View allAll Photos Tagged deepthoughts
Filling up the early morning emptiness with a little life and deep thoughts. No, actually my brain was empty as well that early...
You can find a large number of full-resolution photos under a Creative Commons license on my official website: nenadstojkovicart.com/albums
Many millions of years ago a hyper-intelligent race of pan-dimensional beings became so fed up with the constant bickering about the 'meaning of life' that they decided to sit down and solve it once and for all. And to this end, they built themselves a stupendous super-computer called 'Deep Thought' ... after mulling over this problem for a considerable length of time, seven and a half million years, in which the philosophers, Vroomfondle and Majikthise made considerable impact on their gravy-train of philosophical musings, the long-awaited response from 'Deep Thought' came, the answer ... '42'. It was decided, on instruction from 'Deep Thought' that to decipher _that_ reply, the 'Mice' would have to build yet another computer, able to understand the response. This newer, faster computer turned out to be the 'Plant Earth' but just before the answer became available, the Earth was blown up by a Vogon Constructor Fleet, making way through the Solar System for a new hyperspace bypass... and that, or so it is written, is where the story begins. Douglas Adams trilogy in 5 parts, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', with the front cover of the 'Guide' emblazoned with the re-assuring words, 'DON'T PANIC', in large friendly red letters...
Well it has been 42 years between the two events depicted in this first New Year, 'Then & Now' piece, showing the scene over-looking one of the local South Yorkshire railway areas, at top, in November 1971 and below, as best as I could manage, a very similar view from the 23rd March 2013 with, for this date, a surprising downfall of snow still evident. The upper picture 'popped up', as it were, during the recent scanning session for the pictures for the Varsity-II set, taken by my father during the war. This one however wasn't part of that set of course but was in the same box and I hadn't taken a close look at what this was until scanning the second set of pictures for the Varsity-II material. It is unfortunately not of very good quality and I think, as it was November, the first shot taken by my father, is out of the side window at their bungalow over-looking what was still a thriving Don Valley Steel Industry. Even so, poorness of shot aside, I well remember this view as it lay below where, in the 1950s/60s style, myself and cousin ran wild under what seemed to be eternal long, hot summer days and rarely wanted to be inside except maybe for Top of the Pops on Thursdays at 7:30pm and Dr. Who on Saturdays at `tea time`, around 6:00pm... In addition, my grandfather, Fred Moncaster, a builder, whose work featured here on these pages last year, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/31862799344/
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/31862799994/
and-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/31862800414/
and who owned the land at the back of his house just across the road from where we lived, used the land as open space along with the storage of building materials and this provided enough in the way of source materials to enable us to get up to all sorts of mischief. I was delighted to find this shot, looking over the sidings area atop what used to be the Bradmarsh area of Ickles, the sidings at that time, perched on a large piece of high level ground beyond the then snaking course of the River Rother. As mentioned above, it looks like the shot, taken on Kodak colour transparency film, dates from Nov 1971. Although the original is in 'colour' the time between 'then and now' hasn't been kind to the emulsion and the positive has a strong magenta cast which makes the scene look odd; as this is the way we like out vintage railway pictures, this was rendered in black-and-white. Some processing has been undertaken and an attempt made to remove the many spots and marks on the slide, especially visible on the sky section; so this isn't a bad rendition with the proviso that it is still slightly blurred. There is much to see in the picture and the main item of interest, as shown in the 'tidied-up' version of a detailed 1955/68 OS map of the Bradmarsh area, the GC's lines coming in from the rear of the Templeborough, Steel, Peach & Tozer, works can be seen at top left, passing over the the River Don with another bridge below it allowing access into