These two Foden S20's six-wheeled tippers are ready for work and are seen at Peter Roberts yard at Penrith in 1991. Amazingly for vehicles engaged on quarry work, the one on the right has the exposed cast-aluminium 'Tropical' radiator, one of a number of lorries he owned with this type of rad fitted.

After yesterday's stormy weather it was a pleasant surprise to have beautiful sunshine all day long and it was lovely and warm! Long may it last!!

B&W No.7 ~ 365 (Again!) ~ ... What A Difference A Day Makes!! ...

I want to apologise for the lack of my being able to comment over the past weeks and this may continue for the next three weeks ~ we are moving home and have been very busy organising everything ... busy times!! However, when I get a moment I will do my best to comment

Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all.

Well, I said the EYMS Coaster livery was baffling, but this was also a pig to do - so much lining out!

The real bus is a B9TL whereas this is a B7TL but with the B9TL sounds on - but the only real difference in the bodywork is the rear panels - but the B7TL has a better looking rear than the B9TL anyway so what's there to complain about? I just altered the livery a bit at the back to suit the B7TL rear.

Anyway, even though I pretty much wasted half a day doing this livery it seems to be worth it since it looks pretty amazing in OMSI!

International Women’s Day to be celebrated at the Senedd

The National Assembly for Wales will mark International Women’s Day today (8 March) - a global celebration of the achievements of women - with a series of events across the Assembly estate. In the Senedd, Deputy Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler AM will speak at a ‘world cafe’ event, organised by the British Council and training course-provider Women Making a Difference. The world cafe will see women telling stories of the many women who have made history across the globe during the last 100 years – including those who’ve played a part in women’s rights and displayed acts of courage and determination. Exhibitions from equality organisations MEWN Cymru, Chwarae Teg, Merched y Wawr, Women’s Archive Wales and Self Help Africa will also be displayed in the Senedd to mark the day. In the Pierhead, the Women’s Arts Association will hold an event including a performance from female dance group India Dance Wales and a clog dancer. The Association will also launch a textile exhibition that will be displayed in the Pierhead’s Futures Gallery. The exhibition - Bonded by Threads: Old Crafts by Modern Women – will showcase the work of Welsh female artists. The day will also see the Assembly launch a competition to decide on a Welsh female hero from the past to be displayed in the ‘heroes room’ at the Pierhead from a shortlist which can be viewed on the National Assembly’s website at www.assemblywales.org. In north Wales, the Assembly’s Outreach bus will be present at the Mill Arts and Craft Centre in Holywell, where women’s day celebrations will be taking place, and sixty members from Merched y Wawr will also visit the Colwyn Bay visitor centre to learn about the Assembly.

www.assemblywales.org/newhome/new-news-third-assembly.htm...

Dathlu Diwrnod Rhyngwladol y Menywod yn y Senedd

Heddiw (8 Mawrth), bydd Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru yn nodi Diwrnod Rhyngwladol y Menywod, sy’n ddathliad byd-eang o gyraeddiadau merched, gyda chyfres o ddigwyddiadau drwy ystad y Cynulliad. Yn y Senedd, bydd Rosemary Butler AC, y Dirprwy Lywydd, yn siarad mewn digwyddiad ‘caffi’r byd’, a drefnwyd gan y Cyngor Prydeinig a’r darparwr cyrsiau hyfforddiant, Merched yn Gwneud Gwahaniaeth. Yn y caffi, bydd menywod yn eistedd o gwmpas byrddau yn dweud hanesion am nifer o fenywod a fu’n nodedig mewn hanes ledled y byd dros y 100 mlynedd ddiwethaf, gan gynnwys y rhai a fu’n weithgar dros hawliau merched a’r rhai sydd wedi cyflawni gweithredoedd a dewrder a phenderfyniad. Bydd arddangosfeydd gan sefydliadau cydraddoldeb fel MEWN Cymru, Chwarae Teg, Merched y Wawr, Archif Menywod Cymru a Self Help Africa hefyd i’w gweld yn y Senedd i nodi’r diwrnod. Bydd Cymdeithas Celfyddydau’r Menywod yn cynnal digwyddiad yn y Pierhead a fydd yn cynnwys perfformiad gan grwp dawns benywaidd, India Dance Cymru, a chlocsiwr. Bydd y Gymdeithas hefyd yn lansio arddangosfa decstilau a fydd i’w gweld yn Oriel y Dyfodol yn y Pierhead. Bydd yr arddangosfa, ‘Yr Edau sy’n ein Clymu: Hen Grefftau gan Fenywod Modern’, yn arddangos gwaith artistiaid benywaidd o Gymru. Ar y diwrnod hwn hefyd, bydd y Cynulliad yn lansio cystadleuaeth i ddewis arwres Gymreig o’r gorffennol i’w nodi yn ‘ystafell yr arwyr’ yn y Pierhead o restr fer y mae modd ei gweld ar wefan y Cynulliad Cenedlaethol yn www.cynulliadcymru.org. Yn y Gogledd, bydd bws Allgymorth y Cynulliad yn bresennol yng Nghanolfan Gelfyddydau a Chrefftau’r Felin, Treffynnon, lle bydd dathliadau diwrnod y menywod yn digwydd, a bydd 60 o aelodau Merched y Wawr hefyd yn ymweld a chanolfan ymwelwyr y Cynulliad ym Mae Colwyn i ddysgu am y Cynulliad.

www.assemblywales.org/cy/newhome/archive-news/new-news-th...

The laws make no difference to you. They don't stop us from loving, from committing, from being.

The laws make such a difference to us. They enable us to properly care for one another, to make decisions for one another, to look out for one another.

What difference, other than your need to punish us for frightening you? Who then is wicked, if that be the case?

Gay Pride Parade -- NYC -- June 2007

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"Wrong Exhibition" - A 1-day exhibition held at the roof top of the Green Office Bussines Centre in Tbilisi, Georgia - Nov 2006.

Can you spot 10 differences between this image and the one beside it?

I was Heading into downtown Chicago from Loyola University medical center after I dropped my grandmother off for a procedure. We had planned to visit our other grandma at her office while we waited. Traffic was horrid on the 290 Inbound Expressway, so I decided to shortcut into the city and bypass through the Westside. It was fairly early in the morning at 10 AM, that's early for the Westside. We took Madison Avenue inbound. And here's a collection of photos from our experience.

I grew up in Chicago, born and raised. I grew up on the northwest side, however once I started a career I have had some experience and reason to be in the inner-city and the Westside. I've worked with youth groups and at the banks CRA program requiring me to go into low income communities with financial education programs and other outreach funding.

While driving in today I had my younger son and baby girl with me. Now people who are familiar with Chicago might be alarmed the idea that I went through the Westside community with my two kids but again it's a relatively safe time to go if you're going to do it, the go in the morning. I wanted them to see how other people live, so I didn't avoid the area. I wanted them to see what it's like without having money in your life to do what you want (yes, I realize the issue is more complicated then that).

There are specs of beauty as you can see in these communities. My 2 year old baby girl shouted from the backseat when she saw this long mural, some will call it graffiti, I think whoever did that was pretty darn talented artist.

I also pointed out advertising to the kids, I wanted them to notice that most of the "for rent" and "for sale" signs were hand-painted, as were a lot of the business advertisements on the banners. In these communities people have money to start a small shop that they've probably saved up I order to buy for quite some time. However to add the additional advertising and marketing that's needed, in this category they will make the best of what they already have, paint and supplies!! Often the result is coming up with beautiful art. Which, I would argue making your own signs and advertisements adds to the theme and brand of the type of store that you're going own.

And then there's some of the things that I saw that I didn't explain to the kids, there was a prostitute servicing her John right on the main street sidewalk. When they were done he got up and buckled his pants like nothing happened. Then I saw a few drug deals go down just a few feet and steps away from CPD squad cars.

The community was bustling for that hour of the day, my neighborhood doesn't even have that many people walking around in it at that hour of the morning, which tells me even the Westside community residents know it's a safer time to get around and get your business done in the morning. Even the liquor store is open already at that hour so plenty of people had their bags full for the day.

It's a bit of a shock driving through this area, in my city. I've driven through the old Cabrini Green housing projects, I've been inside an Elementary in Englewood, worked for years at a youth service in Lawndale. I've driven trough "K Town." Granted my outreach was not in depth/ or intense, but I have seen things with my OWN eyes. It's shocking (for me) to see what poverty combine with access to drugs can create this type of emptiness. The picture of the bus stop near the stop light, notice all the garbage. I my community if this debris wasn't picked up by the city, the community would take care of it.

I have to admit, I understand the Shady Bundy and Donald Sterlings of the world. These men are not educated about the issues - or just don't care - about the vicious cycle that exists in poor inner city life. And I'm certain they haven't seen the communities I have, if they did they'd only blame the people anyway - there is no empathy in racists. Living in Poverty and addiction, amongst philosophies of violence and instant revenge with a gun, is a mix of circumstances so complicated that politicians and lay folk truly don't understand the dynamics. So, similarly to my 84 year old Babcia and my father, we end up blaming people for their own life condition. We cannot even fathom (having come from long lineages of successful families, both poor and wealthy), what it means to be poor, uneducated and addicted, living in violence. I remember the movie where the slum landlord had to go an live in his building by court order for 30 days. It's Hollywood, so of course there's a happy ending, but the point of bringing to life some of the inner city issues was clear. Another great punishment for a racist, like the Donald Sterlings of the world, move them into the city, help them understand the cycle of suppression and poverty.

I won't solve anything here in this post. But at least my kids will be able to empathize and understand the TRUE issues in the inner city poverty cycle. Maybe we can educate the next generation to truly make a difference.

Shows differences between arithmetic and exponential growth. The growth applie to circle diameters. Unmentioned is the even quicker scaling up of circle areas, which I equate in class to increases in earthquake energy. (Seimic waves get 10 times larger for each increase in magnitude, but energy goes up by 32 fold!) Originally made for my Intro to Geology course, but just redid for Natural Disasters.

St Mary and St Walstan, Bawburgh, Norfolk

There are islands off the coast of Norwich. Here we are in typical rural Norfolk, a quiet village set in a rolling landscape of farms and sprawling fields punctuated by woods and copses, the sound of traffic on the busy A11 and A47 not so very far off. And yet, we are very close to Norwich, but floating free from it thanks, perhaps to local authority planning.

