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It is difficult today to imagine the audacity of these posters produced by a handful of visionary artists in imperial Vienna before 1914!
With Kokoschka, Kalwach, Oppenheimer, Schiele, it is an aesthetic avant-garde spitting in the face of an official art pampered by power to confine itself to a backward-looking academicism whose primary function, through the choice of its subjects, was the negation of social reality.
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Il est difficile aujourd'hui d'imaginer l'audace de ces affiches produites par une poignée d'artistes visionnaires dans la Vienne impériale d'avant 1914 !
Avec les Kokoschka, les Kalwach, les Oppenheimer, les Schiele, c'est une avant-garde esthétique crachant au visage d'un art officiel choyé par le pouvoir pour se cantonner dans un académisme passéiste dont la fonction première, par le choix de ses sujets, était la négation de la réalité sociale.
amazing from every view, I love the front side same as the back and backlit as well! that's why i didn't want to make a pillow from it, but instead I will try to find some suitable plexiglass to put it inside to all aspects of it be visible...
one of the original projects published in Shadowfolds book of Jeff Rutzky and Chris Palmer, my biggest shadowfold project till now
made on 50 cm square of blue lining fabric, not the best choice for shadowfolds but it was part of experiment :) ... after it was cut to obtain circle as you see it on pictures, final size is 27 cm (diameter)
the size was quite small and fabric quite light and wobbly, ironing was especially difficult, and you can see a lot of imperfections in detail, but i like overall view and feeling from this piece
started before Christmas and finished during winter holiday in Slovakia
Jeff managed to copy the pattern to the fabric, my thanks goes to him :)
Built in 1903-1905, this Prairie-style mansion was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Larkin Company executive Darwin D. Martin, whom built the house as a way to bring his family, which had been scattered in various parts of the United States when his mother had died early in his childhood. The house was the culmination of immense personal wealth and professional success that Martin had enjoyed in his life despite his difficult childhood, starting as a soap seller in New York City, being hired by the Larkin Company in 1878, before moving to Buffalo and becoming the single office assistant to John D. Larkin in 1880, and in 1890, replaced Elbert Hubbard, who was a person that Martin immensely admired, as the Corporate Secretary of the Larkin Company. When the Larkin Company was seeking a designer for a major new office building for the company at the turn of the 20th Century, Martin, whom had witnessed Wright’s work in Chicago and Oak Park, wished to hire the architect as the designer of the new building, but needed to convince the skeptical John D. Larkin and other executives at the company of Wright’s suitability for the project. As a result, Martin decided to have Wright design his family estate. Darwin D. Martin became such a close friend of Wright that he commissioned the family’s summer house, Graycliff, located south of Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie, to be designed by Wright in 1926, and spearheaded the effort to assist Wright with his finances when his personal residence, Taliesin, was threatened with foreclosure in 1927.
The main house is made up of four structures, those being the house itself, which sits at the prominent southeast corner of the property closest to the intersection of Summit Avenue and Jewett Parkway of any structure on the site, the pergola, which is a long, linear covered porch structure that runs northwards from the center of the house, the conservatory, which sits at the north end of the pergola and features a statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which is visible from the front entrance to the house down the long visual axis created by the pergola, and the carriage house, which sits immediately west of the conservatory and behind the west wing of the house, enclosing the rear of the house’s main garden.
On the grounds of the mansion are two other houses, those being the Barton House, built at the northeast corner of the property along Summit Avenue to house Darwin D. Martin’s sister, Delta Martin Barton, and her husband, George F. Barton, which was the first structure to be built on the property and very visually similar to the main house, using the same type of bricks and incorporating many smaller versions of features found on the main house, and the Gardener’s cottage, built in 1909 to house gardeners who maintained the grounds of the property, which is the smallest and plainest of the three houses, which is sandwiched into a narrow strip of the property between two other houses, fronting Woodward Avenue to the west.
The main house features a buff roman brick exterior with raked horizontal mortar joints and filled in vertical joints, giving the masonry the appearance of being made of a series of solid horizontal bands with recessed joints, accentuating the horizontal emphasis of the house’s design and creating texture with shadows. The roof is hipped with wide overhanging eaves, with the gutters draining into downspouts that drop water into drain basins atop various one-story pillars at the corners of the house, with the roof having a T-shaped footprint above the second floor and three separate sections above the first floor, which wrap around the second floor to the south, west, and north, with the roof soaring above a porte-cochere to the west of the house, as well as a separate roof suspended above a porch to the east. The house’s roof is supported by pillars that sit near, but not at the corners of the building, with windows wrapping the corners. The windows are framed by stone sills and wooden trim, with some windows featuring stone lintels. The front door is obscured inside a recessed porch on the front facade, with the tile walkway to the door turning 90 degrees upon its approach to the doorway, a quite common feature of many of Wright’s houses at the time. The house is surrounded by a series of low brick walls with stone bases and stone caps, with sculptural decorative stone planters atop the pillars at the ends of many of these walls, with some of the planters containing carefully chosen decorative vegetation, and others serving as semi-hidden drainage basins for the adjacent one-story roofs.
Inside, the house features a foyer with a head-on view of the pergola and the conservatory to the north, simple but finely crafted wooden trim elements, the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the foyer and dining room on the first floor that reflects light in different ways via various types of tile with different types of glazing, rough plaster painted a variety of colors, careful use of shadow to highlight certain elements while obscuring others, art glass windows featuring stained glass and clear glass panes in decorative patterns, wooden built ins and Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furnishings, a large kitchen with lots of white surfaces and wooden cabinets overlooking the garden, a living room with a vaulted ceiling and brick fireplace featuring an arched hearth opening, extensive use of expansion and compression via ceiling height to drive movement through the space, ventilation ducts that can be operated via decorative casement windows at the pillars ringing the various spaces of the house, wooden screens to obscure the staircase and second floor, custom light fixtures, art glass ceiling panels, and five large doors with art glass lights to the eastern porch on the first floor. The second floor of the house has multiple bedrooms with a variety of Frank Lloyd Wright built-in and freestanding furniture, wooden trim, and multiple bathrooms. The house is further decorated with Japanese art pieces procured by Wright in Japan, as well as being heavily inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, with usage of shadow and light to obscure and highlight different features, as well as the general form of the house, with the wide eaves providing ample shade to the interior during the summer months, while still allowing light to easily enter the space during the darker winter months.
To the north of the main house is an approximately 90-foot-long pergola with evenly spaced brick pillars framing the tile walkway, decorative wooden trim on the ceiling at each column, light fixtures at each column, and a glass transom and a door with large glass lights and a narrow frame providing a nearly unobstructed view of the interior of the conservatory at the north end of the pergola, focusing the attention of visitors upon their entrance to the house, as the conservatory and pergola form a continual visual axis from the foyer to the statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace that stands in the northern end of the conservatory. This entire section of the house was rebuilt during its restoration, having been demolished in the 1960s after falling into disrepair. The pergola features a gabled roof that terminates at the bonnet roof around the perimeter of the conservatory to the north and at the first floor hipped roof of the house to the south.
The conservatory sits at the north end of the pergola, and has a latin cross footprint, with a glass skylight roof with a gabled section running north-south and a pyramidal hipped section at the crossing. The skylight terminates at a parapet that surrounds it on all sides, which features distinctive and decorative “birdhouses” at the north and south ends, apparently intended to house Blue Martins, but were not designed appropriately for the specific needs of the species, and have thus never been occupied. Two of the birdhouses survived the decay and demolition of the original conservatory in the 1960s, and were prominently displayed atop a wall in front of the house until the restoration of the complex in 2007. The interior of the conservatory features only a few concrete planters flanking the walkways and below the large Winged Victory of Samothrace that sits in the northern alcove of the space, with this apparently not having been what the Martin family had in mind, leading to the erection of a prefabricated conventional greenhouse made of metal and glass to the west of the Carriage House shortly after the house’s completion. The conservatory utilizes the same small tile on the floor as other areas of the house, with suspended wooden trim frames breaking up the large void of the space into smaller sections, supporting the space’s light fixtures and carefully framing the planters, fountain, and sculpture.
To the west of the conservatory is the two-story Carriage House, which features a simple pyramidal hipped roof with wide overhanging eaves, recessed corner pillars with central sections featuring wrap-around bands of windows on the second floor, a large carriage door in the center of the south facade, flanked by two smaller pillars and two small windows, and a one-story rear wing with a hipped roof. The interior presently houses a gift shop, but is set up like the original structure, demolished in the 1960s, would have been, with horse stables, red brick walls, a utility sink, and a simple staircase to the upper floor.
The house complex was home to the Martin family until 1937, when, owing to financial difficulties brought on by the loss of the family fortune during the 1929 Black Friday stock market crash and Darwin D. Martin’s death in 1935, the house had become too difficult for the family to maintain, with the family abandoning the house, allowing it to deteriorate. Additionally, Isabelle Reidpath Martin, Darwin’s widow, did not like the house’s interior shadows, which made it difficult for her to see. D.R. Martin, Darwin’s son, tried to donate the house to the City of Buffalo and the State University of New York system for use as a library, but neither entity accepted the offer, and the house remained empty until 1946, when it was taken by the city due to back taxes. In 1951, the house was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, which intended to convert the house into a summer retreat for priests, similar to the contemporaneous sale of Graycliff by the Martin family to the Piarists, a Catholic order. However, the property languished until 1955, when it was sold to architect Sebastian Tauriello, whom worked hard to save the architecturally significant and by-then endangered property, hoping the house would avoid the fate that had befallen the Larkin Administration Building five years prior. The house was subdivided into three apartments, with the carriage house, pergola, and conservatory demolished and the rear yard sold, and two uninspired apartment buildings with slapped-on Colonial Revival-style trim known as Jewett Gardens Apartments, were built to the rear of the house. In 1967, the University at Buffalo purchased the house, utilizing it as the university president’s residence, with the Barton House and Gardener’s Cottage being parceled off, both converted to function as independent single-family houses. The university attempted to repair the damage from years of neglect and did some work to keep the house functioning, modernizing portions of the interior and returning several pieces of original furniture to the house. The house would exist in this condition for the next half-century.
In 1975, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1986, was listed as a National Historic Landmark. In 1992, the nonprofit Martin House Restoration Corporation was founded with the goal of eventually restoring the historically and architecturally significant complex, and opening it as a museum. In 1994, the organization purchased the Barton House, and had the Martin House donated by the University of Buffalo in 2002. The restoration of both houses began under the direction of Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects shortly thereafter, and the Jewett Gardens Apartments were demolished upon the acquisition of the site by the nonprofit around the turn of the millennium. In 2006, the Gardener’s cottage was purchased from private ownership, and work began to rebuild the lost Pergola, Conservatory, and Carriage House, which were completed in 2007. Additional work to restore the house continued over the next decade, restoring the various interior spaces, with extensive work being put in to restore the kitchen and bedrooms. Finally, in 2017, the last part of the house was restored, being the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the dining room and foyer, which had been extensively altered. An addition to the grounds, located on the former rear yard of an adjacent house, is the contemporary, sleek glass and steel-clad Eleanor & Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori, with a cantilevered roof that appears to float and tapers to thin edges, with glass walls on three sides, which houses the visitor information desk, ticket sales, presentation space, a timeline of the Martin House’s history, and restrooms. The restoration of the house marks one of the first full reconstructions of a demolished Frank Lloyd Wright structure, and is one of several significant works by the architect in Buffalo, including three designs that were built posthumously in the early 21st Century - the Fontana Boat House in Front Park, the Tydol Filling Station at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum, and the Blue Sky Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery, which was designed for the Martin family in 1928, but not built until 2004.
Today, the restored Darwin D. Martin House complex serves as a museum, allowing visitors to experience one of the largest Prairie-style complexes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, faithfully restored to its circa 1907 appearance, giving visitors a sense of the genius and design philosophy of Wright.
,,,they have shown me exactly who I don't want to be!
Larry and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show this past Monday
The theme this year was "Explore America:", a tribute to the 100th year anniversary of the National Park Services.
As wonderful as the theme was, I did not find the exhibits this year at all inspiring.