sidings in the space which now forms the rough ground/car park, for Centenary Park; the more northerly bridge into the sidings at Bradmarsh, now having been removed, carried the lines over into the elevated Bradmarsh sidings; now the land has been flattened and is now the Bradmarsh Business Park. The GC mineral line which comes out of the site and heads south-west towards the Ickles Goit, a small stream usually to feed a mill or windmill, in the lower left corner of the map, continues and joins the Midland's 'Old Road' at Masbrough Sorting Sidings which ultimately became a Freightliner Depot and is now the Masbrough Freight Depot/Steel Terminal/Newell and Wright Container Services depot. The small estate of terraced houses running along the north-west side of Sheffield Road consists of, the aptly named, River Street, Bradmarsh Street, Marsh Road and Marsh Street, of which there is still a little left with its single house next to the car showroom at Bow Bridge. An interesting feature is that the GC built their second line south of the 'Mineral Railway' marked on the map, which then went into other works at the side of the river just north of the Phoenix Works Hall, and the line also curved east and passed under the original line in a small tunnel, coming out on land between Bradmarsh and River Street and the now east-bound flow of the River Don. In the mid-to-late 1950s, heavily wrapped in blankets in the spare back-bedroom of my grandparents house at No.9 River St, marked on the map, I used to watch the patterns on the thin curtains, of the fiery inferno which happened regularly in the night; the furnaces in the Iron & Steel works being tapped or ladles of molten metal being poured out of wagons on the lines, just a few hundred yards away between the house and the River Don bank. At top left in this map, just at the other side of the River Don, the main lines of the Great Central Railway head north-east from the Tinsley and Woodburn Junctions, heading towards Rotherham Central, and on to Mexborough. At top right, the confluence of the Rivers Don and Rother, at Bow Bridge, a very dark and sinister edifice in the 1950s when all the rivers around here were heavily polluted and looked not one jot very inviting at all; I absolutely hated walking over that bridge. Things have changed dramatically now of course with clean water, kingfishers and other bird life about and the water full of fish and plant life; but all the Templeborough polluting steel works have now gone of course. In the main picture at top left, many features are evident. Centre left background, hiding somewhat is smoke, the Tinsley Cooling Towers and to their right, behind the tall chimney stack, the gasometer at Wincobank which was demolished last year, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/21977585430/
The well packed area of the Bradmarsh Sidings is in the foreground, behind Rotherham's Canklow Council house estate, with the Kenning's Garage at the central intersection and their car hire establishment off to the right along the same road. Difficult to see in this picture but the meandering nature of the River Rother can just be made out, with what used to be called the 'Ox-Bow lake' cut off from the main river and shown in the 1955/68 map at right in the lower right corner; officially titled there as 'Pond'. The 1971 picture was processed in November but I'm not sure this is when the picture was taken, as the double-image of the setting sun is too far over towards Kepples Column in the north-west at Kimberworth, where it used to pass behind in high summer; so this picture, with the sun more south of the Column may be from the Autumn. The advertising hoardings on Sheffield Road, at the side of the GC's bridge over the road into the Bradmarsh sidings, can be clearly seen, one with the distinctive checker-board pattern standing out between the other two. This advertising awning looks to have been up for a couple of years as it featured in a picture I took at this location, in colour, three years earlier in 1968!, of a lunar eclipse., the checker-board pattern clearly visible alongside the GCs embankment carrying the mineral line over into the Bradmarsh Sidings. The main feature in that picture, at centre, was what we all knew as the 'Hovis Factory', the flour mill of RHM, Rank-Hovis Mcdougall, fully illuminated and fully working and still, at that time, receiving materials in Waddingtons Barges, on the short section of the River Rother which was navigable, below Bow Bridge; just off to the right partially hidden by the bushes. It was demolished in 2012.
