View allAll Photos Tagged existential
To walk through the American West half-Chinese, half American dressed in rags with a floppy hat and a bedroll is the dream of the Kung-Fu Wanna Be. But he can't pursue his wanderlust because he's "addicted to his paycheck"* and must return to the office soon.
*I found this concept online and am trying to resurrect the source for you. Delete Comment
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The ZSU-62 (Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka = anti-aircraft self-propelled mount) was a potential successor for the Soviet ZSU-57-2 SPAAG, developed in parallel with the ZSU-23-4. But unlike its brethren, the ZSU-62 was only produced in limited numbers, but it received limited fame during its late operational second-line career when it was successfully deployed to Afghanistan.
The ZSU’62’s roots were laid down just after WWII with the ZSU-57-2. The first prototype (Objekt 500) was completed in the summer of 1950, production began in 1955. The vehicle was built using a modified chassis of the new T-54 tank and was armed with two S-68 57 mm cannons – at the time the most powerful guns mounted in an anti-aircraft system. The modification of the chassis included reducing the road wheels per side to four and using lighter armor. The ZSU-57-2 was powered by a V-54 12-cylinder diesel engine providing 520 hp. Despite the weight of 28 tons, thanks to the strong engine, the maximum speed was 50 km/h. With a fuel load of 850 liters, the operational range was 420 km.
Each cannon had a (theoretical) rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 1,000 m/s. Maximum horizontal range was 12 km (with an effective range against ground targets of up to 4 km / 2.5 miles), maximum vertical range was 8.8 km (with a maximum effective vertical range of 4.5 km / 14,750 ft). The effective range, when used against flying targets, was 6 km. Armor-piercing rounds were able to penetrate 110 mm armor at 500 m or 70 mm armor at 2,000 m (at 90° impact angle).
Rate of fire was 120 RPM, but this was only a theoretical number, because each gun was fed with separate four-shot magazines so that only bursts and no continuous fire was possible. Both fragmentation and armor-piercing ammunition were available. The ZSU-57-2’s total ammunition load was 300 rounds, with 176 rounds being stored inside the turret and the remaining in the hull. To efficiently operate the vehicle, six crew members were needed: commander, gunner, loader, driver, and two sight adjusters.
The ZSU-57-2 had serious firepower that could easily destroy any aerial target but had many issues. The greatest weaknesses were the lack of modern range-finding and radar equipment, the impossibility of engaging targets at night or while on the move, the lack of protection for its crew (being open-topped), and low ammunition count. Nevertheless, more than 2.000 ZSU-57-2s were eventually built. While many would be sold to other Warsaw Pact countries, like East Germany, Romania, and Poland, its service within the Soviet Army was limited, because of its many operational deficiencies.
This led in 1957 to a new SPAAG program for the Soviet Army and initiated the development of the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", the ZSU-37-2 "Yenisei" and a new ZSU-57-2 “Kama” (all baptized after Russian rivers) with the outlook to replace the original ZSU-57-2 by the mid to late Sixties. These vehicles were intended for AA defense of military facilities, troops, and mechanized columns on the march. “Shilka” was intended for close range defense (esp. against low-flying attack helicopters) while the more powerful guns of "Yenisei" and “Kama” were judged to be effective at covering the inner dead-zone of Soviet surface-to-air missile systems between 1.000 and 6.000 m altitude, with a focus on attack aircraft and more heavily armored targets.
All designs were based on existing tracked chassis’ and featured completely enclosed turrets as well as a proven radar system, the RPK-2 "Tobol" radar (NATO designator: "Gun Dish"). The ZSU-37-2 was soon dropped in favor of the higher firepower and range of the 57mm guns, so that both “Shilka” and “Kama” entered the hardware stage at Omsk Works No. 174.
