My write up on photographing the new Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas here

On the weekend of November 20-21, 2010, I was invited to photograph the new Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas prior to their opening December 15, 2010 in Las Vegas NV.

This set of images represents my efforts that weekend to showcase this newest resort property opening up on the Las Vegas Strip. Thanks to David Scherer from The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for showing me around, to Miiko Mentz at Katalyst Films for helping to arrange the shoot, and to my wife for modeling for me.

To learn more about The Cosmpolitan of Las Vegas, check out their website here or their Facebook page here.

The eagles continue to put on a good show at Wilde Lake, Howard County. There were at least seven there in the afternoon, January 6.

The 2017 BC Hockey Annual General Meeting Awards were presented at the Awards Gala on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at the Sun Peak Grand Hotel & Conference Centre. These awards recognize members and volunteers that are dedicated to the development and governance of our game. Nominations were reviewed and winners were selected by a committee.

BC Hockey - 2017 Presidents Award

This award is given to a to an individual that has brought honour to the amateur hockey fraternity through an outstanding humanitarian endeavor.

Recipient Myles Mattila

Our game continues to be built and delivered on the backs of thousands of volunteers. To them, I extend my sincere thanks to each and every one who selflessly enriched a player’s life this past season. In addition, BC Hockey has exceptional partners like the Vancouver Canucks that have excelled in their commitment to consistently come to the plate to assist developing the game and opportunities throughout the branch.

For those who embraced and supported our transition to a new governance model, my sincere thanks. I believe the path we are on is invariably more productive as was proven this year. I have no doubt it will continue to improve our position in the world of sport choices. As a component of the transition, effective communication will continue as a prime focus to engage all of our membership, sport partners and volunteers.

We must also take pride in the excellence shown in our Above Minor Programs as they continue to thrive as evidenced by a Junior A National and Junior B Western Canada championship last season.

BC Hockey also is an accomplished international host as evidenced in the pride our host communities took in hosting the World U17 in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John and the Women’s Worlds in Kamloops. These communities are to be congratulated as wonderful models of how to provide a worldclass event. The exceptional educational opportunities that took place along with these events will no doubt help grow the game. That said we also prove annually how well we can showcase communities and hockey with our own Branch Championships, the pride of BC Hockey.

The 2016 AGM in Sun Peaks saw critical decisions made toward keeping BC Hockey as the premiere sport leader in British Columbia and the Yukon. I am honored to Chair an organization that puts such high importance in protecting their participants. Our members are to be congratulated for the way we protect our game participants, parents, coaches and officials. The AGM also clarified the need to collaborate more to meet the needs of today’s player as we compete for their registration. The messaging from Tom Renney clearly emphasized the need to plan local operations as thoroughly as the participants deserve. Adjustments to the changing sport landscape are a challenge we must face together and recognize that doing business simply needs us to adapt. The adjustments to the way we do business at the branch level, also needs to be reflected in the way we provide our programming at the district and local levels.

The Hockey Canada launch of a refreshed Initiation Program is a great example of doing business better based on research of what is best for the player. Parents want their child to be involved in a sport that adheres to scientific data to verify the development model the sport will use. The Long Term Player Development Model will become more of a focus in the future not only at IP but is foundational to all levels of our programming. This will provide the best experience for the players and will be reflected in retention rates. Canada has been the world leader in hockey and to remain we need to adhere to the principles now be accepted throughout the world.

As we move forward, we need to trust and listen to each other. We need to grow our game and grow our volunteer base by proving we are the best choice sport a parent can make for their child today and for the future. I have always believed hockey to be the conduit for us to develop good athletes and respected citizens

Randy Henderson

BC Hockey Chair of the Board

I love these blues!

It's been Drama and the City ever since Carrie Bradshaw and her Louboutin heels hit the streets of the upper East Side to begin filming "Sex and the City 2" on Tuesday. Hordes of fans began bombarding the set as early as 7 a.m. on the first day of shooting, and it seems that the return of the fashionable foursome - and their hunky male co-stars - has caused a little too much excitement. Film security has had to tighten its game when dealing with the crazed Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda wanna-bes. "They looked more like they were protecting the President than Sarah Jessica Parker," said an onlooker at 84th St. and Park Ave., where the leggy leading lady was repeatedly being filmed hailing a cab. "At one point, teenage girls were practically trampling each other trying to get to Sarah Jessica as she was walking back to her trailer, but her security team was shoving everyone out of the way." When SJP noticed her detail's tactics, she implored them not to "hurt her fans." Said the onlooker: "She looked upset and extremely concerned. The guards were getting pretty rough." The muscles aren't concerned only about the "SATC" ladies. By 9:30 yesterday morning, they were already fighting off fans who had lined up on 52nd St., where Chris Noth and SJP were shooting a scene inside an office building that's reportedly serving as Mr. Big's. "The security team looked really anxious when a male fan approached Chris for a photo," another spy says. Like Parker, Noth told the detail to back off and happily stopped for the fan. At least the fearless followers got reassurance that Carrie and Mr. Big are back on track - they were both sporting wedding rings during filming yesterday, while that accessory was conspicuously missing from Parker's hand on Tuesday. Later yesterday morning, the hysteria continued as fellow "SATC" star Cynthia Nixon (l.) had to be rerouted to her trailer when crowds began aggressively approaching her. "People were screaming and trying to push past guards," a source said. Onlookers were then told that she wouldn't be filming her scene after all. "The fans were just too much," continued the snitch. "Security looked legitimately concerned for her safety." As Miz Bradshaw would say, hey, that's New York!

The refurbishment of the parish hall of St Paul and St Barnabas in York Street, Belfast, means the church’s extensive range of outreach activities can continue to grow, benefiting the entire community.

The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev George Davison, rededicated the hall when he preached at the parish Harvest Thanksgiving Service on Sunday October 18. The Bishop also dedicated a number of new windows.

The Rev Dr Isobel (Isy) Hawthorne–Steele, priest–in–charge, said the hall, based in the old St Paul’s Schoolhouse at the back of the church in the Tiger’s Bay area, is extensively used by the community. The building is 186 years old and a famous past pupil is the flautist James Galway.

The hall was in serious need to refurbishment to make it fit for purpose, and shortly before lockdown in March this year, a number of the groups moved their activities into the main church, and work got underway.

Isy said the refurbishment had been a tremendous success. “The facilities we can now offer include a high standard of health and safety provision; a place where all ages can meet in comfort in properly heated and ventilated spaces; an excellent hygienic kitchen facility with comfortable seating areas for small group work; a very large fully functioning sports hall; and a large conference style room that can easily be adapted to suits the needs of breakout groups or café symposiums.”

She added that during the work, nine windows were exposed fully and were found to be arched. The parish decided it wished to keep these, and the windows, all sponsored by parishioners in memory of loved ones, were dedicated by Bishop George when he visited.

OUTREACH

A range of groups have applied to use the hall in future. “This will not only fulfil our priority aim of outreach into the local community, but will provide an income in order to maintain the parish hall to a high standard of upkeep,” said Isy. “It will also help us with future plans such as fundraising towards the installation of a lift, expanding storage space, and a breakthrough to join the church premises with the hall.”

Isy said that according to NISRA statistics, the church is located in an area of high deprivation and is therefore a much–needed facility.

Outreach activities already established at St Paul and St Barnabas include the Blaze Project which works with local schools, sharing the gospel with children through the medium of drama.

The project encourages all primary schools in the area to have a more proactive role in its programme of social cohesion, and plays a lead role in promoting the development of spiritual understanding and supporting curriculum themes, including Learning about Church. It brought primary school children into the church to fulfil their curriculum aims.

“This provided us with an opportunity to show children each aspect of worship in the church building, explaining function and purpose,” said Isy. “This was supported by the Ulster University Widening Access Community Development Programme which provided learning packs. Many members of our congregation are involved in this project, preparing fun and interesting activities, and manning each aspect of the church, ie baptismal font, pulpit, lectern, etc, teaching the children what we do and why we do it.

WELCOMING

“Often this is the only opportunity these children have to come inside church. Our aim is to make it less of an imposing building in their community, and a friendly, welcoming, fun and interesting learning place to be, to encounter Jesus.”

St Paul and St Barnabas has also being running an AQE tuition project which has had an 80 per cent success rate. “This is a service for children that is based upon the ethos of an inclusive educational access for all children, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged,” said Isy. “This is widely recognised throughout the community and schools as being a highly valued educational project, servicing a real need to disadvantaged children.”

Children and families in the area have also enjoyed Messy Church at St Paul and St Barnabas, organised by members of the church. “The response was very encouraging as we had a full capacity turnout of young people each session, and the fun, fellowship and teaching biblical truths proved very worthwhile,” said Isy.

The church and hall is used by the church’s HOPE professional counselling project, which receives referrals from clergy and other professional counselling agencies and organisations.

“This project is in need of expansion and indeed discussions have taken place with local MPs and councillors, and funding applications sought in order to keep this very valuable project afloat,” Isy said. “The current extremely high rates of mental health problems, and specifically, the very high of suicide and suicide attempts in this demographic region, indicate a high level of need.”

The parish has also formed a strong partnership with All Nations Ministry, and this has grown considerably since the church’s first cultural diversity celebration two years ago, and now a recurring event. Activities have taken place both on site and off site, and the project has established a drop–in centre which is open to everyone in the community. It is attended primarily by asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and their families and operates a foodbank and clothes bank for this group.

RELATIONSHIPS

Isy said the parish has cultivated good relationships with the community PSNI, who provide weekly sports activities for young people. “This has been offered to the wider community and initially has been with the All Nations Group,” she said. “This has been very successful with spin–off trips organised. This partnership is the beginning of a relationship that we hope to further promote and extend.”

The parish also has a collaborative relationship with Ulster University’s Widening Access Community Development Programme which aims to raise the self–confidence and self–esteem of participants by exploring barriers to formal learning and looking at various learning styles and techniques.

“The exercises and assignments are aimed at giving students an opportunity to learn academic writing skills and prepare them for advanced learning with an access route to university degree level four,” said Isy.

This programme was offered firstly to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and it the subject of an article: ‘Breaking the Cultural Silence Imposed upon Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants: A Snapshot of the Current Faith–Based Project in Tiger’s Bay (North Belfast),’ The authors of this article were students from the BScHons Community Development Programme at Ulster University who worked on the project with Isy, and it was published in Adult Learner: The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education in 2018.

The parish’s Storyboards and Drama Project was formed specifically to help asylum seekers, refugees and migrants to infuse into local community life. Around 16 participants worked through storyboards, telling their story of leaving their home country, the experience they lived through travelling to this country, and their experience of trying to begin a new life within the local community. The stories were recorded and dramatized.

POWERFUL

Isy said this ‘powerful project’ was therapeutic, and in many cases provided a much–needed ‘sounding board’ for traumatic experiences to be shared and support and help sought.

