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from my shoot early this year.

 

Model: Blue

 

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Forming one side of Piazza del Duomo and opening on the other side to Piazza della Scala, the grand Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II was designed by Giuseppe Mengoni and built between 1865 and 1877. It was then the largest shopping arcade in Europe, with a dome soaring 48 meters above its mosaic floor.

 

Marking the beginning of modern architecture in Italy, today it stands as a splendid example of 19th-century industrial iron and glass construction. And it's still a beautiful, vibrant place where locals meet for lunch or coffee in its elegant cafés and browse in its luxury shops. It is so much a part of local life that the inhabitants of Milan refer to it as "il salotto" (the salon) [planetware.com]

Southern pylon and the Rubrica Engineering Form Travellers used to construct the main bridge deck. Temporary bridge deck support pier under construction (Far left)............Please note ALL pictures on this Photostream are Copyright Protected

formato A5, schizzo a penna, acquerello e ink brushes, su carta pura cellulosa liscia. da fotografia

As you study this photograph, you see the many forms of water. You see waterfalls of different speeds, some short, some tall, grouped, single, arced, straight, and even a few which have all of these characteristics. Regardless of its characteristic, water doesn't stop when a boulder is in its way. We have more to learn from this natural resource.

 

This looks best full-screen.

Photo # KS5_8967bw.

Location: Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas. May/2014.

(c) Kelly Shipp Photography.

Active 1881 / 1959

Formed by the amalgamation of

34th Regiment of Foot formed 1772

55th Regiment of Foot formed 1755.

Motto Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense.

Evil Be To Him Who Evil Thinks.

March John Peel

Anniversaries 25th October Arroyo Day.

 

As the 34th/55th served in The War of Spanish Succession, The Jacobite Rebellion, The French and Indian War, The Seven Years War, The American Revolutionary War, The Napoleonic War,

The Upper Canadian Rebellion, The Crimean War, The lndian Mutiny and The Boar War.

ln The Great War saw action at Gallipoli, The Somme, Arras, Messines, Ypres and Cambrai just to name a few. ln that war they won 64 battle honours. They lost 7,450 men and were honoured with 5 Victoria Crosses.

ln World War 2 They served at Dunkirk and took part in a desperate rear guard action. They also served at Tobruk and Burma where they formed part of Wingates long penetration group. They also took part in The Normandy Landings on D Day. The Laurel leaves near the centre of the badge represent heroic conduct at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. At the centre of the badge is a Chinese Dragon and the word China. This is for service in the Chinese war of 1840/42. A well served regiment now part of The Duke of Lancaster Regiment

Viola trinervata forma semialba, rocky hillsides adjacent to WA Hwy. 821 (Canyon Rd.), Yakima River Canyon, north of Roza, Kittitas Co., WA, 13 Apr 2021.

Twisting Light #3. The next experimental shot exploring the patterns formed by light passing through shaped and formed plastics. These are analog images taken direct onto 35mm film.

 

I'd be interested to see what they remind you of.

  

Building on narrow corner plot between Crossway and John Campbell Road, Dalston

Tortue, coq, poussin et en train de gonfler, le joueur de cornemuse au vestival des ballons de Château d'Oex

form the boundary of wildflower field in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

embodied form: 172

6.20.16 nll

 

happy solstice!

This is a very popular dance form in South India. It is oldest of all classical dance forms in India. Dance of mind & soul. It is extremely traditional and known for its grace, purity, tenderness, staturesque & sculpturesque poses. It uplifts the dancer and the beholder to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. The dancer is considered as a worshiper, worshiper of the Divine. An embodiment of beauty, charm and gracefulness.

 

The general interpretation for the name is

BHAva(expression) + RAga (music) + TAla(rhythm) + NATYAM(dance) = Bharatanatyam

 

Origin of Bharatanatyam

 

The Gods & Godesses pleaded Lord Brahma to create another veda which would be simple for the common man to understand. It is believed that considering this request Lord Brahma created the Panchamaveda, Fifth veda, Natyaveda, an essence of the other four vedas. It is believed that he has taken pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya (gesture) from the Yajurveda, geet (music and chant) from Samaveda and rasa (sentiment and emotional element) from Atharvaveda to form the fifth veda, Natyaveda.

 

After creating this natyaveda, Lord Brahma gave the same to sage Bharata and asked him to popularise this veda on earth. Following the words of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote Natyashastra or the Science of Dramaturgy, a great, comprehensive work on the science and technique of Indian drama, dance and music.Bharatanatyam might have got its name from sage Bharata also.The dancers still follow this work to perform.

 

There is also another story which says that Godess Parvathi tought this dance form to Usha, daughter of Banasura, a demon. Usha taught the same to the Gopikas of the city of Dwaraka, Lord Krishna's birth place. Thus the divine dance form Bharatanatyam was introduced to the mankind.

 

In Indian mythology,Lord Shiva is considered as the supreme lord of dance. This divine art form is performed by Lord Shiva & his wife Goddess Parvathi. The Dance performd by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, which depicts his violent nature as the distructor of the universe. The tandava performed with joy is called Ananda Tandava and performed in violent mood is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava. Namely Ananda Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samara Tandava, Kaali tandava, Uma Tandava and Gauri Tandava. There are few people who believa that there are 16 types of Tandava. Tandava has vigourous, brisk movements.The dance performed by Goddess Parvathi is known as Lasya, in which the movements are gentle, graceful and sometimes erotic also. Some scholars call Lasya as the feminine version of Tandava. Lasya has 2 kinds. Jarita Lasya and Yauvaka Lasya.

 

The art form has definitely gone through lot of changes over the years. In olden days it was performed mostly by female artists. They were called Devadasis, who would perform in the temples. These devadasis were accomplished artists who would sing, dance, play many instruments. They were well worsed in sanskrit & other languages which helped them to interpret compositions which they would perform. But this tradition came to an end as the devadasis lost their position in the society.

 

Then dance entered the royal courts. Here the artists called Rajanartakis, performed in the courts of kings who gave them shelter.Even these were accomplished artists like devadasis.

 

The next well-documented period of dance history is far more recent. In the first half of the 19th century the dance tradition was revitalized and defined anew through the contributions of four talented brothers (known today as the Tanjore Quartet)Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah and Vadivelu. By coordinating their diverse talents, the four managed to organize all the basic dance movements of pure dance into a progressive series of lessons [adavu chapters]. Each adavu (basic unit of motion) was taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed sequences based upon the rhythmic contour of a musical composition (Krishnamoorthy Pillai). In addition the brothers composed new music specifically for the dance, and introduced a different sequence of items which integrated the various aspects of dance and music into a carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. This infusion of creative energy marks the early 19th century as one of the most innovative periods in the history of Indian dance.

 

The contribution of Udayshankar, Rukminidevi Arundale and Balasaraswathi, in the 20th century, cannot be forgotten at this juncture.

 

Even though Bharatanatyam has gone through lot of changes, it still has its roots deep into the religious and rich mythological heritage of India. In the modern day scenario it is performed by both male & female artists. Many learn as a hobby and few make it as a profession. Whether taken as a hobby or a profession it certainly needs lot of practice,concentration and dedication.

  

About Bharatanatyam

 

Bharatanatyam is evenly divided between three elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya .

 

Nritta : Rhythmic Element.Interprits the language of rhythm with the help of body movements.

 

Nritya : Combination of Rhythm with Expression.Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gaites and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.

 

Natya : Dramatic Element.Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.

 

Nritta

Nritta can be broadly divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of a leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make a Angahara. 4 to 5 Angaharas also make a Mandala. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashatra. The 13 Nritta Hastas (explained later) are used to perform nritta. The rythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Aduvus. Number of aduvus constitute a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Muktaya or Teermana.

There are varieties of Aduvus like

 

Tattaduvu

Mettaduvu

Nataduvu

Kattaduvu

Kudittamettaduvu

Maiaduvu

Mandiaduvu

Jati

Nadai

Ardi

 

There are 12 aduvus in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total. Only about 70 - 80 are in practice. The aduvus are more or less Karanas. Hence can be concluded that there are 108 aduvus. The 108 Karanas or Aduvus are carved in the Chidambaram Temple in Tanjore, Tamilnadu, India. To perform an aduvu aramandi, bending of the knees is very very important.

 

The entire body is divided as Anga, Pratyanga and Upaanga.

Anga

Anganyatra shirohastau vaksha paarshwakateetatau

Paadaviti shaduktaani greevamapyapare jaguhu

Head, Hands, Chest, Waist, Bottom, Legs are the Six Angas. Some people include Neck also.

 

Pratyanga

Pratyangaani twathaskandhau baahoo prushtam tathodaram

ooroo janghe shadityahurapare manibandhakau

jaanooneekoorparamiti trayamapyadhikam jaguhu

Shoulders, Arms, Stomuch, thighs, Knee are the Six Pratyangas. Some people include Wrist, elbow and Ankle also.

 

Upaanga

Drushtibhrooputatarashcha kapolau naasikaahanuhu

Adharodashanaa jihwaa chubukam vadanam tatha

Upaangani dwadashitaanyanyaanyangaani santi cha

Paarshnee gulbautathangulyaa karayoho padayostale

Sight, Eyebrow, Eye lids, Eye balls, Cheeks, Nose, Gums, Lower Lip, Teeth, Tongue, Chin and Face are the 12 Upaangas. Few people include Heels, Fingers, Feet, Palm also into upaangas.

Pratynaga and Upaangas should move along with the Angas.

Anga Lakshana, the way of moving body parts, are described below.