However, “Kama” lagged behind the “Shilka” development because several technical and conceptual problems had to be solved. For instance, even though the armament still consisted of two proven S-68 cannon, the weapons’ mount had to be developed new to fit into the enclosed cast turret. To save space, both weapons were now mounted directly side-by-side. Their feeding system was furthermore changed from magazines to belts, what considerably improved the SPAAG’s firepower and now allowed continuous fire at a higher rate of fire of 150 RPM per gun. For sufficient flexibility, a belt-switching mechanism allowed to choose between two different ammunition supplies: each gun had supplies of 220 and 35 rounds, normally occupied with HE fragmentation and armor-piercing tracer (AP-T) shells, respectively, against aerial and armored ground targets. Changing between the two feeds just took a couple of seconds.
The twin S-68s were recoil-operated and the whole mount (without feeding mechanism) weighed 4,500 kg. The guns had a recoil of between 325 and 370 mm, and each air-cooled gun barrel, fitted with a muzzle brake, was 4365 mm long (76.6 calibers). The weapons could be elevated or depressed between −5° and +80° at a speed of between 0.3° and 32° per second, while the turret could traverse 360° at a speed of between 0.2° and 52° per second. Drive was from a direct current electric motor and universal hydraulic speed gears.
The “Kama” crew numbered four: driver (in the hull), commander, gunner and radar operator (all in the turret). The heavy guns, their ammunition supply and the radar system had to be housed in a turret, together with decent armor, and this resulted in a considerable volume and weight (a single 57 mm projectile alone already weighed 2.8 kg). Several layouts were tested, but weight and volume of the systems made it impossible to mate the “Kama” turret on the T-54/55 chassis, which was available in ample numbers for conversions. The limiting factor was the T-54/55’s relatively small turret bearing diameter.
To solve this problem, the “Kama” designers chose the more modern T-62 as chassis basis. It was outwardly very similar to the former T-54/55, but it featured a 2245 mm turret ring (250 mm more than the T-54/55’s bearing) that was able to take a much bigger/wider/heavier turret than its predecessor. Furthermore, the T-62 represented the Soviet Army’s “state of the art”. The choice of the T-62 ensured many component and maintenance communalities with the operational MBT and it also meant that the “Kama” SPAAG could operate in the same environment and the same pace as the T-62. In order to save costs and development time, the T-62 chassis was taken “as is”, with the same engine and armor level as the MBT. There were only minor changes in the electric components, e. g. a more powerful generator for the radar system.
In this combination, “Kama” eventually entered tests and state acceptance trials as “Object 503”. During these tests, some final changes to layout and equipment were made; for instance, the RPK-2’s dish-shaped radome received a retractable mount that allowed the antenna to be raised higher above the turret in order to avoid clutter and to protect the antenna when the vehicle was on the move.
The tests lasted until 1963 and were successful, so that an initial batch of 100 serial production tanks was ordered the same year. In order to avoid confusion with the old ZSU-57-2 from 1955, the new tank with the same armament was pragmatically designated ZSU-62.
Alas, while production of the “Kama” turrets ran up to be mated with T-62 hulls at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, the ZSU-62’s future had already been sealed by the fast pace of technical developments: in the meantime MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System) had taken the medium-range SPAAG’s place and a foot soldier could now fulfill the same mission as an expensive and bulky 40 ton tank, so that the medium range/altitude gap between the ZSU-23-4 (which had already entered service) and heavier surface-to-air missile systems would not be filled with a dedicated vehicle anymore. The ZSU-62 had become superfluous the moment it had reached the first frontline units, and large-scale production was immediately stopped.
However, the initial production run was nevertheless completed until 1967, and the ZSU-62s were primarily sent to training units, where the vehicles were – due to their turrets’ shape – nicknamed “черепаха“ (turtle).
This could have been the ZSU-62’s fate, but the Soviet Union’s intervention in Afghanistan brought it back into frontline service. Since December 1978, the Afghan government called on Soviet forces, which were introduced in the spring and summer of 1979 to provide security and to assist in the fight against the mujaheddin rebels. After the killing of Soviet technicians in Herat by rioting mobs, the Soviet government sold several Mi-24 helicopters to the Afghan military and increased the number of military advisers in the country to 3,000. In April 1979, the Afghan government requested that the USSR send 15 to 20 helicopters with their crews to Afghanistan, and on June 16, the Soviet government responded and sent a detachment of tanks, BMPs, and crews to guard the government in Kabul and to secure the Bagram and Shindand airfields. In response to this request, an airborne battalion arrived at the Bagram Air Base on July 7, and ground forces were deployed from Turkmenistan territory into northern Afghanistan, securing the supply lines.