“The next phase of this project is planned with young people, and the idea is to bring this into youth forums in schools, youth clubs and churches to share,” she said. “Hopefully, those listening will engage with these young people and recognise the added pressure of adolescences coping with their transition into adulthood, with the additional pressures of being in an alien and often hostile environment.”

St Paul and St Barnabas has developed a logo – incorporating the five windows of the church and the cross to illustrate Christ at the centre of worship and activities – and its strapline – TLC (Transforming, Loving, Caring) – was drawn from the parish mission statement.

The parish employed a children and family worker who worked closely with local primary schools and initiated the parent and toddler group ‘Little Lambs.’ A project manager was appointed, whose role included securing further funding to renovate hall to make it fit for purpose. The parish also employed a family visitor who made further intergenerational connections within local area.

FOOTFALL

“The impact of the projects has been realised in the increased footfall and new partnerships forged with schools and local groups such as the migrant, asylum seekers and refugees,” said Isy.

“We are currently seeking other funds to progress to the next stage. The current Covid–19 restrictions have affected our roll–out, however we continue to support our HOPE counselling project which is a vital resource for the local community during this pandemic.”

The re–dedication of the parish hall and dedication of the windows by Bishop George took place just weeks before Isy steps down from her role as curate–in–charge of St Paul and St Barnabas on November 1.

“I feel I have taken this project as far as I can,” said Isy. “As a leader, I think it is really important to listen to the Holy Spirit and to know when it’s time to make way for God’s chosen leader/s to continue to work out his plan.

“There is so much potential here, the members of the church are loving and full of God’s grace. They are a praying people and that is the key to any missional work. I know God has a great plan of revival in this area.”

The projects run by St Paul and St Barnabas Parish Church have received funding from the following:

- Church of Ireland Priorities Fund;

- Church of Ireland Children & Orphans Society;

- St James’ Endownment Fund;

- BIFFA (grant scheme for ‘community hub’ project refurbishment).

Continuing the blue theme from yesterday with this awesome 360 Spider with an equally awesome number plate

Martin continues............ “I don't have a date for the cessation of the stone trains but I do have a photo I took some years before its demise. Don't know whether you have a photo of the sign but here it is with a poor repro of a photo I took back in 1983 of the class 25 diesel taking empties to be loaded at Llanddu.The photo was taken at what remains of Llynclys junction. It was a completely chance photo - I was facing the opposite direction when the loco sounded its horn giving me one hell of a shock !

These days it would be regarded as a serious incident and an inquiry would follow. Ah, those carefree days !”

Construction work continues in the Cannon Building's west wing.

Phase 1 of the Cannon Renewal Project began in January 2017 and is scheduled to be complete in November 2018. The entire west side of the building, from the basement to the fifth floor, is closed. Work includes demolishing and rebuilding the fifth floor, conserving the exterior stonework and rehabilitating the individual office suites.

Full project details at www.aoc.gov/cannon.

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This official Architect of the Capitol photograph is being made available for educational, scholarly, news or personal purposes (not advertising or any other commercial use). When any of these images is used the photographic credit line should read “Architect of the Capitol.” These images may not be used in any way that would imply endorsement by the Architect of the Capitol or the United States Congress of a product, service or point of view. For more information visit www.aoc.gov/terms.

Reference: 481134

The Fiat 500 is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa.Launched as the Nuova 500 in July 1957, it was marketed as a cheap and practical town car. Measuring only 3 meters (~10 feet) long, and originally powered by a tiny 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars.In 2007 Fiat launched a similar styled, longer and heavier front wheel drive car, the Fiat Nuova 500.To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle, just like its bigger brother, the 1955 Fiat 600. Several car makers followed this now nearly vanished design at the time and were quite successful, but only the Fiat 500 was used as the template for other car makers in Europe. The Neckar version manufactured in Heilbronn under a complicated deal involving NSU, was introduced in October 1961.[2] In Upper Austria the firm of Steyr-Puch also produced cars based, by agreement, on the Fiat 500.Despite its diminutive size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Besides the two-door coupé, it was also available as the "Giardiniera" station wagon; this variant featured the standard engine laid on its side, the wheelbase lengthened by 10 cm (4 in) which yielded a usable rear seat, a full-length sunroof, and larger brakes from the Fiat 600.Sports models were produced by Abarth. An Austrian variant, produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the 1956-1969 Steyr-Puch 500, had a motorcycle-derived Puch boxer twin motor, a sports model of which was the 1964-1968 Steyr-Puch 650 TR2.Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor in Italy, but was (and still is) enormously popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where it is famed for mechanical durability and fuel economy.

La Fiat 500 è una utilitaria della casa torinese, prodotta dal 1936 al 1955 nella prima versione, volgarmente detta "Topolino", e dal 1957 sino al 1975, nella seconda versione, il cui nome commerciale esatto è "Nuova 500".

Font : Wikipedia

www.flickr.com/groups/clubfiat500/pool/

We leave Alicante to continue our Mediterranean cruise!

Continue?

further pictures and information are available by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

History of the Vienna Hofburg

First residence

With the elevation of Austria to Archduchy in 1156, Vienna became a city of residence. From the residence of the Babenberg dynasty, who was located on the present site "Am Hof", unfortunately, there do not exist any remains anymore. After the extinction of the Babenberg, Ottokar II of Bohemia (1230-1278) took over by marriage the rule in Vienna and began in 1275 with the construction of a castle within the city walls of Vienna. This castle was equipped with four towers around a rectangular court that is known as Schweizerhof today. In the battle for the German crown Ottokar was defeated at the Battle of Dürnkrut by Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218-1291) and killed during the retreat.

As the old residence of the Babenberg in 1276 burned down, Rudolf probably 1279 moved into the former castle of Ottokar. The descendants of Rudolf extended the castle only slightly: castle chapel (documentary mention in 1296), St. Augustine's Church (consecrated in 1349), reconstruction of the chapel (1423-1426). Due to the division of the lands of the Habsburg Vienna lost its importance and also lacked the financial resources to expand the castle.

Imperial residence

Under Frederick III. (1415-1493) the Habsburgs obtained the imperial title and Vienna became an imperial residence. But Friedrich and his successors used the Vienna Residence only rarely and so it happened that the imperial residence temporarily orphaned. Only under Ferdinand I (1503-1564) Vienna again became the capital of the Archduchy. Under Ferdinand set in a large construction activity: The three existing wings of the Swiss court were expanded and increased. The defensive wall in the northwest as fourth tract with the Swiss Gate (built in 1552 probably by Pietro Ferrabosco) was rebuilt. In the southwest, a tract for Ferdinand's children (the so-called "children Stöckl") was added. The newly constituted authorities Exchequer and Chancery were located in adjacent buildings at Castle Square. Were added in the castle an art chamber, a hospital, a passage from the castle to St. Augustine's Church and a new ballroom.

First major extensions of the residence

In the area of ​​"desolate church" built Ferdinand from 1559 a solitary residence for his son. However, the construction was delayed, and Maximilian II (1527-1576) after his father's death in 1564 moved into the ancient castle. His residence he for his Spanish horses had converted into a Hofstallgebäude (Stallburg - stables) and increased from 1565 .

Ferdinand I decided to divide his lands to his three sons, which led to a reduction of Vienna as a residence. Moreover, stayed Maximilian II, who was awarded alongside Austria above and below the Enns also Bohemia and Hungary, readily in Prague and he moved also the residence there. In 1575 he decided to build a new building in front of the Swiss court for the royal household of his eldest son, Rudolf II (1552-1612). The 1577 in the style of the late Renaissance completed and in 1610 expanded building, which was significantly fitted with a turret with "welscher hood" and an astronomical clock, but by the governor of the Emperor (Archduke Ernst of Austria) was inhabited. However, the name "Amalienborg Castle" comes from Amalie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (wife of Joseph I.), which in 1711 there installed her widow seat.

In the late 16th and early 17th Century only a few extensions were carried out: extension of a separate tract in the northeast of the castle for the Treasure and Art chamber (1583-1585) and setting up of a dance hall in the area of ​​today's Redoutensäle (1629-1631).

Under Leopold I the dance hall by Ludovico Burnacini 1659/1660 was rebuilt into an at that time modern theater ("Comedy House"). 1666 Leopold I in the area of ​​today's castle garden a new opera house with three tiers and a capacity of 5,000 people had built.

In the 1660-ies under Leopold I (1640-1705) after the plans of architect Filiberto Lucchese an elongated wing building between the Amalienborg Castle and the Schweizerhof, the so-called Leopoldine Wing, was built. However, since the tract shortly after the completion burned down, this by Giovanni Pietro Tencala was set up newly and increased. Architecturally, this tract still connects to the late Renaissance. The connection with the Amalienborg castle followed then under Leopold's son Joseph I (1678-1711).

After completion of the Leopoldine Wing the in the southeast of castle located riding school was renewed, the south tower of the old castle pulled down, the old sacristy of the chapel replaced by an extension. Under Charles VI. (1685-1740) the Gateway Building between cabbage market (Kohlmarkt) and Courtyard by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt was transformed into a monumental triumphal arch as a representative sign of the imperial power. However, this construction does not exist anymore, it had to give way to the Michael tract.

Baroque redesign of the Hofburg

In the early 18th Century set in a buoyant construction activity. The emperor commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach with the construction of new stables outside the city walls and a new court library.

After the death of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, his son Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach took over the construction management for the stables and the court library. 1725 the palatial front of the stables was completed. As already during the construction period has been established that the stables were dimensioned too small, the other wings were not realized anymore. The with frescoes by Daniel Gran and statues of Emperors by Paul Strudel equipped Court Library was completed in 1737.

Opposite the Leopoldine Wing a new Reich Chancellery should be built. 1723 was entrusted with the planning Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. 1726, however, the supervision the Reich Chancellery was withdrawn and transferred to the Chancery and thus Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, who also designed the adjacent Court Chamber and the front to St. Michael's Church. 1728 the Court Chamber and the facade of the two buildings were completed. By Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach was also the Michaelertrakt, the connection between the Winter Riding School and the Imperial Chancellery Wing planned. However, since the old Burgtheater the building was in the path, this was half done for a period of 150 years and was only completed in 1889-1893 by Ferdinand Kirschner .

Under Maria Theresia (1717-1780) the at St. Michael's Square located and only as remnants existing Ballhaus was adapted as a court theater. Beside the Emperor hospital in return a new ball house was built, being eponymous for the Ballhausplatz. Subsequently, there occured again and again conversions and adaptations: reconstruction of the comedy hall according to the plans of Jean Nicolas Jadot into two ballrooms, the small and large ball room (1744-1748). The transformation of the two halls (from 1760), repair of the Court Library, and from 1769 onwards the design of the Josephsplatz took place under Joseph Nicolas of Pacassi. These buildings were completed by the successor of Pacassi Franz Anton Hillebrandt. As an extension for the Court Library in the southeast the Augustinian tract was built.