Norfolk and Suffolk have their similarities of course. Norfolk is a lot bigger, and emptier, especially towards the west. But the biggest difference between the two counties is their relationship with their county towns. Ipswich, above all else, is Suffolk distilled and amplified, the working and historic county translated into an urban setting. Industrial Ipswich was the fountainhead of the county's agricultural production, the docks an interface between Suffolk and the world. To know brash and breezy Ipswich is to know what Suffolk was and is.

But Norwich is different to Ipswich, and it is different to the rest of Norfolk. As you enter the city you pass hoardings which proudly proclaim, in George Borrow's words, that you are entering Norwich, a Fine City! It is like crossing a forcefield. Norwich is a fine city, and it is also a small city, but as Norwich is so far from any other place of near-equivalent size - Ipswich is 40 miles away, Cambridge nearly 60 - it is completely out of scale to its population. If Norwich were dropped into South or West Yorkshire, or Greater Manchester, it would disappear. Here, it assumes the importance of a Leeds or a Sheffield, cities four times as big.

At times, Norwich can feel like a great European city, living a technicolour life in the soft, pastel setting of its rural hinterland. Its industrial past, in shoes, textiles and chocolate, was not grounded in the local countryside in the same way as the industry of Ipswich. In the 1960s the University of East Anglia came, and Norwich's nightlife is lived by people who have, in fair proportion, not grown up in Norfolk.

To set off from Norwich is to enter a countryside that feels different. It is like leaving a shore for the open sea, a sea with islands. The soft fields of Norfolk wash right up against the edge of the city, insulating villages that would have been absorbed if she had grown any larger. Just a mile or so from the edge is Bawburgh. Every island has a story, and Bawburgh's is the story of St Walstan.

St Walstan was a Prince, the son of Benedict and Blid of the royal house of East Anglia. Blid would herself become a Saint. Walstan was born in Bawburgh, or perhaps at the royal vill of Blythburgh in Suffolk. As a teenager, he followed Christ's instruction to renounce all he possessed and become a disciple. Giving up his claims to succession, he did not delay to reach northern parts, as the Nova Legenda Anglie tells us, and humbled himself to become a farmworker in central Norfolk.

After a series of adventures which revealed his saintly character, one of which involved him being rewarded with a pair of young oxen, he received news in about 1015 from an Angel. He would die and be received into heaven in three days time. With typical East Anglian stoicism, he nodded his head and left his scythe to go and find a Priest to receive the Last Rites. Unfortunately, the Priest had no water, but, magically, a spring welled up where they stood.

This was in Taverham, and when Walstan died the two oxen carried his body on a cart to be buried at Bawburgh. On the way, they stopped to rest in Costessey, where another spring sprang up. At last, they came to Bawburgh. They stopped outside the church, and a third spring appeared, the biggest. And then, the Nova Legenda Anglie tells us, Angells opened the walls in hast, and the two oxen with their burden walked into the church. Walstan's body was placed in the church, becoming a site of pilgrimage for people who sought miracles and healing. Eleven miracles have been handed down to us.

The St Walstan legend is interesting for all sorts of reasons. Compared with the West Country, survivals of local Saints' cults are very rare in East Anglia. This part of Norfolk was strongly recusant during the penal years, and it is likely that local people kept stories of Walstan in their tradition even after the practice of devotion to him became impossible. When the penal years ended, the new Catholic church at Costessey in 1841 was dedicated to Our Lady and St Walstan.

Although there is no evidence that the Saint was part of the original dedication of Bawburgh church, the foundations of which certainly predate the St Walstan legend, it bears the name today, and that is because the relics of St Walstan continued to be important right up to the Reformation. Bequests made to the shrine are recorded in late Medieval wills, and these in turn were noted by 18th century antiquarians who restored dedications to parish churches, not always very accurately, after the long puritan night.

During the late 14th century, when acts of pilgrimage were at their most significant, thousands of people must have made their way every year. On the north side of the church was the chapel that contained his bones. From this, a sunken pathway led down the steep hill to the well on the site of the third spring. Incredibly, this pathway was destroyed as recently as 1999, to be replaced by a sterile driveway that circumnavigates the farm to the north of the church.

The date of the Walstan legend is interesting, right on the eve of the Norman settlement of England. It is almost exactly contemporary with that much more famous legend, the founding of the shrine at Walsingham by Lady Richeldis. Could it be that these cults endured partly as a form of resistance by the Saxons, popular local legends in the face of Norman cultural hegemony? Or was it that the Normans themselves who ensured that these popular pieties continued, nurturing them in the place of surviving neo-pagan practices?

We can never know, but what is certain is that St Walstan's legend recommended him as a Saint of the ordinary people, a worker Saint if you will, which may explain his almost complete disappearance from popular English story after the Reformation.

Two excellent books by local author Carol Twinch have helped popularise this very East Anglian figure. And, interestingly, in the latter half of the 20th century his cult has been explored increasingly by the Anglicans, at a time when devotion to Saints seems to be going out of fashion in that Communion. There are popular pilgrimages here every year still under the auspices of the Anglican Diocese of Norwich. Perhaps it is the simplicity of Walstan's life, and the healing nature of his miracles, that lend themselves particularly to the quiet nature of modern Anglican spirituality.

You approach the church from the village street and your first sight of it is from the south-east, looking down into the churchyard. What a beautiful church it is! It must be among the loveliest of all East Anglia's 160-odd round-towered churches. The idiosyncratic stepped gables, the red roof of the nave and a little flame-like pinnacle on the cap of the tower are memorable, particularly in this dramatic setting on the steeply-pitched side of the ridge. The graveyard falls away dramatically on the northern side, and from there St Mary and St Walstan appears fortress-like.

You step into a wide, simple interior, white walls and bare wood setting into relief sudden flashes of colour. How much of this church was here when Walstan's body was brought here? Probably, none of it. The archway to the tower is 13th century, and the windows suggest that the rest of the building is early 14th century. Quite probably, the whole church was rebuilt as a result of the prosperity brought about by the shrine of St Walstan. On the north side of the nave there is a large archway, a filled-in opening. It is tempting to think this is the wall that the Angells had opened in hast, but it was probably the entrance to the later chapel of St Walstan, since this wall post-dates the St Walstan legend by 300 years.

The remains of the 15th century roodscreen are made up rather dramatically into an early 20th century screen with bubbly cusping and a canopy of honour above, all of it unpainted. It is difficult to know how they resisted painting it, but it suits the simplicity of the building just as it is. And there are plenty of survivals here of Bawburgh's colourful Catholic past. Most interesting of all, the collection of brasses. Bawburgh has two shroud brasses and a chalice brass. The biggest of these is above a memorial inscription to Thomas Tyard who died in 1505. It is 60cm long, and he lies with the shroud partly open, his hands crossed in an act of piety. Beneath it is the inscription plate, but it seems likely to me that the inscription and the shrouded figure do not belong together, given the differences in the quality of the two. As if to confirm this, a surviving brass rivet in the stone above the figure's head suggests the loss of another brass, presumably Tyard's.

The other shroud brass is unidentified, and quite different. It depicts a smaller figure sewn tightly into a shroud, with just the face peeking out. It is so like the figures mounted on the wall at Yoxford in Suffolk that I assume it is a figure adrift from a larger collection, perhaps representing one of the dead children of a larger figure.

Set in between them is a late 17th century brass inscription and shield to a minister of this church, Philip Tenison. It is quite fitting that it should be here, because Tenison was an antiquarian at a time when such things were looked on with grave suspicion, and Carol Twinch notes that he recorded information about the Walstan shrine here that might otherwise have been lost to us. Deprived of his living by the Puritans, he later became an Archdeacon after the Restoration, in which case the date of 1660 here is obviously wrong.

I think that all five of these brasses were reset here from elsewhere in the church by the Victorians. The chalice brass may well be in its original position. It is to the Priest William Rechers, and is right on the eve of the Reformation, 1531, so he would have been one of the last Priests to be commemorated in this fashion. As at Little Walsingham, two hands are shown holding the base of the chalice, elevating it.

In the nave, there are three further pre-Reformation brass inscriptions, at least two of which are on their original matrices, and one of which retains one of the two figures commemorated, Robert Grote, who died in 1500. His wife is missing, as is the Priest Edward Kightling, whose empty matrix shows that he was wearing priestly vestments.

This is a wonderful collection of late medieval brasses, and is extraordinary that so much has survived. Only a couple have been stolen, but it is clear an attempt has been made on the life of the smaller shroud brass. It has been broken in half, and the lower part protrudes upwards. These chancel brasses have also suffered very badly from being covered by carpets, the underlay breaking up and soaking with moisture to scour the brass. On my most recent visit, the churchwarden agreed that to would be better to remove the carpet altogether, and I do hope that this will happen.

But the most vivid memory of the past at Bawburgh is the superb collection of late medieval glass in the nave. Best of all is the wonderful St Barbara, as good as anything else in Norfolk. She stands proudly, holding her church. Across the nave is a lovely fragment of an Annunciation scene. Mary stands in front of a pot of lilies, and a scroll declares Ecce Ancilla Domini Fiat ('Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Let it be so'). A crowned female head nearby is probably from a Coronation of the Blessed Virgin.

There are floating angels, perhaps censing or collecting the precious blood at the crucifixion, and a king who may be Christ from the same Coronation scene. There is larger, crowned, bearded king, perhaps God the Father, some fragments of St Catherine and perhaps St Gregory, and a lay figure in late medieval dress who might just be a pilgrim to the Shrine of St Walstan. Perhaps most pleasing, because it is so complete, is a set of roundels featuring the words of the Nunc Dimmitis, Simeon's prayer on seeing the infant Christ for the first time. It is rather moving to find them in the same window as the Annunciation, which features words which would be familiar to pilgrims from both the Ave Maria and the Magnificat. It is easy to imagine them sitting telling their beads at a journey's end, contemplating this glass.

At the west end of the church is a small patch of wall painting which defies easy interpretation. It is obviously at least three separate subjects, the most recent being part of an Elizabethan text, below that apparently two figures embracing, the lowest a roundel topped by indecipherable text. It is likely that there is part of a Seven Works of Mercy sequence, which was often placed on the western wall of a smaller church like this.