Experience in the mountainous Afghan landscape soon made the shortcomings of standard MBTs apparent, namely their lack of gun elevation, esp. when attacking hideouts and posts in high locations. While the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” was readily available and used against such targets, it lacked range and firepower to take out protected posts at distances more than 2.000 m away. This led to the decision to send roundabout 40 ZSU-62s to the Afghan theatre of operations, where they were primarily used against ground targets – both fortifications as well as armored and unarmored vehicles. The weapons’ precision and range proved to be valuable assets, with devastating effect, and the vehicles remained in active service until 1985 when their role was more and more taken over by helicopters and aircraft like the new Su-25. The ZSU-62 were, nevertheless, still employed for aerial airfield defense and as a deterrent against ground attacks.
With the USSR’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988 and 1989, the last operational ZSU-62s were retired. In the training units, the vehicles had already been replaced by ZSU-23-4s by 1984.
Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, radar operator, driver)
Weight: 37 t (41 short tons; 36 long tons)
Length: 6.63 m (21 ft 9 in) hull only
9.22 m (30 ft 3½ in) with barrel in forward position
Width: 3.30 m (10 ft 10 in)
Height: 3.88 m (12 ft 9 in) with search radar fully extended,
2.84 m (9 ft 3¾ in) with search radar stowed
Suspension: Torsion bar
Ground clearance: 425 mm (16.7 in)
Fuel capacity: 960 l
Armor:
20 mm (hull bottom) – 102 mm (hull front)
Performance:
Speed: 50 km/h (31 mph) on roads,
40 km/h (25 mph) cross country)
Range: 450 km (280 mi) on road;
650 km (400 mi) with two 200 l (53 US gal; 44 imp gal) extra fuel tanks;
320 km (200 mi) cross-country
450 km (280 mi) with two 200-liter extra fuel tanks
Climbing ability: 0.7 m (2.3')
Maximum climb gradient: 30°
Trench crossing ability: 2.5 m (8.2')
Fording depth: 1.0 m (3.3')
Operational range: 500 km (310 mi)
Power/weight: 14.5 hp/tonne (10.8 kW/tonne)
Engine:
1x V-55 12-cylinder 4-stroke one-chamber 38.88 liter water-cooled diesel engine
with 581 hp (433 kW) at 2,000 rpm
Transmission:
Hydromechanical
Armament:
2× S-68 57mm (1.5 in) cannon with 255 rounds each
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional tank model came to be as a classic what-if, based on the question “what could have been a successor of the Soviet ZSU-57-2 SPAAG?”. Not an existential question that comes to your mind frequently, but it made me wonder – also because the real-world successor, the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka”, lacked the ZSU-57-2’s range and large-caliber firepower.
From this conceptual basis I decided to retain the 57mm twin guns, add an RPK-2 radar and mount these into a fully enclosed turret. The latter became a leftover M48 turret, which was suitably bulky, and the gun mount was taken from a Modelcollect E-75 SPAAG. However, both were heavily modified: the gun mount lost its boxy armor protection, just the brass barrels and the joint at the base were retained, the rest was scratched from styrene bits and wire. To accept the much taller weapon mount, the turret front had to be re-sculpted with putty, resulting in a boxier shape with steeper side walls – but the whole affair looks very organic. A simpler commander cupola was used and the whole radar dish arrangement on the rear roof was scratched, too.
The hull came from a Trumpeter T-62, just for the reasons explained in the background: the T-54/55 had a relatively small turret ring, and this caused severe development problems, because the MBT could not take a bigger turret and with it a more powerful cannon. Since this SPAAG would have been developed a couple of years later than the T-54/55, its successor, the T-62, appeared logical, and the “marriage” with the M48 turret worked like a charm. Even the turret’s adapter had the same diameter as the hull opening, I just had to modify the notches that hold it in place! The hull itself remained unmodified.