Other structural measures under Maria Theresia: establishment of the court pharmacy into the Stallburg, relocation of the in the Stallburg housed art collection into the Upper Belvedere, razing of the two remaining towers of the old castle, the construction of two stairways (the ambassador stairway and the column stairways (Botschafter- and Säulenstiege).

Extensions in the 19th Century and early 20th century

Francis II (1768-1835) gave Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Marie Christine (daughter of Maria Theresa) the Palais Tarouca south of the Augustinian monastery. From 1800 this was remodeled by Louis Montoyer and extended by a wing building to today's Albertina.

1804, Francis II proclaimed the hereditary Empire of Austria and was, consequently, as Franz I the first Emperor of Austria. With the by Napoleon Bonaparte provoked abdication of the emperor in 1806 ended the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

1809 part of the old bastions was blown up at the castle in consequence of the war with Napoleon, and after it blazed. Towards today's ring road, then new outworks were created (the so-called Hornwerkskurtine and the Escarpen). In the early 20-ies of the 19th Century were layed out three gardens: the private imperial castle garden with two of Louis Remy planned steel/glass- constructed greenhouses, Heroes Square (Heldenplatz) with avenues and the People's garden (Volksgarten) with the Theseus Temple (Pietro Nobile). At the same time, emerged also the new, 1821 by Luigi Cagnola began and 1824 by Pietro Nobile completed outer castle gate.

1846 was built a monumental memorial to Francis I in Inner Castle Square. In the turmoil of the 1848 revolution the Stallburg was stormed and fought fiercely at the outer castle square and the castle gate. As a result, the roof of the court library burned. The political consequences of the revolution were the abdication of Emperor Ferdinand I (1793-1875), the dismissal of the dreaded Chancellor Clemens Lothar Fürst Metternich and the enthronement of Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph.

In the first years of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) the royal stables of Leopold Mayer have been redesigned and expanded. As part of the expansion of the city, the city walls were razed and instead of the fortifications arose place for a magnificent boulevard, the Ringstrasse. 1862, the idea of ​​an Imperial Forum by architect Ludwig Förster was born. On the surface between the Hofburg and the Imperial Stables should arise court museums (Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History).

At the outer Castle Square (today's Heldenplatz) were in the 60-ies of the 19th Century the by Anton Dominik Fernkorn created equestrian statues of Archduke Charles (victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (victor over the Turks in several battles) set up.

After an unsuccessful architectural competition on the design of the Heroes' Square area in 1869 Gottfried Semper could be won. This led to the involuntary and not frictionless collaboration with Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer. Planned was a two-wing complex beyond the ring road, with the two flanking twin museums (Art and Natural History Museum) and the old stables as a conclusion. 1871 was began with the Erdaushebungen (excavations) for the museums. 1889, the Museum of Natural History was opened, and in 1891, the Museum of Art History.

On a watercolor from 1873 by Rudolf Ritter von Alt (1812 - 1905) an overall view of the Imperial Forum is shown.

1888, the Old Court Theatre at St. Michael's Square was demolished, as the new KK Court Theatre (today's Burgtheater), built by Gottfried Semper and Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer, was finished. The since 150 years existing construction site at St. Michael's Square could be completed. The roundel got a dome, the concave curved Michaelertrakt was finalized by Ferdinand Kirschner. The once by Lorenzo Mattielli created cycle of statues on the facade of the Reich Chancellery was continued with four other "deeds of Hercules' at he side of the passage arches. 1893, the Hofburg had finally got its ostentatious show facade.

1901, the old greenhouses were demolished and replaced by an orangery with Art Nouveau elements according to plans by Friedrich Ohmann (completed in 1910). In 1907, the Corps de Logis, which forms the end of the Neue Burg, is completed. Since Emperor Franz Joseph I in budding 20th Century no longer was interested in lengthy construction projects and the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1863-1914) was against the establishment of a throne hall building, but was in favour for the construction of a smaller ballroom tract, the implementation of the second wing was dropped. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este in Sarajevo, the First World War broke out. Franz Joseph I died in 1916. A great-nephew of Franz Joseph I, Charles I (1887-1922), succeeded to the throne, however, he held only two years. The end of the First World War also meant the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. On 11 November 1918 the First Republic was proclaimed. As Karl although renounced to government business, but not to the throne, he had to go into exile with his family.

The Imperial Palace in the 20th century

The interior design of the ballroom tract and the Neue Burg continued despite the end of the monarchy until 1926. By the end of the monarchy, many of the buildings lost their purpose. Furthermore used or operated was the Riding School. The stables were used from 1921 as an exhibition site of the Vienna Fair ("Fair Palace"). In 1928, the Corps de Logis, the Museum of Ethnology, until then part of the Natural History Museum, opened. In 1935 the collection of weapons (Court, Hunting and Armour Chamber) of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) came in the Neue Burg.

1933/1934 the outer castle gate by Rudolf Wondracek was transformed into the hero monument to the victims of the First World War. 1935 emerged on the left and on the right of the castle gate the pylon portals with eagle sculptures by William Frass. In March 1938, the Heroes Square and the balcony of the Neue Burg gained notoriety after Adolf Hitler to the cheering crowd at the Heldenplatz announced the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. The Nazis were planning a redesign of the Heroes' Square to a paved parade and ceremony space. The plans were not realized since 1943 a fire pond at Heldenplatz was dredged and the place was later used for agriculture. In the Trade Fair Palace during the period of Nazism propaganda events were held.

During the war, the Hofburg (Imperial Stables, St. Augustine's Church, Albertina, the official building of the Federal President, the current building of the Federal Chancellery) was severely damaged by bombing: The first President of the Second Republic, Dr. Karl Renner, in 1946 the Office of the President moved into the Leopoldine Wing (in the former living quarters of Maria Theresa and Joseph II).

During the occupation time the seat of the Inter-Allied Commission was housed in the Neue Burg.

1946 first events were held in the Exhibition Palace again, and were built two large halls in the main courtyard of the Exhibition Palace. In the course of the reconstruction war damages were disposed and the Imperial Palace was repaired, the barn castle (Stallburg) erected again. In 1958, in the ballroom wing the convention center has been set up.

1962-1966 the modern Library of the Austrian National Library is housed in the Neue Burg.

1989 emerged for the first time the notion of a "Museum Quarter". The museum quarter should include contemporary art and culture. The oversized design by Laurids and Manfred Ortner but was downsized several times after resistance of a citizens' initiative. It was implemented a decade later.

1992 the two Redoutensäle (ball rooms) burned out completely. Yet shortly after the fire was started with reconstruction. The roof was reconstructed and the little ball room (Kleiner Redoutensaal) could be restored. The big ball room, however, was renovated and designed with paintings by Josef Mikl. In 1997 the two halls were reopened.

From 1997-2002 the Museum Quarter (including Kunsthalle Wien, Leopold Collection) was rebuilt and the old building fabric renovated.

Was began in 1999 with the renovation of the Albertina. The by a study building, two exhibit halls and an underground storage vault extended Museum was reopened in 2003. The Albertina ramp was built with an oversized shed roof by Hans Hollein.

In 2006, additional rooms for the convention center were created by the boiler house yard.

(Source: Trenkler, Thomas: "The Hofburg Wien", Vienna, 2004)

www.burghauptmannschaft.at/php/detail.php?ukatnr=12185&am...

Construction work continues in the Cannon House Office Building's east wing.

Phase 3 of the Cannon Renewal Project began in January 2021 and is scheduled to be complete in December 2022. The entire east side of the building, from the basement to the fifth floor, is closed. Work includes demolishing and rebuilding the fifth floor, conserving the exterior stonework and rehabilitating the individual office suites.

Full project details at www.aoc.gov/cannon.

-----

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Reference: 20220516_092313_TH

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Continues to be a great "rig", just awesome!

These images are the record of an emotional visit. Beyond the pictures I want to share some of the details that I have found and so I have included some links below. The times we live in still hold onto to prejudice and persecution. In some areas we may not be hanging and burning women as witches, but we have new ways to to castigate people and to destroy them. Our ancestors hung and burned those they feared and those that they wanted out of the way. We seem at times to have transformed our lives and found a better world to share, it also seems that we need to look back into our history and learn lessons to continue our progression so that the fear and hatred of groups will not be raised and set upon individuals and other groups. Innocent women have been tortured and hung, or burned to fulfil the process demanded by society and in honouring their memory and in keep alive their story we have a chance to progress. In my remembering of the now seemingly inhuman ridiculous witch trials I wish to focus on the historical occurrence and to try to understand how something so terrible happened to ensure we do not forget our past which is an indication of our potential present and possible future and at the end of my journey through the viscous witch craze realise the horror within us and from that perspective honour the memory of the persecuted.

The old sign read,

“The Witches Stone of Spott.

Marion Lillie, the Ringwoody Witch was burnt here in 1698.

The stone is reputed to stand on the site of the burning of the last witch in the South of Scotland.

Near to this site the Birley Tree stood, under whose branches the local Birley Court was held.”

The Witches Stone is said to mark the spot where Marion Lillie, known as the Rigwoody, or Ringwoodie Witch, was burned at the stake in 1698 and serves to commemorate Marion Lillie and the plight and deaths of many others that were executed for witchcraft. The site outside the current village is thought to have been used as a place of trial, punishment and execution. The term, “Rigwoodie,” is an old Scottish word used to denote someone thin and bony. With many terms involved around the persecution of witchcraft it might be that the term is being recorded in to indicate both an improper sexual allure through magic and to add sexual allure to the telling and retelling of the story. Some authors record that many witches were burnt on the top of, “Spott loan”, in 1705, seven years after the death of Marion Lillie in 1698 which if accurate would reveal that Marion Lillie was not the last witch to be burned in the South of Scotland.

To this day the very harsh nature of times gone by including religious punishment can be seen at Spott kirk. An iron chain and neckbrace, or the 'Jougs' are displayed on the external wall near the kirk door. Contemporary locals keep a tradition of placing a coin on the Witches' Stane when passing so as to avoid bad luck. The now fenced off monument attracts other offerings too. The outcast and the persecuted are better remembered over time and there is a greater acceptance of witchcraft than before whether in the past it was anything like we often now think of it with it being a popular theme in contemporary culture.

It is noted that the area around Spott was notorious for its witch burnings in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. East Lothian has been made infamous due well publicised witch trials, with records detailing allegations, trials and convictions around Haddington, Tranent and North Berwick. The Iron Age hill fort on The Chesters, not far to the south west of Spott was also linked to witch burnings. From early drawings it is possible that the current stone is the last survivors of several that were a part of a megalithic monument. The current monument attracts good attention for the right reasons and it serves for commemoration of society being inhumane which is something that we all need to struggle against and to succeed in fighting. To witches and to all that society would seek to silence there is a potential for full re-evaluation unfortunately all too often after terrible costs of life.