There is much else besides. The people here were obviously very pleased at the 1660 Restoration, and immediately erected a new set of royal arms to Charles II. You can't help thinking of Philip Tenison, and how it might just be his influence that the people were pleased to see the back of puritanism. One old bench end with an inscription is marooned on the wall, curiously in the shape and location of a holy water stoup (is it covering it?) and there's a nice European roundel in the chancel, which I take to be from a series of Stations of the Cross. Otherwise all is Victorian, or the influence of Victorians. And then you spot the 17th century poorbox fashioned like a newel post, still secured in the east end of the nave. It is from the protestant days of this church, but it is still a reminder of charity, and the offerings of generations of pilgrims that made this one of Norfolk's most significant shrines, and still a beautiful and interesting church today.

January 26, 2010--Today I learned how to play Backgammon by watching a couple of my friend's roommates play. Still working with manual mode. Amazed at the difference it makes in my ability to take properly-exposed pictures indoors and in lower-light conditions.

I arrived in Macau very late in the evening. Whilst the lights of the casinos were amazing I had no idea that for the next 4 days I would not get to see the sun. At night I could not see the heavy smog that covers Macau (Blown in from China mainland and trapped over Macau by the mountains). Everyday is a humid grey day. You can't see very far and the humidity drenches you quickly.

Still I enjoyed Macau by day and night.

I was there for the Samsung Communications (Australia) conference and stayed at the Soffitel on Ponte 16. It was extremely luxurious. Plenty of good food (Waited on Hand and foot), lots to see. This is an amazing Tax Haven. I can see the rich coming and going by Helicopter, into the casinos. I saw many Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Rolls Royces and more.

A land of plenty built on the many poor people who servce it.

Macau, also spelled Macao, is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong to the east, bordered by Guangdong Province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south. The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing. The Cantonese people from Hong Kong and Guangdong especially recent mainland tourism from Mandarin speaking regions have boosted the economy of Macau significantly.

A former Portuguese colony, Macau was administered by Portugal from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal by the Chinese empire as a trading port. The Portuguese administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. By 2002, it had become one of the world's richest cities. In 2004, the World's Highest Skyjump was broken in Macau. It became the world's biggest gambling centre in 2006.

Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the PRC's Central People's Government is responsible for the territory's defense and foreign affairs, while Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. Macau participates in many international organizations and events that do not require members to possess national sovereignty.

According to The World Factbook, Macau has the second highest life expectancy in the world. In addition, Macau is one of the very few regions in Asia with a "very high Human Development Index", ranking 23rd or 24th in the world in 2007 (with Japan being the highest in Asia; the other Asian countries/regions within the "very high HDI" category are South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brunei).

Before the Portuguese settlement in the mid-16th century, Macau was known as Haojing or Jinghai. The name Macau is thought to be derived from the A-Ma Temple, a temple built in 1448 dedicated to Matsu – the goddess of seafarers and fishermen.. The Portuguese named the peninsula "Macau".

The history of Macau is traced back to the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC), when the region now called Macau came under the jurisdiction of Panyu county, in Nanhai prefecture (present day Guangdong).The first recorded inhabitants of the area were people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols during the Southern Song Dynasty. Under the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), fishermen migrated to Macau from Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

Macau is situated 60 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong and 145 kilometres from Guangzhou. It also has 41 kilometres of coastline, yet only 310 metres of land border with Guangdong. It consists of the Macau Peninsula itself and the islands of Taipa and Coloane, which are now connected by landfill forming the Cotai Strip. The peninsula is formed by the Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) estuary on the east and the Xi Jiang (West River) on the west. It borders the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone in mainland China. The main border crossing between Macau and China is known as the Portas do Cerco (Barrier Gate) on the Macau side, and the Gongbei Port of Entry on the Zhuhai side.

Macau has a humid subtropical climate, with average relative humidity between 75% and 90%. Similar to much of South China, seasonal climate is greatly influenced by the monsoons, and differences in temperature and humidity between summer and winter are noticeable, though not as great as inland China. The average annual temperature of Macau is 22.7 °C

Macau's economy is based largely on tourism. Other chief economic activities in Macau are export-geared textile and garment manufacturing, banking and other financial services.The clothing industry has provided about three quarters of export earnings, and the gaming, tourism and hospitality industry is estimated to contribute more than 50% of Macau's GDP, and 70% of Macau government revenue

Starting in 1962, the gambling industry had been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. The monopoly ended in 2002 and several casino owners from Las Vegas attempted to enter the market. With the opening of the Sands Macao, in 2004 and Wynn Macau in 2006, gambling revenues from Macau's casinos were greatly prosperous. In 2007, Venetian Macau, at the time the second (now sixth) largest building in the world by floor space, opened its doors to the public, followed by MGM Grand Macau. Numerous other hotel casinos, including Galaxy Cotai Megaresort, are also to be opened in the near future.

In Macau, the unit of currency is the pataca which is currently pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at a rate of HK$1 = MOP1.03. The name pataca is a Portuguese word which was applied to the Mexican dollars that were the main circulating coin in the wider region in the second half of the 19th century.

Macau is the most densely populated region in the world, with a population density of 20,497 persons per square kilometre in 2013(18,428 persons/km2 in a 2004 projection 47,728/sq mi). 95% of Macau's population is Chinese; another 2% is of Portuguese and/or mixed Chinese/Portuguese descent, an ethnic group often referred to as Macanese.

Both Chinese (Cantonese) and Portuguese are Macau's official languages.

Canon EOS 5d, 24-70L

2013

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Charlse Babbage designed this early computational device, but never built it. This was build from his original specifications, with just a couple of minor changes.

The final dolls in the Faraway Forest series: the Prince of the Fairy Kingdom and the Maiden of the Meadows celebrate their wedding. They are Gold Label, but with the unusually high edition size of 20,000 units worldwide. Initially from seeing the stock photos by Mattel, I knew I really liked the Prince of the Fairy Kingdom, but I was not so sure about the Maiden of the Meadows. Luckily, once again, the dolls proved to look even better in person than the stock photos.

Because it is a wedding set, the bride and the groom are wearing matching clothing. Until I read the official companion story to the doll series, and just based on the stock photos, I honestly was not able to tell you which doll was supposed to represent each of the last two realms of the Faraway Forest: the Mystical Meadows and the Fairy Kingdom. There were no fairy wings or unicorn symbolism. The matching cornflower blue brocade fabric of their outfits make them look like they come from the same land. However, when one can more closely examine their accessories, you can make out some differences that slightly better identify who they are: the Maiden's golden crown and baroque bodice ornament consist purely of intricate floral designs, whereas the Prince's accessories feature lilies, but even more telling are the fairy figures on the sides of his crown. When one considers that the two realms are named the Mystical Meadows and the Fairy Kingdom, floral motifs alone could fit either one, so it is a good thing that the fairy motifs were added to the Prince's crown.

The Prince of the Fairy Kingdom features a New Faraway Forest Ken sculpt, according to Mattel (it appears that it is customary to name new sculpts after the first doll that is produced with it). If this is indeed the debut of this sculpt, they chose many great styling options to present it very well. To me, he resembles the stunningly handsome male model and spokesman for the deaf community Nyle DiMarco with his dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, perfect nose and jawline, sensual lips, and sexy facial hair. I can't see him as anyone else but Nyle ...nor would I want to! He is dressed in a fitted cornflower blue brocade tunic with split hanging sleeves, cornflower blue velvet pants, tan boots, tan "leather" belt with a lily buckle, ornate golden pectoral collar, and golden crown. A plain gold ring is painted on the ring finger of his left hand. He is ridiculously handsome!

The Maiden of the Meadows features the Aphrodite head sculpt, and I have to admit that this is the loveliest that I have seen her to date. I have the 2009 Aphrodite Barbie, and she possesses a lot of drama, but her makeup is rather on the heavy side. Conversely, the Maiden of the Meadows has a very fresh look. Her makeup is soft. Her bright brown eyes are decorated with cornflower blue and gold eyeshadow, she has a light blush on her cheeks, and her lips are a pleasant pink. She has long strawberry blonde hair that thankfully is not as "bumpit" tall on the top as the stock photos would have you believe. Her gown is made with the same cornflower blue brocade fabric as the Prince of the Fairy Kingdom's tunic. The gown is a flowing empire-waist gown, decorated with a gold floral bodice ornament across her torso with gold cords twining down in front of her skirts. The skirt splits to reveal a celery green chiffon shift, which also reveals itself in her long hanging sleeves. She also has a stiff white petticoat to provide shape to the skirts. She wears a golden wedding ring on her left hand, which is holding her beloved's right hand. At her brow is an elaborate gold floral crown with a voluminous cornflower blue tulle veil. She holds a white floral bouquet decorated with gold ribbons.

I have to admit that the empire-waist on the gown is not something I normally like, as it comes off a lot like a maternity gown. However, like with the 1997 Romeo & Juliet doll set, I think I can overlook that because the rest of the set is so beautiful. I cannot express how glad I am that the hair on top of the Maiden's head is not super-tall as in the stock photos. That was almost a deal-breaker for me. One thing I would have changed is that the inside of the Prince's hanging sleeves should have been fully lined to make them look more luxe.

Note, that I did have to repose my dolls from how they arrived to me. Originally, the Maiden looked like she was trying to run away from her groom. That would not be romantic at all!

The one on the left is the new order, a couple ft long. The right is a 1 ft sample. They are totally different prints. Whatever.

Satellite: Sentinel-2. Sensor: MSI (MultiSpectral Instrument).

Visualization RGB: Index NDSI (Normalised Difference Snow Index) Based on combination of bands (B3 - B11)/(B3 + B11)

La imagen tiene 168 km de ancho (aprox.)

El NDSI (Indice Diferencial Normalizado de Nieve)permite distinguir las nubes (en blanco en la imagen) de la cubierta de nieve (en azul celeste) porque la nieve absorbe la luz infrarroja de onda corta (NIR) y refleja la luz visible, mientras que las nubes reflejan ambas longitudes de onda

The Sentinel-2 normalised difference snow index can be used to differentiate between cloud and snow cover as snow absorbs in the short-wave infrared light, but reflects the visible light, whereas cloud is generally reflective in both wavelengths. Snow cover is represented in bright vivid blue.

