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On a hot and hazy July morning, the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad (MIDH) is taking interchange to NS which involves some nice street running.
We enjoyed visits to Hershey Park when our kids were young, and that's what has us here, back in an era when the family didn't mind being dragged into a brief side trip for such things. Now, I'd simply be set free to go do such things, and a sigh of relief probably breathed while I'm away doing my thing and they're doing something they actually enjoy.
Not too long after I took this photo S6 151 was painted into its original Western Maryland colors.
"Go drum, do go out
Make your hands ache - Play it out
Go march through crowds
Make your day break...
[...]
You will survive, we'll never stop wonders
You and sunrise will never fall under
We should always know that we can do anything."
i haven't been able to shoot new stuff for these past couple of days because i've been packing to go back to college (sunday!) / seeing friends before they go / doing all those last minute errands.
i'm kind of on the fence about this one. partly because i don't like uploading too many similar things from one shoot, partly because the idea here centers around contrast - light and dark, shy and bold, etc., and i don't know how i feel about the way that translates, if it does at all.
For anyone who kept wondering what was keeping me busy, here's my latest WIP.
Only a week left before I'm off to Bricking Bavaria, where this will be part of the New Hashima layout.
Still some more work to do, but I don't think I'll have any time left to take proper photo's (and from more angles) before the event, so those will have to wait.
If you're also going, do let me know and maybe we can meet up there.
Inspired by Ali Edwards One Little Word challenge I created this arrow for myself... My word is GO. Go make stuff, Go play with my kids, Go do something you love....
Ok, some of you may vaguely recall this incident with the poaching and my blood boiling etc, well the ranger was able to track down the guy with the number plates and called to his house. He denied the accusation and as I hadn't thought to photograph them in action it was his word against mine :( HOWEVER the ranger said she put the fear of god was in him and it was unlikely he'd go do do it again, plus a sign (apparently) has been erected with a crayfish and a giant X, I haven't seen it as I'm to depressed to go back.
On the up side (an UPSIDE??) the time I went back to give a statement we found more people poaching and being with the ranger on this occasion meant they couldn't deny it, those little guys were saved, and THEE best news, they were fined €900 each, whoohoo!!! Justice at last!
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Well what can I say, if the end of this video doesn't bring a tear to your eye then you have to be made of stone... What the hell happened I hear you all say, well here this the background story, be prepared to feel really angry like I did, GRRRRRRR
I was going home to Mayo on Friday evening and decided to pull over at the Royal Canal at Lough Owel near Mullingar as I knew it was a stronghold for the white clawed crayfish (European Annex II designated and protected as it's endangered) and I wanted to get some footage with the underwater camera, however was bearing in mind the last time I was here there was no CF :(
I arrive and standing at the steps that lead down into the water is a shifty looking Eastern Europan (?) dude, he didn't seem to have much English but I was friendly and one stage thought maybe he loved CF as much as I did and would show him the pictures after. He seemed to understand he was kinda in my way and disappeared around the back of the old mill house. His pudgy son and beagle dog were around too, no doubt illegally taking the Perch from the other side of the old mill house but I didn't care so much about that.... anyway..... out of the corner of my eye I notice the son taking something out of the water/or from behind some bushes at the waters edge, I nearly died, a crateful of dead and dying CF!!! For F**KS sake! How pathetic and sad an individual would you have to be to think these guys are worth eating (and that's not even taking into account that they're protected and endangered!!).
So there I am, all alone, a little girl, 5ft1, no mobile phone, with a confrontation on her hands! I am thee most unconfrontational person ever, I hate it!! but I knew I had to say something or I'd never forgive myself and so I go up to the son and start a big rant along the lines of "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, THIS IS A WILDLIFE CRIME, I CAN CALL THE GUARDS RIGHT NOW (I can just see the guards raised eyebrow) PUT THEM BACK THIS INSTANT!" The son gave me a blank WTF look and said in a quite tone "I need to talk to my Dad" I'm thinking shit, this guy could tell me to f**k off, steal my camera and push me in the canal to die and slow death looking at the CF I just filmed.. I regained my composure and launched into the same rant all over again (see above), luckily for me he said nothing but walked back over to the 'step' and feiced all the poor ickle CF's into the water (yay) but... they all landed in a dead and dying pile as can be seen in the last scene of my video (the other clips were filmed prior to this horrible realisation that all these little guys were being exploited and poached).
I waited another 15 mins or so but had the distinct feeling as soon as I left these guys would be back in to collect their loot, may they all get chronic food poisoning and anyone else involved I say.
Now my next and final thing was to take pics of the 5 cars regs in the carpark, if this was Criminal Minds then Garcia would match the reg to a guy with a 10/11 year son and a beagle and then there would be a serious prosecution and signage put up so this would never happen again, however this is Ireland so while I will ring the NPWS tomorrow I have a distinct feeling nothing will happen as nothing ever does in this stupid country where wildlife ranks lower than....oh I don't know but something very insignificant! Not the fault of the NPWS may I add but the present government and especially the previous government, they cut this department so much I'm surprised they can function at all.
If you read this far I salute you! My biggest rant in a while!
Soundtrack is Terrible Love by The National
Ash :(
Painted this on saturday along side yems and storm. Was raining outside and I was feeling a bit hung over but we decided around 4 to get off our asses and go do something. Grabbed a bunch of cans without thinking too much and just headed out.
Found this interior spot right between two windows that made me want to try this little piece out. Added the greens hands after to have it be more involved in the wall ...
All in all a fun day. I painted this real quickly then just spent the rest of the time kicking back and messing about. Should've thought out my colors a bit more before grabbing them but whatever ...
Roma, ITALY
I'm going doing a big update of the photos on my website so going through lots of hard-drive looking for suitable pictures to complete the galleries. Here's one taken before dawn of the Trevi. Not my favourite place during the day but full of atmosphere was the sun goes down.
Canon 5D, 17-40mm 4L, f11, 10s, Gitzo tripod
WEEK 22 – Principle Toyota of Hernando
For our final shot today – and of this album – here’s one last, angled view of the front of the all-new Principle Toyota of Hernando. As I’ve said, this is Hernando’s first modern-day car dealership, and it looks very nice, so this is all quite the spectacle, at least as far as I’m concerned. I’m not sure if I’ll ever showcase any other car dealerships in my photostream since those are just old news up along Goodman Road in Southaven (“if it doesn’t say Landers, you paid too much!”), but hopefully you enjoyed this week’s change of pace, and found it as noteworthy of a development as I did :)
Now: since I’ve just written this week’s entire set of 15 descriptions all in one sitting, it’s time for me to get up and go do something else, haha! NEXT WEEK – a liquidation begins…
Principle Toyota of Hernando // 2887 McIngvale Road S, Hernando, MS 38632
(c) 2020 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
haunt me wherever I go.
I'm itching to go do another photoshoot. I never expected senior year to be so freakin' stressful ahhh! Or maybe it's because I spend all of my time on flickr! I need to find some time for myself
Explore Oct 26, 2008!
I just bought a 50 mm lens! Wooooo!
© Sarah Allegra
One year ago today, Calantha went to the Rainbow Bridge. It has been a very difficult year, both internally and externally. There were many times when I didn't feel like I'd be able to make it, that the weight of my grief would crush me. Somehow I did make it, though it was often a moment-to-moment struggle with gritted teeth to survive. Getting Lissar in January helped tremendously, but I also needed time without a dog, to honor the hole Calantha's absence left in my life. To say, this beautiful creature was here and my life will never be the same... in good ways and in grief.
There is a lot of grief in the world right now and great unrest. And rightly so; we need to take a very hard look at our society and redo the parts that are contributing to systemic racism. Black lives do matter and equality needs to be ensured for all. These times are painful, but we need to pass through them to get to the changes we must make.
When I knew that Calantha's time was, barring a miracle, quickly running out, I asked my therapist for any advice on dealing with the agony that would be coming. "The only way I know through grief is to go through it," she told me. "Let yourself feel what you need to feel. Don't try to find shortcuts, just keep going through it." I can say that I do believe she's absolutely correct in this (as she always is). If you are also having a difficult time, if you're grieving and in pain, that's ok. Let yourself feel the things you need to feel. These emotions need to be felt, fully and deeply, honored and then you can move past them. Until you do that, you're stuck.
Also, the often-cited "steps" of grief are pretty meaningless. Not only were they not created as a roadmap through living grief (they were intended to help terminally ill people, not those left behind), it's not a linear path. You might find acceptance one day, then find yourself back to anger the next. And that's ok. Let that be ok for you. You will forge your own way; no two people will have the exact same steps. I found a grief journal with prompts to be very helpful, but you might find other things that help you. That's ok too.
