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I was given the honor to portrait this lovely girl in the woods in our village.
Taken with Tamron sp 70-200 2.8 usd and Godox V860ii in a softbox.
The Ringtheater fire in Vienna on 8th December 1881 was one of the biggest fire catastrophes of the 19th century in Austria-Hungary. According to official data, the number of death victims was 384; it was estimated that more deaths occurred. Ludwig Eisenberg writes of nearly 1,000 deaths.
Cause and sequence
On that evening, Jacques Offenbach's Hoffmanns stories (Les contes d'Hoffmann) were given in the Ringtheater, Schottenring, 7, which had been opened as a Komische Oper/Comic Opera Vienna on 17 January 1874. When the visitors took their seats for the start of the show at 7 pm, gas lighting was lit behind the stage within five showcases. By the failure of the electropneumatic ignitors, gas escaped, which exploded in the next ignition attempt. The resulting fire leaped into the flybars before it spread rapidly over the rest of the stage and finally into the auditorium.
Not until half an hour later was made an attempt to save the viewers, made difficult by fundamental problems: The emergency lighting consisting of oil lamps should not have burned, because - from lack of money - the lamps were only filled for checks. In addition, the emergency exits only opened inwards, which prevented the fleeing visitors from leaving the building in time. A stream of air passing through a side window fanned the fire further. On the basis of a misjudgment of the situation, the police in the theater room helpers with the remark "everything saved!" prevented from further rescue attempts.
Among the dead was Ladislaus Vetsera (* 1865), a brother of Mary Vetsera.
In order to identify the corpses, the method of identification based on the tooth position was practiced for the first time, thus laying the foundations for the later renowned "Viennese School of Criminalistics". It was an introduction to forensic dentistry.
Consequences
The Viennese Volunteer Rescue Company was founded as a spontaneous reaction to the fire. The fire had both domestic and international effects on preventive fire protection especially in the theater sector and the corresponding legal provisions for the theater building in Austria. For example, the Iron Curtain was introduced to separate the stage from the auditorium and the decorations had to be impregnated from this time onwards. The larger theaters were obliged to have a uniformed security officer participate in every performance, who had to take the necessary orders to control the great quantity of human beings in the event of a fire. He had to remain in the theater until the last spectator left. The regulation still applies today.
The theater director Franz von Jauner was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, but was released after a few weeks' imprisonment by an Imperial Decree.
In 1829, Vienna had received the first, 30 paragraph-comprehensive building regulations. This was replaced by a new building code in 1859 and 1868. The building regulations for Vienna of 1883 taking into consideration the Ringtheater fire, a Lower Austrian provincial law, was valid until the middle of the 20th century.
The so-called "Sühnhaus/Atonement house" was erected on the site of the burned-down theater from private funds of the Emperor Franz Joseph. The rental income of this interest house benefitted charitable purposes. The building was heavily damaged in 1945, and had to be removed in 1951. Today the office building of the LPD Wien (Landespolizeidirektion = State Police Headquarters) is located on the site.
Two of the pillars of the Ringtheater were later installed in the basilica of Kaisermühlen.
The process against the persons responsible for the fire was described literally in the 1960s by Helmut Qualtinger and Carl Merz under the title Anatomy of a Catastrophe. The text was filmed under the title "Everything saved. The Ring Theater Process".
Der Ringtheaterbrand in Wien am 8. Dezember 1881 war eine der größten Brandkatastrophen des 19. Jahrhunderts in Österreich-Ungarn. Die Zahl der Todesopfer betrug nach offiziellen Angaben 384; Schätzungen gingen von noch mehr Toten aus. Ludwig Eisenberg schreibt von nahezu 1.000 Toten.
Ursache und Ablauf
An jenem Abend wurde im Ringtheater, Schottenring 7, das am 17. Jänner 1874 als Komische Oper Wien eröffnet worden war, Jacques Offenbachs Hoffmanns Erzählungen gegeben. Als die Besucher für den Vorstellungsbeginn um 19 Uhr ihre Plätze einnahmen, wurde hinter der Bühne bei fünf Schaukästen die Gasbeleuchtung entzündet. Durch Versagen der elektropneumatischen Zündvorrichtungen strömte Gas aus, welches beim nächsten Zündversuch explodierte. Das entstandene Feuer sprang auf die Prospektzüge über, bevor es sich rasch über den Rest der Bühne und schließlich im Zuschauerraum ausbreitete.
Erst eine halbe Stunde später versuchte man die Zuschauer zu retten, erschwert durch grundlegende Probleme: Die aus Öllampen bestehende Notbeleuchtung soll nicht gebrannt haben, da – aus Geldmangel – die Lampen nur für Überprüfungen gefüllt worden sein sollen. Außerdem öffneten sich die Notausgänge nur nach innen, was die flüchtenden Besucher hinderte, das Gebäude rechtzeitig zu verlassen. Ein durch ein seitliches Fenster einströmender Luftzug fachte das Feuer weiter an. Aufgrund einer Fehleinschätzung der Lage hielt die Polizei im Theatervorraum Helfer mit dem Hinweis „Alles gerettet!“ von weiteren Rettungsversuchen ab.
Unter den Toten befand sich Ladislaus Vetsera (* 1865), ein Bruder von Mary Vetsera.
Zur Identifizierung der Leichen wurde erstmals die Methode einer Identifizierung anhand der Zahnstellung praktiziert und damit eine Grundlage für die später renommierte „Wiener Schule der Kriminalistik“ gelegt. Es war ein Einstieg in die forensische Zahnmedizin.
Folgen
Als spontane Reaktion auf den Brand wurde die Wiener Freiwillige Rettungsgesellschaft gegründet. Der Brand hatte innerstaatliche wie internationale Auswirkungen auf den vorbeugenden Brandschutz vor allem im Theaterbereich und die entsprechenden gesetzlichen Bestimmungen für den Theaterbau in Österreich. So wurde beispielsweise der Eiserne Vorhang zur Trennung der Bühne vom Zuschauerraum eingeführt, und die Dekorationen mussten ab diesem Zeitpunkt imprägniert werden. Die größeren Theater wurden verpflichtet, an jeder Vorstellung einen uniformierten Sicherheitsbeamten teilnehmen zu lassen, der im Brandfall die nötigen Anordnungen zur Lenkung der großen Menschenmenge zu treffen hatte. Er hatte bis zum Abgang des letzten Zuschauers im Theater zu verbleiben. Die Regelung gilt bis heute.
Der Theaterintendant Franz von Jauner wurde als Verantwortlicher zu drei Jahren Freiheitsstrafe verurteilt, wurde aber nach nur einigen Wochen Gefängnisaufenthalts durch einen kaiserlichen Gnadenerlass entlassen.
1829 hatte Wien die erste, 30 Paragraphen umfassende Bauordnung erhalten. Diese wurde 1859 und 1868 durch eine neue Bauordnung abgelöst. Die den Ringtheaterbrand berücksichtigende Bauordnung für Wien von 1883, ein niederösterreichisches Landesgesetz, war bis über die Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts gültig.
Aus Betroffenheit wurde auf dem Bauplatz des niedergebrannten Theaters aus privaten Mitteln des Kaisers Franz Joseph das so genannte Sühnhaus errichtet. Die Mieteinnahmen dieses Zinshauses flossen karitativen Zwecken zu. Das Gebäude wurde 1945 bei Kriegsende schwer beschädigt und musste 1951 abgetragen werden. Heute steht auf dem Areal das Amtsgebäude der Landespolizeidirektion Wien.
Zwei der Säulen des Ringtheaters wurden später in der Basilika von Kaisermühlen verbaut.
Der Prozess gegen die Verantwortlichen des Brandes wurde literarisch in den 1960er Jahren von Helmut Qualtinger und Carl Merz unter dem Titel Anatomie einer Katastrophe beschrieben. Verfilmt wurde der Text unter dem Titel „Alles gerettet. Der Ringtheaterprozeß“.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringtheaterbrand
Cimitero Centrale, Cementerio Central, Cimetière Central de Vienne, Central Cemetery, Cmentarz Centralny w Wiedniu
Given the fact that the Governor has shut down all bars and nightclubs, and given the fact that all stage shows have gone Dark at least until late September or October -- what is a Gent to do on the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip between the hours of 5pm and 5am?
Eat Well! And Drink Well!!
Even on a Monday night in the midst of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, one can still eat well and drink well on the Strip! You can order cocktails and drinks in any lounge that also serves bar food. And even though most restaurants are running on short staff and on short hours, there's still some very fine dining to be done here!
But you must wear your face mask and exercise Social Distancing!
Sooner or later your very lovely lady will call you from back home for her daily report, and you had better have some good answers for her!
Our trauma MCQ is...atraumatic. The mocks that we've been given beforehand have armed us well, gaps in knowledge have been identified and plugged, foibles of the IHCD's questioning techniques are noticed and artfully sidestepped.
Our running order for the practical final exams are posted in the classroom, we gather around like high school students.
My name is second last.
That's going to be a long wait.
We drink coffee and slide headphones into our ears. There is nothing to be gained by questioning each other, chatting about possibilities, or dissecting each others' experiences. Music shuts it out and as long as we're ALL listening to music, nobody feels abandoned.
We all listen to music.
Kappa is called in for her first practical and returns after 14 minutes (yes, I'm sure, we record the times).
"Piece of piss."
Kappa is not the most confident student in the class. This is something of a revelation.
"For real?"
"For real. He never even asked me any theory, I was all ready to talk him through different presentations of shock and stuff when he went "Right, there's the boy there, it's a stabbing.""
An electric thrill zips through us all; no theory? A simple stabbing? Fantastic! 'Mon the schoosh.
We've been told to only return to classroom to collect our books once we've been assessed, so our numbers gradually dwindle. Midge, Stingray and I practice quietly in the corner while others read. I start making stupid mistakes, forgetting to perform the most basic checks, over complicating my treatment, getting ahead of myself.
Granny Chan pulls my shoulder away from the dummy andsets me straight.
"You're over practicing. Stop it. Chill out."
Headphones back in, Fratellis on. I stare out the window at the rabbits on the front lawn, my shoulders and head popping up and down. Holiday makers stare up at the window, bemused by the jigging ambulanceman.
Pumped up and ready, one of our tutors calls me through.
"The consultant's having a wee break, so I'll be running this one."
Even better news! This tutor has winkingly mentioned that he "Doesn't fuck about." with his scenarios.
"Nae drama, right?"
I nod.
Into the exam room, a plastic dummy on the deck, our instructing consultant sits at the top table. He was friendly and chatty and receptive on Monday, so I flash him a smile and greet him warmly.
He nods stiffly, returning to his paperwork.
Oh.
Exam mode, then.
"Right Kal, you're called to a firearms incident - I'm an ARU copper."
I get him to explain what's happened, a simple enough situation on the face of it, an eighteen year old male shot in the chest. Police don't have any further information, but are out looking for the gunman.
The patient is supine, not moving but making gurgling moaning noises . I clamp both hands over his ears to protect his C-spine and in the same breath get a cop (disguised as my tutor) to take over for me. I'm buggered if I'm spending the entire scene holding the punter's head still. The airway's full of blood, but it's nothing a little suction doesn't clear and I teach the cop to perform a jaw thrust on the patient. The gurgling stops and I'm able to move onto the breathing assessment.
Central trachea, distended jugular veins, 40BPM, shallow and irregular; far too fast to inflate his lungs properly and supply oxygen to his lungs. I shove a mask over his face and squeeze oxygen into him.
But now I really AM buggered.
Looking up at my tutor and the consultant, I shrug -
"I can't go beyond breathing. I need back-up to transport him and without another medic on site there's little I can do beyond here."
My tutor disagrees.
"What else can you do?"
I'm staring down at our four hands on the patient's head and face.
"I suppose I could teach this cop how to bag the patient..."
"Or you could find another way of immobilising him."
"Ummm...yeah, I suppose."
There's a beat while they wait for me to speak, my instructor takes pity on me.
"What's the most definitive C-Spine care?"
"Board, collar, head huggers and straps. But we can't do that with two people, we need a whole crew."
"Right. Ok. Let's say you've done that and he's on the board."
Eh? I'm not sure how the patient has magically levitated onto a spinal board, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the airway.
"Cool. I'll teach this cop how to bag the patient and move on."
As I strip the patient's chest there's a small entry wound over his left nipple which is bleeding a little, but he's otherwise unscathed. I push his ribs and sternum together to no effect, but when I listen to his air entry there's nothing but dull sounds and gurgles in his left lung.
His chest is filling up with blood.