Las aguas del lago Manicouagan ocupan los restos de un antiguo cráter de impacto, originado por el impacto de un asteroide de 5 km de diámetro, que excavó un cráter de unos 100 km de diámetro originalmente. En la actualidad el diámetro del cráter se ha reducido a 72 km debido a la erosión y a los procesos sedimentarios, aunque sus dimensiones le hacen ser el quinto cráter conocido de la Tierra por tamaño.​ El Monte Babel se interpreta como la cima originada por el rebote del suelo fundido tras el impacto. (es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lago_Manicouagan)

Esta imagen ha sido procesada con el navegador EO Browser (apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser) de Sentinel Hub. Sentinel Hub es un motor de procesamiento de datos satelitales, dentro del programa de observación de la Tierra Copernicus (copernicus.eu) de la Unión Europea, operado por la empresa Sinergise. EO Browser es gratuito y fácil de usar. El norte siempre está arriba.

This image has been processed using the EO Browser (apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser) by Sentinel Hub. Sentinel Hub is a satellite data processing engine, within the European Union's Earth observation programme Copernicus (copernicus.eu), operated by the Sinergise company. EO Browser is free and easy to use. North is always up.

So I purchased 2 Lilith dolls and I'm INLOVE with both of them but I see a slight difference of how they're faces look when compared. Doll 1's eyes are much more open and looks like she just had 2 cups of coffee compared to doll 2 her eyes look like she's squinting more and trying to seduce you. Also in person doll 1's makeup is a little more on the darker shade than doll 2 but maybe I just need my eyes checked lol

Dusk settles on Carlos Gonzalez Torrez's crops that are giving him education and experience at the Agricultural Land Based Training Association (ALBA); who receives assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Farm Service Agency (FSA); he is a 2015 graduate of their Farmer Education Course (PEPA) and is now in his third of five (possible) incubator years where he rents farm land, currently 4.35 acres of ALBAâs 100 acre facility in Salinas, Ca., on Nov. 14, 2018.

The Agricultural Land Based Training Association (ALBA) is a training program that helps low income farmworkers and others learn how to become farmers. New farmers begin with a series of classroom courses and on-hands training, and graduate to farming their own piece of land on the farm. Eventually these new graduates hope to become successful farmers.

ALBAâs Farmer Education and Enterprise Development (FEED) Program educates and trains new farmer-entrepreneurs to plan, launch, and establish viable organic farm businesses or advance their careers. To accomplish this, ALBA has 100 acres of organic land, an experienced team with diverse expertise, and a hands-on, 5-year farmer development program. FEED is comprised of three main components:

1.The Farmer Education Course (PEPA) is a one year, bilingual, 300-hour curriculum featuring classroom instruction and field-based training, readying participants to launch an organic farm business.

2.The Organic Farm Incubator allows course graduates to launch their farm on ALBAâs land. Starting at ½ acre, farmers gradually scale up to 5 acres over 4 years under ALBAâs supervision before transitioning to fully independent farming.

3.ALBA Organics, aggregates, markets and ships participantsâ products to growing markets around California. Doing so gives farmers access to clients that would otherwise be out of reach and allows them to focus on growing and business management in their initial years.

For more information about PEPA please see www.albafarmers.org/programs/

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the USDAâs focal point for the nationâs farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs. The FPAC team includes, Farm Service Agency (FSA) (www.fsa.usda.gov/), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/), and Risk Management Agency (RMA) (www.rma.usda.gov/).

Farm Service Agency (FSA) is equitably serving all farmers, ranchers, and agricultural partners through the delivery of effective, efficient agricultural programs for all Americans. FSA is a customer-driven agency with a diverse and multi-talented work force, dedicated to achieving an economically and environmentally sound future for American Agriculture. The vision is to be a market-oriented, economically and environmentally sound American agriculture delivering an abundant, safe, and affordable food and fiber supply while sustaining quality agricultural communities.

Here, FSA works with non-profit organizations such as ALBA to provide program information and outreach to beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers and limited income farmers. ALBA works with a unique farmer base of nontraditional, diverse and beginning farmers.

FSA staff has worked with ALBA for many years in the following ways:

1. Provide classroom training to new ALBA students at the ALBA farm during their regular coursework. FSA provides training on:

a. How to apply for a farm loan and prepare a cash flow statement.

b. How to apply for FSA programs that help with risk management on the farm, such as the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or other regional crop insurance options.

c. How to apply for Disaster Assistance through FSA in case of an adverse weather event or other emergency.

2. FSA has provided micro loans, operating loans and ownership loans to help ALBA farmers become independent and successful in their operations. FSA has provided Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) payments to these farmers.

3. FSA has provided bookkeeping training courses to ALBA students, on farm tours, and has helped students apply for USDA scholarships to attend agricultural conferences and other trainings.

4. FSA has referred ALBA farmers to NRCS for help with resource management issues.

âThese farmers are the future face of American Agriculture. It is so important for FSA to help them get a strong start in ensuring the success of their operations, said FSA County Executive Director Vivian Soffa. Carlos will need support when he graduates from ALBA and hopefully FSA will be able to assist him with his capital needs when he is farming on his own in this very competitive agriculture market. Familiarity with FSAâs programs at the beginning of a new farmerâs endeavor may be the difference between success and failure.â

For more information please see www.usda.gov.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

Charles Babbage (1791-1871) designed the first automatic computing engines. He invented computers but failed to build them. The first complete Babbage Engine was completed in London in 2002, 153 years after it was designed. Difference Engine No. 2, built faithfully to the original drawings, consists of 8,000 parts, weighs five tons, and measures 11 feet long

This one is Serial Number 2 and is located in Silicon Valley at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

More on the details of this engine at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine

and a video that describes it is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0anIyVGeWOI while a neat video of it in motion is at the bottom of the page at www.computerhistory.org/babbage/

Bad weather is here again and the car has been sitting since just before Christmas. So I figured it to be as good a time as any to fix something that was really irking the crap out of me…the sun visors.

All of the 79-85 Eldorado’s with light up mirrors (which most had) unfortunately have a problem with visorus saginitus. The visor is held up by a small winged plastic bushing-it wraps around the chrome visor arm, and locks into the plastic visor body with the winged part. This little plastic thing gets brittle over time and starts to crack, losing its grip on the stationary rod. This starts as an issue where they droop a little bit when the car has been sitting in the sun on a summers day but eventually gets bad enough that it happens at all temperatures and will just flop down with bumps in the road.

To my knowledge there’s no replacements for this winged bushing and even if there were I don’t know how you would go about replacing it with the way it’s installed on the visor arm. GM evidently saw the problem as the arm and bushing were revised in 1984 to be bigger but evidently to no avail-the passenger visor on my car sagged from the time I had bought the car and I had held it in place with a nail wedged into the metal trim surrounding the window that had to be removed when you wanted to use it…this didn’t compute with the fairer sex, so it’s safe to say eventually I’m going to find all of those finishing nails that have gone missing over the past couple of years the hard way…

My driver’s side visor was free of this problem but I just didn’t use it as I was afraid it would start doing the same thing. So I set to work finding a real fix

These popped up for sale on ebay, red visors from an ’87 DeVille. They looked like a winner, same general shape, same color and in good condition. After a couple of messages to get an idea on size, I ordered them. However, when they arrived, they were neither the bright red shown in the pictures, nor in as good of repair. They definitely needed to be reupholstered to be used. I gave them a dry run before wasting any more money, and they had a couple of other issues. The first was a different electrical connector which was no biggie. The second was much bigger, that they could only be used to block sun going forward. Trying to move it to the side caused them to either drop or raise at a 45 degree angle.

I figured this was caused by the design of the mount which is heavily angled. So there wasn’t much I could do about it. Until my ebay suggestions came up with visors from a Buick Reatta for sale-the same general style as the DeVille, but with a flat type of mount similar to the OEM Eldorado!

Now the guy wanted over 100 dollars for these and after my blunder with the DeVille visors I wasn’t about to sink that type of change in a maybe. So I headed over to the Reatta AACA message board to see if anyone had a dogged set of visors with good mounts that they wanted to sell, and the first post in the for sale section happened to be by a fella who was parting out a complete Reatta! Score!

I emailed the guy and he explained that the car was in a junkyard local to his house. A real gentleman, he was able to get the visor arms for free and didn’t even charge me the ride up from Florida. Thanks Mike! The car in question had a burgundy interior so the arms would need to be sprayed dark carmine to work for me. After cleaning and priming, SEM aerosol made quick work of that.

Unfortunately when they were removed from the Reatta, this condom thing that wraps around a metal bushing shredded, but I was able to basically replicate it with heat shrink tubing

The arms are easily removed from the visors when uninstalled from the car. Simply rotate the arm into the mirror side of the visor (as if you were pushing the visor back up into the roof) until it clicks and then yank it out. Install it into the new visor in the same position. I did some tests for proof of concept and when it seemed like I was on the right track, I got to work. Or at least to spending money. I ordered carmine foam-backed headliner material (Sunbrite 1872 for those interested, it was a great match) and headliner adhesive (which I ended up not needing for this job)

The visors themselves are like a clamshell and probably harder to crack open than a turnip. After enough brute force, a hammer, and a screwdriver, I was able to get them open (see the color difference as compared to the ebay picture above)

The material around the visor ended up not being glued to the face of it, only tucked tight and hot glued from the factory. I decided to do the same thing (So I have to write off the spray adhesive until I do a new headliner). I carefully removed the old fabric and made a template out of the new material

(should anyone do this in the future, it’s much more simple and less risky to only cut the general shape of the template out, you can cut the hole for the mirror and sun shade later)

The visors themselves also needed some help. The “ears” at the ends were super fatigued and loose, so I mixed up some resin and fiberglass to shore them up.

Once the visor bodies were sound, I had to come up with a way of re-joining the clamshell. I have no idea how GM did this in the first place but super glue doesn’t work. After a lot of searching I found out that these are likely made of Polyethylene. I bought this 3M DP8005 adhesive which claimed to bond it and tested it on a junk visor-seemed to do the trick. You need a special mixing tip in addition to this and I also had to get a gun that it fits into.