 

Shirobhedha - Head Movement

Greevabhedha - Neck Movement

Drushtibhedha - Eye Movement

Paadabhedha

Mandala - Standing Posture

Utplavana - Leaps

Bhramari - Circling Movement

Chari - Leg Movement

Gatibhedha - Charecteristic walks and

Hastas or Mudras - Hand Movements

Asamyuta Hasta

Samyuta Hasta

Deva Hasta

Dashavatara Hasta

Navagraha Hasta

Jaati Hasta

Bandhu Hasta

Nritta Hasta

  

When all Angas(main body parts) coordinate (along with pratyanga and upaanga) the artist is said to have Angashudhi. Anga meaning body parts and shudhi, meaning perfect. Any dancer should try to achive this perfection. The Natyashastra, which talks about all aspects of Bharatanatyam, quotes shlokas to perform all the above movements. All the above said movements are dealt in detail in the respective links.

 

Aspects of Abhinaya

 

The expressions which are shown to express poetic meanings is Abinaya. Here the emphasis is more on facial expressions than rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as

Angikabhinaya

Vachikabhinaya

Aharyabhinaya

Satvikabhinaya

 

Angikabhinaya : Expressing the meanings of lyrics using the body parts like Head, Hands, Legs etc. is Angikabhinaya. The Bhedas which i have explained above come under Angikabhinaya.

Vachikabhinaya : Expressing the Story using narrations in the dance drama is Vachikabhinaya.

Aharyabhinaya : Imitating the Costumes, Jewellary, Make-up etc. in a dance comes under Aharyabhinaya.

Satvikabhinaya :Showing the Bhava(moods) come under Satvikabhinaya.

 

Lord Shiva is praised as the embodiment of the above 4 types of abinaya in this following shloka.

 

Angikam bhuvanam yasya

Vachicam sarva vangmayam

Aharyam chandra taradi

tam vande satvikam shivam.

 

Meaning for the above shloka is

 

We bow to Him the benevolent One

Whose limbs are the world,

Whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,

Whose costume is the moon and the stars..."

 

In Lord Shiva's well-known pose of NATARAJA,

his right hand holds the drum of creation - symbolising a new awakening

his left hand holds fire - representing destruction of the old order

his other right hand is raised in blessing

the other left hand points to his left foot, which has crushed demon Muyalaka - representing ignorance.

 

There are nine main or primary emotions, Sthayibhavas. It is also termed as Rasa(Mood).

  

Shringara - Love

Hasya - Mirth

Veera - Heroism

Roudra - Anger

Bhayanaka - Terror

Bheebatsa - Disgust

Adbhuta - Wonder

Karuna - Compassion

Shanta - Tranquility

  

Vatsalya(Parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava.

Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate emotions) constitute the state of rasa.

 

Now i would like to talk about Nayika(the Heroine) and Nayaka (the Hero) bhavas.

 

The Nayika Bhava

 

The shastras have classified the basic mental status of woman, the Nayika, into Eight divisions, called Ashtanayika bhavas. These divisions portray the heroine in different situations, express different feelings, sentiments & reactions.

The Ashtanayika bhava are

Abhisarika

Kalahantarika

Khandita

Proshitapathika

Swadheenapathika

Vasakasajjika

Virahotkantita

Vipralabda

  

Abhisarika - She is the one who boldly goes out to meet her lover.

Kalahantarika - She is the one who is repenting her hastiness in quarrelling with her lover, which has resulted in their seperation.

Khandita - She is the one who is angry with her lover for causing dissapointment.

Proshitapathika - She is the one who is suffering in the absence of her beloved, who is away on a long journey.

Swadheenapathika - She is the one who is proud of her husband's or beloved's love and loyalty.

Vasakasajjika - She is the one who is preparing for the arrival of her beloved, by decorating herself and her surroundings. to provide a pleasent welcome to her lover.

Virahotkantita - She is the one who is seperated from her lover & is yearning for reunion.

Vipralabda - She is the one who is dissapointed that her lover has not turned up at the tryst as he promised.

 

Other classifications of the Nayika bhava are

Mugdha - Inexperienced in love.

Madhya - Partly Experienced in love.

Pragalbha - Matured in the art of love.

This Pragalbha Nayika is further classified as

Dheera

Adheera

Dheeraadheera

Sweeya - Married & faithful to her husband.

Parakeeya - Married but in love with another man.

Samanya - A free woman, who truly belongs to any man for a price.

Jyeshta - The preferred one.

Kanishta - The other woman.

 

Further classifications are

Uttama - Self-controlled & tolerant.

Madhyama - Literally the middle one, who gives as she gets.

Adhama - Literally the low one, who has no self restraint.

 

The Companion to the Nayika plays an important role in any padam, javali or Ashtapadi. This Companion is the one to whom the Nayika will convey her feelings, she is the one who will take the message,if any, from the nayika to the nayaka, she is the one who will sort out the differences between the nayika & the nayaka. This companion is usuallly a girl who is close to the Nayika.

The classification of the Companion is as follows.

Daasi - Servant

Sakhi - Friend

Kaaroo - Woman from a lower caste

Chatriya - Step Sister

Prativamshini - Neighbour

Lindini - Saint

Shilpani - Artist

Swaa - Nayika herself as a messenger

The Nayaka Bhava

Just like the heroines, the moods and emotions of the hero are also classified into different divisions. The main division is

 

Dheerodaatta eg. Lord Rama

Dheeroddhata eg. Demon Ravana

Dheeralalita eg. Vatsaraaja

Dheerashanta eg. Buddha

 

The other classification is

Pati - Married & faithful to his wife.

Upapati - Married but in love with another woman.

Vaisika - One who pays & enjoys women.

 

Further Nayaka classifications

Anukoola - Faithful to the Woman. eg. Lord Rama

Dakshina - Loves all his wives or women. eg. Arjuna

Drishta - When rejected, pleads to be accepted by his woman. eg. Vaali

Shatha - The deceitful one. eg. Lord Krishna

 

Most of the ashtanayika bhavas are experienced by the Nayaka also though the depiction of ashtanayika is more than the nayaka.

Nayaka's Companion plays an important role too. This companian is categorised as

Peetamardhana

Vita

Cheta

Vidooshaka

  

Arangetram

 

Arangetram is a tamil word.Aranga meaning raised floor and Etram meaning climbing in Tamil,one of the south indian languages. It is also called Rangapravesha in Kannada, another south indian language, Ranga meaning Stage and Pravesha meaning Enter. Ideally this should be the first public performance of an artist. After learning bharatanatyam under the guidance of an accomplished guru, this is the occation for the proud guru to present his/her deciple to the public. This is the testing time for both the guru & the shishya(deciple) as the guru's knowledge & the deciple's talent both are judged by the public. Hence, the guru will decide when the deciple is ready for public appearence. Atleast 10 - 12 years of training is necessary to give a comendable performance.

 

This arangetram was known as Gejjepooje in old mysore district, meaning worshiping the jingles in kannada, a south indian language.For a dancer, jingles are considered devine. In olden days, deciples were not allowed to wear jingles till their first public performance. In their first performance, they were made to worship the jingles, wear them & then perform.

Accompaniments play a major role in the making of a memorable dance performance.Basic accompaniments are a Singer, Mridangam player, Violin player and ofcource the Natuvanga. Veena,Flute and other instruments are optional. These people sit in the corner of a stage or in a place in front of the stage which will be in a lower level than that of the stage.

The artist will wear lot of jewellery, make-up and a specially stitched dress. Jingles are a must.

Usually duration of an arangetram will be 2 1/2 - 3 hours. To perform for such long hours one must have good stamina and concentration. This time is divided into two halves.

 

In the first half the artists generally perform

 

Pushpanjali or Alaripu

Jatiswara

Shabda

Varna

 

In the second half

 

Padam

Ashtapadi or Devaranama

Tillana

Mangala

 

Pushpanjali

This is an item where the artist salutes to god, guru and the audience. This item is a warmup item where the artist prepares the body for the next few hours of vigorous performance.

 

Alaripu

This is a tamil word.Alar meaning to bloom. It comprises of set of movements without any meaning or expression. The movements are performed for syllables set for a beat(Tala). The complexity of the movements gradually increase. The steps are so formed that it looks like a bud blooming into a flower. This is also a warmup piece to prepare the body for the next few hours of performance. Eventhough there is no meaning, this can also be considered as an item where the artist salutes god,guru and the audience.

 

Jatiswaram

This is also an item where the movements will not convey any meaning or theme. Here the steps are more complex than the previous items. The composition can have amazing postures and teermanas or muktayas(ending of a jati). This is a musical composition set to a raga unlike alaripu which has only syllables.

 

Shabda

This is a dance item with both nritta & abinaya. Usually the theme of the lyrics will be devotional like praising lord krishna, depicting lord krishna's childhood , praising a king etc.The movements here are leisurely.

 

Varna

This is the item where the dancers are tested for their capacity to perform abinaya & nritta. This can be treated as a benchmark to judge the artist's talent.The item will contain many complex steps and will have lot of room for expressions also. To perform this item one should have lot of stamina & concentration. The lyrics can be devotional, praising a king etc. Varna can also have shrigara rasa as its theme.

 

Padam

In this dance item the dancer's abhinaya is put into test. It narrates expression of divine love or pangs of seperation in love. The tempo is slow and the performance is based on a specific mood of love.Padams will have Nayaka(Hero, Supreme lover, Divine Lord)& Nayika(Heroine, the yearning soul). Heroine will talk to her friend(sakhi) and narrate her feelings towards her hero. The lyrics can be about how the hero has betrayed, how he has delayed the arrival, how she is angry with her beloved hero etc. The Nayika and Nayaka Bhavas are explained in detail Here.

 

Ashtapadi

These are poet Jayadeva's Sanskrit compositions called Geetagovinda, an extremely romantic composition. It describes the love of Krishna and Radha in twelve cantos containing 24 songs. The songs are sung by Krishna or Radha or by Radha's maid. Each Canto is named differently considering Krishna's status of mind.