Calantha was one of a kind and no one will ever replace her. She was effortlessly beautiful, graceful, with a radiant aura of kind gentleness that meant I could trust her in any situation we found ourselves in. Toddler wants to pet her? She'll graciously put up with any clumsiness. I find myself with an armful of baby opossums? She will only want to try to lick and mother them (I kept them apart anyway, but it was a relief to have one less thing to worry about). I could rely on her more than any human. That's part of the magic of dogs.
I know that she paw-selected Lissar as the next companion, best friend and member of my pack. While they are different in many ways from each other, each is equally perfect for me. I am very grateful to her for maneuvering things from the other side, for making sure that I'd have another incredible friend to share my life with. I wanted to portray both of them in this image, but I wasn't sure how Lissar would feel about modeling. Calantha grew up with a photographer/artist mother so she was already used to posing by the time she was an adult, but Lissar has only lived with me for a few months. I decided I would play Calantha and let Lissar be herself, if she wanted to join me for the image. The moment I sat on the floor, costume on, made up, wig on, she hurried over to flop herself across my lap. She was wonderful.
Here's to my two girls. My life would be much smaller, lack meaning and joy without them in it. And I know that Calantha is still a part of me, and a part of my life. Nothing can break the bond we share. She, obviously, still watches over me and makes sure I'm doing ok. I will see her again. And while that doesn't erase the pain I feel at her not being here physically now, it's comforting. Love conquers all, even death. Especially death. She is still here with me and she always will be. Always.
I have a number of activities to do today to grieve, honor and remember Cal with today, so I'm going to go do those. If you ever had the pleasure of meeting Calantha, or knew her through me, I invite you to share a favorite memory of her. She will never be forgotten, even,to steal a line from Peter S Beagle, when men are fairytales in books written by rabbits.
See my blog for detailed shots and more about this image and the symbolism behind it.
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and maybe those troubles you have
could disappear into the night sky
maybe each burden you carry
could float up into the night
and maybe they would become stars
could you ever see what you have become?
maybe you search for contentment
could it just be you are looking in the wrong spaces?
and maybe you will realize you can over come it all
and be with me.
sooc. film.
So the other day it was about 10:30 or so, and my uncle walks in and says, "what are you doing???" I respond by saying, "uh, nothing.." So he says that he wants to go do something so we pick a 11pm movie, go to that, then we go to In-n-Out. Which happens to be just amazing. Then around 1am, we go to Walmart to see weird people and shop. There were not many weird people but we did get blue oreos, chips, a tub of cookie dough and goldfish.
Then today I went out and found another antique shop! I bought a Kodak film camera for 5 bucks, then film for it for 3 bucks (It's a very old camera with special film) then another film camera for a dollar!!! It's a good day so far (: I also picked pomegranates off my grandparents tree and now I think I will lay in the sun. Well, whoever just read this, thanks (:
We made it to the end of 2016! I've chosen a heck of a year to take on this very ambitious 366 day challenge. I set off with the goal to bring you all a daily photo post (images not shown in my portfolio prior), garnered from imagery captured in previous years, lost in a pool of hard drives, but also photographed from this year's travels. You see it as a quick flip of your thumb or scroll of the mouse, but behind the scenes, each day's post involves hours of digging deep in archives, finding an image that spoke to me and presenting it to the world. Every image is tagged, mapped, and meticulously massaged to my liking. I researched locations to bring out facts, wrote musings and ramblings, and cursed often at my nagging writer's block.
One thing to note: I have no complaints about this choice â it's been one of the best projects I've taken on. It has forced me to experiment, relearn processing techniques, hone my skills and even find a lot of beautiful images I had already captured and forgotten about (many of which are my new favorites)! For anyone who desires to be an artist or further their skills â go do and do often. Don't stop and keep moving forward. All castles are built brick by brick.
I started on January 1st of 2016 and today's post should be the last, however, there were a few days skipped due to personal reasons or lack of internet during travel days. You'll see those remaining posts in the coming days.
Somewhere in all of this, for those in the know, my wife and I welcomed a new daughter to the world last March. As all parents know (and we quickly learned), sleep is depreciated heavily in these early years. But we keep our beautiful daughter involved and at nine months old now, she has already visited 18 states and 21 National Park locations. I'm quite proud that she's getting the opportunity to travel and experience the world.
I want to say thank you to all of you for the support and encouraging likes, comments and shares over the past year. And a mega-big thanks to my wife who believes in my efforts and keeps me on task. I do this because it gives a smile to those in need, offers a path to learn something new, and even provides a pause in the every day monotony for many. This is far from being a lucrative endeavor, in the monetary sense, but the value in experience often outweighs the negatives. Keep supporting your artist friends, their dreams and their passions because they make the world a better place. It's a long winding road to success but let's enjoy the view at every turn.
I wish you all a happy, safe New Years and I look forward to wandering in wonder with you next year!
when you sleep where do your fingers go?
what do your fingers know,
what do your fingers show,
where do your fingers go?
do they tremble on the edge of the bed,
or do you fold them neatly by your head,
do they clench like claws against your own skin,
when you're living your day all over again
do they play guitar in a latin bar,
are they strangers or lovers
do they drive your car?
are they swimming submissively
through acts of life,
or just cutting through jello with a very sharp knife?
when you sleep where do your fingers go?
are they pulling out weeds from the dusty soil,
but then never rewarded with the fruits of their toil?
when you sleep,
do they tremble on the edge of the bed,
or do you fold them neatly by your head?
For ODC: "Faceless portrait" OK, there are faces but not mine! Just my hand... : P
View Large on Black at www.thewindypixel.com!
I missed the Blues Festival. Sacrilege, I know. More so given that I am a big fan of blues music (I’ve sworn to myself I’ll bring my camera along with me the next time I head to the Kingston Mines). I could hear the festival from where I was shooting south along the lakefront, but it was too late by the time I made it north and I had to leave for home. I did, however, make it to the Taste of Chicago this past weekend to enjoy some food and take a few pictures. As you can see in the image below, there was quite a storm blowing in from the west and I didn’t get too many shots off before the rain scattered the crowd.
The Taste is the authentic Chicago festival. It is loud, it is crowded, it’s expensive, its messy (the garbage “juice” is a thing of legends for those who have worked there), and it features food that can be had in larger portions for less money the rest of the year in comfort. Yet, millions of us flock there every year to bitch about the heat and spend $5 on three chicken wings. It’s magic – can you think of anything more like Chicago? Here’s a link for more information – dates, vendors, schedules, etc…
I bought my wife a camera as a gift a few months ago – she’s been so busy that we’ve rarely had a chance to go do some photography together. Click through to tWp to see Val's pic!
Feel free right now, going do what you want to do
Can’t let nobody take it away, from you, from me, from we
No time for moping around, are you kidding?
And no time for negative vibes, cause I’m winning
It’s been a long week, I put in my hardest
Gonna live my life, feels so good to get it right
Nathan and Ozz track down one of the spies mentioned in Mayla's destroyed Manifest, but they run into obstacles. Enter an unexpected ally, a mysterious young man who might be able to help them in their mission, but Ozz resents the intrusion of another goody-two-shoes human into his and Nathan's still-new partnership.
Suffering a bit of turbulence on re-entry, Nathan stumbled against one of the Lucky Star’s bulkheads. As soon as he made impact, an overhead storage bin flapped open, spilling junk onto the floor.
“Hey, watch that spot, would you?” Ozz complained. “It’s loose!”
“No kidding? That nearly hit me in the head!”
“Well then, watch that spot!”
“I’m going to make some…adjustments to your ship when we land, I swear. This thing is a death trap.”
“Stow it and grab a seat, we’re comin’ in on Yavin IV.”
The Lucky Star hurried down out of orbit, over the vast green jungles covering the fourth moon of Yavin. Nathan reached across the dashboard to point at a temple that breached the trees.
"Massassi 12, that's got to be it. See the landing beacons?"
"Yeah, yeah. I can land the ship myself! You must think I need help, but I don’t. Perfectly capable on my own…"
“Someone seems hangry.”
“Shut it.”
Their craft sunk below the dense, green foliage to join a few other starships at a makeshift landing platform. The buzz of activity reached them from the temple grounds.
Nathan and Ozz made for the market to get the lay of the land. Massassi 12 was originally just a private dig site, but then merchants arrived to service the guards and archeologists. Colonists and refugees followed the merchants, and they were followed by more merchants, and before long Massassi 12 had become a colony all of its own.