The venue itself is tough to photograph in......very crowded, and the lighting is pretty challenging.. Trying to get a picture of an entire display is difficult. There is usually that one sweet spot to stand in to get just the right angle on things, and of course there iis always a line of people with their cameras standing in line waiting to take that exact shot.
I didn't see anything that made me want to fight the throngs!
So, when the inspiration doesn't come from the entire scene, it's time to get up close and personal with a few of the individual blooms.
Flowers are always inspiring!
Don't get me wrong. The show is always pretty, just seeing colorful flowers after a long winter makes it worth it, but we've been going for 19 years now, and some years are just better than others.
Of course, Larry and I always have a good time, no matter what!
I posted this old picture of mine on the 22th of September 2024 when my communication rights got suddenly restricted without an explanation.
After 9 months the situation cleared up at the end of June 2025 and I got full control of my account again.
Sally really wasn't in the mood for a photo session. I clicked off fifty shots with little success even though I enticed her with a milk bone and squeaked her favorite toy. Oh Sally, we love her every day regardless of her mood.
Large - View On Black
I posted a picture of my cats eye close up, I thought I'd give my dog the same treatment. This is Bonnie's eye. She is the best dog in the world, but hates having her photo taken, so this was very difficult to get. I really like the twinkle effect of the flash reflected in her eye.
*//U//* Eeep! My lovely Euclid finally has a new faceup!!
TEXTWALL AHOY
T3T Haha yeah...unfortunately i've been going through a personal rough patch in life lately as well as have been very busy with commissions so I haven't really had the time or energy to really work on my dolls as much as I want(ed) to. I have made/done a small bit of dolly things over the last few months but I also haven't had much time or energy to share them yet, I guess in part because i'm in a period of thought when it comes to my dolls and its difficult for me to want to share them at points when i'm deeply undecided and contemplating them. Its also incredibly frustrating for me that I have so many projects and new ideas for my dolls that I want to work on but I can't either because of a lack of time and/or funds so please do excuse me for being such a secluded and angsty dolly person lately. I do really need to get back to making dolly videos soon again though I just don't want my videos to be annoying/depressing/idkwhatsgoingon type of things and that's what I've felt i'd be creating for a while so I stopped asdfghjkl-
;-; Hopefully you guys can understand and aren't too upset with me that i've been quite distant lately. I still adore my dolls and the hobby of course, but we all have confusion and frustrations for the things we love and need a little distance sometimes.
Anyways, Euclid!
TwT So yeah, I did finally find the time/motivation to redo Euclid's faceup! I had meant to redo it for quite a while because the style and colors of their old faceup was never exactly canonically accurate but I didn't get a chance to do so on my break as I wanted to. Then not long ago Eui's head took a tumble and got some scratches in it so now it was REALLY time to redo it. *A* It was a bit of a challenge actually because its really very different from their old faceup in almost every way. I've mentioned it before but Euclid was never meant to have pink be the main color in their faceup as it was before but I did that because at the time I was less experienced with doing faceups and using more unique color combos so I sort of just took the easy way out and made Eui's faceup more pink and "natural" than it should have been. This time around I felt much more confident that I had the skills and vision necessary to bring their character to life much more accurately. It was tedious and a bit frustrating experimenting with a lot of little details trying my best to get them right but thankfully I think it worked out as I'm actually really happy with how it turned out!!~
^u^ These aren't the best pictures to show it off really but hopefully you can see that its very different than before. I incorporated a lot of blue in addition to purple in their faceup as Eui's skintone as like my unicorn character's bodies are made from gemstones therefore their skin tends to glimmer with multiple colors. I was thinking of leaving out pink entirely as I typically view Eui's skin as being a very very pale purple-grey with light blue highlights but when applied to them in bjd form it was just a bit too cold and "alien" like for their character. Speaking of their character, Euclid's overall look and expression was kind of hard for me to decide on as while they are a proud, intelligent, sophisticated, and formal person who purposefully projects upon themselves an added look of cold sternness, they are also a very selfless, coquettish, benevolent, and vivacious person by nature and its important that, while quite different, these sides of their personality shine through their intentional veil of severity. I always felt their old faceups were a bit too "nice" looking if that makes sense. Euclid is definitely a very warm and open person but should have a rather harsh front. xD It doesn't make much sense i'm sure since their faceup is by society's standards very feminine but by my own perception of Euclid and my own characters/aesthetic I view it as being somewhat more masculine now, which, since Euclid is genderfluid, is important for their character. Like, they are supposed to give the impression that they are glamorous but quite obviously either a boy who is trying to look intentionally more feminine or a girl trying to intentionally look more masculine. xD ...Its hard to explain but hopefully you know what I mean and you can tell haha.
I changed the shape, color and and thickness of their eyebrows to look sharper and more masculine as well as implied a heavier upper eyelid to give a more flirtatious look. I also made their bottom lashes darker and sharper for a more harsh and dramatic look. The only think I wasn't 100% sure about was how I wanted to paint their mouth as unlike a lot of my characters who have fuller lips, distinct shapes and more emphasis on their mouths as key features, i've always imagined Euclid's mouth to be smaller and not be as much of a focal point or definitive feature as it is with a lot of my other characters. xD Hence why i've always colored it minimally and not intentionally painted it to look open unlike almost all my other dolls. This time I painted it more prominently in the style I usually do and its the only thing in their new faceup that I can't say is necessarily more canonically accurate, but I like it just fine for now and it does go well with their current faceup. I may or may not paint it more simple again in the future whenever I decide to redo their faceup again. xD This one is definitely going to stay for a while though hopefully as I am really happy with it and how much better it capture's their character~
TwT I know its very different, but hopefully you all like it too~
Next step is going to be blushing their entire body....but maybe i'll just work on their hands for now xD
*U* ALSO SEAHORSE TAIL WOO! xD I really need a better setup to take pictures of Eui with it but I just adore them so much with their lovely tail and just had to try my best to get it in some shots even if it isn't complete yet. I still need to dye it one more time to add the black layers to it but its still beautiful all purple too~
xD Also speaking of little dolly things i've made ages ago that I haven't shown off yet; I made Eui a cute little harness, a new horn, little books, and some bouquets of roses. I also made Eui some seashell epaulets but I didn't put them on for some reason asdfgh- next time I guess.
;w; Ahh I just adore Euclid so much! I have so many more things I want to make for them but alas, most of them probably won't be anytime soon as I'll be needing to focus on another doll in the near future...but lets just say that Euclid will be more than happy to wait for this other doll in particular... oh ho ho! e//w//e
//shot
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Euclid (gender fluid) is a modded Fairyland Minifee Luka in Beautiful White skin. Faceup, mods, horn, wig, books, clothes, and bouquet by me. Seahorse tail (like this and all of my other dolls) is 100% legit and has been custom dyed a different color using iDye Poly by me.
Difficult to believe...but yes, I took this photo at Portinho da Arrábida.
Today it's raining cat's and dogs.
who says cooking is difficult? I think our older generation make it sound like a rocket science ... a month or so into regular cooking ~ woah you start making real good stuff =)
*Proudly Nods*
Just to keep a receipt .. I shoot what I cook ;-)
Some yummy Qeema Bharri Mirchein (Minced Meat stuffed Capsicums) are being steamed above ... and He thinks I made this real yum.
Wana have some?
BTW the recipe was my own ;)
ps: read the tags to know more...
Happy Weekend Ahead ~ Prayers =)
Another picture of the squirrel I encountered yesterday. Due to the shade of the tree, this shot was even more difficult to get than the others—hand-held 500mm lens at 1/60s, ISO 800, and still needed to push +1½ stops of exposure when processing the raw. Technical issues aside, I like the cute little ball he makes of himself while eyeing my behaviour suspiciously. =)
The Cerro de los Ángeles is a hill located in the municipality of Getafe, about 10 km south of Madrid (Spain). The base is at 610 meters above sea level and at the highest point, at 666.235 meters above sea level, there is a first-order geodetic vertex. From its summit you can enjoy excellent views of Madrid, Getafe and the surrounding countryside. Since 2011 it has been twinned with the Alhóndiga Park in Getafe.
Its fame lies in the fact that it has traditionally been considered the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula, although according to the National Geographic Institute the exact location of this centre is difficult to determine, because it depends a lot on the methodology used; some modern studies place it further west, in an unpopulated area south of Calalberche (province of Toledo).1 This place was the scene of some battles of the Spanish Civil War.
On the esplanade at the top of the hill are the 14th century shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, the patron saint of Getafe, and the Monument to the Sacred Heart, built in 1919 and inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII. There is also the Diocesan Seminary of Our Lady of the Apostles, a training place for priests who will carry out their apostolic work in the diocese of Getafe, and a convent of Discalced Carmelites.
This is my dog, Daisy, who is not very easy to photograph at all!
This is the best of dozens of shots I took of her.
Have a nice weekend everybody!!!
Canon XSi + Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Difficult to believe that in 1901 a wooden trestle bridge carried a narrow gauge railway across this valley. The railway took workers from a shanty town "Dawson City" near Heptonstall to the construction sites of the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs (3), about 5 miles away. The footings for the bridge still remain in the valley below, just out of shot
©SWJuk (2018)
All rights reserved
Lake Elsinore, California - March 22, 2019: Lines of cars as far as the eye can see, shows the difficult traffic and parking situation of tourists at Walker Canyon to see the wildflower poppy super bloom
The Front shell was a pain to create, Aligning the triangular panels with the frame was difficult and took a while. Along the side are 6 fission beam turrets, 10 missile silos and the communications array. Along the there are 14 laser turrets and one Advanced Laser turret. In the middle, The Cloaking device sits close to the front, followed by the Advanced Laser Turret, then an Observation dome, and twin fuel scoops, used for collecting stellar gasses such as helium, oxygen, or hydrogen which can be conveted to fuel, water, or breathable air. All of this is mirrored on the belly. The Fuel Scoops took the longest for me to design, so long that it wasn't till early this year that I finally was able to scale them up from the previous model on which the fuel scoops were only comprised of 2 pieces each.
A reboot of double decker coach on Day 5 of the new ManaBus.com express service to Auckland, the 2014 Volvo B11R snapped at the corner of Purcell St. and SH1 in Foxton on the some 10 hour run from Wellington to Auckland on Tuesday, 25 November 2014.
After a couple of years on Manabus.com express work, three of the ManaBus coaches have been moved to provide excellent hop on/off tours of Waiheke Island.
One is ManaBus No. 1 (Waiheke Explorer No. 301) which had a snafu on the island in Carsons Rd. on Saturday, 11 March 2017. The bus slid off the road when the driver pulled over to execute a turn.
The other ex ManBus Volvo B11R double deckers on the island are ManaBus No. 3 (Waiheke Explorer No. 302) and ManaBus No. 4 (Waiheke Explorer No. 303).
The double deckers are now repainted in a blue AOA livery and provide a hop on/hop off service for Fullers on the island.
DOUBLE-DECKER ON PRECIPICE
Gulf News, March 16, 2017
A double-decker bus which slipped off the edge of Carsons Road on Saturday [11 March 2017] could not have come closer to disaster.
About a dozen people were on board the Fullers Hop On Hop Off service when the driver pulled the bus to the left before making a right-hand turn into a driveway.
The left wheels of the bus slipped off the road-edge above a steep bank and the bus ended-up balanced precariously on its chassis.
Shaken passengers escaped by dropping down on to the bank via the front door before clambering up to safety.
The drama happened at a turnaround point outside Waiheke Airfield, about 250m past the entrance to Batch Vineyard, which the buses have used without incident since the service began.
Passengers walked to Batch Vineyard’s restaurant to recover. Operations manager Felix Bijl said they were “a bit startled” on arrival but soon recovered.
“After a few minutes they were more amused than shocked -some of them thought it was a bit of an adventure,” Mr Bijl said.
“We offered them the use of our shuttle to get back to their destination.
“The bus driver was very apologetic.”
Fullers was still investigating as Gulf News went to press but CEO Douglas Hudson said there was no evidence that days of heavy rain had made the road unsafe.
“Pending the outcome of the investigation it’s fair to say the bus has moved too far to the left,” Mr Hudson said.
