Sponsored images from 
View allAll Photos Tagged going_doing
We interrupt the flow of Japan shots (I'm still going through the 2000 or so shot on the last trip) for a bit of Vancouver seen through the 40D mated to Canon's EF 50mm f/1.4...
Thanks to Vida for offering to swap lenses with me for the weekend and give the 50mm a try with my recently acquired 40D. My theory, of course, was that the 50mm would help me fall in love with the 40D again. I picked my 40D up with the 17-85mm kit lens and have been sort of disappointed in the overall performance. So much so that the 40D may be on its way out with an Olympus E-3 coming along one day in the not-so-distant future to replace it. (That should get the Canon guys going!) Do I like the 40D? Hell, yes! It's definitely a great camera and much better when not dragged down by the 17-85mm kit lens. I'm just not sure I'd rather have it over an E-3. Let's see what the future holds in store!
I found these Grape Hyacinths on a wander east of Chinatown proper, somewhere along a sidewalk in Strathcona. April 20, 2008.
Thanks for giving me some time with the 50mm, Vida!
I'm going to hazard a guess here and say that this is something you've never ever seen before. And probably never want to see ever again. 😄 It has a name ... Social Carrying Behaviour ... and apparently was only discovered in 2013. Ants carry one another for a variety of reasons ... they actually carry dead ants away from the nest and dump them in a pile somewhere once they start decaying and emitting oleic acid. (Bears are known to drag away their dead, too, apparently ... or, so I've heard). But, these two ants are very much alive!
I witnessed this today ... numerous times. I wondered what the heck they were carrying and of course went and grabbed my camera to see if I could get a closer look. Could hardly believe my eyes when I discovered it was another ant ... and that it was alive! If I disturbed them, the one doing the carrying would drop the other, but then pick it up again. So, of course, I then had to go do a little research.
One type of ant ... from the genus Pseudomyrmex, carries one of its adult buddies by grabbing it at the base of the mandibles (mouthparts) and it then curls up onto the back of the carrying individual. The eyes of the carried individual face forward in this position. This carrying style is called the "parasol-posture" ... umbrella style, if you will. But these two here are Carpenter Ants and they belong to the genus Camponotus ... subfamily, Formicinae and Formicinae carry other ants by grabbing the base of the mandibles, too, but the one carried is positioned upside-down and curls up under the ventral side of the carrier's head as seen in this photograph I took. Notice that this way the eyes of the two ants face each other.
Why is it done? Well, I believe it's a type of recruitment procedure when the ants are about to start building a new nest. Maybe akin to the British press gangs from years ago when they took men into military service or the navy, usually, by compulsion ... quite often after getting them blind drunk in some waterfront tavern. Don't know if these ants are willing participants or have have been spirited away by compulsion, too.
Anyway, learned something new today. Hope you did, too.
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: very archaic, Carolingian or Merovingian motifs, elementary foliage and human faces. Note the spirals and concentric circles, which are of Pagan inspiration.
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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 begin a new series on the church of Santa Pudenziana, near the town of Narni in the province of Umbria.
This is a very old church, a pre-Romanesque one from, I think, the 900 at least. Roman columns have been reused in the nave and pronaos, the way the arches are supported is typical of the archaic period, even though some elements are from the 11th and 12th centuries.
It also features a very nice bell tower, the base of which is dated from the 600s or 700s.
It is said that the church was originally part of a Benedictine priory.
It is absolutely lovely, restored and managed by a group of devoted volunteers worlds away from the persnickety and obnoxious bureaucrats that make up most of the Italian administration of beni culturali (Historic Landmarks).
The western façade, although that is a big word for such a humble church. Admire in particular the very, very old-looking pronaos...
[While I upload older photos from 2020 and before, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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 take a look at yet another magnificent Romanesque church, this time in the region of Marches: San Claudio al Chienti, an abbey isolated in the Chienti valley.
The church, which looks enormous with its atypical architecture and massive twin towers, is in fact smaller on the inside than one might expect.
Built entirely in brick, its existence is attested in writing by the late 1000s, and its Byzantine influences make me lean towards a construction period during the first half of the 11th century.
The very harmonious, almost intimate, lower nave, quite devoid of any decoration.
[While I upload older photos, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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.
The ruined Mediæval castle and fortified village of Castel Camponeschi dominate the plain of Prata d’Ansidonia. Built originally in the 1140s, it was inhabited until the late 1950s, whereupon it slowly fell into ruin. Between 2005 and 2008, major restoration works were undertaken with a view to attracting new inhabitants and revive this picturesque village.
However, for some reason (undoubtedly very complex, as always in Italy, especially where substantial public funding is involved...), the project was abandoned and the place remained deserted.
Nowadays, it is a great locale to do some “rurbex”. The place is duly enclosed and padlocked of course, but this being Italy, you only have to walk a short way to find an easy way in... ;o)
The church was almost fully restored.
Explored ...
When I am going crazy catching all that deals that come this time of the year and going nuts emptying my wallet, this conscious crawl out from somewhere and reminds me... ... There are many many many people are without shelter, food, and almost everything... kids that cries for not a new toy but for food.... children who dream of food, not Disney World!! ... Oh the Downer!! I wish that frog just go away and let me go do my shopping!!!
Please no copy paste of comment code which are lifeless to me. If you have some comments of your own, I would much rather appreciate that. Thanks for your visit :) ....
Martika - Love thy will be done
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVhAwWkshSg
Dear Second Life,
See what you do to me? ... not fair. You never play fair.
Always pulling the rug from underneath me feet and making me go do something crazy.
My insanity level just went up a notch when out of the blue, I decided to just take
a few shots of myself while visiting the Designers United 5 event (ending October 4).
Couldn't help myself, right there and then, I put together the most outrageous clothes assembled
by picking a thing from here and there and the result?... this what you see now.
I was actually planning on taking beautiful shots wearing my new Maitreya * Hera Dress and slits, which by the way,
they seem to be one of the most popular items in this year's event,
but found myself wearing every item I was getting, and so I said, "Why not?!"
I climbed to the very top of the pile of chairs from 7 and just started clicking the button. I ended up with a pile
of silly photos wearing more items in some more than in others. I had to reduce it to the three best ones
so not to burn your eyes with the mess I really was. You should have seen me, walking around wearing multiple items and demos
and standing next to people just for kicks.
It is fine to just go crazy sometimes and have some fun. I am really never afraid to make a fool of myself
if that can produce some laughter, laughter is good... really good ;)
Laughter keeps us young
and being foolish helps us forget how life can be a little hard sometimes.
and as they say ....
LAUGH
Make a FOOL of yourself
and then LAUGH some more!
Oh no wait, that's not how it goes :P
Forever Yours,
Lori Novo
❤
sllorinovo.blogspot.com/2013/09/love-thy-will-be-mine-i-c...
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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.
The abbey of San Giovanni in Venere in Abruzzo is another place where I encounter the same bureaucratic stupidity from the Italians as described before about Santa Maria a Casauria.
This time, I didn’t really mind because the most interesting parts were on the outside anyway, but boy how dumb can they be...!
A beautiful example of Romanesque sculpture around the West entrance.
About a months worth of rejects that All Agog and I split when we arrived back.
If you haven't followed him yet, he's tagged. Go do it.
Last weekend I went to my best place for jumpers at Skipwith and not a sniff. The weekend before I saw loads (this was from then just before it killed the mozzie). Is that it, this year for jumpers? And where do they go? Do they just go dormant for the winter? Anyone know the winter habits of these amazing arachnids?
Yes, another sunflower. What can I say...I have afew shots that I like. As fall continues we see the lovely colors of change. We know the hollidays are near, I don't even want to think of Christmas yet..lol. Thanksgiving first I say then I dive into boxes and boxes of Christmas stuff...yeah. Back to the sunflower, does the yellow bring the smile, does the bee of nature? I like the bee myself..lol. Smile friends~In this busy week that has started we need to keep our smiles on. Blessings and bye for now, I have to go do laungry....rrrrggggg! :-0 Andrea
Press "L" NOW! Its so much better :)...now go do it! :)
Summer is on its way! I took this before my shoot I had last week.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
© 2011 Raj Sandhu
There she goes, doing some more off-roading on her scooter! However, her eyelashes are protected today!
Puppy dog hat by SimplyKir, dress and coat by Gothelina.
Portfolio | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr
Press "L" NOW! Its so much better :)...now go do it! :)
Soooo, this is Gabrielle. She is so rad! I had the opportunity to work with her over the labour day weekend in a small town only 3 HOURS away from here. But I gotta say, it was totally worth the trip! Gabrielle is awesome, like seriously. I found this awesome location looking down a valley, some farmland, and then some good ol' canadian rockies!
She has only been doing modelling for a little bit now, but I was shocked that she doesn't do this as a full time thing cause she was such a natural! Probably one of my favourite sets! Stay tuned for more! :)
Second last upload from the set!
5D Mark II
35L
Natty Light
© 2011 Raj Sandhu
[While I upload older photos, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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.
In the Abruzzo village of Castelvecchio Calvisio (where there is an excellent restaurant as well!), we stumbled by chance upon this amazing paleo-Christian little roadside church dedicated to San Cipriano.
At first sight, it looks extremely old (of course, you have to ignore the snooty bell tower, which is a later and very unwelcome and tasteless addition), and indeed I learned later that it was built during the 700s.
There are many sculpted stones that have been re-used from Antiquity buildings, one of them with a very nice frieze on the pillar next to the door.
Unfortunately, the church was closed, and so I have no photos of the inside.
I’m all out of trash bags. I keep piling all my garbage on top of the shit that is already there. Soon it’s going to start falling on the floor. Or the bugs will come. I don’t know what’s worse.
It’s been raining out for days. It comes and goes. I even heard thunder that shook me a little. That’s rare around these parts. Back out east I used to grab bag of popcorn and watch these very storms right on my porch. But real ones, not these wimpy fakes. Kind of like a really good movie, you know? The thrill of seeing the bolt and moments later feeling that massive boom in my bones was unparalleled.
I think I might take Friday off. Although I think that’s a waste of time. More time to me isn’t really what I need. I could un-retire my camera and go do that. Maybe in the rain that would be cool. I love love love pictures in the rain! Or I could go buy those damn trash bags. But that’s kind of boring.
I really love my kids. Gia is finally starting to enjoy my company. I wish I could see her more. I let Chloe sleep in my bed two nights in a row. That’s like gold to her man. Apparently there are monsters under her bed. We made a secret formula to keep them away. It consisted of milk, salt, and 2 carrots. But nothing beats Daddy’s bed dude.
Nothing to write about, just random thoughts. I’m aware I’m making no sense. Yes I’m okay with it.
The photo at hand? Me hanging out on a cement slab down by the abandoned Navy Base one evening. I have the sun going down over my right shoulder and the Bay Bridge looming over my left shoulder.
The album at hand? I’ve owned this album for about 12 years. It’s filled with songs that have a beat mixed in with songs that are just plain weird. The lead singer’s voice is kind of annoyingly good, but it works well with their music. This song in particular I think illustrates the sentiment of my picture perfectly.
Location: Alameda Naval Air station; Alameda, California
Taken: October 24th, 2009
Posted: January 20th, 2010
Album of the Day: Deserters’s Songs by Mercury Rev
Video: Holes by Mercury Rev
*=lapse
Today's shot takes us back to where it all started, Disneyland. This photo is probably one of my most favorite rides in the park, the Matterhorn. A lot of people say that this is a very rough ride and even though I agree, it's still a classic and a "must ride" whenever I go. Do you ride the Matterhorn or do you pass it and move on to the next ride? Have a great week!
Theme: Archangel - Amoranthe
Concept Art created using AI Furry Generator
Edited using Krita 5.2.9
I mourn for the fallen demons,
Leviathan carries my will.
Confounded,
yet I am immortal,
the ultimate torment I feel!
See a red moon rise up,
an omen of grief.
The son of the morning
descends from Elysium's creed.
Many have been the feats of leopard virtue of Iohannes Paulus Crispianus II. Yet, what of his father? Why does no one sing the praises of Iohannes Paulus Crispianus I?
The story behind this hidden history is one of great tragedy and deceit. Many believe that in the end, most sins will be forgiven. Yet, there is such thing as the unforgivable sin. Did Iohannes the Senior do such a devilish thing? As far as Iohannes the Younger is concerned, he holds no blame upon his father for the events that unfolded and led to the destruction of a leopard-man who, in his own days of glory, had done numerous deeds of virtue and valor. Indeed, Iohannes II is second only to his father in living such a good and holy life of a paladin. So what happened?
First, we must understand the theology of the dragon hunters. For you see each dragon hunter has charge over them an archangel from Heaven. The Crispianus family have Raphael in charge of them. Some believe that this is why the family has a strong trait of emerald green eyes, are able to heal quickly, and are quite passionate lovers. Old wives tales aside, the importance of the archangel is protection over the dragon slayer as they go do battle with their mortal enemy, the evil red dragon Maleflagramontes.
However, according to the principles of the theology, as in Heaven, also below. Maleflagramontes has the arch-demon Asmodeus in charge over him. Thus, these battles between dragon and dragon slayer are not merely feats of physical heroic virtue, but also a spiritual battle, and thus a microcosm of the ancient War in Heaven by which one-third of the angels had fallen and become demons that seek to conquer the universe and usurp God.