With that solved, I started hot gluing the material onto the visors. I had never done anything with headliner material before aside from stapling them up when they started sagging and I was really surprised with how compliant it was. In that, it basically looked factory with no runs or wrinkles despite not having a clue what I was doing.

Then, I bonded the two halves back together. Each one had to sit like this for a day, and early signs seem like it worked. Hopefully the adhesive will hold, time and temperature will tell.

Here’s a comparison of the original visors with the DeVille replacements. Mirrors swapped without issue. I also had to swap the power connector, meaning I had to cut the crimped on connector at the mirror end from the old visors and install in the new ones. Delphi 12020347 is the connector part, there’s no room inside the assembly for a butt connector (and I hate using them unless I have to)

And here they are installed!

The only complication on the install is that the plastic visor arms bolt in a slightly smaller bolt pattern than the originals. You can take any 2 of the 3 holes but not all 3 at once. Fortunately there’s plenty of meat to drill into to make another hole.

I’m sure a lot of people are reading this right now and saying I should have just stuck with the nail but in reality it wasn’t that bad. It might seem like a mess but everything above is a “worse possible scenario” in that I got fleeced on the visors I bought and had to change color, structurally repair them, rehab the Reatta visor arms, then bond them back together. If you’re fortunate enough to have a 79-85 E body with an interior color the same as an 85-88 Deville, and can get the visors from it, the only thing you need do is get a set of Reatta visor arms and swap them out (and obviously your electrical connector from your 79-85). They’re really close in size as far as fit, and look factory with the exception of the sunshade. You could delete that when reupholstering, but I always liked them.

It seems like GM changed all their lighted visor designs to basically the same thing in the late 80’s downsized cars. So there might very well be more vehicles than just Reattas that have the flat plastic visor arm. As far as longevity, I’ll definitely keep everyone posted but I will say that I’ve never really seen any of the “newer” Cadillacs or Buicks experiencing visor problems. The whole metal bushing with condom setup also feels much more sturdy then the OEM 79-85 stuff.

Oh, and on the bright side, I’ll only have to wear these puppies at night now.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

© All Rights reserved.

Sometimes, how you see yourself is much different to how you're seen. I wish I could figure out which is real.

Originally I was going for a “Daddy’s little girl” thing (and still might later with another shot) but after noticing two similar poses from different angles, I couldn’t help but put them together. And yes, I most definitely did get yelled at and lectured for getting my dad’s suit all wrinkled and covered in carpet fibers.

(I was trying to figure out why I couldn’t stick my hand in the pocket, fyi)

Part of my one photo a day for a month project (13/31)

Taiwan dropout

The Difference Engine at the Computer Museum in Mt. View, CA.

هان ای بهار خسته که از راه های دور

موج صدا ی پای تو می ایدم به گوش

وز پشت بیشه های بلورین صبحدم

رو کرده ای به دامن این شهر بی خروش

برگرد ای مسافر گمکرده راه خویش

از نیمه راه خسته و لب تشنه بازگرد

اینجا میا ... میا ... تو هم افسرده می شوی

در پنجه ی ستمگر این شامگاه سرد

برگرد ای بهار !‌ که در باغ های شهر

جای سرود شادی و بانگ ترانه نیست

جز عقده های بسته ی یک رنج دیرپای

بر شاخه های خشک درختان جوانه نیست

برگرد و راه خویش بگردان ازین دیار

بگریز از سیاهی این شام جاودان

رو سوی دشتهای دگر نه که در رهت

گسترده انمد بستر مواج پرنیان

این شهر سرد یخ زده در بستر سکوت

جای تو ای مسافر آزرده پای ! نیست

بند است و وحشت است و درین دشت بی کران

جز سایه ی خموش غمی دیر پای نیست

دژخیم مرگزای زمستان جاودان

بر بوستان خاطره ها سایه گستر است

گل های آرزو همه افسرده و کبود

شاخ امید ها همه بی برگ و بی بر است

برگرد از این دیار که هنگام بازگشت

وقتی به سرزمین دگر رو نهی خموش

غیر از سرشک درد نبینی به ارمغان

در کوله بار ابر که افکنده ای به دوش

آنجا برو که لرزش هر شاخه گاه رقص

از خنده سپیده دمان گفت و گو کند

آنجا برو که جنبش موج نسیم و آب

جان را پر از شمیم گل آرزو کند

آنجا که دسته های پرستو سحرگهان

آهنگهای شادی خود ساز می کنند

پروانگان مست پر افشان به بامداد

آزاد در پناه تو پرواز می کنند

آنجا برو که از هر شاخسار سبز

مست سرود و نغمه ی شبگیر می شوی

برگرد ای مسافر از این راه پر خطر

اینجا میا که بسته به زنجیر می شوی

Celebrating Bill Bernbach at DDB Canada

I'm now subtracting 5 in the 5th position from the left. This is done in 3 steps: subtract 50, add 40, add 5. In this step I add 40 by adding 4 in the 4th position from the left.

CC0 waiver: To the extent possible under law, I waive all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.

Same time, same place. In both 'miting de avance' of the UNIDO-led government of Corazon Aquino and re-electionist President Marcos, these pictures taken at the same time (5:30pm) and the same place (rooftop of the Manila Hotel) show the difference in "people power." While opposition supporters came on their own to hear Cory Aquino, KBL supporters were reportedly trucked, bused, paid and ferried to Luneta.

(Photo by Ricky Beltran, Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 6, 1986.)

7 Key Behaviors of People Who Make a Positive Difference In the World

By Cathy Caprino

Look around you and you’ll see three kinds of people — those who hate their work, and complain bitterly, those who just tolerate their work and see it as a paycheck and aren’t looking for more (or feel they can’t have more), and finally, those who love their work, and relish it. The third category is a small subset of all professionals globally, but this group stands out because these are, most often, the people who change the world for the better.

In my work as a success coach and writer, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with people who’ve made a true and measurable impact in the world, including well-known experts, authors, researchers, journalists, scientists, innovators, business geniuses, and entrepreneurs. But among this group of world influencers there are also everyday people who have found a special niche in which they’ve contributed at the highest level.

It’s critical to note that people who’ve made a real difference aren’t all privileged, advantaged or “special” by any stretch. Many come from disadvantaged families, crushing circumstances and initially limited capabilities, but have found ways to pick themselves up and rise above their circumstances (and their genes) to transform their own lives and those around them.

Researching these makers, shakers and disruptors, and working with my own clients who shape the world around them in powerful and constructive ways, I’ve observed seven key behaviors that set them apart — habitual ways of behaving and approaching life and work that distinguish them from those who long to make a difference but can’t or won’t find the way.

The seven core behaviors of people who positively impact the world are:

1. 🌹They dedicate themselves to what gives their life meaning and purpose.

Thousands of people today don’t believe in meaning and purpose as something to discover or pursue in life. And others believe in a life purpose but won’t take the risk to identify or honor it. Those with positive influence feel otherwise. They have found that there is a purpose to their life, and that purpose usually involves some aspect of turning their “mess into a message,” or using what they’ve learned (often the hard way) as a means of being of service to others. People with a sense of purpose are driven, focused, committed, and lit up from the inside — unable to be deterred or distracted from what they believe is the reason they’re on this planet at this time. This sense of meaning and purpose gives them inexhaustible drive and offers guideposts to follow along the path. It informs them of what they wish to attend to in life, and what they need to walk away from because it doesn’t support their higher purpose.

2. 🌸They commit to continually bettering themselves.

People who impact the world for the better know that they are not perfect. They understand how their knowledge isn’t “complete” — there are always gaps, biases, limitations and prejudices, and new places to go with their expertise.

Yes, there are powerful narcissists aplenty, but their influence isn’t positive or helpful in the long run — it’s damaging and destructive. Innovators who positively shape the world come from a “beginner’s mind” and a loving, compassionate heart — with an openness to see, learn, and experience new things on the way to being a better servant of the world.

3. 🌷They engage with people in open, mutually-beneficial ways.

Those with huge positive influence understand the power of relationships, connection, and engaging with the world openly. They’re not afraid to get “out there” — connecting with others, sharing their knowledge and talents, offering their authentic and often contrarian viewpoints and opinions. They’ve pushed beyond any introversion, shyness or reluctance to be who they are, and have learned how to relate well with others and build mutually-supportive relationships that catapult both parties to a higher level. They know that positive, supportive and authentic relationships are the foundational building blocks to anything and everything they want to achieve.

4. 🌺They invest time and energy not in what is, but what can be.

The people I’ve interacted with and interviewed who’ve made a positive impact in the world don’t settle for conformity. When they see something that agitates and disturbs them, they strive to know more, get to the root of the issue, research and understand the contributing factors, and arrive at new solutions. They observe gaps and mistakes in common thinking and behavior, and trust themselves in their belief that it’s time to push the boundaries of what’s accepted. They want to affect change because they believe change will bring a better way to live.

5. 🌼They spread what they know.

We’ve all met authors or “experts” who keep their knowledge secret, close to the vest. They’re afraid to let it out for fear someone will steal it or make money on their ideas. This is the opposite of the positive influencer’s mindset. Those who make a true positive difference can’t help but share and teach what they’ve learned. They don’t see their knowledge as just some commodity to sell, as a meal ticket or a money maker — they see it as information that has to be shared with the world for its betterment. They believe their ideas and innovations are of use and value to others, and can’t help but share those openly, and teach others what they’ve learned. They live the universal principle — “the more you give, the more you get.”

6. 🌻They uplift others as they ascend.

You’ve experienced, as I have, scores of “leaders” and high-achievers who’ve gotten where they are by stepping on the heads and backs of those in the way. These are not true leaders or influencers because their power is a sham — it was obtained unethically and is shallow and weak, and can’t be sustained over the long haul. I have encountered power-mongers who were crushing and cruel to their subordinates and I wondered when they would finally reap what they’ve sown. Over the long term, this day always comes.