Painting and markings:
I wanted to place this SPAAG into the Afghanistan theatre of operations, and this was historically not very easy since I had to bridge some fifteen years of service to make this idea work. However, I found a story for the background, and the model received an appropriate paint scheme, based on real world vehicles around 1980 (actually from a BMP-1 operated in northern Afghanistan).
The camouflage consists of three tones, a pale/greyish sand, an olive drab tone and some contrasts in a dark, dull brown – it reminds of the US Army’s more complex MERDC scheme. The paints became Humbrol 167 (Hemp), Tamiya XF-62 (Olive Drab) and Humbrol 98 (Chocolate), even though the green appears darker than expected due to the high contrast with the sand tone.
The model received an overall washing with dark brown, highly thinned acrylic paint, and some dry-brushing with cream, faded olive drab and light grey. The few markings/decals were taken from the T-62 kit, and everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish before the lower areas were finally dusted with a greyish-sand brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.
A plausible result, even though a cast turret might not appear to be a natural choice for a SPAAG? But the AMX-30 SPAAG from 1969 had a very similar design and there was a German prototype called “MATADOR” (a Gepard forerunner from 1968) that had a turret of similar shape, too. However, the kitbashed/scratched turret looks really good and convincing, and the T-62 hull is a great match for it in shape, size and timeframe. The ZSU-62 turned out way better than hoped for! :D
Contemplating the meaning of life, and other important questions. Chitabe/Chobe in Okavango Delta, Botswana. July, 2015. Unedited
Walking on foot brings you down to the very stark, naked core of existence. We travel too much in airplanes and cars. It’s an existential quality that we are losing. It’s almost like a credo of religion that we should walk.
There is, of course, something inherently romantic—if not heroic—about the extreme solitary explorer enveloped by nature. The very image of Herzog on foot recalls the iconic 19th-century paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, especially his Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, with its lone figure staring out at the wide vista above the clouds.
'Truth itself wanders through the forests,' Herzog writes near the end. Yet here he embroiders his memories for effect: The vast swath of geography between Munich and Paris is littered with industrial towns and cities.
Once he comes out on the other end, traversing the deforested Champs-Élysées (“We were close to what they call the breath of danger”), Herzog emerges victorious.
― Of Walking in Ice: (Munich-Paris, 23 November–14 December 1974)
by Werner Herzog
Gleetings. To you, personally. I mean that most sincerely.
Well, so, Superman has got Existential Ennui real bad, and he calls in Svenpsychiatrist Troll for guidance.
You see, being a mild mannered junior reporter is quite boring and not at all rock and roll, which is what Superman longs for, in his water and his bones.
"It is all in the hair, my lad !" suggests Svenpsychiatrist.
"You mean...my cow-lick ?"
"Exactly that !"
"I am...the spiritual heir of..of...Elvis !"
"Warm, warm..."
"Little RICHARD ! Oh, wow, oh,.."
"Think of..shooting stars...in the night sky.."
Yes, Superman will have two secret identities, and will report faithfully on world affairs during the day, but at night...go, cat, go.
Deep in his heart of hearts Svenpsychiatrist longs to sing French chansons in a strangely masculine voice in a lounge, not necessarily in France, mind, and he cries himself to sleep, wishing, and hoping.
Well, that's the way the croissant crumbles, life's a minestrone after all.
Walk Tall !
It's been a good while since we've treated you to another exciting instalment of 'Other People's Graffiti' so here it goes. As graffiti goes I think this one is quite special as it just goes to show how creative kids can be if you give them a bit of chalk. It would seem most kids have gone for flowers and the like but one rebellious little tyke has gone straight for lettering and next levelled it with 'help i'm trapped'. Aren't we all. If he recognises the existential pain of existence at that age he'll make a great artist...
Cheers
id-iom
One to a common existential question for example
But who will comfort me ?
"My soul is a weary
And beaten down from ...