PHH Sykes ©2020

phhsykes@gmail.com

Further References

canmore.org.uk/event/1088084

Field Visit (25 June 1913)

RCAHMS County Inventory: East Lothian

A rough block of stone about 22 inches across both ways but almost entirely covered with road scrapings, lies at the root of the hedge on the southern side of the road some 3/8 mile south-west of Spott Church and 90 yards north-east of the junction of the road to. Little Spott. This stone is placed near the spot where Marion Lillie the Ringwoodie Witch was burnt. At the western corner of the junction of the road to Little Spott stands the Birley Tree, an ash tree, 12 feet 4 inches in girth 6 feet from the ground, which marks the place where the Birley Courts were held in olden days.

RCAHMS 1924, visited 25 June 1913.

canmore.org.uk/collection/1460251

Drawing of the Witches' Stane.

James Drummond

Description Drawing of the Witches' Stane.

Date 1/9/1849

Collection Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Catalogue Number DP 203322

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ELD 177/1

Scope and Content SAS 386 p.77.

Accession Number 1975/12

External Reference SAS 386

Permalink canmore.org.uk/collection/1460251

canmore.org.uk/event/1087782

Some 500 yards east of the dwelling house on Innerwick Farm and nearly 200 yards south of the public road, in a field called Single Knowes field, is a slightly rising piece of ground known as the Witches Knowe, on which a number of witches are said to have been burnt.

RCAHMS 1924, visited 26 June 1913

canmore.org.uk/event/1088085

About 80 years ago, while foundations were being prepared for the old hot-houses in Spott House gardens, the skeletal remains of a number of men with fragments of their accoutrements, including broken swords and buttons, were found, no doubt relics of some of the Covenanters who fell at the battle of Dunbar. All the remains were re-interred in the Kirkyard of Spott, 26 feet from the north-eastern corner of the church and some 5 or 6 feet east of the line of the wall of the church.

RCAHMS 1924, visited 25 June 1913.

Continued from a previous post....

Then in the middle of the clearing my eyes located seemingly the source for this anomaly. There, covered in moss was a pyramid surrounded by a stone wall. Not large by Egyptian standards or small like a child’s play thing but in keeping with the trees and surrounding area. From my vantage point I could see no entrance. While walking on the path that led around the structure I pondered, why would anyone build anything like this? Certainly the effort was more than a passing whim. The size of the pyramid and the stones that it was made of were far more than a single person could have moved in a lifetime. Yet, its remote location and rough terrain dictated only a few could have possibly contributed to the effort.

To be continued....Here www.flickr.com/photos/casch/8398635457/in/photostream/

Continuing with the 4th BBQ weekend. Instead of burgers and hotdogs, it's pizza! This is hot out of the oven...

Ingredients:

Homemade pizza dough

Grilled skinless bone-in chicken breast

Sweet hickory smoked barbeque sauce (Stubb's) - bottled sauce

Shredded Jack cheese

Fresh salsa

Green onions

When grilling the chicken breast, you can under cook it a little. This is to prevent it from being too dry or over-cooked when it is topped on the pizza and cooked again. The idea of grilling the chicken is to add the smokiness when it is used on the pizza. Glaze the chicken with the BBQ sauce at the last 5 minutes of grilling. Then let it cool before slicing.

Everyone has their own favorite homemade pizza dough recipe.We like thin crust pizzas. We have a couple of "go to" recipes, one from Art Smith which requires the dough to sit overnight in the fridge and the other one is from Kitchenaid. It's foolproof for us.

To assemble the pizza just spread the base with BBQ sauce then top with cheese, next add the chicken slices on top of the cheese. Then dollop spoonful of the fresh salsa, sprinkle a little more cheese over and bake in a preheated 425F oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the pizza is bubbly and the crust is nicely browned on the edge. Sprinkle with green onions as soon as the pizza is removed from the oven. Slice and serve immediately!

Enjoy

Continued : Half a million people march in London to stop the cuts. 26.03.2011

This large photo set celebrates the hundreds of thousands of decent, peaceful people who put so much effort into the best march you never saw...

Last weekend the TUC's "March for the Alternative" demonstration saw Central London streets packed with half a million Public Sector employees, Disability Rights and anti-war groups, students and many others angry at government cuts. As we all know the day's events were completely stolen by the selfish, cretinous actions of a couple of hundred juvenile "Anarchists" who used the day's events as cover to cause havoc all over Central London, attacking shops, businesses and the police for no reason other than jealousy, sociopathy and a desire to cause criminal damage. These are football thugs by any other name, no more, no less.

The so-called Anarchists claim they are fighting back against Capitalism, the Establishment and all Agents of the State - the Police, especially - and are doing what they do to show that they are not Slaves to the State or the Corporations, yet they are the first to complain if they think that someone has behaved illegally towards them like the immature children they are. I don't know if they can see the irony in organising their raids by Blackberry, Android phones and Twitter, but I can't help feeling that if someone attacked them in the street and stole their precious smartphones off them before kicking the living crap out of them they'd be crying and wailing all the way to the nearest police station to report the crime and wait there until Daddy comes to pick them up in the Range Rover...

The truth is that they are nothing more than Useful Idiots, serving the propaganda purposes of the very Corporations which they claim to detest, and if they had any vision beyond their aggressive juvenile male urge to smash the place up and piss on all the lamp posts to mark their fictitious territory, they'd maybe understand that they will always fail. You change large systems from within, and it takes time and intelligence, and the ability to win hearts and minds. At the moment in this country there are several million working and lower middle-class people fighting for their very survival at the hands of this ideology-driven right-wing government, and what they don't need are these utter morons robbing them of their huge public display of moral and social unity.

Predictably the Media the next week was awash with pornographic photos of Useful Idiots smashing bank windows and other Useful idiots throwing paintbombs at the police, and to all intents and puposes the half a million people who marched that day should have saved all the precious money they wasted hiring coaches, getting trains, driving down to London, because these Useful Idiots made a mockery of their aspirations as working class people.

As far as I'm concerned the tedious, unintelligent Black Bloc and Red Sky "anarchists" are as much our enemy as the Banks and Hedge Funds.

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not use my photos without my permission

Thomas Drayton and his wife Ann arrived from Barbados to the new English colony of Charles Towne and established Magnolia Plantation along the Ashley River in 1676. Thomas and Ann were the first in a direct line of Magnolia family ownership that has lasted more than 300 years and continues to this day.

Magnolia Plantation saw immense wealth and growth through the cultivation of rice during the Colonial era. Later, British and American troops would occupy its grounds during the American Revolution, while the Drayton sons would become both statesmen and soldiers fighting against British rule.

The establishment of the early gardens at Magnolia Plantation in the late 17th century would see an explosion of beauty and expansion throughout the 18th century, but it was not until the early 19th century did the gardens at Magnolia truly begin to expand on a grand scale.

Upon his death in 1825, Thomas Drayton, the great grandson of Magnolia's first Drayton, willed the estate successively to his daughter's sons, Thomas and John Grimké. As he had no male heirs to leave it to, he made the condition in the will that they assume their mother's maiden name of Drayton. Some time later, while in England preparing for the ministry, young John Grimké Drayton received word that his older brother Thomas had died on the steps of the plantation house of a gunshot wound received while riding down the oak avenue during a deer hunt. Thus, having expected to inherit little or nothing as a second son, young John found himself a wealthy plantation owner at the age of 22.

Despite the prestige and wealth inherent in ownership of Magnolia and other plantations, he resolved still to pursue his ministerial career; and in 1838 he entered the Episcopal seminary in New York. While there, he fell in love with, and married, Julia Ewing, daughter of a prominent Philadelphia attorney. Returning to Charleston with his bride, he strove to complete his clerical studies while bearing the burden of managing his large estate. The pressure took its toll, and his fatigue resulted in tuberculosis. His own cure for the illness was working outside in the gardens he loved. He also wanted to create a series of romantic gardens for his wife to make her feel more at home in the South Carolina Lowcountry. A few years later, as though by a miracle, his health returned, allowing him to enter the ministry as rector of nearby Saint Andrews Church, which had served plantation owners since 1706 and still stands just two miles down the highway towards Charleston. But until his death a half-century later, along with his ministry, Rev. Drayton continued to devote himself to the enhancement of the plantation garden, expressing his desire to a fellow minister in Philadelphia, "...to create an earthly paradise in which my dear Julia may forever forget Philadelphia and her desire to return there."

In tune with the changes he had seen taking place in English gardening away from the very formal design earlier borrowed from the French, John Grimké Drayton moved towards greater emphasis on embellishing the soft natural beauty of the site. More than anyone else he can be credited with the internationally acclaimed informal beauty of the garden today. He introduced the first azaleas to America, and he was among the first to utilize Camellia Japonica in an outdoor setting. A great deal of Magnolia's horticultural fame today is based on the large and varied collection of varieties of these two species–not the abundant and lovely Southern Magnolia for which the plantation just happened to have been named.

The outbreak of the American Civil War would threaten the welfare of the family, the house, and the gardens themselves. But the plantation would recover from the war to see additional growth of the gardens as they became the focus of the plantation over agriculture when the gardens opened to the public for the first time in 1870 and saved the plantation from ruin. Since that time, the plantation and gardens have evolved and grown into one of the greatest public gardens in America with a rich history. To explore that history in-depth and hear the stories of those who lived and worked there over the centuries, visit Magnolia Plantation & Gardens today.

The reports and documents made on a child in care during the 1960s.

Page 40.

07.11.66 Report of Child Care Officer.

There is now a new Houseparent in the flat. Miss Rosemary Foale is looking after Philip since the original Sister in Charge has retired. She has told me that his mother continues to visit regularly and to have Philip home for odd weekends.

Philip, apparently is rather a strange child, and it has taken him a long time to settle into the family. This is because the other children have been there much longer than he has and partly because age-group-wise, he tends to be the odd man out.

He is still inclined to be aggressive towards other children and this may be because he is teased by them. He is inclined to bully younger children, but is slowly ceasing to do this.

There is now a bed wetting problem that has increased since his arrival, it is not know if there is something that is upsetting him, or if it is a growing up stage he is going through.

MY ANSWER. The whole flat had recently been through a major upheaval; this affected the others far more than it had me. The Sister in Charge had looked after some of the family for most of their lives had now reached retirement; she was now severing almost all links with the family group. Now the lady who we had known as a helper and relief was taking over from Sister. My knowledge of Sister had only been for a year and a half. Having lived surrounded by other adults all my life that had come and gone. That Sister was leaving meant a bit of an unknown change, but not really a major event to me. For the others, this event was decisive and very upsetting.