The dig site itself had only become more exclusive and well-guarded in response to the surge in population. Armed guards stood watch at the crumbling old entrances, keeping things quiet for the researchers inside. There was a thin film between the bustling markets in the stone courtyards and the secretive work happening meters away.
The ruins were pretty impressive. The ground was mostly broken cobblestones, and tarps and trees overhead created shade. Merchants had built their stalls on the bedrock of the ruined temple grounds, a strange kind of contrast to Nathan’s fresh perspective.
Ozz gave one of the guards a wary eye. "There's no way we're getting in there. Oh well! Guess we’ll give up. I wasn’t too excited about all this anyway."
Nathan looked at him incredulously. “I thought you wanted a payday?”
“Yeah, well, I also want to live. That guard looks like he wants his payday too.”
Nathan shook his head. “I'm not giving up just like that. There's an Imperial spy on this planet, Mayla’s Manifest listed this settlement as one of the hotspots. I bet you they're not far."
Ozz smelled the money in that. "I'm still not convinced you can bring home the bacon. Flying isn't free! You go do what you're gonna do, I can make busy for a few hours..."
"Yeah, you can. I’ll need your help, Ozz."
Ozz was pleased to hear it, but hid any sign of being so behind a veneer of suspicion. He raised a wispy white eyebrow. "You want help, you gotta have a plan. Let me hear your plan."
Nathan laid out what he had so far. The Iakaru wasn't impressed.
"Nope, no sir! I'm not playing your muscle. Nobody would believe it anyway, I'm obviously the brains of the operation."
Nathan frowned. "It's the best I've got. Do you want to get this bounty? You know it means money, right? You like money, don't you?"
"You do what you want to do, nerd," Ozz said, shrugging. "I'm gonna sample the local wares, breath some fresh air, and come up with a better plan."
He turned to leave, nearly walking into someone in the process. A man in a black tunic, wearing a brown cloak, had approached them from a nearby alley.
"Excuse me, sorry to eavesdrop,” the man said calmly. “But...I'm on your side. The Archeologists have things pretty tight, don't they?"
Nathan and Oz exchanged looks. The 'are we in trouble' kind. They turned towards the man, prepared to disavow anything they'd said.
Nathan peered at the man's face. He didn't look dangerous. He had wide blue eyes, sandy hair...he looked trustworthy. Of course, that really meant nothing. Danger came in all forms. Mayla came to Nathan's mind (not an uncommon occurance): she was cute, and he’d trusted her, but she was also an Imperial spy. He probably needed to be a little more on guard.
"You've got a good plan, and I can help," the stranger continued. "You should see some of the places I've just...walked inside."
Ozz crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Like what?" He challenged.
The stranger shrugged. "A dangerous tribal village...a Hutt's palace...an Imperial base..."
"Pretty good resume...if it's TRUE. What do you want out of it?"
"Same thing as you: a look at what they've dug up, and to expose any spies. And like you, I'd rather get it over with quickly. Let's just say I'd like to avoid any entanglements."
Ozz stared up into the hood suspiciously, jabbing a finger at the man's chest. "You some kind of bounty hunter? We've got claim, pal."
"No, no! I'm just a do-gooder,” said the man, smiling and holding his hands up peacefully. “I promise, I don't mean you any harm."
Nathan was feeling a bit more cheered about his plan, and the idea of having another co-conspirator that wasn’t Ozz didn’t hurt. "It's not our place to judge," Nathan said. "And I guess we could use some actual muscle."
Ozz looked alarmed, and pulled Nathan by the lapels of his jacket into a private conversation.
"Are you kidding me? You let the first guy we see join our secret mission?"
"I trust him. I mean, come on, it's not crazy that someone might want to help uncover an Imperial spy."
“I thought this was just you and me, kid!”
“I thought you didn’t want to do my plan? This guy does,” Nathan said smugly.
Ozz, who felt somewhat betrayed and cast aside (though it was up for discussion whether he had any right to complain), tried to manage his grumbling expression. He threw up his hands.
"...Geez, fine, he seems alright. But you gotta get out more." The Iakaru sighed. "I guess we can make him the fall guy, instead of you."
Nathan gave him an admonishing look. Ozz brushed it off.
“I’m jokin’, obviously.”
They turned back to the hooded stranger, who had been waiting patiently while they talked. Nathan extended his hand, which the stranger shook.
"You're in. What should we call you?"
"I'm Luke," said the stranger. "Ozz, Nathan, right?"
Ozz glowered. He still didn’t trust this newcomer. He seemed a little too knowledgeable. "You catch on fast, clean-cut."
"Yeah, nice to meet you, Luke." Nathan glanced at his short, grumpy companion with a wry smile. "Hey Ozz, you don’t have to play muscle anymore, you’re off the hook.”
Ozz crossed his arms and grumbled, “Oh boy. You got anything for me to do? You gonna include me in this little plan? Or is this guy your new partner?” he jabbed a thumb at Luke.
"He’ll warm up to you,” Nathan said, grinning. He tried to come up with someone useful for the Iakaru to do. “You can be on lookout, Ozz. Let me go change clothes, and then we'll do this thing."
"That's right, Inspector Strader, from the CFS Research Grant Foundation,” Nathan said in his firmest, most confident voice. “As I told you before, the CFS is interested in contributing funding to your research, but they'll require an audit of your operation's safety standards before they even consider sending a credit."
"All our credentials check out," Luke added gently.
The guard left to bring someone in charge. A researcher, fresh from the dig site, approached with a suspicious look already on her face. But as Nathan explained his purpose, her manner became much more open and welcoming. Something about "tens of thousands of credits in grant funding" seemed to help her relax. Luke wasn't a problem: he apparently came off as trustworthy to everyone else, too.
"I see! Well, we'll need to have you carefully watched, but allow me to show you around the site."
"I'll need full access. And I'll need my assistant, of course."
The researcher frowned and met eyes with the guard. Nathan looked aside to Luke, who smiled reassuringly.
"I'm not going to be a problem," he told the suspicious scientist. She stared, her face contorting as though she was struggling to make a decision, but finally she turned to the guard. "He's not going to be a problem. Let them in."
Once inside, they had to move quickly. Nathan played the role of overbearing, severe safety inspector, checking over everything and making all the researchers very nervous. It was the sort of long plan that would fall apart in the hands of a conman, but Nathan came with the experience, appearance, and know-how needed. He just walked around and inspected their safety standards for real, occasionally mentioning some jargon to communicate his authenticity.
Seemingly unnoticed, Luke ducked away to peek into the project records and the personnel communications.
Meanwhile, Ozz had nothing to do. He stood on an outer corner of the dig site and watched pedestrians amble by.
“Keep walkin’,” he barked at a leering thug, a gran who kept watching him even as he walked on. Guys with that look were trouble.
“Blondie sure takes over everything, doesn’t he? Hah, ‘partners’ my arp. Doesn’t need Ozzie anymore, does he? Not now that he’s got the majestic hooded child-man. Pah! Nerd’s gonna get killed one day, trusting every loser he sees.”
The thought surfaced that Nathan had also, in fact, trusted Ozz himself on many occasions when others had not, and had stood up for him the first several times he was in-line to be fired from the plant on Targonn. He pushed this thought down somewhere deep and dark and summarily ignored it. After all, he’d let him get fired in the end anyway, so what difference did it make? And he knew he hadn’t done anything to deserve that.
“Pah! ‘Lookout duty’. What a load of plog. Might as well have gone back to the ship,” he mumbled bitterly to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more that sounded like a great idea. He was doing absolutely nothing here, except wearing out his legs and offering all the local pickpockets an enticing challenge. Cursing humans (Nathan in particular), Ozz stomped off through the crowds, heading back for the landing pad.
Ozz was napping soundly in the Lucky Star’s cockpit when he was suddenly awoken by the beeping of his comlink.
“Ozz, are you there? OZZ!”
Ozz lurched up in his chair and smacked the transmit button. “What?” he said groggily.
“Are we clear? Is the coast clear?”
“Oh yeah, yeah. Super clear,” the Iakaru replied, still half-asleep. The comlink went silent, and Ozz once again began to snore.
Ozz’s dreams were tumultuous.
“Get out of here! I don’t want to see your face again!”
“But, pop! I swear I got it this next time, no more problems!”
“Get out!” the father screamed. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day we first had the misfortune to call you our son! You will always be a problem, and we cannot have more problems! Leave my house, or I’ll call security!”
“You know what, that’s fine!” the son shouted back. “You stupid old fool! You think you’re always right? I don’t gotta be what you think is right. I’ll be what I think is right, and do what I wanna do, and I’ll be just dandy, watch!”