All my misery
Ah lord ...
who will comfort me ? "
Charité bien ordonnée
Commence par soi meme ...
Well organized charity
Begins with one self ...
It would so appear
:-)
g
Stukely Sud
Québec
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvA30b901Uo&playnext=1&li...
Who will comfort me - Melody Gardot ( live at Abbey Road 2009 )
This is a reference to Henri the Existential Cat. Ever since I met Henri last week, I have been looking at Jester to see if he could look as melancholy as Henri, being an almost black cat. Also, I was thinking that Henri's misery might be a projection triggered by the dolorous French narration and music. But no, Jester is a calm and serene character with not a miserable bone in his body.
If you like cats, or even if you don't, you've got to meet Henri:
- Henri 1
- Henri 2
- Henri 3.
Taken with iPhone 4S.
This costume seemed to cause an existential crisis in Matt. He simiply looked at it and I think said "he's won". And walked away.
APRIL 13, 2023 WASHINGTON DC. WORLD BANK GROUP/ INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 2023 SPRING MEETINGS.
Accelerating Development in an Age of Global Crisis
The existential threat of climate change, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, persistent high inflation and increased fragility have injected volatility and uncertainty into the global economy – a reality that may continue for a while. The panel of speakers explore central questions around what it will take to address some of the most critical issues of our time including climate change, food insecurity, pandemics, and increasing fragility and poverty.
Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank Group; Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations; José Antonio Ocampo, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Colombia; Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Morocco; Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Daniel Zelikow, Chair of the Governing Board, Development Finance Institution, J.P. Morgan. Photo: World Bank / Simone D. McCourtie
Walking on foot brings you down to the very stark, naked core of existence. We travel too much in airplanes and cars. It’s an existential quality that we are losing. It’s almost like a credo of religion that we should walk.
There is, of course, something inherently romantic—if not heroic—about the extreme solitary explorer enveloped by nature. The very image of Herzog on foot recalls the iconic 19th-century paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, especially his Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, with its lone figure staring out at the wide vista above the clouds.
'Truth itself wanders through the forests,' Herzog writes near the end. Yet here he embroiders his memories for effect: The vast swath of geography between Munich and Paris is littered with industrial towns and cities.
Once he comes out on the other end, traversing the deforested Champs-Élysées (“We were close to what they call the breath of danger”), Herzog emerges victorious.
― Of Walking in Ice: (Munich-Paris, 23 November–14 December 1974)
by Werner Herzog
The more I learn about myself, the more I fear myself. I’m told I should remain neutral. A Switzerland of the mind.
Walking on foot brings you down to the very stark, naked core of existence. We travel too much in airplanes and cars. It’s an existential quality that we are losing. It’s almost like a credo of religion that we should walk.
There is, of course, something inherently romantic—if not heroic—about the extreme solitary explorer enveloped by nature. The very image of Herzog on foot recalls the iconic 19th-century paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, especially his Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, with its lone figure staring out at the wide vista above the clouds.
'Truth itself wanders through the forests,' Herzog writes near the end. Yet here he embroiders his memories for effect: The vast swath of geography between Munich and Paris is littered with industrial towns and cities.
Once he comes out on the other end, traversing the deforested Champs-Élysées (“We were close to what they call the breath of danger”), Herzog emerges victorious.
― Of Walking in Ice: (Munich-Paris, 23 November–14 December 1974)
by Werner Herzog
It is no secret that, in many parts of the world, the dearest wishes of
childhood are considerably more existential than in other countries. To
contribute to providing survival basics for people in need, this year,
packaging expert SIG has decided once again to support a relief project
instead of giving business associates expensive Christmas gifts. The
company is helping the United Nations children's relief project, UNICEF,
with a Christmas donation of 80,000 EUR.
UNICEF's relief project in the Sudan is called Water is life. In the
Sudan, in the north-eastern corner of Africa, extreme water shortage is
a feature of everyday life for most people. More than half of the
country's rural population has no access to clean water. Recurrent
droughts cause the water supply system to collapse time and again. Many
children suffer from diarrhoea, worm infestations and inflammation of
the eyes - mostly caused by polluted water.