In front of the awnings, on this side of Sheffield Road, and to the east of the Bradmarsh Sidings embankment, was an area of land next to the river, where the Waddingtons Barges used to pull up, this land, although host to a cricket ground, see map at right, frequently flooded and was probably the reason my grandparents two-up-two-down house with outside loo was situated on the very aptly named 'River Street'. All this area is now re-developed and Centenary Way, the dual carriageway allowing folk to bypass Rotherham town centre, runs along the bottom of the black and white picture and can be seen in the snow covered scene in the lower picture, of approximately the same area, taken from the identical vantage point, in March 2013; which saw a particularly snowy start to the new year and which extended into late March! In the lower picture, a 3-part panorama, taken at 18:44 on the 23rd March, there is sufficient light to illuminate the scene using 200ISO with the 40mm lens set to f/16, to give the star-burst lens diffraction effect and with a 3.2 seconds shutter time; so cars, racing along Centenary Way, at centre, have their lights streaked along the frame. Missing from this lower picture, in the background, the Tinsley Towers are no more, demolished in August 2008 and the elevated Bradmarsh Sidings, the height of course representing the difference between the GCs line formation and that of the Midland, the latter running through here at the other side of the Bradmarsh area, during the early 1980s, were razed to the ground and now form the Bradmarsh Business Park. At centre left, the dark building with the red-stripe just visible, is the Magna Science Adventure Centre with now, no Wincobank gasometer to its right; the River Rother got straightened out and now flows where the developers and planners found it most convenient to be and all the meandering features and the interest they created, have gone. The Canklow Council house estate is still present, though under-going a process of refurbishment with new houses being built on the space where old ones have been demolished once tenants can be moved out. Kenning's GArage, seen in the earlier picture has had a chequered history and is now a hand car wash facility operating from the same site. At the time of this picture, in early 2013, not all of the RHM building had been demolished, though all the concrete structures had been removed, there was still a couple of building left which seemed to persist for a while; they can be seen alongside the River Rother at far right. Booths Scrapyard is just behind them and the Midland's large bridge of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation can be seen just behind the elevated barriers of the Brinsworth Street level crossing on the Holmes Chord. Immediately to the left of the crossing, the large white expanse, above the 3 prominent 'stars' at the Citroen Garage on Centenary Way, is Centenary Park with its henge of cast iron trilithons, a remnant of past Iron & Steel glories. The Midland's 'Old Road' lines run alongside the park at the far end, passing behind the Bradmarsh Business Park and making their way south alongside the Masbrough Freight Depot/Steel Terminal with the chrome-green Firth-Rixon building just behind. The centre of Sheffield, the well lit city, is off to the left, but the sky already speaks of a system of light pollution which in the last two years, as part of the road regeneration programme, is being changed over to upward-shaded LED lighting; though the stark blue of the light isn't very welcome compared to the soft yellow variety seen in this picture.
Those March days, almost 4 years ago, with the snow having fallen heavily, reminded me of the not-often played introduction to the Raymond Briggs seminal and iconic story of 'The Snowman', if interested, a clip of this can be heard here-
www.tightfitz.com/sounds/Raymond_Briggs-Intro-to-The-Snow...
Here is another photo from Hong Kong Convention and Exibition Centre. I just waited for the opportunity to take this photo.
Taken using a Nikon Coolpix 4500 and sepia effect applied using iPhoto.
In death, you face life with a child and a wife
Who sleep-walks through your dreams into walls
You’re a soldier of mercy, you’re cold and you curse
“He who cannot be trusted must fall”
Loneliness, tenderness, high society, notoriety
You fight for the throne and you travel alone
Unknown as you slowly sink
And there’s no time to think
In the Federal City you been blown and shown pity
In secret, for pieces of change
The empress attracts you but oppression distracts you
And it makes you feel violent and strange
Memory, ecstasy, tyranny, hypocrisy
Betrayed by a kiss on a cool night of bliss
In the valley of the missing link
And you have no time to think
Judges will haunt you, the country priestess will want you
Her worst is better than best
I’ve seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes
And I feel so depressed
China doll, alcohol, duality, mortality
Mercury rules you and destiny fools you
Like the plague, with a dangerous wink
And there’s no time to think
Your conscience betrayed you when some tyrant waylaid you
Where the lion lies down with the lamb
I’d have paid off the traitor and killed him much later
But that’s just the way that I am
Paradise, sacrifice, mortality, reality
But the magician is quicker and his game
Is much thicker than blood and blacker than ink
And there’s no time to think
Anger and jealousy’s all that he sells us
He’s content when you’re under his thumb
Madmen oppose him, but your kindness throws him
To survive it you play deaf and dumb
Equality, liberty, humility, simplicity
You glance through the mirror and there’s eyes staring clear
At the back of your head as you drink
And there’s no time to think
Warlords of sorrow and queens of tomorrow
Will offer their heads for a prayer
You can’t find no salvation, you have no expectations
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere
Mercury, gravity, nobility, humility
You know you can’t keep her and the water gets deeper
That is leading you onto the brink
But there’s no time to think
You’ve murdered your vanity, buried your sanity
For pleasure you must now resist
Lovers obey you but they cannot sway you
They’re not even sure you exist
Socialism, hypnotism, patriotism, materialism
Fools making laws for the breaking of jaws
And the sound of the keys as they clink
But there’s no time to think
The bridge that you travel on goes to the Babylon girl
With the rose in her hair
Starlight in the East and you’re finally released
You’re stranded but with nothing to share
Loyalty, unity, epitome, rigidity
You turn around for one real last glimpse of Camille
’Neath the moon shinin’ bloody and pink
And there’s no time to think
Bullets can harm you and death can disarm you
But no, you will not be deceived
Stripped of all virtue as you crawl through the dirt
You can give but you cannot receive
No time to choose when the truth must die
No time to lose or say goodbye
No time to prepare for the victim that’s there
No time to suffer or blink
And no time to think
(Bob Dylan, Copyright 1978)
Long-ish exposure of people walking through the plaza at the Legion of Honor, with Rodin's The Thinker holding court.