“You idiot, you’re making your mother weep!”
“Oh sure, I’m—that was YOU!” the son yelled. He was shaking with rage. His father looked ready to kill. “Whatever, I’m outta here…See ya never, pops!”
He heard his father launch into another tirade over the sound of his mother crying, but he didn’t look back. He never did.
Ozz was rudely awoken again, this time by Nathan and Luke as they came hurtling into the parked ship.
“Ozz! Get out the medkit!” Nathan shouted.
Ozz flew out of his seat, blinking sleep from his eyes. “Wha-what?”
“A medkit, Ozz! Luke’s hit!”
Ozz flailed into action, popping the latch on a storage container and rummaging inside for the medkit. “Medkit! Right! It’s here somewhere, I know it…”
Nathan was supporting Luke up the ramp, and helped heave him into a chair. Smoke rose from a blaster burn on Luke’s leg.
Ozz’s eyes widened. “Geez, kid! What in the world happened?”
“Bounty hunters,” Luke groaned. “Looking for me. Sorry to make things more complicated.”
Nathan turned to Ozz, glaring. “Wouldn’t have been a problem if someone was where they were supposed to be! ‘Super clear’? You’ve got to be kidding me…where’s that Medkit?”
Ozz blinked again, staring dumbly at the two humans. “…Bounty hunters? But…”
When it was clear the medkit was somewhere deep in the recesses of the ship, Nathan threw up his hands.
“I’ve got to go find a doctor. Wrap something around that wound!” he called back, and he ran down the ramp and back towards the ruins.
Ozz finally came to his senses, and found some loose old clothes to use as wrappings. He knelt by Luke, wincing. “Geez, doesn’t look too good, pal…”
Luke, to his credit, smiled. “I’ve had worse,” he said through his teeth.
“Hey, look, I’m—I feel terrible—“ Ozz managed.
“I appreciate it, but…things happen as they’re meant to. No hard feelings.”
“Well, that’s bunk. But…Aw, geez. Let me keep lookin’ for that medkit. You keep that pressure on good and tight, you got it?”
“Sure, sure,” Luke replied, grimacing.
Soon, Nathan had returned with someone in tow. He came up the ramp followed by two males: a polished man in a coat, along with his Gran assistant…
The Gran from before, the one that was trouble.
“How did this happen?” asked the doctor, hurrying over to the wounded young man.
“Uh, a…weapons malfunction,” Nathan lied, badly.
Ozz immediately knew, with the kind of instinct honed over many years, that these guys were here for Luke. And not here for Luke in a nice, supportive way. Here for Luke in a bounty hunting way.
He kept himself from shouting. They weren’t tipping their hand. He couldn’t either.
The doctor took something out of his coat. “Just a bacta stim, do not worry.”
That was no bacta stim. Wrong fluid color, wrong consistency. Ozz didn’t know what he was about to inject into Luke, but it wasn’t gonna heal him.
The Gran shot him a look. Its hand inched towards its jacket, where a concealed blaster sat holstered. The look said, “Don’t interfere.”
To hell with that, Ozz thought. He made a fist, and bashed the wall with his hand. In a very specific spot.
The overhead storage unit flopped open, spilling debris and a large white case—the Medkit. The deluge of junk hit the Gran in the head, and he fell to the floor with a ‘thwump!’
The doctor spun to look, then, realizing he’d lost his backup, tried to jab the dubious stim into Luke’s leg. Before he could, a “SCHWISH” sound filled the ship, and he found himself stopped by the glow of a blade of green light. Ozz and Nathan leapt back with shouts of alarm. The doctor, only inches from the humming weapon, blinked and gasped in terror, his hand frozen in the air.
Luke, sweaty and injured, stared the man in the eye.
“I’ll let you choose what you do next.”
Nathan and Ozz dropped both of the Bounty Hunters off with a local constable, but the dangerous looks they got made them beat a path back to the Lucky Star as quickly as they could.
“Where did you go, Ozz?” Nathan said angrily.
“What?” Ozz grunted.
“You were supposed to be on lookout, where did you go?” Nathan demanded.
“Back to my ship, of course. Where else would I go?”
“You weren’t supposed to go anywhere in the first place. If you hadn’t, he might not have gotten shot!”
Ozz spun toward him, jabbing a finger at his chest. “Whatcha gonna do about it, you gonna fire me? Huh? Well you can’t, because without my ship, you’re nowhere. And what about you, huh? Your bright-eyed view of the galaxy just almost got us all killed! You wanna check somebody out with me next time you bring ‘em on board my ship? Oh, and that’s right, you’d be on Targonn in cuffs if not for me, and MY SHIP!”
Nathan backed down, speechless. Breathing hard, Ozz slowly cooled off too. They both stood awkwardly outside the Lucky Star, avoiding having to look at each other.
“You’re right,” Nathan admitted.
Ozz let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, yeah…well, maybe you are too, about part of this,” he mumbled.
Nathan looked sheepishly at his companion. “Ozz, I’m sorry.”
The Iakaru turned and glowered at him. “Look here, you don’t you cut me out of plans, and you don’t bring just anyone you see onto our operation! We’re partners, ain’t that what you said back on Garel? We’re doing this bounty hunting gig together, until you pay me what you owe me! You don’t just charge ahead without the both of us bein’ okay with it. That goes for everything we do, you got it?”
Nathan nodded seriously. “…That’s…yeah. Agreed.”
“…Well…good. Glad that’s settled, then,” Ozz muttered. He hadn’t expected so little resistance, but Nathan was obviously sincere. “Let’s…get back onboard, huh?”
They turned to ascend the ramp.
“Hey nerd,” Oz said. “Still worried about the overhead bins?”
“Are you kidding me? Way more than before. Now the Star is a proven deathtrap.”
“But a useful deathtrap!”
Onboard, Nathan and Luke briefed Ozz on what they’d gotten from the dig site, before the Bounty Hunters had jumped them. Luke managed to extract not only the identity of the Imperial Spy, based on info Nathan gave him, but he had found communication records locked up with old Imperial codes; nearly verifiable proof of Imperial activity.
“But that’s not all,” Nathan said with a sigh. “It also looks like the dig site is partly funded by some sketchy, Imperial-linked sources. That means they probably won’t turn over one of their own researchers just because we say he’s an Imperial.”
“Hmm, makes things tough,” Ozz agreed. “Maybe we can make this guy disappear some other way. Grab him when he makes a borka run, or somethin’?”
“Maybe.”
Ozz stood up and rummaged in the storage unit. “Well, you think about it, I’m gonna rustle us up some grub. Who likes Tortaul?”
“Only in stew,” Luke said. “My aunt used to make great Tortaul stew.”
“Well, I ain’t your aunt. No promises.”
Smiling, Nathan went to step outside. “I’m gonna get some air. Be back in a few.”
They had what they needed: the identity of the spy, and proof of his wrongdoing. But learning about the Imperial funding complicated things; there was no guarantee that trying to turn the spy over wouldn’t land them in even deeper trouble. Nathan stood outside the Lucky Star, looking into the night-dark tree line and listening to the sounds of the forest, conflict roiling in his head. He must’ve been too deep in thought to notice Luke approach him.
“Nice work today,” he said.
“Thanks, you too.”
Luke looked at him closely. “Everything alright?”
“Sure, sure…” Nathan replied, but it was hollow and untrue. Luke knew it. His incredulous look made Nathan scoff at himself, and he relaxed his defenses.
“Well, no.”
“I thought so,” Luke said kindly. “What’s on your mind?”
Nathan took a deep breath. “Right now, the Empire isn’t causing any trouble,” he said. “This place is…peaceful. I’m not sure how we’re going to stop the spy. If we can’t trust the law here, then we might have to take things into our own hands. It feels…I don’t know. It almost feels wrong to bring violence somewhere where things are peaceful.”
Luke thought for a moment before responding. “Things aren’t peaceful, just quiet. I know what you mean, Nathan, but you have to look past the way that things appear and see what they really are.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The Empire isn’t oppressing this place, you’re right. But their research here could lead to the deaths of people elsewhere. It wouldn’t be the first time.” He turned to the younger man, his expression serious. “Just because evil is speaking in a whisper doesn’t mean we should stop up our ears and ignore it.”
That made sense to Nathan, and he saw a clear path through part of his confusion. “Okay, you’re right. Being afraid to start trouble now could mean much worse for someone later. So, what do we do?” he asked helplessly. “Murder the spy? How can that be right?”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Is that your only possible option?”
Nathan thought for a moment. He was being dumb. “No,” he admitted.