The Houseparent who now took over has had some experience of children, but compared to Sister’s many years of actual practice, we now experienced the newer textbook style of childcare. This we found out was a completely different way of life for us. Our flat now has two groups of four, giving either younger ones or older ones. I did not fit in; at the age of almost ten, I was neither an older one nor a younger one, but I had to be placed in one of the groups for most activities. For chores and the like, I was grouped with the older ones; for bedtimes and activities then it was the younger group as I was still at junior school. The Houseparent now told me that if I wet the bed, I would be given the slipper.

If I was a strange child as the new Houseparent thought, it was something I could live with. I simply did not want to give up and fall into the dull lives that most of those around me accepted.

I was aggressive to younger children but this was down to my short temper; I would prefer to be left alone, but as our paths had to cross, so often problems did occur. The older ones were not involved with the young group as much as myself.

When the older boys in the flat teased me, I always got angry; they just did not understand how upsetting it was. If I was different from the others in the flat, this was due to the long summer holidays I was away from the Home. During this summer break, the Sister took less control of the flat and allowed the new Houseparent to make more of the decisions ready for running the flat full time.

41. November 1966. Half-Yearly Report by Houseparent.

Age 9yrs 10months

General condition: Good

Height: 4ft 7in.

Weight 5st 0lbs.

Philip is inclined to be jealous and vocally aggressive, particularly with younger members of the group.

His relationship with all, including the staff, is very loose at present. There is a need to keep control of his behaviour.

He is slightly impertinent, yet, given the opportunity, he can be helpful and enjoys showing the younger children how to do things.

MY ANSWER. With almost two years at the Home, there were limits to the amount of teasing and other problems I could take before I started to cause trouble. To be treated as one of the younger ones now I was coming up to ten, made me start to act like one of the younger group, rather than that of the older ones, whereas in reality, if allowed to follow my own resources, I could easily have been placed in the older group.

Living with adults all my life, possibly gave me a slightly different attitude than for most. I could be polite and respectful when I wanted to, but if treated as a young child then I could rebel. If I was given respect then I was quite capable of acting in a far more grown-up manner.

The Houseparent had given me the slipper for matters other than wetting the bed. The second time she gave me it, I had twelve hits with the slipper on my rear; it was given as two sessions of six hits. I would not have received the second six hits had I not pushed the boy who said I had stolen his sweets. In the end, the Houseparent found out that I was innocent of stealing the sweets. It was too late then; I had already been punished. This was one of the reasons I was not settled in the flat.

42. 07.12.66 Letter to NCH Harpenden from Luton & Dunstable Hospital.

If you will please arrange for this lad to come along to the Accident Services here at 10am on Thursday 15th December, we will be pleased to remove the gun pellet from his left knee. As he will be given a general anaesthetic, it is important that he has nothing to eat or drink after midnight the previous day.

It would be helpful if you could complete and return the enclosed slip; I am enclosing the Consent Form for signature.

MY ANSWER. Finally the decision was made to take the pellet out of my leg. There was one benefit, outdoor games could be missed for the rest of the term.

43. 29.12.66 Report of Child Care Officer.

On 29.12.66 I learnt from his mother that Philip would be going home the following day for a week’s holiday. I was sorry to have missed him.

The mother is still nursing both her parents, who are almost entirely bedridden. She has a very trying time and constantly wonders if there is a way of leaving someone else to care for her parents.

However, at the moment there appears to be no alternative and, of course, she does not know how long their situation will continue. Her mother is twenty years younger than her father, who is ninety. The mother is pleased with Philip’s progress. She enjoys having him for weekends and is looking forward to having him for his holidays.

10 Years Old

On 02.01.67 I visited Harpenden Branch and spoke to the Houseparent, who told me that there had been a considerable improvement in Philip recently.

He is much less aggressive towards the younger children and is also more popular with his peer group, joining in their games and activities. Philip has become more interested in school and seems to enjoy it now. He is also more affectionate.

On 05.01.67 I visited Philip at his home. He chatted happily about all he has been doing and the many presents he has received for his birthday and at Christmas.

He still talks very fast and has a rather excitable manner. He seemed to be enjoying his holiday very much.

On 26.01.67 I called at Harpenden branch and saw Philip on his return from school.

When I spoke to Philip, he seemed happy and had plenty of news, which he related in a rather excited and disjointed way.

Earlier I had visited his school and managed to have a word with both the Headmaster and the class teacher. It appears that he is showing some improvement in his schoolwork. The Headmaster has not needed to deal with Philip since the start of the school year in September, over any matters of bad behaviour.

The class teacher reported to me that there have been several occasions where she has found it has been necessary to punish him, but once reprimanded he settles down to work. He appears to be slowly settling down to school life and that when firmly controlled can show improvement in the lesson period.

At the end of our meeting I spoke to the Governor of Highfield, who confirms that with the previous reports of Philip’s behaviour at school, keeping him firmly in line was suggested at the end of the last school year. Philip appears now to understand what is required of him during the school period and is settling into the routine more easily.

The uncooperative attitude Philip had to visiting the lavatory before going to bed has seen vast improvement. There are now only minor instances of bedwetting during the past few months. After agreement with the mother, the new Houseparent has brought in a strict regime, and Philip realises that, he will be punished for any bedwetting.

MY ANSWER. I seemed to have made improvement. That year at school things were better; the teacher in our class dealt with anything I did wrong; I was seldom sent to the Headmaster. Her punishments were about the same as the Headmaster, as she would give the cane on your legs or hands, but they were easier to get over with once given. Now that I was not punished in front of the rest of the class made me less worried over the events. As I am almost ten, a few older privileges are starting to come my way.

The Christmas and New Year periods over the last two years had been new to me. Until recently Christmas activities had never been anything very special. Living with my mother, with her work over Christmas, our festivities were never anything major. It was possibly around the age of six, through events of the time, that I had realised that in reality there was no Father Christmas.

In London, any Christmas activity had really been for the adults to enjoy as their holiday. I was meant to keep quiet. At the Home Christmas was new and enjoyable, but I would have preferred the quiet life with just my mother. Parties, trips to the pantomime and other group activities, possibly did get me a little excitable. With my Birthday coming so soon after Christmas treats and presents, everything seemed to roll into one event.

If I seemed to be more affectionate it was possible that I had not been involved in many scrapes or battles with the others in the household. The need to be good up to Christmas might also have helped my chances of longer visits to London over the holiday period.

The new Houseparent must have talked to my mother about me wetting the bed. I don't know if it was the Houseparent or my mother that suggested that I should receive the slipper if I wet the bed.

My mother possibly told the Houseparent that at the age of seven I was hit with the plimsoll if I wet the bed, and that once I became eight she thought the cane would be a more suitable punishment.

With the knowledge that I would be punished if I wet the bed on my vistits to London, and as I had not wet the bed on my visits. They might have thought that the threat of punishment in the Home would bring an end to my bedwetting.

The reason for not having any wet beds on my visits to London, was down to my ability to visit the lavatory at any time during the night. The Houseparent giving me the slipper in the morning, only makes me wet the bed more due to the fear of the punishment.

44. 30.03.67 Report of Child Care Officer.

Visit to Philip at his Home. Philip appeared to be enjoying his holidays, but his mother seemed rather concerned that, as usual, he never concentrates on anything for very long. Although he tackles things with great enthusiasm, he soon loses interest in them.

The mother looks very tired and is finding her parents a great strain. She had a day off on Good Friday and very much enjoyed taking Philip to Worthing for the day. As I had little opportunity to talk to his mother, I will call again soon.

I noticed that Philip has a great difficulty in writing and as he is now ten this is rather worrying. He appears bright and alert, but he cannot concentrate, he does not seem to progress.

I wonder whether there is anything worrying Philip and also how much information his mother has given him about his father. Once, when I tried to broach the subject, the mother was very defensive and I wonder whether her anxiety is transmitted to Philip.

In the original recommendation which we received from his Headmistress, it was suggested that Philip might benefit from some male influence. Unfortunately, his mother’s brother does not take any interest in Philip and I believe his other uncles visit him very rarely.

On visiting Harpenden Branch the Houseparent mentioned to me that Philip never plays games at school and she hopes to go there soon to discuss this.

MY ANSWER. If I always seemed to rush at things, it was simply down to the belief that there was never enough time to follow through every idea that I had in my mind. If other matters came to mind, then I could leave off and come back to it later.

For schoolwork, there was always the thought that there was not enough time to finish the work. For most lessons, failure to finish meant you might be asked to stay on for a few extra minutes to finish. With the requirement to be back at the Home on time, this often meant final lessons of the day would be rushed to avoid being kept in even for a few extra minutes to finish the work.

I could have proved my ability to write neatly if given the chance; in the art lessons a few were given the chance to do calligraphy. This was a lesson I could have begged for; the few chosen were those who had the neatest books.

If my written work was poor, it was down to the use of a ballpoint pen; given the occasional opportunity with pen and ink alone, I was able to work well. If the teachers had told me to take my time over my written work and that if I did not finish it did not matter, then I would have been able to attain a much higher standard of work. However, put me in a classroom environment and add the other factors of friends causing a nuisance around me and even an ink pen would prove fruitless.

Group games were never interesting to me and football was my main hate. It was not that I disliked physical activities.

One of the best lessons at school was P.E. but only if the climbing apparatus was brought fully into use.

With P.E. we generally did not have to change except for putting on a P.E. shirt, our school shorts were fine.

For games we needed to fully change, with Sister sending me to school with waterproof pants, there was the possibility of some teasing whilst changing, some of my friends knew what I had on, and did not make fun of me, but others might have. I was never the only one from the Home to wear waterproofs, most took it a something quite normal for boys from the Home to be seen in. For me avoiding games was an easy solution.

.

45. 27.04.67 Letter to Rev. Gordon. E. Barritt. NCH London from Governor of Harpenden NCH.

We should be grateful if you could arrange for Philip to be tested by the Tutor in Charge during the next few months. As mentioned in recent reports he has great difficulty in writing, and doesn’t seem to be making progress. It would be helpful to know how intelligent he is.

46. 01.05.67 Note from NCH.

Please see letter from Governor of Harpenden NCH with the suggestion, that the Tutor in Charge should test Philip. Could this be arranged please?

47. 09.05.67 Letter to the Tutor in Charge from Governor of Harpenden NCH.

Thank you for your letter of 5th May. It will be quite convenient for you to come and see Philip and the Houseparent on Monday 28th May. I will inform his school and ask for a report from there.

Note: Unable to keep appointment – unwell – another date being arranged.

48. 23.05.67 Letter to Rev. Gordon. E. Barritt. NCH London from Governor of Harpenden NCH.

We were glad to have the report on the visit to Philip’s mother. The Houseparent has visited Philip’s school and seen his teacher. She stated that Philip was aggressive, but was reasonably easy to control in class.

She told the Houseparent that his work could be better if he could concentrate more, and she had noticed that he responded well to praise, and always improved and worked better afterwards.

The Tutor in Charge was due to see Philip yesterday, but had to postpone her visit on account of illness. She will no doubt be arranging another date with us shortly.

