarayında kendisine sağlanan misafirhaneye giderken fanatik bir Hugueno tarafından vurulduğu sanılıyor. Henüz 48 yaşındaydı.
Belon 1551 yılından itibaren kitaplarını yazmaya ve yayınlamaya başlar. İlk başta gelen Histoire naturelles des étranges poissons marins adlı yapıtı kendi desenleriyle tamamlanmış bir çalışmadır. 1553 yılında, balıklar hakkında latincede yazılmış De aquqtilibus kitabını yayınlar. Aynı kitap iki yıl sonra De la nature & diversité des poissons başlığıyla fransızca olarak basılır. Gine 1553'te seyahatnamesini de yayınlar. Bu yapıt 1554'te ikinci baskı yapar, 1555'te ise Histoire de la nature des oiseaux çalışması ile birlikte düzeltmeler ve eklemeler yapıldıktan sonra üçüncü kez yayınlanır. Bunlardan başka 1553'de De arboribus coniferis ve De admirabile operum antiquorum başlıklı değişik konulu iki çalışmasını da yayınlar.
Seyahatnamesi 1558, 1585, 1588 yıllarında tekrar basılır, son baskı ise daha öncekilerde bulunmayan iki gravürle zenginleştirilir. Bu gravürler Sina dağı ve Limnos ile Aynaroz dağını görüntülemektedir. Eser 18. yüzyıl içinde latince, ingilizce ve almancaya, 1953'te bulgarcaya çevrilir. Limnos ve Aynaroz ile ilgili bölümler yunancada bulunmakta, ayrıca Girit ile ilgili bölümlerin yunanca olarak yayınlanması da öngörülmektedir.
Belon bir 16. yüzyıl insanı olarak doğanın cazibesine karşı hemen hemen hiç duyarlı olmayan bir pragmatisttir. Kendini tamamen gerçeğin arayışına vermiş bir hümanist gezgin-kâşif in mükemmel örneğini oluşturmaktadır. Belon için gerçek tamamen bitki ve hayvan bilimi konularıyla ilintili olup biriktirdiği özgün bilgiler ilerideki gezginler için (Joseph Pitton de Tournefort'un eseri yayınlanana dek) temel bir el kitabı oluşturur. Belon'dan sonra Joseph Pitton de Tournefort 1700-1702'de Ege adaları ve Anadolu'da seyahat etmiş ve 1717'de yayınlanan seyahatnamesi özellikle yunan adaları betimlemesinde örnek bir eser olmuştu.
Belon hümanist bir doğabilimci coşkusuyla bilginin kuramsal çerçevesini terkedip doğa yürüyüşlerini yaparken gezici bir araştırmacı kılığına bürünür ve sabit fikir derecesinde olan bilimsel düşünüş ve yaşama tarzını fanatik bir biçimde gezindirir .
Yazan: İoli Vingopoulou
Crazy hours this week to bring things to a close. Moving trucks arrive at 8:30am tomorrow. The shower is not complete yet. We have to wait for the tempered glass to come, so one more wave in the bath. We rigged up a temporary shower curtain for the time being. Photo, Headur.
Three hours of building today gave me a chance to tackle the hill!
Some of the most challenging tasks involved building around the embedded path and trying to incorporate as many angles and elevations as possible to approximate a natural structure.
Can’t wait to work on the castle itself next!
TAAAA DAAAA! I finished the scarf and I'm darned happy with it - it's nice and soft and cozy with a bit of bling. :)
Feb 09 mini office for 4th/5th grade
Has three main sections -- math/science, history, and language arts.