SIG's donation will be used in the Kordofan region, which is
particularly badly affected. UNICEF is building wells and sanitary
facilities in the region. With the help of the SIG donation, UNICEF will
be able to drill five wells, catering for 2,000 people, and equip them
with sturdy hand-pumps. "In addition, our donation will be used to equip
five schools with separate sanitary facilities for girls and boys, to
improve sanitation", says Dr Josef Collin, Head of Corporate Services at
SIG in Linnich, who has been personally involved with humanitarian aid
projects for many years. On a number of occasions, he has initiated
major projects on SIG's behalf, to support people in emergency in
cooperation with UNICEF, and has been on-site to report on the progress
of the projects. It was in this way, for example, that SIG supported
UNICEF's 'School in a box' project with a Christmas donation in 2003.
This donation provided study materials for 26,400 children in
Afghanistan.
"As an international group of companies, social responsibility is a
given for us. That's why we've been supporting various relief projects
around the world for years", says Rolf-Dieter Rademacher, CEO of SIG.
This is how the link with UNICEF was first established. UNICEF works
throughout the world to provide children with their basic needs for
survival. With regard to their ongoing development work, the
organisation mainly focuses on health, balanced nutrition, clean water,
education, HIV/AIDS and shelter. At the forefront of the relief work
activities are caring for AIDS orphans, and the fight against
mother-to-child transmission of the AIDS virus. In addition, UNICEF
works to support children affected by war, refugee children, child
soldiers, child labourers, and displaced and trafficked children, and
the organisation campaigns to reduce poverty.
Poetry, in combination with harmony, can embellish the soul and ignite a sparkle so real which will never burn out. Together they form an intricate and rhythmic bond that refurbishes the existential nature of one’s soul. In unison, poetry and harmony strive to accomplish what is so crucial to survival. They are systematically woven in tandem, enabling the mind to foster a network of intense placidity. When poetry and harmony entertain the soul, they delineate a momentum of divine ensemble … it is resurrection at its zenith.
Why does poetry enamor with boundless structure that which is immeasurable and intangible? Why does poetry seek to restore that which is destructible and lost? Poetry tends to iron out the creases, envelope the empty spaces and metabolize one’s body. In doing so, it enlightens the mind, softens the pace of a beating heart and fine tunes the brain to a rhythm, a juncture, a conducive benevolence, where one is mesmerized by a sunrise and bewitched by a sunset.
We are destined to live a whole and rewarding life. There are those occasions when our lives can turn tumultuous and turbulent. In these times, it would be worthy to slow down our pace and restore harmony and tranquility by reaching for that favorite poem. We have the capacity to disable the turmoil in our mind by shutting out that which is the cause of agitation and chaos.
Laura Simoes
People who have the official Loki figure, please let me know if you think this is the same head or if i got a knock-off. i really like him anyway, i'm just sort of curious how good the knock-offs are. for the record i thought i was buying an actual official head like how they separate figs up into parts for kit-bashing. it was $30... so if it was fake, i was cheated a bit, but nothing earth-shattering. i still feel happy to have a good likeness for so little when i didn't need the whole costume, etc. and i wanted to put him on a smaller body anyway.
Walking on foot brings you down to the very stark, naked core of existence. We travel too much in airplanes and cars. It’s an existential quality that we are losing. It’s almost like a credo of religion that we should walk.
There is, of course, something inherently romantic—if not heroic—about the extreme solitary explorer enveloped by nature. The very image of Herzog on foot recalls the iconic 19th-century paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, especially his Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, with its lone figure staring out at the wide vista above the clouds.
'Truth itself wanders through the forests,' Herzog writes near the end. Yet here he embroiders his memories for effect: The vast swath of geography between Munich and Paris is littered with industrial towns and cities.
Once he comes out on the other end, traversing the deforested Champs-Élysées (“We were close to what they call the breath of danger”), Herzog emerges victorious.
― Of Walking in Ice: (Munich-Paris, 23 November–14 December 1974)
by Werner Herzog
I know you saw this before, but I decided liked the slide-film version better. Bigger.