49. May 1967. Half Yearly Branch Report by Houseparent.

Age 10 years 4 months

General condition: Good

Height: 4ft 8in.

Weight: 5st 5lbs.

Sight: Eye Clinic. To have eye exercises.

Air gun pellet removed from Left Knee.

Philip has been more aggressive and belligerent and I learn from Susan’s teacher that he has been bullying her at school. His own class teacher has dealt with him over this matter. He is apparently much worse when I am not around.

He seems to put up a barrier and does not believe he has done anything wrong, even if it can be proved. His relationship with some of the members of the family is improving.

When he is helpful or kind, and is praised for this, he glows and is a different lad for a while. He is desperate for more adult attention and will go to great lengths to get it.

Interests: Cubs, Electricity, Lego bricks and (boxes for hiding sweets only).

MY ANSWER. An eye test revealed that there might be a slight problem with my sight, which in some way might have been one of the reasons for my clumsiness. Until this moment, any eye test I took part in had revealed that I had good sight in both eyes. The ability on my part to read the small print on the eye chart with one eye at a time, proved that I did not need glasses to correct any short sight. What however was never checked was my ability to read the same small letters with both eyes open at the same time. When I was given this test, it showed that I could find things a bit of a blur. At all distances, I appeared to be affected. The diagnosis was that I suffered from slight double vision.

More time off lessons attending the local eye clinic, and free time spent reading very small print, with a device placed in front of my vision seemed slowly to correct this problem. Although to get out of the dull chore of reading small print when I could be out at play, I told the adults that things were getting better, when in reality there was only slight improvement.

My fast pace was the reason for being labelled a bully. Whilst at the Annexe of the school, two of us could set our own pace for the return journey. When the Annexe was closed down and we had to rejoin the main school, such pleasures vanished. There were no chances now of gaining any extra minutes of freedom; there were many taking the same route to the Home. As I was still at the juniors, I now had the task of escorting one of the younger girls to and from school. Although only a year younger than me, it was thought that she needed to be escorted both to and from school. Known as a daydreamer, attention to her safety now was the main issue.

Until this point, older children from the flat who attended the senior school had this privilege. Allowance of extra time due to the school hours not totally coinciding had been made. Now at the same school, I was given the task, although any extra time for my benefit was not provided. I have to admit my walking pace was fast; my mother seemed to encourage this from an early age, through being busy.

Dawdling and daydreaming were not things I had ever indulged in. My idea was to get to school at the first possible moment. Playing and other activities before the bell rang for the start of the school day was perhaps the best moment of the school day. If friends had new possessions or had swaps to make, miss this early opportunity, and you could be jealous for evermore.

The slow pace of the girl started the day badly for me. Although I never really dragged her along the road, when crossing the road, I was a little more vocal and slightly physical.

My class teacher punished me after Susan’s teacher made the complaint that I was bullying her. I was given the cane at going home time. As there was no time after I had been given the cane to get over the punishment, I was still in tears when I walked with Susan back to the Home. Three hits on each hand had really made me cry. From that point on I was not accused of bullying Susan anymore. I don’t think it was her intention to get me caned.

If I was desperate for adult attention, it was down to being fed up with most children’s games and wanted something more adult to do or learn about. If I did get praise, then I was happy.

My interests were on building and making things. Group board games were more or less unknown to me, although often receiving such items as presents there was seldom anyone to play with. Even in the Home, board games were not that much fun down to the wide age range. If you played with younger ones the rules were too complicated, if you played with older ones and appeared to be winning, they would change the rules to benefit themselves. Constructing objects and learning how things worked could be one of my pastimes. Never having acquired more than the most basic Meccano set, if I built things, Lego seemed to be the most desirable item through either presents or swaps. With electricity I was not allowed to try out experiments with the mains voltages – batteries in various stages of capacity had to meet my needs. One of my toys was a Morse code set. If there had been any interest from the older boys, I would have loved the chance to learn the system, but to all the others it was too much like a lesson and they showed no interest.

There had been one extra event that had set me at odds with the Houseparent, it was when she had shaken me over my behaviour, resulting in the back of my head going through a glass window due to her force. Then the Governor of the Home caned me. These were the main reasons why I was not very happy at the Home.

Continuing my almost macro series of photos, I was taking photos in the back garden and I came across this interesting flower. I thought the little red things on the end looked a little bit like mushrooms. When you start to look closely at the things around you, you start to see that some things just look alien.

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#50mm #flower #garden #red #yellow #fuzz #macro #depthoffield #nature_perfection #awesome_earthpix #ourplanetdaily #dehazeco #fantastic_earth #unlimitedplanet #earth_deluxe #allnatureshots #jaw_dropping_shots #awesomeearth #artofvisuals #EarthVisuals #torontolife #igerstoronto #torontoigers #bokeh

after death as in life, Quercus lobata

little starter collabs

NEW JERSEY’S BALD EAGLE POPULATION CONTINUES TO SOAR

January 14th, 2016

CONSERVE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY RELEASES RESULTS OF 2015 STATE BALD EAGLE REPORT

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey today released the 2015 Bald Eagle Report, highlighting the number of nesting pairs, active nests and nest productivity for the raptors throughout New Jersey with data collected by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists, CWF biologists and committed volunteers.

“With 161 pairs of bald eagles this past year — up from just a single nest in the early 1980’s — the dramatic ongoing recovery of bald eagles across the northeast continues to inspire so many of us,” said David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation Executive Director. “The thrill of seeing a bald eagle fly across the sky is unparalleled. This report captures how these eagles are continuing their All-American return.”

The report notes that thirteen new eagle pairs were found this season, nine in the south, two in Central Jersey and two in Northern New Jersey.

For more info: www.conservewildlifenj.org/blog/2016/01/14/new-jerseys-ba...

Construction work continues in the Cannon Building's west wing.

Phase 1 of the Cannon Renewal Project began in January 2017 and is scheduled to be complete in November 2018. The entire west side of the building, from the basement to the fifth floor, is closed. Work includes demolishing and rebuilding the fifth floor, conserving the exterior stonework and rehabilitating the individual office suites.

Full project details at www.aoc.gov/cannon.

-----

This official Architect of the Capitol photograph is being made available for educational, scholarly, news or personal purposes (not advertising or any other commercial use). When any of these images is used the photographic credit line should read “Architect of the Capitol.” These images may not be used in any way that would imply endorsement by the Architect of the Capitol or the United States Congress of a product, service or point of view. For more information visit www.aoc.gov/terms.

Reference: 470773

Polar bear mom and her cubs continue their long walk out to find the sea ice.

Esha Gupta continue to mesmerise with her smokin' hotness in this latest pic

#EshaGupta #celeb #celebrity #Bollywood #BTM #BollywoodTadkaMasala #BollywoodCeleb #BollywoodCelebrity #BollywoodActress #gorgeous #beautiful #awesome #lovely #stunning #hot #sexy #amazing #pretty #sizzling #scorching #lingerie

My baby boy is my inspiration to help other mother continue breastfeeding after they return to work.

Medela Breast Pump Review

Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath continues to expose this greedy and vicious cult: 'The Bridge', the third episode of the A&E documentary series, details the extortion-racket pay-as-you-go structure of Scientology through the fraud and abuse ex-member Mary Kahn and her family suffered—and continue to suffer.

Leah herself hasn't been resting on her laurels: earlier on Tuesday, her attorneys sent a formal disclosure request to the Los Angeles Police Department, asking them to prove that they really did conduct a proper investigation into the whereabouts of Leah's former friend Shelly Miscavige, estranged wife of cult dictator David Miscavige, after Leah filed a missing-person report on her in 2013. Law-enforcement in Los Angeles remains mired in corruption allegations, especially after the conviction of disgraced former LA County Sheriff Lee Baca earlier this year: a known associate of David Miscavige, Baca was still in office in 2013, I believe...

still frame from a video clip I took eva playing in the sand .

All Saints, Hitcham, Suffolk

If you don't know mid-Suffolk, you may well be surprised by the hills which roll across the space between Stowmarket and Hadleigh, as if this was not East Anglia at all. In this remotest part of the county, miles from the nearest town, villages take on a self-sufficient air, and Hitcham is the largest of them. Its church, All Saints, sits high in a wide open churchyard on the outskirts of the village. The house opposite the entrance to the graveyard was the medieval guild hall. This is a big church, and was once the centre of one of the county's largest parishes. It was the Priory of Ely's most valuable living in the whole of the county, worth twice as much as any other, and was therefore bestowed on favoured clerics.

This situation continued when the patronage was taken over by the state after the Reformation, and to be made rector of Hitcham remained a desirable appointment well into the 20th Century. As the excellent guidebook notes, some rectors of this parish achieved fame and influence. Take Adam Easton, for instance. In the 14th Century, he was made a cardinal while still rector here. However, as he was also Archdeacon of Shetland, Orkney and Dorset, as well as Prior of Saint Agnes at Ferrara in Italy and the personal secretary to Pope Urban VI, one assumes that he didn't spend a lot of his time on parish business. His successor John Bremore was the personal secretary to the antipope John XXIII at Avignon, so presumably he didn't live in the parish either.

John Whytewell, Rector throughout the Reformation, was chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, although, unlike that stubborn character, he received a royal pardon from Mary. Coming forward to the 17th Century, Laurence Bretton was a solid Laudian, ensuring his inevitable removal by the Puritans as a scandalous minister (for which, read 'liberal intellectual'). His successor, Miles Burket, had also been a Laudian, but in a Vicar of Bray fashion he became the Puritan preacher here, and died in poverty after the Restoration.

Mostly, the Rectors here seem to have been a jolly lot. John Matters, in the first decades of the 19th century, was famous for his befriending of, and care for, the poor of the parish, matched only by his neglect of his ecclesiastical duty. He is quoted in the guide as having a favourite saying: He that drinks strong beer, and goes to bed quite mellow, lives as he ought, and dies a hearty fellow. And his successor was Hitcham's most famous rector of all, but we'll come back to him in a minute.

Hitcham was not home to a great landed family, so it was the power and wealth of Ely priory that built this church. It is a grand affair, entirely rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. One look tells you that this was not a piecemeal building. Mortlock observes that the grand flushwork porch is very like the one at neighbouring Bildeston, but it does not seem so imposing here against this big building. There is a very odd stop on the 15th century doorway. The one on the left is a lion, but on the right there appears to be a wild man and a tree surrounded by a picket fence.

At first sight, the interior is slightly disappointing. Large and plain, it is as if it had been scraped clean by Miles Burket's cronies, perhaps in reaction to the incumbency of Laurence Bretton. The brick floors are attractive, and the fine 14th century aches of the arcades reach right up into the clerestory, but the heavy Victorian woodwork gives it all a sombre feel.