Iohannes Paulus Crispianus I was a very pius dragon slayer paladin. Again, no one was an equal or greater to the senior other than his own son. Thus is great the tragedy that befell the elder and brought about the worst treachery to ever happen to the Crispianus family. Yet, to this day the younger will not speak evil of his father, often praying, "Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they say nor do,"
Yet, for what is known in private rumors and stories, one would think that Ioh would have reasons to be bitter. But that is not how leopard-men understand the world, especially as paladin and dragon slayer. They know what their fate can be if they do not succeed and defeat Maleflagramontes. What precisely can happen is something the author cannot tell, especially in mixed general public. All I can say is that it is true that dragons are born from an 'egg,' though not necessarily in how you may understand the term. It is also half true that dragons can be made by way of cats that have been tormented and turned evil. Putting the parts to the whole, I'll leave it to your imagination what the whole truth may be. But I will say that it is is a very terrible and tragic fate for the leopard-man, especially as the 'egg' develops more into the dragon he had committed his whole life to slaying. As misfortune may have it, the last time Ioh had seen his father was when the development was near complete, and his father was becoming the evil red dragon he once opposed. Above is the iconography of that first battle with the reincarnation of Maleflagramontes, as he fully took over Iohannes Paulus Crispianus I, who was shed of his leopard-man body, and now was comprised of the new blood red scales of the evil red dragon.
I sing for the fallen angels,
I carry them under my wings.
I'm frozen but still undefeated,
for the abandoned I sing!
Archangel rise!
The trinity has synchronized
a remedy for humankind.
Archangel has fallen down!
Against the odds,
we bring a bloodless sacrifice.
From hell on earth to paradise.
Archangel has fallen down!
Portfolio | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr
It would be super awesome if you guys could go and like my facebook page Here I will love you forever!
Explored # 262
Press "L" NOW! Its so much better :)...now go do it! :)
Had the opportunity to work with 2 awesome models last week!
5D Mark II
35L
Canon 430 EX II Flash
© 2011 Raj Sandhu
Parámetros :: Parameters :: Paramètres: Canon EOS 7D; ISO 100; 0 ev; f 6.3; 1/30 s; 35 mm Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM HSM.
Título :: Title :: Titre ::: Fecha (Date): Entre dos luces :: Between two lights :: Entre deux lumières ::: 2015/04/26 19:59
(Es). Historia: Antimio de arriba. León. España. Mensaje de WhatsApp en el teléfono a media tarde del domingo. Mmmm ¿Quién será?…Alcanzo el teléfono y miro la pantalla. ¡Ah!, es MALLA.
MALLA: Oiluj, la tarde promete nubes y está la colza con amarillos intensos; ¿Salimos a tirar unas fotos?
Yo: Ok. ¿A las 19:00?.
MALLA: Bien. Te recojo.
Yo: Preparo alfombra, viene Fray.
Llega MALLA, colocamos la alfombra en el maletero del Tuareg y subimos a Fray. ¿A dónde vamos?. No sé, pero a zona de cultivo llano. Los campos de colza tienen un amarillo fuerte que, con la puesta de sol y estas nubes, pueden dar sorpresas. Bueno, vamos a la zona de la Valdoncina, Antimio de arriba. De acuerdo.
Mientras estamos llegando a destino observamos el cielo. La zona de la puesta de sol tiene nubes con zonas claras y el sol aparecerá por esos huecos. En la parte contraria y a poca distancia, una aglomerado de nubes oscuras de tormenta. Ha llovido estos días y los caminos agrícolas están con bastante barro, pero estamos convencidos de que puede merecer la pena. Paramos en un campo grande de colza en flor y nos vamos introduciendo en él. Las plantas nos llegan un poco por debajo de la altura del pecho. Fray, ha bajado del coche con ganas de carrera y cuando llegamos al campo de las altas plantas de colza se introduce en él a toda prisa. Intuimos dónde se encuentra por las sacudidas de las zonas superiores de las plantas y vemos como esos movimientos se van desplazando deprisa en línea recta por el campo. Luego, más cansado, se acerca a nosotros y ya no se separa… A la altura de su cabeza nos pierde de vista rápidamente, esto no es campo abierto. Así que se queda cerca viendo como hablamos entre nosotros, observa cómo miramos hacia el sol, luego hacia el otro lado, nos llevamos eso negro a la cabeza, lo volvemos a bajar, seguimos hablando y mirando en una u otra dirección. Me quiero imaginar sus pensamiento: ¿Qué estarán haciendo estos dos mirones ahí, en lugar de estar oliendo la inmensidad de aromas que tenemos alrededor?.
Y mientras voy escribiendo esto está sonando ZAZ, la nueva Edit Piaf. No olvidéis al Nepal, a los Perros Mapache de China, a la zona todavía azotada por el Ébola, a las personas asesinadas en nombre dioses de cada cual o a los animales también asesinados en nombre de "La Cultura de la Tortura"...
Toma: El sol estuvo un largo rato oculto tras las nubes y el color era de un amarillo apagado, sembrado grande pero apagado. De pronto salía de entre las nubes y daba una intensidad fuerte a las plantas. Hicimos una cuantas tomas dentro del campo con esos tonos amarillos y luego, observando el comportamiento del sol que se había vuelto a ocultar, decidimos salir del campo y tomar las escenas con un poco de distancia. De pronto, al separarnos unos metros vuelve a aparecer el sol y en la parte contraria vemos la cortina de lluvia y el conjunto de arco iris aparecer de pronto. Dicen que donde el arco iris se junta con el suelo hay un tesoro de oro enterrado. Nuestro tesoro estaba en el lugar en que nosotros estábamos, donde se nos daba un espectáculo que creo que no está bien representado en esta imagen; era mucho mejor el espectáculo natural.
Tratamiento: Con Aperture. Original en RAW. Ligero aumento de la saturación, pero muy ligero. El histograma presentaba los extremos com muy poca información, todo el contenido estaba en la parte central, así que recorté esas zonas tan planas y bajas. La luces altas las reduje para dar cuerpo a las nubes de tormenta, así como incrementé la oscuridad de las zona menos luminosas. Luego aplico una viñeta suave para degradar ligeramente los bordes.
¡Eso es todo amigos!
(En). The History: Antimio de arriba. León. Spain. WhatsApp's message in the telephone in the middle of the evening of Sunday. Mmmm; Who will be? … I Reach the telephone and look at the screen. Ah!, it is MALLA.
MALLA: Oiluj, the evening promises clouds and the rape is with yellow intense; do we go out to throw a few photos?
I: Ok. At 19:00?.
MALLA: Well. I gather you.
I: I prepare carpet, Fray comes.
MALLA comes, we place the carpet in the porter of the Tuareg and raise Fray. To where do we go?. Do not be, but to plain crop zone. The fields of rape have a yellow fort that, with the putting of the Sun and these clouds, surprises can give. Well, we go to the zone of the Valdoncina, Antimio de arriba. I agree.
While we are coming to destination observe the sky. The zone of the putting Sun has clouds with clear zones and the Sun will appear for these hollows. In the opposing party and to few distance, a agglomerate of dark clouds of storm. It has rained these days and the agricultural ways are with enough mud, but we are sure that it can be worth it. We stop in a big field of rape in flower and are getting in him. The plants come to us a bit below the height of the chest. Fray, has gone down the car with desire of career and when we come to the field of the high plants of rape it gets in him hotfoot. We feel where he is for the jolts of the top zones of the plants and see as these movements they are displacing fast on line straight line for the field. More tired, it approaches us and already it does not separate … At a height of his head loses us of dress rapidly, this is not a field opened. So it continues seeing nearby since we speak strictly between ourselves, it observes how we look at the Sun, then at another side, we take this black thing it to ourselves to the head, turn it to going down, continue speaking and looking in one or another direction. I want to imagine his thought: What they will be making these two lookers-on there, instead of being smelling the immensity of aromas that we have around?.
And while I am writing this, ZAZ is sounding, the new Edit Piaf. Do not forget to the Nepal, to the Dogs Racoon of China, to the zone still flogged by the Ébola, to the persons murdered in gods name of everyone or to the animals also murdered in name of "The Culture of the Torture"...
Taking up: The sun was a long time hidden behind the clouds and a yellow color was out, planted large but off. Suddenly out of the clouds and gave a strong current plants. We made a few shots on the field with those yellow tones and then observing the behavior of the sun had returned to hide, we decided to leave the camp and take the scenes with a little distance. Suddenly, a few meters separate the sun reappears on the other side and see the curtain of rain and the whole rainbow appear soon. They say that where the rainbow joins with the soil there is an treasure of buried gold. Our treasure was in the place in which we were, where there was given us a spectacle that I think that it is not represented well in this image; the natural spectacle was much better.
Treatment: With Aperture. Original RAW. Light increase of the saturation, but very light. The histogram was presenting the ends com very little information, the whole content was in the central part, so I cut these so flat and low zones away. You illuminate it high I reduced them to give body to the clouds of storm, as well as I increased the darkness of the least luminous area. Then I apply a soft vignette to degrade lightly the edges.
That's all folks !!
(Fr). Histoire: Antimio de arriba. León. L'Espagne. Un message de WhatsApp par le téléphone à une demi-après-midi du dimanche. Mmmm : qui est-ce qui sera ? … J'atteins le téléphone et regarde l'écran. Ah!, c'est MALLA.
MALLA : Oiluj, l'après-midi promet des nuages et le colza est avec jaunes intenses; sortons-nous pour jeter quelques photos ?
Je : Ok. À 19:00 heure ?.
MALLA : Bien. Je te reprends.
Je : Je prépare un tapis, Fray vient.
MALLA arrive, nous mettons le tapis dans le coffre de Touareg et jusqu'à Fray. Où nous allons?. Je ne sais pas, mais la zone plate de champs de cultures. Champs de colza ont un jaune intense avec le soleil et ces nuages peuvent donner des surprises. Eh bien, nous allons à la zone Valdoncina, Antimio de abajo. Convenu.
En attendant nous arrivons à une destination observons le ciel. La zone de la mise de soleil a des nuages avec de claires zones et le soleil apparaîtra par ces creux. Dans la partie opposée et à peu de distance, une un agglomérat de nuages obscurs d'orage. Il a plu ces jours et les chemins agricoles sont avec assez je balaie, mais nous sommes convaincus de ce qu'il peut mériter la peine. Nous nous arrêtons sur un grand champ de colza dans une fleur et nous nous introduisons à lui. Les plantes nous arrivent un peu au-dessous de la hauteur de la poitrine. Fraye, a baissé de la voiture avec appétit de course et quand nous arrivons au champ des hautes plantes de colza il s'introduit à lui en toute hâte. Nous devinons où il se trouve par les secousses des zones supérieures des plantes et voyons comme ces mouvements ils se déplacent vite en ligne droite par le champ. Plus fatigué, il s'approche de nous et déjà il ne se sépare pas … À la hauteur de sa tête il nous perd de vue rapidement, ce n'est pas champ ouvert. Donc il continue de se voir près comme nous parlons entre nous, il observe comment nous regardons vers le soleil, tout de suite vers l'autre côté, nous nous passons cela noir à la tête, recommençons à le descendre, continuons de parler et de regarder dans l'une ou une autre direction. Je veux m'imaginer son une pensée : qu'est-ce que ces deux badauds feront là, au lieu de sentir l'immensité de parfums que nous avons autour?.
Et tandis que j'écris cela, ZAZ sonne, le nouveau Edit Piaf. N'oubliez pas au Népal, aux Chiens de Carcajou de la Chine, à la zone encore fouettée par l'Ébola, aux personnes assassinées dans un nom des dieux de chacun ou aux animaux aussi assassinés au nom de "Culture de la Torture"...
Prendre: Le soleil était longtemps caché derrière les nuages et une couleur jaune était éteint, mais hors planté grande. Soudain, des nuages et a donné une forte usines actuelles. Nous avons fait quelques coups de feu sur le terrain avec ces tons jaunes et puis en observant le comportement du soleil était revenu à cacher, a décidé de quitter le camp et de prendre les scènes avec un peu de distance. Soudain, quelques mètres séparent le soleil réapparaît de l'autre côté et voir le rideau de pluie et l'ensemble arc apparaissent bientôt. Ils disent que, lorsque l'arc en ciel rencontre le sol est un trésor d'or enterré. Notre trésor était à l'endroit où nous étions, où on nous a donné un spectacle que je pense ne sont pas bien représentés dans cette image; était beaucoup mieux le spectacle naturel.
Traitement: Avec Aperture. Origine RAW. Une légère augmentation de la saturation, mais très léger. L'histogramme présentait les extrémités com très peu d'information, tout le contenu était dans la partie centrale, telle que j'ai découpé ces zones si plates et basses. Tu l'éclaires hautes je les ai réduites pour donner un corps aux nuages d'orage, ainsi que j'ai augmenté l'obscurité de la zone moins lumineux. Tout de suite j'applique une vignette douce pour dégrader légèrement les bords.
Voilà, c'est tout!
--Inspired by molly, probably one of my favorite photos ever taken by anyone ever--
Ironically, those are probably the dullest pair of scissors I own, so actually cutting everything off at the end took me probably half an hour, hahah.
Also, HOME. For three and a half weeks, so hopefully that means lots more photos soon. I'm finally getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow though, so I might be out of commission for a bit longer while my face goes back to normal :p
Lastly, I'm doing a print giveaway that you can enter here if you want and haven't already; I believe I'm closing it Dec. 22. So...go do that :)
What if those recruited by the Terrorists were smart enough to understand that they were being mislead and lied to? What if Terrorists did not often attempt to recruit down syndrome teens to strap bombs to their selves? What if no one had to Die in Battle for Allah, because people being recruited for suicide murderous bombings understood the truth? What if those who have been told to hate, started asking questions such as; Why? Why should I hate the Americans or Western World?
Wouldn’t it be great if those being recruited to plant roadside bombs or make suicide runs told the Clerics to go do it yourself if it is that big of a deal? What if all just said “NO” to Terrorism and declared themselves a member of the real Islamic Faith? What if all people were educated enough to see through the lies and butchering of the Islamic religion by these radical clerics? What if the Muslim population of the world said; “no more” and eliminate out those who preach hate and live in hypocrisy? I wonder what the world would be like then? Think on it.
Taken: Faisal Masjid, Footsteps of Margala Hills, Islamabad, Capital of Pakistan.
I think I'm doin it wrong. Also, in retrospect, I probably should have used brown instead of sand green.