Milton Goldsborough whilst not the first to enlist of the Goldsborough sons, he was the first to embark Australia en voyage to Egypt and the Great War in Europe on the 20th of December 1915. Milton's later endeavours to join sibling brothers on The Western Front are somewhat embellished by a colourful record of numerous disciplinary indiscretions for misconduct including insolence, AWL, contempt, insubordination and even "stow-away" onboard a troop ship. His WW1 service reads more like the Charge Sheet for a "Bowery felon".
As the youngest of William Frederick Goldsborough's sons to enlist at 18 years, his age probably attributed more to his behavior and adolescent rebelliousness, following in the footsteps of his older delinquent brother Hector by example, with an obvious irreverence for military regimen.
In November of 1918 France, a Military Courts Marshall sentenced Milton to 60 days imprisonment for AWL as a repeat offender. He then absconded from custody (more than once), prior to being incarcerated and on one occasion was apprehended at Boulogne, a seaside village on the coast of France not far from Calais. Here, Milton was no doubt taking time-out to savor the hospitality of the local Bed and Breakfast and enjoy a little R & R, where he was arrested and detained. A second trial in December 1918 sentenced Milton to a term of 6 months penal servitude.
Milton's initial detention was served at No.5 Military Prison in France, then transferred after demobolisation to Folkestone and finally H.M. Prison, Norwich - England. Discharged from Dorchester Prison on commutation, he returned home in mid 1919, some 8 months after German capitulation and Armistice ............................ True to the spirit, an Aussie Larrikin!
Summary of AIF service
deepthought.hass.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=113403
Sadly, both brothers pre-deceased Milton in the battlefields mud of the Somme - 1917.
Hector
www.flickr.com/photos/goldsborough/526997943/in/set-72157...
Roy
www.flickr.com/photos/goldsborough/526919086/in/set-72157...
All volunteers, Aussie "Diggers" were not respondent to the jurisdiction of British military law as were conscripts of most Imperial & Allied Forces. Milton, under any other circumstances (or from any other nation), would have been sentenced to death for desertion and "shot at dawn"............the fate of many other unfortunate compatriot souls.
Check out the home-page of this site www.janpieterchielens.be/shotatdawn/page3.html , which is dedicated to the shameful indictment of WW1 military injustice dealt to those suffering from "shell shock", and convicted of cowardice or desertion. Navigate down the left margin for The Australian Experience.
The Goldsborough Family in Australia
Contact us: goldsborough.familyhistory@gmail.com
© Goldsborough-Rogers Archives Respect our copyright. Permission required for other than non-profit reproduction.
A man deep in thought
As a reminder, keep in mind that this picture is available only for non-commercial use and that visible attribution is required. If you'd like to use this photo outside these terms, please contact me ahead of time to arrange for a paid license.
The side of my computer, Deep Thought, named after the computer in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" that revealed that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. Filled with stickers, including ones from "Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends," "Arthur," "Strawberry Shortcake," "Shrek: The Musical,"Ratatouille" and more. You can also see my external DVD drive, which has Mr. Turtle, Strawberry Shortcake, Tyrone from "The Backyardigans," "Joe from "Blue's Clues" and a random "Franklin" sticker.
So, when I moved to Michigan from Tennessee I had to update my driver's license, of course.
I dutifully checked the requirements at the State of Michigan's DMV website for all the documentation I needed to prove legal residency in Michigan & my US citizenship. Paperwork in hand, I headed off for what I believed would be an uneventful trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Or whatever they call their equivalent office here in Michigan.
When I arrived, I was delighted to discover the Turn-O-Matic contained the answer to the ultimate question. "That's a keeper!" It seemed an auspicious omen.