“What else is there?”
Nathan hesitated before answering. He wanted to be confident of his reply. “…We confront him. We let him make the choice. If we have to, we use our weapons in defense. Otherwise, we take him to somewhere he’ll never hurt someone again.”
Luke nodded. “I think that’s wise. See? There’s always a right way. Sometimes you have to look hard to see it, but it’s always there.”
“Thanks for helping me look.”
Luke smiled and clapped him on the back. “Anytime! I think Ozz has something resembling food ready.”
Dinner was surprisingly edible. Ozz had spiced the stew with a variety of flavoring cocktails he’d picked up on his travels. It turns out he perceived himself as something of a gourmet.
“My specialty is taking trash, and turning it into a bee-ute-a-ful artful masterpiece,” he had said, grinning toothily in a way that did not inspire confidence.
“We need a plan. What have we got to work with? Tell me about everything you have on the ship, Ozz. Anything that could be useful.”
“Useful for…”
“Specifically, for hunting bounties. But I don’t want you to leave anything out, so think useful for anything at all.”
They talked over their bowls about how to trap the Imperial spy and eventually decided on a final plan, one that mitigated the risk of their untimely deaths. It was nevertheless a bold plan, once that was to be executed that very night. They busied themselves with finding the various pieces of equipment they would need, and stumbled on a few along the way that Ozz had either neglected to mention, or had never seen in his life, so deep had they delved into the Lucky Star’s storage bins.
“Luke, you should stay here.” Nathan said.
“No, no, I’m coming along, you guys will want the help—“
Nathan shook his head sternly, glancing at Ozz. They had obviously talked it over in private. “I appreciate that, but this is something we’ve got to do on our own.”
“Not like we’ll have ya next time, clean-cut,” Ozz added.
“Besides, you should rest that leg.”
Luke was surprised, but he complied with their wishes. He borrowed a bunk on the Lucky Star for the night, and saw them off with a wish of good luck.
Ked Ereda said goodnight to his fellow researchers and stole away to the communications relay. Tense, he watched the stone entrance for any interruptions while he uploaded the most recent batch of encoded data, but once again, he was undiscovered and successful.
He slept in a habitat just outside the ruin complex, a Spartan, bare space that befitted a servant. This suited him. His life for the cause. His comfort, as well. His comfort was the dream of a new Sith Empire, the kind of the former order could only have dreamed of. But he had done the research, seen things in his studies. These temples were their monuments. He would bleed for the honor to scrape the stones they’d walked on.
His nature had him keep away from the main paths, preferring to go unnoticed by the rabble who leeched off the dig site. He crossed into the shadows of a narrow passage, stone on both sides and tangled vines overhead.
Someone stepped into his path ahead. Instinctively, he turned to go back, but another had blocked him there. One tall, one stocky, both wearing helmets that hid their faces. He ground his teeth. Muggers, no doubt. He carried nothing valuable, the fools could do what they liked.
“You’re Dr. Ereda, aren’t you?” said the taller one.
Ereda raised his hands. “I have nothing of value, please, leave me be,” he said carefully.
“Ha! Nothing of value?” scoffed the shorter. “Why? Didja already send it off to your Imperial pals?”
The researcher paled in the darkness. They knew. How could they know? His mind flew to the capsule embedded his wisdom teeth. He knew what he was supposed to do, but Dr. Ereda did not welcome death.
“Hit it, Nate.”
A flash of blue came from the taller thug, and Dr. Ereda felt a strange, painless shock course through his body. An ion blast. Startled, he realized this would disable the disintegration capsule. How could they have known? These were no simple thugs, these creatures were a threat to the dream.
He grabbed for the knife at his belt.
“Feisty, eh? Wait…Nate! Stop him before he--!”
Nathan rushed forward and grabbed the man’s wrist, just as he had been pushing the knife towards his own throat.
“Woah, not today, pal!” he said as they struggled, and the knife was knocked safely away. “You’re coming with us, doctor!”
Dr. Ereda felt something hot press into his back. His body jolted, and he slumped to the ground, stunned and unconscious.
Ozz pocketed the stunner and depolarized the visor of the old EVA harness he was wearing, revealing the wide grin on his face. Nathan followed suit with his old mining helmet.
“Not bad, nerd! Not bad at all!” Ozz said. “You’re scrappier than I thought. Gotta admit, Ozzie’s a little bit—a tiny bit—impressed. Where the hell’d you learn to hit like that?”
“Grew up in an orphanage,” Nathan said, his breath short. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”
“Huh! We might just be able to do this bounty hunting thing!”
Nathan gave him a wry smile. “What, you had doubts?”
“Only ‘bout you,” Ozz grunted, as he tried to lift the limp, flailing form of the unconscious spy. “But hey, gotta admit, that helmet helps you look the part. Covers up the serious, snot-nosed brat face of yours. Help me out here, would ya?”
Nathan positioned himself at the man’s torso while Ozz had the legs. “I can’t believe that didn’t go wrong. I was sure it was going to wrong.”
“Hey, bring back the optimism, would ya? You know, you’re not bad for muscle. Wanna be my official employee?”
“Shut up.”
They were lucky the streets were quiet, they only had to spin a “he had a little too much to drink” explanation a few times, and nobody seemed interested in questioning them any further. Apparently, Massassi 12 was a terrible place to get kidnapped if you’re relying on community spirit to come to your aid.
When they reached the ship, they found Luke sitting just outside. He smiled and clapped as they set the man down.
“Hey! You guys did it, you apprehended an Imperial spy.”
“Well, kid, we are professionals,” Ozz boasted.
Luke’s smile took on a wry quality. “Sure, sure, and these spies aren’t what they were a few years ago, but…”
Nathan gave Luke a pained look. He grinned.
“…But still, you should be proud,” he said earnestly, and then he stood in preparation to leave. “Thank you both, you helped me find what I was looking for.”
“Hey, likewise, clean-cut!”
Nathan stepped forward, worry creasing his face. “Luke, did you find anything about Mayla?”
“No, I didn’t,” replied the young man, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”
Nathan’s face fell, and the hope left him in a sigh. Before he could get too despondent, Luke continued.
“But I have something else. A lead on what Moff Pyerce is looking for. If you’re able to find it first, maybe you’ll find her too.”
“Yes! I’ll take anything you’ve got.”
“Pyerce is searching for old artifacts, holocrons, objects used to store knowledge by both the Jedi and the Sith in ages past.”
“He must be getting desperate, I thought all that stuff was just fairy tales.”
“Maybe less than you think,” Luke said with a coy smile. “Nathan, can I trust you to help me with something?”
Nathan nodded seriously. Ozz rolled his eyes at the two humans, who were painfully sincere from his point of view.
Luke produced a small, weathered book, which he held out to Nathan. “These are just a few notes I’ve written down while searching for similar objects. You can take them, they might help on your search.”
“Wow, thanks—“
“If you could, I’d like you to add to them as you go. One day, when we meet again, I want to hear about what you learned.”
Nathan looked at the book, skimmed its contents, and looked up at Luke with wide eyes. “You want…my help? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have your book?”
“I trust you, Nathan. I sense a good heart in you. Besides, I remember everything in the book.”
Ozz looked on, speechless, as Nathan eagerly stepped forward and shook the man’s hand. “I’d be glad to.”
“Great,” Luke smiled. “As for your next steps, I recommend the planet Ossus. There’s a Duros there, studying the ancient Jedi ruins. His name is Abay. He should be able to help you out.” Luke lifted his hood over his head, and turned back before leaving. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Nathan. Take care of each other! May the Force be with both of you.”
Nathan looked at him quizzically. “Uh, sure. You too, with the force thing.”
“Huh,” Ozz grunted. “It’s been real, clean-cut. Take care of yourself, alright?"
Luke grinned and nodded. “I will.”
Then he turned, and disappeared into the darkness of Yavin’s jungle.
Ozz and Nathan stood there for a moment, watching where he had been, before they finally returned to the present.
“Weird guy,” said Nathan, staring at the book he’d been given.
“Sure is,” Ozz agreed. “No wonder you two get along.” He turned and gave the unconscious spy a gentle kick.
“Alright, Payday. Let’s get you to a guild broker, eh? I got fuel to put in my tank.” He leaned down to drag the man up the ramp. “You get to share a closet with the droid.”
Once everything was settled, they raised the ramp and took their spots in the cockpit.
“We’ve got a heading. We’re looking for these ‘holocron’ things. If we can beat Pyerce’s agents to them, that’s our best bet of stopping whatever he’s got planned.”
“And findin’ yer girl.”
“And finding Mayla.”