Mr Hudson said the driver was offered counselling but had returned to work.
The company was reviewing its use of the turnaround area. A crane was hurriedly brought from Auckland to raise the bus back on to the road. The bus was undamaged.
Mr Hudson said the company took the incident very seriously. Services were suspended on the Carsons Road route for the rest of the weekend before resuming on Monday.
But local residents say the road is simply too narrow for double decker and coach buses and the service should cease or be replaced with smaller buses. Warren Eade, who lives on Musson Drive, says the buses are far too big for several roads on the island’s winery trail.
“I, my wife and my neighbours have all had close calls,” Mr Eade says. “They come around corners well over the centre line. I’ve had two near accidents where I’ve had to come to a complete stop and pull off the road almost into the bank.
“I’ve spoken to Fullers and their response is that it’s a popular route. But those buses are not suitable for these roads.” - Geoff Cumming
WAIHEKE LOCALS ANNOYED AT DOUBLE-DECKER BUSES
NZ Herald, Monday, March 13, 2017
Waiheke locals are being driven crazy by the introduction of double-decker buses on the island, saying the towering vehicles are dangerously clogging the roads.
Since the two-storey "hop on, hop off" buses were introduced on 10 December 2016, locals estimated about five have come off the road and others say it's difficult to safely share the road when passing.
Bus company Fullers, which owns the buses, says the vehicles are legally compliant and no longer or wider than other urban buses and coaches on Waiheke.
Concerned local man Alan Knight said much of the community's frustration came from feeling they had not been consulted before the buses were brought over.
The buses clogged up the roads and annoyed residents who called Waiheke their home year-round, he said.
"We understand there's got to be a tourism industry.
"But the double decker buses, the sudden introduction of them to the island with no consultation with the locals, has been a tipping point.
"Tipping point being the main word as they have tipped off the road into ditches on a number of occasions."
The roads were too small for the buses and it was only a matter of time before "someone has to go home in an ambulance", Knight said.
Waiheke local board chairman Paul Walden said a petition signed by more than 1000 locals had been handed to the board, which fully supported the campaign to get the buses removed.
"The buses are all over the roads because of the size of them. They're not just presenting a risk to themselves but to other road users when they're on a road where there's just not enough room for two vehicles."
It was "blatantly obvious" the buses were not fit for Waiheke's roads. Walden said he was concerned about what would happen with the heavy buses over winter, when the island's many dirt roads became wet and muddy.
The board had spoken to Fullers' chief executive Douglas Hudson about the buses.
"It's fair to say they need to be considering their relationship with the Waiheke community and whether this is in their best commercial interest to keep running their business given such widespread opposition in the community," Walden said.
Hudson said the buses were an environmentally friendly solution to the increasing number of Waiheke visitors who expected quality service.
Waiheke had become a top island destination and its transport should reflect that, he said.
"Initially, we will reduce the frequency of service over the winter, and are looking into some possible changes to the route to minimise and mitigate some of the concerns raised."
Hudson said a formal investigation was undertaken when buses crashed or went off the road and "any learnings are built into risk assessment procedures and training".
Auckland Transport (AT) is undertaking a review of the tour routes after concerns were raised by some residents.
AT spokesman Mark Hannan said the review's findings would be presented to the local board next week, but added recent wild weather would have some impact on the findings.
"If we find there is an issue we will report it to NZTA," Hannan said.
AT did not have the power to take legal vehicles off the road, he said.
Difficult! I nearly ran out of the 99 health potions. Probably a she-dragon, because tons of dragonlings were being summoned. Obnoxious armor spell to shield herself constantly! But I won >:D
Of course I couldn't get Kyo who disappeared even before the launch date, and Jett was quite difficult to find too... But finally I managed to find a shop (Happily Ever After) who still had the 3 girls!
(Of course I don't really need them, but it's quite difficult to resist Dynamite Girls! lol)
difficult to find a spot to photograph the loaded working when the suns out
Ginger & wife around the corner in the shade @ cafe.
It is difficult to get into the habit of good sun protection as inevitably as soon as one has done it the sun sinks behind the cloud and one has toi go back indoors. But even when it is a bit cloudy there are dangerous UV rays sneaking through so it's always best to have something on the face at least. I wear a sun hat too as I have to be paricularly careful having had to have a cancerous sun-spot removed. Thankfully it doesn't stop me from wearing my bikinis like this a favourite from River Island.
N131SL 'Theodor Kittelsen' departing Norwich Int. Airport (NWI) for Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN), Sweden.
Flight number OMD108, flight time2 hr. 14 min.
Theodor Severin Kittelsen (27th. April 1857 to 21st. January 1914) was one of the most popular artists in Norway, famous for his nature paintings and illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of trolls.
He was born in the coastal town of Kragerø in Grenland, Norway. His father died when he was young, leaving a wife and eight children in difficult circumstances. Theodor was only 11 years old when he was apprenticed to a watchmaker. When at the age of 17 his talent was discovered by Diderich Maria Aall, he became a pupil at Wilhelm von Hannos drawing school in Christiania, now Oslo. Because of generous financial support by Aall he later studied in Munich. However, in 1879 Diderich Aall could no longer manage to support him, so Kittelsen had to earn his money as a draftsman for German newspapers and magazines.
In 1882 Kittelsen was granted a state scholarship to study in Paris. In 1887 he returned to Norway for good. When back in Norway, he found nature to be a great inspiration. He spent the next two years in Lofoten where he lived with his sister and brother-in-law at Skomvær Lighthouse. Kittelsen also started to write texts to his drawings there.
Kittelsen and his family settled in a home and artist studio which he called Lauvlia at Sigdal, north of Prestfoss during 1899, he spent his best artistic years here. During this period, Kittelsen was hired to illustrate Norske Folkeeventyr (Norwegian Folktales) by the Norwegian folklore collector Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. In 1908 he was made Knight of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. However, he was forced to sell and leave Lauvlia in 1910 due to failing health. Kittelsen was granted an artist’s stipend in 1911.
He died, aged 57, at Jeløya, Østfold in 1914. After his death, his widow Inga Kittelsen was granted an annual salary from the Storting, the supreme legislature of Norway.
It is difficult to believe this photo was taken in June given the rain and low cloud. Fleet number 316 was captured in Princes Street crossing the South St. David Street intersection. The vehicle is working a Service 31 journey from East Craigs to Polton Mill (alternate journeys go to Bonnyrigg Hopefield) via Corstorphine, Edinburgh Zoo, Roseburn, the City Centre, Cameron Toll, Liberton, Bonnyrigg and Lasswade.
www.flickr.com/photos/33714681@N06/show/
--------- Samba School group ---------
Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.
Al-Ghazali
At first glance, the comparison of these two monuments seems only to be a source of antithesis; however contradictory the suggestion may seem, it will only be a question of analogies. In an ingenious and documented study, Mr Knauth, architect of Strasbourg Cathedral, demonstrated that, under an absolutely different appearance, the basilica entrusted to his care and the Great Pyramid of Egypt, known as Cheops, were designed according to an identical formula.
After the work of Colonel Howard Vyse and John Taylor, Piazzi Smyth did further research. At the entrance to the antechamber of the royal tomb, in the middle of a granite slab, a round button protrudes a fifth of its thickness. Smyth claims to find there the unit of measurement of the master builder of the pyramid; he calls the meter pyramidal five times the thickness of this button, that is to say a measure of 0.6356 m, and for this meter he adopts a division into twenty-five inches of pyramid; this mysterious detail would thus have a thickness of five inches and a projection of one inch. "It is hardly doubtful, writes Smyth, that this measure served as a unit to the builder as well in his project as in the execution, because all the measurements of lanes and chambers give rise to the most surprising relations, if they are carried out by means of this measure. "The pyramidal metre represents exactly the twenty millionth part of the earth's diameter. The latter has 12 712 178 meters[8]. The pyramidal metre is therefore worth 0.6 356 089 metre.Faced with these similarities, one naturally begins to wonder whether certain architectural principles dating back to the highest antiquity have not been perpetuated by tradition through the ages. As a result of the frequent surveys required by the floods of the Nile, the Egyptians were familiar with the surveying and geometric layouts; the Gothic masters were not inferior on these points; the marvellous monuments of all sizes they left us prove this overabundantly.
Were the rules put into practice kept by each other in the construction workshops as mysterious secrets? So many questions that it is easier to ask than to solve.
Thus reduced to his mathematical data alone, Mr. Knauth's work takes on a categorical appearance that he does not have in the original work. The eminent architect does not attempt to draw absolute and reckless consequences from his study. He only hopes that the same surveying process will be applied to other medieval édifices. In the future now to tell us if new experiences will come confirmer his thesis.
In the records of the city of London, the term "alchemy" appears as early as 1375. In those days, this referred to working fith fire permitted to freely travel the country at a time when the feudal system shackled most peasants closely to the land. They gathered in groups to work on large projects, moving from one finished castle or cathedral to the planning and building of the next. For mutual protection, education, and training, they bound themselves together into a local lodge - the building, put up at a construction site, where workmen could eat and rest. Eventually, a lodge came to signify a group of macigians based in a particular locality. The premier alchemist lodge was formed in England in 1717, the official date of the organization of the various lodges and the start of Alchemy proper. Although the style of Alchemic ritual suggest Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Templar, Rosicrucian and qabalistic origins, nothing less is true. A historical link cannot be established and given the fact that in those days no alchemists was able to read Egyptian, no direct connection with Egyptian spirituality was available. Unmistakably, the Founding Fathers of Alchemy incorporated Egyptian symbols in their various rituals and grades, as every one dollar bill makes clear. These archaisms prove the need of Alchemy to root its teachings and practices in a nonexistent, fictional historical past in order to give itself, its rituals and precepts an air of antiquity. This is especially the case in the Romantic era, when exotic tastes became fashionable. With egyptomania no longer served isolated individuals & groups, but fed the ruling classes, who were desperately trying to cope with the antagonisms and lack of humanity of emergent capitalism and the religious wars raging in Europe since the days of Luther (1483 - 1546). Alchemy and its founding myth was deemed the alternative of the educated. The God of revelation was also the "Great Architect", and in every lodge a Bible or a Koran was present. This to show the "God of the philosophers" was not a priori in conflict with the God of revelation. But the Roman Church was antagonistic, as could be expected. As a system of personal growth within a closed community of kindred spirits, alchemy survived to this day, divided between those who accept God and those who do not, between those who see symbols as instruments of growth and those who use them as gates to occult regions of the universe. Alchemy has become (or has always been ?) conservative and opaque. Its non-transparant and non-democratic (military) features may run against non-strategic, open communication, which is the foundation of social-economical justice and equality. Philosophy is more of an interest group than a spiritual organization, although some lay claim to precisely the opposite. As none of the original Egyptian teachings were available to its Founding Fathers, Alchemy, in order to accommodate the new times ahead, is bound to be reformed.
