Part of a wonderful day with Jane. This wedding gown was from her wardrobe it was magical wearing it and being a bride. A wedding gown in my estimation is the most feminine of gowns to wear.

Stay Safe and well

Châssis n°THDVSA01464

 

Estimation : 38.000 - 45.000 €

 

Invendu

The story of Edinburgh's Trams has had its ups and downs since construction began in 2008. Extensive disputes and delays in the building of the near to 9 miles of tramway between Edinburgh Airport and York Place in the centre of town, aligned with the disruptive upheaval of the city centre, eventually enabled it to open in 2014, at a total cost of £776 million (initially the estimation was for £375 million).

 

There are 16 stops along the route diagram and, despite the service operating almost identically to the express bus service 100 (in time and distance) it has been popular with passengers who travel east to west and vice versa within the city centre, and also with visitors travelling to and from the airport.

 

In 2019, the City of Edinburgh Council voted to approve the extension of the line from York Place to Newhaven, and this is estimated to be completed by 2023.

 

During the Coronavirus restrictions trams continued to operate on a 30 minute service.

Finally I have completed my online courses on Gimp and Photoshop and now I am going to market them !! Exciting times for me as I've been wanting to do this for years now and there's always been something more important to do. Not any more.

 

Also, its good timing because Gimp Magazine are showcasing my work and I've done a tutorial on the use of light for the magazine and that should be coming out very soon.

 

To say I'm excited about that would be an under estimation !!! So if you're interested you can sign up here and I will let you know when the doors are open !!!

 

www.iheep.com/learn/

 

All for Love

Ellen

I am awful at following the advice I offer others. Or maybe I could spin this more positively and say I am much better at offering sound advice that I struggle to follow myself. The specific advice in question tonight? I made the comment today that really nice photographs should sit tucked away gathering gathering virtual dust unseen by audiences that would appreciate seeing them. The recipient of the aforementioned advice nodded in agreement and then asked, "you mean like much of your photography?".

 

Ha. Touché.

 

Unfortunately I have no defense because I wholeheartedly agree with their frank assessment. I post a lot, it is true. But I photograph a lot too. And if I am being honest I do experience a fair amount of frustration that I don't do more with my photography. I have myriad excuses: work, life, a stronger desire to use my creative energy to make more images instead of working with already created images. When it comes to social media specifically I have never liked putting up images just for the sake up putting them. Perhaps I would decrease my backlog if I did, but I always like to post when I feel something, or have something to express. If I am going to chip in or butt into the overall conversation going on, I want it to be a worthwhile effort. At least, in my estimation.

 

But then I look through my library, surfing for an image to post along with some idea I want to express. And I find one, but in the process I find six others... or more. This image is a great example. Bridge tells me I scanned this piece of film October 24th of 2016. I probably edited it shortly thereafter because I like this image. And then I promptly filed it away and forgot about it. I believe I posted it to Instagram at some point, so I guess that counts for something. But there was a good half inch of virtual dust on this file when I pulled it up. A part of me feels some guilt about this. A part of me doesn't care. A part of me rekindles the idea that I really need to work on that book that I keep threatening myself to start. A part of me thinks I really need to get back to this amazing bit of southern Oregon coastline and just make more photos.

 

It is an interesting thing to ponder because I keep circling back to the question of, Why? Why does it matter if I share this specific image? Why did I make it to begin with? Why does it have value to me, if it actually does? Why worry about it at all? And the answers to these questions and so many more are different for each of us. I have to some extent answered these questions for myself, either consciously or through my actions. I do place value in the images I create, but I also know I place a lot of value in other parts of the photographic process too, and that explains why I let so many of these languish. And in my own way I have found peace with that too.

 

But maybe not entirely.

 

Hasselblad 500C

Kodak Tri-X

Second Empire style house renovated in 2006. Once nicknamed "Little Paris", Detroit's Brush Park declined to the point where over half of the homes, by my estimation, were lost. Among those that have survived and been fully renovated, there are some architectural jewels including this 8,400 sq ft house.

Red indian.... a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrived

 

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the descendants of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas. Pueblos indígenas (indigenous peoples) is a common term in Spanish-speaking countries. Aborigen (aboriginal/native) is used in Argentina, whereas "Amerindian" is used in Quebec, The Guianas, and the English-speaking Caribbean.[21][22][23][24] Indigenous peoples are commonly known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, which include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.[25] Indigenous peoples of the United States are commonly known as Native Americans or American Indians, and Alaska Natives.[26]

 

According to the prevailing theories of the settlement of the Americas, migrations of humans from Asia (in particular North Asia)[27][28] to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait. The majority of experts agree that the earliest pre-modern human migration via Beringia took place at least 13,500 years ago.[29] These early Paleo-Indians spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of creation myths.

 

Application of the term "Indian" originated with Christopher Columbus, who, in his search for Asia, thought that he had arrived in the East Indies.[30][31][32][33][34][35] The Americas came to be known as the "West Indies", a name still used to refer to the islands of the Caribbean Sea. This led to the names "Indies" and "Indian", which implied some kind of racial or cultural unity among the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. This unifying concept, codified in law, religion, and politics, was not originally accepted by indigenous peoples but has been embraced by many over the last two centuries.[citation needed] Even though the term "Indian" does not include the Aleuts, Inuit, or Yupik peoples, these groups are considered indigenous peoples of the Americas.

 

Although some indigenous peoples of the Americas were traditionally hunter-gatherers—and many, especially in Amazonia, still are—many groups practiced aquaculture and agriculture. The impact of their agricultural endowment to the world is a testament to their time and work in reshaping and cultivating the flora indigenous to the Americas.[36] Although some societies depended heavily on agriculture, others practiced a mix of farming, hunting, and gathering. In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, chiefdoms, states, and empires.

  

A Navajo man on horseback in Monument valley, Arizona.

Many parts of the Americas are still populated by indigenous peoples; some countries have sizable populations, especially Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Greenland, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. At least a thousand different indigenous languages are spoken in the Americas. Some, such as the Quechuan languages, Aymara, Guaraní, Mayan languages, and Nahuatl, count their speakers in millions. Many also maintain aspects of indigenous cultural practices to varying degrees, including religion, social organization, and subsistence practices. Like most cultures, over time, cultures specific to many indigenous peoples have evolved to incorporate traditional aspects, but also cater to modern needs. Some indigenous peoples still live in relative isolation from Western culture and a few are still counted as uncontacted peoples.

  

Migration into the continents[edit]

For more details on theories of the migrations of the Paleo-Indians, see settlement of the Americas.

The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, provide the subject of ongoing research and discussion.[37][38] According to archaeological and genetic evidence, North and South America were the last continents in the world with human habitation.[37] During the Wisconsin glaciation, 50–17,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the land bridge of Beringia that joined Siberia to north west North America (Alaska).[39][40] Alaska was a glacial refugia because it had low snowfall, allowing a small population to exist. The Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of North America, blocking nomadic inhabitants and confining them to Alaska (East Beringia) for thousands of years.[41][42]

 

Indigenous genetic studies suggest that the first inhabitants of the Americas share a single ancestral population, one that developed in isolation, conjectured to be Beringia.[43][44] The isolation of these peoples in Beringia might have lasted 10–20,000 years.[45][46][47] Around 16,500 years ago, the glaciers began melting, allowing people to move south and east into Canada and beyond.[38][48][49] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets.[50]

 

Another route proposed involves migration - either on foot or using primitive boats - along the Pacific Northwest coast to South America.[51] Evidence of the latter would have been covered by a sea level rise of more than 120 meters since the last ice age.[52]

 

The time range of 40,000–16,500 years ago is debatable and probably will remain so for years to come.[37][38] The few agreements achieved to date include:[29][53]

 

the origin from Central Asia

widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the Late Glacial Maximum, around 16,000–13,000 years before present

Stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Crafted lithic flaked tools are used by archaeologists and anthropologists to classify cultural periods.[54] The Clovis culture, the earliest definitively-dated Paleo-Indians in the Americas, appears around 11,500 RCBP (radiocarbon years Before Present[55]), equivalent to 13,500 to 13,000 calendar years ago.

 

In 2014, the autosomal DNA of a 12,500+-year-old infant from Montana found in close association with several Clovis artifacts was sequenced.[56] These are the Anzick-1 remains from the Anzick Clovis burial in Montana. The data indicate that the individual was from a population ancestral to present South American and Central American Native American populations, and closely related to present North American Native American populations. The implication is that there was an early divergence between North American and Central American plus South American populations. Hypotheses which posit that invasions subsequent to the Clovis culture overwhelmed or assimilated previous migrants into the Americas were ruled out.[56]

 

Similarly, the skeleton of a teenage girl (named 'Naia', after a water nymph from Greek mythology) found in the underwater caves called sistema Sac Actun in Mexico's eastern Yucatán Peninsula in 2007 has had DNA extracted, and at 13,000 years old is considered the oldest genetically intact human skeleton ever found in the Americas. The DNA indicates she was from a lineage derived from Asian origins that is represented in the modern native population's DNA.[57]

 

Pre-Columbian era[edit]

Main article: Pre-Columbian era

See also: Archaeology of the Americas

 

Language families of North American indigenous peoples

The Pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European and African influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original arrival in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the early modern period.[58]

 

While technically referring to the era before Christopher Columbus' voyages of 1492 to 1504, in practice the term usually includes the history of American indigenous cultures until Europeans either conquered or significantly influenced them, even if this happened decades or even centuries after Columbus' initial landing.[59] "Pre-Columbian" is used especially often in the context of discussing the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacano, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Aztec, and the Maya civilizations) and those of the Andes (Inca Empire, Moche culture, Muisca Confederation, Cañaris).

  

Ethnic groups circa 1300-1535

 

Paleo-Indians hunting a glyptodont

Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies.[60] Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first significant European and African arrivals (ca. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are known only through oral history and through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Mayan, Olmec, Mixtec, and Nahua peoples, had their own written records. However, the European colonists of the time worked to eliminate non-Christian beliefs, and Christian pyres destroyed many pre-Columbian written records. Only a few documents remained hidden and survived, leaving contemporary historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.

 

According to both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter had achieved many accomplishments.[61] For instance, the Aztecs built one of the largest cities in the world, Tenochtitlan, the ancient site of Mexico City, with an estimated population of 200,000. American civilizations also displayed impressive accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics. The domestication of maize or corn required thousands of years of selective breeding.

 

Inuit, Alaskan Native, and American Indian creation myths tell of a variety of origins of their respective peoples. Some were "always there" or were created by gods or animals, some migrated from a specified compass point, and others came from "across the ocean".[62]

 

European colonization[edit]

Main article: European colonization of the Americas

See also: Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas and Columbian Exchange

 

Cultural areas of North America at time of European contact

The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives and cultures of the peoples of the continents. Although the exact pre-contact population of the Americas is unknown, scholars estimate that Native American populations diminished by between 80 and 90% within the first centuries of contact with Europeans. The leading cause was disease. The continent was ravaged by epidemics of diseases such as smallpox, measles, and cholera, which were brought from Europe by the early explorers and spread quickly into new areas even before later explorers and colonists reached them. Native Americans suffered high mortality rates due to their lack of prior exposure to these diseases. The loss of lives was exacerbated by conflict between colonists and indigenous people. Colonists also frequently perpetrated massacres on the indigenous groups and enslaved them.[63][64][65] According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1894), the North American Indian Wars of the 19th century cost the lives of about 19,000 whites and 30,000 Native Americans.[66]

 

The first indigenous group encountered by Columbus were the 250,000 Taínos of Hispaniola who represented the dominant culture in the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. Within thirty years about 70% of the Taínos had died.[67] They had no immunity to European diseases, so outbreaks of measles and smallpox ravaged their population.[68] Increasing punishment of the Taínos for revolting against forced labour, despite measures put in place by the encomienda, which included religious education and protection from warring tribes,[69] eventually led to the last great Taíno rebellion.

 

Following years of mistreatment, the Taínos began to adopt suicidal behaviors, with women aborting or killing their infants and men jumping from the cliffs or ingesting untreated cassava, a violent poison.[67] Eventually, a Taíno Cacique named Enriquillo managed to hold out in the Baoruco Mountain Range for thirteen years, causing serious damage to the Spanish, Carib-held plantations and their Indian auxiliaries.[70] Hearing of the seriousness of the revolt, Emperor Charles V (also King of Spain) sent captain Francisco Barrionuevo to negotiate a peace treaty with the ever-increasing number of rebels. Two months later, after consultation with the Audencia of Santo Domingo, Enriquillo was offered any part of the island to live in peace.

 

The Laws of Burgos, 1512-1513, were the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spanish settlers in America, particularly with regard to native Indians. The laws forbade the maltreatment of natives and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism.[71] The Spanish crown found it difficult to enforce these laws in a distant colony.

  

Drawing accompanying text in Book XII of the 16th-century Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585), showing Nahuas of conquest-era central Mexico suffering from smallpox

Various theories for the decline of the Native American populations emphasize epidemic diseases, conflicts with Europeans, and conflicts among warring tribes. Scholars now believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives.[72][73] Some believe that after first contacts with Europeans and Africans, Old World diseases caused the death of 90 to 95% of the native population of the New World in the following 150 years.[74] Smallpox killed up to one third of the native population of Hispaniola in 1518.[75] By killing the Incan ruler Huayna Capac, smallpox caused the Inca Civil War. Smallpox was only the first epidemic. Typhus (probably) in 1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, measles in 1618—all ravaged the remains of Inca culture.

 

Smallpox had killed millions of native inhabitants of Mexico.[76][77] Unintentionally introduced at Veracruz with the arrival of Pánfilo de Narváez on April 23, 1520, smallpox ravaged Mexico in the 1520s,[78] possibly killing over 150,000 in Tenochtitlán alone (the heartland of the Aztec Empire), and aiding in the victory of Hernán Cortés over the Aztec Empire at Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) in 1521.[citation needed]

 

Over the centuries, the Europeans had developed high degrees of immunity to these diseases, while the indigenous Americans had no immunity.[79]

 

Explorations of the Caribbean led to the discovery of the Arawaks of the Lesser Antilles. The culture was destroyed by 1650. Only 500 had survived by the year 1550, though the bloodlines continued through to the modern populace. In Amazonia, indigenous societies weathered centuries of colonization.[80]

  

Indians visiting a Brazilian farm plantation in Minas Gerais ca. 1824

Contact with European diseases such as smallpox and measles killed between 50 and 67 per cent of the Aboriginal population of North America in the first hundred years after the arrival of Europeans.[81] Some 90 per cent of the native population near Massachusetts Bay Colony died of smallpox in an epidemic in 1617–1619.[82] In 1633, in Plymouth, the Native Americans there were exposed to smallpox because of contact with Europeans. As it had done elsewhere, the virus wiped out entire population groups of Native Americans.[83] It reached Lake Ontario in 1636, and the lands of the Iroquois by 1679.[84][85] During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30% of the West Coast Native Americans.[86] The 1775–82 North American smallpox epidemic and 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic brought devastation and drastic population depletion among the Plains Indians.[87][88] In 1832, the federal government of the United States established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans (The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832).[89][90]

 

The Indigenous peoples in Brazil declined from a pre-Columbian high of an estimated three million[91] to some 300,000 in 1997.[dubious – discuss][not in citation given][92]

 

The Spanish Empire and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild.[93] The re-introduction of the horse, extinct in the Americas for over 7500 years, had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America and of Patagonia in South America. By domesticating horses, some tribes had great success: horses enabled them to expand their territories, exchange more goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily capture game, especially bison.

 

Agriculture[edit]

See also: Agriculture in Mesoamerica and Incan agriculture

 

A bison hunt depicted by George Catlin

Over the course of thousands of years, American indigenous peoples domesticated, bred and cultivated a large array of plant species. These species now constitute 50–60% of all crops in cultivation worldwide.[94] In certain cases, the indigenous peoples developed entirely new species and strains through artificial selection, as was the case in the domestication and breeding of maize from wild teosinte grasses in the valleys of southern Mexico. Numerous such agricultural products retain their native names in the English and Spanish lexicons.

 

The South American highlands were a center of early agriculture. Genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species suggests that the potato has a single origin in the area of southern Peru,[95] from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. Over 99% of all modern cultivated potatoes worldwide are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to south-central Chile,[96] Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum, where it was cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago.[97][98] According to George Raudzens, "It is clear that in pre-Columbian times some groups struggled to survive and often suffered food shortages and famines, while others enjoyed a varied and substantial diet."[99] The persistent drought around 850 AD coincided with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization, and the famine of One Rabbit (AD 1454) was a major catastrophe in Mexico.[100]

  

Andenes in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru. The Incan agricultural terraces are still used by many of the Incas' descendents, Quechua-speaking Andean farmers.

Natives of North America began practicing farming approximately 4,000 years ago, late in the Archaic period of North American cultures. Technology had advanced to the point that pottery was becoming common and the small-scale felling of trees had become feasible. Concurrently, the Archaic Indians began using fire in a controlled manner. Intentional burning of vegetation was used to mimic the effects of natural fires that tended to clear forest understories. It made travel easier and facilitated the growth of herbs and berry-producing plants, which were important for both food and medicines.[101]

 

In the Mississippi River valley, Europeans noted Native Americans' managed groves of nut and fruit trees not far from villages and towns and their gardens and agricultural fields. Further away, prescribed burning would have been used in forest and prairie areas.[102]

 

Many crops first domesticated by indigenous Americans are now produced and used globally. Chief among these is maize or "corn", arguably the most important crop in the world.[103] Other significant crops include cassava, chia, squash (pumpkins, zucchini, marrow, acorn squash, butternut squash), the pinto bean, Phaseolus beans including most common beans, tepary beans and lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, peanuts, cocoa beans (used to make chocolate), vanilla, strawberries, pineapples, Peppers (species and varieties of Capsicum, including bell peppers, jalapeños, paprika and chili peppers) sunflower seeds, rubber, brazilwood, chicle, tobacco, coca, manioc and some species of cotton.

 

Studies of contemporary indigenous environmental management, including agro-forestry practices among Itza Maya in Guatemala and hunting and fishing among the Menominee of Wisconsin, suggest that longstanding "sacred values" may represent a summary of sustainable millennial traditions.[104]

 

Culture[edit]

Further information: Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of North America

 

Quechua woman and child in the Sacred Valley, Andes, Peru

Cultural practices in the Americas seem to have been shared mostly within geographical zones where unrelated peoples adopted similar technologies and social organizations. An example of such a cultural area is Mesoamerica, where millennia of coexistence and shared development among the peoples of the region produced a fairly homogeneous culture with complex agricultural and social patterns. Another well-known example is the North American plains where until the 19th century several peoples shared the traits of nomadic hunter-gatherers based primarily on buffalo hunting.

 

Writing systems[edit]

See also: Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, Cherokee syllabary, and Quipu

 

Maya glyphs in stucco at the Museo de sitio in Palenque, Mexico

The development of writing is counted among the many achievements and innovations of pre-Columbian American cultures. Independent from the development of writing in other areas of the world, the Mesoamerican region produced several indigenous writing systems beginning in the 1st millennium BCE. What may be the earliest-known example in the Americas of an extensive text thought to be writing is by the Cascajal Block. The Olmec hieroglyphs tablet has been indirectly dated from ceramic shards found in the same context to approximately 900 BCE, around the time that Olmec occupation of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán began to wane.[105]

 

The Maya writing system was a combination of phonetic syllabic symbols and logograms — that is, it was a logosyllabic writing system. It is the only pre-Columbian writing system known to represent completely the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than one thousand different glyphs, although a few are variations of the same sign or meaning, and many appear only rarely or are confined to particular localities. At any one time, no more than about five hundred glyphs were in use, some two hundred of which (including variations) had a phonetic or syllabic interpretation.[106][107][108]

 

Aztec codices (singular codex) are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture. The pre-Columbian codices differ from European codices in that they are largely pictorial; they were not meant to symbolize spoken or written narratives.[109] The colonial era codices not only contain Aztec pictograms, but also Classical Nahuatl (in the Latin alphabet), Spanish, and occasionally Latin.

 

Spanish mendicants in the sixteenth century taught indigenous scribes in their communities to write their languages in Latin letters, and there is a large number of local-level documents in Nahuatl, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Yucatec Maya from the colonial era, many of which were part of lawsuits and other legal matters. Although Spaniards initially taught indigenous scribes alphabetic writing, the tradition became self-perpetuating at the local level.[110] The Spanish crown gathered such documentation, and contemporary Spanish translations were made for legal cases. Scholars have translated and analyzed these documents in what is called the New Philology to write histories of indigenous peoples from indigenous viewpoints.[111]

 

The Wiigwaasabak, birch bark scrolls on which the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes, can also be considered a form of writing, as can Mi'kmaq hieroglyphics.

 

Aboriginal syllabic writing, or simply syllabics, is a family of abugidas used to write some Aboriginal Canadian languages of the Algonquian, Inuit, and Athabaskan language families.

 

Music and art[edit]

Main articles: Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas and Native American music

 

Apache fiddle made by Chesley Goseyun Wilson (San Carlos Apache)

 

Chimu culture feather pectoral, feathers, reed, copper, silver, hide, cordage, ca. 1350–1450 CE

 

Textile art by Julia Pingushat (Inuk, Arviat, Nunavut Territory, Canada), wool, embroidery floss, 1995

Native American music in North America is almost entirely monophonic, but there are notable exceptions. Traditional Native American music often centers around drumming. Rattles, clappersticks, and rasps were also popular percussive instruments. Flutes were made of rivercane, cedar, and other woods. The tuning of these flutes is not precise and depends on the length of the wood used and the hand span of the intended player, but the finger holes are most often around a whole step apart and, at least in Northern California, a flute was not used if it turned out to have an interval close to a half step. The Apache fiddle is a single stringed instrument.[citation needed]

 

The music of the indigenous peoples of Central Mexico and Central America was often pentatonic. Before the arrival of the Spaniards and other Europeans, music was inseparable from religious festivities and included a large variety of percussion and wind instruments such as drums, flutes, sea snail shells (used as a trumpet) and "rain" tubes. No remnants of pre-Columbian stringed instruments were found until archaeologists discovered a jar in Guatemala, attributed to the Maya of the Late Classic Era (600–900 CE), which depicts a stringed musical instrument which has since been reproduced. This instrument is one of the very few stringed instruments known in the Americas prior to the introduction of European musical instruments; when played, it produces a sound that mimics a jaguar's growl.[112]

 

Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise a major category in the world art collection. Contributions include pottery, paintings, jewellery, weavings, sculptures, basketry, carvings, and beadwork.[113] Because too many artists were posing as Native Americans and Alaska Natives[114] in order to profit from the cachet of Indigenous art in the United States, the U.S. passed the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, requiring artists to prove that they are enrolled in a state or federally recognized tribe. To support the ongoing practice of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian arts and cultures in the United States,[115] the Ford Foundation, arts advocates and American Indian tribes created an endowment seed fund and established a national Native Arts and Cultures Foundation in 2007.[116][117]

 

Demography of contemporary populations[edit]

 

This map shows the percentage of indigenous population in different countries of the Americas.

The following table provides estimates for each country in the Americas of the populations of indigenous people and those with partial indigenous ancestry, each expressed as a percentage of the overall population. The total percentage obtained by adding both of these categories is also given.

 

Note: these categories are inconsistently defined and measured differently from country to country. Some figures are based on the results of population-wide genetic surveys while others are based on self-identification or observational estimation

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas

Garnet Peak | San Diego County, California

 

© Kent Mercurio

In the Medieval Times, Chufut-Kale was a powerful city fortress in the Crimean Mountains. Today it's in ruins. Chufut-Kale is an official monument of the Crimean Karaite culture. The scientists/historians aren't really sure about the exact date when the city was founded. By rough estimations, it used to be a heavily fortified settlement in the 6th or even 5th century and was a part of the Byzantine Empire.

www.valkamch.com/Create/PageEn/BakhchysaraiEn

  

Город расположен на небольшом плато Бурунчак и окружен глубокими ущельями

Первыми обитателями пещер были аланы, могущественное сарматское племя и союзники Византии, которые осели в горном Крыму.

Новый этап в жизни города начался в XIV веке, когда с восточной стороны укреплений поселились караимы, которые возвели второй ряд крепостных стен. При них стал крупным торгово-ремесленным центром

www.valkamch.com/Russia-Gl/%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4...

From the sign at the base of this giant saguaro:

 

"CENTENNIAL SAGUARO

This saguaro, sprouted from a tiny black seed in 1916, was carefully transplanted here to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service. In 2016 both the saguaro and the Service celebrated their Centennial, 100 years!"

 

Now, this makes a nice story, but I suspect it's stretched a little bit. In 1966, there was no way of knowing with any certainty that the transplanted saguaro was fifty years old; that had to have been an estimation based largely on size.

 

In any event, this is a magnificent specimen. It's thirty-five feet tall and stands in front of the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center, which was built in 1954.

 

Saguaro National Park, Arizona.

The 6th Arte em Peças held on Paredes de Coura, the annual exhibition that my LUG, Comunidade 0937, organizes every year took place on the last weekend of May and on the first of June. It was a blast! I was responsible for the Enchanted Forest display featuring my Bluewater castle, Wedgwood House, Morisledge Cottage, Green Lake Tower Ruins and other MOCs that I made for it. Special thanks to Hugo Santos www.flickr.com/photos/hugosantos0937/ who build the wonderful green roof church and elaborate the display' s scheme (were all the buildings would be, were the rivers would pass, etc).

 

It has 6 by 14 Baseplates (48x48 studs) and my estimation is that it has more then 500.000 parts.

 

Every single Baseplate has some texture and elevations and many are elevated 10 or more bricks to give more sense of depth.

 

The landscape came out a little poor as I ran out of parts for trees and vegetation. I would have liked to give it a sense of a more thick and full forest, but it was not possible.

Also, my intention was to put a lot more minifigs, specially on the village center with more activity situations, but I just didn't have the time

 

I would like to thank my buddies of 0937 for helping me in every way that they could. This was only possible because of the effort of many.

 

Hope you like it!

 

The Turkana s inhabit the arid territories of northern Kenya, on the boundary with Sudan. Nilotic-speaking people, they have for a long time stayed outside of the influence of the main foreign trends. Nomad shepherds adapted to a almost totally desert area, some also fish in Lake Turkana. They are divided in 28 clans. Each one of them is associated with a particular brand for its livestock, so that any Turkana can identify a relative in this way.The majority of the Turkana still follow their traditional religion: they believe in a God called Kuj or Akuj, associated with the sky and creator of all things. He is thought to be omnipotent but rarely intervenes in the lives of people. Contact between God and the people is made though a diviner (emeron). Diviners have the power to interpret dreams, forecast the future, heal, and make rain. However, the Turkana doubt about those who say they have powers, but fail to prove it in the everyday life. According to estimates, about 15% of the Turkana are Christian. Evangelism has started among the Turkana since the 1970s. Various church buildings have been built since then. The most astonishing element one can notice in the villages, is that the only permanent structures are churches, with huts all around. Infact, in the late 1970s, feeding projects as well as literacy courses and other services have been provided by Baptist workers. This easily explains the importance acquired by the Church.The Turkana don't have any physical initiations. They have only the asapan ceremony, transition from youth to adulthood, that all men must perform before marriage. The Turkana are polygamous. Homestead consists of a man, his wives and children, and often his mother. When a new wife comes, she stays at the hut of the mother or first wife until she has her first child. The high bride-wealth payment (30 to 50 cattle, 30 to 50 camels and 100 to 200 small stock) often means that a man cannot marry until he has inherited livestock from his dead father. It also implies that he collect livestock from relatives and friends, which strengthens social ties between them. Resolution is found to conflicts through discussions between the men living in proximity to one another. Men of influence are particularly listened, and decisions are enforced by the younger men of the area. Each man belongs to a specific generation set. If a man is a Leopard, his son will be a Stone, so that there is approximately an equal number of each category. The Turkana make finely carved wooden implements, used in the daily life. During the rainy season, moonlight nights' songs have a particular place in the Turkana's life. The songs often refer to their cattle or land, but they are sometimes improvised and related to immediate events. The Turkana have a deep knowledge of plants and products they use as medicine. The fat-tailed sheep is often called "the hospital for the Turkana".

  

Les Turkanas habitent les territoires arides du nord du Kenya, à la frontière avec le Soudan.Peuple de langue nilotique, ils sont pendant longtemps restés hors de l’influence des principaux courants étrangers. Pasteurs nomades adaptés à une zone presque totalement déserte, certains pêchent également dans le lac Turkana. Ils sont divisés en 28 clans. Chacun d’entre eux est associé à une marque particulière donné à son bétail, de telle façon que tout Turkana peut identifier un parent de cette manière.La majorité des Turkana suit encore leur religion traditionnelle : ils croient en un Dieu appelé Kuj ou Akuj, associé au ciel et créateur de toute chose. Les Turkana le voient comme omnipotent mais intervenant rarement dans la vie des gens. Le contact entre Dieu et les hommes se fait par l’intermédiaire d’un divin (emeron). Les devins ont le pouvoir d’interpréter les rêves, prédire l’avenir, soigner et faire pleuvoir. Toutefois, les Turkana doutent de ceux qui disent qu’ils ont des pouvoirs, mais échouent à le prouver dans la vie de tous les jours. Selon des estimations, environ 15% des Turkana sont chrétiens. L’évangélisme a commencé chez les Turkana depuis les années 1970. Diverses églises ont depuis été construites. L’élément le plus étonnbant que l’on peut noter dans les villages est que les seules structures en dur sont les églises, avec des huttes tout autour. En fait, à la fin des années 1970, des projets alimentaires ainsi que des cours d’alphabétisation et d’autres services ont été menés par des travailleurs baptistes. Cela explique facilement l’importance acquise par l’Eglise.Les Turkana n’ont aucune initiation physique. Ils ont seulement la cérémonie asapan, transition de la jeunesse à l’âge adulte, que chaque homme doit suivre avant le mariage. Les Turkana sont polygames. La propriété familiale est composée d’un homme, ses femmes et enfants, et souvent sa mère. Quand une nouvelle femme arrive, elle loge dans la hutte de la mère ou de la première femme jusqu’à ce qu’elle ait son premier enfant. Le paiement élevé pour la mariée (30 à 50 têtes de gros bétail, 30 à 50 dromadaires, et 100 à 200 têtes de petit bétail) signifie souvent qu’un homme ne peut se permettre de se marier jusqu’à ce qu’il ait hérité le bétail de son père décédé. Cela implique également qu’il collecte le bétail requis de parents et amis, ce qui renforce les liens sociaux entre eux. La résolution des conflits se fait par la discussion entre les hommes vivant à proximité.Les hommes d’influence sont particulièrement écoutés, et les décisions sont mises en application par les hommes plus jeunes de la zone. Chaque homme appartient à une classe d’âge spécifique. Si un homme est un Léopard, son fils deviendra une Pierre, de telle façon qu’il y a approximativement un même nombre de chaque catégorie. Les Turkana font des outils en bois finement taillés, utilisés dans la vie de tous les jours. Durant la saison des pluies, les chansons des nuits de pleine lune ont une place particulière dans la vie des Turkana. Elles font souvent référence à leur bétail et terres, mais sont parfois improvisées ou liées à des événements immédiats. Les Turkana ont une connaissance intime des plantes et des produits qu’ils utilisent comme médicaments. La queue grasse des moutons est souvent appelée « l’hôpital pour les Turkana ».

  

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

       

Chiang Dao NP, Chiang Mai, Thailand

 

Family : Arctiidae

Sub-Family : Arctiinae

Species : Amata grotei

 

As with the Amata species that I posted 2 weeks ago I have not been able to find out very much about this clearwing moth. I'm not even sure about its distribution although it is probably to be found across south and southeast Asia as with the previous species. It is a daytime flyer and probably not very common. Wingspan is again an estimation at 30-35 mm. The common name usually used for the Arctiidae is Tiger Moths but Amata ssp. are more commonly known as Wasp or Grass Moths.

 

All my insect pics are single, handheld shots of live insects.

1941 Lincoln Raymond Loewy Designed Continental

Coachwork by By Derham

 

As the show cars inched along in line toward the awards stand I noticed this unusual looking car. What the heck was this, I thought. Glancing at its hubcaps I knew it must be a Lincoln but what kind - what year - what model, I questioned. Now maybe many classic cars aficionados would have the answer but me, being merely a quasi aficionado (if there is such a thing?), had no idea. I walked briskly over the driver/owner to question him. Being quite accommodating the gentleman explained quickly and in my rush to get in position for a shot of this “beast”, I was able to pick up only a few words here and there. I heard “continental”. I heard “Derham", I heard “Studebaker” and I heard "Raymond Loewy" but then I had to scurry back as he began moving forward and I had to get back and try to line up for a shot of the car. I managed to snap off a few shots. Frankly I wasn’t very impressed with its looks……..but have since discovered this car took top honors in its class at Pebble Beach . Don’t know the Concours year it was but just the name “Pebble Beach” denotes prestige.

 

Over the time these pictures have been residing in my 2023 Geneva Concours d’Elegance folder, I have learned a great deal more about this rare car. From what I understand this car has two “sister cars”, each slightly different in their appearance and equally rare. Much better than I could, the author of the following New York Times article provides the “rundown”.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The first Lincoln Continental, originally designed as Edsel Ford’s personal vehicle, has often been cited as one of the most beautiful cars in the world. Perhaps no other car can boast of a more prestigious design pedigree. It was originally sketched by Bob Gregorie, Ford’s chief stylist (reportedly, in an hour, in response to Mr. Ford’s urgent request for a “vacation car”).

But Raymond Loewy, the famous industrial designer, figured he could improve it. So Loewy had his staff restyle a 1941 model to his specification. When it was finally completed in 1946, a Saturday Evening Post article referred to it as “The Fanciest Thing on Wheels.”

 

The one-of-a-kind beauty (a similar car created for Loewy’s wife has since disappeared) turned up this weekend on the block at Gooding & Company’s classic car auction here, where it was a real show-stopper. It sold for $451,000 — about three times what a stock Continental of that vintage is generally considered to be worth. The car had been owned by an Asian collector for many years, a Gooding spokesman said. (Loewy died in 1986.) The Loewy Lincoln has seldom been seen in recent years, although it made a star turn last August at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, Calif.

 

At the time of this car’s makeover, Loewy’s “staff” at the time included a veritable who’s who of automotive design: Virgil Exner, who would in later years design Chrysler’s famed Forward Look cars; Gordon Buehrig, responsible for many noted Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg designs; and Bob Bourke, later head of Studebaker styling. They helped Loewy recraft the Lincoln into a low, long stunner with fenders integrated into the body, a clear plexiglass roof and round opera windows. The conversion work was done by the noted custom coachbuilder, Derham Body Co. of Philadelphia.

 

Arguably, the Loewy Lincoln’s most over-the-top feature was its 24-carat gold horn ring, instrument bezels and control knobs.

The car also includes a couple of inside jokes, including an “RL” emblem on each side that is encircled by a chrome band. Sharp-eyed industrial design fans may notice the chrome ring comes directly from a Frigidaire refrigerator, which Loewy had also designed.

 

The one potentially sour note on the entire car is the unusual custom grille. Loewy replaced the original grille of the Lincoln — a lovely chrome “waterfall” design that was perhaps its signature feature — with a styled version of the sometimes-lampooned “bullet nose” found on postwar Studebakers.

 

Why would Loewy do such a thing? It would not have been too smart for Loewy to be seen driving anything blatantly identifiable as a Ford product at the time. Loewy’s firm, you see, had an exclusive, ironclad contract to design Studebakers.

Now, as they say, you know the rest of the story.

 

Source: New York Times   |   Wheels

By Jerry Garrett

January 20, 2008 11:16 am

  

………One final word. The title chosen for this artwork. Frankly I thought the design of this car as odd and this conjured up thoughts of a James Bond movie I saw years ago - Goldfinger and one of Goldfinger's henchmen, "Oddjob". (This is how my brain moves……. ) Then comes the design, or job that Loewy did. Not overly impressive in my estimation but who am I to argue with the judges from Pebble Beach! The the background. It’s a scene from the Austrian Alps but why chosen? Mainly because I didn’t have much choice……and it looks pretty.

  

Hope ya’all enjoy…………

See Part 1 in my archives Peepz. And if you're in a hurry, you may want to read this later, or in bits...it's bloody long. It's a work in progress...

 

"The Diamond Ring"

 

As my gaze scanned the small, crowded bus depot in Adelaide that December morning, I had all but given up trying to find a lift with anybody from the bus, as I hadn't met anybody on the truck stops we'd made along the way. The ticket counter wasn't open yet, so I decided that I should just wait there until it opened, and figure out what to do next after that. In the meantime I could put out some feelers and try and sense whether anybody else there looked like they might be headed for the eclipse. At that point I was still convinced I should try to get on a connecting bus to Ceduna, where most of the eclipse watchers would be, but I was sure that the tickets were sold out. I hadn't ruled out hitching on the road, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. I was also a little dubious about the weather. It was seven thirty in the morning, and the clouds formed a thick blanket of grey above the city.

 

The day before, I'd checked the weather forecasts to see what the outlook was like and it was sketchy. There was going to be cloud cover in most of the places along the path of totality, but the forecast said that the clouds should clear to just a scattering by mid or late afternoon. It might have prevented me from going at another time, but because I felt so driven to go I trusted that wherever I ended up would be the right place, with the right people and the right conditions. Still, I couldn't help having a slight sense of trepidation over whether all my efforts would end up in travelling over a thousand miles to watch a total eclipse of a total eclipse.

 

So with all that and more whirring around my skull, I let my eyes skim the crowd while my otherware kicked in at the non-local levels, and before I knew it I couldn't help but notice these two guys who were standing in one of the aisles a few feet away from me. It was their wooden case that first caught my attention and it got me pretty excited when it looked liked it was just the right size for a telescope. When I looked for who might own it, I scoped them. They looked a little fatigued, but ready for action.

 

The tall one that looked like Tom Selleck was dressed in loose khaki shorts with cargo pockets, a matching polo shirt, chunky white socks and brown suede walking boots. Short blondish-brown hair peeked out from beneath a baseball cap that made his rugged features look slightly boyish, but he looked to me to be around forty. Standing next to him was a guy of similar age, who looked like your classic computer programmer or science genius. He was more slightly built, had a pale complexion and black rimmed glasses. He was wearing a black leather jacket over his knitted jumper and polo shirt (which was underneath and neatly tucked in to his jeans), a black belt and some well-worn brown leather shoes.

I was totally loving their look. I had to meet them.

 

I approached them and asked if they were going to see the eclipse.

I think they might have been a bit surprised to have been approached but they smiled and said yes. I found out that their names were Gerard and Alan, then they told me that they'd been on the same bus from Melbourne I'd been travelling on. I had been all the way up the front in seat 1D behind the driver, and hadn't seen them behind me in seats 11C and D.

 

I told them that I was going to try to get to Ceduna. They glanced at each other making me feel uneasy and they said that the weather forecast didn't look so good there. It was much better where they were going, the Wirraminna Rail Siding, in the desert, but first they had to go to Port Augusta where they would be picking up their car.

 

It became instantly apparent that going to the desert over the coast was a way better idea given the weather, so I figured that the best thing for me should be to try to get to Woomera with them (which is where I thought the Wirraminna Rail Siding was). I imagined this really cute country town where there would be balloons and streamers in the streets and lots of bakeries. I thought that we'd get there, mingle with the others who'd gathered, and then I could find accommodation and another lift back to Adelaide the next day. I asked that if I could get Port Augusta, would they let me hitch with them to Woomera? We all decided to have breakfast together and see.

 

As soon as we sat down they were pulling out all these crazy maps and charts that they'd downloaded off the net, one with a pencil line drawn by hand marking the path of totality. Others had bright highlighted sections where they'd made other notes. They had made all the calculations for latitude and longitude, timing down to the second, were a wealth of astronomical knowledge and they told me all about the amazing capabilities of the camera gear they'd brought. They were prepared for everything. I could not believe my luck. They even had spare eclipse glasses! They were able to tell me everything I needed to know and I really hoped it could all happen so that I could travel with them.

 

After breakfast I noticed that the ticket counter was about to open and I watched as about twenty people formed two queues in front of the two nearest windows. A third window had also opened but no-one seemed to want to go there and at first I stood at the end of one of them then figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, so I went over to the third window. When I asked if that was the right ticket counter for a bus ticket to Port Augusta I was told it was and got my ticket in about 30 seconds, beating everybody. It was a completely full bus, confirming to me again just how much we make our own luck.

 

The guys agreed to let me join them in Port Augusta and I felt this wave of gratitude leave my body and travel out into the cosmos. As I looked at them hanging out together with their impressive assortment of camera gear, tripods, bags and telescope, with their open, friendly faces, smart casual clothing and a tendency toward geekishness, they looked like my very own Batman and Robin. I smiled inwardly. My prayers HAD been answered! I DID find the right people to travel with right there on the bus!

 

It was a moment I'll never forget.

 

After that I found a pay phone and rang Bimbo Deluxe, a bar I had a residency at, and left a message letting them know I wouldn't be coming in for my set that night.

 

We got on the next bus, me alone behind the driver in 1A again, and them just a few seats behind. I spent a bit of time visualising a bright blue, cloudless sky for the eclipse, and reminding myself to be in the moment, trusting as much as possible that life would take me where I needed to go, as the frequencies of gratitude for all that had occurred up until then filled me and flowed outwards from me. All the seeds sown by reading the CWG series which had tied up so many loose ends for me in my esoteric studies, were beginning to sprout and I wanted to breathe as much life into them as possible. I wanted to see how they might grow, as I did. I thought about Time. Then I slept deeply.

 

"Alan and Gerard spent the trip working out the orbital distance of the Moon and the rotation of the Earth in order to finally understand the path taken by the Moon during the eclipse and the speed at which it travelled. This was facilitated by the calculator in the mobile phone. Alan also worked out how photo exposures and bracketing points using full and ½ stops."

 

This is what Gerard wrote about what he and Alan did on the bus to Port Augusta, in his own account of our travels called "Eclipse 2002". He has even named the subtitles in Chapter 1, which will give you a greater idea of what's to come.

 

Subtitle 1: Alan's, Gerard's and Liz's Big Time-Warp Adventure

Subtitle 2: Port Augusta or Bust!

Subtitle 3: The Kangaroo Did It

 

I believe all time is happening in one eternal now. Especially since studying the Maya's supreme understandings of cosmic timing cycles and mathematics. Whenever I begin to worry about anything "in the future", I ask myself, "Am I OK, in this moment?", and the answer is always yes, so it's a good way for me to quell my fears and anxieties, and to trust life more. I really started this practice on a regular basis during this trip. And I was more than ok, as I was soon to see..

 

When we arrived at Port Augusta, the sky had cleared and a few tufts of white dotted the sky, which was a relief, and a beautiful gleaming silver sedan met us at the terminal. It belonged to Gerard, and I asked how even though he lived in Melbourne, his car was quite conveniently waiting for us in Port Augusta, at the bus terminal. After we piled into the car I heard the first of many stories during that trip that would change me forever.

 

The guys had so much gear it was hard to believe they'd carried it all by themselves and for a few moments I had my doubts that we would fit everything of theirs into the car, let alone have room for me or my scant belongings. After some tricky packing though, a space was made available for me to squeeze into in the back seat, behind Alan who was in the passenger seat, and with Gerard expertly handling the wheel, we set off for last minute supplies.

 

The whole transition from the bus to the car couldn't have been timed more perfectly or executed with more ease. It was a good sign, but once we got in the car I really knew that the gods had smiled down on me. They could've had a big old pick up truck for all I knew, but instead I was able to relax in the luxury of black leather seats and enjoy the views from air conditioned comfort, gaze out at the sky through the sunroof and tinted windows and tell the outside temperature from a LED display in the wood dash. To top it all off, I had just met the two coolest, smartest straight guys I'd met in ages, and we were about to embark on a truly amazing adventure together. I was happy and grateful to be alive.

 

We stopped in Pt Augusta's main shopping drag for some lunch, supplies and fuel for the trip. After some bad cafe food Alan and I headed off to the supermarket while Gerard attended to some other business and we quickly dashed around picking up water, bags of fruit, nibbles, and chocolate (for me). I asked Alan if they'd like to have something to eat later, maybe for a picnic? This seemed like a good idea to him (I don't know if the guys, for all their planning, had considered the necessity for food at all), and I picked out a roast chicken and some salads. I completely forgot to buy a disposable camera in Adelaide so I tried finding one there only to discover they were sold out. There was a Woolies a block down too (also sold out of cameras), but I quickly purchased a cotton blanket as I had nothing warm with me, and hoped it would come in handy, seeing I already had my pillow and I had no idea where I was sleeping that night. All I knew was that the eclipse was in less than four and a half hours and when we met up with Gerard a short time later, it was agreed that there was no time to spare, so we, and the fully-laden car, swung back onto the road and headed for the outback. Alan had a collection of maps in the glove box that he would refer to from time to time as Gerard brought us up to a comfortable cruising speed of 130 kph. ETA was going to be 17:45 at our desired spot.

 

They were both great story tellers, although you could see that Alan's more outgoing personality was more suited to it, but Gerard certainly didn't seem concerned, and I realized later that even though Gerard had heard Alan tell most of his stories several times before, he obviously still liked to hear them, and he often helped coax a story out of Alan's memory banks by reminding him of some of the funny details.

 

I began to hear about how they had been driving through the South Australian countryside a month earlier, taking photos and generally enjoying a break from work for a few days when they had hit a kangaroo when it suddenly jumped out in front of the car and stopped them all in their tracks. Gerard's car had been in the shop at Port Augusta getting extensive repairs done ever since, and as the eclipse was occurring at the same time they could collect the car, they decided (at the last minute too) to come and get it and see the eclipse at the same time. At the end of their story we all fell silent for a moment as it dawned on us that their encounter with the kangaroo had actually created the conditions for us to meet as we did. The kangaroo was pivotal to the whole story and we knew it. I silently thanked the kangaroo for it's role in all this, and for the ripples that that moment created when it lost its life that night, as I marvelled at the way our lives had intersected.

 

Whatever green countryside there was around Pt Augusta soon made way for flat, dry earth covered in clumps of long grasses, low bushes and small trees as we sped towards Woomera. We passed a few old run down towns that looked like the only public outlet was the petrol station, and I wondered how people out there spent their time, and how children, if any, could cope with the sheer barrenness and isolation. Then we passed Pimba. It was so third world I was totally taken aback. I felt like I'd stepped into an alternate reality, into another version of Australia, one I would never want to dream into reality, but it already was. It was quite a sight. We all unanimously agreed that it was a "hole" of gargantuan proportions, a "standard reference hole" at that, as we passed the shabby weatherboard houses that all seemed to be just barely standing, with each and every backyard sporting massive piles of rubbish and broken down, rusting machinery. I thought I'd seen bad, after all, some of my poor Filipino relatives used to live in houses where to get there, you'd have to walk on wooden planks to avoid the mud, streams and little fishes everywhere, but this was BAD.

 

I could see why the area we were fast approaching was home to a detention centre for illegal immigrants, a former nuclear missile testing ground and hot spot for UFO sightings. There was nothing. For miles around, nothing. Just red earth, a bit of scrub, and the wind and sky. I must admit as well as watching for the clouds to clear up even more, I was constantly on the lookout for any unusual aerial phenomena as I'd thoroughly done my research and the probability for a sighting was in my estimation, high.

 

While we drove to our destination we all got to know each other a bit better which was easy as we all seemed to like one another. At first I was a little unsure about whether Alan was actually happy about me being in tow, as the two of them had conferred briefly before deciding to let me come, and I'd picked up on a vibe. I couldn't blame him if it he wasn't all too pleased, as my coming along had interfered with their plans and well, "guy time". I soon put those thoughts to rest though as it as it soon became apparent to all of us that that the extra pair of hands I now afforded them, might've actually come in quite handy.

 

We went over a few things about the way the guys wanted to set up their gear, and what we would do when totality arrived. Then they started describing to me how they would like me to help change a solar filter on "the Lens", this massive super-telephoto thing. They explained that When Gerard said "totality", I had to take the filter off and to put it in a special Tupperware container that they had brought with them. I was like, "Oh my God, are these guys for real? We're actually practicing a DRILL for taking photos!". Say what you will, I thought they were unreal.

 

I know that sort of daggy technical stuff about photography and math and astronomy that we talked a lot about is pretty boring for most people but I frickin love it! And I didn't even need a camera after all! It was almost too much, too good.

 

When we passed Woomera it dawned on me that we weren't going to stop there, and that I'd gotten my wires slightly crossed. But as we drove past it, I thanked my lucky stars I wasn't going. The town looked horrible, with a big vintage fighter plane mounted on a big metal brace near the "Welcome to Woomera" sign near the town's entrance, to show off our so-called military "might", right(?), and the selfish misuse-use of our country's resources by stupid white guys who are all dead now anyway. I didn't see one person anywhere. The whole town looked deserted and felt like a museum you'd never go want to go visit. It didn't look like anywhere I could find accommodation at either, that's for sure. The Wirraminna Rail Siding was another 73 km on from Woomera, as I quickly learned, as the guys handed me the map and asked me to calculate the distance.

 

When I realised that I had no plan of action for after the eclipse, or anywhere to stay, and that I was in the middle of nowhere, I decided to just go with the flow, and didn't worry too much about it, and drew comfort from the fact that at least I'd had the foresight to bring dinner.

 

When we started getting close, the energy in the car changed from quiet expectation to a more intense, hair prickling kind of anticipation. I'd been chatting quite animatedly with the guys from the back seat the whole way there, but now I was nearly bouncing up and down like a child with excitement as we passed the parked cars, then bus loads of Japanese tourists, four-wheel drives and camper vans. The Japanese tourists had lined up all their shiny camera gear in front of their respective buses and had about 30-50 telescopes per bus pointed at the Sun. We kept driving though, for another couple of k's, headed for as close to the centre line of the path of totality as possible. When they explained this to me, I nearly exploded with glee, although I didn't really grasp the enormity of this fact until the moment of the eclipse itself.

 

The sky had finally cleared to just a bit of late afternoon haze, and the temperature was up around 27 degrees, a far cry from the sombre 11 degrees that morning in Adelaide. I was being taken to a spot on the earth that would be precisely in line with the Moon and the Sun as the eclipse took place. I thought back to the day before when all of this had been just a dream. I knew I was experiencing life at a much a higher frequency than the one I normally did, and things that would normally take a lot longer to materialize, seemed to be taking form almost instantly.

 

We finally saw a place where we could park. There were a few people dotted around the brush nearby. Some guy was hanging out at his ute with his sheepdog about 30 metres away. He looked liked a local with his cut-off sleeves and messy shoulder length hair. There were a couple with a tent next to their car some distance away too, as well as a tourist bus parked on the other side of the road behind us. Although there were really only a few others in the close vicinity, the air still felt tantalisingly pregnant with expectation.

 

We began unpacking the car and setting up all the gear. Alan had cut some sheets of polystyrene back in Melbourne to make a viewing box and we set about putting it together. The tripods were set up and the telescope came out of it's handsome handmade box. Gerard took care of setting up his two cameras and the Super Lens and soon everything was done. He found himself afterward, aching for somewhere to relieve himself and decided the only gentlemanly thing to do was drive the car down the road a couple of k's and find somewhere totally private. I think he had to go quite a way though as he was gone for quite a few minutes...

 

I had mentioned to Alan and Gerard earlier that I was interested in UFO's and I was secretly hoping I might get to see one fly past as the only other time was a long time ago, and it was pretty far away. I kept my eyes peeled to the skies, which by now were absolutely clear of any haze and a vivid, bright blue. YAY.

 

During the 1991 eclipse in Mexico City, tens of thousands of spectators saw a huge metallic disc sitting stationary as it slowly spun in the air and emitted a reddish glow. It was captured by 17 different cameras at the time and you can get the videos online if you do a search. Anyway, it was in the air above the city for 30 minutes before, during, and after the eclipse. But that is something I have learned since.

 

We did the practice run of the drill for when totality struck, when Alan would have me change the solar filter on the camera lens. Gerard was supposed to alert us when totality came, which only lasted 32 seconds, by saying "Totality". I would quickly remove the filter and say "Off", and put it into the special Tupperware container, heh. When totality was nearly over I was to put the filter back on and say "On" and he would continue snapping. It was a pretty funny and well, beyond cute for me. We laughed a lot while we were practicing too, so you can see they don't take themselves too seriously. Along with their brain power, personalities, preparedness and 5 star transport, it was everything that worked for this li'l diva. It was so hard to believe how amazing this was all turning out, but I kept reminding myself to accept it, because it was exactly what I'd set out to create. I was ticking off all the things on my checklist of requirements effortlessly. They were the perfect eclipse companions.

 

It was getting close to the time when "first touch" was going to occur and both Alan and Gerard started getting really anxious and a bit fidgety. They made last minute checks of their gear, which turned out to be good thing, as Gerard realised that one of the lenses on his camera wasn't right and changed it. They checked their watches, which had been synchronised to the second (NO! Really? Yes...REALLY), and I got some of the prepared polystyrene board so Alan could project the Sun's image onto it from the telescope's eyepiece while they both took pictures. The wind was up and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold it so that it was straight, but I managed, and they were able to capture all the crucial moments without too much trouble in the end, but how the hell they'd planned to do all that on their own, I have no idea. There was only about an hour to go until totality and I wondered when the sky would begin to grow dark.

 

We occupied our time by switching from eclipse glasses to looking through the Super-Lens and watching the projector board. After 40 minutes or so I noticed that the desert was beginning to look darker and redder. It was so beautiful with the contrast in colours so much more pronounced all around us. Then it became darker and darker very quickly. The soil, the rocks, the trees, everything now looked like a deep blood red. We looked at each other and knew that this is what we'd all come so far to see. The hairs began to stand on end on the backs of our necks. The Moon's disc was almost all the way across the Sun, and we couldn't wait for the last of it to be covered. As Alan was focussing through the camera, Gerard and I put the glasses on and watched. We grew more and more animated as the last couple of minutes ticked by, talking about how it was going to be great. They'd told me earlier that when the Sun was in totality, it was ok to remove the glasses due to the rays being blocked, which I didn't know, so now I was really hanging out for when I could look at the Eclipse with my naked eyes.

 

"All is ready. The sky is clear of any obstruction, the gear is set-up and as good as it can be. 14.5cm telescope, low power eyepiece and reflective board, Nikon 1200mm lens on a cinematographic tripod with a Nikon F100 behind it loaded with several feet of Fuji's finest 400 ASA film ready to go. All the planning has been for this moment. Researching the websites for eclipse locations, photographic exposure tables, rain and cloud-cover forecasts; the planning, the buying, the hiring, the building, the packing and the travelling have come down to this moment, which finds Alan, Gerard and Liz at the side of the Stuart Highway A87 halfway between Pimba and Glendambo in South Australia on Wednesday Dec 4 2002, at 19:40 and 43 seconds local summer time."

 

More from "Eclipse 2002".

 

Then Gerard yelled out "Totality!" and exactly what happened next is rather hazy. I know that at some point filters must have been changed and photos were taken, but what I do remember is Gerard saying, "Liz, you should take the glasses off". I turned my back to the sun, whipped them off my face and when I jumped back to look at the sky, my jaw fell. It was so incredible. Oh my God, OH MY GOD, the COLOURS!" And then I was suddenly going "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" at the top of my voice and started pogo-ing up and down on the spot like an African Masai tribesman, not caring at all what Alan and Gerard must have thought about my rather vociferous, ebullient display. It was just so stunningly beautiful. Think of Jodie Foster's face in Contact when she travelled through the wormhole and saw the galactic core for the first time. Ok? Awesome. That was me. That was ME!!!!!

 

It was so ineffable, so untranslatable, so profound, to watch the perfect circle of the Moon's disc finally moving into place, and exactly covering the Sun's. The resulting diffuse flares of intensely-hued colours that began around the white-hot corona, and radiated trails that filled the entire dome of the sky overhead and as far as one could see. They formed in streaks of rich fire-orange, electrically charged gold, plasma-perking purples, reds of all shades, the deepest royal blues and St Germaine's violet flame. Small fiery orbs of intense orange, called Bailey's Beads, gathered and bubbled around the edges of the Moon's jagged mountain peaks and looked like liquid mercury. Stars became visible for those few moments, as did the planet Mercury, which hung like a small jewel in the sky beneath the Sun.

 

Nothing can prepare you for that moment. No photo can ever do it justice, no words can completely convey all the emotions that you experience or what your eyes actually see. It is like looking into the Eye of God.

 

Physically being a part of that alignment makes you understand just how synchronised this universe is. As I watched the Moon gliding over the Sun, as our planet turned, I felt like I was a both a witness to and a part of a great cosmic clock, and I was watching as the cogs were sliding perfectly into place. It stirred something so deep and ancient within me, my enduring connection to the Sun, and I knew that I could never be the same again. Looking back I realise that the rays of light I was exposing myself to were in fact carriers of particular frequencies that open usually inactive codes within our DNA, often referred to as "junk". What a crock. It's not junk, it's programs and codes that help re-install our Otherware, and we all have it in our DNA.

 

All across the desert, from all the different groups of people scattered around us and beyond our line of sight came cries out to the sky like mine. People cheered, hooted, honked, laughed, screamed, clapped, cried. Dogs howled. Their voices were carried by the outback winds high up into the air where they met and playfully merged with the sounds of others that had come from further away, then they dropped back down to earshot where my ears would catch them, and I could feel their wonder too. We all knew we were part of something infinitely greater than us, that we were seeing something incomparable, that we were part of some vast intelligence that permeates and synchronises the entire Cosmos.

 

The guys were similarly affected and started exclaiming things, which again are hazy. What is clear, is how we all just looked at each other at one point, and with crazed smiles across our faces, spontaneously hugged all at once, laughing. Then they both paced around our site afterwards saying things like, "No one can ever take this away from us. We can say WE WERE HERE", and "We saw it!" We really saw it!" and, "We can never say "Awesome" about anything else again!" I thought statements like these, especially from Gerard, were rather brave, as I couldn't imagine him having outbursts like this very often, and we all went "Yeah!" quite loudly in agreement...and laughing that excited laugh that is almost the same as the one you do when you drink too much red cordial.

 

I thought a lot about the unbelievable relationships of proportional size and distance that it takes to actually create a total solar or lunar eclipse from our vantage point on earth. It is not a coincidence that the sun is 400 times bigger than our Moon, or that it also happens to be 400 times further away from the Moon than the Moon is to Earth. Unsurprisingly, I've wanted to learn a lot about sacred geometry since then and from what the astronomers are saying about the layout of the Universe, it seems nothing has been placed anywhere by accident.

 

At the end of 32 seconds, after the Moon began to move again, the first rays of light emerged again and for the briefest time, we were treated to the dazzling "diamond ring" effect that results. It's what most of the eclipse watchers as their favourite moment and I now know why. We took more photos and continued to watch through the cameras or the on the projector board for at least another half an hour. The Sun had only been 14 degrees above the horizon when totality had occurred so the Sun set quickly as the last whiskers of the pinks and oranges of sunset trailed across the sky. We packed up and left there, as I continued to watch the sky out of the car's back window, for as long as any traces of light remained. By 9:15 they'd all disappeared, having been devoured by the by the encroaching darkness, and we were plunged into night once again.

 

Then I realised I could start looking for UFOs so I spent the next twenty minutes scouring the skies some more.

 

We were all still pretty high from the eclipse experience, but by that time we had settled into our own reveries and the car was silent. We decided to drive down the road a little further until we found a spot to stay at for the night. The guys figured they'd just sleep in the car, and that was fine by me. I was SO glad I'd bought that blanket, let me tell you, as it can get nippy out there in the desert, even in summer. We'd passed some lovely salt lakes on our way there during the day, but hadn't had time to stop so we decided to try and find one to make camp at. Gerard found a great spot down a dip off the road beside one of these giant salt lakes that was quietly shimmering as it reflected the starlight. As there was no moon or cloud, the stars lit up with sparkles over the black canvas of the sky. It had been awhile since I'd been out to the country and I'd forgotten just how many stars there were up there, but it was great to be reminded. I breathed in deeply and imprinted all I could about that moment into my DNA. The Milky Way was looking particularly milky, and when I remembered we had a telescope with us I nearly lost it. I completely forgot all about stargazing that day, which for me is unusual. I'd wanted to bring my own telescope but knew it wasn't practical, and I hardly thought I would get the chance for sky watching without having my own transport.

 

It was becoming more and more evident that our meeting was no accident. Every single thing that I had visualized was coming true, and I felt totally in the zone. The best part was that I could get an astronomy lesson too, something I hadn't even thought remotely possible when I left for Adelaide the night before. I'd only just begun studying backyard astronomy on my own for a few months at that stage, so I really appreciated the opportunity to learn some more from people who actually knew their stuff.

 

We set up a rug to sit on, a buffet was laid out on the boot of the car, and we had a fabulous starlight picnic, then Alan got to work putting the telescope back together. He'd not only painstakingly constructed the box for it, he's also done several clever modifications to the telescope itself. It was incredibly smooth to manoeuvrer and the viewfinder was mounted in such a way that made it permanently aligned to the eyepiece. Not bad compared to my clumsy thing, which was big and had a great lens, but needed constant adjusting.

 

Gerard had a red-light torch for perusing the star map, and between them both they had all the star maps you could wish for, including a current one. I'd brought my Mighty Bright light as well so we consulted the maps for awhile under the open hood of the boot, deciding finally that we should definitely try to get a rare glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy, which was going to be low on the horizon, but still visible for a little while from where we were. It's the closest spiral galaxy to ours, and part of our local system of stars, but it's still 2.2 million light years away!

 

So we began. We looked at binary star systems including Sirius A and B, the Great Square of Pegasus, found Andromeda (it looked amazing, though tiny - but who cares, I saw it with my own eyes), some pretty star clusters, a wild nebula in the Orion constellation, and loads more. We had a ball. I was completely enthralled. Alan turned to me after awhile and asked whether there was anything I would like to see, and I faltered for a minute. I tried to pull a star's name, a constellation, anything from my rather limited astronomical knowledge that I'd like to view. Then I remembered! It slipped off my tongue so easily like it was something I said all the time: "I'd like to see The Pleiades please". With a quick look at the sky map, he and Gerard quickly turned the scope into position and aimed. When Alan told me I could take a look, I put my eye up to the lens. I could not have been less prepared for the reaction that I had next. It all happened in the instant when the photons of light, carried across space for my eyes to see, entered my retina. I was greeted by the most gorgeous display of hundreds of shining points of light, like diamonds on black velvet, in a beautiful cluster formation, with the seven main stars of the constellation contained within my field of view. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I gasped audibly. Within nano-seconds every part of my being, down to my DNA, was resounding with the recollection that the stars I was looking at, were HOME. Yes home. H-O-M-E. What!?@!

 

Tears had welled up in my eyes and I just wanted to cry it was so beautiful, but I had to catch myself in front of the guys, as I didn't want to come across as a complete lunatic. I didn't even know what to think myself. I had to process this. It was happening so fast. So I composed myself and said something like, "Wow. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." (twice in one day, shit, what was happening to me?), and I found it very hard to tear myself away from the telescope after that .

 

We did however move away for awhile, and we all sat around chatting some more, and telling more stories. I didn't speak about what had just happened to me. I just sat with it and tried to make some sense out of it. I really knew very little about them, except that they were also known as the Seven Sisters and were a favourite for stargazers. The Pleiades weren't a part of my research or knowledge base at all. I don't even know how I even remembered the name. Whatever was unfolding though, I knew one thing was undeniable. I must be going insane. NO, just jerkin with ya, sorry, anyway, it was undeniable.

 

Everything in me knew that I was somehow deeply connected to this star system, but how? I resolved to do some investigating when I got home. But that night in the Australian Outback, in my planetary home, I knew that I had remembered another home, a galactic home, and that it was just as real. It thrilled me to the core. I was beginning to remember who I was!

 

Gerard retired early that night, and went to sleep in the driver's seat fully reclined, while Alan and I told a few more stories. I'd asked him earlier in the car if he'd ever seen any UFO's and had hinted at something but didn't really want to discuss it much. But when we were alone I asked him to tell me again and he did, reluctantly at first, but then much more engagingly, as he began describing some unusual sightings he'd had growing up on the coast in New Zealand.

 

These were not some pissy two second glances at a tiny little light in the sky type of sightings, his were skilfully detailed, varied, and in one case he watched some craft over a few hours. He eventually worked out that there must have been a flight path near his home because he would regularly see them all following the same course. Commercial and Air Force planes would also fly past but whenever he would ring Air Traffic Control at any of the Air Force bases or airports, he would be told that it was one of their regular flights, just a bit off schedule. Then he would say, "NO, I saw Flight Number so and so depart on time, this was something else," which always fucked them up. I heard some pretty amazing stuff and realised there was more to this funny computer guy cum action hero, than I thought. It didn't surprise me in the least that we could have something like that in common. I've always been attracted to people that, despite appearances, upon scratching their surface, you find that there's a whole lot more going on with them than you knew.

 

Alan declared he was sleeping outside on the rug, and I stayed up late into the night, just me, the telescope, and the stars. I finally had to go to bed when I looked directly up at the sky overhead a couple hours later, and the black void turned into a flat plasma screen and the stars became eyes, and they were all looking at, Me. That was the limit.

 

I was able to lie down quite comfortably in the back seat if I lay on my side in the Toblerone-shaped wedge that had formed under the reclined seats from the front. I adjusted my pillow, put the blanket over me and slept like a baby.

 

I found out later that the salt lake we were led to is named, quite appropriately, Lake Hart. Heart....geddit? Can you believe it? I actually couldn't. The gods have such a sense of humour.

 

Since then a lot has happened, and my kin in the Pleiades are now a big part of my life. They have taught me so much. I'll write a lot more about them in later posts, trust me.

 

And for the next two and a half days Gerard, Alan and myself ended up staying together. I gave them several opportunities to ditch me, but we were really having a lot of fun, and they would always invite me to stay on. We were well matched intellectually, but we all had quite different worldviews, so it was nice challenge for us to be mutually respectful of each other's ideas while trying to challenge one another as coherently as possible. We spent much time on the road exchanging ideas, trying on stuff for size, or sometimes throwing them in the 'too hard" basket. If Alan slept then Gerard and I would talk about stuff and vice versa. They both worked as computer technicians, which is how they met, and pretty early on it became obvious to me that some of my ideas about reality were pretty hard for them to hear. They were always open-minded enough to let me speak though, and they'd bounce things off me. We talked sporadically about some of the ideas in the CWG books that were relevant to that moment, or about a particular insight I'd had, or how you might apply some of the ideas to your daily living, and it sparked much interest and debate. I found out about a year later that Alan and Gerard had both decided to give the books a read a few months after our trip, which was brilliant.

 

It was always reciprocally enlightening, being in their company. They were an absolute mine of information about all sorts of things and we never ran out of topics to discuss. And it wasn't long before I threw away my return bus ticket and we leisurely drove me around some of the most beautiful South Australian countryside on a very scenic route back to Melbourne. We went through quaint little towns that they'd found on previous jaunts, and I saw the constantly changing landscape from high lookouts and wide open roads.

 

I've experimented with stretching time ever since I first discovered that when you fall in love, you can make a kiss last an eternity. You can also make a boring flight pass more quickly if you get good at it, or create an atmosphere at a party where a deep, lengthy, important conversation that seems to last for hours, passes in only twenty minutes. I've always liked bending and stretching time to suit my needs and on that trip it happened constantly, but it felt out of our hands for the most part, like we were caught in a strange time-warp so we just surrendered to it. "Is that the time?" was something we ended up saying more times than I can remember. And the best part was, it wasn't just me saying it, we all were.

 

We "parked" out the next night in a back street of a village. We got there quite late at night, and parked the car at what appeared to be a dead end street, with no neighbours to annoy. The next morning, we were mildly shocked to discover that we'd parked only a short distance away from the municipal dump! A few curious Jersey cows had congregated at the fence beside the car as well, and from beneath thick eyelashes, they were casually eyeing its sleeping inhabitants. The next night we were in the Barossa Valley, slightly more prepared, and we woke up to a gorgeous view of a hillside covered in rows and rows of lush green grapevines and blue sunny skies.

 

Once we got back to Victoria, we made for the Grampians, where time seemed to bend and take on a mind of its own again. No matter how we tried to stick to a schedule, or drive faster it just seemed to take a really long time to get back to the City. We saw wild deer in the mountains though, which I loved, and we used the drive to delve a little deeper into our exchanges. My cheeks welcomed the break too as they'd begun to ache a little due to all the laughing I'd done over the last few days, and especially that last day. Alan had let loose with some of his real life death-defying adventures at around lunchtime and he had me crying with laughter a few times. He really is Batman if all that stuff is true, and he told them like it was. So at around dusk, the tone changed slightly and I got to hear about a poltergeist that he'd lived with for over a year, and some other pretty far-out stuff that had happened to him. Gerard spent some time wanting to discuss the Akashic Field, so I fielded questions from both of them about that for awhile. We talked about reincarnation, dimensions of reality co-existing in the same space without knowing about each other, consciousness, the astral world, the Noetic Sciences Institute, a whole lot of stuff that I really love and it was a nice way to leave things.

 

We'd gone from being complete strangers to all being deeply transformed in some way by our meeting, in three and a half days. We'd trusted in our flexibility in each moment, and stretched ourselves beyond our normal comfort zones, creating or participating in large and small miracles, so it seemed, at every turn. We used our brains, which came as a great joy to me as I don't get to talk quantum physics with many of my disco friends. It's not their fault I know...but it was a nice change. I also knew that I'd helped to open up their perspective in many ways, as they did for me, in HUGE ways. My heart knew that I had been drawn to them because their soul's urge for change, and expansion, had already begun, by nudging them into unconsciously creating the conditions for me to enter their lives. I'd definitely sent out a call for them too, for the same reasons. The difference was that they had no idea I was coming along. I, on the other hand, had been certain that I would find them.

 

We finally made it back to Melbourne sometime around 9 pm that night. It was a lot later than we all thought we'd be back by, and we'd all been together non-stop for 3 and a half days. On our way home, I told them where I lived and it turned out that Alan lived just around the corner from me! It was nice, as dropping me off didn't pose any inconvenience at all. We swapped numbers and said our farewells amidst bear hugs and kisses goodbye. It was good to be home, back to my bed, but I could've kept going for at least another day if I'd had to. They dropped me off right to my front door.

 

We all knew it was meant to be, and it was.

We've all kept in touch too, Batman, Robin and I.

 

I'm forever in their debt for everything they shared with me, for their kindness and generosity and for behaving like perfect gentlemen the entire time. Men like these are really rare... but if you are one them, you should try going to an eclipse!

This is my last photo following our visit to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, sadly we missed many animals due in part to my scooter having a flat battery, maybe next time

 

Amur leopards are on the brink of extinction, with the most recent estimations of around 75 individuals left in the wild, therefore classifying them as Critically Endangered. Amur Leopards in zoos and wildlife parks worldwide (like YWP) are playing a vital role in assisting with the critical reintroduction efforts of this species

 

People usually think of leopards in the savannas of Africa but in the Russian Far East, a rare subspecies has adapted to life in the temperate forests that make up the northern-most part of the species’ range. Similar to other leopards, the Amur leopard can run at speeds of up to 37 miles per hour. This incredible animal has been reported to leap more than 19 feet horizontally and up to 10 feet vertically.

 

The Amur leopard is solitary. Nimble-footed and strong, it carries and hides unfinished kills so that they are not taken by other predators. It has been reported that some males stay with females after mating, and may even help with rearing the young. Several males sometimes follow and fight over a female. They live for 10-15 years, and in captivity up to 20 years. The Amur leopard is also known as the Far East leopard, the Manchurian leopard or the Korean leopard.

Miss Kafukou, Turkana tribe.

 

The Turkana s inhabit the arid territories of northern Kenya, on the boundary with Sudan. Nilotic-speaking people, they have for a long time stayed outside of the influence of the main foreign trends. Nomad shepherds adapted to a almost totally desert area, some also fish in Lake Turkana. They are divided in 28 clans. Each one of them is associated with a particular brand for its livestock, so that any Turkana can identify a relative in this way.The majority of the Turkana still follow their traditional religion: they believe in a God called Kuj or Akuj, associated with the sky and creator of all things. He is thought to be omnipotent but rarely intervenes in the lives of people. Contact between God and the people is made though a diviner (emeron). Diviners have the power to interpret dreams, forecast the future, heal, and make rain. However, the Turkana doubt about those who say they have powers, but fail to prove it in the everyday life. According to estimates, about 15% of the Turkana are Christian. Evangelism has started among the Turkana since the 1970s. Various church buildings have been built since then. The most astonishing element one can notice in the villages, is that the only permanent structures are churches, with huts all around. Infact, in the late 1970s, feeding projects as well as literacy courses and other services have been provided by Baptist workers. This easily explains the importance acquired by the Church.The Turkana don't have any physical initiations. They have only the asapan ceremony, transition from youth to adulthood, that all men must perform before marriage. The Turkana are polygamous. Homestead consists of a man, his wives and children, and often his mother. When a new wife comes, she stays at the hut of the mother or first wife until she has her first child. The high bride-wealth payment (30 to 50 cattle, 30 to 50 camels and 100 to 200 small stock) often means that a man cannot marry until he has inherited livestock from his dead father. It also implies that he collect livestock from relatives and friends, which strengthens social ties between them. Resolution is found to conflicts through discussions between the men living in proximity to one another. Men of influence are particularly listened, and decisions are enforced by the younger men of the area. Each man belongs to a specific generation set. If a man is a Leopard, his son will be a Stone, so that there is approximately an equal number of each category. The Turkana make finely carved wooden implements, used in the daily life. During the rainy season, moonlight nights' songs have a particular place in the Turkana's life. The songs often refer to their cattle or land, but they are sometimes improvised and related to immediate events. The Turkana have a deep knowledge of plants and products they use as medicine. The fat-tailed sheep is often called "the hospital for the Turkana".

  

Les Turkanas habitent les territoires arides du nord du Kenya, à la frontière avec le Soudan.Peuple de langue nilotique, ils sont pendant longtemps restés hors de l’influence des principaux courants étrangers. Pasteurs nomades adaptés à une zone presque totalement déserte, certains pêchent également dans le lac Turkana. Ils sont divisés en 28 clans. Chacun d’entre eux est associé à une marque particulière donné à son bétail, de telle façon que tout Turkana peut identifier un parent de cette manière.La majorité des Turkana suit encore leur religion traditionnelle : ils croient en un Dieu appelé Kuj ou Akuj, associé au ciel et créateur de toute chose. Les Turkana le voient comme omnipotent mais intervenant rarement dans la vie des gens. Le contact entre Dieu et les hommes se fait par l’intermédiaire d’un divin (emeron). Les devins ont le pouvoir d’interpréter les rêves, prédire l’avenir, soigner et faire pleuvoir. Toutefois, les Turkana doutent de ceux qui disent qu’ils ont des pouvoirs, mais échouent à le prouver dans la vie de tous les jours. Selon des estimations, environ 15% des Turkana sont chrétiens. L’évangélisme a commencé chez les Turkana depuis les années 1970. Diverses églises ont depuis été construites. L’élément le plus étonnbant que l’on peut noter dans les villages est que les seules structures en dur sont les églises, avec des huttes tout autour. En fait, à la fin des années 1970, des projets alimentaires ainsi que des cours d’alphabétisation et d’autres services ont été menés par des travailleurs baptistes. Cela explique facilement l’importance acquise par l’Eglise.Les Turkana n’ont aucune initiation physique. Ils ont seulement la cérémonie asapan, transition de la jeunesse à l’âge adulte, que chaque homme doit suivre avant le mariage. Les Turkana sont polygames. La propriété familiale est composée d’un homme, ses femmes et enfants, et souvent sa mère. Quand une nouvelle femme arrive, elle loge dans la hutte de la mère ou de la première femme jusqu’à ce qu’elle ait son premier enfant. Le paiement élevé pour la mariée (30 à 50 têtes de gros bétail, 30 à 50 dromadaires, et 100 à 200 têtes de petit bétail) signifie souvent qu’un homme ne peut se permettre de se marier jusqu’à ce qu’il ait hérité le bétail de son père décédé. Cela implique également qu’il collecte le bétail requis de parents et amis, ce qui renforce les liens sociaux entre eux. La résolution des conflits se fait par la discussion entre les hommes vivant à proximité.Les hommes d’influence sont particulièrement écoutés, et les décisions sont mises en application par les hommes plus jeunes de la zone. Chaque homme appartient à une classe d’âge spécifique. Si un homme est un Léopard, son fils deviendra une Pierre, de telle façon qu’il y a approximativement un même nombre de chaque catégorie. Les Turkana font des outils en bois finement taillés, utilisés dans la vie de tous les jours. Durant la saison des pluies, les chansons des nuits de pleine lune ont une place particulière dans la vie des Turkana. Elles font souvent référence à leur bétail et terres, mais sont parfois improvisées ou liées à des événements immédiats. Les Turkana ont une connaissance intime des plantes et des produits qu’ils utilisent comme médicaments. La queue grasse des moutons est souvent appelée « l’hôpital pour les Turkana ».

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

   

St. Patrics Cathedral on 2016 Christmas Eve.

 

New York’s First Cathedral: The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral

 

Written by Joyce Mendelsohn, 2001

Edited and updated by James E. Garrity, 2015

 

The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is the original Cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York. Since its construction 200 years ago on the corner of Mott and Prince, it has stood as the heart of old New York; a beacon for the Catholic faithful and an American symbol of religious freedom. Originally the center of a once impoverished Irish community, St. Patrick’s has expanded to serve a diverse community of Catholics from Italian, Hispanic, Asian, and various other origins. Today, our Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral remains a vital force in the community which proudly unites Catholics through worship, social groups and spiritual guidance.

 

The History of Catholicism in New York

 

The history of our city's Catholicism begins in the 17th century with French-born Fr. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit who landed in New York State. Fr. Jacques was one of the North American Martyrs sent as missionaries to the Quebec Hurons in the early 1640s. He escaped capture and torture by an Iroquois war party in 1643 with the help of Dutch Calvinists who smuggled him by boat to New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) where he was warmly welcomed as “a martyr of Jesus Christ” by Willem Kieft. Father Jogues sailed back to Europe upon learning that 18 different languages were spoken among the settlement population numbering some 500, described as having “the arrogance of Babel.” He later returned as an Iroquois missionary though he was seized and murdered in 1649 by a member of the Mohawk tribe. His canonization was in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.

Peter Stuyvesant proceeded Kieft with openly hostility to public worship by religions other than the Dutch Reformed Church which remained even after the British gained control in 1664 of what became New York. The small Catholic population only gained esteem in 1674, when King James II (a Roman Catholic convert) granted religious liberty to the province which still lacked a its own place of worship. In 1683, King James II appointed an Irish Catholic Colonel Thomas Dongan to govern New York under his “Charter of Liberties and Privileges” which granted religious freedom to all Christians. However, the fall of the Catholic Stuarts in England due to the Protestant “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 drove Dongan from his post, ending the brief religious liberty in the province and ushering in a law in 1700 that prohibited Catholic priests from entering the city as per the provincial assembly. Despite these restrictions, Jesuit Ferdinand Steenmayer snuck into the city to celebrate Mass in secret on several brave occasions.

 

Upon the anti-Catholic law being repealed (1784) in the now sovereign state of New York, an Irish Capuchin friar Charles Whelan arrived in the city to help organize what would become the first Catholic parish in the independent United States. New York’s Catholic community numbered less than 1,000 of the total 230,000 populating the land from French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Irish descent. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church in the City of New York was incorporated in 1785, led by the French consul and largely financed by a donation from King Charles III of Spain. Construction then commenced on the first Catholic house of worship in the city - St. Peter’s Church.

  

Opening Mass was celebrated on November 1, 1786, in the small, Georgian- style building located on the corner of Barclay and Church streets in lower Manhattan. Severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1835 (a conflagration that raged for three days and destroyed 674 buildings), the original wood frame building was replaced in 1840 by the present monumental granite structure, designed in the classicaltradition.

 

Pierre Toussaint And Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton

 

Two extraordinary parishioners are connected with St. Peter’s Church: Pierre Toussaint, who is being considered for canonization, and Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American saint.

 

Toussaint, born in Haiti in 1766, was brought as a slave to New York in 1787. When his owners fell upon hard times, he became a successful hairdresser, at the same time quietly waiting on and supporting the household. After the death of his owners, the former slave purchased his wife’s freedom and became a leader of the free black community in New York.

 

Pierre Toussaint devoted his life to aiding the poor and the sick—opening his home to black orphans, raising funds to support a Catholic orphanage and school, and entering quarantined zones to nurse victims of epidemics that ravaged the city.

 

Toussaint worshiped at St. Peter’s Church for sixty-six years and was buried in the cemetery of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in 1853. In 1989, his remains were removed and brought to St. Patrick’s Cathedral uptown as the first step in the cause for his beatification. Within St. Peter’s Church is a life-size marble statue of Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was born in New York in 1774 into a devout Episcopalian family. At age nineteen, Elizabeth Ann Bayley married wealthy businessman William Seton. They raised a family of five children in a gracious home at 7 State Street facing Battery Park, which is now the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. As a young wife and mother who became deeply involved in assisting the poor, Mrs. Seton was widely known as the “Protestant Sister of Charity.” After her husband’s death, the widow—always deeply spiritual—was drawn to Catholicism and in 1805 was received into the Catholic faith at St. Peter’s Church.

 

Elizabeth Ann Seton turned for guidance to BishopJohnCarroll. He had been appointed as the first Bishop in the United States in 1789 and in Baltimore presided over America’s first diocese— encompassing all of the thirteen original colonies. At Bishop Carroll’s urging, she moved her family to Baltimore in 1808 to open a Catholic girls’ school—marking the beginning of the Catholic system of parochial schools in the United States. Mother Seton founded the Sisters of Charity—the first Catholic religious order in America. Her order was successful in establishing orphanages and hospitals and developing the parochial school system. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton died at age fifty- two in 1821 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.

 

Father Antony Kohlmann

 

In response to the needs of a growing number of Catholic immigrants, Pope Pius VII established the Diocese of New York in 1808, which included all of New York State and a portion of northern New Jersey. Archbishop Carroll chose Alsatian-born Father Antony Kohlmann, along with several of his fellow Jesuits, to organize the new diocese. When Father Kohlmann arrived in the new diocese, he described the Catholic population as consisting “of Irish, some hundreds of French and as many Germans; in all according to the common estimation of 14,000 souls.” A parcel of land on Mott Street on the comer of Prince Street was chosen for the construction of New York’s first Cathedral. It was to rise on land that had been purchased in 1801 and 1803 by St. Peter’s Church for a burial ground. (The graves were removed to another site.) At the time, Canal Street was the northern boundary of the built-up portion of Manhattan. The Cathedral, erected in the midst of meadows, hills, and woodlands, was referred to as the “new church out of town.” (It was still a rural area in 1820 when a fox was caught in the churchyard!) Funds for construction came from large numbers of poor Irish immigrants—at considerable personal sacrifice—and from several wealthy Catholic laymen, including Andrew Morris (an Irish immigrant) —the first Catholic ever to be elected to public office in New York State to serve on the Common Council—and Cornelius Heeney (another immigrant from Ireland), a business partner of John Jacob Astor. On June 8, 1809, Father Kohlmann officiated before an assembled crowd of 3,000 at the laying of the cornerstone for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the second Roman Catholic Cathedral in America (Baltimore’s Cathedral was the first) and the second Catholic church in New York (after St. Peter’s).

 

The new Cathedral was the first house of worship in the United States to be dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick, who organized the Irish Church in the fifth century. Known as the Apostle of Ireland, Patrick was consecrated as Bishop circa 432. He traveled tirelessly throughout Ireland, preaching, writing, and teaching, converting chiefs and bards, gathering followers, establishing churches and schools, building monasteries, and performing miracles. Since specific rules for canonization were not set down until the tenth century, local veneration of St. Patrick evolved into his sainthood.

 

The new Cathedral was designed by Joseph Mangin, a French-born architect and engineer, who arrived in New York in 1745 and soon established a reputation as a skilled architect and builder. In 1802, Mangin, along with native- born architect John McComb Jr., won the competition for the design of New York’s present City Hall (completed in 1812) with their plans for an exquisite French Renaissance exterior and a splendid Federal-style interior.

 

Mangin designed a grand and magnificent structure for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—proclaiming the strength and presence of the Catholic community as a force within the city. At the time of construction, it was the largest church building in the city—over 120 feet long and 80 feet wide and rising to a height of 75 feet with an 85-foot inner vault. The Cathedral—with its massive rough-cut stone facade punctuated by niches for statuary, pointed-arch doorways, and a large tracery-ornamented gable window—was one of the first Gothic Revival churches in America. The interior space was marked by tall, clustered iron columns that divided the body of the church into three naves surmounted by Gothic arches. Painted wall surfaces and natural light streaming through tall windows added to the spiritual quality of the interior. The Cathedral formally opened on Ascension Day, May 4, 1815, with a crowd of 4,000 worshippers and dignitaries, including Mayor DeWitt Clinton, and a greater number overflowing into the streets.

 

The first Bishop appointed to the diocese was Irish-born Richard Luke Concanen.The Napoleonic Wars prevented him from reaching New York and he died in Italy in 1810. The work of governing as administrator of the diocese continued to be carried out by Father Kohlmann, who devoted himself to fund raising and overseeing construction of the Cathedral. He maintained those responsibilities until the arrival in November 1815 of the second Bishop, sixty-five-year-old John Connolly, an Irish Dominican theologian who was held in high repute by both Pius VI and Pius VII. Bishop Connolly directed the construction of several new churches in the diocese and founded an orphanage in a wood-frame building at 32 Prince Street, across from the Cathedral, that was staffed in 1817 by three Sisters of Charity sent to New York by Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Pierre Toussaint, a leading financial supporter, generously contributed funds to the orphanage for close to forty years.

 

The Sisters established St. Patrick’s School in 1822. The original orphanage and school building was replaced in 1826 by the present red-brick convent and school designed in the Federal style and distinguished by an exquisite doorway of the period. For more than 180 years, the Sisters of Charity continued their tradition of service— first in the orphanage and then in St. Patrick’s School. The school had educated generations of Irish, Italian, French, Hispanic, Chinese, and German children. St. Patrick’s School boasted a distinguished roster of graduates—leaders in business, film, theater, arts, teaching, and the full spectrum of vocations and professions. The school (which had been New York’s oldest surviving parochial school) was forced to close in 2010 due to insufficient enrollment. In 1823, Bishop Connolly invited Cuban-born Fr. Felix Varela to New York to start a pastoral ministry among poor Irish immigrants, who made up the majority of the 35,000 Catholics living in the city. Father Varela—a social activist and advocate of Cuban independence—served as pastor in several diocese churches and is best remembered for his staunch support for the Irish in the face of growing anti-Catholic sentiment.

 

Bishop Connolly’s entire episcopacy was plagued by a severe shortage of priests. He brought Fr. Michael O’Gorman (who he ordained in Ireland before leaving for New York) with him from Ireland, and in 1820, he ordained Fr. Richard Bulger (another Irishman) to the priesthood. Father Bulger thus was the first priest to be ordained in New York City. Fathers Bulger and O’Gorman regularly traveled to New Jersey, to upstate New York, and to Brooklyn on Long Island to celebrate Masses for the Catholics there, since there were no resident priests in those locations at that time. Both Father Bulger and Father O’Gorman became ill in November of 1824 as a result of tending to the sick and dying of the diocese, and they both passed away within a week of each other at their residence on Broadway. They had been living in the same residence as Bishop Connolly, and when they died, the Bishop, who officiated at both of their burials, caught a bad cold and he died a few months later in February of 1825. Fathers O’Gorman and Bulger (and other early priests of the diocese) were buried in the courtyard in front of the church. A commemorative bronze plaque was placed upon the gravesite in 2010.

 

At the time of Bishop Connolly’s death, the diocese was composed mainly of working class Irish parishioners. The appointment of his successor, Fr. John Dubois—a French educator and missionary—was viewed with disappointment by the Irish community. Forced out of France in 1791 by the French Revolution, Father Dubois arrived in America with letters of introduction from the Marquis de Lafayette to James Monroe and Patrick Henry. Father Dubois settled in Virginia, where he built a church and opened a school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, that became Mount St.Mary’s College. In 1826, when he was consecrated the third Bishop of New York, there were twelve churches in the diocese for a Catholic population of about 150,000, served by only eighteen priests. By 1837, the numbers had grown to thirty-eight churches and forty priests. Plagued by ill health, Bishop Dubois requested a coadjutor. In 1838, the Rev. John Joseph Hughes was elevated to the episcopy as Bishop of Basileopolis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and was then appointed coadjutor bishop to Dubois. In the following year, he was made administrator-Apostolic of New York. Bishop Dubois died in 1842 at the age of seventy-eight and is buried in front of the Cathedral, as he had personally requested.

 

St. John Neumann

 

Six years before his death, Bishop Dubois had welcomed a twenty- five-year-old theological student named John Neumann to the diocese. Neumann—who was canonized by Pope Paul IV in 1977 as America’s first male saint—was born in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and attended seminary in Prague. Since his ordination had been delayed by the government, Neumann came to New York as a missionary. The young man was ordained to priesthood at St. Patrick’s on June 28, 1836, and sent to upstate New York to work among German-speaking Catholics. Renowned for his outstanding mission and pastoral work and for his holiness and charity, Neumann was appointed the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852, where he died in 1860.

 

The multitudes of Irish Catholics who arrived in New York in the 19th century were mainly uneducated peasants leaving behind an impoverished existence in their native homeland due to harsh British colonial rule. And, after 1845, they were also fleeing from the Great Hunger—the potato famines that killed more than one million Irish and drove some two million more to America. The new immigrants lived in squalor, crowded into rotting structures and wretched tenements, eking out a miserable living, and suffering from disease and extreme poverty. These Famine Irish turned in large numbers to the church for solace.

 

The fourth Bishop of St. Patrick’s, who succeeded Bishop Dubois in 1842, was himself the son of poor Irish farmers and weavers. In 1817, at age twenty, John Joseph Hughes (born in Annaloughan, County Tyrone)emigrated to the United States and briefly settled in Pennsylvania before entering Mount St. Mary’s College, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1826. Father Hughes spent the next twelve years in Philadelphia serving as pastor of several churches and was widely admired for his skillful management, strong leadership qualities, and outspoken defense of the church. Arriving in New York in 1838, Father Hughes served first as coadjutor and later administrator-Apostolic of New York. He was appointed a bishop in 1842—the first prelate to be consecrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Bishop Hughes faced two daunting challenges—presiding over a diocese that was experiencing unprecedented growth and protecting Catholics and their churches from the growing hostility of native-born Protestants.

 

Beginning in the 1830s, the city had experienced several outbreaks of violence led by nativists against Catholics. In 1831, the tiny, wood-frame structure of St. Mary’s Church (the third Catholic church in New York, organized in 1826) on Sheriff Street was burnt to the ground by arsonists. (A substantial stone church, still standing, was built to replace it in 1833 on Grand Street.) The burning of St. Mary’s Church compelled the Trustees of the Cathedral to approve the construction of the brick wall— which surrounds the church—in 1834. Frequent brawls and street riots between Protestants and Catholics led to the founding in 1836 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Latin for “Irish”) as a mutual benefit society and self- defense group. In the following years, nativist mobs had advanced on St. Patrick’s several times but were turned back after receiving reports that armed Irish defenders— posted by Bishop Hughes—were stationed along Prince Street and behind those brick walls which had been specifically constructed to protect the Cathedral.

 

In 1844, James Harper (of the famed Harper publishing family) was elected Mayor of New York as the candidate of the anti-immigrant American Republican Party. At the same time, Protestants and Irish Catholics in Philadelphia clashed in rioting that claimed the lives of some thirty Irishmen and resulted in the burning of Catholic churches and convents. Bishop Hughes vigorously defended the rights of Irish Catholics against this rising movement of bigotry and bloodshed. He organized thousands of Irish men to defend the Cathedral. As a massive anti-Catholic torchlight parade gathered in City Hall Park, ready to march up the Bowery to the Cathedral, he stationed sharpshooters on the protective walls surrounding the building. Bishop Hughes sent a letter to Mayor Harper warning that if any harm came to a single Catholic person or Catholic church, the city would be turned into “a second Moscow” (referring to the burning of Moscow during Napoleon’s invasion in 1812). The Bishop’s powerful message and forceful actions are credited with averting the anticipated violent anti-Catholic outbreak in New York.

 

In 1851, young men from the neighborhood around the Cathedral organized a militia regiment, known locally as the Second Regiment of Irish Volunteers. It was officially accepted as part of the New York State Militia and designated as the Sixty-Ninth Regiment. Commonly called the “Fighting Irish,” its green insignia was composed of a decorative shield flanked by two Irish wolfhounds standing on a ribbon inscribed with the Regimental motto, “Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked.” The Sixty-Ninth Regiment served in every campaign from Bull Run to Appomattox during the Civil War and fought in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican Border Campaign. Legendary hero Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan, chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy, and poet Joyce Kilmer were with the Regiment in bitter fighting in France during World War I. The “Fighting Sixty- Ninth” has been a fixture in the United States Army ever since and last saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 1907, the Regiment has been a unit of the New York Army National Guard.

 

Bishop Hughes was consecrated as Archbishop of New York in 1850 and continued a vigorous mission of building churches, schools, and hospitals. In 1842, when appointed bishop, he presided over a diocese of fifty churches, forty priests, and 200,000 Catholics. At his death in 1864, the numbers had increased to eighty-five churches, 150 priests, and a population of over 400,000 Catholics.

 

In a far-seeing move that many ridiculed at the time as “Hughes’ Folly,” the Archbishop proposed the construction of a new Cathedral in an undeveloped area far uptown on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. Andrew Morris and Cornelius Heeney had purchased the rural property in 1810 on behalf of Father Kohlmann for the sum of $11,000 for the use of the Jesuit boys’ school that he had started downtown. In 1812, he established a school for girls near the boys’ school, run by the Ursuline nuns. The schools were no longer in existence when Archbishop Hughes laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral on August 15, 1858.

 

During the Civil War, Archbishop Hughes served as the envoy of President Lincoln on a successful overseas mission to dissuade European countries from supporting the Confederacy. In gratitude, Lincoln petitioned Pope Pius IX to name Archbishop Hughes as America’s first Cardinal. But the death of this indomitable leader in January 1864 came before that honor could come to pass. His memory was honored by tributes from President Lincoln and other statesmen and his body viewed by over 200,000 common people who solemnly came to worship in the Cathedral. He was entombed in the crypts below the Cathedral and remained there until the “New” Cathedral was completed uptown—his remains were then removed to a crypt there in 1883. The Cathedral uptown holds the remains of all of the archbishops and cardinals that have served the Archdiocese since the death of Archbishop Hughes.

 

Archbishop Hughes’ successor in 1864 as the second Archbishop of the diocese was Bishop John McCloskey. He was born in Brooklyn in 1810 to Irish immigrant parents (his parents are both interred in the cemetery surrounding the Old Cathedral) and, at age eleven, entered Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, distinguishing himself as an outstanding student. After graduation, the fifteen-year-old returned to New York with the intention of pursuing a career in law. But after a near-fatal accident in 1827, the young man decided instead to study for the priesthood. Young McCloskey was under the guardianship of Cornelius Heeney (who dedicated his fortune to the care of poor children at the end of his life), and the young man was taught Latin by Thomas S. Brady (buried in the crypts below the Cathedral). He was taught proper English elocution by Charlotte Melmoth, the first Shakespearean actress to come to America, who opened a school in Brooklyn when her acting career ended. (She was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard cemetery surrounding the Cathedral.) McCloskey returned to Emmitsburg as a seminarian and later taught Latin at the college. In 1830, he was ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral and remained until 1834 before taking a leave to study in Rome. Upon his return, Father McCloskey was instrumental in starting a seminary in Nyack under Bishop Dubois. (The seminary was destroyed by fire just prior to its opening in the 1830s. Arson was suspected, but the case was never investigated fully.) Father McCloskey became the first president of St. John’s College (later renamed Fordham University), founded by Archbishop Hughes in 1841.

 

Reverend McCloskey served as coadjutor bishop of New York from 1844–1847 and first Bishop of Albany from 1847 to 1864 before his appointment as Bishop to the New York diocese. Later raised to archbishop, he was highly respected as a pioneer in Catholic education and a clergyman of great spiritual strength and humility. During the tenure of Archbishop McCloskey, a disaster of tragic proportions struck on the night of October 6, 1866, when a catastrophic fire destroyed all but the outer walls of the Old Cathedral.

 

The five-alarm fire began in the packing room (filled with straw and wood shavings) of a porcelain dealer at 44 Crosby Street and quickly spread to nearby buildings. Showers of sparks fell on the lath and plaster roof of St. Patrick’s, which was soon a blazing inferno. As huge fragments of the burning roof crashed down into the sanctuary, filling the building with flames and smoke, a crowd of parishioners, led by Fathers McGeehan and Mullen, rushed inside to remove precious religious articles. They were successful in rescuing the Blessed Sacrament, vestments, several vessels, a number of oil paintings, and silver candlesticks just moments before the entire structure was engulfed by fire.

 

Archbishop McCloskey resolved to rebuild the Cathedral and commissioned architect Henry Engelbert (known for his designs of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale) to reconstruct St. Patrick’s. Engelbert designed a severely plain facade of smooth brown stucco, facing Mott Street, lacking the detail and grace of the original exterior. The splendid interior, however, was rebuilt with a ceiling of ribbed vaults and arches carried on clustered piers. An altar screen of carved figures, representing the Apostles, is surmounted by a pointed arch stained-glass window above a painting of the figure of Christ. Completed in less than two years, the Cathedral was rededicated by Archbishop McCloskey on the Feast of St. Patrick—March 17, 1868.

 

The foremost ecclesiastical event in the history of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral took place in the restored structure on April 27, 1875, with the investiture of Archbishop McCloskey as the first American to be named Cardinal. Several Papal emissaries, seven archbishops, twenty bishops, hundreds of priests, and thousands of laymen attended the ceremony of solemnity and celebration. After its construction was completed, His Eminence John Cardinal McCloskey moved his seat uptown to the magnificent new St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, which was formally dedicated on May 25, 1879. The historic St. Patrick’s downtown then became a simple parish church.

 

Since that time, the church has remained the heart of an active parish with an ever-changing population. (Parish boundaries run from Wooster Street to the Bowery, between Hester Street and East Fourth Street.) Beginning in the 1880s, Italian immigrants poured into the area centered on Mulberry Street that came to be known as Little Italy. (Earlier in the 1800s, Lorenzo Da Ponte, who had written librettos for several of Mozart’s operas, lived on Spring Street, and his opulent Funeral Mass took place in the Cathedral in August of 1838.) Large numbers of Hispanic and Chinese newcomers to America make up a significant portion of the present population. Recent years have seen the transformation of previously commercial areas, such as SoHo and NoHo, into residential communities largely populated by people in the arts and media. Currently, many young people are making the entire area their home. Their youthful energy has breathed much life into St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral parish.

 

As the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Old Cathedral approached, Msgr. Donald Sakano, who had been appointed pastor of the venerable church in 2007, began to plan for what would be a six-year Bicentennial Celebration (since it took six years for the church o be completed in the early 1800s). Monsignor Sakano marshaled the assistance of historians familiar with church and city history as well as people in the parish community for the purpose of putting together a celebration that would highlight the great history of the church.

 

A slogan for the Bicentennial Celebration (which we are currently in the midst of) was selected: “Embracing the future as we celebrate our past.”

 

The Bicentennial Celebration of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral began with a Mass celebrated by His Excellency, Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, held in the Old Cathedral on June 7, 2009, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the laying of the church’s cornerstone. Various church and civic leaders attended Mass and the related events. A parade was held in which, among other events, (a) the Ancient Order of Hibernians, or “AOH,” marched to the church and stood shoulder-to-shoulder around its perimeter wall in commemoration of the AOH’s defense of the church against physical attack by the nativist, anti-Catholic “Know-Nothings” at the request of then-Bishop (later Archbishop) “Dagger John” Hughes and (b) the April 1861 parade of the famed “Fighting 69th” regiment—a unit of the Irish Brigade—as it marched off to the Civil War was re-enacted.

 

At that same June 7, 2009, Mass celebrating the laying of the cornerstone of the church, Archbishop Dolan announced from the pulpit that an application would be made to the Holy See requesting that St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral be awarded basilica status. This honor is bestowed upon churches that have historical or other kinds of significance for the Catholic Church and which affords certain ceremonial privileges for a church so honored.

 

It did not take a long time for the application to be honored; His Excellency Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan announced from the altar of the “new” Cathedral at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass on March 17, 2010, that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had awarded Basilica status to the Old Cathedral, effective (fittingly) on March 17, 2010.

 

All of the people who have had connections over the years with the Old Cathedral are rightfully proud to learn that this wonderful old church has been so honored by His Holiness Pope Benedict. Old St. Patrick’s is the only church within The Archdiocese of New York to have ever attained Basilica status—a fitting honor for such a historically and ecclesiastically significant edifice within the great City of New York.

 

Deeply rooted in the community, The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral continues its tradition of providing for the spiritual needs of Catholics of all ages. In 2013, the Basilica once again became a place where Roman Catholics could be buried on the island of Manhattan. A columbarium was erected early in the year for the purpose of accepting the cremated remains of parishioners and friends of the Basilica, and more columbaria are in the building stages as of this writing. Once again, Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral is an honored burial place for the faithful departed of New York City—the exact purpose that the pioneer Catholic community of New York City had originally intended for the land when it was purchased in 1801.

CATALÀ

Snoegen és un vell roure pènol (Quercus robur), és un arbre caducifoli, ubicat a Jægerpris, zona nord de l'illa de Zelanda (Sjælland), perímetre de 8,90 metres el 1990 va morir quan ja portava temps que perdia fullesa. S’estima que tenia 600-700 anys, però altres estimacions li atribueixen 400-850 anys.

 

ENGLISH

Snoegen is an old pedunculate oak located in Jægerspris Nordskov, near the town Jægerspris in Denmark. Snoegen died in 1991 after a few seasons of decreasing foliage, and following works to erect a wooden barrier around the tree that may have damaged the root zone. The trunk still stands. Snoegen is named after the twisted trunk. The trunk had a perimeter of 8.90 meters in 1990. It is estimated that the tree is between the 600 and 700 years old but there are also estimations who suggest an age between the 400 and 850 years.

  

Evidently, my light estimation was a bit optimistic when taking this photo. And: using a step-up ring on a wide angle lens is not always a good idea (if you're not crazy about vignetting).

 

Still a somewhat spooky-cool shot, I think.

 

Yashica-J5, Super Yashinon R 35mm f2.8, Ilford Delta 100 Prof.

 

Developed with Ilfosol 3 (1+14).

  

A trip to master Greybeard’s house was always an ordeal. They might say say nice things about him off in the court of Northania, but I’m quite sure that none of those fools had ever spent more than a minute in his presence. Me on the other hand, I’d had more than my fill.

  

By my estimations, I’ve come to conclude that master Greybeard is the most cantankerous man to live on the east side of Northania. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say a kind word. Back in Northania, they say he’s the best. Or at least that he was the best. The Champion of the king’s guard they say; the first through the breach of Tranguar they say, the winner of the blackguard’s contest they say. Bah! Grouchybeard is what I say! Grouchybeard the cantankerous!

  

But here I am again, for all my complaining on the road for another day lectures, and insults from a cranky old man who’s far past his prime. But I know it’ll be worth it, because one day I’ll be the best. One day, I’ll be the teacher. One day, I won’t have to take orders from an old man – I’ll be giving them. I wonder what my pupils will call me…

  

Well, I decided to take a stab at some castle building - an area where I don't really have a lot of expertise - and so reworked my first castle themed creation I posted over on Mocpages (not visible here on flickr due to it being terrible) The reworked version presents my first real foray into a theme I'm looking forward to building in again. I hope you enjoy!

 

More views and a look at the previous version can be found over on mocpages

 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Châssis n°ZFFJA09B000046511

 

Estimation :

260.000 - 320.000 €

 

Invendu

pine warbler, by my estimation

The Turkana s inhabit the arid territories of northern Kenya, on the boundary with Sudan. Nilotic-speaking people, they have for a long time stayed outside of the influence of the main foreign trends. Nomad shepherds adapted to a almost totally desert area, some also fish in Lake Turkana. They are divided in 28 clans. Each one of them is associated with a particular brand for its livestock, so that any Turkana can identify a relative in this way.The majority of the Turkana still follow their traditional religion: they believe in a God called Kuj or Akuj, associated with the sky and creator of all things. He is thought to be omnipotent but rarely intervenes in the lives of people. Contact between God and the people is made though a diviner (emeron). Diviners have the power to interpret dreams, forecast the future, heal, and make rain. However, the Turkana doubt about those who say they have powers, but fail to prove it in the everyday life. According to estimates, about 15% of the Turkana are Christian. Evangelism has started among the Turkana since the 1970s. Various church buildings have been built since then. The most astonishing element one can notice in the villages, is that the only permanent structures are churches, with huts all around. Infact, in the late 1970s, feeding projects as well as literacy courses and other services have been provided by Baptist workers. This easily explains the importance acquired by the Church.The Turkana don't have any physical initiations. They have only the asapan ceremony, transition from youth to adulthood, that all men must perform before marriage. The Turkana are polygamous. Homestead consists of a man, his wives and children, and often his mother. When a new wife comes, she stays at the hut of the mother or first wife until she has her first child. The high bride-wealth payment (30 to 50 cattle, 30 to 50 camels and 100 to 200 small stock) often means that a man cannot marry until he has inherited livestock from his dead father. It also implies that he collect livestock from relatives and friends, which strengthens social ties between them. Resolution is found to conflicts through discussions between the men living in proximity to one another. Men of influence are particularly listened, and decisions are enforced by the younger men of the area. Each man belongs to a specific generation set. If a man is a Leopard, his son will be a Stone, so that there is approximately an equal number of each category. The Turkana make finely carved wooden implements, used in the daily life. During the rainy season, moonlight nights' songs have a particular place in the Turkana's life. The songs often refer to their cattle or land, but they are sometimes improvised and related to immediate events. The Turkana have a deep knowledge of plants and products they use as medicine. The fat-tailed sheep is often called "the hospital for the Turkana".

  

Les Turkanas habitent les territoires arides du nord du Kenya, à la frontière avec le Soudan.Peuple de langue nilotique, ils sont pendant longtemps restés hors de l’influence des principaux courants étrangers. Pasteurs nomades adaptés à une zone presque totalement déserte, certains pêchent également dans le lac Turkana. Ils sont divisés en 28 clans. Chacun d’entre eux est associé à une marque particulière donné à son bétail, de telle façon que tout Turkana peut identifier un parent de cette manière.La majorité des Turkana suit encore leur religion traditionnelle : ils croient en un Dieu appelé Kuj ou Akuj, associé au ciel et créateur de toute chose. Les Turkana le voient comme omnipotent mais intervenant rarement dans la vie des gens. Le contact entre Dieu et les hommes se fait par l’intermédiaire d’un divin (emeron). Les devins ont le pouvoir d’interpréter les rêves, prédire l’avenir, soigner et faire pleuvoir. Toutefois, les Turkana doutent de ceux qui disent qu’ils ont des pouvoirs, mais échouent à le prouver dans la vie de tous les jours. Selon des estimations, environ 15% des Turkana sont chrétiens. L’évangélisme a commencé chez les Turkana depuis les années 1970. Diverses églises ont depuis été construites. L’élément le plus étonnbant que l’on peut noter dans les villages est que les seules structures en dur sont les églises, avec des huttes tout autour. En fait, à la fin des années 1970, des projets alimentaires ainsi que des cours d’alphabétisation et d’autres services ont été menés par des travailleurs baptistes. Cela explique facilement l’importance acquise par l’Eglise.Les Turkana n’ont aucune initiation physique. Ils ont seulement la cérémonie asapan, transition de la jeunesse à l’âge adulte, que chaque homme doit suivre avant le mariage. Les Turkana sont polygames. La propriété familiale est composée d’un homme, ses femmes et enfants, et souvent sa mère. Quand une nouvelle femme arrive, elle loge dans la hutte de la mère ou de la première femme jusqu’à ce qu’elle ait son premier enfant. Le paiement élevé pour la mariée (30 à 50 têtes de gros bétail, 30 à 50 dromadaires, et 100 à 200 têtes de petit bétail) signifie souvent qu’un homme ne peut se permettre de se marier jusqu’à ce qu’il ait hérité le bétail de son père décédé. Cela implique également qu’il collecte le bétail requis de parents et amis, ce qui renforce les liens sociaux entre eux. La résolution des conflits se fait par la discussion entre les hommes vivant à proximité.Les hommes d’influence sont particulièrement écoutés, et les décisions sont mises en application par les hommes plus jeunes de la zone. Chaque homme appartient à une classe d’âge spécifique. Si un homme est un Léopard, son fils deviendra une Pierre, de telle façon qu’il y a approximativement un même nombre de chaque catégorie. Les Turkana font des outils en bois finement taillés, utilisés dans la vie de tous les jours. Durant la saison des pluies, les chansons des nuits de pleine lune ont une place particulière dans la vie des Turkana. Elles font souvent référence à leur bétail et terres, mais sont parfois improvisées ou liées à des événements immédiats. Les Turkana ont une connaissance intime des plantes et des produits qu’ils utilisent comme médicaments. La queue grasse des moutons est souvent appelée « l’hôpital pour les Turkana ».

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

   

the intrepid camera

fujinon SW 90mm f/8

foma retropan 320 soft

hc-110, 1+31 (B), 8 min

 

Another 4 min. exposure at f22 composed almost completly based on estimation, because the image on the focusing screen was so dark.

Book NOW available through www.arvobrothers.com

 

DESCRIPTION:

 

After a long time, we are glad to present our new book “Alien Project”.

 

Inspired by the works of geniuses H.R. Giger and Ron Cobb, this new project presented us with an opportunity to build one of the greatest icons of fantasy art. A journey from organic to geometric shapes, from dark to light, and the deep admiration that drives us to build all our creations as our only luggage. This book includes detailed, step-to-step instructions showing how to build the model, together with comments, pictures and diagrams that help the description and will contribute to your understanding of the entire process.

 

Build your own model. The technology gives us the opportunity. Now is the time.

 

Content:

 

220 pages divided into four chapters:

 

C1.- ESTIMATIONS

C2.- CONSTRUCTION OF THE MODEL (description of the building process)

C3.- INSTRUCTIONS (steps, building alternatives & catalogue)

C4.- GALLERY

 

Offset printing, hard cover.

 

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

 

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We watched this double crested cormorant try desperately to swallow this clearly-too-large fish for about 30 min. Eventually, a pelican demonstrated how it is done.

The houses in Brush Park, located just off Woodward Avenue in Detroit, are all very large and each one is unique. Most were built between 1891 and 1911, and unfortunately are in a state similiar to this one. Up until World War I this was the rich, elite area of Detroit. With the onset of the war a great deal of these mansion were subdivided into apartments. When the Boston Edison area became the new "elite" area in the early 20's, the care of these buildings decreased until they were no longer useable and left in the condition that you see here. A few have been renovated, but it is nowhere near the original 300 houses and 42 mansions that used to be here. There are even a few currently for sale, including one recently completely modernized on the inside and listing for ( a little too high in my estimation ) $2.5 million.

  

Thanks to Pink Sherbert Photography ( D. Sharon Pruitt ) for the use of the extremely cool texture to complete the mood. Texture is here: www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3042108136/in/set-72157...

I like the mystique that the fog and mist can add, softens the shot in my estimation.

Crotalus horridus from South Carolina. This young rattlesnake was likely born just last year. Since rattlesnakes here give birth in the late summer and early fall, they only have so much time to grow before they're forced to seek thermal refuge for winter. Often, the snakes only grow enough in those first couple of months that they only shed once before winter (beyond their natal shed - which happens 1.5-2 weeks after birth). This snake had only two rattle segments: one from birth and one from that one shed. Many people still believe that a rattlesnake adds a rattle segment for every year, which allows you to age the snake. While some snakes' rattle counts might allow for a rough estimation of age in the first few years of life, it is because we know these snakes typically shed 3 or 4 times a year in our region. But the older a snake gets, the less growth one can see in the rattle segments and the more likely it is that older, brittle rattle segments will break and fall off.

My first build for GOH.

 

"Welcome to The Spanking Troll, the only outdoors tavern in the whole of Avalonia! The tavern is run by the masterchef ogress K'lëïxlbvrû'stæòrbr and is equipped with bar area and 30 leaf beds."

 

Aymer and Cora are at the Spanking Troll enjoying the evening's special while having a heated conversation:

 

- Cora: This is the THIRD town we are being banished from this week!

- Aymer: I'm sorry Cora but I couldn't help it... she was so beautiful.

- Cora: AND MARRIED! If you keep this up by my estimation we'll be banished from the whole of Avalonia in three months. Perhaps we'll move to Nocturnus, maybe there you'll be able to resist the charms of the four eyed tentacly swamp creatures!

 

While they are going on arguing, a stranger approaches their table:

 

- Stranger: Would you lads mind some company? The tavern is full this night and I need a wee bit o' rest for my weary legs and truth be told I don't much fancy joining the gnolls table.

- Cora: Of course good sir, have a seat. Perhaps now we'll be able to enjoy an intelligent discussion at this table.

- Stranger: Thank you for your kindness fair lady.

- Aymer: Phahaha, what fair lady? Don't be deceived by her looks; this "fair lady" could do away with a group of ogres without drawing her sword and can drink a clan of dwarves under the table.

- K'lëïxlbvrû'stæòrbr" HRMPH!

- Aymer: ORCS! I meant a group of orcs.

- Stranger: So it's safe to assume you two are fighters?

- Cora: At least one of us is; the other is more into swinging his shortstick rather than his sword.

- Stranger: Well lads, if you're looking for some work, you might be interested to know there's a handsome reward for anyone that manages to capture or provide information about the drow that's been terrorizing Avalonia these days.

- Cora: That might be just what we need. That would keep Aymer busy and we could definitely use some extra coin.

- Aymer: Tell us what you know...

The 6th Arte em Peças held on Paredes de Coura, the annual exhibition that my LUG, Comunidade 0937, organizes every year took place on the last weekend of May and on the first of June. It was a blast! I was responsible for the Enchanted Forest display featuring my Bluewater castle, Wedgwood House, Morisledge Cottage, Green Lake Tower Ruins and other MOCs that I made for it. Special thanks to Hugo Santos www.flickr.com/photos/hugosantos0937/ who build the wonderful green roof church and elaborate the display' s scheme (were all the buildings would be, were the rivers would pass, etc).

 

It has 6 by 14 Baseplates (48x48 studs) and my estimation is that it has more then 500.000 parts.

 

Every single Baseplate has some texture and elevations and many are elevated 10 or more bricks to give more sense of depth.

 

The landscape came out a little poor as I ran out of parts for trees and vegetation. I would have liked to give it a sense of a more thick and full forest, but it was not possible.

Also, my intention was to put a lot more minifigs, specially on the village center with more activity situations, but I just didn't have the time

 

I would like to thank my buddies of 0937 for helping me in every way that they could. This was only possible because of the effort of many.

 

Hope you like it!

 

Mis estimation

The 6th Arte em Peças held on Paredes de Coura, the annual exhibition that my LUG, Comunidade 0937, organizes every year took place on the last weekend of May and on the first of June. It was a blast! I was responsible for the Enchanted Forest display featuring my Bluewater castle, Wedgwood House, Morisledge Cottage, Green Lake Tower Ruins and other MOCs that I made for it. Special thanks to Hugo Santos www.flickr.com/photos/hugosantos0937/ who build the wonderful green roof church and elaborate the display' s scheme (were all the buildings would be, were the rivers would pass, etc).

 

It has 6 by 14 Baseplates (48x48 studs) and my estimation is that it has more then 500.000 parts.

 

Every single Baseplate has some texture and elevations and many are elevated 10 or more bricks to give more sense of depth.

 

The landscape came out a little poor as I ran out of parts for trees and vegetation. I would have liked to give it a sense of a more thick and full forest, but it was not possible.

Also, my intention was to put a lot more minifigs, specially on the village center with more activity situations, but I just didn't have the time

 

I would like to thank my buddies of 0937 for helping me in every way that they could. This was only possible because of the effort of many.

 

Hope you like it!

 

🇫🇷 Les Bribris sont un peuple indigène du Costa Rica. Ils vivent dans le canton de Talamanca, dans la province de Limón au Costa Rica. Officiellement, 11 500 Bribris vivent dans la zone de service de la seule clinique de Hone Creek. Ils sont majoritaires dans la région de Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. D'autres estimations plus élevées et évoquent 35 000 personnes. Ils parlent bribri, une langue chibchane (origine amérindienne ). L'espagnol est aussi largement utilisé, notamment dans les écoles.

Les Bribris sont organisés en clans. Chacun de ces clans sont composés d'une famille élargie. Le système de clan est matrilinéaire, c'est-à-dire que le clan d'un enfant est déterminé par le clan auquel appartient sa mère. Cela donne aux femmes une place très importante dans la société Bribri, car elles sont les seules à pouvoir hériter de la terre et préparer la boisson au cacao sacré (Theobroma cacao) indispensable à leurs rituels.

L'agriculture est l'activité principale des Bribri qui sont isolés et qui ont développé un vaste système de troc.

Un petit groupe de Bribri, élève des iguanes qui restent à la ferme jusqu'à l'âge de cinq ans et sont alors relâchés dans la nature afin que tout Bribri puisse les chasser pour leur nourriture et leur peau.

 

🇬🇧 The Bribri are an indigenous people of Costa Rica. They live in the canton of Talamanca, in the province of Limón in Costa Rica. Officially, 11,500 Bribris live in the service area of ​​the Hone Creek clinic alone. They are the majority in the Puerto Viejo de Talamanca region. Other higher estimates suggest 35,000 people. They speak Bribri, a Chibchan language (Native American origin). Spanish is also widely used, especially in schools.

The Bribri are organized into clans. Each of these clans are made up of an extended family. The clan system is matrilineal, that is, a child's clan is determined by the clan to which his mother belongs. This gives women a very important place in Bribri society, as they are the only ones who can inherit the land and prepare the sacred cocoa drink (Theobroma cacao) essential for their rituals.

Agriculture is the main activity of the Bribri who are isolated and who have developed a vast system of barter.

A small group of Bribri raise iguanas who remain on the farm until they are five years old and are then released into the wild so that all Bribri can hunt them for food and skin.

 

🇪🇸 Los Bribri son un pueblo indígena de Costa Rica. Viven en el cantón de Talamanca, en la provincia de Limón en Costa Rica. Oficialmente, 11.500 Bribris viven solo en el área de servicio de la clínica Hone Creek. Son la mayoría en la región de Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Otras estimaciones más altas sugieren 35.000 personas. Hablan Bribri, una lengua chibchana (origen nativo americano). El español también se usa mucho, especialmente en las escuelas.

Los Bribri están organizados en clanes. Cada uno de estos clanes está formado por una familia extensa. El sistema de clanes es matrilineal, es decir, el clan de un niño está determinado por el clan al que pertenece su madre. Esto otorga a las mujeres un lugar muy importante en la sociedad Bribri, ya que son las únicas que pueden heredar la tierra y preparar la bebida sagrada de cacao (Theobroma cacao) indispensable para sus rituales.

La agricultura es la principal actividad de los Bribri que se encuentran aislados y que han desarrollado un vasto sistema de trueque.

Un pequeño grupo de Bribri cría iguanas que permanecen en la granja hasta que tienen cinco años y luego son liberadas en la naturaleza para que todos los Bribri puedan cazarlas para obtener comida y piel.

 

🇩🇪 Die Bribri sind ein indigenes Volk Costa Ricas. Sie leben im Kanton Talamanca in der Provinz Limón in Costa Rica. Allein im Einzugsgebiet der Klinik Hone Creek leben offiziell 11.500 Bribris. Sie sind die Mehrheit in der Region Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Andere höhere Schätzungen gehen von 35.000 Menschen aus. Sie sprechen Bribri, eine Chibchan-Sprache (Ursprung der amerikanischen Ureinwohner). Spanisch ist auch weit verbreitet, besonders in Schulen.

Die Bribri sind in Clans organisiert. Jeder dieser Clans besteht aus einer Großfamilie. Das Clansystem ist matrilinear, dh der Clan eines Kindes wird durch den Clan bestimmt, dem seine Mutter angehört. Dies gibt Frauen einen sehr wichtigen Platz in der Bribri-Gesellschaft, da sie die einzigen sind, die das Land erben und das heilige Kakaogetränk (Theobroma cacao) zubereiten können, das für ihre Rituale unerlässlich ist.

Die Landwirtschaft ist die Hauptbeschäftigung der Bribri, die isoliert sind und ein riesiges Tauschsystem entwickelt haben.

Eine kleine Gruppe von Bribri züchtet Leguane, die auf der Farm bleiben, bis sie fünf Jahre alt sind, und dann in die Wildnis entlassen werden, damit alle Bribri sie nach Nahrung und Haut jagen können.

 

🇮🇹 I Bribri sono un popolo indigeno del Costa Rica. Vivono nel cantone di Talamanca, nella provincia di Limón in Costa Rica. Ufficialmente, solo nell'area di servizio della clinica di Hone Creek vivono 11.500 Bribris. Sono la maggioranza nella regione di Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Altre stime più elevate suggeriscono 35.000 persone. Parlano bribri, una lingua chibchan (di origine nativa americana). Anche lo spagnolo è molto usato, soprattutto nelle scuole.

I Bribri sono organizzati in clan. Ciascuno di questi clan è composto da una famiglia allargata. Il sistema dei clan è matrilineare, cioè il clan di un bambino è determinato dal clan a cui appartiene sua madre. Questo dà alle donne un posto molto importante nella società Bribri, in quanto sono le uniche che possono ereditare la terra e preparare la sacra bevanda al cacao (Theobroma cacao) essenziale per i loro rituali.

L'agricoltura è l'attività principale dei Bribri che sono isolati e che hanno sviluppato un vasto sistema di baratto.

Un piccolo gruppo di Bribri alleva iguane che rimangono nella fattoria fino all'età di cinque anni e vengono poi rilasciate in natura in modo che tutti i Bribri possano cacciarle per cibo e pelle.

Weir Bridge in Bakewell and some of its (over 8000 in my estimation), padlocks. After someone has placed the padlock on the bridge they're supposed to throw the key into the river...I'm surprised they haven't created a new weir with the number of keys that must be at the bottom of the River Wye by now!

R.I.P. George (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008).

 

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author who won four Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.

 

Carlin was especially noted for his political and black humor and his observations on language, psychology, and religion along with many taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow 5-4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's right to regulate Carlin's act on the public airwaves.

 

Carlin's most recent stand-up routines focused on the flaws in modern-day America. He often took on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture.

 

He placed second on the Comedy Central cable television network list of the 10 greatest stand-up comedians, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor. He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three - decade Johnny Carson era, and was also the first person to host Saturday Night Live.

 

Early life and career -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in New York City, the son of Mary (née Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick Carlin, a national advertising manager for the New York Sun. Carlin was of Irish descent and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.

 

Carlin grew up on West 121st Street, in a neighborhood of Manhattan which he later said, in a stand-up routine, he and his friends called "White Harlem", because that sounded a lot tougher than its real name of Morningside Heights. He was raised by his mother, who left his father when Carlin was two years old. At age 14 Carlin dropped out of Cardinal Hayes High School and later joined the United States Air Force, training as a radar technician. He was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, Louisiana.

 

During this time he began working as a disc jockey on KJOE, a radio station based in the nearby city of Shreveport. He did not complete his Air Force enlistment. Labeled an "unproductive airman" by his superiors, Carlin was discharged on July 29, 1957. In 1959, Carlin and Jack Burns began as a comedy team when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas. After successful performances at Fort Worth's beat coffeehouse, The Cellar, Burns and Carlin headed for California in February 1960 and stayed together for two years as a team before moving on to individual pursuits.

 

1960s

 

In the 1960s, Carlin began appearing on television variety shows, notably The Ed Sullivan Show. His most famous routines were:

* The Indian Sergeant ("You wit' the beads... get outta line")

* Stupid disc jockeys ("Wonderful WINO...") — "The Beatles' latest record, when played backwards at slow speed, says 'Dummy! You're playing it backwards at slow speed!'"

* Al Sleet, the "hippie-dippie weatherman" — "Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning."

* Jon Carson — the "world never known, and never to be known"

 

Variations on the first three of these routines appear on Carlin's 1967 debut album, Take Offs and Put Ons, recorded live in 1966 at The Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan.

 

During this period, Carlin became more popular as a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era, becoming one of Carson's most frequent substitutes during the host's three-decade reign. Carlin was also cast on Away We Go, a 1967 comedy show.

 

Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity. According to legend the police began attempting to detain members of the audience for questioning, and asked Carlin for his identification. Telling the police he did not believe in government issued IDs, he was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle.

 

Eventually, Carlin changed both his routines and his appearance. He lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian of the time, wearing faded jeans and sporting a beard and earrings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were in vogue. Using his own persona as a springboard for his new comedy, he was presented by Ed Sullivan in a performance of "The Hair Piece," and quickly regained his popularity as the public caught on to his sense of style.

 

In this period he also perfected what is perhaps his best-known routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", recorded on Class Clown. Carlin was arrested on July 21, 1972 at Milwaukee's Summerfest and charged with violating obscenity laws after performing this routine.[28] The case, which prompted Carlin to refer to the words for a time as, "The Milwaukee Seven", was dismissed in December of that year; the judge declared the language indecent, stating that the language was indecent but cited free speech, as well as the lack of any disturbance. In 1973, a man complained to the FCC that his son had heard a later, similar routine, "Filthy Words", from Occupation: Foole, broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC, which sought to fine Pacifica for allegedly violating FCC regulations which prohibited broadcasting "obscene" material. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene" and the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience. F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). The court documents contain a complete transcript of the routine.

 

The controversy only increased Carlin's fame (or notoriety). Carlin eventually expanded the dirty-words theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance (ending with his voice fading out in one HBO version and accompanying the credits in the Carlin at Carnegie special for the 1982-83 season) and a set of 49 web pages organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List Of Impolite Words".

 

Carlin was the first-ever host of NBC's Saturday Night Live, debuting on October 11, 1975. (He also hosted SNL on November 10, 1984, where he actually appeared in sketches. The first time he hosted, he only appeared to perform stand-up and introduce the guest acts.) The following season, 1976-77, Carlin also appeared regularly on CBS Television's Tony Orlando & Dawn variety series.

 

Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he rarely appeared to perform stand-up, although it was at this time he began doing specials for HBO as part of its On Location series. His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978. It was later revealed that Carlin had suffered the first of his three non-fatal heart attacks during this layoff period.

 

1980s and 1990s ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

In 1981, Carlin returned to the stage, releasing A Place For My Stuff, and he returned to HBO and New York City with the Carlin at Carnegie TV special, videotaped at Carnegie Hall and airing during the 1982-83 season. Carlin continued doing HBO specials every year or every other year over the following decade-and-a-half. All of Carlin's albums from this time forward are the HBO specials.

 

Carlin's acting career was primed with a major supporting role in the 1987 comedy hit Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long; it was his first notable screen role after a handful of previous guest roles on television series. Playing drifter Frank Madras, the role poked fun at the lingering effect of the 1960s psychedelic counterculture. In 1989, he gained popularity with a new generation of teens when he was cast as Rufus, the time-traveling mentor of the titular characters in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and reprised his role in the film sequel Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey as well as the first season of the cartoon series. In 1991, he provided the narrative voice for the American version of the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, a role he continued until 1998. He played "Mr. Conductor" on the PBS children's show Shining Time Station which featured Thomas from 1991 to 1993 as well as Shining Time Station TV specials in 1995 and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales in 1996. Also in 1991, Carlin had a major supporting role in the movie The Prince of Tides along with Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand.

 

Carlin began a weekly Fox Broadcasting sitcom, The George Carlin Show, in 1993, playing New York City cab driver "George O'Grady". He quickly included a variation of the "Seven Words" in the plot. The show ran 27 episodes through December 1995.

 

In 1997, his first hardcover book, Brain Droppings, was published, and sold over 750,000 copies as of 2001. Carlin was honored at the 1997 Aspen Comedy Festival with a retrospective George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy hosted by Jon Stewart.

 

In 1999, Carlin played a supporting role as a satirically marketing-oriented Roman Catholic cardinal in filmmaker Kevin Smith's movie Dogma. He worked with Smith again with a cameo appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and later played an atypically serious role in Jersey Girl, as the blue collar dad of Ben Affleck's character.

 

2000's --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

In 2001, Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards.

 

In December 2003, California U.S. Representative Doug Ose introduced a bill (H.R. 3687) to outlaw the broadcast of Carlin's seven "dirty words", including "compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)". (The bill omits "tits", but includes "ass" and "asshole", which were not part of Carlin's original routine.)

 

The following year, Carlin was fired from his headlining position at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas after an altercation with his audience. After a poorly received set filled with dark references to suicide bombings and beheadings, Carlin stated that he couldn't wait to get out of "this fucking hotel" and Las Vegas in general, claiming he wanted to go back East "where the real people are". He continued to insult his audience, stating:

 

"People who go to Las Vegas, you've got to question their fucking intellect to start with. Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of fucking moronic. That's what I'm always getting here is these kind of fucking people with very limited intellects."

 

An audience member shouted back that Carlin should "stop degrading us", at which point Carlin responded "Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well blow me." He was immediately fired by MGM Grand and soon after announced he would enter rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

 

For years, Carlin had performed regularly as a headliner in Las Vegas. He began a tour through the first half of 2006, and had a new HBO Special on November 5, 2005 entitled Life is Worth Losing, which was shown live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Topics covered included suicide, natural disasters (and the impulse to see them escalate in severity), cannibalism, genocide, human sacrifice, threats to civil liberties in America, and how an argument can be made that humans are inferior to animals.

 

On February 1, 2006, Carlin mentioned to the crowd, during his Life is Worth Losing set at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California, that he had been discharged from the hospital only six weeks previously for "heart failure" and "pneumonia", citing the appearance as his "first show back".

 

Carlin provided the voice of Fillmore, a character in the Disney / Pixar animated feature Cars, which opened in theaters on June 9, 2006. The character Fillmore is a VW Microbus with a psychedelic paint job, whose front license plate reads "51237" — Carlin's birthday.

 

Carlin's last HBO stand-up special, It's Bad for Ya, aired live on March 1, 2008 in Santa Rosa, CA at the Wells Fargo Center For The Arts. Many of the themes that appeared in this HBO special included "American Bullshit", "Rights", "Death", "Old Age", and "Child Rearing". Carlin had been working the new material for this HBO special for several months prior in concerts all over the country.

 

On June 18, 2008, four days before his death, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC announced that Carlin would be the 2008 honoree of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to be awarded in November of that year.

 

Personal life ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

In 1961, Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook (born June 12, 1939, died May 11, 1997), whom he had met while touring the previous year, in her parents' living room in Dayton, Ohio. The couple had a daughter, Kelly, in 1963. In 1971, George and Brenda renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brenda died of liver cancer a day before Carlin's 60th birthday, in 1997.

 

Carlin later married Sally Wade on June 24, 1998, and the marriage lasted until his death - two days before their tenth anniversary.

 

In December 2004, Carlin announced that he would be voluntarily entering a drug rehabilitation facility to receive treatment for his dependency on alcohol and painkillers.

 

Carlin did not vote and often criticized elections as an illusion of choice. He said he last voted for George McGovern, who ran for President in 1972 against Richard Nixon.

 

Religion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Carlin often denounced the idea of God in interviews and performances, most notably with his "Invisible Man in the Sky" and "There Is No God" routines. In mockery, he invented the parody religion Frisbeetarianism for a newspaper contest. He defined it as the belief that when a person dies "his soul gets flung onto a roof, and just stays there", and cannot be retrieved.

 

Carlin also joked that he worshipped the Sun, because he could actually see it, but prayed to Joe Pesci (a good friend of his in real life) because "he's a good actor", and "looks like a guy who can get things done!"

 

Carlin also introduced the "Two Commandments", a revised "pocket-sized" list of the Ten Commandments in his HBO special Complaints and Grievances, ending with the additional commandment of "Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself."

 

Themes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

Carlin's themes have been known for causing considerable controversy in the American media. His most usual topic was (in his words) humanity's "bullshit", which might include murder, genocide, war, rape, corruption, religion and other aspects of human civilization. His delivery frequently treated these subjects in a misanthropic and nihilistic fashion, such as in his statement during the Life is Worth Losing show: "I look at it this way... For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse."

 

Language, from the obscene to the innocuous, had always been a focus of Carlin's work. Euphemisms that seek to distort and lie, and generally the use of pompous, presumptuous and downright silly language are often the target of Carlin's works.

 

Carlin also gave special attention to prominent topics in American Culture and Western Culture, such as: obsession with fame and celebrity, consumerism, Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, self-help publications, patriotism, sexual taboos, certain uses of technology and surveillance, and pro-life, among many others.

 

Carlin openly communicated in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence was entertainment, that he was "here for the show". He professed a hearty schadenfreude in watching the rich spectrum of humanity slowly self-destruct, in his estimation, of its own design; saying, "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat." He acknowledged that this is a very selfish thing, especially since he included large human catastrophes as entertainment.

 

In a late-1990s interview with radio talk show host Art Bell, he remarked about his view of human life: "I think we're already 'circling the drain' as a species, and I'd love to see the circles get a little faster and a little shorter."

 

In the same interview, he recounted his experience of a California earthquake in the early-1970s as: "...an amusement park ride. Really, I mean it's such a wonderful thing to realize that you have absolutely no control... and to see the dresser move across the bedroom floor unassisted... is just exciting." Later he summarized: "I really think there's great human drama in destruction and nature unleashed and I don't get enough of it."

 

A routine in Carlin's 1999 HBO special You Are All Diseased focusing on airport security leads up to the statement: "Take a fucking chance! Put a little fun in your life! ... most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don't realize there's such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don't recognize a good show when they see one."

 

Carlin had always included politics as part of his material (along with the wordplay and sex jokes), but by the mid-1980s had become a strident social critic, in both his HBO specials and the book compilations of his material. His HBO viewers got an especially sharp taste of this in his take on the Ronald Reagan administration during the 1988 special What Am I Doing In New Jersey? broadcast live from the Park Theatre in Union City, New Jersey.

 

Death ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

On June 22, 2008, Carlin was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California after complaining of chest pain. He died later that day at 5:55 p.m. PDT of heart failure at the age of 71.

 

*************************************************************************************************

 

Comics Remember George Carlin: George Carlin Inspired a Generation of Comedians with His Groundbreaking Humor

By CLOE SHASHA

June 23, 2008

 

George Carlin gave more to his fellow comedians, actors and writers than a good laugh.

 

Responding to news of Carlin's death from heart failure at the age of 71, fellow funny men and women spoke about his groundbreaking humor, his brilliant mind, his big heart, and the effect he had on them and their profession.

 

"If there was ever a comedian who was a voice of their generation it was George Carlin," comedian and "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno told ABCNEWS.com. "Before George, comedians aspired to put on nice suits and perform in Las Vegas. George rebelled against that life. His comedy took on privilege and elitism, even railing against the game of golf. He never lost that fire. May he continue to inspire young people never to accept the status quo."

 

"George Carlin was a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy, actor Ben Stiller told ABCNEWS.com. "He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining. He was one of the greats and he will be missed."

 

Comedian Mike Myers, currently starring in "The Love Guru," told ABCNEWS.com: "George Carlin is one of the greatest comedians that ever lived. His irreverence, bravery, and the fact that he was his own man, has served as an inspiration to me and he will be sorely missed."

 

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel concisely expressed his esteem for Carlin. "Free speech never had a better or funnier friend than George Carlin," he told ABCNEWS.com.

 

Jack Burns, who performed in a comedy duo with Carlin, called Carlin a genius.

 

"I will miss him dearly," Burns told the Associated Press. "We were working in Chicago, and we went to see Lenny (Bruce), and we were both blown away. It was an epiphany for George. The comedy we were doing at the time wasn't exactly groundbreaking, and George knew then that he wanted to go in a different direction."

 

Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of "The View," paid tribute to Carlin on Monday's show.

 

"George Carlin was one of the first guys to inspire me that you could actually talk about stuff you knew," Goldberg said. "Him and Rich [Pryor], for me, two of the greats are gone, and I wanted to acknowledge that they're gone."

 

"The View" co-host Joy Behar also said she was affected by Carlin's death. "I just feel terrible when a comedian dies," Behar said. "Especially George Carlin, a wonderful comedian -- a trailblazer and an extremely brave comedian."

 

"The last of the great comics has left us, only to join the great comedy club in the sky," Rain Pryor, Richard Pryor's daughter, told ABCNEWS.com. "I will miss you, Mr. Carlin, as the world missed my father. Give Dad a hug for me!"

 

"Carlin was brilliant," Richard Pryor's writer Paul Mooney told ABCNEWS.com. "The world has lost a genius; the world has lost a mensch."

 

Caroline Hirsch, a comedian on Broadway who produced the show "Caroline's Comedy Hour" and started Caroline's Comedy Club in New York for rising comedians, commented on Carlin's success.

 

"He was so prolific," she told ABCNEWS.com. "He had so many stand-up specials, was just smart, brilliant and really a social commentator of the time. I remember in the 60s -- I mean, that's how I really got hooked on comedy -- he was a major factor in that. And it felt so good to meet this legend years later."

 

"George Carlin was The Beatles of stand-up comedy," Bill Hader, an actor ("Superbad") and comedian on "Saturday Night Live," told ABCNEWS.com. "His influence can be felt in every stand-up comedian today. His jokes were the first act I ever learned. I would spend recess performing it for all my friends."

 

Judd Apatow, a director of comedies, such as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," recalled his childhood days following Carlin's comedy. "Nobody was funnier than George Carlin," Apatow told ABCNEWS.com. "I spent half my childhood in my room listening to his records, experiencing pure joy. And he was as kind as he was funny."

 

"He was one of the big ones," celebrity comedian Joan Rivers told ABCNEWS.com. "He was fearless in his comedy."

 

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

 

Carlin's `7 words you can't say on TV': Overheard?

 

By FRAZIER MOORE.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 30 years after George Carlin pronounced "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television," some of those words have lost their sting.

 

Some of those words still aren't welcome on the public airwaves (or, for that matter, in print) and they are still being debated in the courts.

 

But you can hear those words voiced in everyday discourse more than ever.

 

Carlin, who died Sunday at age 71, observed in his routine: "We have thoughts, but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we're stuck with that word for that thought — so be careful with words."

 

Good advice.

 

Carlin's seven words, he would caution ironically, "are the ones that'll infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war."

 

Or course, times — and wars — have changed. At least one of Carlin's words (a rude term for urine) wouldn't raise an eyebrow on much of broadcast TV now.

 

Meanwhile, none of them is alien to premium cable. For many viewers, hearing those Words You Can't Say On Television being said on television helps make pay cable worth paying for.

 

Those words were heard on television in 1977, on Carlin's first HBO comedy special.

 

They fall into predictable categories: bodily waste; sexual acts (both socially acceptable and frowned upon); and female body parts.

 

"When he used those words he wasn't just trying to shock," said Richard Zoglin, who wrote about Carlin in his recent book, "Comedy at the Edge: How Standup in the 1970s Changed America."

 

"He was trying to make a statement that's familiar today, but wasn't so familiar back then: 'Why do we have this irrational fear of words?'"

 

Of this Magnificent Seven, only one, which refers to the female anatomy, retains the power to jolt nearly anyone within earshot. On an HBO sitcom a couple of years ago, the angry husband used this word to insult his wife. It nearly wrecked their marriage. More tellingly, the studio audience emitted an audible gasp.

 

Premium cable, and even basic cable, have far more freedom with content than broadcast programming, which is carried on public airwaves by stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.

 

For broadcast, The Words are actually words the FCC says can't be heard before 10 p.m. — when the "safe harbor" for young viewers applies. But exactly what those words are, and under what circumstances they may be permissible, is currently unclear.

 

"The networks are being careful, because even in this kind of flux, you don't want to push too far," said T. Barton Carter, Boston University professor of communications and law. "Vagueness and inconsistencies in regulation can have a chilling effect on broadcasters."

 

The picture is further muddied by the fact that 80 to 90 percent of viewers get all their programming (from broadcast stations as well as cable networks) through their cable or satellite subscription, Carter added. Different indecency standards apply to channels whose difference is often undetectable to the audience.

 

The uncertain regulatory climate led to PBS distributing two versions of the Ken Burns documentary series "The War" last fall. Stations could choose the original version, or opt for a sanitized version of World War II, one that was free of any Words You'd Be Safer Not Saying On Television.

 

The FCC changed its policy on indecency following a January 2003 broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show by NBC when U2 lead singer Bono uttered the phrase "f------ brilliant." The FCC said the "f-word" in any context "inherently has a sexual connotation" and can trigger enforcement." That case has yet to be resolved.

 

Recently the U.S Supreme Court has entered a legal fight over curse words aired by Fox in 2002 and 2003 on the live broadcasts of "The Billboard Music Awards." Cher used the phrase, "F--- 'em." And Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get cow s--- out of a Prada purse? It's not so f------ simple."

 

Scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court this fall, the case would decide whether the government can ban "fleeting expletives," one-time uses of familiar but profane words.

 

Dropping an "f-bomb" on a broadcast won't automatically blast open the floodgates, said Tim Winter, president of Parents Television Council, but he warned, "It's a slow accumulation. First it's once every several months. Then it becomes once a month. Then it becomes once a night."

 

"That's our concern for some of the words that are at issue here," said Winter, who's also an avowed George Carlin fan: "It's unfortunate that a brilliant comedian like George Carlin is a poster child for the lawsuits that are out there."

 

黑面琵鷺（學名：Template:Did di，英文名：Black-faced Spoonbill），又名小琵鷺、黑面鷺、黑琵鷺、琵琶嘴鷺，俗稱飯匙鳥、黑面勺嘴，台灣賞鳥人士則俗稱為「黑琵」[3][註 1]。因其扁平如湯匙狀的長嘴，與中國樂器中的琵琶極為相似，因而得名；亦因其姿態優雅，又被稱為「黑面天使」或「黑面舞者」；屬於鸛形目、䴉科、琵鷺亞科，琵鷺亞科的鳥類全世界共六種，其中以黑面琵鷺數量最為稀少（已知六種琵鷺當中唯黑面琵鷺屬瀕危物種），屬全球瀕危物種類別之一。於故當黑面琵鷺在每年 10 月至翌年 2 月渡冬時，東南亞觀鳥者會到處觀測關注其過冬狀況並統計數量。黑面琵鷺現時只活躍於東亞及東南亞地區。

 

The black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) has the most restricted distribution of all spoonbills, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. Spoonbills are large water birds with dorso-ventrally flattened, spatulate bills.[2] These birds use a tactile method of feeding, wading in the water and sweeping their beaks from side-to-side to detect prey.[3] Confined to the coastal areas of eastern Asia, it seems that it was once common throughout its area of distribution. It has a niche existence on only a few small rocky islands off the west coast of North Korea, with four wintering sites at Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as other places where they have been observed in migration. Wintering also occurs in Jeju, South Korea, Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, and the Red River delta in Vietnam. More recently, sightings of black-faced spoonbill birds were noted in Thailand, the Philippines, mainland China, and Macau[4] They were classified as an endangered species through IUCN in 2005.[5] Declines in their population are predicted in the future, mainly due to the amount of deforestation, pollution, and other man-made industries.

The black-faced spoonbill population in the 2012 census was recorded at 2,693 birds, with an estimation of 1,600 mature birds. Breeding colonies occur between March and August, on small islands. These birds are known to be crepuscular eaters, using intertidal mudflats.[4]

Conservation efforts have been made, and surveys were taken in order to determine the opinions and awareness of the local residents, residing close to the black-faced spoonbill’s natural habitats. One survey taken by Jin et al. 2008, inquired upon the ‘Willingness-To-Pay” factor in the locals, as well as understanding effects on mandatory surcharges compared to voluntary payments.

Like every morning, he opened the back door of the cottage, and stepped quietly onto the patio. Across the yard, he saw his beloved, standing quietly, watching the sun ease its way into the sky. He took three steps, and paused, closing his eyes. He could smell the scent of her skin, feel the soft brush of her long blond hair. Her smile was as radiant as the sun. In his estimation, her smile surpassed the sun in its brilliance. With a look of emptiness clouding his face, he opened his eyes. And, like every morning for the last 3 years, she was gone.

 

photo rights reserved by B℮n

 

Uthai Thani is a province in the northwest of Thailand. It is a region known for its natural beauty, historical sites and cultural heritage. One of the notable features of Uthai Thani is the presence of several national parks that protect the beautiful flora and fauna of the region. Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary: This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest protected areas in Thailand. It is home to a diverse flora and fauna, including rare and endangered species such as the Indochinese tiger, Asian elephant and Malayan bear. Tum Chang Cave National Park is a national park known for its impressive limestone caves and formations. These national parks in Uthai Thani offer a range of activities including trekking, bird watching and admiring Thailand's natural beauty. An impressive and majestic tree, which is native especially to this part of Thailand, is Tualang tree, scientifically known as Koompassia excelsa. The Tualang tree is known for its exceptionally tall height. The Tualang tree often plays a crucial role in the ecosystem, as it provides an important source of food and shelter for various animals, including honey bees. Beekeepers sometimes place beehives high in the branches of the Tualang tree to promote the production of Tualang honey, which is considered one of the most unique and high-quality honeys. The conservation and protection of such trees is often of great importance for maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance in the region.

 

There is a giant Tualang tree (Koompassia excelsa) found east of Ban Rai in Uthai Thani province. This impressive Tualang is located on private property in the middle of a forest, but the owner is happy to welcome visitors. On one side of the tree are claw marks from a bear that tried to knock down a honey bee nest. The local population, descendants of Laotian settlers brought here two hundred years ago during conflicts with Burma, inhabit this area. The circumference of the tree is approximately 97 meters, including the buttress roots that reach from branches to the ground to support the tree. The age of the tree is estimated at 400 years, and its height exceeds 50 meters. This majestic tree sprang up around the year 1621. Visitors are encouraged to touch and feel the ancient tree. The skin of the tree still feels very healthy and vibrant. Let's hope this giant tree continues to thrive forever. It is truly a wonderful spectacle.

 

Uthai Thani is een provincie in het noordwesten van Thailand. Eén van de opmerkelijke kenmerken van Uthai Thani is de aanwezigheid van diverse nationale parken die de prachtige flora en fauna van de regio beschermen. Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary: Dit is een UNESCO-werelderfgoed en één van de grootste beschermde gebieden in Thailand. Het herbergt een diverse flora en fauna, waaronder zeldzame en bedreigde diersoorten zoals de Indochinese tijger, Aziatische olifant en Maleise beer. Een indrukwekkende en majestueuze boom, die inheems is met name in dit deel van Thailand, is Tualang-boom. Deze boom staat bekend om zijn buitengewoon grote hoogte. De Tualang-boom speelt vaak een cruciale rol in het ecosysteem, omdat het een belangrijke bron van voedsel en onderdak biedt aan verschillende dieren, waaronder honingbijen. Het behoud en de bescherming van dergelijke bomen zijn vaak van groot belang voor het behoud van biodiversiteit en ecologisch evenwicht in de regio. Er is een gigantische Tualang-boom te vinden ten oosten van Ban Rai in de provincie Uthai Thani. Deze indrukwekkende Tualang bevindt zich op privéterrein midden in een bos, maar de eigenaar verwelkomt graag bezoekers. Aan de ene kant van de boom zijn klauwafdrukken te zien van een beer die probeerde een honingbijennest omver te werpen. De lokale bevolking, afstammelingen van Laotiaanse kolonisten die hier tweehonderd jaar geleden werden gebracht tijdens conflicten met Birma, bewoont dit gebied. De omtrek van de boom is ongeveer 97 meter, inclusief de steunwortels die van takken tot aan de grond reiken om de boom te ondersteunen. De leeftijd van de boom wordt geschat op 400 jaar, en de hoogte overschrijdt de 50 meter. Deze majestueuze boom ontsproot rond het jaar 1621. Bezoekers worden aangemoedigd de oude boom aan te raken en te voelen. De huid van de boom voelt nog steeds erg gezond en levendig aan. Laten we hopen dat deze gigantische boom voor altijd zal blijven gedijen. Het is werkelijk een wonderbaarlijk schouwspel.

"The immeasurable benefits of God’s goodness bestowed on the Christian people confer upon it a dignity beyond all estimation. ‘For neither is there, nor hath there ever been so great a nation that hath gods that come so nigh unto them, as our God is nigh unto us?’ (Deut. 4, 7.) For indeed, the Only-begotten Son of God, wishing to make us ‘partakers of His divine nature,’ (2 Pet. 1, 4), took up our nature, so that being made man, He might make men gods. And further, all of what is ours that He took, He applied to our salvation. For on the Altar of the Cross He offered up His body to God the Father as a sacrifice for our reconciliation, and at the same time, He shed His blood as both the price (of redemption) and the washing (of sins), so that, being redeemed from wretched servitude, we might be cleansed of all sins. And, so that the remembrance of so great a benefit might be everlasting among us, He left to the faithful His body as food, and His blood as drink, to be taken under the appearance of bread and wine.”

– St Thomas Aquinas, Matins reading for the Office of Corpus Christi.

 

This extraordinary monstrance from the early 1700s of St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor and 'Doctor Eucharisticus' holding aloft the Host, is in the Rosary Basilica in Guatemala City.

Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Rock Dove (Columba livia, Gmelin 1789)

Family: Columbidae

Length: 31 to 35cm Wingspan: 63 to 70cm Weight: 250 to 350g. Lifespan: up to 10 years.

The Rock Dove is the ancestor of the domestic pigeon and is usually referred to as a “pigeon.”

Rock Doves have been domesticated for several thousand years.

The “True Rock Doves” scarcity today, is due to constant interbreeding with feral and domestic pigeons. They are natural coastal birds, feeding in nearby fields throughout the daytime, returning to the safety and shelter of the coastal caves and rock ledges at night.

Habitat: Wide ranging to the extreme, from coastline cliffs to city centres as well as open grass lands, arable land and in parks, foraging for most types of food in large and small flocks or individually. Feeding on seeds, berries, buds, also small invertebrates, usually taken from the ground. In cities and towns, human garbage is also a food source. Pigeons are able to continuously drink from the water’s surface, without having to tilt their heads back, like most birds have to do.

Wild Rock Doves are pale grey, with two black bars on each wing. Markings and colours vary considerably on the feral and domestic pigeon. (Images below, show a feral “White Rock Dove” more than likely recognised as a Dove.).

The True Rock Dove flocks are now only found in North West Europe, mainly along the coastlines. Even in these flocks, evidence of different plumage and colour pattern shows the infiltration of the feral, town and domestic pigeons.

Rock Dove’s, generally keep with their same partner throughout their breeding years, a female lays 2 eggs and have up to 3 broods a year. Nesting is usually constructed from sticks, straw and grasses, usually under cover on a ledge, or in a rocks crevasse, also nesting places can be found on or in various man-made structures. Both parents look after the eggs (incubation period, between 17 to 19 days) and rear the squabs (pigeon chicks are known as squabs and will fledge in about 30 days). Peak nesting times are spring and summer, although given mild-temperatures, Columba livia will breed all year round.

The escaped domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) has increased the populations of feral pigeons around the world, it is thought the population to be around 120 million birds, in Europe alone, estimations of up to 28 million pigeons exist.

Pigeons rarely fly far from their local and familiar surroundings.

The pigeon falls prey to many breeds of raptors, taken from the ground or while in flight. Nests are also raided by gulls and crows, for the eggs as well as young birds. Various climbing animals will also raid nests, including the feral and domestic cat.

according to the Capitol police this was the largest crowd assembled on the Capitol grounds ever witnessed. Over 8,000 in estimation. The event was Franklin Graham's "Decision America Tour 2016" My wife, myself, and many of our friends were so blessed to have been there in Lansing for this occasion of motivation and prayer.

 

216d 10 - TAC_4397 - lr-ps-wm

"I sure hope they're not thinking of painting it" - me, September 2022. That was the last time I stood on this bridge and saw this bus in Beachball livery, and up to something within Lincoln depot. Welp, turns out they were thinking painting it, but now I wish Lincoln had done it there and then because they wouldn't have made an absolute pig's ear of it. I really didn't want to do another 'review' of a crappy repaint, but when it looks like this...

 

Gainsborough depot, to their credit, seem to have fixed most of their buses/ticket machines that don't track on Bustimes. Except this one, of course. At least now when I notice there's no vehicle tracking on a service that should be guaranteed to run (i.e. one tied in with a school service), I can have a decent estimation that it'll be this running it. To that end, I finally, FINALLY, got 18418 in Local livery in the daytime. Sure, it was 20 minutes late and I'd given up and was starting to walk off, but I got it.

 

Scunthorpe depot, to their discredit, have done yet another drunken job at applying the livery. The actual rear they've done better than 18344, but the sides look like they were done through a 1ft square window where they couldn't see the rest of it while they were going. They did at least put the fleet names in the right places, and used the correct coloured ones, but then they put the front one on wonky.

 

Despite not even being a particularly old repaint, there's a stain right down the middle of the front coming down from the windscreen and over the fleet number. Also, the metal strip between the battery access flap and the front wheel arch is meant to be at skirt strip/bumper height level, not the same height as the battery flap hinge. Tbh I didn't even know you could remove those strips because I thought they formed the panel join between the main side panels and skirt panels.

 

Despite the terrible repaint, perennial non-tracking and - in this instance - late running that proved to screw my whole plan up, it's still the same 18418 which I know and love from before, so for that she gets a pass.

 

Pelham Bridge, Lincoln, 8.2.23

Madonna and Child was painted by one of the most influential artists of the late 13th and early 14th century, Duccio di Buoninsegna. This iconic image of the Madonna and Child, seen throughout the history of western art, holds significant value in terms of stylistic innovations of religious subject matter that would continue to evolve for centuries.

Comparing the compact size of this work of 11×81⁄8 inches to larger, more illustrious altarpieces and large scale frescoes, the Madonna and Child is understood to be an intimate, devotional image. Some evocations of this understanding come from the burnt edges on the bottom of the original engaged frame caused by burning candles that likely would have sat just beneath. Looking past the abrupt simplicity of the image, one can begin to understand the changes Duccio was applying to the depiction of religious figures in painting during the early 14th century. Duccio followed other innovative Italian artists of the time like Giotto, both of whom strove to move beyond the purely iconic Byzantine and Italo-Byzantine canon and attempted to create a more tangible connection between the viewer and the objects in the painting. For example, the parapet that sits at the bottom of the painting works as a visual enticement for the viewer to look past and into the moment that is captured between the Virgin and Christ Child. At the same time, the parapet also acts as a barrier between the vernacular world and the sacred.

Many other elements of Duccio's interest in humanism are prevalent and can be seen in the tenderly draped robe worn by the Madonna and on Christ's lap, the childish reach of his hand to the Virgin's somewhat austere gaze back as she anticipates Christ's future, the luminous colors employed to the garments, and the fine details found on the inner layer of the Virgin's veil. It is these distinct qualities that would shape the sensibility of later Sienese painting and that give Duccio's Madonna and Child such worthy attention and credibility in the history of art. Other details found in this image are ones that stay behind in Byzantine tradition and characterize earlier works of Duccio, while the more innovative qualities prosper over time. The tooled details in the gold ground are minute and difficult to notice at a far glance but add an important element to the image. Punched designs were employed for the halos and the border design, all of which were hand inscribed.

As is common for duecento and trecento paintings, the ownership and location of the Madonna and Child before the mid 19th century is unknown. The first known owner of the painting is the Russian Count Gregori Stroganoff (1829–1910), who said he spotted it in a dealer's shop, not attributed to any artist. In 1904 he lent it to an exhibition at the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena (Mostra d’arte antica senese). He kept it in his palazzo in Rome.

Stated in her review of the 1904 Mostra d’art senese exhibition, art historian, Mary Logan Berenson believes this work to be among Duccio's “most perfect” pieces, therefore it is no surprise the painting caused an awe-inspiring reaction from exhibition viewers and especially from those in the art and art history arena. Following the death of Stroganoff in 1910, the Duccio joined the assembly of works collected by Adolphe Stoclet (1871–1949), hence the painting's namesake, the Stoclet Madonna. Stoclet was understood to treat his fruitful collection of art with the most careful attention and held them in the most ideal environments to preserve their unique, and many times fragile, qualities. The Duccio was shown at few exhibitions in 1930 and 1935 and to chosen, limited guests of Stoclet at his home.

Following the death of Stoclet and his wife in 1949, their children inherited Duccio's Madonna and Child along with the rest of the collector's assemblage. Although the coveted work of art was of interest to scholars, they were unable to access it except through photographs that fortunately document the ages of the painting and its process of restoration. Photographs of before it was restored, and later minor retouching, to what we see now all of which reveal the time past and the true impression of the original painting of 1300. The painting was excitingly acquired in the autumn of 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an estimated amount of 45 million USD. This is a highly valuable acquisition not only for the aesthetic significance in terms of the history of art, but also because there are only 13 known paintings by Duccio in the world.

There is debate between scholars of what the most accurate chronology of Duccio's Madonna and Child is. There is more than 20 years of time where scholars do not have accounted works by Duccio leaving a questionable, although fairly certain estimation of the Madonna and Child to be made around 1300. Due to the fact that some qualities of the painting are Bysantinesque like the oval shape of the Virgin's face and her elegantly long nose, and also of the “miniature man” nature of Christ Child, the lack of consensus of when it was created proceeds. But, there are of course many innovative elements to the painting which align it appropriately in the time that is now acknowledged to be most accurate. Along with the humanistic qualities between the Virgin and Christ Child, and the elegant draping, the marble parapet is a notable detail to the intentions of the painting, and serves as a visual invitation that encourages the viewer to engage more emotionally to the image. This idea would continue on in a myriad of paintings proceeding this work.

The late James Beck, Professor of Art History at Columbia University in New York, believed that Duccio's Madonna and Child, which the Met dates to 1300, is the work of a 19th-century artist or forger based on stylistic grounds. He pointed to what he considers to be the low quality of the painting and elements of content that he claims had not yet appeared in artwork of that period. Professor Beck said: "We are asked to believe that the modest little picture represents a leap into the future of Western painting by establishing a plane in front of Mary and the Child. This feature, a characteristic of Renaissance not Medieval pictures, occurs only a hundred years after the presumptive date of the picture ...". Beck's conclusions were published in 2007 in his book, From Duccio to Raphael: Connoisseurship in Crisis in which he also disputes the attribution of the National Gallery of London's painting Madonna of the Pinks to Raphael.

Keith Christiansen, the Met's curator of European paintings, disagrees with Beck's contention. Christiansen has noted that, in addition to stylistic analysis of the painting in relation to other known works by the painter, the museum conducted a thorough examination of the painting, including the wooden panel's construction, the painting's underdrawing and pigment composition and found them consistent with an attribution to Duccio and a date of around 1300. Christiansen said: "What everyone else sees as a sign of quality and innovation, Beck sees as weakness. There is no reason to doubt the period and authenticity of the picture."

(1 in a multiple picture album)

Sand Harbor, in my estimation, is the prettiest part of Lake Tahoe. It is on the Nevada side, at the north end of the lake. It is especially nice early in the morning when the new sun accentuates the various shades of blue in the water. I wish I had the time to go out to this island and meditate awhile.

Besides the beauty, there is a Shakespeare Theatre right around the corner, on the lake, which has a festival each summer.

For the special tribute issue of BusinessWeek that is coming out tomorrow, I tried to honor Steve Jobs in a small way with my memories of the NeXT days.

 

Here is the version I wrote (the print edition has several sentences edited out) with some italics added to summary sections:

 

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

 

The book of Jobs, a parable of passion

 

Steve Jobs was intensely passionate about his products, effusing an infectious enthusiasm that stretched from one-on-one recruiting pitches to auditorium-scale demagoguery. It all came so naturally for him because he was in love, living a Shakespearean sonnet, with tragic turns, an unrequited era of exile, and ultimately the triumphant reunion. At the personal and corporate levels, it is the archetype of the Hero’s Journey turned hyperbole.

 

The NeXT years were torture for him, as he was forcibly estranged from his true love. When we went on walks, or if we had a brief time in the hallway, he would steer the conversation to a plaintive question: “What should Apple do?” As if he were an exile on Elba, Jobs always wanted to go home. “Apple should buy NeXT.” It seemed outrageous to me at the time; what CEO of Apple would ever invite Jobs back and expect to keep their job for long?

 

The Macintosh on his desk at NeXT had the striped Apple logo stabbed out, a memento of anguish scratched deep into plastic.

 

The NeXTSTEP operating system, object-oriented frameworks, and Interface Builder were beautiful products, but they were stuck in what Jobs considered the pedestrian business of enterprise IT sales. Selling was boring. Where were the masses? The NeXTSTEP step-parents sold to a crowd of muggles. The magic seemed misspent.

 

Jobs was still masterful, relating stories of how MCI saved so much time and money developing their systems on NeXTSTEP. He persuaded the market research firms IDC and Dataquest that a new computer segment should be added to the pantheon of mainframe, mini, workstation, and PC. The new market category would be called the “PC/Workstation,” and lo and behold, by excluding pure PCs and pure workstations, NeXT became No. 1 in market share. Leadership fabricated out of thin air.

 

During this time, corporate partners came to appreciate Steve’s enthusiasm as the Reality Distortion Field. Sun Microsystems went so far as to have a policy that no contract could be agreed to while Steve was in the room. They needed to physically remove themselves from the mesmerizing magic to complete the negotiation.

 

But Jobs was sleepwalking through backwaters of stodgy industries. And he was agitated by Apple’s plight in the press. Jobs reflected a few years later, “I can’t tell you how many times I heard the word ‘beleaguered’ next to ‘Apple.’ It was painful. Physically painful.”

 

When the miraculous did happen, and Apple bought NeXT, Jobs was reborn. I recently spoke with Bill Gates about passion: “Most people lose that fire in the belly as they age. Except Steve Jobs. He still had it, and he just kept going. He was not a programmer, but he had hit after hit.” Gates marvels at the magic to this day.

 

Parsimony

 

Jobs was the master architect of Apple design. Often criticized for bouts of micromanagement and aesthetic activism, Steve’s spartan sensibilities accelerated the transition from hardware to software. By dematerializing the user interface well ahead of what others thought possible, Apple was able to shift the clutter of buttons and hardware to the flexible and much more lucrative domain of software and services. The physical thing was minimized to a mere vessel for code.

 

Again, this came naturally to Jobs, as it is how he lived his life, from sparse furnishings at home, to sartorial simplicity, to his war on buttons, from the mouse to the keyboard to the phone. Jobs felt a visceral agitation from the visual noise of imperfection.

 

When Apple first demonstrated the mouse, Bill Gates could not believe it was possible to achieve such smooth tracking in software. Surely, there was a dedicated hardware solution inside.

 

When I invited Jobs to take some time away from NeXT to speak to a group of students, he sat in the lotus position in front of my fireplace and wowed us for three hours, as if leading a séance. But then I asked him if he would sign my Apple Extended Keyboard, where I already had Woz’s signature. He burst out: “This keyboard represents everything about Apple that I hate. It’s a battleship. Why does it have all these keys? Do you use this F1 key? No.” And with his car keys he pried it right off. “How about this F2 key?” Off they all went. “I’m changing the world, one keyboard at a time,” he concluded in a calmer voice.

 

And he dove deep into all elements of design, even the details of retail architecture for the Apple store (he’s a named patent holder on architectural glass used for the stairways). On my first day at NeXT, as we walked around the building, my colleagues shared in hushed voices that Jobs personally chose the wood flooring and various appointments. He even specified the outdoor sprinkler system layout.

 

I witnessed his attention to detail during a marketing reorganization meeting. The VP of marketing read Jobs’s e-mailed reaction to the new org chart. Jobs simply requested that the charts be reprinted with the official corporate blue and green colors, and provided the Pantone numbers to remove any ambiguity. Shifted color space was like a horribly distorted concerto to his senses. And this particular marketing VP was clearly going down.

 

People

 

Jobs’s estimation of people tended to polarize to the extremes, a black-and-white thinking trait common to charismatic leaders. Marketing execs at NeXT especially rode the “hero-shithead rollercoaster,” as it was called. The entire company knew where they stood in Jobs’s eyes, so when that VP in the reorg meeting plotted his rollercoaster path on the white board, the room nodded silently in agreement. He lasted one month.

 

But Jobs also attracted the best people and motivated them to do better than their best, rallying teams to work in a harmony they may never find elsewhere in their careers. He remains my archetype for the charismatic visionary leader, with his life’s song forever woven into the fabric of Apple.

 

Jobs now rests with the sublime satisfaction of symbolic immortality.

 

----

 

It was daunting to reflect on such a great man, from a refined set of exposures... but he was my childhood hero, and I convinced him to let me do a study of his management style while a lowly employee at NeXT. Nevertheless, I wondered if I captured his essence in those years of exile from Apple. So, I was floored when the BW editor wrote back "I think this piece is one of the best things I have ever read about Steve." :))

© m4n fotografie

@ Engine Room ~ September 20 - Oct. 20

 

A special sort of timepiece for those with a taste for the unusual and a sense of keen estimation. While minutes are exact, hours are more up to personal interpretation with this pictorial clock.

 

The Astraeus Dial tells real time throughout the day, as seen in the original artwork on the main dial, with the sun being noon and the moon being midnight. The inner dial is a more exact measurement of minutes within the hour. The clock is only 2 land impact as well!

 

Time zone can be changed on click and the clock auto-adjusts for daylight savings time!

 

Mod / Copy / No Trans

 

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