 

Saamodadamodara - Joyful Krishna

Aakleshakeshava - Careless Krishna

Mugdhamadhusoodhana - Bewildered Krishna

Snigdhamadhusoodhana - Tender Krishna

Saakankshapundareekaksha - Longing Krishna

Kuntavaikunta - Indolent Krishna

Naagaranaaraayana - Cunning Krishna

Vilakshalakshmeepatihi - Abashed Krishna

Mandamukunda - Languishing Krishna

Chaturachaturbhuja - Intellegent Krishna

Saanandadamodara - Blissful Krishna

Supreetapeetambara - Ecstatic Krishna

Expressions are given foremost importance while performing these poems. Needs lot of grace. The artist should be mature enough to understand the lyrics and the situation to show the rasas.

 

Devaranama

This item is a devotional piece where the lyrics are in praise of god, describing the god etc. This is a pure abhinaya item with almost no emphasis on nritta. Usually the lyrics are in Kannada. These songs are the compositions of great mystics like Purandharadaasa, Kanakadaasa, Vijayadaasa, Vyasaraaja to name a few. The compositions are popularly known as Daasa Sahitya. It is a devotional literatures written in simple language understood by common man. It has made remarkable contribution to the spiritual and cultural upliftment of people by preaching phylosophy of Love, Devotion and Peaceful Co-Existance.

If you are looking for some compositions, here they are.

 

Tillana

This is usually the last item in any bharatanatyam performance. Tillana is full of complicated movements & postures. This will also have complicated Muktayas or Sholkattu, ending of any step or aduvu. This is mainly a nritta piece which might have a charana, a meaningfull lyrics for which abinaya is shown.

 

Mangala

Meaning ending the performance. Here the artist will again salute god, guru & the audience for making the performance a success.

 

Original source can be found here.

"The Hidden Cage" by Die Form

See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

 

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:

 

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War.

 

This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.

 

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

 

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

 

Designer:

Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson

 

Date:

1964

 

Country of Origin:

United States of America

 

Dimensions:

Overall: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)

Other: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (5.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)

 

Materials:

Titanium

 

Physical Description:

Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys; vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-type material) to reduce radar cross-section; Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.

 

Long Description:

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71 Blackbird. It is the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. The airplane was conceived when tensions with communist Eastern Europe reached levels approaching a full-blown crisis in the mid-1950s. U.S. military commanders desperately needed accurate assessments of Soviet worldwide military deployments, particularly near the Iron Curtain. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's subsonic U-2 (see NASM collection) reconnaissance aircraft was an able platform but the U. S. Air Force recognized that this relatively slow aircraft was already vulnerable to Soviet interceptors. They also understood that the rapid development of surface-to-air missile systems could put U-2 pilots at grave risk. The danger proved reality when a U-2 was shot down by a surface to air missile over the Soviet Union in 1960.

 

Lockheed's first proposal for a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. This was feasible and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12. Lockheed's clandestine 'Skunk Works' division (headed by the gifted design engineer Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson) designed the A-12 to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet). To meet these challenging requirements, Lockheed engineers overcame many daunting technical challenges. Flying more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external aircraft surfaces, which are enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet's external skin of titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe. Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph). To prevent supersonic shock waves from moving inside the engine intake causing flameouts, Johnson's team had to design a complex air intake and bypass system for the engines.

 

Skunk Works engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section design to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to achieve this by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This treatment became one of the first applications of stealth technology, but it never completely met the design goals.

 

Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, after he became airborne accidentally during high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed great promise but it needed considerable technical refinement before the CIA could fly the first operational sortie on May 31, 1967 - a surveillance flight over North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as part of the Air Force's 1129th Special Activities Squadron under the "Oxcart" program. While Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Works, however, proposed a "specific mission" version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This system evolved into the USAF's familiar SR-71.

 

Lockheed built fifteen A-12s, including a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s were modified to carry a special reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s were redesignated M-21s. These were designed to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon between the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds high enough to ignite the drone's ramjet motor. Lockheed also built three YF-12As but this type never went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed during testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of one of the "written off" YF-12As which was later used along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Including the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of extreme operational costs, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA's A-12s. These were retired in 1968 after only one year of operational missions, mostly over southeast Asia. The Air Force's 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took over the missions, flying the SR-71 beginning in the spring of 1968.

 

After the Air Force began to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird-- for the special black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.

 

Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely required two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment included a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) system that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of advanced, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry equipment designed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts. These suits were required to protect the crew in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss while at operating altitudes.

 

To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird's Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines were designed to operate continuously in afterburner. While this would appear to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird actually achieved its best "gas mileage," in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, during the Mach 3+ cruise. A typical Blackbird reconnaissance flight might require several aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Each time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker's altitude, usually about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect caused the aircraft's skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so much that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks were filled, the jet's crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and again climbed to high altitude.

 

Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, throughout its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW occasionally deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other locations to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions were flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not begin to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.

 

When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to gather intelligence from sites deep within Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a vital tool for global intelligence gathering. On many occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 provided information that proved vital in formulating successful U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews provided important intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid conducted by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened commercial shipping and American escort vessels.

 

As the performance of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-based air defense networks, the Air Force started to lose enthusiasm for the expensive program and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. Despite protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, soon led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the one SR-71B for high-speed research projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.

 

On March 6, 1990, the service career of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This special airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (2,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, '972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, more than that of any other crewman.

 

This particular SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, a former National Air and Space Museum's Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged more than a dozen '972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of 2,801.1 hours of flight time.

 

Wingspan: 55'7"

Length: 107'5"

Height: 18'6"

Weight: 170,000 Lbs

 

Reference and Further Reading:

 

Crickmore, Paul F. Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996.

 

Francillon, Rene J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1987.

 

Johnson, Clarence L. Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.

 

Miller, Jay. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. Leicester, U.K.: Midland Counties Publishing Ltd., 1995.

 

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird curatorial file, Aeronautics Division, National Air and Space Museum.

 

DAD, 11-11-01

Recently formed slope streaks are typically darker than their surroundings and appear to fade (i.e., brighten) over time. Typical characteristics of slope streaks are initiation at a point source, one streak splitting into two, deflection around or over obstacles such as small boulders or crater rims, widening below the source area up to a few hundred meters, and lengths of up to a few kilometers.

 

Image cutout is less than 5 km (3 mi) across and the spacecraft altitude was 264 km (164 mi). For full observation details including images with scale bars, visit the source link.

 

www.uahirise.org/PSP_002104_1845

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona

 

Former brewery lost in the countryside, near a Belgian village.

Ancienne brasserie abandonnée dans la campagne à proximité d'un village belge.

The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, 285-foot-tall (86.9 m) steel-framed landmarked building located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city upon its 1902 completion, at 20 floors high, and one of only two "skyscrapers" north of 14th Street—the other being the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, one block east. The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street—where the building's 87-foot (27 m) back end is located—with East 23rd Street grazing the triangle's northern (uptown) peak. As with numerous other wedge-shaped buildings, the name "Flatiron" derives from its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.

 

Called "one of the world's most iconic skyscrapers and a quintessential symbol of New York City", the building anchors the south (downtown) end of Madison Square and the north (uptown) end of the Ladies' Mile Historic District. The neighborhood around it is called the Flatiron District after its signature, iconic building. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

 

The Flatiron Building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue to the west, Broadway to the east, and East 22nd Street to the south. The western and eastern facades converge, forming a "peak" at its northern corner where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect with East 23rd Street. The shape of the site arises from Broadway's diagonal alignment relative to the Manhattan street grid. The site measures 197.5 feet (60.2 m) on Fifth Avenue, 214.5 feet (65.4 m) on Broadway, and 86 feet (26 m) on 22nd Street. Above the ground level, all three corners of the triangle are curved.

 

Adjacent buildings include the Toy Center to the north, the Sohmer Piano Building to the southwest, the Scribner Building to the south, and Madison Green to the southeast. Entrances to the New York City Subway's 23rd Street station, served by the R and ​W trains, are adjacent to the building. The Flatiron Building is at the northern end of the Ladies' Mile Historic District, which extends between 15th Street to the south and 24th Street to the north. By the 1990s, the blocks south of the building had also become known as the Flatiron District

 

At the beginning of March 1901, media outlets reported that the Newhouse family was planning to sell "Eno's flatiron" for about $2 million to Cumberland Realty Company, an investment partnership created by Harry S. Black, CEO of the Fuller Company. The Fuller Company was the first true general contractor that dealt with all aspects of buildings' construction (except for design), and they specialized in erecting skyscrapers. Black intended to construct a new headquarters building on the site, despite the recent deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood. At the end of that March, the Fuller Company organized a subsidiary to develop a building on the site. The sale was finalized in May 1901.

 

Black hired Daniel Burnham's architectural firm to design a 21-story building on the site in February 1901. It would be Burnham's first in New York City, the tallest building in Manhattan north of the Financial District, and the first skyscraper north of Union Square (at 14th Street). The Northwestern Salvage and Wrecking Company began razing the site in May 1901, after the majority of existing tenants' leases had expired. Most of the Cumberland's remaining tenants readily vacated the building in exchange for monetary compensation. The sole holdout was Winfield Scott Proskey, a retired colonel who refused to move out until his lease expired later that year. Cumberland Realty unsuccessfully attempted to deactivate Proskey's water and gas supply, and Proskey continued to live in the Cumberland while contractors demolished all of the surrounding apartments. By the end of May 1901, Cumberland Realty discovered that Proskey was bankrupt, and his creditors took over the lease and razed the rest of the Cumberland that June.