The hammerbeam roof was rebuilt after the Reformation, and includes lots of unfamiliar secular imagery, the heraldry of the State. However, there is some dispute about exactly when this happened, why, and how much was renewed. The arms of both James I and Charles I are here, giving a date in the first third of the 17th century, but the pineapple pendants appear more recent. At the west end, however, there are a couple of secretive green men on the hammer beam ends, which must be from an earlier age. One theory suggests that the roof was repaired in a hurry after a fire, and then beautified later.

The chancel is a 19th century rebuilding (a photograph of this event, which used to be at the west end, is rather alarming, like a gap-toothed Madonna) and it is evidence of the Anglo-catholic enthusiasm of Alexander Grant, Rector for the last 40 years of the 19th Century. At nearby Kettlebaston, this enthusiasm was realised by the Vicar there in the form of a gorgeous little shrine, but here, something more grandiloquent was intended. Hence the five steps up to the chancel, and two more up to the sanctuary, representative of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, and familiar from 19th century London Anglo-catholic churches. There is no evidence that Anglo-catholicism ever took such a firm foothold here, though.

The chancel is so grand, some visitors must easily overlook the remains of the rood screen. Only the dado survives, but it is worth a look because instead of saints the panels depict angels holding the instruments of the Passion. Something similar can be seen at Blundeston in the north of the county, and there are also angels on the screen at Southwold of course. Not surprisingly, they were vandalised by the 16th century reformers. What is more surprising is that they have survived at all. Presumably they were moved to their present position at the time of the 19th century reordering, but when Arthur Mee came here in the 1930s, he could barely discern them as figures, and thought them saints. So they've been restored, probably under the influence of Munro Cautley when he was diocesan architect.

In such a wealthy parish, perhaps it is not surprising that little else medieval survives. The converse of this, of course, that the restoration of this church has generally provided work of quality. Although the benches are heavy, they do carry several bench ends which are probably the work of the great Ipswich woodcarver Henry Ringham. The best are the four evangelistic symbols towards the front. In fact, the guidebook suggests that the benches were removed from the church towards the end of the 19th century and replaced with chairs as at Rattlesden and Kettlebaston, only to be returned at the behest of the eccentric and splendidly-named Maxwell Maxwell-Gumbleton, who was jointly Bishop of Dunwich and Rector of Hitcham in the 1930s and 1940s. Maxwell-Gumbleton had a Bishop's throne built, which he installed in the chancel. It must have given his parishioners something to think about. It is still there today, and is replicated in slightly more modest form by the churchwardens' seats at the west end. Maxwell-Gumbleton's also are the George VI coat of arms, dated 1937, and a lovely modern font cover, given as a memorial.

From an earlier age are the very elaborate brass inlay in front of the sanctuary, and the mid-17th century memorial to a Waldegrave in the north aisle, more austere than it would have been twenty years before or after. In the south aisle there is a copy of the Adoration of the Magi by Rubens, which is in Kings College Chapel. At first, I couldn't work out why it looks a little odd, and then it hit me - it is in reverse.

Many years ago, I chatted with a churchwarden here, and she told me tha, although 42 men in this parish lost their lives in the first world war, only 28 of them are remembered on the war memorial here. She suggested that this was perhaps because the others were from chapel families, or perhaps the families had moved away before the memorial was installed. Whatever, it gave me pause for thought, for if a similar situation exists in other parishes, then we may assume that many hundreds of people who gave their lives have, in fact, been forgotten.

But one name stands out in this parish as forever being associated with it. You might overlook the simple memorial in the chancel by Thomas Woolner, and you'll certainly miss the little memorial plaque above the door as you came in, but both are worth a look because they both remember the same person, the great John Stevens Henslow.

Henslow was a remarkable man by anyone's standards. He was Regius Professor of Botany at Cambridge University in the 1830s, and was looked on with enough favour to secure the lucrative Hitcham rectorship. However, rather than send a poorly-paid curate to do his work for him, which would have been the usual early 19th century Trollopeian way, he followed in John Manner's footsteps, and came to Hitcham himself.

It is hard now to imagine what a contrast this remote place must have been with cosmopolitan Cambridge, barely 40 miles away. Henslow wrote in his diary that he had come to "a woefully neglected parish, where the inhabitants, with regard to food and clothing and the means of observing the decencies of life, were far below the average scale of the peasant class in England." It is recorded that his first congregation here in this vast space was insufficient to fill one pew.

Over the course of the next 25 years, he turned his parish upside down, applying his scientific knowledge to the antiquated and conservative farming methods of the local farmers. He increased their prosperity, and that of the poor farm labourers. He started a school, and an institute of adult education. He led outings through the local countryside, and would sometimes take the whole parish on the train to London, including one trip to the great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park. It was said that the entire village emptied on these occasions, travelling by cart and on foot to Stowmarket railway station, and then on to London.

"Everyone is to be in good humour", he told his parishioners, "accommodating to all, and especially attentive to the ladies of the party. If the weather should prove unpropitious, every one is to make the best of it, and not to complain more than he can possibly help."

It is said that, on holiday at Felixstowe, he realised the fertilizing properties of the coprolite nodules in the cliffs there, and interested two local farming brothers so much that they set up a fertiliser processing factory at Ipswich docks. Their name was Fison.

But an even more famous name associated with Henslow is Charles Darwin, one of Henslow's students at Cambridge. Henslow encouraged Darwin to investigate the development of species, finding him a place aboard HMS Beagle, the scientific survey ship. Darwin sent his notes and samples back to Henslow, who circulated them in the scientific community. Darwin came back to England to find himself a celebrity. The basis of The Origin of Species was put together at Hitcham Rectory, although Henslow would later repudiate its conclusions.

Most importantly, however, as far as my children were concerned when they were younger, Henslow was the guiding light behind the opening of Ipswich Museum, which still retains one of the finest 19th century natural history collections in the country. A portrait of him hangs in the entrance hall, and the name of a road in the east of the town remembers him.

He died at the relatively young age of 65. His predecessor had been the jolly John Matters. His successor was the Anglo-catholic enthusiast Alexander Grant, who, as well as rebuilding the chancel, is still remembered in the village for taking the side of the workers during the lock-out strike of 1874, when he allowed them to use the church building for their meetings.

These three extraordinary men between them spanned the entire 19th century here. Trollope himself could not have written a better novel.

3dom,tes,soker,feek,cheo,45rpm,epok,katoe,turoe,sepr.

Continuing First Cycle Iceland Gull 20140121 Coney Island Creek Park Brooklyn (center)

ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16467729

www.klemensgasser.com

Construction work continues in the Cannon House Office Building's east wing.

Phase 3 of the Cannon Renewal Project began in January 2021 and is scheduled to be complete in December 2022. The entire east side of the building, from the basement to the fifth floor, is closed. Work includes demolishing and rebuilding the fifth floor, conserving the exterior stonework and rehabilitating the individual office suites.

Full project details at www.aoc.gov/cannon.

-----

This official Architect of the Capitol photograph is being made available for educational, scholarly, news or personal purposes (not advertising or any other commercial use). When any of these images is used the photographic credit line should read “Architect of the Capitol.” These images may not be used in any way that would imply endorsement by the Architect of the Capitol or the United States Congress of a product, service or point of view. For more information visit www.aoc.gov/terms.

Reference: 20221207_122326_SG

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Two great Boeing products, the 787 Dreamliner and the C-17, sit nose to nose as the Dream Tour continues in Long Beach, California. The 787 is the most recent recipient of the Collier Trophy for the greatest American aeronautic achievement of the year. The C-17, assembled at the Boeing plant in Long Beach, is a former Collier winner.

Boeing provides this photo for the public to share. Media interested in high-resolution images for publication should email boeingmedia@boeing.com or visit boeing.mediaroom.com. Users may not manipulate or use this photo in commercial materials, advertisements, emails, products, or promotions without licensed permission from Boeing. If you are interested in using Boeing imagery for commercial purposes, email imagelicensing@boeing.com or visit www.boeingimages.com.

(Image: Troy Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: ArtMakesMeSmile, DecadeNull, LoveMissB)

Image paired with the story:

Why Obama Must Continue Releasing Yemenis From Guantánamo

by: Andy Worthington, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

www.truthout.org/1230094

Adapted from:

www.flickr.com/photos/artmakesmesmile/2582123332/in/photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artmakesmesmile/ / CC BY 2.0

www.flickr.com/photos/decade_null/1397903264/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/decade_null/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

www.flickr.com/photos/23244857@N03/3800684661/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23244857@N03/ / CC BY 2.0

I am continuing working on getting some decent images of Mountain Bluebird inflight. I learned a lot more about the challenges today and got a few that I will share but I am still not there yet. It was a lot of fun doing though.

Taken off Stoudwater Street in Westbrook, Maine, enlarged photo!

Continuing the story from PHOTO 2. This afternoon my friend identified the tree as Mackay cedar, acacia cedar, Red siris (Paraserianthes toona), the feathery foliage giving it away. However the red seeds don't belong to the Mackay cedar.

PHOTO 5. This tree was large and I am not exaggerating when I say it was about 50 metres high even though a govt web site says it only grows to 25 metres. It was really tall and I was on a very high zoom to reach to the top.

It turns out the birds in the cedar tree were female starlings, the ones that migrate from New Guinea. What must have happened was that they gorged themselves on the fruit of the brown damson and now were playing around in this tall cedar tree and purging themselves of the undigested seeds. And I tasted one!!!!

The Mackay cedar is a lovely timber tree and this is a little on it - Tree with bipinnate leaves, pinnae 5-22 pairs with a gland between many pairs, leaflets numerous, opposite, narrow. Flowers with five petals cream to greenish, staminal filaments about 5 mm long. Pods flat dehiscing along both sutures, 9-16 cm long and up to 3 cm wide.

I found these three interesting comments on a woodturning forum: -

"I chucked a couple of slabs of it on the floor & left them there in the sawdust for a while. Termites (Whiteants) came into my shed, ate there way through everything except the Mackay cedar, they used it like a hot tin roof... tunnelled under it in the sawdust & preferred to stay next to the concrete rather than the Mackay cedar."

"I read somewhere that Mackay Cedar (AKA Red Sirus - albizia toona) allegedly has the highest incidence of allergic reaction of any aussie timber."

"Hi guys

A few years back I met an old chap who worked a saw mill that cut mostly Mackay Cedar. The old bloke said he ran the mill with three of his brothers.

He told me that they are all dead of cancer and he had it too when I met him. We were waiting for our respective appointments with the doctor and it came out in the conversation.

If the burning like pepper does not tell you something maybe the above story might. I refuse to have anything to do with it, and neither will many locals."

26th October 2015:

Ten Pump Fire - Persons Reported.

235-237 Finchley Road NW3

FROM LONDON EVENING STANDARD:

Fire crews were battling into the night as a large fire continued to rage on a busy high street in north London.

The London Fire Brigade said about 55 firefighters were tackling the blaze and were expected to remain at the scene in Finchley Road, Hampstead, throughout the night.