Random note... as a college kid visiting Norway I got to see the The Scream and "Madonna", two paintings that were stolen in 2004 out of the Munch museum in Oslo. Glad they were recovered, though it sounds like they got a bit trashed.
I am having trouble sleeping this night/morning and I thought of the healing powers of the flickr community. I figure it certainly can't hurt...
My brother, Kent is going through some really hard times right now--financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, existentially, the whole gamut. He is the youngest of the four of us. As such, he really got the brunt of a lot of messiness in our family--my mother's mental illness, my parent's divorce (he was 16), and on and on. He is having a really difficult time dealing with the death of our Mom this past May. He has had some really unhealthy coping mechanisms in the past (and still does to a lesser extent) but he is trying really hard and cannot seem to get out of the horrible cycle he has been in for so long.
He really is a genius---such a quick mind and so incredibly creative with his writing, drawing, and wood burning. He is also so very generous with whatever he has and has such a deep and warm heart albeit very scarred.
All of us have been trying to help him in whatever ways we can, but I thought I would open it up to everyone to give you the opportunity to send some positive vibes his way.
~Thank you!!
============================================================================*
All My Friends by Counting Crows
***This song has always reminded me of Kent---not just the waiting for a girl part but the waiting for part---especially the last 2 lines.***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTM2Zkjk4dg
thought i might get a rocket ride
when i was a child but it was a lie
that i told myself when i needed something good
at 17 had a better dream
now i'm 33 and it isn't me
but i'd think of something better if i could
all my friends and lovers leave me behind
i'm still looking for a girl
one way or another
i'm just hoping to find a way
to put my feet out in the world
caught some grief from a falling leaf
as she tumbled down to the dirty ground
said i shoulda put her back there if i could
but everyone needs a better day
and i'm trying to find me a better way
to get from the things i do to the things i should
all my friends and lovers leave me alone
to try and have a little fun
one way or another
i'm just wish i had known
to go out walking in the sun
find out if you were the one
do you wanna come a little closer?
do you wanna dance with me?
do you wanna hum a little harder now?
can you see her waiting there?
can you see her? cause i'm almost there
can you see her waiting there for someone like me?
all you want is a beauty queen
not a superstar
but everybody's dream machine
all you want is a place to lay your head
you go to sleep dreaming how you would
be a different kind if you thought you could
but you come awake the way you are instead
all my friends and lovers shine like the sun
i just turn and walk away
one way or another
i'm not coming undone
i'm just waiting for the day
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y1sTkgkfxM
Shoot location: The Photographer's Workshop slurl.com/secondlife/Trapper/97/78/3
June 29, 2017 - Aspen, Colorado, USA: Aspen Institute Ideas Festival:
438 - Pandemics and the Existential Threat to Global Security (Priority)
Ron Klain, Lisa Monaco, Nancy Sullivan
Moderator: Tommy Vietor
St. Regis Hotel Ballroom
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Photo by Ian Wagreich
Hours have passed and I have seen
The terror I am stuck between
Who I've been
And who I'm thinking
I could be
I have been working a lot this week and for some reason I am extra exhausted. I am so happy it is Friday! I think being a barista is making me not only fatter but more sluggish since I overdose on espresso daily. I am also at a serious crossroads as to where I am going in my life... but I guess aren't we all?
APRIL 13, 2023 WASHINGTON DC. WORLD BANK GROUP/ INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 2023 SPRING MEETINGS.
Accelerating Development in an Age of Global Crisis
The existential threat of climate change, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, persistent high inflation and increased fragility have injected volatility and uncertainty into the global economy – a reality that may continue for a while. The panel of speakers explore central questions around what it will take to address some of the most critical issues of our time including climate change, food insecurity, pandemics, and increasing fragility and poverty.
Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank Group; Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations; José Antonio Ocampo, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Colombia; Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Morocco; Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Daniel Zelikow, Chair of the Governing Board, Development Finance Institution, J.P. Morgan. Photo: World Bank / Simone D. McCourtie