Nao I have to go do some really shitty Geometry homework :|
While up in Yorkshire last week ... just had to go do the kingfishers on a Nature reserve there
always so beautiful to see and photograph. This time though the wild grasses had grown over the main perches, sadly
- envy on the coast. this is just your basic picture of trees & clouds. meginator is "in this photo" because she's (hopefully) going do a 365 with me for 2010. if you're doing one/interested in doing one then, send me a flickrmail or something (: my pro account expires on december 8th, so i'll probably be uploading an old picture or two every day until then (in 2010, it'll only be new pictures :)
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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.
The Romanesque collegiate church of Santa Maria in Castell’ Arquato, built very quickly between 1117 and 1122, was influenced by Lombard architecture and decoration, as was so often the case in Emilia-Romagna. The golden (presence of ferrous oxide in the stone) limestone that was used gives it a distinctive aspect.
There are also some fine examples of Romanesque sculpture inside, in particular on the capitals.
I figured it was about time I did another My Little Pony shot.
This one was a total fluke. A previous attempt at this with D1 manually blowing the bubbles didn't work out, so I decided I'd have a go doing it myself using my new RC-6 wireless remote and our battery-powered bubble machine. I took about 8 shots and just happened to get this one with a bubble right in front of Flitterheart's face.
This photo is actually a composite of several of the shots - I mainly just took a few of the background bubbles from the other shots to fill out the scene.
I then added one of Skeletal Mess's awesome textures to give it that gritty feel and frame.
Press L to view on black. Press F to add to favorites.
Scavenger Hunter Gatherer photo challenge #54 - bubbly
Camera settings:
f/5.6
1/500s
ISO 800
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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 begin a new series on the church of Santa Pudenziana, near the town of Narni in the province of Umbria.
This is a very old church, a pre-Romanesque one from, I think, the 900 at least. Roman columns have been reused in the nave and pronaos, the way the arches are supported is typical of the archaic period, even though some elements are from the 11th and 12th centuries.
It also features a very nice bell tower, the base of which is dated from the 600s or 700s.
It is said that the church was originally part of a Benedictine priory.
It is absolutely lovely, restored and managed by a group of devoted volunteers worlds away from the persnickety and obnoxious bureaucrats that make up most of the Italian administration of beni culturali (Historic Landmarks).
The raised choir with a very simple altar and an equally sober ciborium, with four reused columns from the Antiquity and two capitals of the same provenance. The other two are very early Romanesque from around Year 1000.
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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 and over the following days, I invite you to take a closer look at a very simple and unadorned, yet beautiful and quite unusual abbey church in the Abruzzo region: San Pietro ad Oratorium.
Like our previous church of Santa Maria in Valle Porclaneta, this one is also located in a quiet valley, that of river Tirino.
Built mostly during the 700s and fully completed in the 1100s, this church was part of a Benedictine abbey. It is designed on a basilica-type plan with three naves and three semi-circular apse.
The nave, almost devoid of any decoration.
A special inclusion for all of my deaf viewers, although those of you who can hear are welcome to enjoy it as well!
SOME MUSIC I LIKE:
How did this come about? I think at some point I asked my regular viewers, "What songs do you like?" and I got zilch by way of response. So I figured, you gotta lead by example and I thought I'd put together a list of about 100 songs I really like. But like a hungry snake, the list just kept growing, till now it's getting near 800. Bottom line is, it's all about enjoyment, so here's a bunch of songs from my inner iPod which I enjoyed and I hope you will too.
A RANDOM SAMPLING OF 700+ SONGS THAT I LIKE
1.Cretin Hop (Ramones)
2.All Quiet On The Eastern Front (“)
3.Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (“)
4.Rockaway Beach (“)
5.God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols)
6.Belsen Was A Gas (“)
7.Holidays In The Sun (“)
8.EMI (“)
9.The Hunter (Albert King)
10.Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith)
11.See No Evil (Television)
12.Do You Love Me Now? (Breeders)
13.Pretend We’re Dead (L7)
14.Trojours L’Amour (Procol Harum)
15.Still There’ll Be More (“)
16.Whiskey Train (“)
17.Poor Mohammad (“)
18.Walking The Dog (Flaming Groovies)
19.Teenage Head (“)
20.Chest Fever (The Band)
21.The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (“)
22.Single Pigeon (Paul McCartney)
23.Bluebird (“)
24.No Words (“)
25.Every Night (“)
26.Maybe I’m Amazed (“)
27.Had Me A Real Good Time (Faces)
28.Borstal Boys (“)
29.Memphis (“)
30.Too Bad (“)
31.In France They Kiss On Main Street (Joni Mitchell)
32.Just Like This Train (“)
33.A Strange Boy (“)
34.Blue Motel Room (“)
35.Jericho (“)
36.When You Dance I Can Really Love (Neil Young)
37.Cinnamon Girl (“)
38.Pocahontas (“)
39.Ride My Llama (“)
40.Ways Of Love (“)
41.I Believe In You (“)
42.Dive (Nirvana)
43.Been A Son (“)
44.Molly’s Lips (“)
45.Polly (“)
46.All Apologies (“)
47.Jack Straw (Grateful Dead)
48.Sugar Magnolia (“)
49.Friend Of The Devil (“)
50.Bertha (“)
51.Playing In The Band (“)
52.Eskimo Blue Day (Jefferson Airplane)
53.Fat Angel (“)
54.It’s No Secret (“)
55.How Do You Feel? (“)
56.The Other Side Of This Life (Live) (“)
57.Have You Seen The Saucers? (Live) (“)
58.Life Is A Long Song (Jethro Tull)
59.Up The Pool (“)
60.Inside (“)
61.A Time For Everything (“)
62.Jeffery Goes To Leichester Square (“)
63.Mother Goose (“)
64.Living In The Past (“)
65.Presently In The Past (Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks)
66.News From Up The Street (“)
67.The Buzzard Was Their Friend (“)
68.I’m An Old Cowhand (“)
69.Stranger’s Room (Crosby & Nash)
70.Page 43 (“)
71.Marrakesh Express (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
72.You Don’t Have To Cry (“)
73.The Deserter (Fairport Convention)
74.Matty Groves (“)
75.Poor Will And The Jolly Hangman (“)
76.A Tale In Hard Time (“)
77.A Sailor’s Life (“)
78.Who Knows Where The Time Goes? (“)
79.Two Weeks Last Summer (Sandy Denny)
80.Gypsy Davey (“)
81.Back Street Slide (Richard Thompson)
82.Don’t Renege On Our Love (“)
83.The Wrong Heartbeat (“)
84.Sam Jones (“)
85.Ghost In The Wind (“)
86.Small Town Romance (“)
87.Big Chimney (“)
88.Business On You (“)
89.One Door Opens (“)
90.Bathsheba Smiles (“)
91.Upsetter (Grand Funk Railroad)
92.Nothing Is The Same (“)
93.Footstompin’ Music (“)
94.Bad Time (“)
95.Gasoline Alley (Rod Stewart)
96.Cut Across Shorty (“)
97.You Wear It Well (“)
98.Twisting The Night Away (“)
99.Angel (“)
100.A Hard Road (“)
101.Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones)
102.Jumping Jack Flash (“)
103.Stray Cat Blues (“)
104.Factory Girl (“)
105.Prodigal Son (“)
106.Gimmie Shelter (“)
107.Around And Around (“)
108.She Said Yeah (“)
109.Route 66 (Live) (“)
110.Ruby Tuesday (“)
111.Dandelion (“)
112.Casino Boogie (“)
113.Torn And Frayed (“)
114.Thief In The Night (“)
115.Just Another Honky (Faces)
116.If I’m On The Late Side (“)
117.Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Jeff Beck)
118.Sophie (“)
119.Play With Me (“)
120.You Know What I Mean (“)
121.Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers (“)
122.Shapes Of Things (“)
123.A Salty Dog (Procol Harum)
124.Walking After Midnight (Katy Moffatt)
125.Midnight At The Oasis (Maria Muldaur)
126.Gringo En Mexico (“)
127.Gringo (Little Feat)
128.The Fan (“)
129.Fat Man In The Bathtub (“)
130.All That You Dream (“)
131.Easy To Slip (“)
132.Dixie Chicken (“)
133.Do You Believe In Magic? (Loving Spoonful)
134.Coconut Grove (“)
135.Wild About My Loving (“)
136.The Other Side Of This Life (“)
137.Pow! (“)
138.Didn’t Want To Have To Do It (“)
139.Younger Girl (“)
140.I Want To Take You Higher (Sly & The Family Stone)
141.Babies Making Babies (“)
142.Everybody Is A Star (“)
143.You Caught Me Smiling (“)
144.Table Manners (Kid Creole & The Coconuts)
145.Latin Music (“)
146.Go Down Easy (John Martyn)
147.One Day Without You (“)
148.Poor Boy (Nick Drake)
149.Pink Moon (“)
150.Radio (“)
151.One Of These Things First (“)
152.It’s Only Natural (Crowded House)
153.Pineapple Head (“)
154.Don’t Dream It’s Over (“)
155.Weather With You (“)
156.If I Knew (Joan Baez)
157.Poor Wayfaring Stranger (“)
158.Banks Of The Ohio (“)
159.Glad Bluebird Of Happiness (“)
160.The Jean Jeanie (David Bowie)
161.Hang On To Yourself (“)
162.Golden Years (“)
163.John, I’m Only Dancing (“)
164.Stay (“)
165.Star (“)
166.Suffragette City (“)
167.Heroes (“)
168.The Supermen (“)
169.Black Country Rock (“)
170.Oh You Pretty Things (“)
171.Kooks (“)
172.Rebel Rebel (“)
173.Public Animal #9 (Alice Cooper)
174.Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets (“)
175.Train Kept A-Rolling (Yardbirds)
176.Highway Star (Deep Purple)
177.No No No (“)
178.You Fool No One (“)
179.Flight Of The Rat (“)
180.You Better Think Twice (Poco)
181.Hurry Up (“)
182.Railroad Days (“)
183.What Am I Gonna Do? (“)
184.Golden Ribbons (Loggins And Messina)
185.Angry Eyes (“)
186.Vahevala (“)
187.Thinking Of You (“)
188.Till The Ends Meet (“)
189.Las Vegas (Gram Parsons)
190.She (“)
191.Still Feeling Blue (“)
192.Hearts On Fire (“)
193.That’s All It Took (“)
194.It Doesn’t Matter (Manassas)
195.The Treasure (“)
196.Move Around (“)
197.How Far (“)
198.So Begins The Task (“)
199.Both Of Us (“)
200.Love Eyes (“)
201.Hey Pocky Way (Neville Brothers)
202.Beginning To See The Light (Velvet Underground)
203.What Goes On (“)
204.Here She Comes Now (“)
205.My Baby Thinks He’s A Train (Roseanne Cash)
206.Siberian Khatru (Yes)
207.Long Distance Runaround (“)
208.Starship Trooper (“)
209.Roundabout (“)
210.From The Beginning (Emmerson, Lake & Palmer)
211.Hoedown (“)
212.Aloha Steve And Danno (Radio Birdman)
213.Go Wild In The Country (Bow Wow Wow)
214.Mile High Club (“)
215.On My Radio (The Selecter)
216.Stupid Marriage (The Specials)
217.Hey Venus (That Petrol Emotion)
218.Switch Board Susan (Nick Lowe)
219.Zulu Kiss (“)
220.Queen Of Sheba (“)
221.New Amsterdam (Elvis Costello)
222.Pump It Up (“)
223.You Belong To Me (“)
224.No Action (“)
225.Busy Bodies (“)
226.Moods For Moderns (“)
227.Science Fiction (The Divinyls)
228.Ring Me Up (“)
229.I’ll Make You Happy (“)
230.Stepping Razor (Peter Tosh)
231.Message Of Love (The Pretenders)
232.Cuban Slide (“)