On the other hand, people who positively impact the world not only obtain amazing results in their work, but their process of obtaining these results — how they operate in life — is also inspiring and uplifting. They are happy to help and support others, and have an overflow of positive energy that enriches the lives of everyone they work with and connect with. These positive influencers want others to grow. They walk away from “success-building” opportunities that will be hurtful and damaging to others. They know that those unethical, demeaning or destructive approaches go against the very meaning and purpose they’re committed to.

7. 💐They use their power and influence well.

Sadly, it’s a common occurrence in business today to witness power and influence being wielded as a weapon. It hurts and destroys. Positive influencers use their power well and wisely. They understand the widespread influence they have, the power they have to build up and elevate, or tear down. Those who impact the world for the better are careful and judicious with their words, actions and behaviors. They operate with heart, and care deeply about their leadership and communication process and style, and the influence they have. They take it seriously, as a special honor and responsibility not to be flaunted or misused. They understand their special role, and accept it with grace, compassion, and care.

Are you longing to make a positive impact in the world? If so, do these behaviors match your own? How are they different?

source:

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6155716

From the May 2016 trip to Thailand and Cambodia:

Angkor Wat…is the “grandest and most sublime” of all of the Khmer temples. It means ‘city pagoda.’ It was built during the reign of King Suryavarman II in the first half of the 12th century. It was both the capital and the State temple dedicated to Vishnu.

Ta Prohm was built in the late 12th to 13th century in the Bayon style during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, later enlarged by King Indravarman II. It’s a temple with a bit of a romantic feel to it, as there are many hidden corners to explore. Another difference is the strangler figs and silk-cotton trees among the ruins.

Ta Prohm has a set of concentric galleries with corner towers (all in fairly advanced state of ruin, though there is quite a bit of restoration here, funded in large part by the Indian government). It’s a fairly complex layout in a partially collapsed state.

The principal deity of Ta Prohm was Prajñaparamita, and she was carved in the likeness of the king’s mother. (The deity of Preah Khan, which I’ll highlight later, is in the likeness of the king’s father.)

Ta Prohm was the temple chosen by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient to be left in its ‘natural state’ (which is to say…as it was when rediscovered in the early 19th century). With that in mind, all restorations to Ta Prohm are to keep it roughly in the condition that it was when found then, with the only other major work being to clear just enough vegetation to allow entry to the temple.

Well, this is it. Save for a return flight to Bangkok on Tuesday, May 17 (a formality, really, just to pick up the return flight to China on the 18th…and no shoots on the 17th in Bangkok), Siem Reap/Angkor Wat is the last stop – and the one I was most looking forward to.

The flight over was pretty uneventful, though amusing. At Phnom Penh International Airport, we checked in at the gate, then went outside and hopped on a bus to take us to the plane…which was literally less than 100 meters away. That amused me to no end. A quick, comfortable 45 minute flight on the prop jet later – over completely black terrain; it seems the countryside is either sparsely populated, or electricity is a premium, but we may as well have been flying over a moonless ocean – brought us to Siem Reap (which, I’m glad to say, had lights). Siem Reap is the small town (and it’s basically a tourist/party kind of town where it’s great to go out at night after spending a full day in the sweltering hot sun. It’s about 10 kilometers south of Angkor Wat.

In overview, Angkor Wat is the ancient capital of the Khmer kingdom. What remains today are temples…temples…and temples. Hindu temples. Buddhist temples. They were also a people who were animists, so some temples are reminiscent of that system, too.

The detail of the temples is also fascinating. There are more asparas here than you can shake a stick at. Of the roughly 20,000 asparas, only one is shown smiling (baring teeth, that is). It fascinates – and impresses – me that people have done such extensive research and restoration that they know this. Those are the details, though.

A macro view of the Siem Reap area is just as impressive in that these temples are a study of a civilization close to one thousand years old (yet another jaw-dropping aspect of Angkor: the longevity) and their durability. The earliest temples are over a thousand years old, and the most recent are from the 14th century. (If the guide book I bought is correct, they were all built between 790-1307.) What survives today is all original (though there have been reinforcements with stone – many foreign countries support renovations of specific temples; I recall China and India among them). It’s quite obvious to tell what’s old and what’s new in most cases. However, the restorations are all good and necessary. One last note regarding the longevity of these temples is this: If these stone temples are what remained…how impressive must the society have been who created them? (That’s to say…think of the temples, houses, and all that didn’t survive as they were built of wood; these are simply the temples built by the royals or the aristocracy.)

A tour of modern-day Angkor Wat can be done in one or two fairly vigorous days. However, if you’re looking for any classic shots, you’ll want to spend longer here. (Common sense: the more time here, the more chances for good shots.) For this trip – it may be the only time I come here, though you never know – we arrived on a Saturday night and checked into our hotel (My Home Tropical Garden Villa; $20/night)

Siem Reap feels, at first, like a small dusty outpost of a town. The center of town is about four square blocks of small dive restaurants (and a bar street) and slightly pricier restaurants. There is also a night market street, an art street…all in all, it’s quite nice and has a bit of a party feel to it in addition to the endless souvenir stands you would expect. Though we didn’t go out on Saturday night (since we didn’t get checked in until around 9:30 p.m.), we did get a chance to go on Sunday.

Sunday morning was an awfully early start. Before having left Phnom Penh, I jumped on Facebook and, by chance, found and hired a local tuktuk driver, Mao Khvan, for $25/day. He agreed to pick us up at 4:50 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Now, a quick note on tuktuks: almost every single hotel/hostel/guesthouse probably has tuktuks available for hire. Also, when we were picked up at the airport, the taxi driver offered to drive us for the time we were there. In short…it’s a competitive market, and finding a driver for the day will be no problem. $25 may even be slightly pricy (you could probably find a driver for $15-20), however, I was so impressed with Mao’s service that, if I were to return, I’d gladly hire him again. He wasn’t rude or pushy, provides all the ice water you could possibly want to drink, and though he’s not an “official” guide, he’s very, very knowledgeable and made both days pleasant. I even had him take us to the airport the morning we left, and he brought his wife and daughter to meet us. He’s just a genuinely good and decent guy. (For anyone who goes to Angkor Wat, here’s Mao’s contact info if you want to arrange his services ahead of time: www.facebook.com/maotuktuksiemreap/?fref=ts )

Back to the actual touring itself, Angkor is geared towards tourism and they do it well. You can buy an admission ticket for either one, three, or seven days. ($20, $40, or…$60?). It’s also nice because they don’t have to be used in consecutive days (for the three and seven day passes, obviously). The three days can be used in a given week. The seven day pass, within a month.

Conventionally, two days is enough to see the “main” sites (albeit quickly) in about 8 hours each day. There’s a small loop (which we did the first morning) in which we caught the sunrise (not a great one, but…there was one, and it wasn’t terrible, by any stretch) at Angkor Wat, followed by a quick tour of the grounds – but not the temple itself. Afterwards (we were at Angkor Wat from 5:30 until 7:00 or 8:00, I’d say), we hopped back in the tuktuk and headed over to Ta Prohm, about 15-20 minutes away. Ta Prohm is famous for those who are fans of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies. (The first, I think. I’m not, so I don’t recall it vividly.) After those two spots – probably two of the three most famous – we went to the Khmer Country Kitchen for a rather nice, relaxing, and cheap breakfast where we spent an hour with the other two members of our group. Around 10:00, we went to our third stop: Ta Keo Temple. In 40 degree heat (roughly 104F), I was feeling a bit too exhausted to climb the somewhat steep stairs to the top of this temple, but I did enjoy the lower area just as well. From Ta Keo, we made a quick stop at two temples (they form a pair): Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda for about 20 minutes. Between these three, I’d say we spent about an hour. Our last stop of the morning, around high noon, was the Bayon complex of Angkor Thom. Passing through Bayon’s east gate, we stopped for a few quick pictures before going to the main compound of Bayon, which I would say is the the last of the three most-recognizable places here. We spent a good hour, or a little longer, shooting here after which point we were completely spent. Mao would have gladly taken us back to Angkor for sunset, but we actually decided to call it a day around 1:00. 9 hours in high heat was more than enough.

Back at the hotel, we rested, and I enjoyed myself immensely in the swimming pool. In the early evening, we walked about 600 meters to the “happening” part of town where we wandered the various streets and had a rather nice Khmer dinner. After eating and walking off a rather good dinner, we called it a night and headed back to our room. (For what it’s worth, the afternoon sky clouded over quite a bit and I heard we didn’t miss much as far as sunsets go. Mao also told us the following morning that the sunrise was a wash, as was Tuesday morning’s. Perhaps he was just trying to make us feel good.)

Monday morning we gladly skipped the sunrise and had a late start around…10:00. After a good old-fashioned breakfast of a ham & cheese omelet, Mao came by and we spent the second full day on the large loop. The first stop of the day was at Ba Phuon, a lesser temple just north of Bayon in Angkhor Thom. This was accompanied by quick stops at the adjacent Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace. After about an hour in the Ba Phuon area, we rode off to the northeast and stopped at Preah Khan, which was a rather interesting ruins. Another hour or so gone, we continued along the northeastern loop, bypassing Neak Pean (which, following English pronunciation rules, could theoretically be pronounced “neck pain,” which amused me for some reason…). The next stop was a rather small temple named Ta Som on the eastern end of the outer loop. Just down the road from Ta Som, we stopped at the East Mebon temple. When it was constructed, this was an island, only accessible by boat. That, however, was centuries ago. Now, it’s just a very dry, dusty area – with the temple still standing – and it’s hard to imagine it was once surrounded by water. At any rate, it was a quick stop at East Mebon, followed by another nice meal at the Khmer Country Kitchen before we continued with the tour. The next stop on the list was due east of the restaurant (southeast corner of the outer loop, which is really slightly northeast of Angkor Wat). Pre Rup (or Bre Rup) was a fairly photogenic temple. By this point, the heat – also around 40 degrees, just like Sunday – was starting to take a toll, though we still managed to stay out and see all we could. The last “new” temple for us was Banteay Kdei, a citadel that is at the corner of where the inner and outer loop meet on the eastern side of Angkor Wat. Directly across the street from Bnateay Kdei is what should be a nice lake called Sra Srang. A long, rectangular lake, which is also across the street from the Khmer Country Kitchen, it’s now nothing but a dustbowl. Though it’s rainy season now, there’s been so little rain that the lake has completely dried up. (But, please don’t tell any “right”-thinking politicians in my country that global warming is a problem. It certainly isn’t, despite what your eyes see.) After some rather sad contemplation at Sra Srang, we went back to Angkor Wat around 4:00 and were there until 6:30 or so for sundown. However, a boomer of a thunderstorm (light rain, but heavy on thunder & lightning) came through and there wasn’t much to see. However, we did finally get to tour the interior of Angkor Wat, and found that a pretty fitting way to end the initial Siem Reap shoot. From there, we went back to the hotel where we passed out from exhaustion.