► the Rosicrucian Order...As a system of belief, Rosicrucianism came to the notice of the general public in the 17th century. In the two Rosicrucian Manifestoes, a mysterious personage called "Christian Rosenkreutz" is mentioned. But according to legend, the symbolism of the Rose and the Cross was first displayed in 11th century Spain. During a fierce battle against the Moors, an Aragonese Knight named Arista saw a cross of light in the sky with a rose on each of its arms. A monastery to commemorate his victory was erected and time later an Order of Chivalry with the emblem of these Roses and the Cross founding the monastery. The Rose and the Cross appeared in the banner of Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse when he tried to defend the Cathars against the armies of Pope Innocent III. It was in the form of a cross, described as "de gueules à la croix et pommettée d'or" ("gueule" means "red", derived from the Arabic "gul", which means "rose"). The emblem of the Cross with the red Rose in the middle square became the emblem of the Rosicrucian movement and its many orders, lodges and societies. In the Fama Fraternitatis (or Laudable Fraternity of the Rosy Cross), Christian Rosenkreutz is said to have journeyed to Damascus, Damcar, Egypt and Fez. He met those in possession of "secret teachings". He synthesized the best of these teachings and went to Spain. Finally, he returned to Germany and chose three men with whom he founded an order, meant to instruct its members in the knowledge he had obtained in the Middle East. So the typical founding myth goes. After the publication of the Manifestos, the Rosicrucians influenced the culture of Western Europe. Rosicrucianism developed along two lines, on the one hand, the scientists, intellectuals and reformers in the social, political and philosophical fields (like Descartes and Boyle) and, on the other hand, those (like Fludd, Dee, Comenius and Ashmole) concerned with occultism and mysticism (cf. the distinction between philosophical and technical Hermetica). In France, Rosicrucianism had a revival climaxing in the early 19th and the first years of the 20th century. Especially Martinez de Pasqually (1727 - 1774), Louis-Claude de Saint Martin (1743 - 1803) and Papus (1865 - 1918) are noted. ► the Golden Dawn...In 1865, and Englishman named Robert Wentforth Little founded an esoteric society, the Rosicrucian Society in Anglia. Membership was limited to Master Masons. When Little died in 1878, three men took over, a retired medical doctor, William Woodman (1828 - 1891), a coroner, Wynn Westcott (1848 - 1925) and Samuel Liddell "MacGregor" Mathers (1854 - 1918), who, as a young man, spent much of his time in the British Museum, working through piles of dusty manuscripts. He translated three Medieval magical texts : The Greater Key of King Solomon, The Kaballah Unveiled and The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. In 1887, so the story goes, Westcott received from Reverend Woodward, an elderly parson and author on Alchemy, a set of cipher manuscripts. He asked the clairvoyant and inspired Mathers to assist him (one legend says both men forged the document, in another Westcott found it on a bookstall in Farringdon Street, and in yet another the document was inherited). Both men found the code of the cipher was contained in a work of Trithemius, the influential Steganographia extolled by John Dee (1527 - 1608), the Elizabethan scholar and astrologer of Queen Elisabeth I. It concerned "angel-magic" and Dee had secured a copy of it in Antwerp. They uncovered skeletons of rituals and Mathers expanded them. Together they started the Golden Dawn (GD), a secret Victorian society aiming to harbor true Rosicrucianism and allow its members to accomplish the Great Work. A complete system of ritual magic based on the history of Western occultism was practiced. In contrast with the Theologic policy of the Rosicrucian Society, the order admitted women members as equals. Its members were recruited from every circle of life. In these rituals, Egyptian, Jewish, Greek & Christian elements were combined. However, the combination of these various traditions led to depletion. A spiritual tradition is as strong as it is pure, i.e. devoid of notions, ideas, concepts, symbols, beliefs, rituals etc. foreign to it. Although syncretism may be intellectually satisfying, it hinders spiritual emancipation. This is certainly true if the elements combined are very different, as is the case here. Because Mathers was unable to read Egyptian texts, he could not make the crucial distinction between the Egyptian approach and the Hellenistic view (incorporated in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hermetism and Hermeticism). Neither could he isolate the native Egyptian elements present in historical Hermetism. By nevertheless incorporating Egyptian deities (in particular the Osiris-cycle), the GD walked the path of egyptomania.
► Aleister Crowley...Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947) entered the GD in 1898, introduced to the order by George Cecil Jones (1873 - 1953). The influence of this "Hermetic Order" shaped his life. He continued to ferment the teachings of the GD until he died. In fact, he considered himself and his Thelemic Order of the Silver Star to be its lawful heir. The problems between Crowley and the Adepts of the order started in December 1899 (the first time he met Mathers), i.e. by the time he had taken his Portal grade, the preliminary to the crucial Adept Minor degree. When, in September 1900, he applied to be advanced to the level of Adepthood, the College of Adepts refused. They disliked Crowley, his attitudes and way of life. Some of them probably did not believe an adept should drink, have fun, fornicate and raising hell with enthusiasm. His scandalous reputation won the disapproval of his seniors, who were in their right to refuse him. So, in the same month, Crowley went to Paris, and was initiated in the Ahathoor Temple by Mathers himself ! Between Paris and London a deep schism had been in the making and now tensions truly exploded. When the London adepts heard Mathers had initiated him, the breach was complete. When applying for the lectures he was now entitled, he was again refused and physically thrown out. To Florence Farr, Yeats and many others, Crowley was an outcast, an opportunist who had endangered the link with Mathers. He promptly notified Mathers and the latter arranged a meeting with the "rebels" in London. Crowley acted as Mathers' plenipotentiary, and to protect himself, dressed up in the garb of Highland chieftain, concealing his face with a heavy black mask. Clearly Mathers had been a poor judge of characters, raising lunatic power freaks to Adepthood ...The GD did not recover from the insanity and within a few years became a dispersed organization, with several Temples conducted by different groupings of men, each appointing their own Chiefs. Waite kept the Isis-Urania Temple, but in 1914 he closed it down. Next, Crowley invented his own egyptomanic movement. In Cairo in 1904, the "minister" of Re dictated a new revelation to him, the "Book of the Law" ! Crowley became the "prophet" of the New Age of Horus ! The two major Egyptian deities he incorporated were the sky-goddess Nut and Horus of Edfu ("Hadit"). Had he known the cults of Ancient Egypt well enough, he would have realized they had no revelation or dogma, and certainly no "holy" books (for hieroglyphic writing itself was sacred). Was Crowley's "law" a concoction of his own power driven subconscious mind ? In 1909, he called in the "demon of demons" and turned Satanic. The psychosis had become irreversible ...Do these highlights show the scope of the phantasies, fictions and lies incorporated into the Western Tradition since the start of the Renaissance ? Indeed, to identify the backbone of this Tradition with the Qabalah was the outstanding mistake prompted by the fraud of Moses de Leon. This has perturbated thousands of excellent minds, causing them to constantly replay their own illusions, and loose, unlike Rabbi Akiba, after entering the "garden of delights", their sight, reason or faith in God. "The impeding turn of the millennium nourishes hopes of a new spiritual light for humankind in the aspirations of many. Egypt will surely play a role in such developments in both its forms : pharaonic Egypt and the esoteric-Hermetic Egypt. There has been increasing talk of the relevance of the Hermetic Weltanschauung as a point of view that can contribute to making sense of our modern world by seeking a direct connection with the original wisdom of the oldest cultures and with the core idea of all esoteric thought, according to which the ancient wisdom continues to be valid even in a world that has been transformed."
Can we today turn the page ? Can a spiritual movement emerge which focuses on a thematical reconstruction of Ancient Egyptian spirituality, and this based on the evidence of contemporary science regarding Ancient Egyptian religious practice in general and its basic ritual matrix in particular ? Several individuals work along those lines, coupling study with ritual practice (Hope, 1986, Schueler, 1989, Clark, 2003, Draco, 2003). In such a "Kemetic" reconstruction, no Jewish, Greek, Hermetic, Christian or Hermeticist elements should persist. Is this really possible, and if so, is such spirituality indeed the true backbone of our Western Tradition ? The advantage being the isolation of a tradition untouched by what today may be called "foreign elements". Such an exercise is not easy (not to speak of the contextual limitations of any author). For Hermetism did retain parts of the Egyptian Mystery Tradition, and in a lesser degree, the same goes for Hermeticism, and yes, even for the revealed religions, Christianity first. The thematical reconstruction sought is approached in two steps :
the influence of Egyptian spirituality on Alexandrian Hermetism ; the form of the basic matrix of native Egyptian religion.
In this paper, the first step is dealt with. The second will only be touched in the Epilogue. In the following ten paragraphs, we study ten basic notions of Hermetism (in other forms present in the mix of Hermeticism and in the "mystical" traditions of the religions). We try to find their Ancient Egyptian equivalent "in embryo" :mentalism : the gods, the world and humanity are the outcome of Divine thought ;correspondence : the same characteristics apply to each unity or plane of the world ;
change : nothing remains the same, everything vibrates, nothing is at rest ; polarity : everything has two poles, there are two sides to everything ; rhythm : all things have their tides, rise and fall, advance and retreat, act and react ; cause & effect : everything happens according to law, there is no coincidence ; gender : male and female are in every body and mind, but not in the soul ; timing : everything happens when the time is ripe, things start at the right time ; intent : nature works according to a purposeful plan, pure will masters the stars ; transformation : everything can be transformed into something else, opposites meet. In earlier studies, the special cognitive features of Ancient Egyptian thought, language & literature have been explained. Grosso modo, these imply the difference between rational thought, initiated by the Greeks, and ante-rationality. The latter is the mode of thought of pre-Greek Antiquity and of societies untouched by the linearizing streak of the Hellenes. Before the advent of rationality, three modes of thought prevailed, as Piaget, genetical epistemology and neurophilosophy made clear. These are mythical, pre-rational and proto-rational thought, in which the Ancient Egyptians excelled. Clearly Hermetism was codified using Greek conceptual rationality (giving birth to the influential systems of Plato and Aristotle). Hence, if we try to correlate these concepts with their native Egyptian equivalent, this cognitive difference has to be taken into account, and the multiplicity of approaches characterizing Egyptian thought has to be made an integral part of the equation. So because of this crucial difference, in all my translations of Egyptian texts and commentary, terms related to the Divine are not capitalized (i.e. god, gods, goddess, goddesses, divine, and pantheon), while in Hermetism and all rational discourses they are. This in accord with the contextualizing feature of anterationality, while rationality always puts context between brackets, and by doing so articulates an abstract, theoretical concept of the Divine.
Both Memphis and Alexandria underline the importance of the spoken and written word. Already in the Old Kingdom, Pharaoh was the Great Speech and his magic powerful, and dreaded, even by the deities. But in Late Ramesside Memphite theology, Ptah was the true primordial "god of gods", superceding Atum, in who's "image" (of totality) the universe was created (as demiurge), and establishing the supremacy of the divine word and speech. Memphite theology is explicit : every thing was made by Ptah's mind and spoken words.
Likewise, in Hermetism, the Divine Logos is the "son of God" coming forth from the Light of the Divine Nous, the teacher who, not unlike the one evoked in the Maxims of Good Discourse, gives his pupil access to the Divine Nous, a direct experience (gnosis) of the Godman Hermes. The idealist notion of the universe as a mental creation of The All, making all mind, being typical for Hermetism. The fact this teacher is "Ogdoadic" and not "Hebdomadic" (as was Pharaoh), may refer to the Greek escape from fate and the physical world (whereas the Egyptians saw the divine at work in all planes of creation).
The magical power of words is acknowledged by both traditions. Magic involves the power of efficiency (effectiveness) and the ability to counter every possible inertia and opposition, executing intent to its full capacity.
Especially Pharaoh is the "Great Magician", who is able, like the gods, to create by means of speech. He alone was the "son of Re", divine and able to encounter the deities face to face. His voice-offerings to Maat ensured the continuity of creation. By speaking the right words, the whole of creation could be rejuvenated. Likewise (but on another ontological level), the "son of God", the Ogdoadic teacher, brings the pupil directly in contact with the Enneadic Light of Nous.
The parallels drawn do not allow for an identification of both traditions, as major category-shifts occur. Indeed, together with the rejection of the physical bodyn (cf. infra), mentalism is an outstanding feature of the Hermetica. Nevertheless, in the overall semantic pattern major points overlap. The mentalism of Hermetism was not implanted on the native Egyptian intellectuals part of the Hermetic lodge "from above", but could make use of the available, longstanding verbal tradition of Egypt, linearize and "perfect" it in Greek style ...and more later in Strassburg and suitable in the city of London?
I never thought a PAW(photography a week) project would be so difficult. Lately, I’ll admit that my inspiration has been waning, almost like its on vacation and I’m not feeling that mojo any more. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but to use Robin Wong's phrase during a “shutter therapy” session I came had some revelations.
Revelations
In order for me to shoot, my camera must be small and portable.I don’t like being noticed on the streets especially in Downtown Miami where its no cake walk. Heard of the “Miami Cannibal” I photographed the victim almost a year ago while on the streets.If my camera sits in the bag for 2 continuous weeks, then there is a problem.
In essence, I’ve now fully dabbled into the world of dslr’s and noticed that they’re not my thing, especially if I’m just walking and shooting and don’t like to be a photographer. I did have some great times with the Nikon D80/50mm 1.8 because its AF was super fast and I was actually playing the tourist card. Something I do once in a while with varying degrees of success but for everyday shooting I simply don’t take out the dslr out of the bag all that much. It is, what it is folks, a love affair with small compact cameras.