There's nothing I can do in the field to deal with a haemothorax, so my next step is circulation. The bloke's pale and sweaty, with a radial pulse at 140bpm. Too fast, but still producing enough pressure to perfuse his brain and kidneys. I prod and flex his belly, pelvis and long bones and confirm once more that there's no massive blood loss onto the floor.
The tutor shakes his head - "Nothing to note...but his crotch is wet."
Right, maybe he's bleeding from his genitals, or his arse, maybe he's been shot in the gut and is bleeding out through an orifice. Maybe I've missed a wound.
Or maybe....
"Blood, or urine?"
My tutor laughs.
"Looks like urine, smells like urine..."
"Probably urine then, huh? Well...he's 18 and he's just been shot...I'd say that's an appropriate response."
There's a snort of laughter from the consultant.
"Right. So he's got a diminished GCS, his airway's safe, his breathing's supported by the BVM, he's got a developing haemothorax but is otherwise stable. I'm going to reassess him from the top while I wait for my transport."
I do so, finding nothing. I'm beginning to run out of things to say.
"Let's have bilateral wide bore cannulae, just in case he loses his pressure..."
They both just stare at me.
"And...ummm...since I'm waiting for my transport, I'll get my Lifepak out and get a full set of obs. ECG, BP, SpO2, BM."
"His ECG is sinus tach at 148, his BP is 70/40, SpO2's 97% and his BM's 4.3"
"BP's down to 70/40?"
"Yup."
Right. I'm fully expecting him to have lost radial pulses, but still assess him starting at "response", working my way down.
He still has a feathery pulse at both wrists.
Shit.
Our aim in giving IV fluids in trauma is to maintain a systolic BP of 90mmHg. Below that your radial pulses vanish and as such we use this as a quick way to assess a patient's circulatory capacity.
This patient has a crap BP, but present pulses.
Yesterday I over infused a patient because I cocked up my assessment.
I'm terrified of doing the same thing today. Just for something to do while I think, I confirm a carotid pulse as well. My tutor just stares at me, I'm sure it's only his professionalism that stops him sticking his tongue into his lower lip.
Fuck it. He's losing blood, as I ausculate his left lung its now completely dull, all gurgles are gone. He's pissed a good couple of litres into his chest.
All or nothing time, I squeeze saline into his veins, 250ml at a time. A litre of fluids later he's still not responding. His BP still crap.
"You did say he wasn't lying in a pool of blood, right?"
"Yup."
This is weird, so I strip the patient right down, confirming that I've not missed any other injuries.
My tutor cuts in.
"The police say they've found a 9mm casing on scene. What does that tell you about the type of weapon he was using? A rifle?"
All I can think about is Schwarzenegger talking about uzis. They're not rifles, are they? Are they?
"That would be a smaller weapon, a pistol, or revolver?"
"Uh-huh. And if the patient was shot at a range of 15 metres with that weapon, what size of exit wound would you expect to find?"
What? *I* don't know! What am I, a fucking siege engineer now?
I plump for honesty.
"I don't know enough about ballistics to answer that question, I'm sorry."
He shrugs.
"Fair enough."
The scenario ends and I hand over to the consultant, summarising the patient's condition and my treatment before arriving at hospital. I try my best to gauge their responses to what I've done, but there's none. Just blank faces and a dismissive "thankyou".
I stomp off around the garden before having my lunch, double and triple guessing what I did against what i think i should have done.
Chan and I are cursing our instructor at the lunch table (she had a similarly grim scenario to face) when he wanders up, slaps us on the shoulder and grins.
"Did you guys enjoy that lot, then?"
Our responses are not recorded, but he shall be known from here on in as..."Uzi".
Back when I were a nipper, I was given a book, a big book of trains from around the world, and on the cover was a Japanese Bullet Train, and I have always wanted to ride one ever since. There is one at the NRM in York, but that doesn't work, so for me, the real highlight of this trip would be riding on a real bullet train. Several times. I was so excited I was vibrating.
After the usual breakfast at the Gate Hotel, we took the Metro to Ueno then the overground line to Tokyo Station, simply re-tracing our steps of two day's before on the guided walk. Heck, we were experienced Metro travellers now, we knew stuff. And after sending the cases on via the courier, we only had either a night case of a bag of camera equipment with us to weigh us down.
And we did it will little problem and with an hour to spare, with the idea that I could snap the bullet trains to death while we waited.
At the Shinkansen platforms, we validate our pass and are let through; we had reserved seats the day before, so we could relax and wait for our train happy that we would have a seat. Which meant I could go to the end of the platforms to take shots. I could also go to the middle and all point between to snap away, Man, it were proper lush. I just knew that me deal old Dad would have loved this, waiting on the end of platforms in Tokyo, waiting for the next Bullet train to either arrive or leave.
Not only was I snapping them, but within the hour, we would be climbing on one to travel south to Kyoto.
At 11:03 we lined up where it said on the platform our carriage would stop, which it did We filed on, slumped into our armchair-like seats, all of which pointed the direction of travel. And we zoomed off, accelerating wat seemed as fast as a Formula 1 car, but this being an 18 coach train. I waited with excitement untol it was time for the train to depart; expecting something sensational, but we didn't even hear the doors swish closed; only with a wave from the guard on the platform, the train pulled away, rapidly accelerating along the platform and out into the grayness outside.
The line weaved through the massive tower blocks we had seen on the previous day, I tried to recognise the World Trade Centre, but it must have looked like any of a dozen other buildings. The suburbs slipped by, then we were in the countryside, nipping in and out of tunnels, past steep hillsides planted with green tea plants.
We stopped at various stations, picking a few more people up, but our coach was less than half full.
Sadly, outside it rained, and so Mount Fuji was hidden from view, we had even been given tickets on the left side of the train so we would be on the correct side for the view. Maybe on our way back? Who knows?
Every time a member of staff came though the carriage, they would stop at the door the other end of the compartment, then and salute; we don't get that on the train up to London back home, I thought. Not only that, they are smartly turned out with white gloves. Smart.
I was happy enough on the train, looking out the window watching the countryside slip by, changing from the urban landscape of Totyo, to the rolling hills further south and then the endless paddy fields as we neared Kyoto, where we were to get off. It was still pouring with rain, with no views of mountains or volcanoes; mores the pity.
We arrive at 14:00, and right away find somewhere to have lunch; a noodle bar on the station, which again was very good indeed as it was more noodles and tempura prawns. We order by pointing at pictures on the menu, then pay by thrusting wads of notes at the lady behind the till. She bows. We bow. We all bow.
We find the taxi rank and show him the address to the hotel, so we set off into the drizzly grey weather. and the heavy traffic, in which we crawled to the centre of town and our hotel.
We have no trouble in checking in, and our cases were waiting. Jools decides to do some washing as the wash room is one our fllor, and we had already accumilated several pounds of loose change with which to feed the machines.
With the portable wifi device that the tour company had provided us with, we were able to get online, get the news, check mails ad have the Radcliffe and Maconie show streamed; almost like being home.
So once we had made a coffee, we went out into the early evening to see what was around. What we found was a covered shopping area, several streets in fact, all lined with shops and all having neon signs flashing away. Three guitar shops, two record shops among others.
It was a modern shopping centre, along three covered roads. On one of them there was a temple, just taking up the place where you would expect a shop.
In the narrow streets beyond, we spy a shop selling creme brulee donuts, so Jools and i have one and a coffee, which is just dandy.
We walk back to the hotel under our newly purchased umbrellas, thus keeping dry. It was beginning to get dark, and the neon lights reflected off the road in a most attractive way.
Later in the evening, we decide not to go out into the pouring rain, wandering around a strange new city with little idea of where we would be going, so instead we go to the restaurant in the basement, and order pork or something which should have come with vegetables. It did, but just one mange tout, which counts as one of your five a day; right?.
We round the night off with cards in our room accompanied by cheap local beer bought from a drug store.
Given the size of this individual, it must've been recently weaned. Three-toeds are excellent swimmers and are found in floodplains, while the the Two-toeds prefer high ground that does not flood...
i'm given up...i'm sick of feeling ..tell me WTF is wrong with me :))
GIVEN UP - Linkin Park
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Nắng tắt trên con đường dài
Kí ức hôm qua mệt nhoài…
Nước mắt em rơi rơi trong cơn mưa lúc a ra đi trong 1 chiều thu
Dẫu biết xa nhau thật rồi, vẫn muốn ôm anh 1 lần, hãy nói câu anh yêu em dù là gian dối…
Khẽ nấc nhưng không thành lời
Khẽ thấy con tim bồi hồi
Muốn trách anh sao vô tâm nhưng không thể hé môi dẫu chỉ là 1 câu
Bởi chính em đây hiểu rằng, chỉ có riêng em ngộ nhận, những phút giây em bên anh giờ này hoàn toàn xa tay với…
Ngày ngày tháng tháng như là trong mơ từng dòng kí ức tìm về bên em…
Ánh mắt dịu dàng, cử chỉ nhẹ nhàng, những phút bên em thật lòng làm sao quên
Vì ngườibên em, như làn mây trôi, một ngày gió đến sẽ cùng mây đi…
Phút cuối ngậm ngùi, bóng tối…riêng em mà thôi…
Giờ đây khi thời gian giúp e nhận ra rằng trai tim anh chưa bao giờ iu e..
Là khi em chôn kí ức bên anh…
Phút cuối hiểu rằng, chỉ có e iu a mà thôi
---------------------
sắp đi học :(
cm và fav nhé , d.này mưa nhiều :) chùa chết chìm nhé =]
Given that it was in storage for a while, I can’t seem to get enough of this lovely item at the moment. Here it is once again, although it looks exactly the same from the back as it does from the front.
for this week, I asked for and received a challenge by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicachuppy/] to do a nature setting, given that a lot of images have been in and around the homestead. I had a pretty good idea for setting and had the week off, but unfortunately ran into a passing rarity - thunderstorms - for a good part of the week. I always knew I had the nearby park for a backup, and was able to get out and make this shot by the river. It kind of looks like Augie's coming back in from a dip, but there's more than a few signs along the way indicating "no swimming", and, well, it's not really clean enough for that after the week's storms and drainage outflows. :-(
I also saw a secondary challenge by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/pessimisaurus/] for color! I know I've been a bit obsessed with monochrome, but with this early morning shooting into the sun setting, I couldn't help but keep the colors. (besides, after all the storms, there actually are colors beyond yellow & brown!) so, here we have green, and yellow, and gold, the green/blue of the river, and the roan of Augie's face.
I personally like the way the sun and pose have accentuated the lighter/white areas of Augie's coat, and the kind of golden rim light that come through her fringes. I also like the way she's looking forward toward me, keeping an eye on the people walking the path further behind.
Thanks for the challenges, Jessica & Margaret!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
In March 1941 Saab was given the task to design a better fighter than the Seversky Republic P-35s and Reggiane 2000s, at that time the only fighter aircraft Sweden was able or allowed to buy and the air force’s most modern fighters. Several other foreign designs, including the German Bf 109 or even the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero had also been considered.
Anyway, during the ongoing war the procurement of foreign equipment had no predictable future, and so a program for an indigenous fighter aircraft was launched the same year. This resulted in two different designs, which were both initially constructed around an imported German DB 603 engine – a deal which had become possible through the allowance of German transport flights to Norway over Swedish territory, a reason why no Allied equipment was sold to Sweden.
The resulting designs, the L-21 and L-23, differed considerably from each other. The Saab L-21 was a futuristic twin-boom pusher. This unconventional layout was a technological risk, with ejection seat and all, but it was expected to exploit the DB603 engine to the max, with a low-drag airframe (e .g. with a totally buried radiator installation inside of the inner wings) and a well-balanced center of gravity, which was expected to improve handling and turn radius. It was the favored design of Saab’s engineers.
As a fall-back option, though, the L-23 was added. It was a more conservative design with the same DB 603 engine, but with the engine in the classic nose position, a tunnel radiator under the rear fuselage, low tapered wings and a conventional tail. The overall outline resembled the P-51B/C Mustang. Most interestingly, the J 23 was to have a Bofors ejection seat, too, despite its conventional layout.
In December 1941 both designs were approved for prototypes, so that a direct comparison of both layouts could be made. The first of three J 21 prototypes flew on 30 July 1943, while the first three J 23 fighters followed on 10 August, just two weeks later.
Flight tests and evaluation continued until mid-1944 and, despite less weight and size, the J 23 turned out to be fast (Max. speed 626 km/h (388 mph) with the DB 603), but considerably less maneuverable than the J 21, which in itself was also not a perfect aircraft and frequently faced overheating problems.