233.My City Was Gone (“)
234.Tattooed Love Boys (“)
235.The Adultress (“)
236.Time The Avenger (“)
237.Time Won’t Let Me (The Outsiders)
238.You Win Again (Jerry Lee Lewis)
239.Stop Messing Around (Fleetwood Mac)
240.My Heart Beat Like A Hammer (“)
241.Like Crying (“)
242.Rattlesnake Shake (“)
243.Homework (“)
244.Chevrolet (Taj Mahal)
245.Leaving Trunk (“)
246.Further On Down The Road (“)
247.You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond (“)
248.Going Down (Freddie King)
249.Bluebird (Buffalo Springfield)
250.Questions (“)
251.It’s So Hard To Wait (“)
252.Rock And Roll Woman (“)
253.Four Days Gone (“)
254.Uno Mundo (“)
255.Special Care (“)
256.Baba O’Riley (The Who)
257.Won’t Get Fooled Again (“)
258.My Generation (“)
259.My Wife (“)
260.Sea And Sand (“)
261.Drowned (“)
262.The Dirty Jobs (“)
263.Getting In Tune (“)
264.Love Reign O’er Me (“)
265.This Song Has No Title (Elton John)
266.Grey Seal (“)
267.Burn Down The Mission (“)
268.Amoreena (“)
269.Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (“)
270.High Flying Bird (“)
271.Dancing In The Street (Martha Reeves & The Vandellas)
272.Ramble On (Led Zeppelin)
273.Kashmir (“)
274.Black Dog (“)
275.Four Sticks (“)
276.The Battle Of Evermore (“)
277.The Crunge (“)
278.Immigrant Song (“)
279.Hots On For Nowhere (“)
280.Peace Frog (The Doors)
281.Queen Of The Highway (“)
282.Love Her Madly (“)
283.Hello I Love You (“)
284.The Crystal Ship (“)
285.The Unknown Soldier (“)
286.Once You Get Started (Chaka Kahn & Rufus)
287.Tell Me Something Good (“)
288.Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (Diana Ross & The Supremes)
289.I Can’t Get Next To You (Al Green)
290.Wait Here (“)
291.To Sir With Love (“)
292.Let’s Get Married (“)
293.Love And Happiness (“)
294.Hangin’ On (“)
295.Take It So Hard (Keith Richards)
296.Three Roses (America)
297.Only In Your Heart (“)
298.Ain’t Got No Money (Frankie Miller)
299.Sneaking Sally Thru The Alley (Robert Palmer)
300.How Much Fun (“)
301.I Hear You Knocking (Dave Edmunds)
302.Run Rudolph Run (“)
303.Queen Of Hearts (“)
304.Girl Talk (“)
305.Trouble Boys (“)
306.You’ll Never Get Me Up (In One Of Those) (“)
307.Almost Saturday Night (“)
308.Chelsea Morning (Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66)
309.SWLABR (Cream)
310.Dance The Night Away (“)
311.Tales Of Brave Ulysses (“)
312.Badge (“)
313.Those Were The Days (“)
314.Howling For My Darling (Howling Wolf)
315.44 (“)
316.How Many More Times (“)
317.Smokestack Lightning (“)
318.Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing (Stevie Wonder)
319.Tuesday Heartbreak (“)
320.Looking For Another Pure Love (“)
321.Big Brother (“)
322.Golden Lady (“)
323.The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (Traffic)
324.Walking In The Wind (“)
325.Many A Mile To Freedom (“)
326.Hidden Treasure (“)
327.Medicated Goo (“)
328.No Face, No Name, No Number (“)
329.Pearly Queen (“)
330.Heaven Is In Your Mind (“)
331.Such A Night (Elvis Presley)
332.It’s Now Or Never (“)
333.My Baby Left Me (“)
334.Baby Let’s Play House (“)
335.Blue Moon Of Kentucky (“)
336.Rave On (Buddy Holly)
337.Learning The Game (“)
338.Not Fade Away (“)
339.Can’t Help Myself (Bonnie Raitt)
340.Everybody’s Crying Mercy (“)
341.Wah She Go Do(“)
342.Bluebird (“)
343.Green Lights (NRBQ)
344.Just Ain’t Fair (“)
345.Me And The Boys (“)
346.Crazy Like A Fox (“)
347.You Can’t Hide (“)
348.Still In School (“)
349.Hobbies (“)
350.Definition Of Love (“)
351.That’s All (Sarah Vaughn)
352.Tanglewood ’63 (Gary Burton Quartet)
353.Treasure Island (Keith Jarrett)
354.Rita San (Art Pepper)
355.Mr. Knight (John Coltrane)
356.My Shining Hour (“)
357.Nigerian Marketplace (Oscar Peterson)
358.Uptown Dance (Stephanne Grappelli)
359.Love For Sale (“)
360.81 (Miles Davis)
361.All Blues (“)
362.So What (“)
363.Sarara (Flora Purim)
364.Riffin’ The Scotch (Billie Holiday)
365.Let’s Do It (“)
366.On The Road Again (Canned Heat)
367.Riki Tikki Tavi (Donovan)
368.Frankenstein (New York Dolls)
369.Bad Girl (“)
370.Trash (")
371.30 Days In The Hole (Humble Pie)
372.One Eyed Trouser Snake Rhumba (“)
373.I Don’t Need No Doctor (“)
374.Four Day Creep (“)
375.All Right Now (Free)
376.Oh I Wept (“)
377.I’ll Be Creepin’ (“)
378.A Little Bit Of Love (“)
379.The Highway Song (“)
380.Mr. Big (Live) (“)
381.You’re Pretty Good Looking (The White Stripes)
382.Little Bird (“)
383.Leave Your Hat On (Randy Newman)
384.Political Science (“)
385.Crazy Country Hop (Eric Clapton)
386.Let It Rain (“)
387.Mainline Florida (“)
388.Black Cow (Steely Dan)
389.Bodhisattva (“)
390.Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (“)
391.My Old School (“)
392.It’s A Plain Shame (Studio) (Peter Frampton)
393.Catherine Parr (Rick Wakeman)
394.Tin Soldier (Small Faces)
395.Don’t Burst My Bubble (“)
396.Wham Bam Thank You Mam (“)
397.Rolling Over (“)
398.Mad John (“)
399.Western Lullaby (Wendy Waldman)
400.I Was Made To Love Her (Beach Boys)
401.Let The Wind Blow (“)
402.Darling (“)
403.Do It Again (“)
404.Pure And Easy (Pete Townshend)
405.Under The Falling Sky (Jackson Browne)
406.Jamaica Say You Will (“)
407.Something Fine (“)
408.Late For The Sky (“)
409.Weasel And The White Boy’s Cool (Rickie Lee Jones)
410.My Wave (Soundgarden)
411.Rusty Cage (“)
412.Fell On Black Days (“)
413.She Moves Me (Muddy Waters)
414.I Just Want To Make Love To You (“)
415.Rolling Stone (“)
416.The Stuff You Gotta Watch (“)
417.Cross Eyed Cat (“)
418.I’m Ready (“)
419.Dichoso (Willie Bobo)
420.I Can’t Stand The Rain (Ann Peebles)
421.I Pity The Fool (“)
422.It’s Your Thing (Isley Brothers)
423.End Of A Perfect Day (Kirstie MacColl)
424.Dancing In Limbo (“)
425.Le Foret De Mimosa (“)
426.Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine (“)
427.Us Amazonians (“)
428.El Paso (“)
429.Headache (Liz Phair)
430.Uncle Alvarez (“)
431.The Dogs Of LA (“)
432.Alice Springs (“)
433.I Don’t Want To Talk About It (Crazy Horse)
434.#9 Dream (John Lennon)
435.Going Down On Love (“)
436.Jealous Guy (“)
437.Hot Burrito #2 (Flying Burrito Brothers)
438.Day The World Turned Day-Glo (X-Ray Spex)
439.Search And Destroy (The Stooges)
440.I Wanna Be Your Dog (“)
441.Jessica (Allman Brothers Band)
442.Come And Go Blues (“)
443.Pony Boy (“)
444.Honey Don’t (Carl Perkins)
445.Write Me A Letter (Aerosmith)
446.Seasons Of Wither (“)
447.Back In The Saddle (“)
448.Last Child (“)
449.Driving On 9 (The Breeders)
450.Saints (“)
451.Blessed (Simon & Garfunkel)
452.Love Me Tomorrow (Boz Scaggs)
453.Hey Miss Sun (“)
454.I Ain’t Got You (The Yardbirds)
455.Down On Me (Live) (Janis Joplin)
456.Piece Of My Heart (“)
457.Move Over (“)
458.Half Moon (“)
459.The Giving Tree (Los Lobos)
460.Be Still (“)
461.Done Gone Blue (“)
462.Victoria (The Kinks)
463.Australia (“)
464.King Kong (“)
465.Apeman (“)
466.Sunny Afternoon (“)
467.Animal Farm (“)
468.Sitting In My Hotel (“)
469.See My Friends (“)
470.So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star (The Byrds)
471.Rosalyn (David Bowie)
472.Movin’ On (Bad Company)
473.Silver, Blue And Gold (“)
474.Call On Me (“)
475.Roadrunner (Jonathan Richman)
476.Emerald (Thin Lizzy)
477.Man Of The World (Robin Trower)
478.Hand Me Down World (The Guess Who)
479.Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix)
480.Wait Until Tomorrow (“)
481.Water Song (Hot Tuna)
482.I Know You Rider (“)
483.Don’t You Leave Me Here (“)
484.Mister Skin (Spirit)
485.Ladybird (XTC)
486.Generals And Majors (“)
487.Respectable Street (“)
488.You And The Clouds Would Still Be Beautiful (“)
489.It’s Nearly Africa (“)
490.Bird Song (Grateful Dead)
491.Live (The Bangles)
492.Going Down To Liverpool (“)
493.Mexico (James Taylor)
494.Lo And Behold (“)
495.Anywhere Like Heaven (“)
496.Sunny Skies (“)
497.Chili Dog (“)
498.Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (“)
499.Save Me (Aretha Franklin)
500.Rock Steady (“)
And while I'm on the subject...
501.Obviously Five Believers (Bob Dylan)
502.Hole In My Life (Police)
503.Walking In Your Footsteps (")
504.Invisible Sun (")
505.Who Do You Love (Bo Diddley)
506.Look Ka Py-Py (Meters)
507.Ride Your Pony (")
508.First Time I Met The Blues (Buddy Guy)
509.Goin' Hone (")
510.Peachy Tree (Sonny Boy Williamson)
511.Bring It On Home (")
512.Water Of Love (Dire Straits)
513.Setting Me Up (")
514.Save Her Doctor (Eddie Boyd)
515.Blue Coat Man (")
516.Insane Asylum (Willie Dixon)
517.Banquet (Joni Mitchell)
518.Gallows Pole (Leadbelly)
519.One Day I'll Walk (New Grass Revival)
520.Summer Of The Silver Comet (Tracy Nelson)
521.Pretty Girls Make Graves (Smiths)
522.How Soon Is Now (")
523.Hand In Glove (")
524.What Difference Does It Make (")
525.Last Night (Strokes)
526.Manhattan Island Serenade (Leon Russell)
527.Of Thee I Sing (")
528.Home Sweet Oklahoma (")
529.Out In The Woods (")
530.Funky Kingston (Toots & The Maytals)
531.54-46 Was My Number (")
532.Tupelo (John Lee Hooker)
533.Boom Boom (")
534.Welcome To The Club (Joe Walsh)
535.Ain't That A Lot Of Love (Taj Mahal)
536.Space Captain (Joe Cocker)
537.Day After Day (Badfinger)
538.No Matter What (")
539.Baby Blue (")
540.Surely (Carole King)
541.That's What You Get For Loving Me (Gordon Lightfoot)
542.Seven Chinese Brothers (REM)
543.Driver 8 (")
544.Radio Free Europe (")
545.Stumble (")
546.Ain't No Use (Moby Grape)
547.Fall On You (")
548.Someday (")
549.8:05 (")
550.Indifference (")
551.Poinciana (Ahmad Jamal)
552.Grandma's Hands (Bill Withers)
553.Is That Jazz? (Gil-Scott Heron)
554.I Hear Music (Chaka Kahn)
555.Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (Billie Holiday)
556.Angel From The Coast (Thin Lizzy)
557.Eight Miles High (Byrds)
558.Chestnut Mare (")
559.Everybody's Been Burned (")
560.Triad (")
561.Reputation (")
562.Come Down In Time (Elton John)
563.Twisted (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross)
564.Cottontail (")
565.Moanin' (")
566.Harpo's Blues (Phoebe Snow)
567.Poetry Man (")
568.Two Fisted Love (")
569.Teach Me Tonight (")
570.Jackie Wilson Said (Van Morrison)
571.Into The Mystic (")
572.And It Stoned Me (")
573.Come Running (")
574.I Will Be There (")
575.B-A-B-Y (Carla Thomas)
576.I Ain't Never (Blue Ridge Rangers)
577.You're The Reason (")
578.Amanda Ruth (Rank & File)
579.Blue Spark (X)
580.The Hungry Wolf (")
581.Because I Do (")
582.We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Animals)
583.Don't Bring Me Down (")
584.The Wold Is A Ghetto (War)
585.Cisco Kid (")
586.I'll Go Crazy (James Brown)
586.Papa Don't Take No Mess (")
587.Stay In School (")
588.It's A Man's World (")
589.Thoughts About Roxanne (John Mayall)
590.Me And My Woman (")
591.Your Funeral, My Trial (")
592.Alabama March (Peter Green)
593.In The Skies (")
594.Isrealites (Desmond Dekker)
595.Intensified (")
596.It Mek (")
597.Too Much Of Nothing (Peter, Paul & Mary)
598.Shackles And Chains (Arlo Guthrie)
599.Somebody Turned On The Light (")
600.I Know (Barbara George)
Just when you thought Dracula wouldn't rise again...
601. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey (Beatles)
602. America (Simon and Garfunkel)
603. Night Shift (Bob Marley)
604. The Door Into Summer (The Monkees)
605. Top Of The Pops (The Kinks)
606. Skin And Bone (“)
607. Been Caught Stealing (Jane’s Addiction)
608. 8 A.M. (The Movies)
609. I Won’t Close My Eyes (UB40)
610. Rooster Funeral (Ron Wood & Ronnie Lane)
611. Sorrow, Tears And Blood (Fela Kuti)
612. How D’Ya Do (Gabby Pahinui)
613. Spirit In The Night (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band)
614. Leave It (Mike McGear)
615. It Doesn’t Matter Anymore (Linda Rondstadt)
616. Luxury Liner (Emmylou Harris)
617. Cross Your Heart (The Red Devils)
618. Too Many Cooks (Mick Jagger)
619. Let Me Roll It (Paul McCartney)
620. A Day In The Life (Wes Montgomery)
621. Waitin’ On You (Dave Mason)
622. Hungry Country Girl (Otis Spann w/Fleetwood Mac)
623. Dire Wolf (Grateful Dead)
624. Chains (Beatles)
625. Boys (“)
626. You Got Me Hummin’ (Live) (Sam & Dave)
627. Let Me Be Good To You (Live) (Carla Thomas)
628. Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash)
628. I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
629. Cancer (“)
630. Work (Chris Spedding & Peter Frampton)
631. Country Bumpkin (Dave Spinozza)
632. Light Flight (Pentangle)
634. Turn On Your Lovelight (Bobby Blue Bland)
635. Cat Fight (Dance Hall Crashers)
636. Over, Under, Sideways Down (Yardbirds)
637. Twenty Flight Rock (Eddie Cochran)
638. The First Time (Roberta Flack)
639. Marie, Marie (The Blasters)
640. Along Comes Mary (The Association)
641. You And Me (The Moody Blues)
642. Laughing (David Crosby)
643. Traction In The Rain (“)
644. Police And Thieves (Junior Murvin)
645. Neon Knights (Black Sabbath)
646. Rope Ladder To The Moon (Jack Bruce)
647. Theme From An Imaginary Western (“)
648. Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out Of Tune (Ellen McIllwaine)
649. Ain’t Nothing To Me (The Coasters)
650. How High The Moon (Les Paul & Mary Ford)
651. Dark Star (Live) (The Grateful Dead)
652. I Got You (Split Enz)
653. Let It Roll (UFO)
654. Don’t Be Denied (Neil Young)
655. Young Man’s Blues (The Who)
656. The Warmth Of The Sun (The Beach Boys)
657. You’re Gonna Need Me (Albert King)
658. Don’t Burn Down The Bridge (“)
659. Night Rider (Electric Light Orchestra)
660. Lucille (Little Richard)
661. Fodderstompf (Public Image Ltd.)
662. This Could Be The Last Time (Staple Singers)
663. World Weary (Noel Coward)
664. One More For My Baby (Frank Sinatra)
665. Teenage Riot (Sonic Youth)
666. TV (Rose Tattoo)
667. The Way Of The World (Flipper)
668. Up On The Sun (Meat Puppets)
669. Station (“)
670. Born On The Bayou (Credence Clearwater Revival)
671. Fortunate Son (“)
672. Pagan Baby (“)
673. Quit And Split (Shakin’ Pyramids)
674. Havana Moon (Chuck Berry)
675. Sweet Little Sixteen (“)
676. Around And Around (“)
677. Living In The USA (“)
678. Honey What’s Wrong (Jimmy Reed)
679. You Got Me Crying (“)
680. I Only Have Eyes For You (The Tokens)
681. Alberta (Leadbelly)
682. Fortress Around Your Heart (Sting)
683. My Baby Just Cares For Me (Nina Simone)
684. The Thrill Of It All (Roxy Music)
685. Virginia Plain (“)
686. Do The Strand (“)
687. I Talk To The Wind (King Crimson)
678. Lark’s Tongues In Aspic (Live) (“)
679. Choo Choo Mama (Ten Years After)
680. Goodbye T’ Jane (Slade)
681. Ride A White Swan (T. Rex)
682. The Heartbreak (Frankie Miller)
683. Company (Rickie Lee Jones)
684. Human Music (The Soft Boys)
685. The Devil’s Right Hand (Steve Earle)
686. In God’s Country (U2)
687. An Cat Dubh (“)
680. Who Does Lisa Like? (Rachel Sweet)
681. Rock And Roll (The Runaways)
682. I’m So Cool (Carlene Carter)
683. Appalachian Eyes (“)
684. Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys)
685. Show Me (Joe Tex)
686. Love Street (The Doors)
687. Yes, The River Knows (“)
688. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Red & Ruby)
689. Fox On The Run (Bluegrass Parkway)
690. Ride On A Rainbow (Olomana)
691. Open Up (Michael Hurley)
692. Honolulu (Michel Murphy)
693. Drinking Champagne (Myra English)
694. Mama’s Little Jewel (Mott The Hoople)
695. All The Way From Memphis (“)
696. One Of The Boys (“)
697. Don’t Let Go (Jerry Garcia)
698. A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)
699. Ballad Of Hollis Brown (“)
700. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (“)
701. Honey Pie (Beatles)
702. Carry On (Live) (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
703. Find The Cost Of Freedom (")
704. Dark Hollow (Grateful Dead)
705. Come Down In Time (Elton John) (yeah, I missed it initially...)
706. Lenny (Stevie Ray Vaughn)
707. Mary Had A Little Lam (")
708. Look At Little Sister (")
709. Hard To Be (Vaughn Brothers)
710. Flood In Houston (Savoy Brown)
711. Stay With Me Baby (")
712. Give Me A Penny (")
713. Made Up My Mind (")
714. Stay While The Night Is Young (")
715. White Line Fever (Flying Burrito Brothers)
716. Honey Bee (Muddy Waters)
717. I Am A Pilgrim (Byrds)
718. Reputation (")
719. Triad (")
720. Ret Hot (Billy Lee Riley)
721. Stella (Robert Palmer)
722. Dr. Zhivago's Train (")
723. The Best Of Both Worlds (")
724. If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot)
725. Did She Mention My Name (")
726. Teenage Kicks (The Undertones)
727. Turning Japanese (The Vapors)
728. High Cost Of Low Living (Allman Brothers)
729. Dreams (")
730. Like A Lover (Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66)
731. So Many Starts (")
732. Something So Right (Paul Simon)
733. American Tune(")
734. Misty Rains And Lehua (Na Leo O Pilimehana)
735. Peaches En Regalia (Frank Zappa)
736. Haven't We Met (Kenny Rankin)
737. Marie (")
738, Ain't No Free (NRBQ)
739. Good Shepherd (Jefferson Airplane)
740. Bear Melt (")
741, Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell)
742. People Say (The Meters)
743. Girl From The North Country (Bob Dylan)
744. Be Thankful For What You Got (William DeVaughn)
745. Saturday In The Park (Chicago)
746. Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning (Bert Jansch)
747. Kiss From A Rose (Seal)
748. Because (Beatles)
749. Trouble (Little Feat)
750. Good Morning (Beatles)
751. Lucielle (Everly Brothers)
752. Jolene (Dolly Parton)
751. Tiger Rag (Jeff Beck w/Imelda May)
752. Please Mister Jailer (Jeff Beck w/Imelda May)
753. You Inspire Me (Nick Lowe)
754. The Spy (The Doors)
755. Wedding Dress (Pentangle)
756. Rosemary Lane (Bert Jansch)
757. One World (Dire Straits)
758. Why Worry (")
759. The Range War (live)(Todd Rundgren)
760. In A Silent Way (Miles Davis)
761. Song For My Father (Horace Silver)
762. Bright Sized Life (Pat Metheny)
763. What Do I Get? (Buzzcocks)
764. Brilliant Mistake (Elvis Costello)
765. True Love (Carl Perkins)
766. Sweetheart's A Stranger (")
767. September Gurls (Big Star)
768. California Man (The Move)
769. World Where You Live (Crowded House)
770. Eternity (Imedla May)
771. Rockin Around In NYC (Marshall Crenshaw)
772. Shattered (Rolling Stones)
773. A Dream Goes On Forever (Todd Rundgren)
774. Stuck In The Middle (Replacements) (NOTE: This is NOT the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel, OR "Stuck In The Middle Of You" by...never mind.)
775. Where Can It Go? (Robert Plant)
776. Take A Giant Step (Taj Mahal)
777. Just For You (Peter Green)
778. The Story In Your Eyes (Moody Blues)
779. Hide Your Colors (Jayhawks)
780. Find A River (Lowell George)
781. He Was The King (Neil Young)
782. Train In The Distance (Paul Simon)
783. Night In The City (Joni Mitchell)
784. Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel)
785. I Used To Be A King (Graham Nash)
786. Since I Held You (The Cars)
787. I Won't Close My Eyes (UB40)
788. Space Zydeco (Buckwheat Zydeco)
789. Tears Tears Tears (T-Bone Burnett)
790. Barracuda (Heart)
781. The Kind Of Love That Shows (The Movies)
782. Martha My Dear (Beatles)
783. Over My Head (Fleetwood Mac)
784. I Trip Through Your Wires (U2)
785. Has My Fire Really Gone Out? (Paul Weller)
786. Angel (Footsteps) (Jeff Beck)
787. From Four Until Late (Robert Johnson)
788. Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones)
789. Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune (Ellen McIllwaine)
790. Restless In Mind (Wendy Waldman)
791. World's Worst Loser (George Jones)
792. I Am In Love (Crowded House)
793. Fuji-san (Patti Smith)
794. Close Up The Honky Tonks (Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen)
795. World Turning (Fleetwood Mac)
796. Ain't Gonna Give Up On Love (Stevie Ray Vaughn)
797. Day After Day (Pretenders)
798. Rattlesnake (Replacements)
799. Throw Your Arms Around Me (Crowded House)
800. Listen To Her Heart (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
801. Don't Worry About The Government (Talking Heads)
802. Sulphur To Sugarcane (Elvis Costello)
803. Kinder Murder (")
804. Moon Over Bourbon Street (Sting)
805. Consider Me Gone (")
806. Find Him (Cassandra Wilson)
807. If You Don't Want My Love (Bobby Womack)
808. Reconsider Baby (Eric Clapton)
809. Lay Down Sally (")
810. Two Fingers (Jake Bugg)
811. (Be Yourself) Be Real (Al Kooper)
812. I Fall In Love Too Easily (Linda Ronstadt)
813. Cars And Girls (Prefab Sprout)
814. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Lucinda Williams)
815. Changed The Locks (")
816. Some Kinda Love (Velvet Underground)
817. Get Some (KD Lang)
818. Gloria (U2)
819. Blue Eyes (Elton John)
820. Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (The Hollies)
821. Bus Stop (")
823. Trial By Fire (Hot Tuna)
824. Easy Now (")
825. You Can Touch (Crowded House)
826. The Moon Is Made Of Gold (Rickie Lee Jones)
827. Lapdog (")
828. Soon Forgotten (Muddy Waters)
829. Beside You (Van Morrison)
That's the imaginary playlist for the imaginary radio station KJIM, broadcasting nothing but songs I approve of 24/7 through your imagination. While only 800 may seem restrictive, allow me to inquire whether your own (real) local oldies station actually plays 800 different songs? Or is their playlist actually a lot more narrow? Anyhow, don't be surprised if I add more to this list only sparingly. For now I feel like giving this a break because it's gotten to the point where every time I think of a song I have to check this whole list to make sure it isn't already here.
On a beautiful (though already warm) Tuesday morning, BNSF 1546 is switching out it's cut of cars for local industries in front of the depot on the east side of downtown. After rearranging a few cars, and the train with it's three man crew will begin a shove north to go do some industry work, and the Dakota and Iowa Railroad southbound that has been waiting patiently will be able to run through town.
The BNSF 1546 is a former BN, original CB&Q GP28P - something a little bit different from your usual GP38 or GP40 these days, which is neat!
In the background is part of downtown Sioux Falls, with it's mix of historic buildings and newer buildings with architecture meant to blend in. There used to be tracks in the empty lot on the west side of the depot, remnants of past railroads that once ran through town, though in 2020 there are still three railroads making regular appearances in Sioux Falls. The property was purchased for redevelopment by the city undoubtedly the backdrop of this scene (along with likely the power used by the BNSF out of Sioux Falls for the various locals) will continue to change.
Seems like a lot of railfans from out of the area (like myself) who travel to Sioux Falls tend to focus on the Dakota and Iowa and the Ellis and Eastern. And that's certainly understandable, as they are both incredibly cool with sharp, classy power. But the BNSF in the area is also an interesting outfit, operating a patchwork of remaining former mainlines, many of which are now stubbed into branches or cut in odd ways. And they run rather handsome geeps out here, such as the 1546, or a neat former GP30 that was hanging around the engine terminal. And they run some neat industrial track and scenic country running. Wish I'd had more time, as spending a bit of time with the BNSF seemed like it would have been fruitful too.
I missed the symbol for this job - if anybody happens to know what the usual weekday local is in Sioux Falls is (other than I think I heard them refer to themselves as "switch 1" on the radio), I'd appreciate knowing.
I'll admit I was not really excited to go to a luau in Maui, but it turned out to be one of my favorite experiences there. We went to the Old Lahaina Luau, where we were greeted with these pretty leis and colorful fruity drinks. The entertainment was fantastic. They presented, through song and dance and story, the history of Hawaii. Mesmerizing. If you get a chance to go- do it.
this is one of those pictures
where i don't know what to do with it.
have a lovely saturday
i'm going to try to go do something with mine
probably will fail tho
If the page is still blank after half an hour of trying to come up with a solution, it's probably time to switch off and go do something else.
another one
of my cousin
(:
she looks tall
but shes really not
its the heels
:D
i like this
yea i doo (:
sooo imma go do stuff k bye :D
stealing is for hobos and askings to blog photos is for fresh cool kids :D SO DO IT!
I need to go do this shot again on a day when the ground is snow covered. I think it will be spectacular on a clear afternoon like this, don't you agree? But for now here is another frame from a year ago...cause I'm in a geep kinda mood!
CSXT local B724 out of Framingham is making its way out the former New Haven (originally Old Colony Railroad) Fitchburg Secondary with a healthy train headed toward Leominster. This is a Sun-Thu local so since its days off correspond with mine I never get to shoot it. But I had last night off after having to work late so headed out from Boston when I was done and caught up with their rear end around Berlin. At only 10 MPH they aren't hard to get ahead of so I came to Clinton and scoped out some angles.
The tree shadows were already distracting by the depot and at the bridge where they cross over Pan Am's former Boston and Maine Worcester Line. So instead, I set up just south of there at about MP QBU13.4 by the by the north end of the runaround where the old interchange track peels off down through the woods to once connect with the B&M.
The light was perfect as the pair of GP40-2s lead a long train over the elevated trackage through the center of town. They are passing the old 1892 Swift Meat Factory on Main Street. This is the same Swift famous for the massive Chicago Stock Yards and the pioneering use of refrigerated box cars to ship slaughtered and dressed beef east in those vs. cattle on the hoof in stock cars.
Gustavus Franklin Swift was a Massachusetts native having been born on Cape Cod in 1839. At age 30 he opened his first meat market here in Clinton. Within a half dozen years the astute young cattle buyer had followed the market west to Chicago.
In 1878 the year he and his brother Edwin formed the precursor to Swift and Co. he hired engineer Andrew Chase to design a ventilated car that was well-insulated, and positioned the ice in a compartment at the top of the car, allowing the chilled air to flow naturally downward, and the design proved to be a practical solution to providing temperature-controlled carriage of dressed meats.