Like love, sometimes its not clear to everyone why two people are in love and they maintain a relationship. Most of the time its a mystery and that's part of the beauty of love and that's the way I see it here in my world. Strolling along the streets documenting what I see and just letting the energy flow. With that said, I'm back in the micro four third world again and I couldn't be happier(I'm actually smiling). If I've learned anything in these 39 years of life, its that, you gotta do what makes you happy and like my friend Wouter Brandsma says "Simplify".
See the rest of the images here: www.ledesmaphotography.com/2012/06/09/week-23-2012-revela...
Your comments and faves are very appreciated.
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I went out at sundown to shoot the city lights and boy was it difficult. I had my tripod which was a must but could not see through my viewfinder well enough to get a very crisp focus. I really enjoyed myself and I figure with practice I should improve.
Taken in difficult light.
The Mute swan is a very large white waterbird. It has a long S-shaped neck and an orange bill with a black base and a black knob. It flies with its neck extended and regular, slow wingbeats. The population in the UK has increased recently, perhaps due to better protection of this species.
The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America – home to the largest populations outside of its native range – with additional smaller introductions in Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species.[2][3][4] Measuring 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in) in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange beak bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males.
It was so difficult for me to get my hands on Monster High boy dolls when I began collecting in 2013. The dolls were at the height of their popularity, and as a result, many people were going to stores and purchasing entire cartons of what they deemed to be "rare" and "desirable" dolls. Characters like Deuce and Gil were scarcely found in the wild. Instead, you would see copious numbers of them listed online for double, triple, QUADRUPLE their retail price. It seemed like a pipe dream for me in those early days that I would ever have a substantial collection of the Monster High boys. Colleen reassured me that the fad would die down and the dolls would be obtainable. I'm so glad I listened to her, because within a year or so, it was not impossible to find those same characters. I got this set in early 2015. There were oodles of them at a local Toys 'R' Us, and they were all on sale! At the same time, the Picnic Casket for 2 pack was also marked down (they were about 50% off if I'm not mistaken). Since I was trying to use self restraint and get a handle on my shopping addiction, I decided to only purchase one of the two sets. Since I loved the theme of the Manster pack more, and I also liked that it came with not just one, but TWO boys, it was the set that came home with us. It also helped that Deuce was included in the pack...he's always been my favorite Monster High character. Although I have other Deuce and Gil dolls now, this set will always have a special place in my heart. I never imagined a day when I could stroll into Toys 'R' Us and get a set of boy dolls on sale, with plenty of them in stock. Ironically, I assume that the Manster pack wasn't popular with little kids, as they seem to gravitate towards female dolls. Once the craze for marking the guy dolls up on eBay died down, finding my beloved male characters was so much easier...and they were almost always marked down!
The theme of this set is super unique--just two guys bro-ing it down with energy drinks and a game. What I find most appealing about this idea is that it reminds me of the things Colleen used to do with our childhood Ken dolls. I remember when she got heavily into playing with Ken circa 2003/2004, after purchasing a scraggly My First Ken at the flea market. Chandler was the first guy in our doll world to truly be his own entity. He wasn't just the girl doll's boyfriend or the little kids' father. He had an entire cast of friends and a set of interests. If the Manster pack had been out when Colleen and I were growing up, we would have created all sorts of scenarios with it. I can envision Chandler inviting Deuce and Gil over to guys' night, and the group of mismatched 80s/90s Kens, Disney dudes, and Monster High guys playing games and drinking sugary sodas/energy drinks. Colleen's beloved Kid Kore Katie probably would have interrupted at some point, as she was the pest in our doll family. Becky would have also made an appearance, requesting some sort of help with her wheelchair (sometimes Chandler was her brother, other times it was Water Jewel Magic Aladdin). Knowing how much we would have loved Deuce, Gil, and their "manly" accessories makes me cherish this set all that much more.
The Arctic Ocean remains a difficult to access and often dangerous environment.
This image comes from the third in a series of stories about the Office of Response and Restoration's work during Arctic Shield 2013.
(Original source and more information: NOAA Office of Response and Restoration Website)
An Eagle heads in for a landing near it's nest in Cuckold's Cove, St. John's, Newfoundland.
The nest is quite a ways down the cliff, making good shots difficult. I was trying out my Canon 300 2.8 IS with a 1.4 teleconverter. This isn't going to win any awards, but it's not total trash. Cropped heavily. Any opinions welcome.
The KOM League
Flash Report
For
Week of January 27, 2020
This report was very difficult to start and finish. Thus, if you have trouble in the reading of it toss the unread portion and demand a refund of your subscription.
www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49444185167/
With the onset of 2020 the writer of these reports can now claim to have lived in parts or all of ten decades. That was said in attempt to excuse the inauspicious debut of the reports for this decade.
As all of you know, since the last report was shared college football has a new champion, the President has been impeached and baseball players “cheat.” So, what else is new? Saying that baseball teams steal signs is akin to Mrs. Noah telling her husband “It looks like it is going to rain.”
With regard to impeachment I regret to report that the editor of the Flash Report series has fallen upon the same fate of another John, Donald John Trump. For high crimes and misdemeanors, Yours truly now faces the “Senate of the KOM League readers” for their determination as to whether I should be removed from the office of purveyor of KOM League news. There are two articles for which John G. Hall now stands accused.
Impeachment Article #1
It was reported that a Christmas card was received from Kenny Bennett a pitcher for the 1949 Independence Yankees. That part of the article was correct. However, the statement he was a resident of a nursing home was in error. He wrote back this note....” Hi John. This is Ken Bennett. I am not in a nursing home. That was my wife who has since passed. I am at an independent living community, Friendship Village of Sunset Hills. I still play golf two times a week although I only play 9 holes. I am now 91 and in good health. Have a happy New Year.”
Impeachment Article #2
An apology was issued immediately to Bennett. Then, I got into some serious "digging" on a person who reportedly passed away this past year, George Edward Seeley. I was incorrect and the KOM League House of Representatives has accused me of malfeasance.
George Seeley or George Seeley
For over 25 years I have been conflicted by Mr. Seeley's place of birth and year of same. Upon initial research the Ponca City News stated that he was from Pueblo, Colorado. For the quarter of a century searching for this fellow nothing definitive could be found on until recently. That is when I learned of the death of a George Seeley in Colorado Springs this year.
In looking more closely at the death of the Seeley from Colorado it was evident he wasn't ever a professional baseball player, let alone a Ponca City Dodger.
For as long as the research has been conducted, regarding the KOM league, I have been aware of George Edward Seeley born May 23, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan. His life took many twists and turns. His father, Fayette, was an automobile transport sales manager who moved to Cincinnati, Ohio by the early 1940's. His son, George was sent to the Virginia Episcopal Preparatory School in Lynchburg, Virginia where in 1941 pitched on a state championship team.
After his time at Lynchburg young George returned to Cincinnati where he attended and graduated from Withrow High School. During the summer months he played American Legion baseball.
On February 3, 1944 Seeley entered the U. S. Army and served until March 28, 1946. During service to his country he was assigned to the 1562nd Army Air Force Base Unit Transport Command. He was selected to the all amateur team chosen to play the Manila Dodgers at Rizal Stadium in the Philippines.
General Burton Reynolds had conceived of gathering a team of big league stars, who were in the service, to play games against other military teams for morale boosting. Manila had such big name players as Kirby Higbe, Joe Garagiola, Max Macon, Frank LaManna, Early Wynn, Jim Hearn et. al. This group of fellows was the Philippine and Pacific Olympic champions.
In probably the biggest game of his life, Seeley, and his Air Transport team beat the Manila Dodgers. That may have been the birth of the term "Manila Folders."
Nine months after returning home from the Army, Seeley married Clarisee Marie Chartier three days after Christmas in 1946. He was a living in Dearborn, Michigan at the time he was signed by the Dodgers.
It is now my belief that he was initially assigned to the Pueblo, Colo. roster in 1947 and that is how the Ponca City News reported, he was from that city. Regardless, his time in the KOM league was limited to two games and then he was sent to Zanesville, Ohio. At the end of the 1947 season he was released by the Dodgers and signed by the Chicago White Sox. He played for Superior, Wis. in 1948 and posted an 8-0 record. That was the conclusion of his baseball career.
All that I have been able to learn about Seeley is that he died February 5, 1991 in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
The vote of the Senate
Whether John G. Hall remains in the position of editor of this publication rests in the vote of the full Senate of readers. I have assembled the best attorney’s that can be secured with the funds available. Those funds are derived from subscribers of the Flash Reports. At last count the Flash Reports didn’t have a single subscriber, only a few casual readers. So, if I’m to remain in office some of you need to cast your vote for acquittal.
In the meantime I’ll attempt to continue in my current position and uphold the low standards that have become synonymous with this publication. The rest of this report addresses them.
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Joseph Walter Turek Sr.
www.ziegenheinfuneralhome.com/notices/Joseph-TurekSr
The following is the content of the obituary cited in the link contained above.
Joseph W. Turek, Sr., 97 of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on December 29, 2019.
Loving husband of the late Jean (nee Jordan) Turek; Beloved father of Joseph (Dianne) Turek, Jr., Daniel (Debbie) Turek, Donna (James) Van Dillen, Sr., Christopher (Andrea) Turek, Sr., Matthew Turek, Mary (Thomas) Schanuel, Patricia A. Turek and John (Joelle) Turek; Loving grandfather of 24, great-grandfather of 19, Dear brother, uncle & friend.
Joseph Walter Turek informed this source of his Father’s passing on January 1, 2020. This was his message: “Hi John: Wanted you to know my father, Joe Turek,Sr., passed away Sunday, December 29, 2019 from natural causes. He was 97. Decorated Combat Medic, veteran of the Battle of Bulge, and The Ardennes. His wife of 48 years, Jean, preceded him in death in 1998. They had 8 children, 23 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. Joe retired was a union carpenter.
Ed comment:
Joe Turek Sr. was a 3rd baseman for the 1947 Bartlesville, Okla. Oilers, having been sent there by the Keokuk ball club. He hadn’t been in the oil city of Bartlesville very long until he headed off to the train station and went back to St. Louis. He didn’t announce his departure but after spending time in some of the great battles of WWII he wasn’t that fond of being shuffled around minor league outposts of the Pittsburgh Pirates and thus he departed for home sweet home.
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Richard Weissman
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Paul Herman Hoffmeister
A note to Mary Lou Hoffmeister
Noel and I send along our thoughts to you on the first anniversary of Paul's passing. Thank you so much on remembering. That meant a lot to me. Paul and I sure loved those reunions and always looked forward to them! Great times and people.
Mary Lou’s reply:
You and Noel were sooo special to organize them. I still like the pictures that you send but, I know that there are not many players left and that is sad but, I just try to remember the good times and there were many. The reunions were certainly an important part of them!
Please keep in touch, stay well, here’s wishing you a blessed New Year!
Love to you both. Mary Lou
Regular message from legacy.com about anniversary dates of deceased
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Mark Santo-- Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 4:30
Hi John, Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Thank you for all your work in putting together these reports. Even though I am a newcomer to your work I would still be sorry to see your reports stop. But please don't feel compelled to keep doing this unless you get some measure of pleasure or satisfaction out of it and there isn't something else you could be doing that would bring greater pleasure or satisfaction. It's probably safe to say that you've greatly exceeded all reasonable expectations related to these reports and that no one would want the continuation of this publication to be a burden on you. If you stopped today I am sure you would receive nothing less than the equivalent of a standing ovation from a roaring crowd.
Best Regards, Santo
Reply:
A standing "O" would be something totally foreign to me. If I ever came close to something like that it was probably due to my departure from a job or gathering of folks who didn't care very much of my presence
I was thinking about sending you a note earlier this week. The report that I shared with the 1951 Ponca City Dodgers as the featured photo has had nearly 11,000 views.