Faced with two mediocre designs and an urgent need for a modern fighter, it was eventually decided to go ahead with the J 21 for serial production, but a pre-production batch of upgraded J 23 was also ordered for field tests and further development. In the meantime, Sweden had acquired rights to produce the DB 605 in license, and the new fighter was to be adapted to this more modern and powerful engine – it was hoped that the new engine would improve the J 23’s performance, and it was also fitted to the production J 21.
This re-engined variant was the J 23A, of which twelve aircraft were constructed at the main plant in Trollhättan and delivered from August 1945, too late to be involved in typical interception duties at the Swedish borders.
Deliveries of the favored J 21 started in December of the same year. The latter’s field performance turned out to be unsuited for the interceptor role, and the cooling problems persisted. Relegated mainly into the bomber and CAS role (the J 21 turned out to be a passable ground attack aircraft and a stable gun platform), the limitation of the J 21’s pusher design led to a revival of the front-engine J 23.
The resulting J 23B became the aircraft’s actual production variant, incorporating many improvements which had been developed and tested on the prototypes and the pre-production J 23As. These included aerodynamic modifications like a different airfoil on the outer wings and a lowered horizontal stabilizer, coupled with an extended rear fuselage for better directional stability and a slimmed-down radiator fairing for less drag. These machines were delivered from late 1946 on, and a total of forty-six J 23B airframes were produced until early 1948.
In service, the lighter J 23Bs proved to be a better interceptor than the J 21, with a higher top speed and rate of climb, but its handling was less responsive than the pusher aircraft with the same engine and armament.
Overall the J 23B was regarded as inferior to the very similar J 26 (the P-51D) in almost any respect, and the J 23B was never really popular with its flight or ground crews. Consequently, the J 23Bs active fighter career was short and the machines were only operated by the F 16 fighter wing and the F 20 Air Force Academy, both based at Uppsala Airfield, primarily used for advanced weapon and air combat training.
A new evaluation of the J 21 and the J 23 in 1947 led to the decision to retain the J 21 series but to consider the modification of the airframe to accommodate a jet engine. While production line J 21A series aircraft were first selected for conversion, the initial piston-engine version continued in production in five series "batches" that were completed in 1948–49.
Further J 23B production was not resumed, instead the J 26 and J 27 were procured. Anyway, the age of the piston-engine fighter came soon to a close and the Swedish Air Force entered the jet age. Consequently, the J 23B was already phased out, together with the J 21, after 1954.
General characteristics:
Crew: one
Length: 9.58 m (31 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 11.3 m (37 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.96 (13 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 20.00 m² (215.28 ft²)
Empty weight: 2,535 kg (5,583 lb)
Loaded weight: 3,445 kg (7,588 lb)
Max. take-off weight: 3,663 kg (8,068 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Daimler-Benz liquid-cooled, supercharged, 60° inverted V12 DB 605B engine,
rated at 1,085 kW (1,455 hp / 1,475 PS) and license-built by SFA.
Performance:
Maximum speed: 680 km/h (367 knots, 422 mph)
Cruise speed: 495 km/h (265 knots, 308 mph)
Range: 750 km (466 mi)
Service ceiling: 11,200 m (36,685 ft)
Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,340 ft/min)
Armament:
1× engine-mounted 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 or Bofors cannon,
firing through the propeller hub
4× 13 mm Bofors-built Colt machine guns in the outer wings nose
Underwing hardpoints for various bombs, drop tanks and unguided rockets
The kit and its assembly:
The “Swedish Season” continues! The Saab 23 is another “phantom of the past”, a real world design that never left the drawing board. The J 23 actually started as an alternative to the J 21, but was discarded in late 1941 in favor of the more promising, yet bigger and heavier, pusher design. But that would not stop modelers from trying to build one, even though I have never seen a model of this aircraft? Having recently tried to build a Saab 27 fighter caught me in the right mood for another whiffy Swedish design, so I took a chance on the J 23, too.
At first glance you can mistake the J 23 for a P-51B with an engine from a late Bf 109, some sources describe it as “a Swedish Messerschmitt”. But that’s only superficial, much like the later Griffon-powered J 27 project which can be described as a “Super Spitfire”, but this does not do justice to the aircraft’s construction.
Both were independent developments, even though the P-51 (some early specimen were forced to land in Sweden and closely examined) certainly had a massive impact on both designs.
Anyway, the information basis surrounding the J 23 is worse than the J 27’s, and I only had rather vague profile drawings/sketches at hand for reference. A basis model was also hard to find: the rear section from a P-51B (in this case an Intech kit from Poland) was settled, since the Mustang’s cockpit shape, dorsal section and fin come really close to the J 23. But you cannot simply mate a P-51 with a Bf 109 nose, it would result in a rather wacky Mustang-thing because the proportions are not right.
Finding a good solution was not easy, and I was lucky to find a Hasegawa Ki-61 in the stash – it has a German engine (an earlier DB 601, though) and an overall layout similar to the P-51B. But the Ki-61 is considerably larger than a Bf 109, more in the P-51’s size class. Despite many detail modifications I decided to mate these unlikely aircraft for the J 23s basis – engraved panel lines on both kits made the combination less obvious, too.
The InTech P-51B gave its tail and the cockpit section (excluding the radiator tunnel and the wing roots), cut away from the rest of the Mustang fuselage with a Z-shaped cut. With a matching cut on the Ki-61’s fuselage, the engine and the whole wing/fuselage intersection were used. Styrene strips held the fuselage sections in place, on the outside the seams were later blended with nitrous compound putty. One benefit of this solution is that the OOB P-51 canopy could be used (even though the rear end fit necessitated some body work), and the resulting cockpit position was just as far forward as on the J 23, right above the wings. As a consequence the rear fuselage behind the cockpit appears to be rather long, but that is AFAIK correct, the J 23 had these slightly odd proportions!
For the J 23’s DB 605 engine a different, bigger spinner had to be mounted – scratched from a massive PZL 23 spinner and single blades (from the Hasegawa Ki-61), together with a metal axis and a styrene tube adapter inside of the nose. Some putty work was necessary to fair over the Ki-61 guns on the cowling, the typical DB 601 front bulge and blend the bigger, new spinner to the rest of the fuselage, but the result looks O.K.
The Ki-61’s original wings and landing gear could, thanks to the original fuselage section from the Hasegawa kit, be carried over and easily mounted, even though the wing tips were clipped for a square, Mustang-esque shape (the J 23’s look in all illustrations I’ve seen like upscaled Bf 109E wings).
The InTech P-51’s horizontal stabilizers were used, but for a J 23 they had to be placed in a different position: further back (so that wedges for the vertical rudder had to be cut out) and considerably lower, necessitating some (more) body work to hide the original attachment points. The new position adds to the impression of an extended fuselage section behind the cockpit, even though the P-51 donor fuselage section is only a little longer than the Ki-61’s. All tail surface outlines were slightly modified, too.
The J 23’s typical, shallow radiator tunnel had to be scratched, the semi-buried construction sits far behind the wings’ training edge. In an initial step, the removed Ki-61 radiator’s gap as well as the P-51 tail wheel well were faired over with styrene sheet and new intake/outlet ramps integrated into the lower rear fuselage. The tunnel itself is the narrow, aerodynamic fairing of a Boulton Paul Defiant’s machine guns behind the turret (raised when not in use), left over from a Pavla kit, opened at both ends.
As a consequence of the new and long radiator tunnel, the P-51 tail wheel well was moved about 5mm further back and the fuselage profile under the tail fin re-shaped.
One of the final steps was the cockpit interior, because I was not sure concerning the relative position of the P-51’s canopy (cut into three pieces for open display) and dashboard and the Ki-61’s cockpit floor panel and seat. But both turned out to match relatively well, and I added a tank and radio dummy behind the seat in order to prevent a clear view into the rear fuselage.
The landing gear was taken OOB from the Ki-61 – it looks similar to the real J 23 arrangement, so I stuck with it. The tail wheel comes from the InTech P-51, just the covers were scratched for the re-located well.
All gun barrels on spinner and wings are hollow steel needles, no ordnance was hung under the wings, even though the Ki-61 hardpoints were retained. After all, it’s a fighter aircraft.
Painting and markings:
Once more a classic, if not conservative, livery for a fictional aircraft – and in this case I chose the simple olivgrön/ljust blågrå camouflage of the late Fourties, coupled with contemporary color-coded letters identifying the individual aircraft and its squadron within the Flygflöttilj group.
The uniform upper surfaces were painted with RAF Dark Green (Humbrol 163). This tone has an olive drab touch and comes IMHO pretty close to the original Swedish color, the frequently recommended FS 34079 is IMHO too blue-ish. For the underside I used Humbrol 87 (Steel Gray), which is a blue-greenish gray. The authentic tone would be FS 36270, but on a model it appears much too dark, so that the lighter Steel Gray is a handy and individual alternative.
A light black ink was applied in order to emphasize the panel lines, some more depth was added through dry-painted panels with lighter shades of the basic colors (in this case, Humbrol 155 and 128).
The cockpit interior was painted in dark gray (Humbrol 32), while the landing gear and the wells became Aluminum (Humbrol 56).
As an aircraft of the air staff flight, this J 23 received a white spinner and a white code letter on the tail. These and other markings came from various sources and spare decal sheets. Some extra color was added with red warning markings on the wings above the flaps, plus some visual markings - all made with generic decal stripes. The cock nose art is a personal addition - taken from a Spanish Bf 109D, but AFAIK such personal markings were not uncommon on Swedish Air Force aircraft in the post WWII era.
An eye-catcher and some variety on the otherwise simple green/gray livery are white high-viz markings on the wing tips and a wide fuselage band. Such additional markings were frequently used in the post WWII-era during exercises, training or public displays. Styles varied considerably, though, between “color blocks” and wide single bands which I used (seen on a J 21) and even dense, thin zebra stripes on wings and fuselage. In this case, the white markings were painted onto wings and fuselage (Humbrol 34).
Since most panel lines on the fuselage were lost I painted some new ones with a soft pencil. Finally, after some gun soot and exhaust stains made with grinded graphite as well as some dry-brushed silver on the wings’ leading edges and around the cockpit were added, the kit received a coating with matt acrylic varnish.
Another scratch build of an obscure Swedish aircraft that never reached the hardware stage – and pretty successful, IMHO. This sleek J 23 model looks just as harmless and innocent, but involved massive construction work in almost every area as the kitbashed J 27 before. It’s actually the first model rendition of the J 23 I have seen so far – and another funny fact is that this “Swedish Messerschmitt” was built without any Bf 109 part at all!
Marcel Duchamp American (born France) Born 1887, died 1968
Étant donnés: 1 la chute d’eau, 2 le gaz d’éclairage… (Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas…) , 1946-66
Mixed media assemblage
Exterior: wooden door, iron nails, bricks, and stucco; interior: bricks, velvet, wood, parchment over an armature of lead, steel, brass, synthetic putties and adhesives, aluminum sheet, welded steel-wire screen, and wood; Peg-Board, hair, oil paint, plastic, steel binder clips, plastic clothes-pins, twigs, leaves, glass, plywood, brass piano hinge, nails, screws, cotton, collotype prints, acrylic varinish, chalk, graphite, paper, cardboard, tape, pen ink, electric light fixures, gas lamp (Bec Auer type), foam rubber, cork, electric motor, cookie tin, and linoleum
Gift of the Cassandra Foundation, 1969-41-1
From the Placard The Philadelphia Museum of Art
www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/324.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp
www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/arts/design/28duchamp.html
Id 850
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Eight hundred and twenty nine metres at 15:32pm on Thursday 11th May 2023 off Crowsnest highway 3 close to Sunshine Valley at the Cascade Recreation Park in British Columbia.
Nikon D850 Single-lens reflex digital camera F Mount with FX CMOS 35.9mm x 23.9mm Image sensor 46.89 Million total pixels Focal length: 62mm Shutter speed: 1/125s (Mechanical shutter) Aperture f/11.0 iso100 Hand held with Tamron Vibration Control set to position 1 Image area Full Frame FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L 45.4Million pixels (8256 x 5504) 14 Bit uncompressed AF-C Priority Selection: Release Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1, A1.00, M0.25 (5910k) Colour space: Adobe RGB Picture control: (A) Auto (Sharpening +1.00/Clarity +1.00)
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LATITUDE: N 49d 3m 49.90s
LONGITUDE: W 121d 3m 20.80s
ALTITUDE: 829.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 93.0MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 46.10MB
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St George, Stowlangtoft, Suffolk
Given that our parish churches almost without exception underwent restorations in the 19th Century, it should be obvious that when we enter a medieval church, we are encountering a Victorian vision of the medieval. Even when the actual furnishings and fittings are medieval, the whole piece is still a Victorian conception.
Inevitably, the question arises of what was there before the restoration and what wasn't. The obvious answer is that we must assume that nothing is as it first appears.
A prime example of a church that assumes a continuity that may not actually be the truth is here in the flat fields between Woolpit and Ixworth. This part of Suffolk can be rather bleak in winter, but in summer the churchyard here is verdant and golden, as beautiful a place as any in the county. The church is large, and yet unusually narrow. It sits on a mound that has been cut down on one side by the road. In the churchyard you'll find the well-known memorial to the art critic Peter Fuller and his unborn son, killed in a car crash in 1990.
In the churchyard wall there is what appears to be broken medieval window tracery, which is worth noticing, for hereby hangs a tale.
St George is one of the great Suffolk churches. Although it may externally appear a little severe, and is by no means as grand as Blythburgh, Long Melford and the rest, it is a treasure house of the medieval inside. Unusually for a church of its date, it was all rebuilt in one go, in the late 14th century, and the perpendicular windows are not yet full of the 'walls of glass' confidence that the subsequent century would see. The tracery appears to have been repaired, and possibly even renewed, which may explain the tracery in the churchyard wall. However, it doesn't take much to see that the tracery in the wall is not perpendicular at all, but decorated. So it may be that the broken tracery is from the original church that the late 14th century church replaced. But the wall itself isn't medieval, so where had it been all those years? Is it possible that the current window tracery is not medieval at all?
Stowlangtoft church featured in Simon Jenkins' book England's Thousand Best Churches, which sends plenty of visitors to its locked door, and may help stave off the inevitable for a while, for there is no real congregation here any more and the church is moribund. Regular services are held across the fields at Pakenham, and St George is now only used on special occasions. The key is kept across the road, where the very nice lady told me in February 2018 that the church is now headed for redundancy. It seems likely that care of it will be conveyed into the hands of the Churches Conservation Trust.
You step in through the chancel door (the lock here is very awkward, but do persevere) and if you are anything like me you will head straight down to the west end where you will find the font. Likethe window tracery, it asks some questions. Unusually, it features a Saint on seven of the panels, Christ being on the westwards face. Mortlock dates it to the early 14th century, and the Saints it shows are familiar cults from that time: St Margaret, St Catherine, St Peter and St Paul, and less commonly St George. The cult of St George was at its height in the early years of the 14th century. Mortlock describes the font as mutilated, and it certainly isn't looking its best. But I think there is more going on here than meets the eye. Fonts were plastered over in Elizabethan times, and only relief that stood proud of the plaster was mutilated. These are all shallow reliefs, and I do not think they have been mutilated at all. To my eye at least, this stonework appears weathered. I wonder if this font was removed from the church, probably in the mid-17th century, and served an outdoor purpose until it was returned in the 19th century.
The story of this church in the 19th century is well-documented. In 1832, as part of his grand tour of Suffolk, David Davy visited, and was pleased to find that the church was at last undergoing repair. The chancel had been roofless, and the nave used for services. A new Rectory was being built. Who was the catalyst behind all this? His name was Samuel Rickards, and he was Rector here for almost the middle forty years of the 19th century. Roy Tricker notes that he was a good friend of John Henry Newman, the future Cardinal, and they often corresponded on the subject of the pre-Reformation ordering of English churches. It is interesting to think how, at this seminal moment, Rickards might have informed the thought of the Oxford Movement. Sadly, when Newman became a Catholic, Rickards broke off all correspondence with him.
During the course of the 1840s and 1850s, Rickards transformed Stowlangtoft church. He got the great Ipswich woodcarver Henry Ringham in to restore, replicate and complete the marvellous set of bench ends - Ringham did the same thing at Woolpit, a few miles away. Ringham's work is so good that it is sometimes hard for the inexperienced eye to detect it. However, as at Woolpit, Ringham only copied animals here, and the weirder stuff is all medieval, and probably dates from the rebuilding of the church. The glory of Stowlangtoft's bench ends is partly the sheer quantity - there are perhaps 60 carvings - but also that there are several unique subjects.
The carvings appear to be part of the same group as Woolpit and Tostock - you will recognise the unicorn, the chained bear, the bull playing a harp, the bird with a man's head, from similar carvings elsewhere. And then hopefully that little alarm bell in your heard should start to go "Hmmmm....." because some of the carvings here are clearly not from the same group. It is hard to believe that the mermaid and the owl, for example, are from the same workshop, or even from the same decade. The benches themselves are no clue, as it was common practice in the 19th century to replace medieval bench ends on modern benches, or on medieval benches, or even on modern benches made out of medieval timber (as happened at Blythburgh). Could it be that Samuel Rickards found some of these bench ends elsewhere? Could he have been the kind of person to do a thing like that?
Well, yes he could. As Roy Tricker recalls, the medieval roof at the tractarian Thomas Mozley's church at Cholderton in Wiltshire is East Anglian. Rickards acquired it after finding it in storage in Ipswich docks. It presumably came from one of the Ipswich churches. In the ferment of the great 19th century restoration of our English churches, there was loads of medieval junk lying around, much of it going begging. But was Samuel Rickards the kind of person to counterfeit his church's medieval inheritance?
Well, yes he probably was. The faux-medieval roundels in the windows of the nave are clearly not medieval at all, but were in fact the work of the young Lucy Rickards, daughter of Samuel Rickards himself. Some are clearly to the young girl's design, and Pevsner notes that others are copied from medieval manuscript illustrations in the British Museum, although the Holy Kinship and Presentation in the Temple roundels at least are very close copies of the Flemish roundels of the same subjects in Nowton church on the other side of Bury St Edmunds.
Truly medieval is the vast St Christopher wall-painting still discernible on the north wall. It was probably one of the last to be painted. The bench ends are medieval, of course, as is the fine rood-screen dado, albeit repainted. There is even some medieval figure glass in the upper tracery of some of the windows, including St Agnes holding a lamb and four Old Testament prophets. The laughable stone pulpit is Rickard's commission, and the work of William White. What can Rickards have been thinking of? But we step through into the chancel, and suddenly the whole thing moves up a gear. For here are some things that are truly remarkable.
In a county famous for its woodwork, the furnishings of Stowlangtoft's chancel are breathtaking, even awe-inspiring. Behind the rood screen dado is Suffolk's most complete set of return stalls. Most striking are the figures that form finials to the stall ends. They are participants in the Mass, including two Priests, two servers and two acolytes. The figure of the Priest at a prayer desk must be one of the best medieval images in Suffolk, and Mortlock thought the stalls the finest in England.
The benches that face eastwards are misericords, and beneath them are wonderful things: angels, lions and wodewoses, evangelistic symbols and crowned heads. A hawk captures a hare, a dragon sticks out its tongue. Between the seats are weird oriental faces.
Now, you know what I am going to ask next. How much of this is from this church originally? It all appears medieval work, and there is no reason to believe it might not have been moved elsewhere in the church when the chancel was open to the elements. What evidence have we got?
Firstly, we should notice that the only other Suffolk church with such a large number of medieval misericords of this quality is just a mile away, at Norton. I don't ask you to see this as significant, merely to notice it in passing. Secondly, I am no carpenter, but it does look to me as though two sets of furnishings have been cobbled together; the stalls that back on to the screen appear to have been integrated into the larger structure of stalls and desks that front them and the north and south walls.
However, if you look closely at the figures of the two Deacons, you will see that they are bearing shields of the Ashfield and Peche families. The Ashfield arms also appear on the rood screen, and the Ashfields were the major donors when the church was rebuilt in the 14th century. So on balance I am inclined to think that the greater part of the stall structure was in this church originally from when it was rebuilt. And the misericords? Well, I don't know. But I think they have to be considered as part of the same set as those at Norton. In which case they may have come from the same church, which may have been this one, but may not have been. Almost certainly, the stalls at Norton did not come from Norton church, and folklore has it that they were originally in the quire of Bury Abbey.
Other remarkable things in St George include FE Howard's beautiful war memorial in the former north doorway, and in the opposite corner of the nave Hugh Easton's unexpectedly gorgeous St George, which serves the same purpose. He's not an artist I usually admire, but it is as good as his work at Elveden. Back up in the chancel is a delightful painted pipe organ which was apparently exhibited at, and acquired from, the Great Exhibition of 1851.
But St George at Stowlangtoft is, of course, most famous for the Flemish carvings that flank the rather heavy altarpiece. They were given to the church by Henry Wilson of Stowlangtoft Hall, who allegedly found them in an Ixworth junk shop. They show images from the crucifixion story, but are not Stations of the Cross as some guides suggest. They date from the 1480s, and were almost certainly the altarpiece of a French or Flemish monastery that was sacked during the French Revolution. The carvings were once brightly painted, and piled up in a block rather than spread out in a line. The niches, and crowning arches above them, are 19th century.
One cold winter's night in January 1977, a gang of thieves broke into this locked church and stole them. Nothing more was seen or heard of them until 1982, when they were discovered on display in an Amsterdam art gallery. Their journey had been a convoluted one. Taken to Holland, they were used as security for a loan which was defaulted upon. The new owner was then burgled, and the carvings were fenced to an Amsterdam junk dealer. They were bought from his shop, and taken to the museum, which immediately identified them as 15th century carvings. They put them on display, and a Dutch woman who had read about the Stowlangtoft theft recognised them.
The parish instituted legal proceedings to get them back. An injunction was taken out to stop the new owner removing them from the museum. The parish lost the case, leaving them with a monstrous legal bill, but the story has a happy ending. A Dutch businessman negotiated their purchase from the owner, paid off the legal bills, and returned the carvings to Stowlangtoft. Apparently this was all at vast cost, but the businessman gave the gift in thanks for Britain's liberation of Holland from the Nazis. No, thank you, sir.
Today, the carvings are fixed firmly in place and alarmed, so they won't be going walkabout again. But a little part of me wonders if they really should be here at all. Sure, they are medieval, but they weren't here originally, and they weren't even in England originally. Wouldn't it be better if they were displayed somewhere safer, where people could pay to see them, and provide some income for the maintenance of the church building? And then, whisper it, when St George is taken on by the CCT they might even be able to leave it open.
Any given Sunday Paseo de la reforma Mexico City
Street vendors
If you like this shot please go see my ALBUM "Any given Sunday in Mexico City"
www.flickr.com/photos/luajr/albums/72157638501177336
Or "street Shots"
Given that we'd already done a 'Bristol' ambigram design before Christmas I thought it only fair to get Brixton in on the action. Knowing my current proclivities if I did a load of them they'd all have stripes on them so I limited myself to just two versions for now. One with stripes, obviously, and one with a wavy patterned design. In all fairness I'd probably have to respray the blue and grey one if anyone wanted it as my favourite part, the Ace of Aces logo bit, hasn't really come out very well but I thought I'd wait and see if there was any interest first. They're A2 in size and I'd also be happy to re-do with any particular background colourways as requested if anyone felt so inclined as to ask. So there you have it.
As a side note if you're not familiar with Ram John Holder's song 'Brixton Blues' then I suggest you get yourself to Youtube pretty sharpish and give your ears a little treat.
Cheers
id-iom
Given that it’s freezing cold up here in Minneapolis right now so this pic of a gun frozen inside of a block of ice feels very appropriate to me. The first in a limited series of frozen items. If it weren’t for lack of space in my freezer I’d freeze a lot more objects and photograph them.
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and twelve metres at 12:28pm on Thursday 25th May 2023 off Keating cross and Benvenuto Avenue at the Butterfly gardens in Victoria, located in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia.
This is Mango, who is forty five years old now, a beautiful bird that I have visited for over 27 years on my trips here (Since it was located at the Crystal Gardens in Victoria back in the day). The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is the only flamingo which naturally inhabits North America, and is also known as the Caribbean flamingo. They can reach up to 83 years old in captivity!
Nikon D850 Single-lens reflex digital camera F Mount with FX CMOS 35.9mm x 23.9mm Image sensor 46.89 Million total pixels Focal length 460mm Shutter speed: 1/160s (Mechanical shutter) Aperture f/13.0 iso800 Tamron Vibration Control set to position 1 Image area Full Frame FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L 45.4Million pixels (8256 x 5504) 14 Bit uncompressed AF-C Priority Selection: Release Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1, A1.00, M0.25 (4610k) Colour space: Adobe RGB Picture control: (A) Auto (Sharpening +1.00/Clarity +1.00)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup. Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon EN-EL15a battery.
LATITUDE: N 48d 33m 52.30s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 26m 21.10s
ALTITUDE: 112.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 93.0MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 58.10MB
PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.21 (8/12/2022) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (16/01/20) LF 1.00 Nikon Codec Full version 1.31.2 (09/11/2021)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with Windows 10 Home edition AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. My Passport USB 3.0 2TB portable desktop hard drive. Nikon NX STUDIO 64bit Version 1.2.2 (08/12/2022). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.16.0 (08/12/2022). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Cabinet card by Farley, no location given. I have several other cabinet cards from this photographer, and they have alway been with batches of photos by Illinois photographers. I have suspected that he was a traveling photographer, but if so he is not listed in Brown's book. There were many that are not listed.
A search for photographers named Farley in the 1880 census turned up five of them, all in different states. This photographer could have been any of them or none of them. They were:
Frank Farley - Osage, Kansas
Elliott Farley - Lowell, Indiana
J. C. Farley -Richmond, Virginia
John Farley - Lexington, Kentucky
John Farley - Peru, Nebraska
Original Caption: "I'm Clean" Bumper Stickers Are Given to Any Motorists Who Wish to Place Them on Their Vehicles after Passing an Inspection at an Auto Emission Inspection Station in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio Since the Beginning of 1975. All City Motorists Must Pass the Long Standing Safety Check Only Once a Year. An Emissions Test on an Exhaust Analyzer Has Been Added for All Light Duty, Spark Ignition Powered Motor Vehicles to Monitor Safe Levels of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrocarbons. 09/1975
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-15430
Photographer: Eiler, Lyntha Scott, 1946-
Subjects:
Cincinnati (Hamilton county, Ohio, United States) inhabited place
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=557880
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
Please forgive the title I was not very good at deciding on what these were, so I included something that they are not.
I am using the description that I have previously given to four pictures tiled,
“Rodenstock Imagon 300 mm H=5.6 Murmillo Thraex as Gaulish replacement and Hoplomachus Gladiator history as lesson in conquest”
I do not wish to dwell on the traits and fates of Gladiators. The history of Murmillo and their opponent does show the Roman attitude of barbarian til the Gauls in this case were subdued and turned into a Client Kingdom so their former bestial character was withdrawn from the Arena and the Murmillones needed a new opponent in their live action and potential death games. The helmet here has a history and a continuing present.
Using a Sinar camera with artistic lens and a Sony digital mirrorless camera gives a warm feel to to the pictures. The Rodenstock Imagon 300 mm H=5.6 gives several versions of itself through itself without additions and then through aperture and diffusion discs sometimes referred to as sieve apertures and they are also called sink strainers. Many photographers are finding that old lenses and camera enclosures can work marvellous well with new digital cameras. Old cameras, lenses and equipment are current enjoy a second, third, fourth and more life as they are looked to again to produce the detail they were imagined for and the production of wonders that they were never designed for.
Murmillo
The murmillo (plural murmillones) or myrmillo wore a helmet with a stylised fish on the crest (the mormylos or sea fish), as well as an arm guard (manica), a loincloth and belt, a gaiter on his right leg, thick wrappings covering the tops of his feet, and a very short greave with an indentation for the padding at the top of the feet. They are heavily armoured gladiators: the murmillo carried a gladius (64–81 cm long) and a tall, oblong shield in the legionary style. Murmillones typically fought a thraex, but occasionally the similar hoplomachus.
Thraex
The Thraex (plural Thraeces, "Thracians") wore the same protective armour as the hoplomachi with a broad rimmed helmet that enclosed the entire head, distinguished by a stylized griffin on the protome or front of the crest (the griffin was the companion of the avenging goddess Nemesis), a small round or square-shaped shield (parmula), and two thigh-length greaves. His weapon was the Thracian curved sword (sica or falx, c. 34 cm or 13 in long). They were introduced as replacements for the Gaulish gladiator type after Gaul made peace with Rome. They commonly fought myrmillones or hoplomachi.
Hoplomachus
The hoplomachus (Romanised Greek for "armed fighter", Latin plural hoplomachii) wore quilted, trouser-like leg wrappings, loincloth, a belt, a pair of long shin-guards or greaves, an arm guard (manica) on the sword-arm, and a brimmed helmet that could be adorned with a plume of feathers on top and a single feather on each side. He was equipped with a gladius and a very small, round shield. He also carried a spear, which he would have to cast at his opponent before closing for hand-to-hand combat. The hoplomachi were paired against the myrmillones or Thraeces. They may have developed out of the earlier '"Samnite" type after it became impolitic to use the names of now-allied peoples.
Lens details Rodenstock Imagon 300 mm H=5.6 (for 13×18 cm)
In a joint effort with the pioneering photographer Heinrich Kühn, who, as a pictorialist, was artistically seeking for "romantic softness without sugariness, blurring without a woolly effect"[1] in images and had been experimenting with binocular lenses and soft filters and rasters in the 1920s already,[1] the lens was technically designed by Franz Staeble [de],[1][2] founder of the optical company Staeble-Werk [de] in Munich, Germany.[1] The resulting lens was marketed as Anachromat Kühn. Later in 1928,[1] the lens became the Tiefenbildner-Imagon, which was introduced by Rodenstock in 1930/1931 and produced up into the 1990s. The unusual term Tiefenbildner is a German composition, which can be best translated as "depth-of-field creator, modulator or painter" in an artistic sense; this designation was later dropped.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodenstock_Imagon
Some Sinar Camera Details
“The name SINAR is an acronym that encompasses the prime applications in the fields of still, industrial, nature, architectural and reproduction photography.”
www.sinar.ch/de/downloads/category/22-sinar-pressemitteil...
At times the name SINAR is rendered into different titles the above quote and link is from an English version of a 2011 press release, “Sinar Photography AG Acquires the Brand Rights of Sinar AG,” Zürich: Sinar Photography AG. April 2011. The S in Sinar has also been stated as standing for studio, Sache, or science.
Whilst Sinar still make amazing cameras this is an older version and it is not the latest and greatest. In fine age it is still a picture taking marvel, but not easy, not handy and not great to transport. Then you luxuriate into the results and suddenly the struggles of lifting and moving of the all manual operation and friendly challenges of light metering seem to be gone for a few treasured moments of appreciation and even longer still as you think where next for a Sinar experience.
© PHH Sykes 2024
phhsykes@gmail.com
Rodenstock Imagon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodenstock_Imagon
Sinar
List of Roman gladiator types
Given our current choices, if he was running I might actually vote for him.
Cosplayer: Loki Hates You
UPDATE: The Presidential Candidate named Loki was featured in Uproxx's Chris Evans And Sebastian Stan Guest Star In The Cosplay Of The Week (06.10.16). Holy... wow. Just, wow. Even the cosplayer has shared this pic on his FB page.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Acte Two
A Chocolate Trét
The taller thief froze some sixth sense brought on by the many parties such as this attended by her, which had given her a sort of intuition about people and their curious behavior.
A figure, alone, swearing a swishing gown was directly approaching the taller thief.
The unseen stranger came up and placed a hand upon the taller thief’s sleek waist.
A warm figure slips up against her, and a body hot with lust is felt as a voice whispers….
“I thought you may have been eyeing me up in there. And here you are waiting. Did you like what you saw, sweetie?”
Even though she was far more used to males being the ones to boldly come on to her, the taller thief did not miss a beat. She leans back up against what she now realizes is the lady in blue satin and deliciously sparkly diamonds and sapphires. She had, without trying, managed to hook a wealthy one, and possibly a gullible twit by nature.
The taller thief played her prey, as a spider attracted an innocent jewel-coloured fly.
The taller thief turned and faced the lady whose heavily blue/violet mascara-lined eyes were wide with interest. The thief runs her hands along the scintillating slickly gown-covered sides of the lady in blue.
The wealthy young twit lady answered by brazenly running a hand along the thief’s tight-covered hinny
As the pair draw dangerously close,
The female thief placed her hand onto the sensuous feeling, pricey satin-covered waistline of the sapphire burdened lady, the thief’s long fingers dropping quickly down and also groped the lady’s round firm butt, nicely outlined by the tight-fitting blue satin gown she wore. The thief smiled, answering truthfully…
“I so ever did like, that’s a perfectly lovely dress you’re wearing. It looks very….provocative if I may say.”
The lady smiled, eyes half closing as the thief ran her fingers up her prey’s slick backside.
“My name is Cadie. What’s yours beautiful?”
The thief stroked her fingers back up the luscious blue gown, eying the captivating earrings glitting down from her earlobes, as she gave her the name she had given herself for the evening.
“My name is Rose darling one…”
Looking around, Cadie wrapped an arm along “Rose’s” waist pulling her close.
“Oh I love roses, what a pretty name.”
The thief smiled, her eyes wide with rapture over her thoughts.
“So do I ( and they have prickling catching Thorne don't they)the thief thought eyeing up the truly magnificent sapphires rippling fervently around the alluringly delicious lady's throat.
“Rose” ventured on
“They have very pretty roses in the gardens. Have you seen them?”
Cadie excitedly nodded, sending her earrings into a sparkling frenzy.
“They are beautiful.”
“Rose” tightened her web.
Yes, they are, and even prettier ones bathed in moonlight by the boat house.
I saw the boathouse from the gardens. but I did not go there. Seemed isolated and creepy. Sounds lovely enough though., of course one is with someone else…”
The door behind them opened and both lady’s hands went to their sides.
“Rose” looked around and leaned into the lady, murmuring with a conspiracist-type whisper
With two of us, it would be less creepy. More enchanting even. Perhaps we can meet there, later Cadie, if you can get away alone?”
Cadie looked thoughtful, as the thief called “Rose” had her eyes locked with a lusty gaze into Cadie’s own.
“I can, er will, certainly try.”
The grandfather clocked chimed eleven
“Rose” suggests…
Say after midnight? I need time to lose my friend.
Cadie looked apprehensive…
“Friend ?”
“Rose” reassured Cadie by tickling into the girl’s side.
“My cousin luv, it shouldn’t be hard. But I suggest we not be seen leaving together, a tryst should be done unnoticed. Don’t you agree my dear?”
Cadie blushed, then nodded and winked, leaving.
“Rose” watched with a broad smile as Cadie made her way down the stairs. Saying to the departing wealthy lady with the shimmering jewels.
“Definitely unnoticed…”
“Rose left after seeing Cadie move off. She located Emilee sitting next to a gent at the bar.
^^^^^^
Meanwhile, at the bar Emily was in a very animated conversation with a blonde-haired young gent named Gary, looking very handsome in a fitted suit. His hand was caressing her satin skirt-covered leg while telling her a story about his horses running a race. A heavy silver Rolex hung outlined on his tanned wrist, gleamed with an expensive call.
As Gary finished Emily placed a hand on his suit jacket.
“How exciting monsieur, your horses must be very quick to win so many races.
He chuckled, lifting his head to take a drink from his pint.
As he did do, Emily dipped her long fingers inside his jacket and smoothly extracted his fat billfold.
It was then a hand was placed on her shoulder. Emilee turned with an innocent look planted on her face, relieved inside to find her partner standing there.
“Rose” cheerfully greeted Emilee
“Hello, my cousin. Pardon the interruption, but could you please meet with me out on the balcony?”
Emily patted the gentleman on his shoulder.
“Pardon Mon chérie I find myself being called away. Later for that second dance please.”
The blonde-haired gentleman gave “Rose” a once over and grinned at Emilee
“Certainly cutie, see you in a bit then.”
Emilee got up and followed her partner. Glancing back she saw that her blonde gentleman friend had already found a new female conquest.
The two ladies went out on the balcony and found an isolated shadowy corner.
There were no tables and chairs on the balcony, so not many stayed there long. Soon the pair of thieves found themselves alone.
Emilee turned to her friend, her eyes with a questioning look. For she had wanted a go at that silver Rolex.
“Rose” happily squeezed her arm.
“I met a twit.”
Emilee asked curiously…
“A twit, luv? “
“Rose” glanced back at the ballroom as she answered…
“Yes, a twit, wearing the most beautiful diamonds and sapphires.”
Emily squealed with a happy pounce…
“Oooh delicious, That’s the best kind.”
“Rose” huddled close and explained what had happened, with Emilee hungrily listening to every word. A plan was then hatched, centered around the hapless Cadie and relieving her of the valuables and jewels she was wearing.
Now as they talked amongst themselves “Rose” kept watch around them to make sure they were not attracting anyone’s attention. They weren’t.
Emilee was titillated, excitedly asking a question.
“Ma chérie, do you think it is early to go there now?”
“Rose”, her eyes still looking around began to answer, then stumbled over her words, placing a startled hand to her throat.
“I…I….”
“Rose” had now froze for someone had attracted her attention. She looked at Emilee and whispered.
“Look carefully over my shoulder, do you see what I spy with my devious little eye?”
Both were watching a young lass of about 17 making her solitary way across the balcony.
She is breathtakingly elegant.