He attempted to sell this design to the major railroad but they refused, fearing it would jeopardize their considerable investments in stock cars and animal pens if refrigerated meat transport gained wide acceptance. In response, he formed the Swift Refrigerator Line (SRL) that utilized the refrigerated cars and competing firms such as Armour and Company quickly followed suit. By 1920 the SRL owned and operated 7,000 of the ice-cooled rail cars.
He adapted the methods of the industrial revolution to meat packing operations, which resulted in huge efficiencies by allowing his plants to produce at a massive scale. Additionally, he devoted a great deal of time to indoctrinating employees and teaching them the company's methods and policies. He motivated his employees to focus on the company's profit goals by adhering to a strict policy of promotion from within. The innovations that he championed not only revolutionized the meat packing industry, but also played a vital role in establishing the modern American business system, with an emphasis on mass production, functional specialization, managerial expertise, national distribution networks, and adaptation to technological innovation.
His was one of the first companies in modern business history to boast complete "vertical integration" and had departments for purchasing, production, shipping, sales, and marketing. He hired engineers and chemists to find uses for the byproducts of cattle slaughter to ensure that nothing was wasted. After establishing plants in St. Louis, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, Omaha, Nebraska, Fort Worth, Texas, St. Paul, Minnesota and other major cattle cities, he took his company international. He captured the British market, and exported beef by refrigerated compartments on ships to distributing houses he established in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, Shanghai, China, Hong Kong, Manila, Philippines, Singapore, and Honolulu, Hawaii. He died at the age of 63, and at the time of his death in 1903 his company was valued at around $135 million, and employed more than 21,000 people.
So now you know the rest of the story about all those Swift reefers we had on our toy train layouts as kids and how those all tie in to this image of a little local freight passing an otherwise unremarked brick building. There always is a story if you look, isn't there?
Clinton, Massachusetts
Thursday December 3, 2020
have mostly been constructing fence around garden past couple of weeks. (an aside: it must be the new fence adding to the "square patterns" in the bokeh/background in photo above). I only have the gates & finishing up to do now. Unfortunately... has turned very hot & need to water garden daily. got to go do that now! regards, P.
[While I upload photos from 2020, I am also trying to keep up with some of my more current works by uploading a couple of photographs every day, in the afternoon or evening.]
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.
Those two towers are all the remain of those built in Bologna during the 1100s and 1200s by the wealthiest families, probably more for show than anything else. Italians will be Italians! There may have been as many as 100 towers or more in the Middle Ages.
The tallest, the Asinelli Tower, is almost 100 meters tall and was built around 1150. Even with walls becoming thinner and made of lighter materials in the upper part, they were still a remarkable achievement in design and building. The foundations are known to be not more than 10 meters deep. The lower one, the Garisenda (50 meters high) leans a lot (almost 4 degrees) and had to be consolidated with injected concrete, just like the Tower of Pisa (which leans by 5.6 degrees for about the same height), in modern times.
“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
A bunch more photos on my blog at: jessejamesphotography.ca/
Follow me on Twitter at: twitter.com/JesseJamesPhoto
Did a model shoot yesterday at a few different locations. It was awesome, an abandoned train and underneath the highway.
As soon as we got there the cops showed up and threatened to fine us, then let us go do our thing ;)
Strobist: SB800 through reflective umbrella to my left set at 1/4, SB800 through softbox to my right set at 1/2
The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité
This is a classic English poem containing about 800 of the worst irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation. Will Snellen wrote a PDF version using the phonetic alphabet. You can hear some of it pronounced mostly correctly by "JimmyJams" in the video The Chaos Of English Pronunciation by Gerard Nolst Trenité on YouTube. You can also skip down to a more complete introduction at the bottom of this page.
Gerard Nolst Trenité - The Chaos (1922)
Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear;
Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.
Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
Just compare heart, hear and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word.
Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter how it's written).
Made has not the sound of bade,
Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid.
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,
But be careful how you speak,
Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak ,
Previous, precious, fuchsia, via
Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;
Woven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.
Say, expecting fraud and trickery:
Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,
Missiles, similes, reviles.
Wholly, holly, signal, signing,
Same, examining, but mining,
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far.
From "desire": desirable-admirable from "admire",
Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,
Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.
Gertrude, German, wind and wind,
Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind,
Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,
Reading, Reading, heathen, heather.
This phonetic labyrinth
Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.
Have you ever yet endeavoured
To pronounce revered and severed,
Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul,
Peter, petrol and patrol?
Billet does not end like ballet;
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Banquet is not nearly parquet,
Which exactly rhymes with khaki.
Discount, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward,
Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?
Right! Your pronunciation's OK.
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Is your r correct in higher?
Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia.
Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot,
Buoyant, minute, but minute.
Say abscission with precision,
Now: position and transition;
Would it tally with my rhyme
If I mentioned paradigm?
Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,
But cease, crease, grease and greasy?
Cornice, nice, valise, revise,
Rabies, but lullabies.
Of such puzzling words as nauseous,
Rhyming well with cautious, tortious,
You'll envelop lists, I hope,
In a linen envelope.
Would you like some more? You'll have it!
Affidavit, David, davit.
To abjure, to perjure. Sheik
Does not sound like Czech but ache.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed but vowed.
Mark the difference, moreover,
Between mover, plover, Dover.
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice,
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, penal, and canal,
Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,
Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit
Rhyme with "shirk it" and "beyond it",
But it is not hard to tell
Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall.
Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,
Timber, climber, bullion, lion,
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor,
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
Has the a of drachm and hammer.
Pussy, hussy and possess,
Desert, but desert, address.
Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants
Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants.
Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb,
Cow, but Cowper, some and home.
"Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker",
Quoth he, "than liqueur or liquor",
Making, it is sad but true,
In bravado, much ado.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.
Arsenic, specific, scenic,
Relic, rhetoric, hygienic.
Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close,
Paradise, rise, rose, and dose.
Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,
Make the latter rhyme with eagle.
Mind! Meandering but mean,
Valentine and magazine.
And I bet you, dear, a penny,
You say mani-(fold) like many,
Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier,
Tier (one who ties), but tier.
Arch, archangel; pray, does erring
Rhyme with herring or with stirring?
Prison, bison, treasure trove,
Treason, hover, cover, cove,
Perseverance, severance. Ribald
Rhymes (but piebald doesn't) with nibbled.
Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw,
Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.
Don't be down, my own, but rough it,
And distinguish buffet, buffet;
Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon,
Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.
Say in sounds correct and sterling
Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling.
Evil, devil, mezzotint,
Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)
Now you need not pay attention
To such sounds as I don't mention,
Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws,
Rhyming with the pronoun yours;
Nor are proper names included,
Though I often heard, as you did,
Funny rhymes to unicorn,
Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.
No, my maiden, coy and comely,
I don't want to speak of Cholmondeley.
No. Yet Froude compared with proud
Is no better than McLeod.
But mind trivial and vial,
Tripod, menial, denial,
Troll and trolley, realm and ream,
Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme.
Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely
May be made to rhyme with Raleigh,
But you're not supposed to say
Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.
Had this invalid invalid
Worthless documents? How pallid,
How uncouth he, couchant, looked,
When for Portsmouth I had booked!
Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,
Paramour, enamoured, flighty,
Episodes, antipodes,
Acquiesce, and obsequies.
Please don't monkey with the geyser,
Don't peel 'taters with my razor,
Rather say in accents pure:
Nature, stature and mature.
Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,
Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly,
Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan,
Wan, sedan and artisan.
The th will surely trouble you
More than r, ch or w.
Say then these phonetic gems:
Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.
Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,
There are more but I forget 'em-
Wait! I've got it: Anthony,
Lighten your anxiety.
The archaic word albeit
Does not rhyme with eight-you see it;
With and forthwith, one has voice,
One has not, you make your choice.
Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger;
Then say: singer, ginger, linger.
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,
Hero, heron, query, very,
Parry, tarry fury, bury,
Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth,
Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.
Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,
Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners
Holm you know, but noes, canoes,
Puisne, truism, use, to use?
Though the difference seems little,
We say actual, but victual,
Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height,
Put, nut, granite, and unite.
Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,
Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.
Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific;
Tour, but our, dour, succour, four,
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,
Next omit, which differs from it
Bona fide, alibi
Gyrate, dowry and awry.
Sea, idea, guinea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion with battalion,
Rally with ally; yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, receiver.
Never guess-it is not safe,
We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.
Starry, granary, canary,
Crevice, but device, and eyrie,
Face, but preface, then grimace,
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging;
Ear, but earn; and ere and tear
Do not rhyme with here but heir.
Mind the o of off and often
Which may be pronounced as orphan,
With the sound of saw and sauce;
Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.
Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?
Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting.
Respite, spite, consent, resent.
Liable, but Parliament.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk,
Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.
A of valour, vapid vapour,
S of news (compare newspaper),
G of gibbet, gibbon, gist,
I of antichrist and grist,
Differ like diverse and divers,
Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers.
Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll,
Polish, Polish, poll and poll.
Pronunciation-think of Psyche!-
Is a paling, stout and spiky.
Won't it make you lose your wits
Writing groats and saying "grits"?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel
Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale,
Islington, and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Don't you think so, reader, rather,
Saying lather, bather, father?
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??
Hiccough has the sound of sup...
My advice is: GIVE IT UP!
Taken at Panther / Hole in the Wall Beach, near Davenport and Santa Cruz.
Spent the afternoon as usual: peering out the window to check on conditions down out the coast. Since I had missed the fantastic sunset on Friday, I was especially antsy to get some shooting in, so when I saw some clouds building on the horizon, I hopped in the car and zoomed away down to the beach!
After some close calls at Four Mile and Laguna Creek where I almost stopped to shoot, I ended up at my old standby: Panther / Hole in the Wall Beach
Down at the shore I was immediately impressed by the massive waves, which were bigger than I'd ever seen them at this beach. (And if that doesn't foreshadow the events to come this evening, I don't know what would.)
For those who've never been there, to get to Hole in the Wall Beach, you have to go through a huge rock arch, which you can see here. All the storms here recently have eroded a ton of sand out of the floor of the arch, so the water comes up a lot higher than it did a few months ago. Just getting through the arch to Hole in the Wall was a little ridiculous. I had to wait for a wave to roll back into the ocean, then sprint through the arch and climb up some rocks before the next big wave came crashing and splashing through the opening. Then when that one would roll back, I jumped down from my perch and sprinted along the cliff edge up to dry sand. Easy peasy. Barely got my feet wet.
Kept on cruising down to the south end of the beach, past Jim P's pet rocks, and up onto the sweet-as shelves at the end of the beach.
Now, did I mention that the waves were huge? I originally intended to shoot the Devil's Bathtub (photo down below), but hell man, the waves were creaming that thing into oblivion, and more water was shooting out of the blowhole like a cannon (you can see where the blowhole is in the note on the photo above). So I was like, eff that! and skittered away to figure out something else to shoot.
But since this big old cleft was right there too and also pointed in the same direction as the Bathtub, it was an easy second choice. But frick. I have never seen water come up so high in this thing. It was fully exploding out of the cleft at times. But the light was golden, so I shielded my camera from the worst blasts and kept on snapping the shutter.
Now right around this time it started raining a little bit and the wind picked up. Oh, sweet. Humongous waves aren't enough, it's gotta start raining and blowing wind too? Then the rain came down harder and by golly, it even started to hail. That's right: Hail. At a beach in California.
Eff this ess! I shouted and ran around the corner to hide behind some cliffs. Shot some quick video and after a few minutes the rain slacked off, so I zipped back out the cleft where the passing thunderstorms were turning whole rainbows' worth of color.
I stood there thinking, "oh my, what a wonderful moment to take a photo," so I grabbed this shot, and the outtake down below, and about 50 more just like it.
Then it started to rain again. Well poop. My cleaning cloth was soaking wet, so I packed all my gear up and walked about 50 feet back towards the car. Then it stopped raining, the clouds opened up a little bit, and these killer waves came pounding in over Jim's pet rocks. The documentarian inside of me beat up the "let's go home" wimpy nerd inside of me, so I unpacked all my gear and snagged a shot of the mountainous waves. See that photo down below.
But then the light was going, going, gone, and I decided to do the same, so I hustled back up the beach to the arch. But wait a minute, what the eff? These waves are even huger than before! And they're going right through the arch! How the crap am I supposed to get through there???
I figured that with careful timing and careful scrambling it should be doable. So I got on some rocks and watched the first wave roll through. As it receded I ran to the next set of rocks. Ok, so far so good. After the next wave I ran to the next set of rocks and was just climbing up them when Boom. The end. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
A rogue wave mashed into me and lifted me off the rocks like I was a rag doll. Then I was down in the water, 100% percent submerged, getting bashed into rocks as the wave pushed me up the beach and slammed me against the cliff. Ouch. Some people might find this a little strange, but my first thought while I was floundering around in the whirling ocean was not "Oh holy hell I am screwed," but rather, "Oh holy hell, my camera gear is screwed." I'm sure you flickrites understand fully. :)
But a wave can only go so high, thank goodness, so eventually I emerged at the top of the beach, soaked and sputtering. But hell, I still had to get through the arch! Luckily my second attempt was much more fortuitous, though I still had a number of close calls where I was clinging onto the rocks with all my might so as not to get swept off. At one point I was standing on some rocks four feet above the floor of the arch, and a wave came swirling up around my knees. That meant the water was a good 5 and a half feet above the floor of the arch. And I had to go through that!
"F#ck you, ocean!" I think were my exact words at this point. I waited a few more minutes and luckily a smaller cycle of waves came through and I was able to leap down and sprint through the arch without getting mauled by another tiger of a wave.
Phew! Then I just squished back to my jeep to assess the damage.
Final score: Ocean - 1. ipod - 0. Phone - 0. Me - bloody knees, but at least a few keeper shots. Not sure who won that round . . . camera survived intact though, so I'm thinking I win by TKO?
~Josh
------------------------------------------------
View more of my work at my website: www.joshuacripps.com
More stories, tips, tricks, and how-to's on my blog: www.joshuacripps.com/blog
Get the latest updates via Facebook: Joshua Cripps Photography
Vaudeville Games
A villainous study in 2 actes.