“This better not be a wild bantha chase,” Ozz said, shaking his head. “We’re still gonna make money, right?”
Nathan nodded. “If we don’t, we won’t be at this long…imagine if we brought in Pyerce himself. You can’t even imagine the credits that’d get us.”
“Oh yeah? Betcha I can.” He eased up the throttle, lifting the Lucky Star slowly into the air. “I’m going to fly to one of the bigger settlements, bet we’ll find a broker in one of those. Strap yourself in, nerd. I don’t need anyone else getting a head injury on my ship. It’s bad luck.”
Nathan tapped the navicomputer’s controls, zeroing in a course for Ossus. “Once we’ve offloaded the guy, and we’re out of orbit, we’re jumping to Maridun, then Phindar. From there, we’ll take the Salin Corridor. I’ve never heard of Ossus,” he mused. “What do you think it’s like?”
“I bet it’s terrible,” Ozz said grimly. “This whole ‘holocron hunt’ thing is going to bankrupt me, just you watch.”
Nathan watched the tops of the trees fly by underneath them. He looked down, to the weathered book sitting in his lap. It was nice to be entrusted with something again. He had always taken to tasks quickly, he liked to do things well. This would be no different.
One step closer to Mayla, he thought to himself. That also meant another step closer to danger, danger that, at the moment, he couldn't even imagine.
A month could pass and I wouldnt forget you...A year could pass and I wouldnt let you go. Do you know how I feel?
Welcome to the most wonderful Northern Hemisphere globular cluster... The Great Hercules Cluster. This cluster is easily seen under a dark sky and with binoculars from the suburbs. Go do down the side of Hercules. Use the bright star Vega to find the "keystone" (Shown in Red) of Hercules.
Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL
Explore Scientific 2" HR Coma Corrector
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Filter: 2" Optolong L-Enhance
Mount: Losmandy GM8
Guiding: QHY Mini Guide Scope + PHD2 Software
Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro
Exposure: Light (Gain 101) - 24 exposures @ 15 Seconds (6 Minutes)
Calibration: 50 Bias, 30 Darks, 0 Flats
Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Adobe Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI, Astronomy Action Set plug in for PS, Astro Flat Pro plug in for PS
#m13 #astrophotography #astrobackyard #losmandy #losmandygm8 #zwo #asi533mcpro
Us: Go do a flip
Kid: *obliges*
:D
Testing out the new DiCaPac-WP300 underwater casing. I actually like the vignetting and lens problems. Makes it distinct.
True North Attitude
In the late 60's the Mama's & Papa's sang:
"You gotta go where you wanna go,
Do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with."
Joe and Jenny Hohner (and Molly) are doing exactly that. We met in the spring of 2018 on a trip to Cuba and we've become steadfast friends ever since. The Hohner's are on a mission to go where they wanna go and do what they wanna do. Last winter they hopped in their jazzed up Mercedes Sportsmobile and spent the entire winter wandering around the southwest United States. They left Michigan and spent this weekend in Carmel before heading out for winter #2 in the Sportsmobile. This winter they'll head from Carmel down the eastern seaboard to Florida to visit family and then embark west through New Orleans, then along the entire coast line of Texas, before heading further west along the Mexico/USA border, then up the coast of California.
Along the way, Joe will be taking spectacular photographs, Jenny will be writing the narratives, and Molly will be the envy of Portuguese Water Dogs all across America . You should follow them at www.truenorthattitude.com.
I tried to get this shot for almost a week!
It turns out there is a hill/mountain that requires significant planning and calories to ascend for this dusky time falls. And I kept miscalculating the time with Tom. We always thought the sunset would be a little later than it was. And then we would start to get up into position, and we realized it was too late -- so we went to go do something else instead.
This evening, I would snap a few photos and then sit down with my sketch pad and work on a few drawings. I'd wait about 10 minutes for the light to change between photos... and it was nice just to listen to music and play around with some sketching-ideas...
- Trey Ratcliff
Click here to read the entire post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
designed by Alex No
Fabulous
Its out with the old and in with the new,
Goodbye clouds of Gray, hello skies of blue
A dip in the pool, a trip to the spa
Endless days in my chaise
The whole world according to moi
Excuse Me Thank You
Iced tea imported from England,
Lifeguards imported from Spain,
Towels imported from Turkey,
Turkey imported from Maine,
Sharpay and Ryan:
We're gonna relax and renew,
Sharpay:
You, go, do!
I want fabulous,
That is my simple request,
All things fabulous,
Bigger and better and best,
I need something inspiring to help me get along,
I need a little fabulous is that so wrong?
It was so nice out yesterday so I thought I would go do a light run out on the trail in my ops. I wore my shorts over my ops for the run but took it off later on down the trail. On the way back to my car, I put them back on to to cross the street to get to my car and as I was crossing the street I saw at a distance a car approaching me but by the time the car reached me, I was already across the street halfway to my car. As the approaching car got closer, the car slowed down where I crossed and was pretty sure they saw that I was wearing a ops. At that moment, I had a smirk on my face and felt slightly liberated knowing I was seen in public in my ops.
If you say something often enough, people will begin to think and believe it's true, regardless of its basis in reality and/or truthfulness.
If you come by my stream at all, or are in any of the groups I participate in, most of you folks know me fairly well as I don't hide myself or my beliefs (even though I probably should sometimes) and from that you've probably gathered that I am a moderately "conservative" dude. Being a moderate, everything requires balance, so I would say that I am moderately "liberal" as well.
I suppose my visceral, pissed off reaction to reading this today falls on my liberal side, but I would like to think that it really falls on my freaking common sense side.
It got me thinking about something that happened to me last week and I didn't think much of it at the time, but this article brought me snapping back to reality and brought a bigger picture into focus...
I went downtown last week to my local, old skool camera shop where I bought my D80, lenses, etc. I paid a little extra to the local guy because I want to support local businesses and having a face to talk to, a person to glean information and experience from is invaluable to me as I try to soak this stuff up.
It's down on 4th Avenue, and it's been around for over 40 Years. (Check out this photo I found from right before the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake! Stewart's is in the background. :-) It even has the same signs today!) Being around so long, it's right next to the Old Federal Building and I had to walk by it (with my camera, natch) to get back to my car. I noticed this great symmetry in the lines created by the front of it and wanted to shoot a photo of it.
I am standing there, on a public sidewalk, trying to figure out how to frame what my eyes see for the lens. I don't have the camera to my face yet, I'm just looking, but I do have it in my hands. This security guard comes out of the doors in his pretty little burgundy blazer there and tells me to move along. "No "pitchers"."
I thought about arguing with the guy, but realized rather quickly that I didn't even know if I had a shot worth arguing over. I'll be honest, though. I wanted to argue. It was a public sidewalk. It's not even a Federal Building any more, it's more of an historic landmark that houses some national parks stuff (I think) and the like. No FBI, no Justice, no IRS, not even the actual Park Service.
I hate (and I don't use that word lightly) what happened to our country in 2001. No need to expound on that. But this link above to a guy who gets charged with a Felony (*!*) for videotaping a traffic stop he was involved in (which the police do EVERY DAY [and imho, should do for their and your safety, btw...]) and me getting harassed for taking a photograph in public, just makes me feel like we have passed through some sort of invisible barrier or something...
We've gone from being blissfully unaware and at ease with ourselves straight to a culture of fear with no shades of gray for anything at all.
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
I know I have seen other things that have pushed me into feeling this way, but the liberal half of me is screaming out right now, trying to get me to see that no one can continue in a state of fear without fundamental change to themselves (ergo us as a Nation.).
Change is important. In fact, change is the only thing we can count on in life, short of death. But change to the things that our nation is at the core? Freedom, Democracy, Liberty, Pursuing Happiness? That's a change I think we should try to avoid, actually.
Thanks for hanging around for my rant. I just got a little worked up, but I meant it all. : )
Think for yourselves, people. Just sayin'. : )
This isn't half bad Large and On Black, I guess. : )
In September and October 2021, we spent three weeks touring the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marches and Emilia-Romagna, which we hadn’t visited yet.
Personally, I had my sights firmly set on a series of early Romanesque churches of high architectural and artistic interest, so you will see quite a few of those, in spite of the typical Italian administration-related problems I encountered, and which were both stupid and quite unpleasant.
There will also be other sorts of old stones, landscapes, etc., and I hope you will enjoy looking at them and have a good time doing so. If it makes you want to go, do, by all means, Italy is a wonderful country.
Today, we begin a new visit, and an unexpectedly memorable one, this time in the province of Marches, not very far from the coastal city of Ancona.
Just like we had tried to do (so unsuccessfully) at the abbey of San Pietro in Valle in Umbria, we intended to spend a night at the very nice hotel into which the abbey of San Pietro has been converted on Monte Conero, so that we could both enjoy a nice stopover and have a look at what remained of the abbey church.
Unlike its Umbrian namesake, entrance to this San Pietro abbey church was free, even for people not staying at the hotel, and what we found inside was magnificent!
Besides, our room with a balcony and a gorgeous vista on the Adriatic and all the surrounding area was great, and the food at the restaurant that evening was quite enjoyable as well, so I can only recommend the place!
We had to drive way up to the top of Monte Conero to find the place, indeed a great location for an abbey. This one was built by Benedictine monks around Year 1000, as we know from a written source that it was fully functional and operational in 1037.
The original church was without any adornments inside, but pilasters and capitals were added around 1200. In the 16th century, the Benedictines were replaced by other orders between whose members there were some disputes, until the Camaldolese monks prevailed. They were those who remodeled the façade into the uninteresting one we can see today –truly the only part of the church that doesn’t deserve to be photographed!
A typical example of how foliage admired on Antiquity capitals was imitated as best they could by the early Christian sculptors, with the tools and knowledge they had. It is to be remembered that, following the great invasions, all the know-how of the Roman builders was lost, and all had to be re-created through observation of what was left, and then trial and error...
Took this series of pictures last night. I asked my wife if she wanted to go out and walk on the beach and do some photography...she agreed readily! Little that I knew her plans were to drop me off at the beach and she would go do some shopping. PERFECT! I had lots of time to contemplate and try and envision what I would photograph and what filters I would use.
I used my light meter and took an incident reading from the sky and one from the foreground...a total of 5 stops! So I used a reverse 0.9GND and a 0.3GND SE allong the horizon for this series of shots.
As you will see from the earlier pics, I had some magical friends come for a visit. It was a wonderous time without time! My friends approached so closely I could nearly touch them. See for yourselves...
The white feather is a wonderful gift from my seagull friends!
Nikon D300, Induro Tripod, Markins Ballhead
Tokina AT-X 116 Pro @ 12mm f/11.0 EXP 13 s ISO 200
Hitech Filters: 0.9 Reverse GND; 0.3 GND SE
In September and October 2021, we spent three weeks touring the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marches and Emilia-Romagna, which we hadn’t visited yet.
Personally, I had my sights firmly set on a series of early Romanesque churches of high architectural and artistic interest, so you will see quite a few of those, in spite of the typical Italian administration-related problems I encountered, and which were both stupid and quite unpleasant.
There will also be other sorts of old stones, landscapes, etc., and I hope you will enjoy looking at them and have a good time doing so. If it makes you want to go, do, by all means, Italy is a wonderful country.
Today, I am uploading the last photos from our memorable visit to the San Pietro Abbey on Monte Conero in the province of Marches, not very far from the coastal city of Ancona.
Just like we had tried to do (so unsuccessfully) at the abbey of San Pietro in Valle in Umbria, we intended to spend a night at the very nice hotel into which the abbey of San Pietro has been converted on Monte Conero, so that we could both enjoy a nice stopover and have a look at what remained of the abbey church.
Unlike its Umbrian namesake, entrance to this San Pietro abbey church was free, even for people not staying at the hotel, and what we found inside was magnificent!
Besides, our room with a balcony and a gorgeous vista on the Adriatic and all the surrounding area was great, and the food at the restaurant that evening was quite enjoyable as well, so I can only recommend the place!
We had to drive way up to the top of Monte Conero to find the place, indeed a great location for an abbey. This one was built by Benedictine monks around Year 1000, as we know from a written source that it was fully functional and operational in 1037.
The original church was without any adornments inside, but pilasters and capitals were added around 1200. In the 16th century, the Benedictines were replaced by other orders between whose members there were some disputes, until the Camaldolese monks prevailed. They were those who remodeled the façade into the uninteresting one we can see today –truly the only part of the church that doesn’t deserve to be photographed!
Fine examples of pre-Romanesque and early Romanesque sculpture on the capitals in the nave: early Romanesque imitation of Corinthian foliage, around Year 1000.
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"I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts." - Graham Kerr
----
A favourite of Nard's for dessert this evening. A simple fruit tart from a bakery in Orleans that I cannot remember the name of.
Feeling better today than I was yesterday. I don't know what that was about but I'm glad it seems to be gone. I think I may even have enough energy to set up my Christmas tree!! I think I'll go do that before making dinner tonight!
Hope you're all having lovely Sundays!
Click "L" to view on a darker background.
TED: "Pusslin's firsty work, so I've made meself a mug of coffee. I'm makin' good progress but I've got a long way to go. The secret is not to consentrate on one area an' get frusstrated if yew can't find the rite peece, but to stand back now an' agane, or go do sumfink else fer a bit. That way yew'll come back to it feelin' fresh an' probbly find several peeces strate away!"
To be continued...
yesterday, at like 11 o'clock at night, rachel&i started chatting via fbook about how much we both wanted to do a photoshoot. i suggested that we go do a sunrise photoshoot, &she agreed. it was THE MOST spontaneous, and little did i know that the photos i would produce would be among the best photos i have taken this summer. i love spontaneity.
after the hour long shoot, we went to caribou coffee&got two smoothies&a scone. omnomnom.
a few hours later, the editing was done. rachel&i rode our bikes to get dinner. &then we got ice cream for dessert. <3
as great as the first part of the day was, the ending turned a slight bit sour. i hate when i have the feeling of great exhaustion that is holding me back from really living. and here i am, up at 2 o'clock. i really just need to sleep at normal times. SIGH. off to watch the office.
+many more in the comments. it's a lot, i know, but i couldn't pick only one.
Cook admits to no formal training. She's cooked in shearers' quarter, at remote camps, on islands where whatever comes or goes does so by helicopter, and in a Normandy auberge. It was there, under a volatile chef de cuisine, that the incident played out.
Remarkably, it wasn't about the apples. The French might prefer a Calville blanc d'hiver for their tarte tatin. That didn't bother the chef. Her outrage was initiated by Cook and her shortcrust pastry. Mais non!. Chef would not have it! It must be puff pastry; puff pastry, or nothing. It's probably buried somewhere in the UN's archive, this international incident; this cultural insult…
Having noticed the imbalance of the seasons, Cook observed that the Blenheim Oranges looked to be ripening. It's a fine apple, sweet, and cooks down to a fluffy pulp. Not wishing to give more credit to the abysmal Churchill's birthplace, I'd rather they'd stuck with its original name of Kempster's Pippin!
This is the result. You will know that a tarte tatin begins with a buttery caramel — it is French, after all — in which the apple bathes before being blanketed in pastry — the cause of the incident — and finished in the oven. Needing a shortcut, not shortcrust, this tarte tatin has broken all the rules. The Kempster's Pippin, bathed in scalding butter and sugar has remained firm but yielding instead of collapsing as advertised, its acid livening the sometimes flat conventional choice. On top, or underneath depending on the point in preparation, is commercial frozen puff pastry! Cook may have yielded to the French. But she maintains that as good as this was, it would have been better with her pastry.
Was it too early for the season's first tarte tatin? Definitely not!
The little girl who I call LG for short is by far the most adventurous, co-ordinated and cheekiest. I swear she is hyper, not in an annoying way but at night she runs around the house at 100 miles an hour and is always ready to go do something, even when sleeping she will open one eye if I go close.
She loves plastic bags, foil rolled up into a ball and put into a basket so she can retrieve and climbing which is not just reserved for tree's or a scratching pole...she climbs me, the lounge, the curtains...anything.
"don’t ask what the world needs. ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~ howard thurman, theologian, activist
Last night Luke called me to go do some long exposures. I naturally said yes. He lead us out to sky harbor. As we were walking out to the mountain top I was blown away. The place was beautiful. At about 1:30am we decide to leave when I shouted "o *&$%! look its the moon!" This image while beautiful doesn't nearly capture all the colors. Thanks again Luke for the great spot and conversation.
In September and October 2021, we spent three weeks touring the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marches and Emilia-Romagna, which we hadn’t visited yet.
Personally, I had my sights firmly set on a series of early Romanesque churches of high architectural and artistic interest, so you will see quite a few of those, in spite of the typical Italian administration-related problems I encountered, and which were both stupid and quite unpleasant.
There will also be other sorts of old stones, landscapes, etc., and I hope you will enjoy looking at them and have a good time doing so. If it makes you want to go, do, by all means, Italy is a wonderful country.
Today, I am uploading the last photos from our memorable visit to the San Pietro Abbey on Monte Conero in the province of Marches, not very far from the coastal city of Ancona.
Just like we had tried to do (so unsuccessfully) at the abbey of San Pietro in Valle in Umbria, we intended to spend a night at the very nice hotel into which the abbey of San Pietro has been converted on Monte Conero, so that we could both enjoy a nice stopover and have a look at what remained of the abbey church.
Unlike its Umbrian namesake, entrance to this San Pietro abbey church was free, even for people not staying at the hotel, and what we found inside was magnificent!
Besides, our room with a balcony and a gorgeous vista on the Adriatic and all the surrounding area was great, and the food at the restaurant that evening was quite enjoyable as well, so I can only recommend the place!
We had to drive way up to the top of Monte Conero to find the place, indeed a great location for an abbey. This one was built by Benedictine monks around Year 1000, as we know from a written source that it was fully functional and operational in 1037.
The original church was without any adornments inside, but pilasters and capitals were added around 1200. In the 16th century, the Benedictines were replaced by other orders between whose members there were some disputes, until the Camaldolese monks prevailed. They were those who remodeled the façade into the uninteresting one we can see today –truly the only part of the church that doesn’t deserve to be photographed!
Fine examples of pre-Romanesque and early Romanesque sculpture on the capitals in the nave: a later capital, probably from the late 1100s, still showing faint traces of color.
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Press "L" NOW! Its so much better :)...now go do it! :)
I know I have posted a lot about Haley, but I just can't stop! I just bought my film camera about a month ago and used it for the first time with Haley! I gotta say, I am in love.
Canon AE-1
Fujifilm 400
50 1.8
Natty light
© 2011 Raj Sandhu
Edmonton, AB Portrait Photographer
In September and October 2021, we spent three weeks touring the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marches and Emilia-Romagna, which we hadn’t visited yet.
Personally, I had my sights firmly set on a series of early Romanesque churches of high architectural and artistic interest, so you will see quite a few of those, in spite of the typical Italian administration-related problems I encountered, and which were both stupid and quite unpleasant.
There will also be other sorts of old stones, landscapes, etc., and I hope you will enjoy looking at them and have a good time doing so. If it makes you want to go, do, by all means, Italy is a wonderful country.
Today, I am uploading the last photos from our memorable visit to the San Pietro Abbey on Monte Conero in the province of Marches, not very far from the coastal city of Ancona.
Just like we had tried to do (so unsuccessfully) at the abbey of San Pietro in Valle in Umbria, we intended to spend a night at the very nice hotel into which the abbey of San Pietro has been converted on Monte Conero, so that we could both enjoy a nice stopover and have a look at what remained of the abbey church.
Unlike its Umbrian namesake, entrance to this San Pietro abbey church was free, even for people not staying at the hotel, and what we found inside was magnificent!
Besides, our room with a balcony and a gorgeous vista on the Adriatic and all the surrounding area was great, and the food at the restaurant that evening was quite enjoyable as well, so I can only recommend the place!
We had to drive way up to the top of Monte Conero to find the place, indeed a great location for an abbey. This one was built by Benedictine monks around Year 1000, as we know from a written source that it was fully functional and operational in 1037.
The original church was without any adornments inside, but pilasters and capitals were added around 1200. In the 16th century, the Benedictines were replaced by other orders between whose members there were some disputes, until the Camaldolese monks prevailed. They were those who remodeled the façade into the uninteresting one we can see today –truly the only part of the church that doesn’t deserve to be photographed!
Fine examples of pre-Romanesque and early Romanesque sculpture on the capitals in the nave: and finally, the classic symbol of the two-tailed siren, symbolizing femininity and sin.
Portfolio | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr
Press "L" NOW! Its so much better :)...now go do it! :)
Second last one from the set!
This is Haley. She is such a fun person to be around! Shes a highschool english teacher and a model part-time, quite the combo I tell ya! k so details! As you already know, this is Haley, a highschool teacher and a model! Such an epic combo!! So I saw some work from Haley on a local photographer's facebook page and loved the look she had, so I had to give her a call! I had this sweet location in mind that had a bunch of abandoned things such as: a futon, a house, a dishwasher, stove, BBQ etc. It literally looked like the owners just decided to leave! This little shack (this photo) had some very interesting things like a painting of a naked man (I know, random) and a dead bird (just a few of the random things left in this place) But overall, I had such a fun time shooting with Haley! She has such a great personality! I tried to convince her to do modelling full-time and just leave the highschool stuff, but that didn't work out too well. K enough of me talking. Enjoy!
5D Mark II
35L
Natty light
© 2011 Raj Sandhu
Edmonton, AB Portrait Photographer
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
- Howard Thurman
outtake from fitter happier more productive series. wanted to post a revised version.
Day 180 of the 365 Journey.
Two more days until I’m half way there. I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I started this project! WOW!
Ok that’s all I can get out of my head for now. I’m so incredibly tired from the weekend. I think I’m just mentally drained and in need of sleep.
Go do something healthy and productive! Hey….like exercise!
Strobist:
Shutter Speed 1/200
Aperture 1.8
ISO 100
Lens – Canon 50mm Prime
Focal Length –50MM
White Bal – Auto
TWO Flashpoint 1220 monolights at 1/8 power at 35 degree angle behind subject facing arms aprox 5 ft tall (left/right sides)
580exII at 1/128 power with snoot approx 4 ft above subject head
50 inch silver reflector in front of subject aiming ambient light for slight fill
Black Background
Was quite the experience to spend the night on the USS Midway and go places and do things that the general public don't get to go/do.
Love this shot because it rings true as to who the 'Boss' and who the 'Mini' is ;-)
Taken in the Flight Operations room on the USS Midway.
San Diego, California.
Hello, heather here again. Well, what is this sorry excuse for a picture? -.- Well, there seems to be a recent trend in sim pictures with overhead/under[?] perspectives (including Circle's Perpetual Downfall, Subsi's [s]He's a sweet-talkin', sugar coated candy [wo]man, and Kevin's Mozart's Cascading Thirds) So I decided "Hey, this looks cool :D Why don't I try it?"
This... -.- this is why... This crap is why... It doesn't even look like it's at a perspective... She just looks like she has short legs... *slams head on table* Plus her hand messed up so I just hid it behind her DX Just... nothing worked out... at all... Take it from me, that perspective is ALOT harder to achieve than it looks -.- respect those people who succeeded at it, they have talent I do not possess... I'll probably delete this as soon as I get another picture out, anyway. :P
Okay, then. Rant over ^^ So... it's been a while, huh? XD Yeah... I've been working on entires for contests, and TWT, and this crap... Plus school... Yeah, school's started for me :P Not as bad as I expected, I do admit. :P
Nyeah... -.- I'm too lazy to catch up. I'll do this in the morning. Catch you all later. :]
(oh, and btw, THANK YOU for your totally nice comments on the last pic ^^ they mean alot to me :D)
Okay, I'm back ^^ And WOAH!!! :O Ten comments already? If I'd known this, then I wouldn't have been so lazy, and would have typed up the whole description at once... just... whoah... :O Thank you >.< You guys are really too nice to me :]
But yeah, sorry if I'm not around as much as I used to be (or have random lazy spurts, like as seen above). School has started. And that means homework and some serious sleep-lacking. Therefore, I can't comment as quick and on as many pictures as I used to :[
Also, it means that TWT might not be out very soon... at all... It's currently in the editing process, and afterwords I've got to take all the pictures and make the cover and... yeah, all that jazz... It might take a while, even though I previously promised it would be out by the school year's beginnign and school for me has been in session for two weeks already -.- I'm majorly behind on my plans...
hehe, in other news, I've decided to whip up a last minute entry for Into Darkness. It just looked too amazing to pass up, and Angel held me at gun point until kindly persuaded me to join along with her XD No, no really, I was jesting with you, it was non-violent persuasion. :]
Um... yeah... That's really it. I'm MAJORLY sleepy, and probably going to go do my homework so that I can go to bed at like... 8 o'clock tonight -.- So I'll end my rambling that doesn't even make half sense and just sum it up ^^
THANK YOU!!! :D For your immensely nice commnts on my last picture, and for the comments I've already gotten on this one. I'm just bubbling with happiness :] Thankies <3
The William Mulholland Memorial park in Los Angeles. Photo of the Day for August 14, 2010 on Discover Los Angeles. Featured in LAist.com's 7 Reasons to Love LA series on October 4, 2010.
I had been thinking about photographing this fountain recently, and William Opdyke's great night shot of the fountain inspired me to finally go do it.