Witnesses said there appeared to be "no end in sight" as new pockets of flames were still emerging after more than 15 hours.

Crews were first called to the five-storey building at about 6.30am on Monday - and rescued 25 people in the morning including a pregnant woman who was on a roof.

Police and firefighters could not say when Finchley Road would reopen.

The Vue cinema at the O2 Centre, just yards away in Finchley Road, was forced to cancel all screenings on Monday evening - disappointing hundreds of people who had booked tickets to the opening of the new James Bond film Spectre.

The shopping centre announced a complete closure "in the interests of public safety" after initially saying the cinema and shops would remain open and screenings would go ahead.

A spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade said the inferno had spread across all floors of the building.

Firefighters said their job was made more difficult by the building's "complex layout", with flames erupting in voids between the floors.

Teams of firefighters with oxygen masks were taking it in turns to go into the building for 20 minutes at a time, an LFB spokeswoman said.

Station manager David George said: "Firefighters are working hard in strenuous conditions to contain this fire and bring it under control.

"On arrival crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and led over 20 people to safety from inside. We also used one of our turntable ladders, which is like a cherry picker, to rescue a further two people from the roof."

Finchley Road Tube station was temporarily closed in the afternoon due to a related power failure. It was eventually reopened, although only Jubilee line services were stopping at the station.

A pregnant woman was one of two people who had to be rescued from the roof of the building, while 23 others were led to safety after the fire started in a shop and filled the flats above with smoke.

Twelve people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and a two-year-old child was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation as a precaution.

Gio Spinella, a local councillor who can see the building from his window, said: "The fire looked serious on the Finchley Road side but looking at the rear of the building the flames are much more dramatic.

"I really feel sorry for the people whose lives have been devastated by this fire. I have every confidence the LFB will get the better of it."

A spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade said: “The incident is protracted due to the complex layout of the building and the fact that the fire had got into the voids between the floors of the building.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are entering the building to tackle deep-seated pockets of fire.

This is a photograph from the 30th Annual AXA Raheny 5 Mile Road Race 2014 took place in Raheny Village, Dublin, Ireland on Sunday January 26th 2014 at 15:00. The 'Raheny 5' has become one of the most famous road races in Ireland. The race has continued to grow year-on-year and this year was no exception on the year of it's 30th Anniversary. Almost 3,000 participants took part in the various events of the day. The incredible voluntary organisational work carried out by Raheny Shamrocks and the local community in staging the race every year must be acknowledged.

The weather was postively wintery today. There was an icy wind blowing into the face of the runners at various points in the course. This made for some very variable mile-splits. Overall the weather was favourable in that the rain stayed away and there was some helpful 'wind at the back' for the runners in places.

The race route starts at All Saints Park and goes into Raheny Village via Watermill Road. The route then turns west and along the Howth Road before turning left onto Sybill Hill Road. The route then turns left again onto Mount Prospect Avenue and continues until you run down to the sea-front and the Clontarf Road. The only real hill in the course is at the left turn from Clontarf Road onto Watermill Road. Finally, at the North East end of St. Anne's Park the race turns left and makes it way to the finish which is positioned at the start area of the race.

We have an extensive set of photographs from today's race at the 1 mile and then 400 meters to go. The full set is available at www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157640185381674/

Some links, related to this race, which you might find useful:

The Raheny Shamrocks Club Internet Homepage: www.rahenyshamrock.ie/ or www.rahenyshamrock.ie/news/axa-raheny-5-2013

Raheny Shamrocks Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/rahenyshamrock?sk=wall&filter=2

A GARMIN GPS Trace of the race route: connect.garmin.com/activity/24632342

Our Flickr Set from the Raheny 5 Mile Road Race 2013: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157632621783395/

Our Flickr Set from the Raheny 5 Mile Road Race 2012: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157629086163673/

Our Flickr Set from the Raheny 5 Mile Road Race 2011:http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157625939674838/

Our Flickr Set from the Raheny 5 Mile Road Race 2010: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157623196555201/

The Boards.ie Athletics Discussion Thread for the Race 2013: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056776031

The Boards.ie Athletics Discussion Thread for the Race 2014: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057117075

We use Creative Commons Licensing

We use the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License for all our photographs here in this photograph set. What does this mean in reality?

The explaination is very simple.

Attribution- anyone using our photographs gives us an appropriate credit for it. This ensures that people aren't taking our photographs and passing them off as their own.

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Creative Commons aims to encourage creative sharing. See some examples of Creative Commons photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Can I use these photographs directly from Flickr on my social media account(s)?

Yes - of course you can! Flickr provides several ways to share this and other photographs in this Flickr set. You can share to: email, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Wordpress and Blogger blog sites. Your mobile, tablet, or desktop device will also offer you several different options for sharing this photo page on your social media outlets.

We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. Our only "cost" is our request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, etc or (2) other websites, blogs, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you must provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us.

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How can I get full resolution, print-quality, copies of these photographs?

If you just need these photographs for online usage then they can be used directly once you respect their Creative Commons license and provide a link back to our Flickr set if you use them. For offline usage and printing all of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available free, at no cost, at full image resolution.

Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.

In summary please remember when requesting photographs from us - If you are using the photographs online all we ask is for you to provide a link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. You will find the link above clearly outlined in the description text which accompanies this photograph. Taking these photographs and preparing them for online posting does take a significant effort and time. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around your social media, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc. If you are using the photographs in newspapers or magazines we ask that you mention where the original photograph came from.

I would like to contribute something for your photograph(s)?

Many people offer payment for our photographs. As stated above we do not charge for these photographs. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that the photograph(s) you request are good enough that you would consider paying for their purchase from other photographic providers or in other circumstances we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.

I ran in the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set! What gives?

As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we feel that we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:

     ►You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera

     ►Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set

     ►There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone

     ►We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!

You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race. But we cannot promise that there will be photograph there. As alternatives we advise you to contact the race organisers to enquire if there were (1) other photographs taking photographs at the race event or if (2) there were professional commercial sports photographers taking photographs which might have some photographs of you available for purchase. You might find some links for further information above.

Don't like your photograph here?

That's OK! We understand!

If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible. We give careful consideration to each photograph before uploading.

I want to tell people about these great photographs!

Great! Thank you! The best link to spread the word around is probably http://www.flickr.com/peterm7/sets

continued...

Duchesne is a city in and the county seat of Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,690 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 1,801 in 2014.

Duchesne is located just west of the junction of the Strawberry and Duchesne rivers in the Uintah Basin of northeastern Utah. The Duchesne River drains the southwest slope of the Uinta Mountains, and the Strawberry river drains the eastern slopes of the Wasatch Range and is connected to Strawberry Reservoir. The two rivers combine at Duchesne, and the Duchesne River continues east to join the Green River at Ouray, Utah.

Native stands of cottonwood trees and willows grow along the river banks, while sagebrush and rabbitbrush fill the un-irrigated bench tops. Alfalfa is the main cultivated crop of farmers in the area.

Via highway, Salt Lake City is 114 miles (183 km) to the west, Vernal is 58 miles (93 km) to the east, and Price is 54 miles (87 km) to the south.

The High Uintas wilderness area is 30 miles (48 km) to the north and boasts great hiking, fishing and alpine camping.

ATV riding is permitted within city limits. The Yellow Stone and Reservation Ridge ATV trails are located with 20 miles (32 km) of town.

Duchesne sits at the junction of three wildlife management units and is home to world-class big game hunting. Mule deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, black bear, and mountain lion can be observed within miles of town.

In 1948 oil was found in the Uintah Basin but not developed until the early 1970s. Duchesne city is located in the area of vast oil and natural gas reserves spanning the northeast corner of Utah and extending into western Colorado. As prices for crude rise, oil industry jobs open up in the town but also disappear when crude prices fall. Currently (2009–2011) environmental groups have brought litigation against federal agencies slowing the award of leases on public land, slowing the development of oil resources and drilling, and affecting the economy of Duchesne and the surrounding area.

Duchesne has benefited from the water resources of the Duchesne and Strawberry rivers that flow close to the town. The Central Utah Project was active in the area for 20 years and provided good jobs from 1967 to 1987. A recent expansion to the water treatment plant northwest of town will start supplying culinary water to the community of Roosevelt some 30 miles (48 km) away.

Duchesne is home to a number of heavy machine and steel manufacturers. A wide variety of products and parts are manufactured, including underground cranes, shield haulers, rifle barrels, steam locomotive parts, drill collars, turbine parts, gears, sprockets, and splines for the oil fields, steel mills, coal mines, trona mines, power plants, other machine shops, manufacturers and other industries in many capacities. Products are shipped both domestically and to Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia, and Europe.

Agriculture has always been a mainstay for many Duchesne residents and surrounding communities. The vast amount of federally owned and leased lands have given cattle ranchers and sheep ranchers good grazing for over 120 years in the area. Overgrazing in the early 20th century has led to reform in the grazing areas and a steady decline in sheep and cow production throughout the area. Small family farms are the mainstay.

Duchesne has always been rich in its rugged beauty and tourism. Thousands are drawn during and warmer months to enjoy boating on Starvation Reservoir, fishing on the Strawberry and Duchesne rivers, and camping in the High Uintas.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchesne%2C_Utah

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...

Aviation Memories

Continuing Year 2020 with a dip into the written archives :)

Another page from one of my school note books - what a useful way of utilising what we called our 'Rough Books' - I was an early adopter of Recycling :)

I had just turned 14 years of age, and I was looking to expand my portfolio of hobbies! I had already been indoctrinated into the world of bus spotting and train spotting by my older brother, but he never had an interest in aviation. It was my school mates at senior school who encouraged me to visit Heathrow - a mere 4 miles from where I lived in Southall! I was quickly hooked, and the interest never really went away, although it waned by the early 1990s when all the best aircraft had disappeared :(

Some comments on the sightings

Wed 9th Nov 1977 - Heathrow runway 23 approach

So this was a school day, but perhaps I had 'gone sick' for the day and I was watching from home, or I may have even taken the bus up to the airport? Anyway, the highlight was Lockheed L-1329 Jetstar 8 5A-DAJ of Libyan Arab Airlines :)

Second place went to Oman Government BAC 1-11 552.

However, there were some other interesting visitors also in the shape of:

62-4126 VC-135 of the USAF Presidential flight

D-CFCF Condor Flugdienst HS.125

and a Turk Hava Yollari Boeing 707 that I still need the registration tied up for :)) on flight TK797 which was not the usual scheduled flight TK979, unless I was being dyslexic for the day!

You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/

'Aircraft spotting or plane spotting is a hobby of tracking the movement of aircraft, which is often accomplished by photography. Besides monitoring aircraft, aircraft spotting enthusiasts (who are usually called plane spotters) also record information regarding airports, air traffic control communications and airline routes.'

See more here! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_spotting