Acte 2
Soon the “Grandmother came walking out from the corridor (sans mink), rubbing her finger along her nose, the “granddaughter” noticed the sign rose from her chair, leaving her dejeweled friend playing happily with the boa, while she slinked cunningly off. The two met inconspicuously in front of the back corner and began whispering together in a conspirator like manner as they looked around, something in the corridor must have given the devious “Grandmother” and idea for some sort of fresh opportunity and they were looking for someone to try it out on! I think I spotted it before they did, but not by much, as I saw them both start looking in the same direction that I had been.
The grandmother went first, heading over to the bar and asked for a glass of wine, which I noticed she no more than sipped at as she watched the “Granddaughters” Progress. The “granddaughter “ then slowly moved out on her own course, zeroing in on a small group of 10 mid- teenagers, playing a game of hopscotch on the floor tiles in a far corner between my table and the restrooms.
Four of the group were suit clad boys, nothing they possessed would be of interest to her. However, the other six would fit her objective, being that they, all girls dressed in glossy attire, were wearing the “good stuff”. Four were exhibiting jewelry of glittering rhinestones, number 5 was adorned with a rather pricey display of gold glistening from her shiny green taffeta clad figure, and the 6th…. Ahh, but the 6th one was quite the exception, and the one I knew was in the granddaughter’s” devious sight. She was pretty, a doe eyed ginger haired doll faced lass, a bit older (an immature 17?) than her playmates, resplendent in a expensively long gown of pleated purple silk, with a seed pearled pattern sewn into the gown’s bodice. She was wearing long satin gloves dyes perfectly to match her gown, and holding in her slippery grasp a small fat satin clutch purse of the same hue. She was adorned with a fine matching display of costly white pearls that went well with her gown and darker completion. Her attractive jewelry dangled ever so invitingly with a pure white gleam; a double rope necklace, matching earrings, and bracelet. Her long plait of soft blonde hair was intertwined with a rope of pearled silver. She also was in possession of a single, remarkably fancy ring, an adult’s pinky cocktail ring that fit snugly along her index finger, it was set with a single large oval Japanese sea pearl surrounded by a row sparkling diamond chips.
The “Granddaughter” quite understandably zeroed in on young Miss purple silk, quickly attaining her friendship. I noticed that both girls were about the same height and physique, an observation that would hit home to me later on. The “Granddaughter” started chatting up her new friend up royally as they watched the others play, each one admiring the others glittering trinkets. I had been wondering what the “Granddaughter” had up her shiny satin sleeve; as I saw her and her friend in the appealingly fluttering purple silk gown, start to walk a little way off, unnoticed by all but one of her playmates, the green taffeta clad girl who was watching with interest.
I had lost track of the “Grandmother” so it was with a start that I noticed her coming out of the Ladies room, and when she spied the “Granddaughter” and her friend, and she causally waltzed over. I could tell that the “Granddaughter” was putting on the act that she the “Grandmother” was just as much a stranger to her, as the older lady was to her new friend, or should I now more appropriately be calling her next victim instead of a new friend!
The “Grandmother” chatted with the two young girls, asking them questions, making them feel comfortable around her. She admired their clothing, and Miss purple silk happily showed of the gown she was wearing with it’s fancy seed pearl decoration. I saw that the “Granddaughter” had been watching the girl in green taffeta, and as soon as the youngster’s attention was focused elsewhere, the “Granddaughter” did a most peculiar thing, she reached up, and undoing her own necklace, slipped it off out of sight in a pocket of her skirt. As she did, I saw the “Grandmother” who had been apparently waiting for the sign, made an excuse like she had to be somewhere, and left the pretty pair of young ladies.
I watched, with some curiosity I will freely admit; as the “Grandmother” walked briskly back up along the wall towards the hidden corridor. She had almost reached the corridors entrance when I happened to look back to the “Granddaughter” just as she began to feel her throat, putting on an act about her now missing necklace. . Miss purple silk had begun to look around on the floor, when the “Granddaughter” grabbed her arm and pointed towards” The Grandmother”! I could tell that she was telling Miss purple silk that the older lady had somehow taken it, and was getting away. This was just as “Grandmother “disappeared around the corner, it had been timed perfectly, giving me an odd impression that this wasn’t a new trick they were pulling . The “Granddaughter” quickly scurried off after her. Following right behind the “Granddaughter”, in a flurry of shimmering jewels, purple silk and satin, the 17 year old followed her new friend, concern spreading across her pretty face.
The pair made it to the end, disappeared down the corridor, unnoticed by anyone but me. I decided to wait this latest bit of skullduggery by the two female con artists out. I reckoned that the worst thing that could physically happen to miss purple silk was her hands being pinned behind her back as the “Grandmother” nimbly run her fingers up and down the teen’s slippery gown locating and stripping the young lady of her pricey pearls, or minute prickling’s as her ring and earrings were removed! I was positively sure that the light-fingered pair was after nothing more from their victim, otherwise I would have had to intervene at once!
The methods the two female thieves had been employing were not by any means close to my way of doing things by any measure, and deucedly to steal from any female under twenty was not my cup of tea atoll! So, the situation now being what it was, I decided to wait and watch, trying to time it just right before rescuing Miss purple satin, deducing that it may prove more profitable to me in the long run to hold me horses.
I had, by my timepiece, been waiting almost 15 minutes when, strangely enough, a figure looked around from the corner. It was the “Granddaughter”! What was she up to now ,I thought, as I saw her inch back along the wall, looking back to the group still happily playing off in their corner. I saw her eyes following the girl in green taffeta with the dangling, shiny gold jewelry. She couldn’t be contemplating what I thought she was, not with the bird the pair already had in hand, it absolutely made no sense!
But just then it was announced that the cake cutting would be commencing, and the children playing hop scotch all scampered off to join the moving crowd that was gathering at the far end of the cavernous room. The “Granddaughter “watched as whatever opportunity she had in mind, slipped out of reach from her ringed fingers,
The “Granddaughter”, a clear look of displeasure creeping into her eyes, walked back to the spot where she had first encountered the group of children. As she watched the festivities, I could tell her eyes her checking out the now deserted tables. She spied the boa still on its chair, and slowly made her way towards it.
The “Grandmother” then appeared from around the corner and looking for the “Granddaughter” spied her and questioningly caught her eye. The “granddaughter”, looked at the “Grandmother” as her hand laid upon the feathery boa, looked around and shrugged. The “Grandmother” nodded back, signaling that it was time to shove off then. The “Granddaughter” picked up the Boa, (probably with the idea to make the same use of it at some other function) and started to move her way out. I started to rise, time to get into action, but at that moment I saw the “Grandmother’s” head snap up, looking over at the crowd where the cake was being cut. The “Granddaughter” looked over also, as I followed suit.
A lady in a swishing long black gown had been bent over talking to the young girl wearing the emerald green taffeta gown and glistening gold chains. The girl had pointed towards the play area, then spotting the “granddaughter” had pointed her out. She had now straightened and departed away from the flocking crowd of cake watchers, heading our way, alone and obviously looking for someone.
She was a rather a quite attractive wealthy lady of not more than 20 years of age. She was clad in a long black A-line gown of shiny liquid satin, that literally appeared to be poured down over her rather nicely endowed figure, shimmering quite appealingly from all points of interest as she gracefully moved , her long gown swirling around in step. The gown fell swishing down to her green satin spiked heeled feet, fluttering in motion around them as she walked ever closer to unrealized peril. A real corker, this lassie was. But it was not her slinky satin gown that had caught the thieves’ attention, but the quite copious display of dazzling white diamond jewelry flickering along her slickly shiny black satin clad figure that warranted the drooling, desirous looks.
The Siren, a green eyed beauty with flowing locks of naturally red hair, made her way towards the back area, looking about her in earnest. I saw the pair of mischievous watchers pass a sign, and as the “Grandmother” disappeared in wait back down the passage, the “Granddaughter” moved off, and standing by the lady’s powder room, watched and waited like a cat will a mouse scurrying about, diligently waiting to pounce! Her prey made it to the area where the hopscotch game had been played, and it was then that the “granddaughter” approached her. If she hadn’t, I probably would have.
As she had walked over I took the opportunity to scrutinize her abundant display of jewels. A long silver necklace shimmered with diamonds set in a grape leaf pattern that fell to a v hanging down just over her gown’s top, that covered her fine “clivage”. Long sparkling earrings, patterned after her necklace, flickered fire as they swung to and fro. Hanging from the wide strip of rippled sash like material around her waist area of her black gown, swayed a leaf shaped silver brooch set with diamond chips. She wore long black satin gloves, around each wrist were twin wide fiery diamond bracelets, while from 3 fingers, 2 on the right, one on the left, were glistening cocktail rings of diamond and emeralds, not a sign of an engagement ring or wedding band. She was wearing a short button less jacket of midnight black satin, with ¾ sleeves over her bare shoulders. On the left side of the jacket was pinned a clip in the shape of a pouncing cat. With green emeralds for its feline slanted eyes, and its entire figure encrusted with glittery diamond stones and chips, it was an incredibly beautiful piece of work, probably Tiffanies, definitely valuable!
All in all it was a very heathy display of what a few hundred thousand grand of loose change ( to one of her ilk) can buy. The” Grandmother” and her blonde “Granddaughter” had hit the jackpot with this one, if they were able to lure her off. I took a quick look around, ladies like her usually always travelled in pairs, especially if they were wandering off somewhere, but this young darling apparently had missed that memo. Being alone, and wearing jewelry of that caliber, made her just that much more vulnerable to pickpockets, thieves and such, even at wedding receptions!
I could now overhear wisps of conversation. Apparently the siren was looking for her kid sister, and from the description, it appeared to be non-other than the pearl wearing miss purple silk, who had fallen ever so rudely into the thieves’ clutches and had been lured away to some hidden corner to fates unknown.
The “Granddaughter” her large blue eyes wide with concern, pointed in the direction of the corridor. The young miss in black satin put a hand to her chest, jewels flashing, falling for it, hook, line and soon to be diamond-less figure. I watched with some self-centered interest as the pair made their way off, soon disappearing around the corner with a silent disappearing swish of her gown, unnoticed by anyone but me, and the girl in emerald green taffeta who I also had seen watching the activity. I kept my eye on her, feeling some anxiety that she would be the fly in the ointment, but she soon turned her shiny young back to it, losing interest, in order to join the line for cake. I breathed a sigh of relief, the game was still afoot for me. I decided to wait now that the coast was clear, wait to give the pair enough time to start in on their new victim. It was imperative that I catch them in the act with no doubts as to their evil intentions if my plan was to work to my ultimate benefit!
Wait about 10 minutes , I figured, before someone should probably investigate, I kenw the pair would not waste any more precious time, their clock was ticking out fast. But as I reached that conclusion, a lady, splendidly clad in a long dress of maroon silken lace, passed by the corridor, heading off to a lady’s powder room as she wiped a bit of cake from her front. Things could wait little longer if necessary I told myself.
I got up and headed over to where the Ladies powder room was located. Beside the powder room was a small alcove with an old phone hanging on the wall for personal calls. I pretended to be on it, watching the doorway. Mere minutes later I heard it open and at the first sign of the silken lace dress, I put up the phone and lumbered out, plowing right into her as she exited. I got a whiff of sweet perfumed as her long hair flew into my face as I grasped her warm figure to keep her from toppling. I successfully scared the living daylights out of her! Her eyes wide with embarrassment as I apologized profusely, slipping my hand along her sensuous figure with the ruse of steadying her as I made sure she was okay, my fingers finding their pretty objective. The entire episode lasted mere seconds before I was off and on my way, leaving behind me in my wake the flustered lass tying to recollect her wits. I smiled to myself, my hand in a pocket, releasing from my grasp the plucked diamond brooch that had taunted me when I first detected it brightly glimmering as it dangled loosely down from its very pick able perch on Miss silken lace’s lovely tightfitting gown as she had strolled by the fateful corridor.
I had spotted it early on, a far too valuable piece to try for under normal circumstances, but then, present circumstances were now anything but normal, now weren’t they? But now I had it now, the easily $75,000 piece was comfortably slumming it with the now cold bracelet (a mere $25,000) also residing in the same pocket. Time to get back to work I now told me self, my mind buzzing with high hopes of success.
I than walked over to where I had two of my security guards located by one of the many exits. I nodded to Pete, one of the men I had handpicked for this job ( all of them selected due to their lack of attentiveness, and lack of common sense) , I whispered something to him, explaining the situation, and he followed me over to the entrance of the corridor., leaving the other one to continue guarding the door, not that it was doing much good, it was the same door that the “Grandmother” and “Granddaughter” had brazenly strolled through unchallenged!
The corridor was long, with a pair of closets on either side., ending in a set of stairs, about 6, leading down to a landing with yet another door; this was not to a closet, but to a workroom with an outside exit. I had made a careful study of the building and its exits the day before. When we reached the workroom door, I slowly turning the handle, then flung it open and we thrusted our way inside, pistols drawn.
The” Grandmother” and the “Granddaughter” were just finishing tying up their second victim, the siren in the black satin gown, to a chair; she had been gagged with dirty rags, her brite green eyes looked at us wide with fear. The sister was also tied to a chair across the room, and blindfolded, neither seemed to have been maltreated., other than the fact the younger sister was clad only in a long purple satin slip. The pair of female thieves also looked up at us startled, frozen in step. I looked them over, then I looked over at the tied up lady, and her sister, there was no sign of any jewelry, which is what I was hoping for. I had timed it perfectly, I smirked to meself.
“So what’s been goin on here then? “ I asked, knowing full well what had been “goin on” just by the looks of things before my eyes.
I identified myself in my official capacity, as head of security for the function, and had the “Grandmother” and her “Granddaughter” line up against the wall, and told Pete to hold his pistol on them.
I went over and removed the gag from Black satin, she was shakin something awful. I told her to be still, and untied her bindings. She rose shakily as I helped her stand, falling onto me, and then huggin me as she wept. I patted her, relishing in the incredible softness of her gown that prettily was draped along her warm figure. It’s all right now my dear, I said soothingly, as I comforted her , making sure at the same time that she wasn’t holding out on anything. She pulled away, “my sister” she said, looking straight at me, blasting me with the gaze of wide green eyes.
Go untie her I suggested, and in a swishing of her gown, she moved swiftly over to the unfortunate lass. We all watched, not a word spoken, as miss purple silk was freed from her bindings, and the blindfold removed. Both sisters than embraced, a quite touching sight, the older sister took off her shiny black jacket, and placed it over the other’s shivering shoulders. I was happy that I had been able interfere before the thieves had taken anymore advantages, but, before things started calming down, and words started to be said from the two victims, I knew that I would have to take command of the situation.
I beckoned to Peter. “Ere Pete, take these ladies outside and have them go to their people, and use the phone by the rest rooms to call the local police in, then report back here.” “I will wait her with these two buggers.” Pete nodded obediently, unquestioningly, which is why I usually call upon him when the situations requires a bit of, how should I say it, delicate maneuvering. As they all left, I backed up to the door and wedged it from the inside, surprised that these two against the wall had not taken the very same precautions.
“All right ladies, I want each of you in turn to approach the table and put the goods on the it” ,I commanded in no uncertain words! “What do you mean?” growled the “Grandmother”? “Come on sister “I responded, “people are talking, seems that some of the youn’uns are missen their jewels!” As the pair of them started to balk and protest, I waved my pistol, “trust me ladies, you don’t want me search ‘in for it.”
The “Granddaughter” approached the table first, and tossed down upon it the small purple silk purse, it landed with a quite satisfyingly heavy plop, I inwardly smiled. She went back to her position on the wall, and I indicated for the “Grandmother to approach next. She came up, a snarling look upon her face, quite different than the look of simpering kindness she had been given her victims.” Hurry it up now” I said, and watched as she reached twice deep into her skirt, came out holding a pile of shimmery jewels and another of glistening pearls in her cupped hand, and laid it on the table. Then as they both were back at the wall, looking at me, wonderingly. I snapped “Turn around” I said, “I don’t want to see your thieving mugs,” and they did, defiantly.
Without changing my expression, I opened the purse, and dumped out its glittering contents, then carefully, but quickly, studied the gleaming piles . it was all there I reckoned, and most certainly the pieces of it I was interested in. I walked over to the work bench, picked up the high-backed chair the girl had been tied to, and walked it back with one hand, turned it around and sat on it backwards, my pistol, pointing at the backside pair of female thieves, resting my hand on the chairs high backside. Using my left hand I began placing the jewelry back into the purse, or at least my pair of captive thieves’ thought that was what I was doing with it!
When I finished with that business at hand, I looked around, saw the mink, boa, purple silk gown and matching gloves, all piled on the floor by the stairs leading to the outside exit. I was wondering what the function was that the “Granddaughter” had been planning to wear the purloined purple silk gown to, for I harbored no doubts that was why they stripped it off from their victim! I said nothing more, nor did the pair against the wall, though I caught them stealing questioning looks to each other.
Pete returned, knocking on the door, I backed up and removing the wedge, let him in. I told him to watch the pair, and left the room, leaving the purse on the table, I told Pete I was checking to make sure things were calm, to tell my other guards what was going on, and wait for the local police inspector to arrive.
When the coppers did finally arrive, a full about 40 minutes later , tardy as usual, it quelling the frazzled guests considerably. I welcomed them and led them to the workroom. We entered, and there was Pete, all tied up and gagged, with no sign of either the “Grandmother” or “Granddaughter”! The mink, boa, purple silk gown, and the gowns’ matching clutch purse(containing the cheapest of the jewels), had all gone away with the fleeing pair! The miscreants had taken it all, along with Pete’s pistol (which was later found outside, empty), and had scampered to off some hiding hole.
The cops, not the least bit happy with the situation, (but rental cops, in their opinion, are rarely a competent breed anyway), took down our statements, and those of the victims as well. They then left, waiting until then to place out an all-points bulletin on the suspects(which suited me fine, give them even more time to disappear). Everything soon settled down as best as could be under the circumstances. The final 2 hours of the reception went off without a hitch. But, giving the fact that the “flock” was a bit skittish now, it would ‘ave been difficult for anyone to make any further attempts at “shearing”em of their opulent jewels anyhows.
I drove home hours afterwards, my mind abuzz with what had transpired, trying to make it all clear to me how to best approach the opportunities that had quite literally fallen into my hands.
That night, sleep was hardly, me friend.
******
Epilogues, of sorts:
6 weeks later, in a large city about 2 states away, the young lady who had been wearing the emerald green taffeta gown with glimmering gold chains in the tale told above, was now in attendance at a wedding for the daughter of one of her papa’s fellow congressmen. Her mother had encased her daughter in an expensive silk dress of soft ocean blue for the occasion, telling her she needed to be on her best behavior, and not to be under her Father’s foot for the occasion!
While nestled in the receiving line, behind her parents, the young lady had felt the slightest of tugs at the back of her dress. A minute later she discovered that the bib pearl necklace that had been her great aunts, had fallen away from her throat and was missing. A hurried 15 minutes looking around the church for it, had failed to come across it, and she was scolded for being so neglectful in losing such a valuable piece, and also for causing her Father a bit of embarrassment in the process.
Then at the wedding reception, the girl, already on the alert, spotted the very same slinky purple gown with the seed pearled bodice and matching gloves that she had seen a girl wearing a few weeks earlier. The girl whom had had been pulled in a back room and had been mugged!
She studied the girl now wearing it, even with her blonde hair dyed black, she was recognizable as the girl who had been one of the thieves at that reception, the “Granddaughter” The thief was walking with a young lady elegantly attired, whom she recognized as the niece of the congressman! As the girl in blue watched the pair move off, an older lady with silver hair, wearing a pretty top and skirt, approached them, and the 3 moved off. The inquisitive girl in ocean blue silk, followed. The trio had stopped by a window, looking out at something. The girl in ocean blue moved closer to see what it was all about. She could see the 3 ladies reflection in the window. Suddenly she froze; something was not quite right, out of place. It took her only seconds to figure it out, the congressman’s niece, sandwiched in between the thief and the older lady, was missing the necklace of diamonds that she had been wearing when the young girl in ocean blue silk had first seen them, only minutes before!
The girl, in a swirling of her blue silk dress, scurried off as fast as her high heels could carry her, to find her parents. Her parents, reluctantly at first, finally listened after she had pointed out the suspect to them. Her Father took his daughter to the congressman’s security who had her point the “Granddaughter” out. They approached the Niece first, finding her still standing alone by the window. She, with a gasp, confirmed to them that her diamonds had indeed, vanished. They reached the pair as they were making their separate exits out of the reception. “The Grandmother” and “Granddaughter” were caught red handed, pearl bib necklace and the nieces diamond necklace, and plus assorted, mismatched pieces of jewelry being found hidden in secret pockets. All of it had been slipped off the silken figures of young ladies attending the wedding and reception, whom had the misfortune to meet up with the charming “Granddaughter”!
It turned out that neither of the female thieves was what they had appeared to be! The “Grandmother” was an old washed up actress and vaudeville magician named Agnes Adelyirood, in her late 40’s ,who had been forced to find other means to scrape a living, she had dyed her hair gray, and taken on the demeanor of a much older , kinder, lady. The “granddaughter” was not a 16 or 17 year old girl, but a 26 year old midget named Doris M__, whom Agnes had known from her vaudeville days, when her specialty was to play the part of a young girl. Together they had been working as a team combing the country and lifting jewels at the most posh’ist of events.
The authorities, after searching their rented apartment in a shoddy part of the city, discovered several piles of hot jewels and other goods stashed away, including the purple clutch purse with the lesser jewelry from the job they had pulled at the reception my firm had been hired for security. Not included, of course, was the more valuable pieces reported missing from the function, which the authorities mistakenly believed had been broken down and pawned right away by the light fingered pair.
It was after reading all about this in a formal police report and the conclusions that had been reached, that I had finally made some decisions that I had been mulling over.
Now I must admit, being a skilled thief, and also owning my own security business, had certainly turned out to having its benefits…Basically being paid to watch for thieves, leaving the glittering venue open for me to do a bit of thievery on me own.
But for the five years I had been in business, I knew that eventually someone might finally catch on, though it was amazing how daft the wealthy can be most of times, not to mention gullible. To which fact I had caught onto early on and worked the “fields” profitably to my benefit.
But I had been thinking over the past year that it may be time to get out of the business, living off the small nest egg I had acquired over the past 5 years. But that nest egg had suddenly, quite unexpectedly hatched into a small treasure trove.
I owned an old stone cottage on the Cornish coast that had been in me family for generations. Retiring to it while still relatively young, living the life of the country gentleman while I was still youthful enough to enjoy it ; fish a little, evening walks with the dogs at my heels, watch a sunset, rise as I so desired, all had always been me pipe dream. . I, until recently, did not possess quite enough funds to make it a reality. And until I knew for certain which way the winds of change would come, I was unable to really make us of what fortunes I now possessed. But, with the pair caught and being blamed for the missing diamonds, everything had fallen quite neatly into place!
So, I finally decided, run the business, with a clean nose, for another year, let things cool down, and then I would sell the business to Pete and his fellow guards. They all had had been showing an interest as of late, and seeing how Pete had been the unwitting part of my plan by letting Agnes and Doris escape, it was the least I could do for him and the rest.
Also, In her last letter to me, the ginger haired lass I had left back home, had broadly hinted that she would like more than anything to see me again, which was surprising, since the last time we had danced I had carried out a light-fingered lift of the emeralds she had been wearing at her university’s formal!
But I guess love can be blind. She had apparently let her pretty self see my nicking her jewels as a loan to get me started, a loan that I was prepared to pay back, with interest, and I had already written her expressing that desire!
.
Back home my late Grandfather, whom I had learned a thing or two from back in the day, had always been fond of saying when certain tricky issues arose ; “lie low for a bit, like a fox in the hedgerow, wait until the dogs had sniffed past and the trail cold before, darting home.”
And that my dear friends, was exactly what I was going to do!
************************************************************************************
Epilogue Duex
11 months Later
So it was that 11 months to the day I had read the report on the capture of Agnes and Doris, that I found meself on a vessel heading across the pond…
As I watched the waning shoreline I looked again down to the letter I held in my hand. It was written by my friend in England, the Ginger Haired lass, agreeing to my plan to meet her up at my Cornish based cottage the weekend of my return. The letter was signed with x’s and a faint lipstick stained mouth print. So I was fairly sure of the reception I would be receiving.
My luggage was on board, including me steamer trunk with its hidden drawer containing a small fortune in jewels.
I had already wired ahead my nest egg, which included the amount accumulated over six years in the security/shearing business, and the sale of that Business to Peter, along with the money I received from……
But me mind wandered to Peter and his cohorts. I had sold the business to them a month before, and had learned through channels that those ingrates were smearing my good name, hinting that I had been in cohorts with Agnes Axelrod, of all things.
Peter had no clue as to the double life I had been leading, and he had no idea how many times I had been approached by the criminal elements willing to “grease my palms if I just would look the other way! Of course I always played the saint, and chased them off…….. So as far as Peter really knew, I was clean as a whistle, and he had no basis for his attack on me name.
So, as I felt the ship lurching as it left the channel, I smiled to meself, paybacks old son, I murmered silently to the unsuspecting Peter and his crew. For , before leaving I had made use of those contacts gleaned from the underworld.
In a fortnight there was to be a rather grand reception put on by a local church diocese with the intentions of enriching themselves under the pretext of hosting a Black Tie Dance, Gourmet Dinner and Casino Night. I had secured the Job the year before, and as an incentive to Peter buying the business, had secured it for this year.
Then Peter had to go and shoot off his mouth… Well, for a rather surprisingly handsome price, I had sold inside information about the Diocesan Event to the cohorts of a rather greedy mobster.
I harbored no doubts as to the gang’s intentions and plans for the monied ( and jewel laden) participants of that event, nor to the ineffectiveness of Peter and his crew to preventing them being carried out.
The whistle blew one last time as the grand ship left port. I turned back and made my way below decks, to catch up on a bit of reading….
Beginning my new, saint like existence of being crime free
.
As I made me way below decks , still basking in Peter receiving his comeuppance, I let me thoughts wander and caress over a memory from previous year’s Diocesan event.
I had just relived a wealthy gent of a wallet containing his casino winnings when from behind me I heard the rather enticing sounds of something silky swishing about. I immediately slowed down and was soon passed by a rather fetching, long haired female vixen . I watched as her form fitting green satin dress moved silkily along her figure, whipping and whisking about her shapely figure with each passing motion…. She was also enticingly dripping with jewels of sparkling diamonds.
I replayed the entire episode in me mind, as I started to follow her discreetly, watching and waiting like the hungry fox watches prey from the shadows of his hedgerow……
Fini
**************************************************************************************
*************************************************************************************
It was a nice, sunny day, so we took a longer-than-usual walk through Fullersburg Woods and followed the trail that crosses over to the other side of Salt Creek. They've just built a new fence over here, because Illinois people can't resist falling off a cliff if one's available.
A sign along the trail on the other side of the creek talks about Chicago Land's glacial history and identifies this little hill as part of the Tinley Moraine. At one point in time in the neighborhood of 25,000 years ago, a lobe of the glacier stopped right here, just to the right of this image. That fence wouldn't have been there, so I could have stepped over right onto it. If I had a time machine, I'd go do that, because I think it'd be fun.
I talked about that church looming through the trees once. That's Christ Church Oak Brook, and it was built in 1968.