Attired in a far too wickedly lovely long satin dress of a rich hue of chocolate brown, the dress was embroidered with flickering rhinestones. Long chocolate brown satin gloves graced her hands up to her elbows. The shiny gown flows down along the girl's delightful well-endowed figure. And adorning that well-pointed figure is a rather healthy, (or could that possibly be said to be an unhealthy this evening ?) display of flickering diamonds that are undeniably, and quite expensively, real.
Emilee whispered with a happy smirk…
“How had neither of us spotted this one yet? “
The young lady’s happy smile was captivating and the jewels she wore were the perfect lure for a couple of thieves eager to land a coup de gras
The dazzling jewels the newcomer wore consisted of a very stunning silver necklace set with far too sparkly diamonds that cascaded down from her throat and dripped down the front of her chocolate satin dress. Her long silky hair was down held in place from her face by a pair of thin long diamond-encrusted silver fern leaf-shaped clips. Long silver earrings swung down freely in and out of her earlobes, both set with streams of cascading flickering diamonds. She was wearing elegant chocolate satin gloves to her elbows. Around her wrists sparkle twin wide diamond bracelets. From her fingers on her right hand sparkled a pair of diamond and citrine gemmed cocktail rings. Wrapped around her gown’s waistline was a ribbed brown satin sash, in the centre dangled a long diamond broach, diamonds forming a kite shape, with silver strings of diamonds dangling down from the slanted sides to the bottom point.
The girl was swishing towards the railing overlooking the gardens. She failed to notice the pair of female thieves watching her with sinister intent from the shadowy corner that hid them.
As they pair watched, Emily commented in a low murmur out of the side of her mouth.
“My what jewels that pretty thing is wearing. Be a pity if she met up with the wrong person.”
“Rose” answered her…
“Well, I do think it’s a pity how those far-to-brite jewels are detracting from how darling she looks in that luxurious satin dress.
As they watched the pretty thing, the girl meandered with whimsical elegance to the steps and going down, was soon lost to view.
Emily turned to “Rose” and said miserably…
“I would think with a sapphire twit in hand, our minds should only be there. So sad, no more lifting to be done tonight.
“Rose” turned with a sombre face and looked down into her partner’s sadly eager eyes…. Then she smiled with a wickedly endeared look at Emilee.
“A present given to one needs to be unwrapped…
You know, she is the spitting image of my niece Cecelia, who is not wearing jewels, don’t you think? I should go and tell her. And as I do, you should come up and also mistake her for Cecilia whom I’m talking with. Then we can help the poor lass to look much more like her? “
Emilee winks at her companion, giggling.
“She is the spitting image of Cecilia. That’s a lovely name for a niece that doesn’t exist. don’t you think? And so convenient that our “mistaken double” is allowed to be out wearing her good jewellery this fine evening while "safe" at home. “
The balcony is still deserted as the two hunting thieves quickly make for the stairs.
Reaching them they head down.
The prey in shimmering chocolate satin, is just moving off the last step. Her diamonds twinkled seductively along her figure as she meandered into the gardens.
Once they reach the bottom the two thieves nod to each other, splitting up.
“Rose” begins tracking the victim, her figure trembling with increasing excitement as her victim walks further along in the deserted gardens.
The girl spied a rabbit sitting still underneath a bench. She freezes in step as she watched the cute soft furry thing eating grass.
“Rose” spies Emilee by a fountain a ways off to the opposite side. The taller thief puts a finger to the side of her nose and nods in the unwary girl's direction.
“Rose” sneaks up behind the still unwary girl.. keeping her eyes on the satin sash wrapped around the victim's svelte waistline and tied with a neat little bow behind. The glittering, now unseen diamond broach attached to the front of the satin sash is her objective.
“Rose” reached the girl so focused on watching the hare, that she is unaware of being approached.
“Rose” speaks to the girl as she wraps her arms around her incredibly soft waist pulling her back in a hug at the same time, her fingers easily following the path of the satin sach to the valuable diamond broach.
“Cecelia, fancy meeting you out here.”
The rabbit scampered off as “Rose” spoke. She felt the girl jump in her arms, and her fingers used this to easily unclasp the startled wealthy young lady’s glittering broach.
The girl protested apologetically to the lady who held her from behind, her mind so befuddled it never occurred to her until much later when it was pointed out to her that there was no girl there who had been wearing a similar gown as hers. So it had all been a ruse by the pair to get her jewellry, so she was informed.
“My names not Cecilia miss, sorry.”
Holding the lifted broach clasped in her fist, “Rose” turned the girl around and stared into her victim's wide-open eyes.
“Rose” now apologizes. Placing a hand to her mouth, while her other goes behind her back, secreting the broach inside a hidden pocket.
“Oh. I’m ever so sorry, I thought you were my niece. How embarrassing. “
“Rose” then reached over and stroked the young lady’s sensuous brown chocolate satin gown, taking close inventory of the unwary young lady’s remaining jewellery as she continued with an easy truthful praise in her syrupy voice.
“Please forgive me my blunder, darling one, but my you are wearing the prettiest dress I’ve ever seen!”
The girl blushed, lowering her head, long diamond earrings falling out from her hair in twin cascading sparkles of flickering delight.
From the girl's flank, Emilee now approached.
Silently reaching the extraordinarily well-dressed young lady unseen from behind she takes hold of the girl’s arms pinning her in place, startling her.
From the young lady’s shiny backside, Emilee asks “Rose”…
. Is this your niece then? Hello Cecilia, let’s have a look at you.”
Emily turns the protesting girl to face her.
“I’m not her niece Cecilia!? My name is Lilly Abbotte miss, sorry. “
It’s now Emilee’s turn to study the girl under the pretense of making sure she is not Cecelia, taking in the girl's remaining valuables.
From behind her, “Rose” is tugging on her earlobe as she says to Emily from behind their victim, as she places her hands on either side of Heather’s sleekly covered sides, tickling the unsuspecting girl under her arms.
“But doesn’t Heather look exactly like Cecile, luv? Especially if her hair was up? Don’t you think?”
Emily lifted her hands to the now giggling girl's silky long red hair, lifting it and piling it up as “Rose” placed her hands on Lilly’s shoulders, relishing in the feel of expensive chocolate brown satin.
Emilee, looking into Heather's smiling
eyes, clasping her fingers upon the hapless young girl’s ears, squeals.
“Oh my, you are absolutely correct, Lilly you are as adorable as Cecilia.”
Meanwhile, from behind the high neckline of the girl’s scintillating gown, “Rose’s” fingers tingled as her fingers undid the now exposed clasp of the diamond necklace young Lilly was wearing. The flashy necklace loaded with precious diamonds was easily whisked from around her throat.
Emily winks, letting down the lass’s hair.
Without looking “Rose” knew Lilly was no longer wearing those long sparkling diamond earrings that had been playing peekaboo and out of her let-down red sheer mane of hair.
Emily complimented Lilly on her lovely satin dress as “Rose” let fingers stroke along her gown. Lilly turns her head to look back at “Rose” as Emily seizes hold of the victim’s hands turning her attention away from her, as she suddenly gasps
“Oh, mon Dieu, snake in the grass.”
Lilly jumps, looking down at her feet.
“Rose” grasps Lilly to her too, holding onto the girl's hand as all three are looking down at the grass around their feet. Emily at the same time uses her subterfuge to whisk off one of Lilly’s fancy heavily jeweled bracelets from the wrist of the startled girl's satin glove.
At the same time, “Rosé” is still holding Lilly’s gloved hand and gently caressing her fingers to comfort her, as she manages to rub off her two rings while the fruitless search is taking place.
Emily sighs…
“That was close. Méchante small and quick things, snakes.”
Buying into our ploy The girl gives us both hugs.
Rose is standing behind Emilee, who as Lilly hugs the French thief, her hands around Emilee’s waist , works off the unwary girl’s remaining diamond bracelet.
The pair then say adieu and move off.
Happily, Lilly then walks off, heading back to the manor house.
Emily sighs happily as they both watch her walk away.
“Definitely an improvement on her looks.”
“Rose nods in agreement.
“Though we left her with those lovely diamond hair clips. Pity we didn’t get them. And the sumptuous gown, I would have loved to just peel that off her “
Emilee just sighs.
As both thieves watch the swishing gowned Lilly reach the bottom of the stairs. Emilee, with a hand to her heart, turns to her partner.
“Ma chérie, I have thoughts, but they may be too daring, no?”
“Rose”, still watching Lilly, answers.
“You have wonderful thoughts my friend, what are they?”
Emilee looks up at her partner.
“When you meet your lushly sapphire-laden twit, would it not be delicious if you were wearing the necklace of Lilly’s, or is that too daring my friend?
“Rose” turns her head to look down into to bright dark gaze of the little French thief and solemnly says…
“Far too daring my little one.
“Rose’s” face then lights up with a wicked smile.
“So all the more reason to do so!”
They walk off into a corner of shrubs, a mostly hidden view allows them to watch the balcony and stairs.
“Rose” takes out from her hidden pockets all of her takings and hands them to Emilee. Keeping Lilly’s fancy diamond necklace, she placed it around her throat, where it lay down with dazzled magnificence along the front of her shiny dress. The diamonds dripped down to just above her breasts, tightly outlined by her party dress. Fleshy and full, “Rose’s” raised nipples and breasts now stood out with an even more provocative statement.
Emilee sighs with eager anticipation as she fondles the diamonds of the necklace her partner is wearing. She pulls out the stolen watch and looks at its face.
“It is now almost minuit , time now for me to go and prepare the ‘piégeage’, no!”
“Rose looked up from the necklace and glanced over towards the still-deserted balcony.
“Yes my dear one, time to set up the ‘entrapment’.”
To be continued.
I was given the chance to try out the Leica Q thanks to the folks at Leica Store Miami and the Miami Street Photography Festival.
More Info: www.agamudayarotrumai.com/1102 ஊமைத்துரைக்கு மருதுபாண்டியர்கள் அடைக்கலம் கொடுத்த சங்கரபதிக் கோட்டை தாங்கி நிற்கும் வீரவரலாறு Asyelem to Oomaithurai given by Maruthupandiyar The sankrapathi Fort Website: www.agamudayarotrumai.com/1102
One is born from a woman, ends up in Earth.
Hinduism accords the respect these deserve.
A woman is called Gruha Lakshmi, one who brings Prosperity to Home.
Tamil calls her Illal, one who owns/rules the Home.
Similarly Earth is given the respect it deserves for it supports from Birth to Death.
Earth is eulogized as Mother and there are Vedic Sukthas in praise of the Earth, Bho Suktham.
There is Neela Suktham, Neela is considered to be the consort of Lord Vishnu.
Such being the case, there is no wonder in Hinduism calling the Sanctum Sanctorum of a Temple as Garbha Gruha, Gharbha meaning The Womb and Gruha, the Home.
Tamil calls The Gharbhagriha as Karuvarai, meaning ‘where the Foetus stays’
One’s first Home is the womb.
A Hindu temple consists of an inner sanctum, thegarbha griha or womb-chamber, where the primary idol or deity is housed along with Purusa. The garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like Shikhara, also called the Vimana. The architecture includes an ambulatory for parikrama(circumambulation), a congregation hall, and sometimes an antechamber and porch.
The Hindu temple architecture reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals of dharma, beliefs, values and the way of life cherished under Hinduism. It is a link between man, deities, and the Universal Purusa in a sacred space.
In ancient Indian texts, a temple is a place for Tirtha – pilgrimage.It is a sacred site whose ambience and design attempts to symbolically condense the ideal tenets of Hindu way of life. All the cosmic elements that create and celebrate life in Hindu pantheon, are present in a Hindu temple – from fire to water, from images of nature to deities, from the feminine to the masculine, from kama to artha, from the fleeting sounds and incense smells to Purusha – the eternal nothingness yet universality – is part of a Hindu temple architecture.
Garbhagriha or Garbha gruha (garbha gṛha) (Sanskrit: गर्भगॄह) is the sanctum sanctorum, the innermost sanctum of a Hindu templewhere resides the murti (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. Literally the word means “womb chamber”, from the Sanskritwords garbha for womb and griha for house. Only ‘priests’ (pujari) are allowed to enter this chamber.
Although the term is often associated with Hindu temples, it is also found in Jain and Buddhist temples…
In temples with a spire or vimana, this chamber is placed directly underneath it, and the two of them form the main vertical axis of the temple. These together may be understood to represent the axis of the world through Mount Meru. The garbha griham is usually also on the main horizontal axis of the temple which generally is an east-west axis. In those temples where there is also a cross-axis, the garbha gṛha is generally at their intersection.
Generally the garbhagriha is a windowless and sparsely lit chamber, intentionally created thus to focus the devotee’s mind on the tangible form of the divine within it. Entrance to the garbha grha may be restricted to priests who perform the services there…
In the Dravida style, the garbhagriha took the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha. The entrance is highly decorated. The inner garbhagriha or shrine became a separate structure, more elaborately adorned over time.
More often garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the Universe. In the centre is placed the image of the deity.
But sometimes, for the temples of feminine deities, the garbagriha is rectangular. For example in the temple of Varahi Deula in Chaurasi.
The present structure of most of these temples is a two-storeyed vimana with a square garbhagriha and a surrounding circumambulatory path, an ardha-mandapa and a narrower maha-mandapa.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbhagriha
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_temple_architecture
Natarja , Chidambaram Plan Image Credit. natarjatemplechidambaram.blogspot.in/
This bird was so far away, perched on the very furthest, large hay bale. Google Lens has given both Red-tailed Hawk and Ferruginous Hawk as IDs. I have seen both species in this rough area on various drives. Thanks so much for any help!
Wednesday, 7 August 2024: gloomy, and it has been raining for hours. Much needed to hopefully help prevent new wildfires and to help deal with the fires that are already burning. Firefighters are amazing! Our temperature this afternoon is only 16C, which is good news.
Tuesday, 6 August 2024: very overcast, gloomy day today with cooler temperatures. Only 14C at 4:00 pm. Sure beats the high 20Cs/low 30C!
Monday, 5 August 2024: our weather forecast for yesterday was tornado chance with severe storms! Only 19C just after noon.
Yay, in the evening of 3 August 2024, the wind picked up and we had thunder and rain, thank goodness. With the various wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia, along with so much hot, dry weather, we need not every drop of rain, but every bucketful! Unfortunately, the rain only lasted a very short time.
On 2 August 2024 (can't believe it is already August!), I did a long, exhausting day drive, covering NW, SW and SE of Calgary. My plans changed on the spur of the moment once I headed back to Calgary from the NW. Originally, I decided to go NW, as I haven't been out that way for quite a while.
Heading W from home, I couldn't resist stopping to check if the Common Loon I saw almost a week ago was there again. Scanning the large pond, I saw no sign of life. Then, suddenly, in the far distance, I saw a bird fly in and land on the water. 'Duck' was the first thing that went through my mind. Then, when I zoomed in on my camera, I couldn't believe my eyes - it was the Loon again! The weather was better than the awful weather/light the last time I saw it there so, fortunately, I was able to get better shots.
Feeling very thankful, I headed N, hoping I might just see a Turkey Vulture that a few people had been reporting. It had been seen in the same area as the rare Whooping Crane. No luck. I was curious to see if the Crane was in the wetland, as when I had seen it recently, it was far more distant than that. I pulled into the pull-off, glanced quickly and saw nothing, and was about to reverse, when I realized that a red truck that belonged to some ranch had pulled over on the road right behind me. A guy was taking photos with his cell phone and it looked like he was taking photos of my vehicle. Then I noticed a sign that said No Parking. Of course, I thought he was probably going to report me - though I was not parked, as I hadn't even turned off my engine, knowing I was only going to be there a matter of seconds. So annoying, and I couldn't get it out of my mind the rest of the day.
I couldn't wait to leave the whole area and head further N. Came to the town of Cochrane and ALL the construction going on. For someone with a driving phobia, trust me, it was a nightmare. Then all I could think about was knowing that I would have to go through it all again later on.
One thing I really wanted to see again was a beautiful old, pale grey barn, in great condition. Further on, I noticed a Kestrel perched on a high wire. I could only take three quick shots through my windscreen, which resulted in awful photos, not fit to post, but I was happy to see it. Such beautiful birds of prey.
It was good to see several old barns/homesteads along the way, even more so as I wasn't seeing any more birds. Also, the sky was so beautiful.
Once i was down SW and SE of Calgary, hawks and one Vesper Sparrow were my only sightings. Two were on their nest and two were on hay bales at different locations. One of the latter, standing on a very distant bale, looked almost like a Ferruginous Hawk. Google Lens's first ID said Red-tailed Hawk, 3rd ID Ferruginous, so I still don't know.
By the time I arrived home, after driving 393 km and 9 and a half hours, on a very hot day, I was dead beat. A great day, though, with the Loon being a most welcome highlight.
Given to me this morning by a cow-orker who no longer wanted it. Silver and mother of pearl, with a snakes' head detail.
Given the concerns over Covid-19 and the associated international response, social pressure referred to as ‘Social Distancing’, the good Mr T decided it was time to chill and hang out in the pool on the Southern Shores of Lake Ontario in tropical Grimsby, Ontario, for the duration of March Break. Some of the online paranoia suggested he may never get another chance. So grasp life by the horns and enjoy it while you can. Suitably protected from the sun by a cool set of sun glasses, a glass of wine to help take the edge off, and a good book to pass the time, Mr T reclined in the pool and settled in for the duration. - JW
Date Taken: 2020-03-17
Tech Details:
Taken using a tripod-mounted Nikon D800 fitted with an AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm 1:4.0 lense set to 28mm, ISO100, Auto WB, Aperture Priority Mode, f/9.0, 1/3 sec. PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Nikon RAW/NEF source file: convert image to B&W/monochrome using green channel gamma adjustment to somewhat darken the image, crop image to 1:1 aspect ratio, set final image size to 7000 px wide, apply Tone Mapping at default levels, boost contrast in L-A-B mode, enable Shadows/Highlights and recover highlight detail, sharpen, save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: use the levels tool in Auto mode to establish a good base overall tonality, sharpen, save, scale image to 6000px wide, sharpen, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 2048 px wide for posting online, sharpen very slightly, save.
The Marrabel Roman Catholic was built on land given by one of Marrabel’s first settlers, Mr Garrett Hannan.
There was already a temporary pine and pug Chapel. Tenders were called for in February 1867: by July the foundation stone was laid, and the church opened on 5 July 1868. Wright, Woods & Hamilton were the architects.
*The Very Rev John Smyth, VG, assisted by the Rev Joseph Tappeiner and the pastor of the district, laid on Sunday, 7th instant, the foundation stone of a Catholic Church, under the title of St Agnes the Martyr. Though the constant and heavy rains during the week had rendered the roads in many places almost impassable, and the day itself was unsettled and showery, yet no fewer than about 400 persons came to see laid the first stone of their church.
At 10 o'clock am the Rev Joseph Tappeiner celebrated mass, after which the priests and laity walked in procession from the small and unsightly building hitherto used as a chapel to the site of the new church.
The Vicar-General having laid the foundation stone, according to the Roman Ritual, preached an excellent sermon
The handsome sum of £84 14s 10d was then laid upon the stone. The building will be Gothic: the nave will measure 60 by 25 feet, besides chancel, sacristies, and porch. The plinth, quoins, and buttresses will be cut stone; and as the site is elevated, with a background of fine old gumtrees, the building will greatly contribute to the beauty of the young and rising township of Marrabel. [Ref: Express and Telegraph 11-7-1867]
Catholic Church, Marrabel,—
*The Very Rev John Smyth VG, assisted by the Rev Messrs Polk and Huger SJ, solemnly blessed and opened the Church of St Agnes, at Marrabel on Sunday, the 5th instant.
The very rev gentlemen preached an eloquent sermon on the occasion, and the handsome sum of £170 was received towards the liquidation of the debt, which is only a little over £400. When it is borne in mind that the building cost £1,000 independently of the stones, which were given and carted free of charge, the liberality of the congregation and friends will be more clearly understood. [Ref: Adelaide Observer from the Kapunda Herald 18-7-1868]
*The Rev Chas Van der Heyden – We are requested to inform our readers that this gentleman has removed from Riverton, and is now living in the new presbytery at Marrabel, recently erected by the Catholics of the district. [Ref: Irish Harp and Farmers’ Herald 12-3-1870]
*S. Agnes, Marrabel — A bazaar in aid of the church and new presbytery at Marrabel was held in S. Joseph's schoolroom on Wednesday, the 15th instant and following days. There was a large, effective and artistic display of useful and ornamental articles…praise is due to the ladies of the community for their enthusiastic zeal and persevering endeavours to make the Bazaar a success. [Ref: Irish Harp and Farmers’ Herald 25-3-1871]
*Presentations to Rev Michael Kennedy of Marrabel.
On Friday evening, April 30, many of the parishioners of the Mission of Marrabel met at Tothill's Creek to present an address and a purse of sovereigns to the Rev Michael Kennedy, in acknowledgment of the many services which had been done them by the rev gentleman during his long sojourn among them.
The residents of the parish of Marrabel, thought it our duty to assemble here this evening for the purpose of tendering our thanks for the able and cheerful manner in which you have for the last five years forwarded our interests … especially for the great efforts which you made to liquidate the debt which had been incurred some years ago for the purpose of building our church and parochial residence at Marrabel.
Independent of the outlay of £120 on the interior of the church, and some smaller sums spent in various other improvements, he had collected towards the debt on the church and presbytery £631 in the space of five years. [Ref: South Australian Advertiser 17-5-1877]
*The annual picnic in connection the with St Agnes Church, Marrabel, was held on Easter Monday. There was good attendance, notwithstanding that the weather was cold and wet.
In the evening the Rev W O’Dowling delivered an interesting lecture on the life of Dan O’Connell. The lecture was followed by a ball, which wound up a very enjoyable day. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 20-4-1900]
*The tender of Mr S H Roberts, of Saddleworth, has been accepted for building a sanctuary and vestry at St Agnes Church, Marrabel.
The price of the tender was £563. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 18-9-1914]
*Mr O Colmer of Riverton has obtained the contract for extensive repairs to the Catholic Church at Marrabel, including the putting in of a new ceiling. It is anticipated that he will start during this week. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 7-8-1936]
Given myself an alphabet soup game. Two new photos and another two from my photostream or archives, when possible.
She has got 4 legs!!
This cow was kept at the stables near us in Etampes, after it was found almost starving to death at a farm. Taken at Chalo St. Mars in June 2010.
Thank you for your favourites. :O)
... in Madrid (given as thanks for assistance in dealing with the archaeological sites, especially Abu Simbel, during the preparation for the Aswan dam)
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Debod
Given time I'll be back to i.d. this flick. If you see something you want to I.D., please feel free to leave it in the comments or just tag the flick.
Old door locks found in the old art deco bath house at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways, NYC. Natural light; no filter!
Vintage Thistle baby carriage given a good cleaning and some minor work, then went onto a new home/photographer. :)
©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Twenty four metres, at 13:00pm on Monday 4th November 2019, off Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane A4202 in the grounds of Hyde park, a Grade 1 listed Royal Park (the largest of) of London.
Spanning an area of 350 acres, the park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long water lakes, and was created by King Henry VIII in 1536 as hunting ground. It opened to the puiblic in 1637 and was extensively improved under Queen Caroline in the early righteenth century. The Great exhibition for which the Crystal Palace was erected, designed by Joseph Paxton, was also held here.
Here we see, Sciurus Carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel or Grey Squirrel), a tree squirrel native to North America and first introduced to the UK in the 1870's. Though it was largely resonsible for the decimation of our own native red squirrel population, those are now on the increase and found in certain parts of the UK including Scotland. The Greys are still an ecologically essential natural forester regenerator.
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Nikon D850 Focal length 270mm Shutter speed 1/200s Aperture f/8.0 iso400 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Hand held with Sigma Image stabilization enabled . Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. AF Area mode single. Exposure mode - Manual exposure. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Manually set. Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal. Active D-lighting on Automatic. High ISO Noise Reduction: On. Picture control: Auto with Sharpening A+1.00.
Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 30m 3.29s
LONGITUDE: W 0d 8m 20.55s
ALTITUDE: 6.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.0MB NEF: 93.3MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 44.80MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Students have given apples to their teachers on the first day of school for over a century. But exactly how the apple earned this distinction is not entirely clear.
The most common explanation is that in the 16th through 18th centuries in Denmark, Sweden and the US, poorer farming folk would pay their children's teachers with food - most notably with common and plentiful apples and potatoes. Another is that farmers gave teachers this food to supplement the teachers' low incomes; as teachers' wages went up, the amount of food went down. Eventually, students brought in that one apple out of tradition more than anything else.
Another consideration is that in the retelling of the story of Adam and Eve. Eve is said to have eaten an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. The apple is not actually mentioned in the book of Genesis; only "the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge." Regardless, the apple story stuck. Since teachers offer knowledge to their students, the apple -as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge — makes the perfect symbol.
Some people point out that when young children learn the alphabet, each letter is associated with a word they already know: A is for Apple, B is for Ball, and so on. So the apple is a symbol of the letter A, which is also the grade that most students want. So perhaps some students came to the conclusion that if they gave their teachers an A at the beginning of the school year, the teachers might return the favour and give them an A at the end of the year.
Read more: www.cliffsnotes.com/Section/Giving-Your-Teacher-an-Apple....
Given that this is heavily cropped from fisheye zoom and not a macro lens, I am fairly happy with the detail it held.
Seen at the 2019 Concours d'Elegance in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Packard Super Eight was the name given to the larger of the two eight-cylinder luxury automobiles produced by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. It shared frames and some body types with the top model Packard Twelve. Following the discontinuation of the Seventeenth Series Packard Twelve after the 1939 model year, a new Super Eight One-Eighty was derived from the Super Eight as the new top car range. The Super Eight was renamed the Packard Super Eight One-Sixty. These two models shared most mechanical components including the 160 HP straight Eight engine.
After 1942, Packard concentrated on the new Clipper styling that was developed for an upper-class sedan the previous year. There were Super Clippers and Custom Super Clipper in the One-Sixty and One-Eighty tradition until 1947. After a heavy facelift, the name Clipper was dropped. The most senior Super Eight One-Eighty became the Custom Eight, while its slightly lower-priced sibling, the Super Eight One-Sixty, once again became simply the Super Eight. Clipper Custom Super Eights and Custom Eights were very close relatives to their respective Super models, distinguished outside by the lack of an eggcrate grille and small rear chrome trim moulding under the trunk lid on Supers. In 1949, a new Super Eight Deluxe was added to the line. This car had also the Custom Eight's eggcrate grille, but not the rear trim.
The entire range of Packard's motorcars was renamed for the 1951 model year (twenty-fourth series), when the Super Eight was renamed 400.
In fact, given how wildly out the colours I originally blocked in the blue bits were with it's not looking too bad now. The left wall was dreadful at first, as I'd got the colour and the approach for the underpainting wrong, and it's taken a fair bit of reworking to rescue it - just need to adjust it's shape now and do the final texture and shading. The acrylics paint over earlier coats nicely as I thought they would - and I think the wash for the shadow on the pavement may well be possible - thinned some of the paint for shading the green part.
Overall, fairly pleased with progress so far.
Given the long history of shipping, exploration and trade of the city of Bristol this fine sculpture seemed very appropriate!
Wiki has the following detail:
Brycgstow (Old English "the place at the bridge") was founded by 1000; by about 1020, it was a trading centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name. By 1067 Brycgstow was a well-fortified burh, and that year the townsmen beat off a raiding party from Ireland led by three of Harold Godwinson's sons. Under Norman rule, the town had one of the strongest castles in southern England. Bristol was the place of exile for Diarmait Mac Murchada, the Irish king of Leinster, after being overthrown. The Bristol merchants subsequently played a prominent role in funding Richard Strongbow de Clare and the Norman invasion of Ireland.
Black and white etching showing the towers of St Stephen's Church, St Augustine the Less Church and Bristol Cathedral, published c.1850
The port developed in the 11th century around the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon, adjacent to Bristol Bridge just outside the town walls. By the 12th century Bristol was an important port, handling much of England's trade with Ireland, including slaves. The stone bridge built in 1247 was replaced by the current bridge during the 1760s. The town incorporated neighbouring suburbs and became a county in 1373, the first town in England to be given this status. During this period, Bristol became a shipbuilding and manufacturing centre. By the 14th century Bristol, York and Norwich were England's largest medieval towns after London. One-third to one-half the population died in the Black Death of 1348–49, which checked population growth, and its population remained between 10,000 and 12,000 for most of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Ruprechtskirche
Ruprecht's Church is the oldest church in Vienna. According to legend, it was founded by the two missionaries from Salzburg, Chuniald and Gislar, in 740. The first recorded document in which the Ruprechtskirche is mentioned, dates back to 1200 and refers to the donation to the Abbey of the Scots (Schottenstift) by the Babenberg Duke Henry Jasomirgott (d. 1177).
The church is the St. Rupert (d. 715/716 ) dedicated, Bishop of Worms first and then has worked about 10 years in the construction of the church in Salzburg. The Feast of St. Rupert is on 24th September celebrated. He is the patron of salt sailors and of the city of Salzburg. The connection of St. Ruprecht with the salt trade, a major industry from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century, is often used.
From the Romanesque to the present
The oldest to this day preserved walls of Ruprechtskirche date back to the early 12th Century: They are the walls of the nave with the gallery and the lower tower floors with Romanesque double windows. After a devastating fire in 1276 which destroyed almost the entire city center of Vienna, a large part of the church has been gothicised. The nave was given a Gothic apse and the tower was raised by a story. The two bells today still in use originate from the 13th Century and are mounted in a remarkable way to yokes without screws. In the 14th Century the church was enlarged: the southern outer wall was breached and by the nave with Gothic rib vault extended. From the Middle Ages to the 19th Century was located right next to the bell tower the so-called Prague House. It was occasionally used as a secondary residence of the Dukes and had direct access to the church gallery. This building housed between 1500 and1824 the salt Office. Here was the from the Salzkammergut by ship delivered salt temporarily stored and resold. In return, the salt Office hat to pay for the preservation of the church. After the introduction of the salt free trade in 1824, the Prague House was demolished in 1832. About hundred years later, the Ruprecht church and its annex, the present sacristy were redesigned again. With the renovation at the end of the 20th Century it was to secure the building structure and to adapt the interior for a contemporary liturgy. This quality and simplicity were equally sought to allow concentration on the essentials.
The windows
The central window of the apse has survived since about 1270 through the ages unscathed and is the oldest stained glass window of Vienna. It shows in the upper part Jesus on the Cross with Mary and John, the lower the Madonna and Child. The two lateral apse windows (Tahedl Heinrich, 1949 ) represent the St. Rupert as a teacher or as a bishop with the Church founders Chuniald and Gislar. At the beginning of 1990s, the church received new Glass Windows by Lydia Roppolt (1922-1995). They show in the nave on the topic a cycle "Praise God for deliverance from the depths of distress" (Daniel in the Lion's Den, Jonah with the fish, the three youths in the fiery furnace) and in the apse the founding history of St. Ruprecht. Several abstract designed windows have the " Praise of Creation" on the subject.
The interior
In the nave dominates at the transition to the apse a Baroque crucifix, in the church since 1765. The stone altar is Romanesque in its lower layers. 1703 a Baroque high altar had been built around it, which was removed in 1986. At the front pillars of the nave there is a wooden sculpture of St. Rupert of the 14th Century, at the rear pillar a late Gothic statue of Mary (ca. 1515 ) in an unusual representation: the child is not addressed, as usual, to the viewer, but to the mother and holding on to her firmly with outstretched arms.
The side altar in the apse of the lateral nave bears the by Ignaz Kienast (born 1959) of bronze casting with staves made Tabernacle (1998). Also in the aisle there is an octagonal baptismal font from Adnet marble with the inscription "A + M + D + Y + E + M" (anno MD aeternam in memoriam - in 1500 eternal memory).
In the staircase to the loft hangs the former high altar painting by Johann Georg Schmidt (1720). It shows St. Rupert with putti which are carrying his attributes - crozier, book and salt vessels. Another representation of St. Rupert can bee found next to the entrance to the sacristy: A relief from the early 16th Century. In a small chapel on the ground floor of the tower are statues of Joachim and Anna as well as a statue of Mary of ebony ("Madonna of Loreto").
At the gallery, a stone tablet to Emperor Frederick III remembers with his personal sign AEIOU and the year 1439. On the north wall of the church stands under the gallery the sarcophagus of St. Vitalis, of a martyr from the Roman Catacombs. The skeleton is dressed in baroque, missing parts were completed in wax. The martyr Vitalis reminds on those people who were due to their origin, belief or because of their faith victims of persecution.
Abdulrahman Alkhaldi Photography © , All Rights Reserved 2008 .
This work may not be copied, reproduced, republished, edited, downloaded, displayed, modified, transmitted, licensed, transferred, sold, distributed or uploaded in any way without my written permission.
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Camera: Canon 50D
Exposure:
Aperture:
Focal Length:
ISO Speed: 100
Place: Yosemite National Park
P h o t o g r a p h y B y : A b d u l r a h m a n A l k h a l d i
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and fifty three metres at 10.48am on Wednesday May 8th 2024, on board an open air carriage on the Llewelyn steam locomotive which departed from Aberystwyth on the Vale of Rheidol route, here passing meadows in Melindwr.
Nikon D850 Single-lens reflex digital camera F Mount with FX CMOS 35.9mm x 23.9mm Image sensor 46.89 Million total pixels Hand held Focal length: 78mm Shutter speed: 1/2500s (Mechanical shutter) Aperture f/7.1 iso2000 Nikon VR Vibration Reduction enabled Image area Full Frame FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L 45.4Million pixels (8256 x 5504) 14 Bit uncompressed Focus mode: AF-C Priority Selection: Release Nikon Back button focusing enabled AF-Focus area: 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Centre weighted metering Active D-Lighting: Normal White balance on: Natural light auto, 0, 0 Colour space: Adobe RGB Picture control: (SD) Standard (Sharpening +3.00/Clarity +1.00)
Nikon AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup. Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon EN-EL15a battery.
LATITUDE: N 52d 24m 2.40s
LONGITUDE: W 3d 59m 30.40s
ALTITUDE: 26.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 93.8MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 53.10MB
PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.21 (8/12/2022) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (16/01/20) LF 1.00 Nikon Codec Full version 1.31.2 (09/11/2021)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with Windows 10 Home edition AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. My Passport USB 3.0 2TB portable desktop hard drive. Nikon NX STUDIO 64bit Version 1.2.2 (08/12/2022). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.16.0 (08/12/2022). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
I was given a sheet of magazine scraps which had been applied to a background in a haphazard manner and was asked to use this as a source of inspiration!
I find this sort of challenge VERY difficult as I usually work to an idea, not an image.
After a mild panic I decided to gesso the whole page in an attempt to tone down the images and then I used it to create a folder which I then die cut and embossed.
I then grabbed the scrap bag and started to machine embroider images which started to leap from the page.
This is one sample.
This photo was given to me by a photographer who took photos for Newspapers and Magazines, and when I find her name, I will attribute it to her. I think her first name was Helga or similar.
Updating and adjusting photo as I go along.
The motorbike is a Z1300 Kawasaki A5, non fuel injected, the sidecar was DJP sidecar, made by David Pearce from warrigul, coincidentally, his factory was in Perse Street, different spelling of course, but a little quirky anyway.
I strengthened it by grounding off the black powder coat putting ropes along it and fiberglassing over them, I did the same inside, it give it the strength to withstand damage during accidents, etc.
The extra fuel tank in the middle is out of a Mazda car, as is the fuel pump I used. I could supply fuel to the engine, or to the engine and motorbike tank at the same time. The motor bike tank held app 27 Litres and the Mazda tank held app 40 litres.
The reason I used a Mazda tank is as you can see, it fits in the brackets between the outfit and the sidecar, basically sharing the weight between the bike & outfit.
I went around Australia with this outfit in record time in 1986, I took my three legged dog, Missy with me. Had a few adventures along the way, including hitting a Kangaroo at Whim Creek, about a hundred K's out of Port Headland at 100 K's plus, slaughtered the Kangaroo & Joey. Knocked out my front brakes.
I stupidly kept going without fixing the front brakes, all I had to do was fill up the master cylinder, bleed and tighten up the line that Kangaroo turned and drained the fluid out. I was stupidly tired, but kept driving through the night, got to Perth in the night & bogged it on a vacant block of land, so I climbed into & and went to sleep to daylight.
I took ages to get it back on the bitchumen & off through Perth along Highway one around the coast. Because I didn't fix the front brakes, were most of your motorcycle braking comes from, even more so in an outfit, I couldn't make it around a left hander and rolled at very high speed, rolling over near the bottom end of western australia, Bridgeport area ???
The poor doggy, a three legged Border Collie X Kelpie was thrown out of the sidecar and when I woke up, the bike was right way up, on it's wheels, with the key in the ignition, bentm but when I turned it, the ever reliable Z1300 roared into life.
I drove to a place where I stayed for the night in a hotel / motel room, my first shower and bed for a long time, but while I had a good sleep, I was sore & sorry I spent all day at a local Suzuki dealership getting it fixed, then headed off at night, dodging Kangaroos.
The trip was a record for one person riding an outfit, two people have done it quicker in an outfit and one person has done it in under 7 days, that's about 2,000 K's plus, every day. I did it in 14 days with a lot of trouble, no help or sponsorship.
Murray, Missy & Outfit c1986 - Uncropped