When it was finally my turn to dequeue, I presented the official checklist of documentation plus my corresponding trophies.
» Legal ID: Check (Tennessee driver's license).
» Proof of residency: Check (utility bill delivered to a local address with canceled stamp).
» Proof of US citizenship: Check (my birth certificate).
I was set to pass muster with flying colors till the clerk behind the counter noted, "You have a problem here,"she tapped my birth certificate. I knew there couldn't be a problem: I'd just had this certificate mailed to me from my home state. It was a legal document, state certified—with official-looking seals and all. (We'll leave off any discussion of my suspicious and possibly illegal adoption for some other time…)
"What's wrong?"
"This needs to be a U.S. birth certificate."
I looked again. Yep, my certificate. My home town. My home state. Everything looked fine. If it was counterfeit, at least it was a true counterfeit… "But it is. That's a United States certificate of live birth."
"No," she replied, "It's from New Mexico. It needs to be one of the United States."
"What?" I was stymied. "New Mexico *is* a state."
"No, it's not."
"Come again?" I was momentarily at sea... Finally I asked, "Do you have a phone book? I'll show you… it's one of the contiguous United States. It's west of Texas and east of Arizona but north of Mexico. It's the 505 area code. Have you seriously never heard of New Mexico?" I couldn't believe I actually had to say this… I thought it might be a joke. Was Ashton Kutcher lurking nearby? Allen Funt?
But, no.
Sensing my verbal flood was about to reinitialize, she excused herself to exercise one of her life-lines, retreating into a back office, certificate in hand. I believe it was time to call in the big-guns and consult with a superior officer.
No joy. She returned only to reiterate: "You need a birth certificate from a valid U.S. state. If you have a passport, though…?"
"You're kidding me, right? Seriously, give me a phone book, I'll show you a map. Surely you have a map of the United States here?"
Exasperated, she exercised the second of her life-lines and turned to the clerk working one station over.
"Hey, Tammy ... 'New Mexico,' is that a state, or what?"
Tammy looked at her like maybe she'd just spoken in tongues and tentatively answered, "Yes…?"
"Well, I guess this will do, then…"
And just like that, I became a citizen once again.
Which leads me to wonder… what if I didn't have a valid birth certificate? Could I truly have bluffed my way through?
In our effort to deny aid and comfort to the terrorists and Martians lurking among us, no matter the checks and balances we put into place at our state departmental licensing bureaus, it all falls apart when confronted by the all-too fallible judgment of the occasionally undertrained and undereducated people behind the counter.
And the lack of a good map.
(2008-08-24-00495-new)
You may have heard of Lady Marmalade, but she does not compare to The Divine Lady Mango Spread, in which she is attempting to be shy... It ain't working here, missy! That smile is infectious...It makes me wonder about what is she thinking...
Taken at Ollie's Trolly restaurant, a great hole-in-the-wall lunch joint with great (not-so-healthy) grub.
Please Note: My images are posted here for viewing enjoyment only. All Rights are Reserved.
As I was getting out of the Virgin River from shooting the grand landscapes of the canyons I noticed this scene. Of course I was the one telling the few others I was with that I was ready to go, while they all were packing up from this spot.... and then, oh no wait, I have to shoot this. How many times before have we all heard this or said this! Well, I was glad I took the time to photograph it. As I have said before abstracts are not for everyone. Some photographers I know never shoot them. For me I like the intimate side of nature as much as the larger intake of landscapes. I hope you enjoy this one as well. Thanks for dropping by.
Update: If you saw this a few days ago and are bothered by images moving around in your contact updates here is the reason why.... I got pulled away from my computer when I was putting this up online originally. Then when I went to actually make it available, a day and a half later, I had not updated the post time. So that is the gist.
If you are interested in the Northwest Nature Photography Podcast it's available to listen and or subscribe to. Click on the link here or visit my website to subscribe.
Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42!
(The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy)
Also happens to be Day 42 of my 365!
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Near Pilot Knob State Park - Iowa
As you can see, the color in our neck of the woods is not exceptional this autumn. But the earthy contrasts, painted clouds and soft tones were appealing.... just playing with the sunlight!
It's were I hike, think deep thoughts, and loose track of time! Oh yeah, and always have my camera... just in case!
Copyright 2013 - unedited