 

The New York Herald published an image of the site on June 2, 1901, with the caption "Flatiron Building". The project's structural engineer, Corydon Purdy, filed plans for a 20-story building on the site were filed that August. The Flatiron Building was not the first building of its triangular ground-plan, although it was the largest at the time of its completion. Earlier buildings with a similar shape include a triangular Roman temple built on a similarly constricted site in the city of Verulamium, Britannia; Bridge House, Leeds, England (1875); the I.O.O.F. Centennial Building (1876) in Alpena, Michigan; and the English-American Building in Atlanta (1897). The Real Estate Record and Guide published a drawing of the building in October 1901; though the drawing was captioned "The Cumberland", it was very similar to the Flatiron Building's final design.

 

The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company began producing architectural terracotta pieces for the building in August 1901. Around the same time, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) indicated that it would refuse to approve Purdy's initial plans unless the engineers submitted detailed information about the framework, fireproofing, and wind-bracing systems. Purdy complied with most of the DOB's requests, submitting detailed drawings and documents, but he balked at the department's requirement that the design include fire escapes. For reasons that are unclear, the DOB dropped its requirement that the building contain fire escapes. In addition, the building was originally legally required to contain metal-framed windows, although this would have increased the cost of construction. The city's Board of Building Commissioners had granted an exemption to Black's syndicate, prompting allegations of favoritism. A new Buildings Department commissioner was appointed at the beginning of 1902, promising to enforce city building codes; this prompted general contractor Thompson–Starrett Co. to announce that the building's window frames would be made of fireproof wood with a copper coating.

 

The building's steel frame was manufactured by the American Bridge Company in Pennsylvania. The frame had risen above street level by January 1902. Construction was then halted for several weeks, first because of a delay in steel shipments, then because of a blizzard that occurred in February. Further delays were caused by a strike at the factory of Hecla Iron Works, which was manufacturing elevators and handrails for the building. The steel was so meticulously pre-cut that, according to The New York Times, the steel pieces could be connected "without so much as the alteration of a bored hole, or the exchange of a tiny rivet". Workers used air-powered tools to rivet the steel beams together, since such equipment was more efficient than steam-powered tools at conducting power over long distances. The frame was complete by February 1902, and workers began installing the terracotta tiles as the framework of the top stories were being finished. By mid-May, the building was half-covered by terracotta tiling. The terracotta work was completed the next month, and the scaffolding in front of the building was removed. The Fifth Avenue Building Company had invested $1.5 million in the project.

 

Officials of the Fuller Company announced in August 1902 that the structure would be officially named after George A. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Company and "father of the skyscraper", who had died two years earlier. By then, the site had been known as the "flatiron" for several years; according to Christopher Gray of The New York Times, Burnham's and Fuller's architectural drawings even labeled the structure as the "Flatiron Building". Although the Fuller name was used for some time after the building's completion, locals persisted in calling it the Flatiron, to the displeasure of Harry Black and the building's contractors. In subsequent years, the edifice officially came to be known as the Flatiron Building, and the Fuller name was transferred to a newer 40-story structure at 597 Madison Avenue.

 

In the weeks before the official opening, the Fuller Company distributed six-page brochures to potential tenants and real-estate brokers. The brochures advertised the building as being "ready for occupancy" on October 1, 1902. The Fuller Company took the 19th floor for its headquarters. When completed, the Flatiron Building was much taller than others in the neighborhood; when New York City Fire Department officials tested the building's standpipes in November 1902, they found that "the 'flat-iron' building would be of great aid in fighting the fire" in any surrounding buildings. Following the building's completion, the surrounding neighborhood evolved from an entertainment district to a commercial hub. Initially, the building was topped by a flagpole, which was maintained by one man, "Steeplejack" Kay, for four decades. Henry Clay Frick expressed interest in purchasing the structure in 1904 for $5 million, but he ultimately withdrew his offer.

 

During the building's construction, Black had suggested that the "cowcatcher" retail space be installed at the northern tip of the building, occupying 93 square feet (8.6 m2) of unused space at the extreme northern end of the lot. This would maximize use of the building's lot and produce some retail income. Burnham initially refused to consider Black's suggestion, and, in April 1902, Black asked a draftsman at the Fuller Company to draw up plans for the retail space. Black submitted plans for the annex to the DOB in May 1902. The DOB rejected the initial plans because the walls were too thin, but the department approved a revised proposal that June, to Burnham's disapproval. The retail space in the "cowcatcher" was leased by United Cigar Stores.

 

Another addition to the building not in the original plan was the penthouse, which was constructed after the rest of the building had been completed. By 1905, the Fuller Company needed to expand its technical drawing facilities. As a result, the company filed plans for a penthouse with the New York City Department of Buildings that March. The penthouse would cost $10,000 and would include fireproof partitions and a staircase from the existing 20th floor. The penthouse, intended for use as artists' studios, was quickly rented out to artists such as Louis Fancher, many of whom contributed to the pulp magazines which were produced in the offices below.

 

New York, often called New York City or simply NYC, is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each of which is coextensive with a respective county. It is a global city and a cultural, financial, high-tech, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care, scientific output, life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the world's most important city and the capital of the world.

 

With an estimated population in 2022 of 8,335,897 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. New York is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities. The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world.

 

New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists in approximately 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. The city was temporarily regained by the Dutch in July 1673 and was renamed New Orange; however, the city has been named New York since November 1674. New York City was the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island, and has been the largest U.S. city ever since.

 

Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022, the New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world with a gross metropolitan product of over US$2.16 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country, it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world. The city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. New York City is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023, New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates to live. New York City is home to the highest number of billionaires, individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world

 

The written history of New York City began with the first European explorer, the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. European settlement began with the Dutch in 1608 and New Amsterdam was founded in 1624.

 

The "Sons of Liberty" campaigned against British authority in New York City, and the Stamp Act Congress of representatives from throughout the Thirteen Colonies met in the city in 1765 to organize resistance to Crown policies. The city's strategic location and status as a major seaport made it the prime target for British seizure in 1776. General George Washington lost a series of battles from which he narrowly escaped (with the notable exception of the Battle of Harlem Heights, his first victory of the war), and the British Army occupied New York and made it their base on the continent until late 1783, attracting Loyalist refugees.

 

The city served as the national capital under the Articles of Confederation from 1785 to 1789, and briefly served as the new nation's capital in 1789–90 under the United States Constitution. Under the new government, the city hosted the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States, the drafting of the United States Bill of Rights, and the first Supreme Court of the United States. The opening of the Erie Canal gave excellent steamboat connections with upstate New York and the Great Lakes, along with coastal traffic to lower New England, making the city the preeminent port on the Atlantic Ocean. The arrival of rail connections to the north and west in the 1840s and 1850s strengthened its central role.

 

Beginning in the mid-19th century, waves of new immigrants arrived from Europe dramatically changing the composition of the city and serving as workers in the expanding industries. Modern New York traces its development to the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898 and an economic and building boom following the Great Depression and World War II. Throughout its history, New York has served as a main port of entry for many immigrants, and its cultural and economic influence has made it one of the most important urban areas in the United States and the world. The economy in the 1700s was based on farming, local production, fur trading, and Atlantic jobs like shipbuilding. In the 1700s, New York was sometimes referred to as a breadbasket colony, because one of its major crops was wheat. New York colony also exported other goods included iron ore as a raw material and as manufactured goods such as tools, plows, nails and kitchen items such as kettles, pans and pots.

 

The area that eventually encompassed modern day New York was inhabited by the Lenape people. These groups of culturally and linguistically related Native Americans traditionally spoke an Algonquian language now referred to as Unami. Early European settlers called bands of Lenape by the Unami place name for where they lived, such as "Raritan" in Staten Island and New Jersey, "Canarsee" in Brooklyn, and "Hackensack" in New Jersey across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan. Some modern place names such as Raritan Bay and Canarsie are derived from Lenape names. Eastern Long Island neighbors were culturally and linguistically more closely related to the Mohegan-Pequot peoples of New England who spoke the Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language.

 

These peoples made use of the abundant waterways in the New York region for fishing, hunting trips, trade, and occasionally war. Many paths created by the indigenous peoples are now main thoroughfares, such as Broadway in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester. The Lenape developed sophisticated techniques of hunting and managing their resources. By the time of the arrival of Europeans, they were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique, which extended the productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bay. Historians estimate that at the time of European settlement, approximately 5,000 Lenape lived in 80 settlements around the region.

 

The first European visitor to the area was Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian in command of the French ship La Dauphine in 1524. It is believed he sailed into Upper New York Bay, where he encountered native Lenape, returned through the Narrows, where he anchored the night of April 17, and left to continue his voyage. He named the area New Angoulême (La Nouvelle-Angoulême) in honor of Francis I, King of France of the royal house of Valois-Angoulême and who had been Count of Angoulême from 1496 until his coronation in 1515. The name refers to the town of Angoulême, in the Charente département of France. For the next century, the area was occasionally visited by fur traders or explorers, such as by Esteban Gomez in 1525.

 

European exploration continued on September 2, 1609, when the Englishman Henry Hudson, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, sailed the Half Moon through the Narrows into Upper New York Bay. Like Christopher Columbus, Hudson was looking for a westerly passage to Asia. He never found one, but he did take note of the abundant beaver population. Beaver pelts were in fashion in Europe, fueling a lucrative business. Hudson's report on the regional beaver population served as the impetus for the founding of Dutch trading colonies in the New World. The beaver's importance in New York's history is reflected by its use on the city's official seal.

 

The first Dutch fur trading posts and settlements were in 1614 near present-day Albany, New York, the same year that New Netherland first appeared on maps. Only in May 1624 did the Dutch West India Company land a number of families at Noten Eylant (today's Governors Island) off the southern tip of Manhattan at the mouth of the North River (today's Hudson River). Soon thereafter, most likely in 1626, construction of Fort Amsterdam began. Later, the Dutch West Indies Company imported African slaves to serve as laborers; they were forced to build the wall that defended the town against English and Indian attacks. Early directors included Willem Verhulst and Peter Minuit. Willem Kieft became director in 1638 but five years later was embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present-day Jersey City, resulted in the death of 80 natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, leading to the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans and a peace treaty on August 29, 1645.

 

On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was inaugurated as director general upon his arrival and ruled as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. The colony was granted self-government in 1652, and New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653. The first mayors (burgemeesters) of New Amsterdam, Arent van Hattem and Martin Cregier, were appointed in that year. By the early 1660s, the population consisted of approximately 1500 Europeans, only about half of whom were Dutch, and 375 Africans, 300 of whom were slaves.

 

A few of the original Dutch place names have been retained, most notably Flushing (after the Dutch town of Vlissingen), Harlem (after Haarlem), and Brooklyn (after Breukelen). Few buildings, however, remain from the 17th century. The oldest recorded house still in existence in New York, the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, dates from 1652.

 

On August 27, 1664, four English frigates under the command of Col. Richard Nicolls sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender, as part of an effort by King Charles II's brother James, Duke of York, the Lord High Admiral to provoke the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Two weeks later, Stuyvesant officially capitulated by signing Articles of Surrender and in June 1665, the town was reincorporated under English law and renamed "New York" after the Duke, and Fort Orange was renamed "Fort Albany". The war ended in a Dutch victory in 1667, but the colony remained under English rule as stipulated in the Treaty of Breda. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch briefly recaptured the city in 1673, renaming the city "New Orange", before permanently ceding the colony of New Netherland to England for what is now Suriname in November 1674 at the Treaty of Westminster.

 

The colony benefited from increased immigration from Europe and its population grew faster. The Bolting Act of 1678, whereby no mill outside the city was permitted to grind wheat or corn, boosted growth until its repeal in 1694, increasing the number of houses over the period from 384 to 983.

 

In the context of the Glorious Revolution in England, Jacob Leisler led Leisler's Rebellion and effectively controlled the city and surrounding areas from 1689 to 1691, before being arrested and executed.

 

Lawyers

In New York at first, legal practitioners were full-time businessmen and merchants, with no legal training, who had watched a few court proceedings, and mostly used their own common sense together with snippets they had picked up about English law. Court proceedings were quite informal, for the judges had no more training than the attorneys.

 

By the 1760s, the situation had dramatically changed. Lawyers were essential to the rapidly growing international trade, dealing with questions of partnerships, contracts, and insurance. The sums of money involved were large, and hiring an incompetent lawyer was a very expensive proposition. Lawyers were now professionally trained, and conversant in an extremely complex language that combined highly specific legal terms and motions with a dose of Latin. Court proceedings became a baffling mystery to the ordinary layman. Lawyers became more specialized and built their reputation, and their fee schedule, on the basis of their reputation for success. But as their status, wealth and power rose, animosity grew even faster. By the 1750s and 1760s, there was a widespread attack ridiculing and demeaning the lawyers as pettifoggers (lawyers lacking sound legal skills). Their image and influence declined. The lawyers organized a bar association, but it fell apart in 1768 during the bitter political dispute between the factions based in the Delancey and Livingston families. A large fraction of the prominent lawyers were Loyalists; their clientele was often to royal authority or British merchants and financiers. They were not allowed to practice law unless they took a loyalty oath to the new United States of America. Many went to Britain or Canada (primarily to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) after losing the war.

 

For the next century, various attempts were made, and failed, to build an effective organization of lawyers. Finally a Bar Association emerged in 1869 that proved successful and continues to operate.

 

By 1700, the Lenape population of New York had diminished to 200. The Dutch West Indies Company transported African slaves to the post as trading laborers used to build the fort and stockade, and some gained freedom under the Dutch. After the seizure of the colony in 1664, the slave trade continued to be legal. In 1703, 42% of the New York households had slaves; they served as domestic servants and laborers but also became involved in skilled trades, shipping and other fields. Yet following reform in ethics according to American Enlightenment thought, by the 1770s slaves made up less than 25% of the population.

 

By the 1740s, 20% of the residents of New York were slaves, totaling about 2,500 people.

 

After a series of fires in 1741, the city panicked over rumors of its black population conspiring with some poor whites to burn the city. Historians believe their alarm was mostly fabrication and fear, but officials rounded up 31 black and 4 white people, who over a period of months were convicted of arson. Of these, the city executed 13 black people by burning them alive and hanged the remainder of those incriminated.

 

The Stamp Act and other British measures fomented dissent, particularly among Sons of Liberty who maintained a long-running skirmish with locally stationed British troops over Liberty Poles from 1766 to 1776. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York City in 1765 in the first organized resistance to British authority across the colonies. After the major defeat of the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island in late 1776, General George Washington withdrew to Manhattan Island, but with the subsequent defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington the island was effectively left to the British. The city became a haven for loyalist refugees, becoming a British stronghold for the entire war. Consequently, the area also became the focal point for Washington's espionage and intelligence-gathering throughout the war.

 

New York was greatly damaged twice by fires of suspicious origin, with the Loyalists and Patriots accusing each other of starting the conflagration. The city became the political and military center of operations for the British in North America for the remainder of the war. Continental Army officer Nathan Hale was hanged in Manhattan for espionage. In addition, the British began to hold the majority of captured American prisoners of war aboard prison ships in Wallabout Bay, across the East River in Brooklyn. More Americans lost their lives aboard these ships than died in all the battles of the war. The British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783. George Washington triumphantly returned to the city that day, as the last British forces left the city.

 

Starting in 1785 the Congress met in the city of New York under the Articles of Confederation. In 1789, New York became the first national capital under the new Constitution. The Constitution also created the current Congress of the United States, and its first sitting was at Federal Hall on Wall Street. The first Supreme Court sat there. The United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified there. George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall. New York remained the national capital until 1790, when the role was transferred to Philadelphia.

 

During the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration, a visionary development proposal called the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 which expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan, and the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the Midwestern United States and Canada. By 1835, New York had surpassed Philadelphia as the largest city in the United States. New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of Alexander Hamilton's policies and practices as the first Secretary of the Treasury.

 

In 1842, water was piped from a reservoir to supply the city for the first time.

 

The Great Irish Famine (1845–1850) brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, and by 1850 the Irish comprised one quarter of the city's population. Government institutions, including the New York City Police Department and the public schools, were established in the 1840s and 1850s to respond to growing demands of residents. In 1831, New York University was founded by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin as a non-denominal institution surrounding Washington Square Park.

 

This period started with the 1855 inauguration of Fernando Wood as the first mayor from Tammany Hall. It was the political machine based among Irish Americans that controlled the local Democratic Party. It usually dominated local politics throughout this period and into the 1930s. Public-minded members of the merchant community pressed for a Central Park, which was opened to a design competition in 1857; it became the first landscape park in an American city.

 

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the city was affected by its history of strong commercial ties to the South; before the war, half of its exports were related to cotton, including textiles from upstate mills. Together with its growing immigrant population, which was angry about conscription, sympathies among residents were divided for both the Union and Confederacy at the outbreak of war. Tensions related to the war culminated in the Draft Riots of 1863 led by Irish Catholics, who attacked black neighborhood and abolitionist homes. Many blacks left the city and moved to Brooklyn. After the Civil War, the rate of immigration from Europe grew steeply, and New York became the first stop for millions seeking a new and better life in the United States, a role acknowledged by the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

 

From 1890 to 1930, the largest cities, led by New York, were the focus of international attention. The skyscrapers and tourist attractions were widely publicized. Suburbs were emerging as bedroom communities for commuters to the central city. San Francisco dominated the West, Atlanta dominated the South, Boston dominated New England; Chicago dominated the Midwest United States. New York City dominated the entire nation in terms of communications, trade, finance, popular culture, and high culture. More than a fourth of the 300 largest corporations in 1920 were headquartered here.

 

In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city), Manhattan, and outlying areas. Manhattan and the Bronx were established as two separate boroughs and joined with three other boroughs created from parts of adjacent counties to form the new municipal government originally called "Greater New York". The Borough of Brooklyn incorporated the independent City of Brooklyn, recently joined to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge; the Borough of Queens was created from western Queens County (with the remnant established as Nassau County in 1899); and the Borough of Richmond contained all of Richmond County. Municipal governments contained within the boroughs were abolished, and the county governmental functions were absorbed by the city or each borough. In 1914, the New York State Legislature created Bronx County, making five counties coterminous with the five boroughs.

 

The Bronx had a steady boom period during 1898–1929, with a population growth by a factor of six from 200,000 in 1900 to 1.3 million in 1930. The Great Depression created a surge of unemployment, especially among the working class, and a slow-down of growth.

 

On June 15, 1904, over 1,000 people, mostly German immigrant women and children, were killed when the excursion steamship General Slocum caught fire and sank. It is the city's worst maritime disaster. On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village took the lives of 146 garment workers. In response, the city made great advancements in the fire department, building codes, and workplace regulations.

 

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication, marking its rising influence with such events as the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909. Interborough Rapid Transit (the first New York City Subway company) began operating in 1904, and the railroads operating out of Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station thrived.

 

From 1918 to 1920, New York City was affected by the largest rent strike wave in its history. Somewhere between several 10,000's and 100,000's of tenants struck across the city. A WW1 housing and coal shortage sparked the strikes. It became marked both by occasional violent scuffles and the Red Scare.  It would lead to the passage of the first rent laws in the nations history.

 

The city was a destination for internal migrants as well as immigrants. Through 1940, New York was a major destination for African Americans during the Great Migration from the rural American South. The Harlem Renaissance flourished during the 1920s and the era of Prohibition. New York's ever accelerating changes and rising crime and poverty rates were reduced after World War I disrupted trade routes, the Immigration Restriction Acts limited additional immigration after the war, and the Great Depression reduced the need for new labor. The combination ended the rule of the Gilded Age barons. As the city's demographics temporarily stabilized, labor unionization helped the working class gain new protections and middle-class affluence, the city's government and infrastructure underwent a dramatic overhaul under Fiorello La Guardia, and his controversial parks commissioner, Robert Moses, ended the blight of many tenement areas, expanded new parks, remade streets, and restricted and reorganized zoning controls.

 

For a while, New York ranked as the most populous city in the world, overtaking London in 1925, which had reigned for a century.[58] During the difficult years of the Great Depression, the reformer Fiorello La Guardia was elected as mayor, and Tammany Hall fell after eighty years of political dominance.

 

Despite the effects of the Great Depression, some of the world's tallest skyscrapers were built during the 1930s. Art Deco architecture—such as the iconic Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and 30 Rockefeller Plaza— came to define the city's skyline. The construction of the Rockefeller Center occurred in the 1930s and was the largest-ever private development project at the time. Both before and especially after World War II, vast areas of the city were also reshaped by the construction of bridges, parks and parkways coordinated by Robert Moses, the greatest proponent of automobile-centered modernist urbanism in America.

 

Returning World War II veterans and immigrants from Europe created a postwar economic boom. Demands for new housing were aided by the G.I. Bill for veterans, stimulating the development of huge suburban tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County. The city was extensively photographed during the post–war years by photographer Todd Webb.

 

New York emerged from the war as the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading the United States ascendancy. In 1951, the United Nations relocated from its first headquarters in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, to the East Side of Manhattan. During the late 1960s, the views of real estate developer and city leader Robert Moses began to fall out of favor as the anti-urban renewal views of Jane Jacobs gained popularity. Citizen rebellion stopped a plan to construct an expressway through Lower Manhattan.

 

After a short war boom, the Bronx declined from 1950 to 1985, going from predominantly moderate-income to mostly lower-income, with high rates of violent crime and poverty. The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in the late 1980s that continues into today.

 

The transition away from the industrial base toward a service economy picked up speed, while the jobs in the large shipbuilding and garment industries declined sharply. The ports converted to container ships, costing many traditional jobs among longshoremen. Many large corporations moved their headquarters to the suburbs or to distant cities. At the same time, there was enormous growth in services, especially finance, education, medicine, tourism, communications and law. New York remained the largest city and largest metropolitan area in the United States, and continued as its largest financial, commercial, information, and cultural center.

 

Like many major U.S. cities, New York suffered race riots, gang wars and some population decline in the late 1960s. Street activists and minority groups such as the Black Panthers and Young Lords organized rent strikes and garbage offensives, demanding improved city services for poor areas. They also set up free health clinics and other programs, as a guide for organizing and gaining "Power to the People." By the 1970s the city had gained a reputation as a crime-ridden relic of history. In 1975, the city government avoided bankruptcy only through a federal loan and debt restructuring by the Municipal Assistance Corporation, headed by Felix Rohatyn. The city was also forced to accept increased financial scrutiny by an agency of New York State. In 1977, the city was struck by the New York City blackout of 1977 and serial slayings by the Son of Sam.

 

The 1980s began a rebirth of Wall Street, and the city reclaimed its role at the center of the worldwide financial industry. Unemployment and crime remained high, the latter reaching peak levels in some categories around the close of the decade and the beginning of the 1990s. Neighborhood restoration projects funded by the city and state had very good effects for New York, especially Bedford-Stuyvesant, Harlem, and The Bronx. The city later resumed its social and economic recovery, bolstered by the influx of Asians, Latin Americans, and U.S. citizens, and by new crime-fighting techniques on the part of the New York Police Department. In 1989, New York City elected its first African American Mayor, David Dinkins. He came out of the Harlem Clubhouse.

 

In the late 1990s, the city benefited from the nationwide fall of violent crime rates, the resurgence of the finance industry, and the growth of the "Silicon Alley", during the dot com boom, one of the factors in a decade of booming real estate values. New York was also able to attract more business and convert abandoned industrialized neighborhoods into arts or attractive residential neighborhoods; examples include the Meatpacking District and Chelsea (in Manhattan) and Williamsburg (in Brooklyn).

 

New York's population reached an all-time high in the 2000 census; according to census estimates since 2000, the city has continued to grow, including rapid growth in the most urbanized borough, Manhattan. During this period, New York City was a site of the September 11 attacks of 2001; 2,606 people who were in the towers and in the surrounding area were killed by a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, an event considered highly traumatic for the city but which did not stop the city's rapid regrowth. On November 3, 2014, One World Trade Center opened on the site of the attack. Hurricane Sandy brought a destructive storm surge to New York in the evening of October 29, 2012, flooding numerous streets, tunnels, and subway lines in Lower Manhattan. It flooded low-lying areas of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Electrical power was lost in many parts of the city and its suburbs.

formed during an under water volcanic eruption 1 km west of Ponta dos Capelinhos September 1957 to October 1958

8x10" handmade collage.

A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.

 

Got a brand new Prime Lens--the Carl Zeiss Sony Alpha e-mount FE 55mm F/1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* Lens! Let me know how you like it! :)

 

New Sony A7 R Test Photos of Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Pretty, pretty, pretty woman! Shot with the awesomely sharp, sharp Carl Zeiss Sony Sonnar Carl Zeiss Sony Sony FE 55 mm F/1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* Lens and finished in Lightroom 5.3 ! Was using the B W 49mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer MRC Filter on bright, sunny day. Check out the low glare off the rocks and water and the bright blue sky! Super sharp images and crystal-clear pictures!

 

Here's some video shot at the same time as stills: youtu.be/Y7gq_gCk0jE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiOMrZIEzg8

 

Join my youtube channel for goddess video shot @ the same time as the stills with the Sony A7 !

 

www.youtube.com/user/bikiniswimsuitmodels

 

Beautiful swimsuit bikini model goddess on a beautiful January Malibu morning! Shot it yesterday. :) Love, love, love the new Sony A7 R 55mm F/1.8 lens combo!

 

Was a fun test shoot. Many, many more to come!

 

All the best on your Epic Hero's Journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!

 

Modeling the black & gold "Gold 45 Revolver" Gold'N'Virtue swimsuits, shirts, & lingerie with the main equation to Moving Dimensions Theory on the swimsuits: dx4/dt=ic. Yes I have a Ph.D. in physics! :) You can read more about my research and Hero's Journey Physics here:

herosjourneyphysics.wordpress.com/ MDT PROOF#2: Einstein (1912 Man. on Rel.) and Minkowski wrote x4=ict. Ergo dx4/dt=ic--the foundational equation of all time and motion which is on all the shirts and swimsuits. Every photon that hits my Nikon D800e's sensor does it by surfing the fourth expanding dimension, which is moving at c relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt=ic!

 

Best on your hero's journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy! :)

 

Falling in love with the full frame 36 megapixel e mount Sony A7R!

 

The books behind the pretty goddess on the Malbu bluff and surfboard are The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Homer's Iliad, Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare, and Herman Melville's Moby Dick! My favorite books! Will have some video of the pretty model reading them beside a campfire soon.

 

They're all collectors editions! My books cost as much as my surfboards!

 

And for those who always ask, I shoot in RAW! Always! :)

 

Wearing Daisy Dukes cutoff blue jeans! She wore blue jeans and a rosery, she believed in God & she believed in me! & she thinks I'm a little crazy. :)

Nikon D4 + 14-24mm f/2.8G | Yellowknife, Canada, 24 Sep 2014

 

Thanks to the Capital Suites hotel management for their generous support and to its staff for their friendly service.

 

© 2014 José Francisco Salgado, PhD

Do not use without permission. 2014.09.20_6303

josefranciscosalgado.com | Facebook | Instagram | @jfsalgado

The Pyramid/Tesla Energy Connection

 

Nikola Tesla regarded the Earth as one of the plates of a capacitor, the ionosphere forming the other plate. Recent measurements have shown that the voltage gradient between the two is 400,000 volts. With this principle, he said he was able, through his invention, to provide free energy to anyone, inexhaustible in quantity, anywhere on earth. That is why he had built a first prototype, the Wardenclyffe Tower, in which was to apply his famous pyramid effect. What is it exactly?

"The lines of force of the electric charge additioned to the fields from the sun act on the walls of a pyramid.The magnetic equipotentials show a high magnetic density in the summit. The voltage of the electric field increases of 100 V per meter. The terrestrial negative field reaches its maximum value at the summit of the pyramid; at the top of the pyramid of Giza, the voltage is 14,600 V. This pyramid is itself a capacitor, it accumulates an electrical charge. If an excess load is added, a discharge occurs at the top, and, as we know currently, that top was adorned with a solid gold capstone, an excellent conductor."Tesla wanted his tower to be high to increase the voltage at the top. He wanted to create an artificial lightning in the tower. In the discharge tube of a natural flash , the temperature rises to 30 000 ° C. Tesla did not want to manage such high temperatures because it is a waste of energy. Tesla's Wardenclyffe tower would have used a transformer to produce a high voltage, which would have generated, instead of a natural lightning, a "discharge of high energetic ion abundance".To accentuate the pyramid effect, he had imagined to give the tower the octagonal shape of a pyramid topped by a half sphere. Why octogonal? Tesla does not explain, but when we read his memoirs, we understand that he sensed a scientific discipline that did not yet exist, geobiology, and the theory of waves of forms. From the perspective of traditional physics, the fact that the tower is octagonal is insignificant. It could be square or have an infinite number of faces, that is conic. "In all cases the voltage would have been the same, its shape just gave it stability." This raises two objections. The octagonal shape is not a guarantee of stability comparing to the square shape. If he was really looking for stability, a hyperbolic rise, like that of the Eiffel Tower, would have been better suited. The octagonal shape has very special wave characteristics, it is possible that this pure genius sensed it without being able to theorize it.As for the square shape of the pyramids, the engineer Gustave Eiffel has chosen it for his tower, precisely because it is a guarantee of stability, as the four legs and the widening elevation. Built in 1889, our national tower was already fairly well known to be his model. As Wardenclyffe Tower, the Eiffel Tower has a pyramid effect which makes it pick at the top, even without a storm, a DC current. Its lightning rod "makes" thus some electricity that goes down in a cable to be delivered to the earth.This waste is not limited to the Eiffel Tower. All roofs and metal frames make the same production, stupidly given to the earth. The Vril energy is free, it is its biggest flaw in a world of profit. The fact that it is completely environmentally friendly and inexhaustible has no interest for the capital. The fact that it is beneficial for both the human mind and the health of people, animals and plants thanks to the virtues of water of lightning, has even much less interest for profiteers. Unfortunately, Tesla was never able to finish his tower. He did not have the opportunity to carry out the planned experiments on Long Island that sought to bring rain in the deserts. Others before him had managed that. We know that Egypt has not always been desertic. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile." But it was in the 5th century BC. Since then, its climate has not changed much, and yet it has not always been so. The predynastic Egypt was rather a gift of the pyramids... "In the pre-dynastic period, the Egyptian climate is much less arid than it is nowadays. Large areas of Egypt are covered with savanna and traversed by herds of ungulates. The foliage and wildlife then are much more prolific and the Nile region is home to large populations of waterfowl. Hunting is a common activity for the Egyptians and it is also during this period that many animals are domesticated for the first time."

 

www.apparentlyapparel.com/news/the-pyramid-energy-tesla-c...

 

"....If we could produce electric effects of the required quality, this whole planet and the conditions of existence on it could be transformed. The sun raises the water of the oceans and winds drive it to distant regions where it remains in state of most delicate balance. If it were in our power to upset it when and wherever desired, this mighty life-sustaining stream could be at will controlled. We could irrigate arid deserts, create lakes and rivers and provide motive power in unlimited amount. This would be the most efficient way of harnesing the sun to the uses of man......" ( Nikola Tesla, June 1919 )

 

Nikola Tesla, inventor of alternating current motors, did the basic research for constructing electromagnetic field lift-and-drive aircraft/space craft. From 1891 to 1893, he gave a set of lectures and demonstrations to groups of electrical engineers. As part of each show, Tesla stood in the middle of the stage, using his 6' 6" height, with an assistant on either side, each 7 feet away. All 3 men wore thick cork or rubber shoe soles to avoid being electrically grounded. Each assistant held a wire, part of a high voltage, low current circuit. When Tesla raised his arms to each side, violet colored electricity jumped harmlessly across the gaps between the men. At high voltage and frequency in this arrangement, electricity flows over a surface, even the skin, rather than into it. This is a basic circuit which could be used by aircraft / spacecraft.

 

The hull is best made double, of thin, machinable, slightly flexible ceramic. This becomes a good electrical insulator, has no fire danger, resists any damaging effects of severe heat and cold, and has the hardness of armor, besides being easy for magnetic fields to pass through.

 

The inner hull is covered on it's outside by wedge shaped thin metal sheets of copper or aluminum, bonded to the ceramic. Each sheet is 3 to 4 feet wide at the horizontal rim of the hull and tapers to a few inches wide at the top of the hull for the top set of metal sheets, or at the bottom for the bottom set of sheets. Each sheet is separated on either side from the next sheet by 1 or 2 inches of uncovered ceramic hull. The top set of sheets and bottom set of sheets are separated by about 6 inches of uncovered ceramic hull around the horizontal rim of the hull.

 

The outer hull protects these sheets from being short-circuited by wind blown metal foil (Air Force radar confusing chaff), heavy rain or concentrations of gasoline or kerosene fumes. If unshielded, fuel fumes could be electrostatically attracted to the hull sheets, burn and form carbon deposits across the insulating gaps between the sheets, causing a short-circuit. The space, the outer hull with a slight negative charge, would absorb hits from micrometeorites and cosmic rays (protons moving at near the speed of light). Any danger of this type that doesn't already have a negative electric charge would get a negative charge in hitting the outer hull, and be repelled by the metal sheets before it could hit the inner hull. This wouldn't work well on a very big meteor, I might add.

 

The hull can be made in a variety of shapes; sphere, football, disc, or streamlined rectangle or triangle, as long as these metal sheets, "are of considerable area and arranged along ideal enveloping surfaces of very large radii of curvature," p. 85. "My Inventions", by Nikola Tesla.

 

The power plant for this machine can be a nuclear fission or fusion reactor for long range and long-term use to run a steam engine, which turns the generators. A short range machine can use a hydrogen oxygen fuel cell to run a low-voltage motor to turn the generators, occasionally recharging by hovering next to high voltage power lines and using antennas mounted on the outer hull to take in the electricity. The short-range machine can also have electricity beamed to it from a generating plan on a long-range aircraft / spacecraft or on the ground.

 

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 24, 1987, Vol 109, No. 328, "The Forever Plane" by Geoffrey Rowan, p. D1, D7.)

("Popular Science", Vol 232, No. 1, Jan. 1988, "Secret of Perpetual Flight? Beam Power Plane," by Arthur Fisher, p. 62-65, 106)

One standard for the generators is to have the same number of magnets as field coils. Tesla's preferred design was a thin disc holding 480 magnets with 480 field coils wired in series surrounding it in close tolerance. At 50 revolutions per minute, it produces 19,400 cycles per second.

 

The electricity is fed into a number of large capacitors, one for each metal sheet. An automatic switch, adjustable in timing by the pilot, closes, and as the electricity jumps across the switch, back and forth, it raises it's own frequency; a switch being used for each capacitor.

 

The electricity goes into a Tesla transformer; again, one transformer for each capacitor. In an oil tank to insulate the windings and for cooling, and supported internally by wood, or plastic, pipe and fittings, each Tesla transformer looks like a short wider pipe that is moved along a longer, narrower pipe by an insulated non-electric cable handle. The short pipe, the primary, is 6 to 10 windings (loops) of wire connected in series to the long pipe. The secondary is 460 to 600 windings, at the low voltage and frequency end.

 

The insulated non-electric cable handle is used through a set of automatic controls to move the primary coil to various places on the secondary coil. This is the frequency control. The secondary coil has a low frequency and voltage end and a maximum voltage and frequency end. The greater the frequency the electricity, the more it pushes against the earth's electrostatic and electromagnetic fields.

 

The electricity comes out of the transformer at the high voltage end and goes by wire through the ceramic hull to the wide end of the metal sheet. The electricity jumps out on and flows over the metal sheet, giving off a very strong electromagnetic field, controlled by the transformer. At the narrow end of the metal sheet, most of the high-voltage push having been given off; the electricity goes back by wire through the hull to a circuit breaker box (emergency shut off), then to the other side of the generators.

 

In bright sunlight, the aircraft / spacecraft may seem surrounded by hot air, a slight magnetic distortion of the light. In semi-darkness and night, the metal sheets glow, even through the thin ceramic outer hull, with different colors. The visible light is a by-product of the electricity flowing over the metal sheets, according to the frequencies used.

 

Descending, landing or just starting to lift from the ground, the transformer primaries are near the secondary weak ends and therefore, the bottom set of sheets glow a misty red. Red may also appear at the front of the machine when it is moving forward fast, lessening resistance up front. Orange appears for slow speed. Orange-yellow is for airplane-type speeds. Green and blue are for higher speeds. With a capacitor addition, making it oversized for the circuit, the blue becomes bright white, like a searchlight, with possible risk of damaging the metal sheets involved. The highest visible frequency is violet, like Tesla's stage demonstrations, used for the highest speed along with the bright white. The colors are nearly coherent, of a single frequency, like a laser.

 

A machine built with a set of super conducting magnets would simplify and reduce electricity needs from a vehicle's transformer circuits to the point of flying along efficiently and hovering with little electricity.

 

When Tesla was developing arc lights to run on alternating current, there was a bothersome high-pitched whine, whistle, or buzz, due to the electrodes rapidly heating and cooling. Tesla put this noise in the ultrasonic range with the special transformer already mentioned. The aircraft / spacecraft gives off such noises when working at low frequencies.

 

Timing is important in the operation of this machine. For every 3 metal sheets, when the middle one is briefly turned off, the sheet on either side is energized, giving off the magnetic field. The next instant, the middle sheet is energized, while the sheet on either side is briefly turned off. There is a time delay in the capacitors recharging themselves, so at any time, half of all the metal sheets are energized and the other half are recharging, alternating all around the inner hull. This balances the machine, giving it very good stability. This balance is less when fewer of the circuits are in use.

 

Fairly close, the aircraft / spacecraft produces heating of persons and objects on the ground; but by hovering over an area at low altitude for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, the machine also produces a column of very cold air down to the ground. As air molecules get into the strong magnetic fields that the machine is transmitting out, the air molecules become polarized and from lines, or strings, of air molecules. The normal movement of the air is stopped, and there is suddenly a lot more room for air molecules in this area, so more air pours in. This expansion and the lack of normal air motion make the area intensely cold.

 

This is also the reason that the aircraft / spacecraft can fly at supersonic speeds without making sonic booms. As air flows over the hull, top and bottom, the air molecules form lines as they go through the magnetic fields of the metal sheet circuits. As the air molecules are left behind, they keep their line arrangements for a short time; long enough to cancel out the sonic boom shock waves.

 

Outside the earth's magnetic field, another propulsion system must be used, which relies on the first. You may have read of particle accelerators, or cyclotrons, or atomsmashers. A particle accelerator is a circular loop of pipe that, in cross-section, is oval. In a physics laboratory, most of the air in it is pumped out. The pipe loop is given a static electric charge; a small amount of hydrogen or other gas is given the same electric charge so the particles won't stick to the pipe. A set of electromagnets all around the pipe loop turn on and off, one after the other, pushing with one magnetic pole and pulling with the next, until those gas particles are racing around the pipe loop at nearly the speed of light. Centrifugal force makes the particles speed closer to the outside edge of the pipe loop, still within the pipe. The particles break down into electrons, or light and other wavelengths, protons or cosmic rays, and neutrons if more than hydrogen is put in the accelerator.

 

At least 2 particle accelerators are used to balance each other and counter each other's tendency to make the craft spin. Otherwise, the machine would tend to want to start spinning, following the direction of the force being applied to the particles. The accelerators push in opposite directions.

 

As the pilot and crew travel in space, outside the magnetic field of a world, water from a tank is electrically separated into oxygen and hydrogen. Waste carbon dioxide that isn't used for the onboard garden, and hydrogen (helium if the machine is using a fusion reactor) is slowly, constantly fed into the inside curves of both accelerators.

 

The high-speed particles go out through straight lengths of pipe, charged like the loops and in speeding out into space, push the machine along. Doors control which pips the particles leave from. This allows very long-range acceleration and later deceleration at normal (earth) gravity. This avoids the severe problems of weightlessness, including lowered physical abilities of the crew.

 

It is possible to use straight-line particle accelerators, even as few as one per machine, but these don't seem as able to get the best machine speed for the least amount of particles pushed out.

 

Using a constant acceleration of 32.2 feet per second per second provides earth normal gravity in deep space and only 2 gravities of stress in leaving the earth's gravity field. It takes, not counting air resistance, 18 minutes, 58.9521636 seconds to reach the 25,000 miles per hour speed to leave the earth's gravity field. It takes about 354 days, 12 hours, 53 minutes and 40 seconds (about) to reach the speed of light - 672,487,072.7 miles per hour. It takes the same distance to decelerate as it does to speed up, but this cuts down the time delay that one would have in conventional chemical rocketry enormously, for a long journey.

 

A set of super conducting magnets can be charged by metal sheet circuits, within limits, to whatever frequency is needed and will continue to transmit that magnetic field frequency almost indefinitely.

 

A short-wave radio can be used to find the exact frequencies that an aircraft / spacecraft is using, for each of the colors it may show whole a color television can show the same overall color frequency that the nearby, but not extremely close, craft is using This is limited, as a machine traveling at the speed of a jet airliner may broadcast in a frequency range usually used for radar sets.

 

The craft circuits override lower frequency, lower voltage electric circuits within and near their electromagnetic fields. One source briefly mentioned a 1941 incident, where a short-wave radio was used to override automobile ignition systems, up to 3 miles away. When the short-wave radio was turned off, the cars could work again. How many UFO encounters have been reported in which automobile ignition systems have suddenly stopped?

 

I figure that things would not be at all pleasant for drivers of modern cars with computer controlled engine and ignition systems. Computer circuitry is sensitive to small changes in voltage and a temporary wrong-way voltage surge may wipe the computer memory out. It could mean that a number of drivers would suddenly be stranded with their cars not working should such a craft fly low over a busy highway. Only diesel engines, already warmed up, and Stanley Steamer type steam engine cares are able to continue working in a strong electromagnetic field. In May, 1988, it was reported that the U.S. Army had lost 5 Blackhawk helicopters and 22 crewmen in crashes caused by ordinary commercial radio broadcasting overriding the computer control circuits of those helicopters. Certainly, computer circuits for this aircraft / spacecraft can and must be designed to overcome this weakness.

 

One construction arrangement for this craft to avoid such interference is for the metal sheet circuits to be more sharply tuned. Quartz or other crystals can be used in capacitors; in a very large number of low-powered, single frequency circuits, or as part of a frequency control for the metal sheet circuits.

 

The aircraft / spacecraft easily overrides lower frequency and lower voltage electric circuits up to a 6 mile wide circle around it, but the effect is usually not tuned for such a drastic show. It can be used for fire fighting: by hovering at a medium-low height at low frequency, it forms a double negative pole magnet of itself and the ground, the sides being a rotation of positive magnetic pole.

 

It polarizes the column of air in this field. The air becomes icy cold. If it wouldn't put the fire out, it would slow it down.

 

Tesla went broke in the early 1900's building a combination radio and electric power broadcasting station. The theory and experiments were correct but the financiers didn't want peace and prosperity for all.

 

The Japanese physicist who developed super conducting material with strong magnetism allows for a simplified construction of the aircraft / spacecraft. Blocks of this material can be used in place of the inner hull metal sheets. By putting electricity in each block, the pilot can control the strength of the magnetic field it gives off and can reduce the field strength by draining some of the electric charge. This allows the same amount of work to be done with vastly less electricity used to do it.

 

It is surprising that Jonathan Swift, in his "Gulliver's Travels", 1726, third book, "A Voyage to Laputa", described an imagined magnetic flying island that comes close to being what a large super conducting aircraft / spacecraft can be build as, using little or no electric power to hover and mover around.

 

www.thelivingmoon.com/41pegasus/02files/Tesla_Saucer.html

 

Before our study group, Summerville, South Carolina #2, made a trip to A.R.E headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va., in April, 2009, Jerry Ingle, set into motion an ideal that generated a monumental synchronicity. For years, Jerry, a long-time member of our group, had been interested in Nikola Tesla. He saw many parallels between his talents and those of Edgar Cayce and hoped to somehow connect them. As a psychic, Edgar Cayce had been consulted by engineers about their inventions. Cayce was willing to help as long as it would ultimately be of service to humanity. While there are suggestions that both Thomas Edison and his former associate, Nikola Tesla, consulted Cayce separately; there is no documentation in the A.R.E. archives.

 

Nikola Tesla was an electrical engineer who invented the alternating current Niagara power system that made Edison's direct current obsolete. He sold Westinghouse 40 patents that broke the General Electric monopoly. In 1893 he demonstrated the use of wireless radio control with a torpedo-like boat. He invented wireless transmission of electricity, an electric car that ran by tapping into the electricity of the Earth, the microwave, and the TV remote control, just to name a few. A court recently ruled that while Marconi had been given credit for the invention of the radio and made a fortune on it, Tesla was the true inventor.

 

Tesla was concerned with harnessing nature to meet the needs of humankind and foresaw the end of World War I as a synthesis of history, philosophy, and science,. He had the amazing ability to construct a machine in his mind and then, by operating the device in his mind, make improvements to the design. He could develop and perfect his inventions by drawing only upon the creative forces, without actually touching anything material. Just as the Cayce readings suggest, "Mind is the builder, physical is the result."

 

Another inventor that Edgar Cayce met was a man named Marion L. Stansell. During World War I, while stationed in France, Stansell had a near death experience with a vision. During the experience, a "spirit guide" escorted him to another dimension where he was given a formula for a mechanical device. He was told that this device would save the planet from environmental destruction in the next millennium.

 

On February 1, 1928, Edgar Cayce gave a reading which confirmed that Stansell was able to see the blueprints for a revolutionary type of motor in his dreams and visions. According to the readings, the motor was designed in the spirit realm by De Witt Clinton, deceased governor of New York, who in his last incarnation was the force behind the development of the Erie Canal.

 

Stansell needed the assistance of Edgar Cayce to relay precise technical information from Clinton in the spirit realm to Stansell and a team of like-minded entrepreneurs in the material world. The Stansell motor readings were conducted over a two-year period. One could speculate that Mr. Cayce did the same for Nikola Tesla, and that these readings were a continuation of that work, but if so, there is no record of it.

 

Jerry believed that there was a deep connection between the work of Cayce and Tesla and their interest in the connection between electricity and psychic phenomena. At A.R.E., Jerry found his way to the vault, where the Cayce records are kept, hoping to discover a way to get these plans into the hands of present-day inventors.

 

There, he and an A.R.E. volunteer named Harry talked excitedly for some time about Tesla. Suddenly, a man came to the door of the vault. "Does anybody know if there was ever a connection between Edgar Cayce and Nikola Tesla?"

 

"Here is the guy who can tell you," said Harry as he pointed toward Jerry. Jerry turned to face Nikola Lonchar — the President of Nikola Tesla's Inventors Club, a man who was dedicated to locating and preserving Tesla's work. The organization was made up of scientists who wanted to be sure Tesla's work was not lost! This was the first visit to A.R.E. by anyone from the Tesla organization.

 

Jerry was able to supply the visitor with the information he needed. The two sat in the lobby of the A.R.E. Visitor Center, oblivious to their surroundings, talking about an interest that held them both captive. Jerry was invited to speak at the next Nikola Tesla Inventors conference.

 

Nikola Lonchar was at A.R.E. for only one day. During this small window of time, he and Jerry had converged at the same place, at the same time, both equipped with a desire to be of service to Cayce, to Tesla, and to humanity. That's synchronicity in motion.

 

www.edgarcayce.org/about-us/blog/blog-posts/synchronicity...

why do I collect stupid stuff, here is most of my concrete collection!

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain the concrete collector

Le cap de la Chèvre est le cap méridional de la presqu'île de Crozon, dans l'ouest de la Bretagne. Orienté vers le sud, ce cap fait face à la côte nord du cap Sizun et ferme la baie de Douarnenez. Ce site classé pour son paysage exceptionnel, faite partie du Parc naturel régional d'Armorique.

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