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Gene Castiglione—
www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetelegraph/obituary.aspx?n=eu... Photo included
BENLD (Ill.) — Gene (Deke) Castiglione was born June 30th, 1928 to Guy Castiglione and Adella (Soda) Castiglione in Chicago, Illinois. He passed away at 12:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7th, 2020 at Saint John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, surrounded by his family.
He was a talented four sport athlete at Benld High School, where he graduated in 1946. He played football, track and basketball, but his best sport was baseball. In 1947 Hall of Famer, George Sisler, signed Gene to the Dodgers Minor League System, with whom he had a contract for six years. During that time frame, he played for the Dodger Minor League Teams, Ponca City, Oklahoma; Greenville, South Carolina; Ashville, North Carolina; Great Falls, Montana; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
Each year Gene played in the minors, he was chosen for the All Star Team. In 1949, while in the KOM League, he played alongside baseball great Mickey Mantle on the All-Star Team. That year Mickey Mantle had 13 home runs and Gene had six homeruns, for which he was extremely proud.
Gene was rated the best defensive 2nd baseman in the Dodger Minor League System that year. Every year when baseball season ended, Gene was honored, along with two high school classmates who were also in the minor league, Cubby Contratto and Emil Borgini, at their hometown of Benld, Illinois, where these athletes were celebrated with a parade and a big baseball game. Gene served in the U.S. Army from 1951 – 1952. While serving in the Philippines as a surveyor, he played baseball on the weekends with the Philippines Semi-Pro Team. In 1951, he was chosen to play baseball with the U.S. 10th Airforce Pacific Tournament Team.
After his military service and baseball, Gene was a successful businessman at IBM in St. Louis, Missouri, for 10 years, working his way up from typewriter repair to supervisor. While working at IBM, he served as a Bird Dog Scout for the Major League Team, the Houston Colts. Gene experienced success at Echlin Manufacturing Plant in Litchfield, Illinois, where he met his wife, Sharon, and served as a foreman until retirement.
Gene was a loving brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He lived a long life, enjoying his retirement and spending time with friends and family.
He is survived by wife, Sharon (Dooley) Castiglione; brother, Frank Castiglione; Stepson, Scott Reynolds; granddaughter, Stephanie Reynolds and her spouse, Kyle Ruppert; great-granddaughters, Krysten and Abby Ruppert, and their soon to be born brother or sister.
Published in The Telegraph from Jan. 15 to Jan. 21, 2020
Ed comment:
Gene and his wife, Sharon, were regular attendees at KOM league events. He attended the very first function ever held in reuniting KOM leaguers. It was an event at the Columbia, Mo. Public Library with a whole hog roast later that day at a local park. What should have been a mild spring evening turned out to resemble cold winter’s night. Most of the attendees weren’t prepared for the bad weather and a few expressed the desire to change places with the hog.
Many memories of Gene came to mind upon learning of his death. The last time we met was at the funeral of Bernie Tye, in 1997, where we both served as pallbearers for the KOM league funny man.
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Joe B. Elble
www.kiblerbradyruestman.com/obituaries/Joseph-Elble/#!/Ob...
Bloomington (Ill.) - Joseph B. Elble, Sr., 87, of Bloomington, passed away at 1:35 a.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Heritage Health in Bloomington.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 24, 2020, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 801 S. Madison, Bloomington, with Pastor Chuck Bahn officiating. Military rites will be accorded by the Bloomington-Normal American Legion Honor Guard. A visitation will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2020, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at the church and also one hour prior to the service on Friday. Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home is assisting with arrangements.
Memorials may be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church Cornerstone Building Fund or to a charity of the donor's choice.
Joe was born on April 16, 1932, in Alton, IL, son of Leonard and LaVerne (Tuscher) Elble. He married Shirley Duelm on September 11, 1955, at Messiah Lutheran Church in Alton.
Surviving are his wife, Shirley of Bloomington; children, Joseph (Shann) Elble, Jr. of Normal, Jeffrey (Lisa) Elble of Grand Rapids, MI, Michael (Kelly Norwood) Elble of San Antonio, TX, Mark (GiGi) Elble of Tampa, FL; grandchildren Joseph Benjamin III, Addison, Sarah, Ryan, Leila, Nicholas, and Alexander; great-grandchildren, Joseph Benjamin IV, Logan, Charles and Liam.
After completing high school, Joe was drafted by the Giants and played professional baseball before beginning his service to his country in the United States Army. Returning to Alton, Joe began his career as a homebuilder and married the love of his life, Shirley. Joe's career later brought him to Bloomington where he worked as a builder and contractor before culminating his building career at Baumgart Building Center.
Joe began his second career managing 4-Seasons Health Club, a perfect position for his outgoing, friendly, personality.
Joe was a member and former Elder at Trinity Lutheran Church. He was an avid woodworker and fisherman, loved puzzles and bingo and most importantly he loved spending time with his boys, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Joe's primary goal in life was to make someone smile every day.
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Reader comments regarding previous issue
•
I don’t know if you realize it but your reports have meant a lot to so many. I know you aren’t looking for a pat on the back but it is people like you that keep our treasured history alive.
Keep it up and have a wonderful and healthy new year. R. Jason Wallace—Grandson of Robert Leroy Matthew Saban former KOM leaguer and longtime minor league hurler.
•
A 1952 Iola player makes request--Norm Travis
John, I would like the whereabouts of the following fellows, if possible. 1952 Iola team.
Jim Maxwell (catcher), Dick Masley (left handed pitcher), Joe Vilk (pitcher), Slick Shryer (Ed note: Bill Schrier ( first base), Roy Coulter (2nd base) and Paul Weeks (short stop).
Travis was aware that Floyd Temple, Chuck Sisson, Jerry Gleason, Tom Guinn and .Gasper Del Toro, outfielder, had passed away.
Sisson, Gleason, Vic Damon & Myself were sent to Iola in 52 by Bob Housam. of Denver Bears with the promise to reimburse me if I made the team, which I did, but asked Temple for my release as I satisfied myself I could play pro ball, but could not make a living at it. (I) was missing too much money at home selling farm machinery. (I) moved back to Burlington, Colo. That is where I still live. I am now 88 years old. Played semi pro ball till age 40. The highlight was making all-state team in 1956, then played fast pitch soft ball.
I am still active as a RE (real estate) Broker and good health. Keep up the good work with the reports as I really enjoy them. Sincerely, Norm Travis
Ed note:
With regrets, Travis was informed only he and Vic Damon are survivors of that list of 1952 Iola Indians.
•
Happy New Year! 27 years, dad enjoyed 16 of those years, thank you. Cheers to a happy healthy 2020. Karla (Weber) Weible
Ed note:
Karla is the daughter of the late Charlie Weber who was a member of the famed double-play combination of the 1949 Independence Yankees. That combination was Mickey Mantle to Weber and whoever was playing first base at the time. Mostly, it was Bob Newbill and Nick Ananias.
•
John, t’was the year 1993 you wrote the first FLASH REPORT? My oh my. Tell us, if you know, what’s ‘going on’ with minor league baseball? I hear it’s days are numbered? Bob Schwarz—1950 Iola Indians.
Ed reply:
I think minor league baseball is being played in big league stadiums. I have no idea what is going on in minor league baseball and haven't since about 1952.
•
What goes around comes around! The "Roaring '20's" are about to return! We continue to look for John's wisdom and commentary. So come on y'all, dig in and share your KOM stories for John to share with his following. Tks. John for 26 years of your HALL of FAME enthusiasm. Jim Jay 1956-57 Kansas City A’s batboy.
•
Up to this point the progress of the report was going on pretty well. Then, the “wheels fell off the wagon” and Yours truly came tumbling off of it.” To describe that scenario wouldn’t make nary a bit of difference to 80% of the recipients of this report and the other 20% would be divided among; you got what you deserved, that is too bad and so what else is new. The foregoing comment was precipitated by a note from the son of Stan Santo who was a member of the 1951 Ponca City Dodgers. He wrote; “Hi John. Hope all is well. Just wanted you to know that there is at least one person (me) who has noticed the gap in time since your last report. Please at least let us know your status so that I can stop worrying about you. All the Best, Mark Santo.”
Had this report continued, all the names of people making contact so far in 2020 would have been mentioned along with a great story regarding sign stealing by the Chicago Cubs in the 1960’s. The main culprit in the sign theft in Chicago was none other than a guy who caught for the Carthage, Missouri Cubs in 1950 and 1951. If you want to wait around for a while for that to be posted on this site you can do so. Otherwise, just go on the Internet and insert key words like “Don Biebel,” traveling secretary of the Chicago Cubs and the Wrigley Field scoreboard and you will find some fascinating reading.
Every former player who ever pitched a ball or swung at one has their own stories of sign stealing, doctored infields, high grass on the playing field, steroids and corked bats. Those are only a few of the ways ballplayers have sought to gain an advantage. And, guess what? They always will.
I want to say this says "* Eleet and a pager" but I just can't tell. Seen on the "latrine" building.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War.
The Corsair had been designed as a carrier-based aircraft, but its difficult carrier landing performance rendered the Corsair unsuitable for Navy use until the carrier landing issues were overcome when used by the British Fleet Air Arm.
The Corsair thus came to and retained prominence in its area of greatest deployment: land based use by the U.S. Marines. The role of the dominant U.S. carrier based fighter in the second part of the war was thus filled by the Grumman F6F Hellcat, powered by the same Double Wasp engine first flown on the Corsair's first prototype in 1940.
The Corsair served to a lesser degree in the U.S. Navy. As well as the U.S. and British use the Corsair was also used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the French Navy Aéronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s.
One of these were the Air Forces of Paraguay. Land-locked Paraguay first formed a flying branch of it's Army in 1927, and today's Fuerza Aérea Paraguaya (FAP) saw it's formation in 1946. Being surrounded by friendly countries and economic problems does not allow the FAP to operate a substantial combat aircraft fleet however, and the Corsairs were low budget start for the young air force.
The Corsairs for Paraguay were up to the late WWII F4U-5 standard, but lacked the naval equipment (e. g. the arrester hook, even though the wing folding mechanism was retained) since these machines were to be deployed purely from land bases and primarily as fighters.
For the Paraguayan Air Force, the machines were also outfitted with special Curtiss Electric constant-speed propellers of 146 in (3.7 m) in diameter with deeper blades, optimized for “hot and high” use.
The F4U-5 itself was a design modification of the F4U-4 and first flown on 21st of December 1945. It was intended to increase the F4U-4 Corsair's overall performance and incorporate many Corsair pilots' suggestions. It featured a more powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800-32(E) engine with a two-stage supercharger, rated at a maximum of 2,850 hp (2,130 kW), recognizable through the twin cheek air intakes fairings alongside the cowling. This Corsair type was also flown by the Argentine Navy and Honduras’ Air Force.
Other improvements included automatic blower controls, cowl flaps, intercooler doors and oil cooler for the engine, spring tabs for the elevators and rudder, a completely modernized cockpit, a completely retractable tail wheel as well as heated cannon bays and pitot head. The cowling was lowered two degrees to help with forward visibility, but perhaps most striking as the first variant to feature all-metal wings. Paraguay bought 22 new machines in 1947, which became operational with 1º Escuadrón de Caza 'Guaraní' in early 1949.
Towards the end of their career the Corsairs even saw hot action when Paraguayan Forces became involved in the U.S. American operation ‘Power Pack’ in 1965, when U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Dominican Republic’s Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of "a second Cuba" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order.
The decision to intervene militarily in the Dominican Republic was Lyndon Johnson's personal decision. All civilian advisers had recommended against immediate intervention hoping that the Loyalist side could bring an end to the civil war, but the United States decided to interpose its forces between the rebels and those of the junta, thereby effecting a ceasefire.
The United States could then ask the Organization of American States to negotiate a political settlement between the opposing factions.
"Operation Power Pack", began when the U.S. Marine Corps entered Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on April 28, 1965, in the Dominican Civil War. Marine Medium Helicopter squadron HMM-264, from the deck of the USS Boxer, airlifted 530 U.S. Marines of the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment into Santo Domingo.
The Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF) was established by the Organization of American States on 23 May 1965, after the American intervention. It was composed of over 42,600 United States military personnel, plus Brazilian, Honduran, Paraguayan, Nicaraguan, Costa Rican and El Salvadorian personnel.
Until the end of the American intervention in September 1966, when the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, the last remaining American unit in the country, was withdrawn, the FAP Corsairs frequently patrolled the Dominican air space or flew escorts for the American supply flights and paratrooper transports.
After that, the Brazilian government took over the operation from the United States in 1966 and the IAPF was disbanded in 1967, what also marked the end of the F4U’s service in the Forza Aérea Paraguaya.
General characteristics
Crew: 1 pilot
Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.2 m)
Wingspan: 41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
WS Folded: 17 ft 0.5 in (5.2 m)
Height: 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)
Empty weight: 9,205 lb (4,174 kg)
Loaded weight: 12,405 lb (5,626 kg)
Powerplant:
1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-32(E) radial engine,
rated at a maximum power of 2,850 hp (2,130 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 453 mph (395 kn, 731 km/h)
Range: 897 mi (602 nmi/1.115 km)
Service ceiling: 41,500ft (12,649 m)
Rate of climb: 3,870ft/min (19.7 m/s)
Armament:
4× 0.79 in (20 mm) M2 cannon plus up to 4.000 pounds (1.800 kg) external ordnance,
incl. up to 10× 5" (12.7 cm) high velocity aircraft rockets, bombs or drop tanks
The kit and its assembly:
I am not certain what struck me when I started this one. It’s actually the leftover Italeri F4U-7 that I recently bought just for the French markings (for the ‘Bourrasque’ whif), which was still left on the work bench. Wondering about the type’s late Middle and South American operators I suddenly had Paraguay on the radar, no idea why.
Checking the country’s air force history I found that it was just a small air arm, and that the roundels resemble French markings a lot. A deep search in the decal box revealed some suitable roundels, and from that things evolved gradually…
As mentioned before, F4Us in smaller American air arms’ service is nothing exotic, so this one would be subtle. Hence I decided not to mess too much with the kit. It was basically built OOB, only changes were:
• Using the F4U-5 cowling that comes with the kit
• Lowering the flaps for added drama
• A different, cuffed propeller from a Hobby Boss P-47D with deeper blades
• The single OOB exhaust pipes were replaced by thin styrene tubes
• The arrester hook disappeared, as well as its opening behind the tail wheel
Since this would become a pure fighter I did not put any HVARs or bombs under the wings, but the OOB drop tanks were used.
The kit itself is nicely detailed, with engraved panels, and goes together well. Only issues I had were mounting the cowling, where the intakes run into nowhere and need some putty assistance, and the wing part needed some filling at the fuselage intersection.
Painting and marking:
Exotic realism was the intention, and painting this one was more fun than building it, even though this whif was to be kept rather subtle and unflashy. And how to paint a Paraguayan aircraft?
For inspiration I took a look at aerial landscape photographs of the country, and since the machines were supposed to be bought directly from the USA I decided to apply the classic USAF SEA scheme on the Corsair. It’s a perfect match, and the USAF scheme looks a bit weird on the naval bird. I like that!
Operation “Power Pack” was another historical fact that would match the type’s fictional service time frame with Paraguay: The South-American country actually did take part in the Dominican Republic intervention as a part of the Inter-American Peace Force, but not with aircraft or the way I cooked it up. Anyway, the IAPF duty would be a good reason for extra markings on the Corsair, so that it would look less Vietnam-esque.
The SEA scheme colors are partly authentic FS tones: the greens, FS 34102 and 34079, are ModelMaster Authentic tones. The tan, originally FS 30219, is a slightly darker tone, "French Earth Brown", also from ModelMaster. The undersides, originally FS 36622, were painted with FS 16515 (Canadian Voodoo Grey), which is a tad darker, too, and more blue-ish.
On top of that a light black ink wash was applied, in order to emphasize details and add a worn look, plus light dry-brushing for panel shading with lighter tones.
The oil stains were painted with thinned dark grey stains, the exhaust soot with matt black. Furthermore, some dry-brushing with Aluminum simulates chipped/flaked paint in some areas, but not too much.
All interior surfaces were painted in a Zinc Chromate Primer tone - I used Humbrol 159 as basic tone (not as "loud" as the treu tone), plus some dry-brusing with RLM 02.
All markings were puzzled together from the decals archive. The FAP roundels are a selection of various French roundels without the typical yellow rim and with very dark blue dots in the middle. The roundels’ size is relatively big – but I think that a mission like the IFAP would call for quick and clear identification? This was also the reason for adding the “IFAP” markings – a simple detail that pushes the whif beyond the ordinary and helps telling a story. ;) The flag on the fin is an early WWII RAF flash, turned by 90°, with a tiny, yellow star added in the middle.
The aircraft code “1-2.05” is fictional, but conceptually based on a real world FAP T-33. The “FAP” on the fin was created from single letter decals, as well as the “IFAP” on the flanks and under the wings.
Finally the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.
A spontaneous, exotic and somehow disturbingly convincing what-if aircraft model? Surely one that won’t turn heads, but rather have them scratched. ;)
Which Religion is the ONLY true one?
Because there are so many different religions all with conflicting beliefs, many people find it confusing and difficult to decide which one they should follow.
Would a God really want to make it difficult for us to find the truth? Surely the truth has to be available for all humankind - - - for the simple and humble, as well as the clever, the intellectual and the theologian? So, it makes perfect sense to conclude that it must be possible to discern the truth through simple logic.
Firstly, it is easy to see that God has made his existence clear, through reason and logic to those who are open-minded and genuinely desire to seek the truth. [The evidence for the existence of a single creator God, is overwhelming. i.e. an intelligent, single, first cause, itself uncaused, and not subject to the laws of nature (Supernatural), can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of any truly, open-minded person through simple logic and science… for example, the laws of: Cause and Effect, Biogenesis, Thermodynamics and Information Theory, Intelligent Design etc.]
Thus monotheism - - belief in one supernatural, eternal, creator God is easy to deduce by those who are open-minded and really wish to seek the truth.
See: (Atheism revealed as false - why God MUST exist:
www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/24321857975
AND
The real theory of everything...
www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/34295660211
Once we have used reason and logic to establish that the Creator God can only be: one, supernatural and eternal, we know that all non-monotheistic religions are automatically ruled out as intrinsically untrue.
Of course, polytheistic or pagan religions may have some teachings which appear good, but it is obvious that they are all based on a false premise.
The true religion has to profess belief in only one, supernatural God and Creator.
We are left with only three major world religions that are strictly monotheistic.
They are: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
So the true religion has to be one of these three.
It is a fact that these three religions have many important doctrines which conflict with each other, for example; Christians and Jews believe in monogamous marriage, while Muslims believe in polygamy.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, while Judaism rejects Jesus and teaches that the messiah is still to come.
Likewise, although Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet and a messiah, they reject many of His teachings, including His teachings on marriage, Heaven, drinking wine, love of enemies etc. and, even more importantly, His Divinity and his Crucifixion.
Muslims believe that Muhammad was an authentic prophet while both Jews and Christians reject that belief.
God is truth, so as these three religions disagree fundamentally with each other - - - - it is obvious that it only possible for one of them to be completely true in all its doctrines. So how can we decide conclusively which of these three religions is the only true one?
By asking the following question - - - we know that the Creator of the universe (the first cause of everything) must be infinite (unlimited). So everything about God must be perfect, his love is perfect and without limit (all love existing in the world originated from God), so too is his justice (his justice cannot be cheated).
Therefore if God infinitely and perfectly just, and we have all offended his infinite majesty by sin, how can anyone hope to be saved?
Only because God is also infinitely merciful and loving.
But here we have an apparent contradiction, perfect justice demands that the full price is paid for every sin, whereas perfect mercy and love demand extreme leniency. - - -
HERE IS THE QUESTION: - - -
How can God overcome the apparent contradiction between His perfect justice and perfect mercy?
To clarify ... How can God (who cannot deceive, nor be deceived) satisfy his infinite justice, which demands a price equal to the *offence, yet at the same time enable us to be saved through his infinite, unfathomable, mercy and love?
*[the seriousness of an offence can be judged to be commensurate with the status of the person offended against. In the army, if a private were to insult a fellow private it would not be considered very serious, but if a private were to insult or disobey an officer this would be much more serious and the seriousness would increase the higher the rank of the officer. A sin against a perfect and infinite God (our Creator) is of the ultimate seriousness. Therefore perfect justice demands infinite reparation for an offence against God].
Christianity is absolutely unique. It is the only religion that has a proper answer to this question. The question that is most crucial to our salvation. Put this question to the followers of any other religion and they will not be able to give you a satisfactory answer.
THE AMAZING ANSWER - - - Jesus Christ said “I am the way the truth and the life” and “no one can come to the Father except through Me.” Jesus backed up His claim by suffering an agonising death on the Cross for the salvation of all humanity.
Jesus, although completely innocent of all sin Himself, suffered for the sins of all humankind.
He was crucified, as a sacrifice, for the redemption of His enemies, as well as His friends. We are all sinners and have all offended the infinite goodness of god. No one deserves heaven entirely on their own merit.
Everyone is defiled by sin, and nothing defiled can ever enter heaven. An offence against the infinite goodness of an infinitely loving, but also an infinitely, just God, can only be redeemed by an infinitely, good sacrifice. So only a Divine sacrifice can satisfy the demands of infinite, Divine justice. only the sacrifice of the true, spiritual Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, incarnated as man (as prophesied in the Old Testament) is sufficient to save us all from the consequences of sin, to open the gates of heaven and restore eternal life to the whole human race.
Amazingly, this was even foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Book of Genesis), when God asked Abraham (as a test of his obedience) to sacrifice his only son Isaac on a pile of wood at Mount Moria. This Mount Moria is believed by some to be in the same place as Golgotha, the site of the sacrifice of God’s only Son on the wood of the Cross. Because of his obedience, Abraham became the symbolic, earthly father of all who follow God. Because of the Incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus, God became the spiritual Father of all who follow Him. The Cross of Jesus now represents the new tree of life, because it has restored the possibility of eternal life to the whole human race. Access to the original tree of life was removed from Adam and Eve and the rest of the human race because of original sin. The Cross of Jesus is a restoration of the tree of life. It promises eternal life to those who accept its saving message.
Only those whose garments have been ‘washed white by the Blood of the Lamb’ are fit to enter heaven. The debt of our sin has been paid by Jesus - and His saving sacrifice is offered as an unsurpassed, loving and free gift to us all. We simply have to gratefully acknowledge and accept that gift in a spirit of humility and repentance.
By His supreme sacrifice, Jesus paid the price for every sin ever committed, and thereby opened the gates of Heaven to the whole human race. Without His unique sacrifice, no one of any religion could ever enter Heaven. It matters not whether you are the most devout Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist or follower of any other faith, ultimately you will rely not on any of the rituals or customs of these various religions, but on the sacrifice of Jesus to enter heaven. All who enter heaven do so only with a passport provided by the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice. Without His sacrifice on the Cross you would never get there, whatever your religion. All other sacrifices or religious offerings, rituals etc. are as dirty rags before the Divine majesty of Almighty God, they cannot pay the price for sin that God's perfect justice demands.
This is the unavoidable truth, whether you like it or not.
Of course, we should all have free choice to follow any religion we choose, but once we know that it is only the sacrifice of Jesus that can make us fit to enter heaven and eternal life, we will surely wish to love and follow Him. It would be foolishness indeed for us to choose to follow any religion which refuses to acknowledge this, but would rather pretend that we can redeem ourselves by following its manmade doctrines and rituals.
Death entered the world through the sin of disobedience one woman and one man (Adam and Eve), but sin was pardoned and eternal life restored through the obedience of one woman (Mary) and the death of one man (Jesus).
The ancient Hebrews used the blood sacrifice of an animal as a symbolic scapegoat to bear the punishment for their sins.
Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, became the real scapegoat who bore the punishment (by His Crucifixion) for the sins of the whole world. His death on the Cross was a perfect, holy, once and for all sacrifice, sufficient to redeem every sin ever committed. It is re-enacted in remembrance, with bread and wine, every day, by Christian priests all over the world. It is known as the Holy Eucharist which is part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Only God Himself could pay the enormous price that God's perfect justice demands for sin, but as it is man who is responsible for sin, in true justice, it is man who should pay the price. Therefore only someone who is both God and man (God made man) would be able to pay the price for sin. So the only possibility of salvation for humankind had to be provided by God Himself, and that is exactly what He did. That is why Jesus has to be God incarnated as man. Those who deny that deny Jesus is God, or who deny the Crucifixion of Jesus, deny the only possibility of salvation.
Abraham (the representative, earthly father of all followers of God) showed he was willing, when asked by God, to sacrifice his only son Isaac to God, as reparation for sin (it didn’t happen, because God stopped it at the last moment). And God, our heavenly Father, (who cannot be outdone in love or generosity) offered His only Son (Jesus) as a sacrifice for our sin.
Prophesies from the Old Testament.
Isaiah 53 New International Version (NIV)
1. Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2. He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3. He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4. Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5. But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7. He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9. He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11. After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Psalm 22 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah
22 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted[b] in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced[c] My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.[d]
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.
Babylonian Talmud: "The Messiah --what is his name?...The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, `surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted...'" (Sanhedrin 98b)
Midrash Ruth Rabbah: "Another explanation (of Ruth ii.14): -- He is speaking of king Messiah; `Come hither,' draw near to the throne; `and eat of the bread,' that is, the bread of the kingdom; `and dip thy morsel in the vinegar,' this refers to his chastisements, as it is said, `But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities'"
Targum Jonathan: "Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high and increase and be exceedingly strong..."
Zohar: "`He was wounded for our transgressions,' etc....There is in the Garden of Eden a palace called the Palace of the Sons of Sickness; this palace the Messiah then enters, and summons every sickness, every pain, and every chastisement of Israel; they all come and rest upon him. And were it not that he had thus lightened them off Israel and taken them upon himself, there had been no man able to bear Israel's chastisements for the transgression of the law: and this is that which is written, `Surely our sicknesses he hath carried.'"
Rabbi Moses Maimonides: "What is the manner of Messiah's advent....there shall rise up one of whom none have known before, and signs and wonders which they shall see performed by him will be the proofs of his true origin; for the Almighty, where he declares to us his mind upon this matter, says, `Behold a man whose name is the Branch, and he shall branch forth out of his place' (Zech. 6:12). And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he shall appear, without father or mother or family being known, He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, etc....in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which kings will harken to him, At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived." (From the Letter to the South (Yemen), quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, pages 374-5)
Rabbi Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin: This rabbi described those who interpret Isaiah 53 as referring to Israel as those: "having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers, and inclined after the `stubbornness of their own hearts,' and of their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, of the King Messiah....This prophecy was delivered by Isaiah at the divine command for the purpose of making known to us something about the nature of the future Messiah, who is to come and deliver Israel, and his life from the day when he arrives at discretion until his advent as a redeemer, in order that if anyone should arise claiming to be himself the Messiah, we may reflect, and look to see whether we can observe in him any resemblance to the traits described here; if there is any such resemblance, then we may believe that he is the Messiah our righteousness; but if not, we cannot do so." (From his commentary on Isaiah, quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, pages 99-114.)
Why the Isaiah 53 prophesy cannot refer to Israel.
Why Isaiah 53 cannot refer to the nation of Israel, or anyone else, but must be the Messiah
1. The servant of Isaiah 53 is an innocent and guiltless sufferer. Israel is never described as sinless. Isaiah 1:4 says of the nation: "Alas sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity. A brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters!" He then goes on in the same chapter to characterize Judah as Sodom, Jerusalem as a harlot, and the people as those whose hands are stained with blood (verses 10, 15, and 21). What a far cry from the innocent and guiltless sufferer of Isaiah 53 who had "done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth!"
2. The prophet said: "It pleased the LORD to bruise him." Has the awful treatment of the Jewish people (so contrary, by the way, to the teaching of Jesus to love everyone) really been God's pleasure, as is said of the suffering of the servant in Isaiah 53:10 ? If, as some rabbis contend, Isaiah 53 refers to the holocaust, can we really say of Israel's suffering during that horrible period, "It pleased the LORD to bruise him?" Yet it makes perfect sense to say that God was pleased to have Messiah suffer and die as our sin offering to provide us forgiveness and atonement.
3. The person mentioned in this passage suffers silently and willingly. Yet all people, even Israelites, complain when they suffer! Brave Jewish men and women fought in resistance movements against Hitler. Remember the Vilna Ghetto Uprising? Remember the Jewish men who fought on the side of the allies? Can we really say Jewish suffering during the holocaust and during the preceding centuries was done silently and willingly?
4. The figure described in Isaiah 53 suffers, dies, and rises again to atone for his people's sins. The Hebrew word used in Isaiah 53:10 for "sin-offering" is "asham," which is a technical term meaning "sin-offering." See how it is used in Leviticus chapters 5 and 6. Isaiah 53 describes a sinless and perfect sacrificial lamb who takes upon himself the sins of others so that they might be forgiven. Can anyone really claim that the terrible suffering of the Jewish people, however undeserved and unjust, atones for the sins of the world? Whoever Isaiah 53 speaks of, the figure described suffers and dies in order to provide a legal payment for sin so that others can be forgiven. This cannot be true of the Jewish people as a whole, or of any other mere human.
5. It is the prophet who is speaking in this passage. He says: "who has believed our message." The term "message" usually refers to the prophetic message, as it does in Jeremiah 49:14. Also, when we understand the Hebrew parallelism of verse 1, we see "Who has believed our message" as parallel to "to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed." The "arm of the Lord" refers to God's powerful act of salvation. So the message of the speaker is the message of a prophet declaring what God has done to save his people.
6. The prophet speaking is Isaiah himself, who says the sufferer was punished for "the transgression of my people," according to verse 8. Who are the people of Isaiah? Israel. So the sufferer of Isaiah 53 suffered for Israel. So how could he be Israel?
7. The figure of Isaiah 53 dies and is buried according to verses 8 and 9. The people of Israel have never died as a whole. They have been out of the land on two occasions and have returned, but they have never ceased to be among the living. Yet Jesus died, was buried, and rose again.
8. If Isaiah 53 cannot refer to Israel, how about Isaiah himself? But Isaiah said he was a sinful man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5-7). And Isaiah did not die as an atonement for our sins. Could it have been Jeremiah? Jeremiah 11:19 does echo the words of Isaiah 53. Judah rejected and despised the prophet for telling them the truth. Leaders of Judah sought to kill Jeremiah, and so the prophet describes himself in these terms. But they were not able to kill the prophet. Certainly Jeremiah did not die to atone for the sins of his people. What of Moses? Could the prophet have been speaking of him? But Moses wasn't sinless either. Moses sinned and was forbidden from entering the promised land (Numbers 20:12). Moses indeed attempted to offer himself as a sacrifice in place of the nation, but God did not allow him to do so (Exodus 32:30-35). Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were all prophets who gave us a glimpse of what Messiah, the ultimate prophet, would be like, but none of them quite fit Isaiah 53.
So what can we conclude? Isaiah 53 cannot refer to the nation of Israel, nor to Isaiah, nor to Moses, nor another prophet. And if not to Moses, certainly not to any lesser man. Yet Messiah would be greater than Moses. As the rabbinic writing "Yalkut" said: "Who art thou, O great mountain? (Zech. iv.7) This refers to the King Messiah. And why does he call him`the great mountain?' because he is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, `My servant shall be high, and lifted up, and lofty exceedingly' --he will be higher than Abraham...lifted up above Moses...loftier then the ministering angels..." (Quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, page 9.)
Of whom does Isaiah speak? He speaks of the Messiah, as many ancient rabbis concluded. The second verse of Isaiah 53 makes it crystal clear. The figure grows up as "a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground." The shoot springing up is beyond reasonable doubt a reference to the Messiah, and, in fact, it is a common Messianic reference in Isaiah and elsewhere. The Davidic dynasty was to be cut down in judgement like a felled tree, but it was promised to Israel that a new sprout would shoot up from the stump. The Messiah was to be that sprout. Several Hebrew words were used to refer to this undeniably Messianic image. All the terms are related in meaning and connected in the Messianic texts where they were used. Isaiah 11, which virtually all rabbis agreed refers to the Messiah, used the words "shoot" (hoter) and branch (netser) to describe the Messianic King. Isaiah 11:10 called Messiah the "Root (shoresh) of Jesse," Jesse being David's father. Isaiah 53 described the suffering servant as a root (shoresh) from dry ground, using the very same metaphor and the very same word as Isaiah 11. We also see other terms used for the same concept, such as branch (tsemach) in Jeremiah 23:5, in Isaiah 4:2 and also in the startling prophecies of Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12.
Beyond doubt, Isaiah 52:13-53:12 refers to Messiah Jesus. He is the one highly exalted before whom kings shut their mouths. Messiah is the shoot who sprung up from the fallen Davidic dynasty. He became the King of Kings. He provided the ultimate atonement.
Isaiah 52:13 states that it would be the Messiah who will "sprinkle" many nations. What does that mean? What was Messiah's ministry to be toward the nations? The word translated "sprinkle" or sometimes "startle" is found several other places in the OT. The Hebrew word is found in Leviticus 4:6; 8:11; 14:7, and Numbers 8:7, 19:18-19. The references cited all pertain to priestly sprinklings of the blood of atonement, the anointing oil of consecration, and the ceremonial water used to cleanse the unclean. Is Isaiah 52:13 telling us that the Messiah will act as a priest who applies atonement, anoints to consecrate, sprinkles to make clean? (This vision of the Messiah as both priest and king is also found in Zechariah 6:12-13). But, priests were to come from the tribe of Levi and Kings from the tribe of Judah! What kind of priest is he? David told us Messiah would be a priest of the order of Melchizedek (see Psalm 110 and Hebrews chapters 7-9).
Isaiah 53 must be understood as referring to the coming Davidic King, the Messiah. King Messiah was prophesied to suffer and die to pay for our sins and then rise again. He would serve as a priest to the nations of the world and apply the blood of atonement to cleanse those who believe. There is one alone who this can refer to, Jesus, whom millions refer to as Christ, which is from the Greek word for Messiah. Those who confess him are his children, his promised offspring, the spoils of his victory. According to the testimony of the Jewish Apostles, Jesus died for our sins, rose again, ascended to the right hand of God, and he now serves as our great High Priest who cleanses us of sin and our King. Jesus rules over his people and is in the process of conquering the Gentiles. The first century Jewish disciples were willing to die rather than deny they had seen the risen Messiah. Only if one has presupposed Jesus cannot have been the Messiah can one deny that which is obvious. Israel's greatest son, Jesus, is the one Isaiah foresaw.
(c) 1997 Fred Klett
North Korean agriculture works under quite difficult conditions. Most of North Korea's territory is occupied by mountains and is thus not arable. The little land that is left faces many problems.
In 1995, 2007 and 2011, floods of unsuspected size washed away rice and corn fields, destroying a good part of the crops. These floods brought the population to famine, a problem which is still lingering within the unwealthy North Koreans. For the past twenty years, North Korea has been relying on international aid such as that of the United Nation, Japan or South Korea to feed its people, and the number of people who died from illness related to hunger or malnutrition is estimated to about two million.
Moreover, was it not for the floods, North Korea still has difficulty producing enough to match its population's nutritional needs.
Most agriculture in North Korea relies on manual work. The government tries to compensate the lack of mechanization by implementing programs that call for the farm workers to get up earlier and be at work in the fields “at the break of dawn”, but the lack of productivity itself is not compensated. The still deep-rooted principle of Juche prohibits buying soil fertilizer from abroad, but the country could not afford a lot in any case due to its lack of foreign currency. In the search for exploitable land, people burn off patches of forest on the mountains. The soil being no longer held by tree roots, it in turn brings floods. Another problem is industrial pollution, which seems to come from coal-burning industries, and some cases of acid rains.
One solution seems to be favored by countryside inhabitants ; they make their own garden and sell the products on local markets or on the street, or raise their own animals, such as goats. Goats produce dairy, not a traditional North Korean food, but to which people are gradually getting used.
© Eric Lafforgue