The only thing left to do was wake up on Tuesday for a quick 45 minute flight at noon to Bangkok. We concluded the trip as we started it: eating well at a Thai restaurant. Other than that, we just had a quiet night in Bangkok (no shooting at all) and a very early (3:30 a.m.) wake up call for our return flights out of Thailand. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Thailand again soon.

Update @ July 20th, 2010: Both are here in, more or less, original state .. almost no wear. Currently the Supreme still looks like this, after being on the bike for the better part of 5000km. The XR looks a bit more worn currently, after having seen 3000km of NZ roads while on a bike tour ;-). The middle knobs of the XR are now completely flat, you can't see the indents in them anymore; for the rest no visible wear :-).

These are definitely my favourite tires, the XR in particular.

Note: thought I'd post an update after this being the most viewed image in my photostream :p.

Image credit: Andreas Papadopoulos

Side by side my first Washi and my second. Made quite a few pattern adjustments to my second.

Blogged here: www.zaaberry.blogspot.com/2013/01/another-washi-dress.html

In 2010, the main difference was the presence of Ardrossan Indoor Bowling Club, built at the left, built shortly after the photo was taken. The Town Hall was built in 1851 by Duncan Graham from the north of Scotland and was known as Graham’s Castle. From 1893, it was owned by Archibald Russell and his heirs. In 1920, it was bought by the Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company Limited who refurbished it as Castlecraigs Recreation Club which opened on 26 February 1921. In 1927, the Masons bought the building and let out the ancillary rooms and tennis courts. During the second world war between 1939 and 1945, the Royal Navy requisitioned Castlecraigs as a barracks. It was subsequently managed by Ardrossan Town Council and known as the Town Hall. In the 1970s, North Ayrshire Council took over the building, added an extension to the right and called it Ardrossan Civic Centre.

Photograph contributed by Tom McGrattan

Website: www.ardrossanphotographs.net/

For more information on the Yesterd@ys project, please visit Our Website, or email us at NAHeritage@North-Ayrshire.gov.uk

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Trafalgar Square

Thanks for the views, Please check out my other Photos & Albums.

. . . 10. 3. 2007 - this is the fourth day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see buffalo fighting, cock fighting, the killing of the buffalos, the horse and the deer. The photos of the killing might look strange to you, to the torajian they are common. The souls of the killed buffalos are the servants of the deads. The more buffalos are killed the better life for the dead.

If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.

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The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").

The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.

Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.

ETHNIC IDENTITY

The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).

HISTORY

From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.

Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.

In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to

CHRISTIANITY

Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.

SOCIETY

There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.

FAMILY AFFILIATION

Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.

Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.

Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.

CLASS AFFILIATION

In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.

Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.

Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.

The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.

CULTURE

TONGKONAN

Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").

Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.

The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.

WOOD CARVINGS

To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.

Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.

Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.

FUNERAL RITES

In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.

The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.

Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.

There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.

In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.

DANCE AND MUSIC

Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.

As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.

A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.

LANGUAGE

The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.

ECONOMY

Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .

With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.

Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.

TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE

Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.

In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.

Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.

A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.

Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.

WIKIPEDIA

Another example of truth in marketing, or is it just a bold, unsubstantiated claim? They don't promote any particular brand, they're just saying high quality makes a difference. Well, okay, it seems like a inarguable premise. I'm on board -- high quality sausages make a difference!

113in2013 16 - Spot the Difference.

There are nine differences between the top photo and the bottom photo. Can you find them all? (Artist Ann Swanson Gross)

Fonte official FB page:

Over the course of Devin Townsend’s storied career, a single constant has persevered: change. As far back as Steve Vai’s Sex & Religion, which Townsend fronted, to 2001’s landmark full-length Terria to the multi-instrumentalist’s country rock outfit Casualties of Cool to his stunning new album Transcendence, the Canadian isn’t too interested in keeping an even musical keel. To stay the proverbial course is, well, anathema. For certain, he’s far too impatient to write the same Strapping Young Lad song over and over—which is why he folded the band in 2007—and it’s likely there will never be a fourth or fifth Ziltoid album (a third if we’re lucky) because by that point he’ll be in a totally different frame of mind for galactic puppets gone awry.

“The Devin Townsend Project is still essentially a solo project,” he reminds. “One of several, but the difference is that I've had a dedicated team of talented folks here that really had great ideas. of the ways I consciously stepped out of my comfort zone was to the solicit feedback from not only the band, but also to production and engineering. Opinions from people I trust at the management and label, and all with a sense of building a kind of archetype of the DTP sound that would not ostracize people who enjoy the style, but keeping it fresh for me as well. One of the things I did was present my vision—which I’ve always done—and within that framework, I’d massage it with the team. For this record, in those sections, I’d bring it to the band and say, ‘Look guys, here’s what it’s supposed to do. This is how it’s supposed to make me feel. And how the audience is supposed to feel. This is how it interacts with the parts prior and after. That’s why it exists. It’s not complicated because we’re trying to jerk off here. It’s complicated because, in my mind, the emotional component of the section is complicated. But in lieu of how quickly I tend to purge music I’m thinking: how can we make it cooler while I can still move quickly? 'Here’s the basic chord structure guys, this is what I think it should basically do, be it angular or in thirds or whatnot... Dave [Young; guitars] and Mike [St-Jean; keyboards] Ryan (VanPoederooyen: drums) and Brian (Waddell: bass) , can you think of something cooler there? I’ll be back tomorrow.’”

“It took a year to try and figure out a template for what DTP should be and still be of interest to me,” remembers Townsend, “And as much as I’ve been a control freak for so long, I’m also at an age where I recognize those elements—like friends—in my life are ultimately more important than music, and the need to control something like the DTP at this point is more rooted in insecurity now that necessity. I do enjoy being part of a team. I like to think after so many records with these guys that I don't really have to be at the center of everything. I can trust a team of people—the right people—to help where I need help. I need an engineer who has better ears than me. My ears are getting tired after all these years. If you put together a team whose strengths are better than yours, and then you put in your strengths, then what comes out of it, for no other reason than for an experiment, is really cool. And in line with my need for a project to have a theme to draw me into it, That’s what this records theme became. It’s an experiment put to music. If anything really kick started the inspiration for the record, it was that. The desire to get the DTP 'right' for what it is.”

Recorded at The Armoury Studios in Vancouver, Canada with Townsend and Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Animals as Leaders), Transcendence sounds absolutely massive. From the moment ‘Truth’—a re-work from the Infinity album—monstrously blends into the soul-stirring ‘Stormbending’ to the undulating cool of mid-point jam ‘Secret Sciences’ and Ween cover ‘Transdermal Celebration’, Townsend and crew have engineered a modern-day classic. The sheer scale of tracks like ‘Failure’, ‘Higher’, and the majestic title track is at once daunting and inviting. Transcendence pulls the listener in like a movie score. It has the emotional heft of Rosenman’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the mega-riff power of Black-era Metallica.

Even if Transcendence had its 'bikini wax' moments—(Townsend metaphorically refers to his process as 'professionally hitting myself in the face with a hammer')—the final product is fantastic. In many ways, it’s typical The Devin Townsend Project, however there is now an inviting sense of depth and relative breathing room in the sound. Always professional and sonically awash in darks, lights, and colors between, it turned out not only to be an acceptable new DTP record, but arguably one of the best. What also added to the overall quality was the addition of five guest musicians—including but not limited to ex-The Gathering vocalist Anneke Van Giersbergen, vocalists Ché Aimee Dorval and Katrina Natale—and a five-person choir called Tigers In A Tank. Their contribution to Transcendence’s overall ambiance is noteworthy and necessary.

“Well, I love working with female vocalists because I’m not particularly fond of singing and I really react emotionally to female voices,” posits the frontman. “I kind of fell into singing. I could never find someone who would sing like I wanted, so I begrudgingly took the job. Anneke’s obviously worked with me for a while now. Ché was on this record because she was with me in Casualties of Cool. And Katrina sang one song on the Ghost album. Also, I wanted the three of them on this record if this was to be the last DTP record. They bring it all together. So, sticking with the same people is the same reason I’ve been married for so long. Once I find great people, I have no need to look elsewhere for the similar things. It’s kind of great as it eliminates option paralysis in that area, though as different needs arise, often things evolve as well. As for the choir, it’s typically been inefficient. For the last record, I went to Amsterdam and it was crazy. I went to Sweden and it was cool but super-expensive. On Epicloud, I had a gospel choir, but had to over-dub a lot. For this one, I asked my buddy Eric [Severinson] to find three capable women and two men. I was able to create the choir by doing over-dubs and recording on-the-fly. It turned out great and it was very efficient.”

With over 60 songs in the bag for Transcendence, (not all, he is quick to point out, of the same quality) Townsend obviously had to pare down. The songs that made it, however, are breathtaking in their scope, beautiful in their presentation, and heavy—noticeably—enough to out-bombast the sum of The Devin Townsend Project’s previous full-lengths. Certainly, Townsend knows how he feels about the songs on Transcendence (and its accompanying second disc). Each song, from ‘Truth’ and ‘Secret Sciences’ to ‘Stars’ and ‘Offer Your Heart’, provoked a reaction from the man.

“My litmus test for whether or not a song or a record is working is really about my visceral reaction to it,” Townsend says. “If I react to it, then it’s correct, for me. That reaction could be repulsion, it could make me cry, it could irritate me, I could be loving it, it’s pretty much all the same. As long as I’m affected by the song, then I know I have something accurate.”

As for the Townsend’s loyal fans? The very fans who’ve been waiting with bated breath for Transcendence?

“If it gives me a reaction, then I hope it’ll contribute something to their world. Ultimately, I'm happy to contribute my observations to the massive sea of music. If there's anything that became clear to me throughout this all is the value of being part of something as opposed to being too concerned about 'being' the thing'

1958 Interior.

The differences: Gold anodized side trim in '57, silver in '58. The side trim had three horizontal ridges at the back where it meets the tailfin, none in '58. Dual headlights with inboard turn signals in '57, quads in '58. Six vertical under-bumper intake slots in '57 (changed to 12 narrower ones in mid '57 after buyer complaints), a continuation of the upper grille in '58. Sailing-ship emblem on the grille in '57, a "V" (denoting a V8 car) in '58. "PLYMOUTH" spelled out in chrome letters on the front of the hood in '57, and spelled out in black on a much smaller winged front mediallion in '58. Deep-dish "coolie hat" wheelcovers in '57, shallower ones in '58. A "V" (denoting a V8 car) ahead of the front wheelwells in '57, none in '58.

At the rear: Triangle-shaped taillight lenses (following the contour of the tailfin) with round back-up lights below in '57, a chrome strip where the '57 taillight was and a round taillight where the '57 backup light was in '58.

The reason I'm such a geek about '57 and '58 Plymouths is that my dad had a midnight blue '57 Belvedere with a white side streak and roof. I grew up standing up in the back seat, back before the nanny state decided that every child under 4' 9" should be strapped into a baby seat.

He bought it used in '59 and totaled it in November of '64, when he went the wrong way down an exit ramp on the Outer Drive in Chicago and took out three other cars. He thought car insurance was a scam; didn't believe in it. As a result, we spent 3 years paying off claims from the people he hit.

Every time I go to a Chrysler or any other car show, I look for a car just like it, or any '57 Belvedere 4-door sedan, just to see it and (if the owner lets me) sit in it, and relive a little bit of my lost youth.

I'm still looking.

20170516GraduationCapGownFrederickRoyster

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies, Concentration in Education, Minor in Special Education

Henderson Nc

What is your best memory of WSSU?

My best memory of WSSU would be Homecoming! All the support, love and positive energy from alumni, students, faculty and staff is amazing! Seeing thousands of people coming together, bring their kids and relatives to brag about how awesome WSSU is priceless. To celebrate this wonderful institution through donations, attendance at athletic events as well as fellowshipping on the yard is phenomenal!

What do you love about WSSU?

The one thing I love about WSSU is the family oriented vibe I receive from not only the faculty and staff, but also from the students? There is not a moment that goes by each and every day where I do not see the genuine vibe and care our students have for one another. Wither it is student leaders encouraging other students to get more involved with student activities or students coming together to walk to the football or basketball games to support athletics or senate meetings, together we act as one.

What do you plan on doing after you graduate?

My plans after graduation are to further my education to receive my masters in the field of education. With this goal I plan to teach at a Title 1 school in the Forsyth County region to help leave a legacy in the community of Winston Salem and embrace my love and the importance of my HBCU.

How has WSSU prepared you for the future?

Being that WSSU is a Liberal Arts Institution is has prepared me with the knowledge and skill set in different content areas where I will be able to use that background knowledge and the fundamental skill set to adapt to any job I come across in the future in life.

How has WSSU made a difference in your life?

WSSU has made a huge difference in my life. Getting involved in different organizations such as Greek Life, Housing and Resident Life and Student Government Association has taught me to believe in myself. Getting involved in campus life has developed my communication and social skills. It has taught me how important your personal brand is and taught me the importance of networking and getting out of my comfort zone. If I did not have individuals at this this institution to push and help motivate me, I would have never revealed my full potential. And for that I am proud to be an alum of the Winston Salem State University!

Matrix Dental Laboratory is partnered with the best specialty dental laboratories nationally.

We also work for a fine group of dentists looking to deliver dentures that reflect a care for their patients. We are always looking for dentists who understand the difference between dentures and removable prosthetic treatment.

www.matrixdentallab.com

The difference between a walk and a wander is the time spent. I had little over an hour spare once I arrived, so instead of getting some lunch, I took photos instead.

Down the street lined with shops to the town square with the large church, town hall and many wonderful looking bars and restaurants.

I was in town for a few hours for a meeting, I drove over, then drove back. As you do.

Not a bad day, but I think I will try the train next time....

--------------------------------------------

Leuven (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈløːvə(n)] ( listen); French: Louvain, pronounced: [luvɛ̃], often used in English) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in Belgium. It is located about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Brussels, close to other neighbouring towns such as Mechelen, Aarschot, Tienen, and Wavre. The municipality itself comprises the historical city of Leuven and the former municipalities of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, a part of Korbeek-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal.

It is home to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewing group and one of the five largest consumer-goods companies in the world; and to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the largest and oldest university of the Low Countries and the oldest Catholic university still in existence.[2] It is also home to the UZ Leuven, one of the largest hospitals of Europe.

The earliest mention of Leuven ("Loven") is from 891, when a Viking army was defeated by the Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia (see: Battle of Leuven). According to a legend the city's red and white arms depict the blood-stained shores of the river Dyle after this battle.

Situated beside this river, and near to the stronghold of the Dukes of Brabant, Leuven became the most important centre of trade in the duchy between the 11th and 14th centuries. A token of its former importance as a centre of cloth manufacture is shown in that ordinary linen cloth is known in late-14th-century and 15th-century texts as lewyn (other spellings: Leuwyn, Levyne, Lewan(e), Lovanium, Louvain).[3]

In the 15th century a new golden era began with the founding of what is now the largest and oldest university in the Low Countries, the Catholic University of Leuven, in 1425.[4]

In the 18th century the brewery Den Horen (meaning "the horn") flourished. In 1708 Sebastien Artois became the master brewer at Den Horen, and gave his name to the brewery in 1717, now part of AB InBev, whose flagship beer, Stella Artois, is brewed in Leuven and sold in many countries.

Leuven has several times been besieged or occupied by foreign armies; these include the Battle of Leuven (891), Siege of Leuven (1635) and Battle of Leuven (1831).

Both world wars in the 20th century inflicted major damage upon the city. Upon Germany's entry into World War I, the town was heavily damaged by rampaging soldiers. Some German soldiers shot the burgomaster, the university rector and all of the city's police officers.[5] In all, about 300 civilians lost their lives.[6] The university library was also destroyed on 25 August 1914, using petrol and incendiary pastilles.[7][8] 230,000 volumes were lost in the destruction, including Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts, a collection of 750 medieval manuscripts, and more than 1,000 incunabula (books printed before 1501).[8][9] The destruction of the library shocked the world, with the Daily Chronicle describing it as war not only against civilians but also against "posterity to the utmost generation."[10] It was rebuilt after the war, and much of the collection was replaced. Great Britain (on the initiative of the John Rylands Library, Manchester) and the United States were major providers of material for the replenishment of the collection.[6] The new library building was financed by the National Committee of the United States for the Restoration of the University of Louvain and built to the design of architect Whitney Warren; it was officially opened on 4 July 1928.[11]

In World War II, after the start of the German offensive, Leuven formed part of the British Expeditionary Force's front line and was defended by units of the 3rd Division and Belgian troops. From 14 to 16 May 1940, the German Army Group B assaulted the city with heavy air and artillery support. The British withdrew their forces to the River Senne on the night of 16 May and the town was occupied the next day.[12] The new university library building was set on fire by shelling on 16 May and nearly a million books were lost.

The Town Hall, built by Sulpitius van Vorst (nl), Jan II Keldermans, and, after both of them died, Matheus de Layens between 1439 and 1463 in a Brabantian late-Gothic style. In the 19th century, 236 statues were added to the exterior, each representing a prominent local scholar, artist or noble from the city’s history. The reception hall dates from 1750.

The St. Peter's Church (1425–1500) was finished by Jan Keldermans and Matheus de Layens. During the Second World War the church was damaged; during the restoration a Romanesque crypt from the 11th century was found. In the church itself there are several paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries (among others, Dirk Bouts's famous painting of the last supper) and the grave of Duke Henry I of Brabant. The 50-metre-high tower — which was meant to be 169 metres high, but was never completed — is home to a carillon. The tower was included in UNESCO's list of Belfries of Belgium and France in 1999.

Saint-Anthony's Chapel, Pater Damiaanplein, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, contains the tomb of Father Damien, the "leper priest" of Molokai, who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday October 11, 2009.[15][16] The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him "the Apostle of the Lepers",[17] and elsewhere he is known as the "leper priest". The Catholic priest's remains were returned in Belgium with great fanfare in 1936, after having been originally buried on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai where he had served the outcast lepers until his death.

The Linen-hall, in an early-Gothic style, with baroque addition, is today the University Hall.

The Church of Saint Michael was built in the typical Jesuit Baroque Style.

The Church of Saint Quinten incorporates remains of a Romanesque church built in the 13th century.

The University Library on the Ladeuzeplein was built by the American architect Whitney Warren. It was a gift from the American people to Leuven after World War I, during which the Germans burned down the original library. The tower houses one of the largest carillons in the world.

Totem is a statue at the centre of the Ladeuzeplein; it is a work of the Belgian artist Jan Fabre. Featuring a 23-metre-high needle impaling a giant jewelled beetle, the statue towers over the square in front of the university library.

There is a neo-Romanesque Abbey on the Keizersberg ("Emperor's Mountain"), where there once stood a 12th-century ducal castle, which was demolished in the 17th Century.

The Large Beguinage is one of the world's best remaining examples of its architectural type. It was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998.

There are several other smaller churches and chapels throughout the town.

"Fonske" is a statue near the centre of town. Its full name is Fons Sapientiae, Latin for "fountain of wisdom". The statue represents a university student who, while reading a book, lets wisdom flow into his head as liquid from a glass. Just like Manneken Pis in Brussels, Fonske is, from time to time, dressed in costumes appropriate for specific occasions.

The 'Oude Markt' or "Old Market" square located in the center of Leuven features a vibrant social scene the center of which displays a lifesize statue of 'De Kotmadam', or "The Landlady" resting on a bench.

Lerkeveld is a famous Jesuit abbey, and headquarters of the Jesuits in Belgium.

St Anthony's College, Leuven was located in the city, on Pater Damiaanplein. The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe is now located on the premises.

Sint-Donatus Park contains remains of the medieval city wall

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven