Almost complete.

Just need to put some extra details for make this diorama better.

I hope you enjoy my work.

In future I make detailed pictures from each base.

April 9th_2019

 

Forgive me when I post too many photos of the grouse!

 

On April 9th 3 friends and I drove south of the city to a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. I hadn't thought about the degree of difficulty that might challenge me in climbing over the stile with a knee replacement. I really struggled so I do not think I will be returning to see the grouse in future years.

 

Thanks for your visits, comments and faves! They are all appreciated!

 

Another shot of Rottingdean village pond. This one has a little easter egg in the form of a windmill in the distance. We'll be seeing more of that in future photos...

Whilst the rest of the country basked in glorious sunshine parts of the Yorkshire coast was under a sea fog or locally known as sea fret. Sadly, it did not lift. It was a bit disappointing as it was my first visit here in 5 years!!!

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/index.aspx

  

Top things to do in Summer

 

1.Experience the sights, sounds and smells of the miraculous seabird spectacle at the peak of the breeding season

2.The surrounding fields are bejewelled by glorious red campion flowers

3.Enjoy a bite to eat in the family-friendly picnic area

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/about.aspx

  

A family favourite, and easily the best place in England to see, hear and smell seabirds! More than 200,000 birds (from April to August) make the cliffs seem alive – with adults bringing food to their nests, or young chicks making their first faltering flights.

 

With huge numbers to watch, beginners can easily learn the difference between gannets, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars. The easily recognisable puffins (here between April and July) are always a delight. Specially-created cliff top viewpoints are wheelchair accessible with care.

 

You can watch our 200,000 seabirds LIVE on CCTV through the breeding season from March to October. Meet our information assistants and hear about the live action, watch it for yourself on our two TV screens and enjoy the close-up images of our nesting gannets.

  

Opening times

  

The reserve is open at all times. From March to October, the visitor centre is open daily from 9.30 am to 5 pm, and from November to February, 9.30 am to 4 pm.

  

Entrance charges

  

Entry is free of charge to members all year. There's a charge for non-members of £5 per car, minibus £8 and coach £10.

  

If you are new to birdwatching...

  

The birds are easy to see during breeding season - creating a fantastic seascape and bird spectacle. Only eight target seabird species breed here, so learning to identify birds is simple. In winter, common passerines (buntings, sparrows and finches) and short-eared owls (vary in numbers from one year to next) can be seen and identified.

  

Information for families

  

Reserve already popular with families. Various family events included in our programme throughout the year. Backpack Activity days very popular.

  

Information for dog owners

  

Dogs are welcome on the reserve, however they must be kept on leads at all times. This is to ensure that ground nesting birds are not disturbed, and also to ensure the safety of dogs on the cliff top.

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/star_speci...

  

Star species

  

Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.

  

Gannet

  

Look for stunning gannets cruising around at the base of the cliffs and fishing out to sea by rising up into the air before plunging in headfirst with their wings close.

  

Kittiwake

  

Visit Bempton in spring and early summer and your ears will be filled with the unmistakable 'kitti-wake' calls of this dainty gull. Look along the cliffs to see them packed onto their tiny nesting ledges.

  

Puffin

  

Enjoy the comical antics of puffins in spring and early summer from the viewing points on the cliffs. Watch the adults returning from fishing forays at sea with sandeels hanging from their colourful beaks.

  

Short-eared owl

  

Short-eared owls can be seen hunting over the clifftop grassland here in winter. The afternoons are a good time to spot them banking and gliding just above the ground; their piercing yellow eyes scanning for voles moving in the grass below.

  

Tree sparrow

  

Flocks of tree sparrows can be seen in the cliff top fields and are regular visitors to the feeding stations. Listen out for their conversational calls - a hard and piercing 'tek'.

   

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/seasonal_h...

  

Seasonal highlights

  

Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.

  

Spring

  

Breeding seabirds start to return, including gannets, puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, herring gulls and shags. Farmland birds such as skylarks, tree sparrows, linnets, meadow pipits, reed and corn buntings can be seen. There are normally short-eared owls and peregrines to be seen too. Migratory birds include arriving wheatears and various warblers, while over-wintering thrushes can be seen on the reserve before moving back into mainland Europe. Porpoises can often be seen on calm days while early morning visits may provide sightings of roe deer.

  

Summer

  

Breeding season is in full swing with all 200,000 seabirds with eggs or chicks. Breeding tree sparrows, whitethroats, grasshopper warblers, sedge warblers, skylarks, linnets, reed buntings, rock and meadow pipits can be seen within 200 m of the visitor centre and car park. A moderate range of the commoner butterflies may be seen on sunny days, along with day-flying moths such as cinnabars, burnet moths and occasionally hummingbird hawk-moths. Trailside flora is dominated by red campion, black knapweed, various thistles and orchids including common spotted, northern marsh and pyramidal.

  

Autumn

  

All seabirds departed and breeding finished except for gannets. The autumnal migration can be exciting at Bempton owing to its coastal location and being on a headland. Short-eared owls begin to arrive to stay for the winter (depending on food availability) but the main interest is in the arrival of migrants such as willow warblers, chiffchaffs, whitethroats, lesser whitethroats, reed warblers, sedge warblers, goldcrests, stonechats, whinchats, wheatears and redstarts. Scarce species occur annually such as red-backed shrikes, and barred and icterine warblers. October is peak time to witness the winter thrush arrival, often hundreds of redwings, blackbirds, song thrushes and fieldfares occur along with occasional ring ouzels. Offshore, movements of seabirds may be seen in ideal weather conditions (strong NW winds). These include Manx and sooty shearwaters, Arctic and great skuas. Around the car park area migrant hawker and common darter dragonflies can be seen. There is little botanical interest at this time of year.

  

Winter

  

This is normally a quiet time of year. Bracing clifftop walks and fantastic seascapes are probably the best in Yorkshire. Up to 12 short-eared owls winter here, though in poor 'vole' years there may only be a few. The bird feeding station offers food and shelter to a range of commoner species such as tree sparrows (110 have been counted), greenfinch (60), and smaller numbers of blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, wrens, chaffinches, bramblings and various tit species. The cliff face attracts very few birds except for occasional herring gulls and fulmars, but by January gannets will return in good numbers with occasional days of guillemots in good numbers too.

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/facilities...

  

Facilities

 

Facilities

 

•Visitor centre

•Information centre

•Car park : Car park has no height restrictions. Cycle rack available close to visitor centre.

•Toilets

•Disabled toilets

•Picnic area

•Binocular hire

•Live camera

•Group bookings accepted

•Guided walks available

•Remote location

•Good for walking

•Pushchair friendly

  

Viewing points

 

Five cliff-top viewpoints and a bird feeding station. The five viewpoints are:

Grandstand: 200 m from visitor centre/car park, accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs with care

Bartlett Nab: 400 m from visitor centre/car park and not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

Jubilee Corner: 900 m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

New Roll-up: 500 m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

Staple Newk: 900m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs.

 

The bird feeding station is easily accessed, 50 m from visitor centre/car park.

  

Nature trails

  

There are two nature trails. The first nature trail leading to five cliff-top viewpoints. The most distant viewpoints are 900 m from the visitor centre. Part of the trail is crushed chalk, with the remainder over worn grass. There is easy wheelchair and pushchair access to one viewpoint only. Paths can be wet and slippery following wet weather conditions, therefore care should be taken. The discovery trail is a shorter farmland walk.

  

Refreshments available

 

•Hot drinks

•Cold drinks

•Snacks

•Confectionery

  

Shop

 

The shop stocks:

 

•Binoculars and telescopes

•Books

•Bird food

•Gifts

  

Educational facilities

  

The Bempton Field Teaching Scheme operates throughout the year and offers exciting educational opportunities linked with the National Curriculum. The busiest time is from May to July, when breeding seabirds are at their peak. The scheme provides a unique opportunity to discover breeding seabirds, such as gannets and puffins, as well as investigating the challenging habitats in this fantastic coastal location. A truly memorable experience!

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/accessibil...

  

Accessibility

  

26 October 2012

  

This is a Summary Access Statement. A full access statement is available to download from this page

  

Before you visit

 

•Clear print leaflet available on request

•Free parking for members. Parking charge for non members. Free parking for carer or essential companion

•Registered Assistance Dogs welcome

•Check accessibility for events and activities

•Wheelchair free of charge to hire. Pre-booking advised

•Live footage on TV in Visitor Centre

  

How to get here

 

•Bempton railway station is 1.25 miles away

•The nearest bus stops are on the main B1229 through the village, around 1 mile from the reserve

•No pavement on road to reserve

  

Car parking

 

•Four blue badge parking spaces 10 m (13 yards) from the visitor centre on bound gravel and paved path

•60 spaces in main car park, is a short walk to the main entrance of the visitor centre

•Overflow with 60 spaces on grass

•The path surface from the overflow car park is crushed limestone on exiting the field and after 20 m (26 yards) joins the path from the coach drop-off point (see below)

•Drop-off point 50 m (60 yards) from the visitor centre with a crushed limestone surface with a 1:10 sloped descent

•No lighting or height restrictions.

  

Visitor centre

  

Situated on ground floor level with step free access. Live footage on TV from the colony. Four circular tables with seating. Outside when weather is fine. Tiled floor surface. Artificial and natural lighting. Access ramp leads to reserve.

  

Nature trails

  

The reserve offers visitors a mixture of trails. A mix of bonded tar-spray chip, crushed limestone or mown grass. Most trails are a minimum of 1200mm/47ins wide and the majority lead to the cliff top viewing points (see Viewing Facilities below).

  

Viewing facilities

  

Five built viewpoints along the cliff top path, most have seats. In the Visitor Centre there is live footage on TV of the colony. From car park to exit is The Dell - good for small migrant birds - with a narrow grass path with inclines to and from two seats. A bird feeding station is off the path between the coach park and visitor centre.

  

Toilets

  

There are toilets and an accessible toilets outside the visitor centre, with level access to all. Note there are no toilet facilities beyond the visitor centre.

  

Catering

  

A servery with a hatch facing outside the visitor centre offering hot and cold beverages, snacks and ice creams. Hatch is 900 mm (36 inches) from the ground.

  

Shop

  

The shop is within the visitor centre. Staff and volunteers can assist. There is level entry and no doors to enter apart from those at the main entrance. The shop is lit with spot lamps.

  

Education area

  

There is currently a short mown grass square to the rear of the visitor centre which serves as an outdoor classroom reached via the access ramp.

  

Picnic area

  

Seven picnic tables - four on grass and three with spaces for wheelchairs on crushed limestone surface - situated 25 m/30 yards from the visitor centre.

  

For more information

  

Bempton Cliffs

  

E-mail: bempton.cliffs@rspb.org.uk

  

Telephone:01262 851179

  

YO15 1JF

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/directions...

  

How to get here

  

By train

 

Nearest railway station 200 m south of Bempton village. Exit station and turn left, follow road down to church, walk up lane adjacent to church to staggered cross-road junction. Walk across road and take the road adjacent to the White Horse public house, northwards to the reserve. Total walking distance 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Walking time 40 minutes.

  

By bus

 

Nearest bus stop in Bempton village, 1 mile (1.5 km) from the reserve. Buses will drop off at any point on request. Disembark at White Horse public house and follow road northwards up the lane to the reserve. Walking time 30 minutes.

  

By road

 

The reserve is on the cliff road from the village of Bempton, which is on the B1229 road from Flamborough to Filey. In Bempton village, turn northwards at the White Horse public house and the reserve is at the end of the road after 1 mile (follow the brown tourist signs).

  

Other ways to get to the reserve

  

Trains and buses stop at Bempton, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the reserve. The timetables are seasonal so we advise you call the Visitor Centre for further details. Nearest ferry port in Hull and Humberside Airport in north Lincolnshire.

  

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/ourwork/in...

  

Management

  

Our Bempton Cliffs reserve, on the Yorkshire coast, protects over five kilometres of sea cliffs. From April to mid-August, these support England's largest population of seabirds. Grassland and scrub along the cliff tops are also home to breeding and wintering farmland birds.

 

The RSPB is managing the reserve for the benefit of its wildlife, which also includes seals and porpoises, and with a long-term view to upgrading its protection status.

  

Cliff-face communities

  

Bempton's breeding seabirds are internationally important, making the cliffs both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.

 

Species include kittiwakes, gannets, guillemot, razorbills and puffins. We have specific targets for every one: for instance, we would like to maintain a yearly kittiwake population of 43,000 nesting pairs, producing at least one young each.

 

During the breeding season, our cliff-top patrols help prevent disturbance by visitors and fishermen.

  

Leading by example

  

Unfortunately seabird colonies are vulnerable to environmental threats that lie beyond our control. These include climate change and industrial fishing, which affect the birds' food supplies. We aim to use Bempton to highlight these issues, so that key decision makers will take action to safeguard the long-term future of seabirds. We hope this will lead to Bempton being designated a marine Special Conservation Area.

  

Room at the top

  

The grassland and scrub at the top of the cliffs are home to farmland birds such as tree sparrows, skylarks and linnets. Short-eared owls also spend winter here.

 

We are cutting back scrub and harrowing grassland in order to increase the population of insects and small mammals on which all these birds feed. We also put out extra food when necessary.

  

Vision for visitors

  

The seabird spectacle at Bempton makes the reserve very popular during summer, while the farmland birds help generate interest all-year-round. We aim to continue attracting and educating people, and inspiring them to support the marine environment.

 

Our facilities currently include a shop, picnic area and cliff top walks. We aim to develop these, with a view to increasing numbers to 60,000 visitors per annum over the next five years.

  

Tracking gannets

  

For the first time, we're finding out where Bempton's gannets go when they're away from the colony.

 

RSPB scientists have fitted satellite tags to a number of adult gannets so that we can monitor where they go to catch fish. The tags are designed so that they don't hurt or hinder the birds, and they will eventually fall off when the gannets grow new tail feathers, if not sooner.

 

We need to find out whether the birds are using areas which the government has earmarked as potential wind farms, and how that might affect them. This information will be used to help plan where to put wind turbines at sea.

 

What we're doing

 

•Fourteen adult gannets were fitted with satellite tags in July 2010 (and another 13 in July 2011)

•In 2010 we got data from all 14 tags during the time when the gannets were rearing their chicks, and several kept transmitting data late into the breeding season

•The highest density of recorded locations at sea was within 31-62 miles (50-100 km) of Bempton Cliffs

•The greatest overlap with any of the proposed wind farm areas was with the Hornsea zone, which is nearest to Bempton

•These results are from just one breeding season, so it's unclear just how representative they are of what Bempton's gannets do. We'll monitor them again in future breeding seasons to learn more.

 

You can find out more about this work on the gannet tracking project page.

 

Walt Disney World

EPCOT

Future World

 

The pavement over by Innoventions in Future World has long been my favorite pavement in the world. It's funny to watch people "interact" with the pavement. It's unsurprising that kids love it, but even adults stop to check it out and marvel at it!

 

This photo also helps demonstrate why I love the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. Sweet bokeh with an ultra-wide angle lens!

 

Details for the 2013 Disney Dining Plan were just announced; we have the changes (plus our review) here: www.disneytouristblog.com/dining-plan-2013-disney-world-c...

 

DisneyTouristBlog | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Google+ | ISO 5571 - Disney Photography Podcast

It would have helped closing down the lens by further 2-stops atleast, in getting a full detailed profile. Anyways will take this experience forward in future.

 

However this individual is a male as can be identified by its head and shoulders which turns bright orange to crimson during the breeding-season and also has a distinguished black throat as seen in the image.

Sometimes males also turn red-headed after a successful battle with rivals.

 

Another characteristics that makes Changeable Lizards different from other lizards, is that they don't drop their tails and can move each of their eyes in different directions.

Rotterdam 🇳🇱, super international city; all nations in one place ️ It may be where I'll call home in future 😉

instagram.com/p/BTjDYH1j-Nr/

Had the most awesome day at Claire Carter and Hawkeye Bird of Prey Photography Workshop in Thoresby Park. A privilege to get close to such beautiful birds and I learned such a lot about bird photography that I hope I can put in to practice in future. My photos (just a few here out of 100s I took today) are pale imitations of what is achievable but I'm happy with (some of) my efforts with limited kit.

The eleventh episode of the Shadows Of Nar Eurbrikka just went live on Eurobricks. The Rebels take their stolen supercomputer to the rural surface of the planet Kuat, known for its shipyards located on a ring surrounding the planet. Meanwhile, the Empire does everything it can to get the precious computer back - or so it seams...

 

I had the honor of doing some of the promotional images for this episode, and you see the result above. The supercomputer was the main thing to build, and I enjoyed finally having the opportunity to use walkie-talkies as details, something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I had to restrain myself from using lots of grey in order to keep the contrast high, so I forced myself to use white, and I think it looks pretty good. The ladders were a nice way to quickly build a wall while retaining a high level of uniform detail that doesn't disturb the image. The ground layer was new for me. I've been looking at the way castle builders deal with rocks for a while now, and I think it's fabulous. Now I finally more or less get it because I wanted to use it in this creation to keep the cross section of the ground from becoming too cartoonish, so I'm pretty happy with the result, and will probably be using the technique in future creations. Finally, I had a lot of fun playing with the vegetation. My fellow organizers suggested to use the lavender stalk piece, so I did. I might have gone a little overboard with it, but that's the beauty of digital creations. I needed a piece to match it though, and the lavender palette is quite restricted. I ended up finding this hairpiece from the elves line, which I had to use a substitute for because it isn't available digitally. But it resulted in some pretty alien vegetation I really dig.

 

This is the first creation on which I really tried to fully embrace the capabilities of my render program (that's Blender), since it allowed me to have two distinct lighting conditions for the two parts, which helped to create the contrast in the picture. I tried to keep everything logical though, so all of the lights you see could theoretically be replaced by LEDs etc., so I hope you appreciate it. Another big task was to apply the decorations, because I had to make them all myself. I'm pleased by how the stormtroopers turned out in the end, because it was a real pain to match the image with the complicated geometry of the helmet. Once that was done, it was on to rendering. It took about twelve hours spread over two sessions, and the underside is still quite noisy, so don't zoom in too much there ;) I guess with a real camera you can run into similar issues too though, so I think it's sufficient.

 

So I hope you like it! I really enjoyed working on the contrast between technology and nature, indoor and outdoor, grey and color to create a nice picture. Be sure to check out the newest episode of SoNE on Eurobricks!

A few weekends ago I went down to the Quayside and the lower end of town to do some architectural long exposures and finally got around to visiting 55 Degrees North, somewhere ive had my mind on for a while now. Upon arriving I couldnt believe that theyve just painted the curved wall which had been bright pink to dark blue which was a bit disappointing as I had wanted some colour shots also.

I took many shots but as usual as soon as we got there the cloud stopped flowing :/ Eventually a few small clouds started passing by which was ideal so I dived into position and captured this shot. The clouds werent quite right in the end shots so I used a different sky as in my last shot.

If theres one thing we cant control its the weather and Claire always laughs at me when I say 'its too sunny/too cloudy/too dull' etc etc.

 

Tech Info...

 

Sony a7ii

Canon 17-40 f4L

Commlite EF - E mount adapter

144 seconds

f9

17mm

ISO 100

 

Filters...

 

Formatt Firecrest ND4.8 (16 Stop)

 

Processing Info...

 

I started off by importing the RAW file into Adobe Camera Raw where I made basic lens corrections to remove green and purple fringing which the 17-40 seems to suffer badly from.

Next I imported the file into PS CS6 where I began to make some selections of the various sections in the shot.

I tidied them up in Quick Mask mode and once I was happy with them I then began to open each section of the shot in Silver Efex Pro 2 to convert them into mono.

At this point I began to make targeted adjustments to each area separately using Luminosity masks and curves layers. It became clear that the sky just didnt compliment the image so I cut the sky from my Sage shot taken back in January and pasted it in and as it happens it was perfect after some resizing.

I wanted to create a look where the light fell down on to the RH wall so I made a new lighter curves layer then used Joel Tjintjelaars iSGM method to gradually mask the effect so that the outer areas on the wall were darker with light falling in line with the cloud.

At this point I hadnt been accurate in some of my work so had to do some cloning between the wall and the edge of the white window areas.

Once I had these areas fixed I concentrated on sorting out the inevitable halos between each area using the clone tool and hard brush at 400%. I felt that the overall image had too much dead space on the right so cropped the image to what it is now.

I did some light sharpening on the white area then once I was happy I used the Transform Warp tool to straighten the lower edge of the building. Its important to do this near the end as it messes up the selections I created or maybe I should start doing this first, yes in future I will do it at the beginning!

 

Thanks for looking :)

 

Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism.

Ancient Iran

In pre-Islamic Persian mythology, the Gaokerena world tree is a large, sacred Haoma tree which bears all seeds. Ahriman (Ahreman, Angremainyu) created a frog to invade the tree and destroy it, aiming to prevent all trees from growing on the earth. As a reaction, God (Ahura Mazda) created two kar fish staring at the frog to guard the tree. The two fishes are always staring at the frog and stay ready to react to it. Because Ahriman is responsible for all evil including death, while Ahura Mazda is responsible for all good (including life) the concept of world tree in Persian Mythology is very closely related to the concept of Tree of Life.The sacred plant haoma and the drink made from it. The preparation of the drink from the plant by pounding and the drinking of it are central features of Zoroastrian ritual. Haoma is also personified as a divinity. It bestows essential vital qualities—health, fertility, husbands for maidens, even immortality. The source of the earthly haoma plant is a shining white tree that grows on a paradisiacal mountain. Sprigs of this white haoma were brought to earth by divine birds.Haoma is the Avestan form of the Sanskrit soma. The near identity of the two in ritual significance is considered by scholars to point to a salient feature of an Indo-Iranian religion antedating Zoroastrianism.

Another related issue in ancient mythology of Iran is the myth of Mashyа and Mashyane, two trees who were the ancestors of all living beings. This myth can be considered as a prototype for the creation myth where living beings are created by Gods (who have a human form).

Ancient Egypt

Worshipping Osiris, Isis, and Horus

To the Ancient Egyptians, the Tree of Life represented the hierarchical chain of events that brought every thing into existence. The spheres of the Tree of Life demonstrate the order, process, and method of creation.In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart from Shu and Tefnut (moisture and dryness) are Geb and Nuit (earth and sky), are Isis and Osiris. They were said to have emerged from the acacia tree of Iusaaset, which the Egyptians considered the tree of life, referring to it as the "tree in which life and death are enclosed." Some acacia trees contain DMT, a psychedelic drug associated with spiritual experiences. The drug is not orally bio-available, however and there is no evidence the Egyptians had techniques for extracting or otherwise harnessing the drug. A much later myth relates how Set and 72 conspirators killed Osiris, putting him in a coffin, and throwing it into the Nile, the coffin becoming embedded in the base of a tamarisk tree.The Egyptians' Holy Sycamore also stood on the threshold of life and death, connecting the two worlds.

Assyria

Assyrian tree of life, from Nimrud panels.The Assyrian Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It was apparently an important religious symbol, often attended to in Assyrian palace reliefs by human or eagle-headed winged genies, or the King, and blessed or fertilized with bucket and cone. Assyriologists have not reached consensus as to the meaning of this symbol. The name "Tree of Life" has been attributed to it by modern scholarship; it is not used in the Assyrian sources. In fact, no textual evidence pertaining to the symbol is known to exist.

Baha'i Faith

The concept of the tree of life appears in the writings of the Baha'i Faith, where it can refer to the Manifestation of God, a great teacher who appears to humanity from age to age. An example of this can be found in the Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh:["Have ye forgotten that true and radiant morn, when in those hallowed and blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence beneath the shade of the tree of life, which is planted in the all-glorious paradise? Awestruck ye listened as I gave utterance to these three most holy words: O friends! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless hearts, defiled with worldly desires and cravings. Would ye but sanctify your souls, ye would at this present hour recall that place and those surroundings, and the truth of My utterance should be made evident unto all of you."Also, in the Tablet of Ahmad [1], of Bahá'u'lláh:"Verily He is the Tree of Life, that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great".Bahá'u'lláh refers to his male descendents as branches (Aghsán) and calls women leaves.

A distinction has been made between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The latter represents the physical world with its opposites, such as good and evil and light and dark. In a different context from the one above, the tree of life represents the spiritual realm, where this duality does not exist.

Buddhism

The Bo tree, also called Bodhi tree, according to Buddhist tradition, is the pipal (Ficus religiosa) under which the Buddha sat when he attained Enlightenment (Bodhi) at Bodh Gaya (near Gaya, west-central Bihar state, India). A living pipal at Anuradhapura, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), is said to have grown from a cutting from the Bo tree sent to that city by King Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.According to Tibetan tradition when Buddha went to the holy Lake Manasorovar along with 500 monks, he took with him the energy of Prayaga Raj. Upon his arrival, he installed the energy of Prayaga Raj near Lake Manasorovar, at a place now known as Prayang. Then he planted the seed of this eternal banyan tree next to Mt. Kailash on a mountain known as the "Palace of Medicine Buddha".

China

In Chinese mythology, a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix and a dragon; the dragon often represents immortality. A Taoist story tells of a tree that produces a peach every three thousand years. The one who eats the fruit receives immortality.An archaeological discovery in the 1990s was of a sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui in Sichuan, China. Dating from about 1200 BCE, it contained three bronze trees, one of them 4 meters high. At the base was a dragon, and fruit hanging from the lower branches. At the top is a strange bird-like (phoenix) creature with claws. Also found in Sichuan, from the late Han dynasty (c 25 – 220 CE), is another tree of life. The ceramic base is guarded by a horned beast with wings. The leaves of the tree are coins and people. At the apex is a bird with coins and the Sun.

Christianity

In Catholic Christianity, the Tree of Life represents the immaculate state of humanity free from corruption and Original Sin before the Fall. Pope Benedict XVI has said that "the Cross is the true tree of life." Saint Bonaventure taught that the medicinal fruit of the Tree of Life is Christ himself. Saint Albert the Great taught that the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is the Fruit of the Tree of Life.[18] Augustine of Hippo said that the tree of life is Christ: "All these things stood for something other than what they were, but all the same they were themselves bodily realities. And when the narrator mentioned them he was not employing figurative language, but giving an explicit account of things which had a forward reference that was figurative. So then the tree of life also was Christ... and indeed God did not wish the man to live in Paradise without the mysteries of spiritual things being presented to him in bodily form. So then in the other trees he was provided with nourishment, in this one with a sacrament... He is rightly called whatever came before him in order to signify him."[19]

 

The tree first appeared in Genesis 2:9 and 3:22-24 as the source of eternal life in the Garden of Eden, from which access is revoked when man is driven from the garden. It then reappears in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, and most predominantly in the last chapter of that book (Chapter 22) as a part of the new garden of paradise. Access is then no longer forbidden, for those who "wash their robes" (or as the textual variant in the King James Version has it, "they that do his commandments") "have right to the tree of life" (v.14). A similar statement appears in Rev 2:7, where the tree of life is promised as a reward to those who overcome. Revelation 22 begins with a reference to the "pure river of water of life" which proceeds "out of the throne of God". The river seems to feed two trees of life, one "on either side of the river" which "bear twelve manner of fruits" "and the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations" (v.1-2).[20] Or this may indicate that the tree of life is a vine that grows on both sides of the river, as John 15:1 would hint at.

In Eastern Christianity the tree of life is the love of God.The tree of life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi 8:10). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23). Its fruit is described as "most precious and most desirable above all other fruits," which "is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (see 1 Nephi 15:36). In another scriptural book, salvation is called "the greatest of all the gifts of God" (see Doctrine and Covenants 6:13). In the same book eternal life is also called the "greatest of all the gifts of God" (see Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). Because of these references, the tree of life and its fruit is sometimes understood to be symbolic of salvation and post-mortal existence in the presence of God and his love.

Europe

11th century Tree of Life sculpture at an ancient Swedish church

In Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique (Paris, 1737), Antoine-Joseph Pernety, a famous alchemist, identified the Tree of Life with the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone.

In Eden in the East (1998), Stephen Oppenheimer suggests that a tree-worshipping culture arose in Indonesia and was diffused by the so-called "Younger Dryas" event of c. 8000 BCE, when the sea level rose. This culture reached China (Szechuan), then India and the Middle East. Finally the Finno-Ugaritic strand of this diffusion spread through Russia to Finland where the Norse myth of Yggdrasil took root.

Georgia

The Borjgali (Georgian: ბორჯღალი) is an ancient Georgian Tree of Life symbol.

Germanic paganism and Norse mythology[

In Germanic paganism, trees played (and, in the form of reconstructive Heathenry and Germanic Neopaganism, continue to play) a prominent role, appearing in various aspects of surviving texts and possibly in the name of gods.

The tree of life appears in Norse religion as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree) with extensive lore surrounding it. Perhaps related to Yggdrasil, accounts have survived of Germanic Tribes' honouring sacred trees within their societies. Examples include Thor's Oak, sacred groves, the Sacred tree at Uppsala, and the wooden Irminsul pillar. In Norse Mythology, the apples from Iðunn's ash box provide immortality for the gods.

Hinduism

The Eternal Banyan Tree (Akshaya Vata) is located on the bank of the Yamuna inside the courtyard of Allahabad Fort near the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers in Allahabad. The eternal and divine nature of this tree has been documented at length in the scriptures.[citation needed]

During the cyclic destruction of creation when the whole earth was enveloped by waters, akshaya vata remained unaffected. It is on the leaves of this tree that Lord Krishna rested in the form of a baby when land was no longer visible. And it is here that the immortal sage, Markandeya, received the cosmic vision of the Lord. It is under this tree that Buddha meditates eternally. Legend also has it that the Bodi tree at Gaya is a manifestation of this tree.

Islam

Carpet Tree of Life

Main article: Quranic tree of life

See also: Sidrat al-Muntaha

The "Tree of Immortality" (Arabic: شجرة الخلود) is the tree of life motif as it appears in the Quran. It is also alluded to in hadiths and tafsir. Unlike the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, also called the tree of immortality, which Allah specifically forbade to Adam and Eve. Satan, disguised as a serpent, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, thus disobeying Allah.] The hadiths also speak about other trees in heaven.

According to the Ahmadiyya movement, Quranic reference to the tree is symbolic; eating of the forbidden tree signifies that Adam disobeyed God.[

Jewish sources

Main articles: Etz Chaim and Biblical tree of life

Etz Chaim, Hebrew for "tree of life," is a common term used in Judaism. The expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively applied to the Torah itself. Etz Chaim is also a common name for yeshivas and synagogues as well as for works of Rabbinic literature. It is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the parchment of a Sefer Torah is attached.The tree of life is mentioned in the Book of Genesis; it is distinct from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Remaining in the garden, however, was the tree of life. To prevent their access to this tree in the future, Cherubim with a flaming sword were placed at the east of the garden. (Genesis 3:22-24)

In the Book of Proverbs, the tree of life is associated with wisdom: "[Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy [is every one] that retaineth her." (Proverbs 3:13-18) In 15:4 the tree of life is associated with calmness: "A soothing tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a wound to the spirit."

The Book of Enoch, generally considered non-canonical, states that in the time of the great judgment God will give all those whose names are in the Book of Life fruit to eat from the Tree of Life.

Kathara grid

The esoteric bio-spiritual healing system of kathara which is presented on Earth by the official Speaker of the Guardian Alliance – E’Asha Ashayana,explains in detail the function of the code of the kathara grid] as the natural tree of life. Kathara reveals the anatomy of Creation, core structure, the blueprints & interconnectedness of all matter forms and in the center is the replication of the kathara grid everywhere.The kathara grid consists of 12 kathara centers and the relationships between them represent the true meaning of the phrase "As above, so below" and the correspondence between microcosmos and macrocosmos.

Kabbalah. Judaic Kabbalah Tree of Life 10 Sephirot, through which the Ein Sof unknowable Divine manifests Creation. The configuration relates to manJewish mysticism depicts the Tree of Life in the form of ten interconnected nodes, as the central symbol of the Kabbalah. It comprises the ten Sephirot powers in the Divine realm. The panentheistic and anthropomorphic emphasis of this emanationist theology interpreted the Torah, Jewish observance, and the purpose of Creation as the symbolic esoteric drama of unification in the Sephirot, restoring harmony to Creation. From the time of the Renaissance onwards, Jewish Kabbalah became incorporated as an important tradition in non-Jewish Western culture, first through its adoption by Christian Cabala, and continuing in Western esotericism occult Hermetic Qabalah. These adapted the Judaic Kabbalah Tree of Life syncretically by associating it with other religious traditions, esoteric theologies, and magical practices.

Mesoamerican

The concept of world trees is a prevalent motif in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cosmologies and iconography. World trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis mundi connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the Maya, Aztec, Izapan, Mixtec, Olmec, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of Mesoamerican chronology. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a ceiba tree, and is known variously as a wacah chan or yax imix che, depending on the Mayan language.[32] The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in Mesoamerican calendars, and the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden, Borgia and Fejérváry-Mayer codices.[31] It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster," symbolic of the underworld). The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way.

Middle East

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a similar quest for immortality. In Mesopotamian mythology, Etana searches for a 'plant of birth' to provide him with a son. This has a solid provenance of antiquity, being found in cylinder seals from Akkad (2390–2249 BCE).The Book of One Thousand and One Nights has a story, 'The Tale of Buluqiya', in which the hero searches for immortality and finds a paradise with jewel-encrusted trees. Nearby is a Fountain of Youth guarded by Al-Khidr. Unable to defeat the guard, Buluqiya has to return empty-handed.

North American

In a myth passed down among the Iroquois, The World on the Turtle's Back, explains the origin of the land in which a tree of life is described. According to the myth, it is found in the heavens, where the first humans lived, until a pregnant woman fell and landed in an endless sea. Saved by a giant turtle from drowning, she formed the world on its back by planting bark taken from the tree.The tree of life motif is present in the traditional Ojibway cosmology and traditions. It is sometimes described as Grandmother Cedar, or Nookomis Giizhig in Anishinaabemowin.In the book Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota (Sioux) wičháša wakȟáŋ (medicine man and holy man), describes his vision in which after dancing around a dying tree that has never bloomed he is transported to the other world (spirit world) where he meets wise elders, 12 men and 12 women. The elders tell Black Elk that they will bring him to meet "Our Father, the two-legged chief" and bring him to the center of a hoop where he sees the tree in full leaf and bloom and the "chief" standing against the tree. Coming out of his trance he hopes to see that the earthly tree has bloomed, but it is dead

Serer religion

In Serer religion, the tree of life as a religious concept forms the basis of Serer cosmogony. Trees were the first things created on Earth by the supreme being Roog (or Koox among the Cangin). In the competing versions of the Serer creation myth, the Somb (Prosopis africana) and the Saas tree (acacia albida) are both viewed as trees of life. However, the prevailing view is that, the Somb was the first tree on Earth and the progenitor of plant life. The Somb was also used in the Serer tumuli and burial chambers, many of which had survived for more than a thousand years.Thus, Somb is not only the Tree of Life in Serer society, but the symbol of immortality

Urartian Tree of Life

In ancient Urartu, the Tree of Life was a religious symbol and was drawn on walls of fortresses and carved on the armor of warriors. The branches of the tree were equally divided on the right and left sides of the stem, with each branch having one leaf, and one leaf on the apex of the tree. Servants stood on each side of the tree with one of their hands up as if they are taking care of the tree.

Turkic .The Tree of Life, as seen as in flag of Chuvashia, a Turkic state in the Russian FederationThe Tree of Life design on 0,05 Turkish lira (5 kuruş).

The World Tree or Tree of Life is a central symbol in Turkic mythology.[citation needed] It is a common motif in carpets.

It is also used as the main design of a common Turkish lira sub-unit 5 kuruş since 2009.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life

My entry for the first 1-hour challenge hosted on my Discord server, themed "Belief".

 

I decided to go for a crusades inspired build with a praying knight in a desert.

 

If you wanna take part in future challenges or even one of our collaborations, feel free to join The Workshop: discord.gg/uzZy7cV

BNTM C . 3 HAS ARRIVED

I am your host, Ruby Lowe and welcome to BNTM C . 3

  

"Hello. Today is the day that auditions are open. This BNTM is just like your normal competition. Themes are to be judged at a high standard, as the themes may become very difficult. No twists and changes to this competition. We are keeping it standard, as you can wait for what's to come in future cycles." - Ruby

  

Auditioning Requirements.

Our auditions will be different to others. I personally hate doing Auditions, so this audition is only requiring a simple close-up. They are easier, and often show the photographer's real talent.

- Purple Shirt! If you don't have one, edit it.

- Any bottoms if the top of them will be visible, we still want you to wear pants even if they won't be fully seen.

- Close-up (Waist up)

- Preferably Landscape

- White Background

- Hair up and out of your face

- Makeup of your choice

- Good quality please!

Please include the following:

- Name

- Age

- Nationality

- Why you deserve to get in

Even though this is just a simple close-up, take your time as it can make or break your chance on getting in.

  

Prizes.

1st -

- Cover of mood & beauty in mood

- 5 page spread in mood

- 5 year contract with flush models

- Face of Splash Cosmetics

- $100,000 worth of Splash Cosmetics

- Possibly, a doll from ebay of your choice.

  

2nd -

- Cover of mood

- 3 year contract with flush models

- $1,000 worth of Splash Cosmetics

  

Rules.

Normal rules with a competition. If you don't know them, then you better find out because breaking them can get you sent packing.

My rules are,

- Please have a posable body! But no 2013 body's aloud.

- ONLY BRATZ DOLLS SORRY

- Do not quit, then join another person's contest. That is just rude. If you do quit, there will not be an elimination so that I can stick to my calendar. Yes I have a calendar for this. I actually want this to be a good competition!

You have 2 safe’s and on your 3rd no photo, you’re gone. But you have to have a good reason and contact me for you to be safe.

  

14 beautiful models needed. Please try and make them from around the world. If I don't get at least 14 auditions, the deadline will be extended.

  

Please join people, I would love a great turn out for this!

And please don’t think that I will just cancel this cycle, because trust me I have put too much effort into planning this I could never.

  

Deadline is July 10th

  

Auditions:

1. Cade Brooklyn: www.flickr.com/photos/v1cthepurplejagerbomb/14343304466/

2. Khaleesi Dothraki: www.flickr.com/photos/93280992@N05/14182073279/

3. Hebroni Quinn: www.flickr.com/photos/120568483@N05/14416766513/in/photos...

4. Madonna: www.flickr.com/photos/sailorcrystel/14392602516/

5. Cecelia Blackwood: www.flickr.com/photos/108505456@N05/14236411269/

6. Cassandra Kerr: www.flickr.com/photos/108808824@N05/14420080661/

7. Alarna Decosta: www.flickr.com/photos/123226202@N04/14555829474/

8. Ariana Roberts: www.flickr.com/photos/glglover78/14242926027/

9. Adelia Tomson: www.flickr.com/photos/94548007@N05/14259515718/

10. Elektra-Ann Giannakou: www.flickr.com/photos/88102708@N07/14593563461/in/photoso...

11. Tulisa Caroni: www.flickr.com/photos/119129024@N05/14267329200/

12. Analiese Brooks: www.flickr.com/photos/125311807@N08/14446834276/

13. India Aiden: www.flickr.com/photos/113223348@N03/14464951766/

14. Delilah Augustine: www.flickr.com/photos/bratzjaderox/14444260087/

15. Peyton Chance: www.flickr.com/photos/bratzrlife13/14580485993/

16. Sabrina Moon: www.flickr.com/photos/glitzysistersx9/14595793192/in/phot...

17. Harper Akinna: www.flickr.com/photos/bratzshows102/14600421836/

18. Analeigh Clark: www.flickr.com/photos/93283699@N03/14597497254/

19. Rose Yamazaki: www.flickr.com/photos/rainbowdoll489/14405714357/in/photo...

20. Cara Vosovic: www.flickr.com/photos/obsegebitz_livlover/14599477292/in/...

21. Sui Rozen: www.flickr.com/photos/carolparvatilara/14636912933/

22. Minako Miku: www.flickr.com/photos/mhperfectlyimperfect/14427017838/in...

23. Maura Venkel: www.flickr.com/photos/109421295@N06/14426497298/in/photos...

24. Ariel Freshwater: www.flickr.com/photos/blakelovesdolls/14651287693/in/phot...

25. Blaire Hudson: www.flickr.com/photos/84271682@N06/14637827455/

This image was taken in September 2022 at Rueun, where RhB Ge 4/4'' 620 'Zernaz' was working Regio Express RE1753, the Table 920 15:56 Chur to Disentis/Mustér. The locomotive and stock had earlier worked through from Scuol-Tarasp.

This particular locomotive is one of the initial batch of ten built by SLM in 1973 with the remaining thirteen class members added in 1984-85. For decades these splendid machines have operated as the standard RhB electric locomotive, with 2022 proving to be the last full year of regular passenger service operations on the Disentis route with only the Glacier Express workings to be covered in future. December 2023 produced the anticipated changes whereby these locomotive hauled RE services have been replaced by 'Capricorn' EMUs. No doubt, a number of the Class Ge 4/4'' machines will soon be retired from service.

 

All images on this site are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights reserved – Copyright Don Gatehouse

Walt Disney World, Epcot - 05/12/09

Spaceship Earth in Future World

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Ufford, Suffolk

 

Upper Ufford is a pleasant place, and known well enough in Suffolk. Pretty much an extension northwards of Woodbridge and Melton, it is a prosperous community, convenient without being suburban. Ufford Park Hotel is an enjoyable venue in to attend professional courses and conferences, and the former St Audrey's mental hospital grounds across the road are now picturesque with luxury flats and houses. And I am told that the Ufford Park golf course is good, too, for those who like that kind of thing.

 

But as I say, that Ufford is really just an extension of Melton. In fact, there is another Ufford. It is in the valley below, more than a mile away along narrow lanes and set in deep countryside beside the Deben, sits Lower Ufford. To reach it, you follow ways so rarely used that grass grows up the middle. You pass old Melton church, redundant since the 19th century, but still in use for occasional exhibitions and performances, and once home to the seven sacrament font that is now in the plain 19th century building up in the main village. Eventually, the lane widens, and you come into the single street of a pretty, tiny hamlet, the church tower hidden from you by old cottages and houses. In one direction, the lane to Bromeswell takes you past Lower Ufford's delicious little pub, the White Lion. A stalwart survivor among fast disappearing English country pubs, the beer still comes out of barrels and the bar is like a kitchen. I cannot think that a visit to Ufford should be undertaken without at least a pint there. And, at the other end of the street, set back in a close between cottages, sits the Assumption, its 14th century tower facing the street, a classic Suffolk moment.

 

The dedication was once that of hundreds of East Anglian churches, transformed to 'St Mary' by the Reformation and centuries of disuse before the 19th century revival, but revived both here and at Haughley near Stowmarket. In late medieval times, it coincided with the height of the harvest, and in those days East Anglia was Our Lady's Dowry, intensely Catholic, intimately Marian.

 

The Assumption was almost certainly not the original dedication of this church. There was a church here for centuries before the late middle ages, and although there are no traces of any pre-Conquest building, the apse of an early-Norman church has been discovered under the floor of the north side of the chancel. The current chancel has a late Norman doorway, although it has been substantially rebuilt since, and in any case the great glories of Ufford are all 15th century. Perhaps the most dramatic is the porch, one of Suffolk's best, covered in flushwork and intriguing carvings.

 

Ufford's graveyard is beautiful; wild and ancient. I wandered around for a while, spotting the curious blue crucifix to the east of the church, and reading old gravestones. One, to an early 19th century gardener at Ufford Hall, has his gardening equipment carved at the top. The church is secretive, hidden on all sides by venerable trees, difficult to photograph but lovely anyway. I stopped to look at it from the unfamiliar north-east; the Victorian schoolroom, now a vestry, juts out like a small cottage. I walked back around to the south side, where the gorgeous porch is like a small palace against the body of the church. I knew the church would be open, because it is every day. And then, through the porch, and down into the north aisle, into the cool, dim, creamy light.

 

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 21st August 1644, Ufford had a famous visitor, a man who entered the church in exactly the same way, a man who recorded the events of that day in his journal. There were several differences between his visit and the one that I was making, one of them crucial; he found the church locked. He was the Commissioner to the Earl of Manchester for the Imposition in the Eastern Association of the Parliamentary Ordinance for the Demolishing of Monuments of Idolatry, and his name was William Dowsing.

 

Dowsing was a kind of 17th century political commissar, travelling the eastern counties and enforcing government legislation. He was checking that local officials had carried out what they were meant to do, and that they believed in what they were doing. In effect, he was getting them to work and think in the new ways that the central government required. It wasn't really a witch hunt, although God knows such things did exist in abundance at that time. It was more as if an arm of the state extended and worked its fingers into even the tiniest and most remote parishes. Anyone working in the public sector in Britain in the early years of the 21st century will have come across people like Dowsing.

 

As a part of his job, Dowsing was an iconoclast, charged with ensuring that idolatrous images were excised from the churches of the region. He is a man blamed for a lot. In fact, virtually all the Catholic imagery in English churches had been destroyed by the Anglican reformers almost a hundred years before Dowsing came along. All that survived was that which was difficult to destroy - angels in the roofs, gable crosses, and the like - and that which was inconvenient to replace - primarily, stained glass. Otherwise, in the late 1540s the statues had been burnt, the bench ends smashed, the wallpaintings whitewashed, the roods hauled down and the fonts plastered over. I have lost count of the times I have been told by churchwardens, or read in church guides, that the hatchet job on the bench ends or the font in their church was the work of 'William Dowsing' or 'Oliver Cromwell'. In fact, this destruction was from a century earlier than William Dowsing. Sometimes, I have even been told this at churches which Dowsing demonstrably did not visit.

 

Dowsing's main targets included stained glass, which the pragmatic Anglican reformers had left alone because of the expense of replacing it, and crosses and angels, and chancel steps. We can deduce from Dowsing's journal which medieval imagery had survived for him to see, and that which had already been hidden - not, I hasten to add, because people wanted to 'save' Catholic images, but rather because this was an expedient way of getting rid of them. So, for example, Dowsing visited three churches during his progress through Suffolk which today have seven sacrament fonts, but Dowsing does not mention a single one of them in his journal; they had all been plastered over long ago.

 

In fact, Dowsing was not worried so much about medieval survivals. What concerned him more was overturning the reforms put in place by the ritualist Archbishop Laud in the 1630s. Laud had tried to restore the sacramental nature of the Church, primarily by putting the altar back in the chancel and building it up on raised steps. Laud had since been beheaded thanks to puritan popular opinion, but the evidence of his wickedness still filled the parish churches of England. The single order that Dowsing gave during his progress more than any other was that chancel steps should be levelled.

 

The 21st of August was a hot day, and Dowsing had much work to do. He had already visited the two Trimley churches, as well as Brightwell and Levington, that morning, and he had plans to reach Baylham on the other side of Ipswich before nightfall. Much to his frustration, he was delayed at Ufford for two hours by a dispute between the church wardens over whether or not to allow him access.

 

The thing was, he had been here before. Eight months earlier, as part of a routine visit, he had destroyed some Catholic images that were in stained glass, and prayer clauses in brass inscriptions, but had trusted the churchwardens to deal with a multitude of other sins, images that were beyond his reach without a ladder, or which would be too time-consuming. This was common practice - after all, the churchwardens of Suffolk were generally equally as puritan as Dowsing. It was assumed that people in such a position were supporters of the New Puritan project, especially in East Anglia. Dowsing rarely revisited churches. But, for some reason, he felt he had to come back here to make sure that his orders had been carried out.

 

Why was this? In retrospect, we can see that Ufford was one of less than half a dozen churches where the churchwardens were uncooperative. Elsewhere, at hundreds of other churches, the wardens welcomed Dowsing with open arms. And Dowsing only visited churches in the first place if it was thought there might be a problem, parishes with notorious 'scandalous ministers' - which is to say, theological liberals. Richard Lovekin, the Rector of Ufford, had been turned out of his living the previous year, although he survived to return when the Church of England was restored in 1660. But that was in the future. Something about his January visit told Dowsing that he needed to come back to Ufford.

 

Standing in the nave of the Assumption today, you can still see something that Dowsing saw, something which he must have seen in January, but which he doesn't mention until his second visit, in the entry in his journal for August 21st, which appears to be written in a passion. This is Ufford's most famous treasure, the great 15th century font cover.

 

It rises, six metres high, magnificent and stately, into the clerestory, enormous in its scale and presence. In all England, only the font cover at Southwold is taller. The cover is telescopic, and crocketting and arcading dances around it like waterfalls and forests. There are tiny niches, filled today with 19th century statues. At the top is a gilt pelican, plucking its breast.

 

Dowsing describes the font cover as glorious... like a pope's triple crown... but this is just anti-Catholic innuendo. The word glorious in the 17th century meant about the same as the word 'pretentious' means to us now - Dowsing was scoffing. But there was no reason for him to be offended by it. The Anglicans had destroyed all the statues in the niches a century before, and all that remained was the pelican at the top, pecking its breast to feed its chicks. Dowsing would have known that this was a Catholic image of the Sacrifice of the Mass, and would have disapproved. But he did not order the font cover to be destroyed. After all, the rest of the cover was harmless enough, apart from being a waste of good firewood, and the awkwardness of the Ufford churchwardens seems to have put him off following through. He never went back.

 

Certainly, there can have been no theological reason for the churchwardens to protect their font cover. I like to think that they looked after it simply because they knew it to be beautiful, and that they also knew it had been constructed by ordinary workmen of their parish two hundred years before, under the direction of some European master designer. They protected it because of local pride, and amen to that. The contemporary font beneath is of a type more familiar in Norfolk than Suffolk, with quatrefoils alternating with shields, and heads beneath the bowl.

 

While the font cover is extraordinary, and of national importance, it is one of just several medieval survivals in the nave of the Assumption. All around it are 15th century benches, with superbly characterful and imaginative images on their ends. The best is the bench with St Margaret and St Catherine on it. This was recently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Gothic exhibition. Other bench end figures include a long haired, haloed woman seated on a throne, which may well be a representation of the Mother of God Enthroned, and another which may be the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven. There is also a praying woman in a butterfly headdress, once one of a pair, and a man wearing what appears to be a bowler hat, although I expect it is a helmet of some kind. His beard is magnificent. There are also a number of finely carved animals.

 

High up in the chancel arch is an unusual survival, the crocketted rood beam that once supported the crucifix, flanked by the grieving Mary and John, with perhaps a tympanum behind depicting the last judgement. These are now all gone, of course, as is the rood loft that once stood in front of the beam and allowed access to it. But below, the dado of the screen survives, with twelve panels. Figures survive on the south side. They have not worn well. They are six female Saints: St Agnes, St Cecilia, St Agatha, St Faith, St Bridget and, uniquely in England, St Florence. Curiously, the head of this last has been, in recent years, surrounded by stars, in imitation of the later Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Presumably this was done in a fit of Anglo-catholic enthusiasm about a century ago.

 

The arrangement is similar to the south side of the screen at Westhall, and it may even be that the artist was the same. While there is no liturgical reason for having the female Saints on one side and, presumably, male Saints on the other, a similar arrangement exists on several Norfolk screens in the Dereham area.

 

Much of the character of the church today comes from it embracing, in the early years of the 20th century, Anglo-catholicism in full flood. As at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, patronage ensured that this work was carried out to the very highest specification under the eye of the young Ninian Comper. Comper is an enthusiast's enthusiast, but I think he is at his best on a small scale like here and Ryburgh. His is the extraordinary war memorial window in the south aisle chapel, dedicated to St Leonard. It depicts Christ carrying his cross on the via dolorosa, but he is aided by a soldier in WWI uniform and, behind him, a sailor. The use of blues is very striking, as is the grain on the wood of the cross which, incidentally, can also be seen to the same effect on Comper's reredos at Ryburgh.

 

Comper's other major window here is on the north side of the nave. This is a depiction of the Annunciation, although it is the figures above which are most extraordinary. They are two of the Ancient Greek sibyls, Erythrea and Cumana, who are associated with the foretelling of Christ. At the top is a stunning Holy Trinity in the East Anglian style. There are angels at the bottom, and all in all this window shows Comper at the height of his powers.

 

Stepping into the chancel, there is older glass - or, at least, what at first sight appears to be. Certainly, there are some curious roundels which are probably continental 17th century work, ironically from about the same time that Dowsing was here. They were probably acquired by collectors in the 19th century, and installed here by Victorians. The image of a woman seated among goats is curious, as though she might represent the season of spring or be an allegory of fertility, but she is usually identified as St Agnes. It is a pity this roundel has been spoiled by dripping cement or plaster. Another roundel depicts St Sebastian shot with arrows, and a third St Anthony praying to a cross in the desert. However, the images in 'medieval' glass in the east window are entirely modern, though done so well you might not know. A clue, of course, is that the main figures, St Mary Salome with the infants St James and St John on the left, and St Anne with the infant Virgin on the right, are wholly un-East Anglian in style. In fact, they are 19th century copies by Clayton & Bell of images at All Souls College, Oxford, installed here in the 1970s. I also think that the images of heads below may be modern, but the angel below St Anne is 15th century, and obviously East Anglian, as is St Stephen to the north.

 

High above, the ancient roofs with their sacred monograms are the ones that Dowsing saw, the ones that the 15th century builders gilt and painted to be beautiful to the glory of God - and, of course, to the glory of their patrons. Rich patronage survived the Reformation, and at the west end of the south aisle is the massive memorial to Sir Henry Wood, who died in 1671, eleven years after the end of the Commonwealth. It is monumental, the wreathed ox heads a severely classical motif. Wood, Mortlock tells us, was Treasurer to the Household of Queen Henrietta Maria.

 

There is so much to see in this wonderful church that, even visiting time and time again, there is always something new to see, or something old to see in a new way. It is, above all, a beautiful space, and although it no longer maintains its high Anglo-catholic worship tradition, it is is still kept in high liturgical style. It is at once a beautiful art object and a hallowed space, an organic touchstone, precious and powerful.

My custom Ultimate Machine (also known as a useless machine) built using the new Mindstorms EV3. You really have to watch the video to see what it does, otherwise it's just a pretty black box with a switch on it.

 

watch the video

 

see what's inside

 

Building instructions and the Mindstorms project file can be found on my website: www.truedimensions.com/instructions

 

The LuuMa EV3 is a bit more elaborate than the typical ultimate machine, featuring 6 different responses for turning the switch off and 2 evasive maneuvers for trying to prevent the switch from being turned on in the first place.

 

I had a blast building this one, and programming the different responses. Not to mention playing with it once it was complete. I can't wait to put it out at a show and watch people interact with it.

 

I've been pretty impressed with the EV3, although I have encountered the odd glitch or two with both the hardware and software. Hopefully these get ironed out in future updates.

 

September 2013

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When I was a boy I was travelled with my parents once in month through high Hills. The route was so long from Office place to our home approx. 10hrs. journey, sometimes due to landslide it goes to 15/20 hrs. So many times I have watched evening in Hills from Cars or Bus. That time I thought I have to sit such a place where clouds are coming from Top of the Hill to Down and light goes down and I am sitting alone and thinking something different, no crowd, no people, no disturbance, no busy life ..only alone.

My Friends, after 26 years I have found the same situation in Sachen, This capture when I have taken, I was alone, friends were busy in talking on that trekkers hut, I was sitting in a place near to the trekking route. The clouds are coming from upside of the hill to below and low light due to evening..what a coincidence!!!! I beleive sometimes what we think today may be(sometimes) it will come true in future.

I have enjoyed that evening very much. The story will continue....

 

Wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012

Thanks for your Visit, Comments,Suggestions!!!

 

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The Nikon FA is the most sophisticated member of the FM/FE series of medium compact Nikon semi-pro 35mm cameras. It was released slightly after the FE2 came to the market. It is similar to the FE/FM series in that it is built on the same chassis and is of approximately the same size and weight. However, while the FE2 was an incremental improvement over the FE with a traditional Nikon design, the FA was a test bed for two major new technologies: (1) multi-segment exposure metering (called Automatic Multi-Pattern ("AMP") in the FA, but Matrix Metering on later bodies); and (2) multiple exposure modes including Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, and Program (High and Low), known as "PASM"). The FA was developed to take advantage of the new AiS series of manual focus Nikkor lenses that supported linear aperture control and more communication with the camera body. The FA is the only Nikon camera body ever made that can support both multi-segment exposure metering and all four PASM exposure modes with manual focus Ai or better Nikkor lenses. While the Nikon F4 and F6, as well as some Nikon digital SLRs, can support multi-pattern metering with Ai or better lenses, they don't support full PASM but only Manual and Aperture Priority modes. As such, the FA offers more functionality with Ai or better lenses than any camera ever made by Nikon. The FA was in production from 1983 to 1987, after which Nikon replaced both the FE2 and FA with the N8008 (F801) and the advent of auto focus and built-in automatic film winders. Thus, the FA is important even today as both a historical landmark for Nikon, and also as an excellent choice for users of manual focus lenses when shooting film.

 

The FA was available in silver chrome and black. Although the chassis of the FA is metal like the rest of the FM/FE series, the top and bottom covers are made out of composite material. I have the silver version. On superficial inspection, the top and bottom covers almost appear to be metal and look very nice. However, if you look very closely and tap the covers, you can tell that they are not metal. Although it is somewhat disconcerting to hold a non-metallic body for the first time after having used all-metal bodies for so long in prior generations, as a practical matter, you can hardly tell the difference. Anyway, today virtually all cameras are covered in some type of composite material, so from a modern standpoint, the FA's cover material seems completely normal. My FA has been to the shop a few times for regular maintenance, but it has thankfully never experienced any breakdowns. I have heard that early samples of the FA had problems with electrical interference affecting exposure accuracy. However, Nikon quickly fixed this problem on subsequent production and also repaired defective early models under warranty. Naturally, the sophisticated functionality of the FA requires more electronic circuitry than its predecessors in the FM/FE series. Since new replacement electronic components are no longer available, should a critical part break down, your repair tech may need to cannibalize another FA sample, or else the FA might become a paperweight.

 

Just like the cameras of the related FE/FM series, the FA uses either a 3V lithium battery, two 1.55V silver oxide batteries, or two 1.5V alkalines. Quite standard for Nikon bodies of the that era. I usually prefer to just go with a single 3V lithium to enjoy the long shelf life, but of course the other two types work fine too. Even though the small batteries control both the light meter and electronic shutter (but obviously not film advance or any autofocus), they still seem to last forever. On the FA, like the FE2, the only way to check the batteries is to pull out the wind lever to turn on the camera and look through the viewfinder to see if the LCD display is activated.

 

The FA is built with a copper-aluminum-silicon (copper-silumin) alloy body, the same as the the other members of the FM/FA series, even though the top and bottom covers are composite material. I find the size and weight of the FA to be excellent, especially with wide-angle through medium telephoto Nikkor manual focus prime lenses. The body size is not too big or too small. Its size is large enough to hold securely, but still smaller than full size professional bodies like the F2AS or F3HP. It is not as small as the (mechanical) Contax S2, Pentax MX, or even the Olympus OM-3, which are considered small compact bodies and sometimes feel a bit too small to get a good grip. The FA is available with a small removable grip that screws onto the front right of the body. The grip is just the right size to catch your third and fourth fingers and makes it easy to grab the camera securely. The FA weighs in at only 625g, without lens, slightly more than the FE2's 550g, but still less than the F3HP's 715g and certainly less than later all-automatic film and digital SLRs. When holding the camera, it is easy to imagine that Nikon chose to use composite material for the top and bottom covers to keep the weight down to as close to the FE2 as possible. Of course the weight of the batteries is insignificant, compared with the multiple AA batteries or other larger batteries in future electronic bodies. You can still hang the FA with a small lens around your neck or shoulder for extended periods, but the increase in weight over the FE2 is noticeable. The FA fits great into a dedicated case, or a spongy snug-fit case, or a small camera bag with a few lenses. Like the other members of the related FM/FE series, the FA is an excellent size for travel use.

 

The FA, with its slightly increased heft, does not feel as insubstantial as the FM/FE when held without a lens attached. However, even when a lens is attached in the wide-angle to medium telephoto size range, especially those AiS Nikkor manual focus primes, the lens/camera combination still has excellent balance, with a very reasonable size and weight. Even with the composite top and bottom covers, the FA has a highly luxurious and precision feel and sound when held in your hands and used, although the sound is definitely not as pleasing as that of the FM2n or even the FE/FE2. In addition to the sound of the electronic shutter and mirror movement, there is also a mechanical sound that I guess may be attributable to the mechanism required to communicate between the camera and lenses for the PASM exposure modes. I most often use AiS primes from 20/2.8 to 200/4 and the system is wonderful to operate with all of those lenses. However, once you start getting into bigger and heavier lenses such as, for example, the 80-200/2.8, the camera feels a bit too light and out of balance. Also, on fatter lenses, you may need to use a rubber tripod filler ring to keep the lens rings from touching the tripod head.

 

Operation of the FA is really smooth. The shutter speed ring is large and has an easy to turn knurled grip, although it is not quite as tall as that on the FM2n. However, the shutter speed dial, shutter release button and exposure mode switch sit on top of a slightly raised platform that makes it a bit easier to reach those controls. The shutter speed dial on the FA, like the FE2, offers noticeably more resistance than the dial on the FE due to the more robust click stops on the FA. But still, it is easy to grab the shutter speed dial with your thumb and forefinger when the film advance lever is pulled out to turn on the camera. There is no "Auto" position on the FA's shutter speed dial. Since the FA supports all four PASM exposure modes, there is a separate switch attached to the spindle of the shutter speed dial to pick your mode. For safety purposes, a release button is still needed to turn the shutter speed dial onto M250 and B. However, on the FA, the release button is on the back of the camera just below the dial instead of in the middle of the dial itself like the FE/FE2. Actually, this position is not as convenient as the release button on the FE/FE2 because you need to use two hands to adjust the FA, whereas you can use the release button with only one hand on the FE/FE2. Like all Nikons, the film advance lever motion is amazingly smooth, although the lever is single-stroke only, unlike the levers on the F, F2 and F3. But the stroke is not very big, so a quick easy stroke quickly winds to the next frame. ASA/ISO setting is set by a ring that surrounds the rewind lever. You lift and turn the ring to set the ISO. The exposure compensation setting is located on the same ring as the ASA/ISO setting, and has a range from -2 to +2 EV in one-third stop increments, just like the FE2. Shutter speed and ISO markings are clear and easy to read. The ISO range of the FA (and also the FE/FE2) is 12 - 4000, wide enough to handle virtually all situations, though slightly narrower than the FM2n, which reaches up to 6400. The small multiple-exposure lever is still located under the film advance lever, out of the way but easy to turn when you need it. The shutter release button is located at just the right location near the front of the body. It takes a standard mechanical cable release. The shutter release button on the FA (and FE2/FM2n) is a more modern, wider design compared with the relatively narrower release on the FE. The shutter release button on the older FE seems to have a slightly shorter travel than the FE2 and FM2n, and therefore feels slightly more instantaneous. The shutter release on the FA is kind of the opposite, and you need to push it part way down to activate the exposure meter, then further down to release the shutter. (The throw of the shutter release is even further when using the mechanical shutter speed M250). I ultimately purchased a soft shutter release button to screw into the cable release socket on the shutter release button and improve the perceived responsiveness of the shutter release action. The film counter is just in front of release crank and is easy to read.

 

One of the biggest advantages of the Nikon film SLR lens mount (the "F mount") is that it is the only SLR camera mount that has stayed virtually the same from the time of the first Nikon F and Nikkormat FS/FT through to the most current small and full frame Nikon digital SLRs. Except for the requirement that relatively newer Nikon film SLRs require Ai or Ai-converted lenses, all manual focus Nikon F mount lenses can be used on autofocus bodies, and most full-frame auto-focus Nikon F mount lenses can be used on all old manual focus bodies. I don't know of any other manufacturer that can make such a claim. Thus, it is convenient to use the FA together with a modern Nikon autofocus film or digital SLR because you can often use the same lenses on both bodies (except for the newest G-type lenses). By the way, you can find lots of used manual focus Nikkor lenses. But if you want to buy your manual focus lenses new, Nikon still manufactures some of their most popular Ai-S manual focus lenses, or you can select the new Carl Zeiss manual focus prime lenses in Nikon F mount.

 

The FE and FM were the last bodies in that line to directly accept unmodified pre-Ai lenses because they included a retractable meter coupling lever. Of course, with pre-Ai lenses, you still need to use stop-down exposure metering. There are many excellent pre-Ai lenses on the market, and to use any such lenses that have not been converted to Ai, the FE and FM cameras would be a better choice than the FA, FE2 or FM2n. Alternatively, you can probably still get an independent camera technician to convert any pre-Ai lens to Ai using scavenged parts, although Nikon itself presumably long ago stopped providing such service.

 

Loading Nikkor lenses onto the FA, or any FM/FE series body, is quick and positive. Just line up the black dot on the lens with the dot on the camera body and twist the lens counter-clockwise. Of course, their is no need to line up the claw on Ai Nikkor aperture rings with an exposure meter pin on the body; this old system became obsolete after the Nikkormat FT2/EL-W generation. To remove a lens, just press the lens release button on the left front of the body and twist clockwise.

 

Of course the most unique benefit of the Nikon FA lens mount is the camera's ability to do multi-segment metering (and center-weighted metering) as well as all four PASM exposure modes with manual focus Ai lenses and better. The FA performs even better with AiS and better lenses. AiS lenses, which were released in 1981, have even better performance with the FA. According to the FA user manual, AiS lenses, when used in Program mode, provide either normal or high-speed program depending on the focal length of the lens in use. Furthermore, in Program and Shutter Priority mode, AiS lenses give uniform exposure control in any lighting situation due to their linear aperture control. One very important step to remember is that you must set the aperture on your lens to the smallest available aperture when you are in Shutter Speed Priority or Program exposure mode. If you don't do this, the camera won't have access to the full aperture range of the lens. However, even if you forget to stop down the lens, the exposure meter will attempt to compensate by adjusting the shutter speed if a proper exposure can be achieved within the available range of apertures and shutter speeds.

 

To load or unload film, twist the back opening lever counter-clockwise and put the rewind crank upwards to open the camera back. Film loading is traditional style and almost foolproof. Like many Nikon and other cameras of this generation, you need to stick the film leader into a slot on the take-up spool and insure that the sprocket in the spool engages a film perforation. In my experience, this system is slower but more reliable than that on newer Nikon bodies where you simply lay the film leader flat next to an index line. Similar to the FE2, the FA prevents you from accidentally loading the film with the exposure mode set to one of the automatic modes and ending up with very long shutter activations if you try to wind to the first frame with the lens cap on. I can't count how many times I ran into this problem on my old FE. The FA defaults to M250 until the first official frame is reached. The slight downside is that you are unable to squeeze a few extra exposures off the beginning of the role (unless you use 1/250 sec. and Sunny 16 or an external exposure meter!).

 

The focusing screens of the FM/FE Series were improved and brightened with the release of the FM2/FE2/FA. The original screens on the FE are about 1 stop dimmer than the later second generation. (Note: first and generation screens are interchangeable with exposure compensation). A slight disadvantage of the FM/FE series viewfinders is that, unlike the 100% frame coverage of a pro-level Nikon F series camera, the FA's frame coverage is only 93%. This is not unusual in a prosumer level camera, but you need to be aware that objects that are outside the field of view in the viewfinder will be captured on your film. The viewfinder contains all of the information that you need for convenient camera setting. In fact, the FA was only the second Nikon after the F3 to use an LCD readout in the viewfinder. Thus, the FA has a completely different viewfinder display compared with earlier Nikons (except the F3). The display configuration changes slightly depending on what exposure mode you are using. In Manual mode, you see the aperture setting in the ADR window, just like on other cameras in the FM/FE series. However, the selected shutter speed appears in the LCD. Also appearing in the LCD are the selected shutter speed and various combinations of the - and + symbols depending on the exposure setting. The exposure is set properly when both -+ are visible at the same time, just like on the F3. Also in Manual mode, an "M" appears just below the -+ indicators. In aperture priority mode, you see the aperture setting in the same ADR, and the automatically selected shutter speed in the LCD. The LCD displays HI or LO if the light conditions are outside the available range. In Shutter priority mode, the ADR is covered up and you see the selected shutter speed as a mechanical numerical display in the top right of the viewfinder. The LCD indicates "F" followed by the selected aperture in whole stop increments (even though the exact aperture is selected steplessly). Finally, in Program mode, the LCD displays the automatically selected shutter speed; there is no indication of the selected aperture. Note that the FA has lost the red LED that used to light up on the right side of the FE2's viewfinder when exposure compensation is set to other than "0". You will need to remind yourself to turn off exposure compensation when it is no longer needed.

 

The FA, like the FE, FE2, FM2 and FM2n exposure meters, uses a pair of silicon photodiodes (SPDs) for exposure measurement. This is the latest generation of exposure meter technology, after Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) technology in the Nikkormat FT (1965) through the FT3 (1977) and gallium-arsenide-phosphide photodiodes in the FM (1977). Silicon photodiodes provide quick response and stability, and apparently lower manufacturing cost for Nikon, compared with the prior generation. Exposure measurement range of the FA is different from the other FM/FE series cameras. In AMP metering, the EV range is 1-16, while in center-weighted metering, the EV range is a wider 1-20 at ASA/ISO 100 and with a 50mm f/1.4 lens (compared to EV 1-18 on other FM/FE series cameras). The FA is still not not as sensitive as the EV -2 to EV +17 range on the F2 Photomic AS, or the EV 0 to EV 21 range of the later Nikon F4. By the way, unlike the FE and FE2, the FA incorporates an eyepiece shutter, which can be used to keep extraneous light from affecting the SPDs when remotely using the FA in the automatic exposure modes.

 

The center of the viewfinder display, with the standard K-Type focusing screen, contains a small central horizontal split image, surrounded by a microprism donut, which is further surrounded by a large matte donut and a 12mm diameter circle. But utilizing both the split-image and microprism collar, you can manually focus on almost any subject very quickly. Turn the camera at a slight angle when focusing if necessary to find a straight line. I can't resist pointing out that with well-maintained manual focus Nikkor primes, such as AiS lenses, focusing ring operation is buttery smooth, with just the right amount of viscous resistance. With the no-slip knurled focusing rings on the AiS lenses, focusing is quick and accurate. The FA provides three different interchangeable focusing screen types for various applications. There screens are the same ones that are designed for the FE2. I never needed to use any except the standard K2-Type screen. The B2 type screen removes the split image and microprism focusing aids, while the E2 type is the same as the B2, except with horizontal and vertical etched lines. As indicated previously, FM/FE series focusing screens were improved (from the "K" series to the "K2" series) to provide a brighter viewfinder image starting with the FM2/FE2/FA generation.

 

As mentioned already, the FA is the first SLR in the world to offer a multi-segment exposure metering system. The pattern includes a segment in each of the four quadrants, as well as a central segment, for a total of five segments. The FA uses specially developed software to analyze the scene and pick the best exposure setting for the situation. The AMP system works better than mindless use of the traditional center-weighted exposure system, but is still not perfect. After all, the FA incorporated the very first version of multi-segment exposure metering software. In addition, the FA does not incorporate a mercury switch to determine whether the camera is held horizontally or vertically. Thus, for example, the FA could fail to compensate properly for a bright sky in a vertically framed photograph. An additional shortcoming of the FA's design is that it does not include an exposure lock lever. Nikon would argue that exposure lock is not needed since the newly developed AMP system is so accurate. One must be impressed with Nikon's faith in their new multi-pattern system, but it was certainly premature to remove exposure compensation in this early version of a multi-pattern system. Still, we should not be so hard on Nikon as we look back on the deficiencies of their very first "Matrix" exposure system in 1983. Although Nikon's multi-segment exposure meters and their software have steadily improved with successive generations of film and digital SLRs, the system did not reach its pinnacle until the introduction of the F5, F6 and later digital SLRs with their color matrix meters.

 

The FA can be switched from AMP exposure metering to traditional center-weighted metering by operating the Metering Control Button on the bottom right of the lens mount. Push the button in and turn clockwise to set center-weighted metering. Turn the button counterclockwise and allow it to pop out to select AMP metering. The Metering Control Button is not as convenient to operate as modern exposure metering selector switches, especially if you have wide fingers. But it works fine. As with center-weighted metering in other FM/FE series cameras, the outer circle in the viewfinder encloses the central area which carries a 60% exposure meter weight, with the area outside the circle comprising the remaining 40%. The most important thing to know about a center-weighted exposure measurement system is how it weights various areas of the viewfinder image so that you can determine how to use it in each situation. The 60/40 system works fine for most situations. It is vast improvement over the classic full-frame averaging system, which was used on a Pentax Spotmatic models, the earliest Nikkormat FT, and other cameras. For these averaging systems, if you wanted a proper exposure, you could not include a bright light or big sky in any area of the frame. Still, with the 60/40 system, you need to determine where to point the camera when manually setting the exposure. Find an areas that is representative of the subject, but which is not overly influenced by a bright light, a bright sky, a dark background, etc. Also make sure to select an area that approximates 18% gray, such as a dense area of green trees in a landscape image. If you cannot find an area that is equivalent to 18% gray that fills the 12mm circle, for example, inside the Haleakala volcano crater on Maui, HI, or a bright snowscape, then you need to compensate the exposure by appropriately changing the aperture or shutter speed in Manual mode, or by changing the exposure compensation dial in Auto mode. Note again that multi-segment metering was conceived to automatically adjust for these difficult exposure situations, although you can not rely on it 100% in this first generation AMP system.

 

Note that the contemporaneous Nikon F3HP had a different exposure metering pattern. The F3HP, with its 80/20 heavy center-weight, makes it easier to find an area that is 18% gray, without surrounding high-contrast areas influencing the exposure reading too much. The F3HP's strong center-weight was probably the better way to go to obtain accurate exposures in the days before multi-segment metering became sufficiently advanced. However, the F3HP's 80/20 weight could be difficult for amateurs to use properly if they just point and shoot. Modern Nikon bodies generally use a default 75/25 weight in their center-weight metering modes.

 

Note, by the way, that the FA did not offer spot exposure metering, but only AMP and center-weighted. The successor body to the FA, the N8008 (F801), which came out in 1988, had essentially the same exposure metering system as the FA. Finally, in 1991, the N8008s (F801s), which was an update to the N8008, added a spot metering mode, in addition to multi-segment and center-weighted metering.

 

The FA incorporates a vertical-travel, metal focal plane shutter with honeycomb titanium or, later, aluminum curtains. Shutter speed range on the FA is not as wide as that of the FE2. The FA can only operate from 1 sec. to 1/4000 sec., while the FE2 operates over an expanded 8 sec. through 1/4000 sec. Of course, like the FE and FE2, the FA's electronic shutter can select any intermediate shutter speed in Aperture Priority or Program exposure mode. In Manual and Shutter Priority mode, you can only select the standard shutter speeds that are indicated on the shutter speed dial. The FA has one mechanical shutter speed, 1/250 sec., which is a separate selection on the shutter speed dial. Given the FA's great reliability and long battery life, I have never had a need to use the 1/250 sec. mechanical shutter speed.

 

There are just a few more features that I want to mention. On the right front side of the body are located a depth-of-field preview lever and a self timer lever. Like many other cameras, you can check actual depth of field at the set aperture by pressing the depth-of-field lever. The image darkens if the lens is not set for maximum aperture, but you can get a good idea of the expected DOF with your lens/aperture combination. Actually, this lever is not really required with manual focus Nikkor lenses, because such lenses include an easy to read DOF index on the lens barrel. Many AF Nikkor lenses also have DOF index marks. The FA bodies have a mechanical self-timer with a delay of up to approximately 10 seconds. While these cameras do not have a mirror lock-up switch per se, you can simulate MLU by using the self-timer lever. When the shutter release button is pressed after the self-timer is set, the mirror swings up at the start of the timer count.

 

Finally, a hot-shoe contact is installed on top of the prism housing for flash photography. The FA supports automatic TTL flash control with a four-contact hot shoe and has the same flash capabilities as the FE2. The FA's maximum flash synch speed is 1/250 sec. This maximum synch speed is still current today. On the FA, like the FE and FE2, one of the flash contacts communicates the flash charging status to the camera and lights a red diode "ready light" in the viewfinder when the flash is ready to shoot. Of course, the FA works with any Nikon flash unit. I use my SB-24 and SB-26 and they work great.

 

In addition to the vast selection of Nikkor and third-party lenses that are available for the Nikon F mount, the FA also accepts various other useful Nikon accessories. One of the most useful is the MD-15 motor drive (and also the MD-12 and earlier MD-11). The MD-15 has the advantage that its battery can also power the camera itself, while the MD-12 and MD-11 cannot. These motor drive units allow rapid fire or remote shooting up to 3.2 frames per second. In my youth, I used to keep the MD-12 attached to my FE and carried it around much of the time. However, the MD-12 (like the MD-15) is quite heavy, especially when loaded with the eight required AA batteries. These days, it would obviously be better to use a more modern camera is you want portable and higher-speed motor drive. Other useful optional accessories (which work with all FM, FE and FA bodies) are the MF-16 data back, the DB-2 Anti-Cold Battery Pack, the DR-3 and DG-2 viewfinder eyepieces, and various eyepiece correction lenses.

  

Copyright © 2016 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.

 

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Tabitha Smith was raised in Roanoke, Virginia. Her parents divorced while she was still young and her father remarried. Her relationship with her parents was tumultuous at best, and further declined after her mutant powers manifested.

 

Her friends had already given Tabitha the nickname Boom-Boom, due to her 'highly explosive' personality. When her mutant power developed, she discovered she could create balls of explosive combustive energy.

 

During a time of high social anxiety, distrust and fear over mutants, her parents were not pleased that their daughter was a mutant who would randomly destroy things with her time-bombs. Boom-Boom's father was violently angry at the situation and, at one point, Tabitha blew up his TV dinner.

 

Enraged, he beat her and she ran away from home. She tried to make it using her powers adopted the code name “Time Bomb”.

 

Boom-Boom used her power to detonate telephone booths and vending machines to collect small change. She used the money to buy a train ticket to New York where she hoped to find a secret mutant school.

 

However, as the train passed through Washington DC it suddenly flew apart, safely placing everyone and their belongings on the floor.

 

In the confusion Boom-Boom spotted a man walking down the railroad tracks and realized that he had caused the train's peaceful destruction.

 

She joined the Beyonder as he continued his journey, thinking that he was a mutant. That night he created an instant camp site, and the two swapped life stories;

 

Boom-Boom explained how things had been difficult, but that she wasn't ready to give up like her friends who had rotted away slowly on drugs. She had devised a game to give yourself 10 points for every bad thing that happens to you.

 

Their conversation convinced the Beyonder to leave for his own dimension, and as the two hugged Boom-Boom sneaked a time-bomb down the back of his pants. It detonated after he returned to his empty dimension, but he wasn't angry for long.

 

The next day, the Beyonder found Boom-Boom hitchhiking and gave her a ride to New York. He decided to take her to Xavier's School for the Gifted in Westchester, as the X-Men's mansion was the secret mutant school she had heard rumors of.

 

However, when she arrived at the school, the combined forces of the X-Men and New Mutants attacked the Beyonder, who was bored by yet another mutant attack and drove off. Boom-Boom fled the ensuing chaos, and ended up wandering through the nearby woods alone and depressed. She called for the Beyonder, who should have been aware that his name was being mentioned.

 

When he didn't answer, Boom-Boom threatened to commit suicide. After her first bluff failed, she made a genuine attempt to commit suicide by creating the largest time-bomb she could muster. The bomb detonated, but she wasn't harmed; Boom-Boom had been saved by the Beyonder.

 

To cheer her up, he drove his car through space, where other alien life-forms recognized his power. When Boom-Boom casually pointed out that the Celestials didn't move, let alone acknowledge his power, the Beyonder flew up into space and threatened to destroy everything unless the Celestials recognized his presence.

 

The Celestials reacted at the last moment, diving to attack the Beyonder. He casually brushed them aside and returned to the boardwalk with Boom-Boom as if nothing had happened. Being confronted by gigantic aliens was scary enough, but the Beyonder's flippant attitude to destroy everything terrified Boom-Boom.

 

In an effort to calm her down, the Beyonder manipulated her body and face. At first he made her more pretty, and then he aged her into a 21 year-old.

 

However, still scared by his abundant power, Boom-Boom demanded that he return her to normal. Once they were back on Earth, Boom-Boom left the Beyonder.

 

Returning to New York City, Boom-Boom called the Avengers' hotline and warned them about the Beyonder. In a sad parting, Tabitha led him into an ambush. The heroes attacked him. Once again, she was left alone, and the Beyonder had lost his only friend.

 

Boom-Boom was still homeless and wandered around the city until she was discovered by the Vanisher. He recruited her into his gang of teen aged street thieves, the Fallen Angels, where she relished the chance to use her time-bombs as a distraction while the others would pick pockets and steal purses. The Vanisher became lazy and reaped the benefits of all their hard work.

 

Tired of his lazy attitude she called X-Factor who the public believed to be a human group of mutant hunters.

 

The Vanisher soon disappeared when Iceman & Beast arrived dressed as mutant hunters.

 

Instead of fighting the Vanisher, they found Boom-Boom who placed one of her time-bombs down the back of Iceman's shirt.

 

They chased her around town until she reached a dead-end. Although she bluffed them with a non-exploding time-bomb, they scolded her and made her cry.

 

She lamented of her broken family and having lost her only friend, the Beyonder. Although she didn't really need much training to use her powers, Iceman & Beast took her back to X-Factor to learn self-control and restraint of her powers.

 

While staying with X-Factor, Boom-Boom had a crush on Iceman. This, combined with her rowdy personality, meant that she could not resist the chance to cause trouble for either Iceman or Beast, his best friend.

 

After she, Skids & Rusty saw Cyclops talking to himself, she went to fetch Iceman & Beast. However, when they ignored her she left a time-bomb in one of Beast's experiments to get their attention. As they chased her through the building her old friend Ariel appeared through a teleportal-doorway, stealing Boom-Boom away for an adventure with her old team, the Fallen Angels.

 

There Boom-Boom met Sunspot and Warlock, who had run away from the New Mutants, and she developed a crush on Jamie Madrox even though he was still dating Siryn.

 

They lazed around their base in the Beat Street Club and feasted on stolen fast food. Soon they followed Ariel into an adventure in space, where her over-enthusiastic use of her powers landed her into trouble.

 

She was experimented on by a race of aliens who wanted to know the secret of mutation. Boom-Boom was rescued by her new friends, and helped coach Chance to use her new mutant powers. Ultimately, Boom-Boom chose to return and face the music back at X-Factor.

 

However, upon Boom-Boom's return the X-Factor complex had been attacked by 'smile-face' soldiers from The Right. She found Caliban unconscious, and stowed away on board the Right's jet where she met Rictor who had been restrained and had his powers neutralized.

 

She realized that the other kids from X-Factor would also be tied-up & powerless, so she remained hidden. Upon landing, Boom-Boom managed to follow them to the Arlington Interactive Science Museum where she would blend in with the regular school kids.

 

However, she was discovered while playing around with one of the hands-on exhibits which was secretly a mutant detector.

 

Boom-Boom managed to sneak into the Right's secret base before their soldiers located her, and used her time-bombs to remove the power inhibitor helmets from Rictor, Rusty and the other kids. However, they were soon cornered by Cameron Hodge, leaving Boom-Boom hanging onto Rictor's legs as he held on to the edge of a broken bridge.

 

Their only options were to pull themselves up and be captured again, or drop to their deaths. Rictor, who had previously been tortured by The Right, preferred to die than go through the experience all over again, but it was Boom-Boom's pleas that she didn't want to die which stopped him from committing suicide. Although Boom-Boom was imprisoned along with the other kids, they were soon rescued by the adult members of X-Factor.

 

As soon as the fight against the Right had concluded, the adults were mysteriously teleported away, leaving the kids to make a long journey back to New York.

 

When they had returned, their old home had been destroyed and replaced by Apocalypse's Ship. However, soon after the Ship repaired itself after the battle against Apocalypse and his Horsemen, the Ship began to attack anyone inside it. Artie used his telepathic based powers to lead the way into the Ship's main brain, and indicated that the Ship had been enslaved.

 

Boom-Boom used a precisely aimed time-bomb to free the Ship's mind from the bonds controlling it, allowing Ship to verbally communicate with X-Factor for the first time. The adults were then able to work in conjunction with Ship to remove the bomb that Apocalypse had left to destroy them and the Ship.

 

After that, Ship was happy for all of X-Factor and their wards to live there, and would often provide any facilities that they asked for. On one occasion Ship gave them a high net to play Volley Bomb with an over-sized dud time-bomb.

 

On another occasion, when Boom-Boom was shouting at the others for using her records as pizza trays, Ship locked the kids in their den. X-Factor's roster had been reduced to just Iceman, Cyclops and Marvel Girl.

 

While the three of them were under attack from aliens who had cloned the Avengers, they had given Ship strict instructions not to let the kids out. Boom-Boom, Rictor and Rusty had to break down each door with their powers until they could convince ship that as X-Factor were out-numbered that they needed their help.

 

The kids had the element of surprise, and quickly dispatched the Carbon Copy Avengers.

 

Boom-Boom was pleased that she easily defeated the fake Thor by throwing a time-bomb up on the replica Mjolnir as it returned to its' master.

 

During Christmas, the X-Factor kids appeared on the local news. As X-Factor had become local celebrities, many people sent in presents for X-Factor and their wards.

 

Even though it was only Christmas Eve Boom-Boom began opening presents in a materialistic frenzy. When Rictor & the others insisted that they give the presents to those who had less than they did, Boom-Boom put up a fight, but slowly relented when they agreed she could keep her new sweater.

 

She then helped the others sneak out with a trolley loaded in presents, and was ready with her time-bombs to frighten off local street thugs.

 

It wasn't until all of X-Factor's wards were separated that they gave themselves a group name; the X-Terminators. Boom-Boom, Skids & Rictor had been sent to Angel's old boarding school, but left in the middle of the night when a boy named Taki appeared in his flying car.

 

He claimed that Artie & Leech had been kidnapped by demons and wanted their help to save them. Taki adapted his flying car to be powered by Boom-Boom's time-bombs, and soon they were on their way to battle legions of demons who had been unleashed from Limbo during the Inferno.

 

On route to Manhattan the kids stopped to 'borrow' refreshments and clothes from some local stores. While Taki paid for everything, Boom-Boom gave the team a stylish new make-over.

 

However, Taki was kidnapped by Crotus and given to N'Astirh to create a machine which would enable the demon sorcerer to create faster & more complex spells.

 

As the X-Terminators flew in Taki's adapted flying machines to stop the demon, they were joined by the New Mutants.

 

The two young teams teamed well and together with the they closed the portal to Limbo and restored normality to the streets of New York. Afterwards, Boom-Boom and Rictor teamed-up with the remaining New Mutants to help save Magik from her Darkchilde destiny.

 

During the Inferno, Xavier's School for the Gifted had been destroyed leaving New Mutants homeless. They returned to X-Factor's ship in the hopes of finding a place to rest.

 

Instead, the X-Terminators had been exploring underwater and discovered an ancient horn. All the X-Terminators had taken it in turns to blow the horn, but had failed to make a noise. When it was Boom-Boom's turn, her lungs managed to blast a mighty note out of the horn.

 

Unexpectedly the horn had summoned a giant sea monster from the deep and it began to drag Ship under water. The New Mutants arrived in time to help, and with the aid of Namor they managed to destroy the giant squid. Boom-Boom found that her time-bombs moved slowly underwater, because of the resistance caused by the water.

 

However, they put her power to more effective use when Sunspot & Warlock threw them like torpedoes. Having successfully worked together for a second time, the New Mutants accepted the X-Terminators' offer to stay with them on board Ship.

 

Soon after the X-Terminators accepted an offer to join the New Mutants. For a little while they hung around on board Ship, using their powers on each other to train. Boom-Boom would throw time-bombs into the air while Cannonball flew through the obstacle course that Warlock created. Beast, Cyclops & Iceman berated her for endangering Cannonball with her time-bombs. She protested that they were duds & she knew that nothing could harm Cannonball though his blast field. Cannonball re-assured the members of X-Factor that he knew Boom-Boom would never do anything to harm him. Marvel Girl believed that Boom-Boom had matured, but Iceman was more jaded and stated that she'd found someone new to have a crush on.

 

When the New Mutants returned the infant Illyana Rasputin to her parents in Russia, Mirage & her Pegasus Brightwind were suddenly struck down by a mysterious disease.

 

They rushed her back to New York where Ship recommended that they visit Doctor Strange. Boom-Boom objected to an implication that she was too immature to talk to Doctor Strange. However, the doctor couldn't see them as he was meant to be dead.

 

She didn't believe Wong's claims and threw a time-bomb into the Sanctum Sanctorum, which was defused by the Doctor while hiding in the shadows. He observed how both Boom-Boom & Rictor were arguing, and he recognized how they were both particularly sensitive to the evil magic that was effecting Mirage.

 

Mirage regained consciousness, but was possessed by an evil fiery spirit. She attacked the local citizens and the New Mutants. With Doctor Strange's help, she was able to fight the spirit and encase herself in ice.

 

He then teleported the New Mutants to Asgard. There, Boom-Boom continued to complain about how much she hated it in Asgard. The others tried to cheer her up, but when Sunspot attempted to show off how his strength was amplified they were attacked by dwarves.

 

Boom-Boom freaked out and was unable to fight. Even though the dwarves turned out to be allies from the New Mutants previous adventure in Asgard, Boom-Boom was still unable to warm up to her new allies. When they were attacked by a troop of possessed Valkrior, Rictor had to taunt Boom-Boom into fighting by calling her a cowardly dwarf.

 

However, the New Mutants were captured by Moonstar, who couldn't fight the demonic spirit any longer. They were taken to Hela's fortress and held in a magic cell that froze their bodies like statues.

 

Despite being unable to move, Boom-Boom could still talk. Her complaints about Cannonball's leadership angered Wolfsbane who snapped back. This irritated Boom-Boom so much that she held a grudge against Wolfsbane for many weeks afterward, as she couldn't stand her attitude.

 

It also caused Boom-Boom to create a time-bomb; the cell had frozen their bodies, but not their mutant powers. Unfortunately, Boom-Boom couldn't move away from the time-bomb as it rolled underneath her and exploded.

 

She fell into the store room under their cell, where she was free to move. Boom-Boom was tempted to leave the others behind, but begrudgingly detonated the rest of the floor and freed the rest of the team.

 

As the New Mutants escaped they found Prince Hrimhari imprisoned in another cell. They quickly freed him, and fled Hela's fortress. However, they were soon divided into two teams. Boom-Boom was forced to travel Asgard with Warlock and Hrimhari.

 

The wolf-prince was often frustrated by Boom-Boom's ignorance of Asgard, and she was quick to anger when he spoke to her as if she as dumb. However, they managed to effectively work together by using his lupine strength to hurl her time-bombs at aerial enemies.

 

They received advice from the Hildy, who told them to find Tiwaz the giant sorcerer who lived in the icy wastes. Boom-Boom was knocked unconscious during a brief fight with ice giants, so when she woke in the icy lair of Tiwas she mistook him for another ice giant.

 

She threw a time-bomb at him, but he turned it into a living ice-statue of a fairy. Although Tiwaz was unable to join Boom-Boom's small team, he was kind and Boom-Boom liked him.

 

She began to see a friendlier and magical side to Asgard, and gave Tiwaz a kiss goodbye. He sent them to the hive of Queen Ula. There Boom-Boom's team saved the Warriors Three from execution and recruited Queen Ula's swarm as an army to fight Hela.

 

Boom-Boom, Hrimhari & Warlock led the combined forces of the Warriors Three, Queen Ula's swarm, Balder the Brave, and Karnilla's kingdom of living statues into battle. The other New Mutants stopped Moonstar from executing Odin while he slumbered in his Odinsleep.

 

They were rewarded with banquets, and Boom-Boom developed a crush on Fandral the Dashing. However, they soon left Asgard and returned to New York.

 

While Boom-Boom was traveling across Asgard looking for an army to fight Hela, Rictor & Wolfsbane had grown close. Wolfsbane confronted Rictor with the fact that he was attracted to Boom-Boom. He surprised her by saying that Boom-Boom's gregarious attitude was a front to hide her self-doubts.

 

Rictor confessed to Wolfsbane that Boom-Boom had saved his life (when he was ready to commit suicide instead of being captured by the Right) and therefore he wanted to save her. He had made attempts to ask Boom-Boom out in the past, but she had been oblivious to his emotions and often thought he was too childish.

 

However, Rictor & Wolfsbane had grown attracted to each other by the time the New Mutants had arrived back on Earth.

 

When Moira MacTaggert (possessed by the Shadow King) demanded that Wolfsbane should return to Muir Island immediately, Rictor tried his best to console her. Boom-Boom couldn't stand Wolfsbane's wholesome attitude, but accompanied Cannonball & Sunspot on a shopping trip to buy Wolfsbane a farewell present.

 

Boom-Boom pictures herself wearing diamond earrings, but was scared off by the prices.

 

She then found a crystal wolf figurine which seemed perfect for Wolfsbane. As they made their way home, they came across members of Freedom Force attacking a man with a cybernetic arm.

 

They rushed to his defence, but instead he started to command them in combat. Having defeated Freedom Force with Cable's help, they took him back to Ship where he convinced Moira MacTaggert to leave Wolfsbane under his command.

 

He then returned the team to the site of Xavier's School for the Gifted, where they began to live in the surviving underground complex.

 

Boom-Boom grew quickly grew jealous of Rictor's growing romance with Wolfsbane. She designed herself a sexy little dress to be her new uniform.

 

The boys all swooned over her, but Rictor was oblivious because he was too busy talking to Wolfsbane. Rictor commented that he wasn't attracted to Boom-Boom in her new outfit because she was more like a sister to him. Offended, Boom-Boom argued with Rictor until Wolfsbane calmed her down by complimenting her daring new outfit.

 

Boom-Boom continued to hold a grudge against Wolfsbane, even though Wolfsbane was unaware of it. However, Boom-Boom did care for her. When Wolfsbane's mind had been swapped with that of herself from a fantasy alternate universe, the New Mutants all thought she had gone insane.

 

Cable refused to let any medical professionals see to her, so Wolfsbane had been left to scream and cry herself to sleep. Boom-Boom would watch over her as she slept and take her food & blankets. Yet, she did object when the reality-displaced Princess Rain stopped half-way through a passionate rant to mock Boom-Boom's name.

 

Although she wouldn't openly admit it, Boom-Boom had grown protective of Wolfsbane and admired her passion.

 

On a mission to Madripoor, the New Mutants teamed up with Sunfire to fight Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Front and stop his plans to taint the world's water supplies with the deadly drug Sleet.

 

Typically, Boom-Boom was instantly attracted to Sunfire. When the team split into two, she enjoyed being included in the aerial assault team and rode on Warlock's back. Boom-Boom remained oblivious to the others when they reasoned that she had been excluded from Cable's stealthy ground team. However, the aerial team were soon apprehended despite putting up a good fight.

 

They were bound and left hanging by their wrists in a warehouse on the docks, with Warlock & Sunspot held together and Boom-Boom & Cannonball held together.

 

There, Dragoness flirted with Cannonball and kissed him before she left. Boom-Boom was outraged at how Cannonball was attracted to Dragoness. She grew angry when he commented on how good Dragoness' kiss was, that Boom-Boom spun him around and planted a kiss on him to prove she was better.

 

What she wasn't aware of was that he'd been teasing her; Cannonball had played along with Dragoness to steal the keys to their manacles, but continued his charade when Boom-Boom had over-reacted.

 

Free from their manacles, they rejoined the other New Mutants, Sunfire & Wolverine and soon destroyed the weapons and Sleet stored inside the warehouse. Afterwards, Boom-Boom and Cannonball became a couple and dated for many years to follow.

 

Under Cable's guidance the New Mutants had became more militaristic and confident in combat even without their mutant powers.

 

The X-Men were believed to be dead because of televised events in Dallas, but they soon returned to live in the mansion with the New Mutants.

 

The younger mutants resented being treated as second class citizens by their elders, and having to share their space and time with a team who had abandoned them. Boom-Boom & Rictor were among the most vocal, especially when the X-Men refused to let them train in the Danger Room giving priority to testing Storm's abilities in her child-like body.

 

While relaxing on the lawn and playing games in the summer sun, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Wolfsbane, Warlock and Storm were ambushed and kidnapped by Genoshan magistrates.

 

Storm prevented one of Boom-Boom's time-bombs from striking a magistrate, because she had recognized that he was the missing X-Man, Havok. Boom-Boom would constantly remind her of this later, while they were left powerless in prison.

 

However, by the time Cable and the X-Men reached the lawn, there was nothing left of Boom-Boom or the others. They had been transported to Genosha, stripped of their powers & clothes and were due to stand trial for the "crimes" that the X-Men had previously committed in Genosha years earlier.

 

During their imprisonment, Boom-Boom and the others offered to give their life-force to Warlock in order to keep him alive long enough for the X-Men to save them.

 

However, Cameron Hodge had joined forces with the Genoshan government and he killed Warlock in an effort to steal his shape-shifting abilities. Boom-Boom later escaped and used her training to survive on the streets of Genosha.

 

Even with Cable's training, neither Boom-Boom nor Rictor stood a chance of survival against heavily armed magistrates, but they were saved by Jubilee, Wolverine and Psylocke.

 

The two adults left the New Mutants under Jubliee's care, which aggravated Boom-Boom as her powers and personality were very similar to Jubilee's.

 

Eventually when they regained their powers they were instrumental in destroying Cameron Hodge's data banks, and therefore weakened him enough for the X-Men to gain the upper hand.

 

After the events of Hodge's X-Tinction Agenda had subsided, Wolfsbane was left on Genosha. She asked Boom-Boom to take Warlock's ashes back to America and scatter them over Cypher's grave. Boom-Boom honored the memory and death of her friend accordingly.

 

Under Cable's leadership the New Mutants had already become a more militant team. Warlock had died in Genosha and Wolfsbane was forced to stay behind. Upon their return to the school they also lost Rictor & Sunspot. However Boom-Boom stayed with Cable & Cannonball, and watched as Cable recruited newer & more aggressive members.

 

When Shatterstar arrived and attacked them, Boom-Boom begged Cable not to hit in the face. She was wary of Domino (who was Copycat in disguise), and later threatened to use her time-bombs to curl Feral's tail in self-defense. The New Mutants changed their name to X-Force. They would no longer wait for their enemies to find them, but pro-actively pursued villains; something that seemed perfect for her explosive powers.

 

The team changed its name, and so did Boom-Boom. She was called Boomer instead of Boom-Boom, and she began to wear wrist attachments that would allow her to fire her time-bombs with more accuracy at the enemy. X-Force fought Masque & the Morlocks who had teamed up with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It was during this fight that Cannonball seemed to die but had actually become an External. After this her relationship with him intensified although she was never sure what it meant to date someone who seemingly would never die.

 

However, nothing would prepare her for the confrontation against her former friends. After Stryfe shot Professor Xavier, X-Force were attacked by the newer incarnation of X-Factor, in which they had to fight their old friend Wolfsbane. Boomer was thrilled to see her again, but was shocked to see the change in Wolfsbane's once quiet demeanor into a savage and ferocious animal. Unfortunately, X-Force were defeated by their old friends, and were placed under house arrest in the Danger Room. Of all the members in X-Force, only Cannonball and Boomer were approached by the X-Men to help bring down the Mutant Liberation Front.

 

Boomer & Cannonball were again forced to fight against old friends; Rusty & Skids. The fight was bitter, and Skids broke Boomer's jaw. Afterwards the others teased her that even with her jaw wired shut, Boomer was still unable to keep quiet. Despite their banter, she still designed new colourful outfits for the rest of the team.

 

Very quickly X-Force saved Sunspot from Gideon's laboratories, after it transpired that he wasn't the fated External from the New Mutants. Rictor had joined Weapon PRIME hoping to have revenge upon Cable, which put him at odds with his old friends in X-Force. However, he soon realised that Cable was no longer with the team. Therefore both Sunspot & Rictor were reunited with their New Mutants team-mates.

 

Sadly, Rusty & Skids weren't the only New Mutants who had sided with the Mutant Liberation Front. Moonstar had returned from Asgard and joined the MLF. So when X-Force attacked, she caught them unawares. Rusty & Skids had been brainwashed by Stryfe, but Boomer was shocked that Moonstar had willingly sided with the terrorist team. It was a betrayal of trust that she carried with her for a long time afterwards.

 

X-Force met up with Cannonball's long-time ex-girlfriend Lila Cheney. Boomer had started dating Cannonball when they believed she had died when teleporting Gosamyr's monstrous family into the local sun, but she had survived and helped the team leave the custardy of the X-Men. Naturally she was jealous of Lila's fame, and was convinced that she would try to steal Cannonball back. However, Lila had a quiet word with Boomer and re-assured her that she was welcome to date Cannonball.

 

Despite Rictor's machismo attempts to seduce Boomer, she remained faithful to Cannonball. They were a tight couple, but she was kidnapped twice because of their relationship. Together with Siryn and Warpath, Boomer was kidnapped by Gideon and the Externals as they returned to Camp Verde from a shopping trip. They were bound and held on the edge of a cliff. The other members of X-Force had to come & rescue them before they drowned in the rising tide.

 

Boomer met the rest of Cannonball's family, even though life on the Guthrie family farm was very different for the city girl. It was when Cannonball was trying to get her to swim in the pond that they were suddenly attacked and kidnapped by the Upstart known as Siena Blaze. They were prizes collected in a competition organised by the Gamesmaster. They were temporarily saved by Karma, who had been collected in Madripoor. Boomer couldn't hide her jealousy at Cannonball's joy to see Karma again. However, they were also joined by Rusty, Skids & Moonstar. Although they agreed to set aside their differences to escape, the Gamesmaster saw through their plan and telepathically took control of their bodies. The combined forces of the New Warriors and X-Force were defeated by Boomer and the others, but ultimately they were saved by a gamble between Sam's little sister Paige and the Gamesmaster.

 

Soon after, Cannonball and Boomer came face-to-face with more Externals. Saul & Absalom paid a visit to the Guthrie farm to discuss Cannonball's responsibilities to the other Externals. Many of their members were dying from the Legacy Virus, and believed that he held the key to finding a cure. Boomer recalled how she had been kidnapped by them previously, so she was quick to threaten Absalom when he grew agitated. The Externals saw her as nothing more than an insect, whose life passed too quickly. Although she remained brave & defiant to them in person, she was still worried about her relationship with someone who was guaranteed to outlive her. After the Externals peacefully parted, she kissed Cannonball and told him that she loved him for the first time.

 

Cable returned to the team and moved X-Force back to the mansion to strengthen ties with the X-Men. Like the others, Boomer received a new gold & purple uniform, while Cannonball received a promotion to the X-Men. The time that the two spent away from each other began to form cracks in their relationship. Boomer began to skip missions in order to see Cannonball, but he would be forced to leave her alone in the mansion while he aided the X-Men in their next adventure. With nothing else to do, Boomer would visit Sabretooth, who had apparently been reduced to a man-sized kitten after Wolverine lobotomized him with one of his claws. She would routinely take him a bowl of milk, tell him her problems and watch over him as he rollicked in the simulated fields inside the Danger Room. When this was uncovered, her team-mates confronted her, demanding that she cease making the visits for her own safety. Despite what felt like her most rational arguments even Cannonball, Professor X & Storm all insisted that she stop her visits with immediate effect.

 

The codes to the Danger Room were changed, and with no-one else to turn to Boomer started to turn to her father for attention. She began to make telephone calls to him, but was too afraid to talk as soon as she heard his voice. Eventually she learned that her mother hadn't died but left when she was still little. Unfortunately the combined forces of Sebastian Shaw and Holocaust attacked her father's trailer. Boomer and the rest of X-Force were kidnapped, telepathically brainwashed, and trained to hunt Cable. Even though her mind was restored thanks to a telepathic stunt by Cable, Boomer's father remained hospitalized and in a critical condition.

 

Returning to the mansion, Boomer began to visit Sabretooth again. However, he had already begun to heal and he waited until her guard was down. His verbal taunts goaded her to destroying his manacles with her powers and he immediately attacked her. Despite being saved by Psylocke, Boomer saw the savage assault she received from Sabretooth. A mixture of her own naivety and the horror of the violence haunted Boomer for a long time after wards. She withdrew to her room, hidden away in the darkness, refusing to see or speak to anyone. She finally emerged from her dark cocoon after having cut her hair, and altered her uniform. Her attitude was moodier, with a more sadistic streak while fighting enemies. Her new codename to go with her new attitude was Meltdown.

 

Cable returned to the team and moved X-Force back to the mansion to strengthen ties with the X-Men. Like the others, Boomer received a new gold & purple uniform, while Cannonball received a promotion to the X-Men. The time that the two spent away from each other began to form cracks in their relationship. Boomer began to skip missions in order to see Cannonball, but he would be forced to leave her alone in the mansion while he aided the X-Men in their next adventure. With nothing else to do, Boomer would visit Sabretooth, who had apparently been reduced to a man-sized kitten after Wolverine lobotomized him with one of his claws. She would routinely take him a bowl of milk, tell him her problems and watch over him as he rollicked in the simulated fields inside the Danger Room. When this was uncovered, her team-mates confronted her, demanding that she cease making the visits for her own safety. Despite what felt like her most rational arguments even Cannonball, Professor X & Storm all insisted that she stop her visits with immediate effect.

 

No Caption Provided

The codes to the Danger Room were changed, and with no-one else to turn to Boomer started to turn to her father for attention. She began to make telephone calls to him, but was too afraid to talk as soon as she heard his voice. Eventually she learned that her mother hadn't died but left when she was still little. Unfortunately the combined forces of Sebastian Shaw and Holocaust attacked her father's trailer. Boomer and the rest of X-Force were kidnapped, telepathically brainwashed, and trained to hunt Cable. Even though her mind was restored thanks to a telepathic stunt by Cable, Boomer's father remained hospitalized and in a critical condition.

 

Returning to the mansion, Boomer began to visit Sabretooth again. However, he had already begun to heal and he waited until her guard was down. His verbal taunts goaded her to destroying his manacles with her powers and he immediately attacked her. Despite being saved by Psylocke, Boomer saw the savage assault she received from Sabretooth. A mixture of her own naivety and the horror of the violence haunted Boomer for a long time after wards. She withdrew to her room, hidden away in the darkness, refusing to see or speak to anyone. She finally emerged from her dark cocoon after having cut her hair, and altered her uniform. Her attitude was moodier, with a more sadistic streak while fighting enemies. Her new codename to go with her new attitude was Meltdown.

 

With her new change in character came added control over her powers. The time-bombs were no longer spherical, but were any malleable shape she wished for. She could even re-absorb any energy that she didn't detonate. She single-handedly defeated the Blob after he had received power enhancements, and when the team attacked a SHIELD helicarrier she detonated several explosives around the vehicle in mid air at the same time. This shattered the hull in several places simultaneously allowing the team access to the helicarrier and ultimately saved Cyclops. However,soon after she was quickly rendered unconscious and placed into stasis by Operation: Zero Tolerance's Prime Sentinels. Once rescued, Domino left the team and the others rejected new civilian identities from Cable; Meltdown in particular objected to the prospect of becoming 'Nancy Forrester'. Therefore X-Force with Dani Moonstar went on the road without any guidance.

 

However, her more severe attitude added with the reduced time she spent with her boyfriend meant her relationship with Cannonball began to suffer. While on the road with X-Force Meltdown continued to write to Cannonball. Living in close quarters with the others, she began to grow closer to Sunspot. In a letter home, she invited Cannonball to join them at the Burning Man festival. At the desert festivities she began to play with her powers in public to gain attention & applause from the crowd. Caught up in the revelry, Meltdown & Sunspot soon found themselves dancing and kissing. Although no-one saw them, they both felt guilt-ridden by the time Cannonball arrived. However, it wasn't long before he caught his best friend kissing his girlfriend, and flew away hurt and enraged. Although ashamed of what they had done Meltdown and Sunspot became a couple. This made her a particular target when the whole team has been kidnapped by Reignfire (uncovering the truth behind Sunspot's clone).

 

It was a long time before any form of reconciliation, but eventually Sam rejoined the team he had previously led. In Cable's place, X-Force took on a new leader; Pete Wisdom, a British born mutant and former Black Air agent. While Cable's teachings were aggressively militaristic, Wisdom taught the team sly skills to oppose black ops and underground organizations. It was on one such mission that the team appeared to perish in an earth shattering explosion. However, the team had faked their death.

 

Despite the devastating events known as M-Day, Meltdown was one of the mutants that retained their powers. Gradually she gave up the name and attitude of Meltdown. Calling herself Boom Boom again, she grew her hair long, and returned to being the shopaholic city girl. Boom Boom was recruited by H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) and joined NextWave. However, when she and her new team-mates discovered that H.A.T.E. was actually run by S.I.L.E.N.T. part of the Beyond Corporation. They rebelled and took off on their own, fighting U.W.M.D.s (Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction), Fin Fang Foom, Broccoli Men, killer koalas, Dirk Anger, Forbush Man, and ultimately Devil Dinosaur. During her time with NextWave, Boom Boom seems to have lost all of her military and black ops training, as her head is filled with pointless celebrity gossip. However, this brain inactivity saved the team from Forbush Man's crippling psychic attack.

 

Boom Boom was spotted in San Francisco soon after the X-Men moved there from New York. There, she insisted on verbally relieving all her troubles on to Beast, much to his chagrin. During a shopping trip, the former Chinese freedom-fighter Nuwa appeared as she was stealing from a local store. Boom Boom over-reacted and accidentally destroyed the goods on sale with a time-bomb. Without any information on Nuwa, Boom Boom was caught off-guard and sent to sleep by her opponent's mutant powers. With a little help from Beast, Boom Boom used the internet to research her opponent and (after complaining about how Nuwa had more friends on "FaceSpace" than she did) planned how to defeat her. Returning to the local fashion stores, Boom Boom soon found Nuwa. Immediately she feigned drowsiness, and appeared to fall unconscious. However, as Nuwa was leaving the scene of the crime, Boom Boom revealed that she was able to fight off the psionic sleep attack by drinking copious amounts of coffee. As Nuwa's powers no longer had any effect on Boom Boom, she was conscious and clear-headed enough to create her time-bombs and quickly defeat the Chinese mutant.

 

Some time later, Boom Boom was part of the Leper Queen's plans to undermine Bastion's control over her. Bastion had used the Leper Queen & her Sapien League to kidnap explosive mutants, injected them with the Legacy Virus, and released them. The virus would react in their mutants bodies, causing them to detonate killing thousands of innocent people. Bastion would then organise stories of mutant attacks to flood the media channels.

 

The New X-Men Surge and Hellion had been drugged, kidnapped, injected with the Legacy Virus & sent to the UN Building. However, the Leper Queen hated how Bastion controlled her & how thousands of innocent humans were dying. Therefore, when Boom Boom was drugged & kidnapped she wasn't sent to any public sites. Boom Boom was kept as bait, to lure X-Force to the Leper Queen and orchestrate their movements into killing her; an overly complex suicide bid to escape Bastion's control.

 

Boom Boom was kept sedated, tied to a chair, with the needle in her neck, ready to inject the Legacy Virus. When X-Force arrived they confronted the Leper Queen & demanded Boom Boom's instant release. However, the Leper Queen refused to let go. During the skirmish, Cyclops radioed a message to Wolverine. Cyclops had located located Cable & Hope in the future, & that mission took priority. Despite Wolverine's vehement protests & the team's valiant efforts to defeat the Leper Queen, Cyclops ordered Beast to teleport X-Force into the future.

 

Without X-Force to stop her, the Leper Queen's plan had failed. Confronted by the realisation that she would still be under Bastion's control, she began laughing maniacally. As Boom Boom slowly began to regain consciousness, the Leper Queen confessed that she was supposed to die in order for the kids to live. Her plans in ruins, the Leper Queen shot Boom Boom at point blank range in the head, seemingly killing her instantly.

 

When X-Force arrived in the future, they had remained in the same place. X-23 used her Adamantium claws to mark the concrete pavement with a large X. After defeating Stryfe & ensuring Hope's survival, X-Force began to return to the present, scattered around New York. Before removing their temporal displacement devices X-Force divided into teams to save Hellion & Surge at the UN Building, and Boom Boom in the Leper Queen's lair. X-23 returned the spot where she had carved an X into the floor and removed her time device. As she flew backwards through time, X-23 began to hear the slow groans of Boom Boom regaining consciousness and the Leper Queen's maniacal laughter. However, instead of confessing her failure, the Leper Queen was suddenly distracted by a strange noise behind her. When she turned to see what caused the noise, X-23 fell through the dimension rift and began shot the Leper Queen through the head & chest.

 

Still incapacitated by the Leper Queen's drugs, Boom Boom slowly regained consciousness. X-23 had ensured that Boom Boom wasn't executed by the Leper Queen, before falling unconscious after the exertion from the Messiah War & the ravages of time travel. Suddenly, an explosion was heard outside the Sapien League's hideout and agents of HAMMER invaded the building. Still heavily sedated, Boom Boom managed to inform the HAMMER agents that she'd been drugged. She tried to warn them about the other mutant kids who'd been primed to detonate, but the drugs in her body caused her to stumble over her words. Instead, the HAMMER agents took X-23 into custody.

 

Despite Agent Morale's reassurances that she would be taken to a hospital, Agent Young ordered there should be no witnesses to X-23's arrest. Two HAMMER agents were assigned to collect a genetic sample from Boom Boom, but one of them attempted to rape her instead. Arriving in the nick of time, Warpath showed no mercy & killed both HAMMER agents. Saved yet again & safe in her friends' arms, Boom Boom fell unconscious once more.

 

Given the chance to recuperate, Boom Boom was later dressed in an old X-Statix t-shirt and interviewed over the whereabouts of X-23. Sassy, annoyed & seemingly uncooperative, Boom Boom hated being treated like a dog. Yet she still managed to recall information she'd heard from the HAMMER agents. Her hazy recollection was enough to help track X-23, and enabled her safe extraction from the Facility.

 

After being saved from the Leper Queen, Boom Boom was evacuated from Graymalkin Industries along with the rest of the X-Men. During the Dark Avengers' attack, she was teleported to their new home; the floating island of Utopia.

 

There, Cyclops extended an invitation to all mutantkind to live peacefully on Utopia. When Madrox' X-Factor Investigations arrived, Boom Boom received an unexpected greeting from an old friend. Shatterstar hadn't seen her since they'd left X-Force. Since then, he had discovered the pleasurable experiences of intimate relationships. So when he saw Boom Boom for the first time in years, he pulled her close for a surprise kiss. As Boom Boom had been one of the first humans on Earth to appreciate Shatterstar's pretty face, she didn't object. She & Surge then spent the rest of the day hanging around Shatterstar (with Rictor following closely behind, to keep an eye on him) until X-Factor departed back to New York.

 

However, life on Utopia wasn't the peaceful utopia for mutantkind it was meant to be. Soon, the X-Men came under attack from a group of Predator X's. The X-Men rallied the forces, resources & powers. During the fight, Boom Boom had fun with her powers, letting loose for the first time in a long time. She used the propulsive force of blasting plasma away from her hands in order to create lift, temporarily defying gravity. The attacking Predators were soon defeated. Boom Boom has continued to live in relative luxury on Utopia, even during the opening events of Second Coming.

 

When the X-Men's island of Utopia came under attack from Nimrod sentinels, Boom Boom rallied to defend their home.She defended Utopia but preventing the futuristic Sentinels from invading through the subterranean tunnels. She attacked a Nimrod with the help of Sunspot, Husk and Avalanche .She managed to survive the attack, as she was later seen attending Cable's funeral after Hope Summers had defeated Bastion.

 

Boom Boom has now joined Cable's rogue X-Force team and she helped free a wanted alien from the Raft and prevented an alien fleet coming to Earth to claim the bounty. She is teamed up with Domino on a mission to prevent another disaster after managing to escape from the Avengers due to a distraction from Cable. Boom and Domino kidnap a new mutant, whose powers will manifest in a short time in the future and destroy the hospital. Boom Boom arrives to pick up Domino while simultaneously fending off the cops. Boom manages to empty a bridge they are stuck on of traffic and the kid's powers go off and they fall into the river. Domino calls a boat and they drive off safely.

 

Boom Boom is next seen with Colossus and Domino where they defeat a giant monster. Boom Boom performs the clean up of the creature, and after its defeat, the three of them regroup with Forge and Dr. Nemesis. They then break into Avengers Mansion to save Cable. She fights the Avengers as Cable is eventually rescued thanks to Hope. Boom Boom is in the new headquarters of X-Force with Forge and Dr. Nemesis. Something happens with Forge during a new neuro-sync device to warn the team of Cable's visions. Boom Boom and Nemesis discover another being is in there with them.

 

When Karma reformed the New Mutants as a corporate team to investigate paranormal events, Tabitha rejoined the team. After the establishment of Krakoa, the New Mutants became involved with the Shiar Empire. On Earth, anther team was occasionally formed, when Tabitha and Armor helped out with the rescue of Beak and Angel.

 

Tabitha's habit for changing codenames has led to allies issuing mocking comments, such as Machine Man stating she had about nine codenames and Elsa Bloodstone replying they all "sucked", or Sage telling her that she changed her codenames like others did their underwear, and including "Doctor Madame McSplode" in the list of ones Boom-Boom used during her career, which Tabitha had apparently forgotten.

 

Powers and Abilities

Boom Boom can psionically create plasma energy which often takes the form of spheres which range in size from marble to large sports balls. She can cause these balls of energy to detonate at will within a 3-10 second time period. She can also absorb the detonations if need be and is now immune to their explosive powers. She also has used wrist launchers which enable her to project her plasma energy across greater distances with explosive force.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Tabitha Smith

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First appearance: Secret Wars II #5 (Nov. 1985)

 

Created by: Jim Shooter (writer)

Al Milgrom (artist)

As Part of our visit to Rotterdam, The Netherlands in April 2016. Highly recommended.

UN paratroopers of the Special Forces Unit codenamed Task Force 219 (Alpha Unit) of the United Special Forces (USF) during the initial stages of the Outbreak. These members were formally attached to the United Armed Forces (UAF) paratrooper units prior to the Outbreak. This picture depicts a unit that was part of Task Force 219 patrolling the streets during the Outbreak

 

Task Force 219 was a codename of one of the many special forces units under the USF. also known as ‘’Alpha Unit’’ is a multinational special forces group founded before the Outbreak, they consist of various members from various special forces groups, and their main task was counter-terrorism on a global scale. However, they soon absorbed many of the remaining special forces under a single command during the Outbreak, at least what remained of these units.

 

‘’The Outbreak’’ sometimes dubbed as ‘’The Apocalypse’’ or ‘’World War Z’’ is a global outbreak of Specimen Z, an experimental virus that has spread around the globe. It spread globally in around 28 hours and caused the collapse of several nations within those hours. Resulting in mass panic and global destruction.

UN forces are fighting against the infected during a massive global zombie outbreak. Consisting of several armies from around the globe united together in accordance with a secretive UN protocol. They cooperated with the total defense against the increase of infected, which resulted in a global conflict against the infected. The UN army is considered to be the largest and most powerful faction seen in the Outbreak series so far.

 

(Dubbed as the UN Army in the Outbreak videos) They are a faction that has yet to appear in future content, despite that. The UN army already made several appearances in my brickfilms. The most notable was the Zombie Outbreak videos.

 

Their main job during the Outbreak was to evacuate the civilians out of the infected ''Hot Zone'' areas by combating the infected with various weapons in order to buy time. They were also tasked with maintaining order in and outside the Quarantine Zones as mass panic was still in progress.

This is a concept that might be explored in the future

 

Custom helmets: Brickarms/Brickizimo

Custom head: Theminifigco

Custom weapons: brickarms

Custom minifig: Eclipsegrafx

 

Link of brickfilms where the faction appears:

 

Part 1:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjqkZeMoI04

 

Part 2:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=quS1pl24RT4

 

Part 3:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UPB3kvm2tA

 

Explore #143 08/15/09

Walt Disney World, Epcot - 08/06/09

Reflecting pool outside the Universe of Energy in Future World.

Three women were sitting together drinking coffee on a lovely peaceful afternoon.

They talked about their husbands, lovers, sons and men in general.

 

They soon became bitter somehow.

They remembered the role of men in history.

 

The women remembered the thin, almost transparent layer of cultural civilization. Alcohol and group gathering and a bogeyman too often showed the ugly face of the forgotten malignancy of that angry chimpanzee underneath that layer.

As hooligans they hardly recognized their sons and men again.

 

The sons, who were second-born (the third and fourth sons aso.), had to leave the farm and home to seek their fortune and fame and a (new) empire in the world.

The woman remembered the vulnerability of their sons to ideologies and religions, their black and white thinking, their simple solutions and their intolerant and bloody "us and them", to achieve their merciless goals.

How easily they could be seduced by cynical old men, who always let the young suicide bombers go first into that promised land in the afterlife, which had not ever been seen by nobody, ever and never. ;-)

 

The desperate women thought about the wars and the rapes, mass killings, and the crusades, the Holocaust, the genocides, the general racism in this world.

They thought of the crime statistics, the severity of the crimes that have been committed by men and will be in future.

The prisoners, guards, judges and lawyers, the police and politicians, investment bankers and the tax dodgers.

They had to think about the men of religions and their misogyny.

 

They thought of the testosterone in general.

 

Or was it just a problem of the youth bulges and not religions, tribal feuds and poverty as main reasons responsible for the escalation of terrorism?

Is the oversized proportion of the male youth in the total population to blame for the deadly fights?

Do religions and ideologies only provide the necessary disinhibition to kill for the future world warrior?

Even terrorists need a justification, so that they can sleep better.

They want to kill for a "better" peaceful world, how perverse is that???

 

The list and the questions seemed endless.

 

The three women were moaning deeply, a moan so deep and old as mankind itself.

So much pain in the world!

 

The women did not have the arrogance to believe that they had considered everything, but what had occurred to them was bad enough, wasn`t it?

 

Then suddenly they had an idea, a brilliant idea they thought:

 

Fast, repeated cuts, in order to reduce the "Imaginary Heroes" to their right measurement.

 

The only infirmity of this argument was, that every son has got a mother ;-)

 

Even if it was just a daydream, men do not fall asleep too tight tonight and the nights after, the woman of the world could wake up very soon before you do ;-).

I've built these tiny, miniature castles that may be used in future photographs.

  

Textures from google.

  

Uploaded July 25th, at 5:50 PM EST.

SCOUT: “Paddy! Paddy! Paddy come quickly!”

 

PADDY: “What is it, Scout? What’s wrong!”

 

SCOUT: “Paddy! Paddy! Look, I found a funny looking egg. It must have fallen out of a nest in one of these big, tall trees. Poor egg!”

 

PADDY: *Puts paw to mouth and quietly chuckles.*

 

SCOUT: “Paddy! Why are you laughing! This is no laughing matter! The poor egg is lying on the ground without a mummy or daddy to look after it and keep the baby inside warm!”

 

PADDY: “Oh, I’m sorry Scout. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s only that that isn’t an egg, Scout.”

 

SCOUT: “It isn’t, Paddy?”

 

PADDY: “No Scout, it’s a ball.”

 

SCOUT: “A ball! Oh goody! It’s the perfect size for us! Let’s kick the ball around!” *Runs towards ball.*

 

PADDY: “Oh no, Scout!” It’s not a kicking ball it’s….”

  

SCOUT: “OUCH!” *Jumps up and down and rubs paw.* “Ouchy! Wouchie! Paddy! That ball isn’t soft at all! I hurt my little paw!” *Jumps up and down and rubs paw.*

 

PADDY: “Oh, I’m sorry Scout! I was just trying to tell you that not all balls are suitable for throwing or kicking.” *Concerned.* “This is a golf ball. Golf balls are hard balls because they get hit by a stick called a golf club.”

 

SCOUT: “Well you might have told me sooner, Paddy!” *Jumps up and down and rubs paw.* “Ouchy! Wouchie! Nasty, nasty golf ball!”

 

DADDY: “Is everything alright Paddy and Scout? I thought I heard crying!” *Concerned.*

 

SCOUT: “You did Daddy! It was me! I hurt by paw kicking that nasty old golf ball!” *Points accusingly to golf ball.* “Ouchy! Wouchie! Daddy!”

 

DADDY: “Oh poor Scout! Are you alright, Paddy?”

 

PADDY: “Yes I am, thank you Daddy. I tried to warn Scout, but I’m afraid I was too late. Sorry!”

 

DADDY: “Oh that’s alright, Paddy. You did you best, and sometimes accidents happen, don’t they Scout?”

 

SCOUT: “I don’t like this accident, I hurt my little paw!” *Jumps up and down and rubs paw.*

 

DADDY: “Well, I think I have something that will help make that hurt paw stop hurting, Scout.”

 

SCOUT: “You do, Daddy?” *Stops jumping up and down. “What is it?”

 

DADDY: “Well, It’s nearly sunset anyway, so I am going to pick you and Paddy up, so you don’t have to walk on your sore paw back to the house where we are staying. And when we get there, I am going to make us all a nice cup of tea each, and I have some chocolate for us to eat before dinner. Does that make you feel better, Scout?”

 

SCOUT: “Oh it does Daddy! Chocolate, Daddy! Chocolate!” *Licks lips with cute little pink bear tongue. “Grumbly tummy Daddy! Grumbly tummy!” *Rubs tummy vigorously.*

 

PADDY: “Oh thank you Daddy!” *Reaches up paws to be picked up.*

 

SCOUT: “Oh yes, thank you Daddy!” *Reaches up paws to be picked up.*

 

DADDY: *Picks up Paddy and Scout and cuddles them both.* “So Scout, let this be a lesson for you. Not all balls are suitable for kicking or throwing.”

 

SCOUT: “Oh you are so right, Daddy! I shall be more careful in future.” *Thinks.* “Do you know what, Daddy?”

 

DADDY: “What’s that, little Scout?”

 

SCOUT: “Being safe and carried in your arms makes my sore paw feel better already.”

 

DADDY: “Does it, Scout? Oh I am glad.”

 

SCOUT: “Me too Daddy! I love you so much!” *Snuggles against Daddy.*

 

PADDY: “I love you too, Daddy, very, very much!” *Snuggles against Scout and Daddy.*

 

DADDY: “Well that’s just as well Scout and Paddy, because I love you both too, very, very much!”

 

Paddy, Scout and I took a quick holiday to the alpine region of Victoria where I photographed the autumn colours. This includes a visit to the small township of Wandiligong which is where I photographed Paddy and Scout and the wild golf ball!

 

Being slightly colder in the alpine region, both Paddy and Scout are wearing hand knitted scarves and hats by Lorna's Lovely Looks. Paddy sports a strawberry pin and Scout insisted on wearing a Hungry Caterpillar one, which seems most appropriate. Both were gifts from a good friend who is very fond of Paddy and Scout.

 

My Paddington Bear came to live with me in London when I was two years old (many, many years ago). He was hand made by my Great Aunt and he has a chocolate coloured felt hat, the brim of which had to be pinned up by a safety pin to stop it getting in his eyes. The collar of his mackintosh is made of the same felt. He wears wellington boots made from the same red leather used to make the toggles on his mackintosh.

 

He has travelled with me across the world and he and I have had many adventures together over the years. He is a very precious member of my small family.

 

Scout was a gift to Paddy from my friend. He is a Fair Trade Bear hand knitted in Africa. His name comes from the shop my friend found him in: Scout House. He tells me that life was very different where he came from, and Paddy is helping introduce him to many new experiences. Scout catches on quickly, and has proven to be a cheeky, but very lovable member of our closely knit family.

 

Wandiligong is a town in north-eastern Victoria in the alpine region around 330 kilometres from Melbourne. Established in the 1850s as part of the Victorian Gold Rush, Wandiligong became a hub for many gold miners, including a large Chinese community. At its peak, the town was home to over two thousand inhabitants and boasted shops, churches, a public library, halls and even an hotel. Much has changed since those heady days of the gold rush, and the picturesque town nestled in a valley and built around the Morses Creek, is now a sleepy little town full of picturesque houses which are often let to visitors to the area. The whole town is registered with the National Trust of Australia for its historic landscape and buildings of historic value.

My first entry into Slight.of.brick's contest.

L to R:

Zelaji, Bringer of Ashes

Cedric "The Bull" Farrier

Zelea, Priestess of the Isles

Grundir, The Faceless One

 

Zelaji & Zelea: The twins of the Magic Isles, Zelaji and Zelea ere both trained to use magic at a very young age. Zelea, however, didn't appreciate the wanton, destructive teachings of her parents. She left shortly after reaching Om'riggor and taught herself the art of healing. She has since proved herself as a powerful healer, even rumored to have brought Grundir back from death. When she left, Zelaji was the sole pupil of his parents, and therefore became one of the most powerful wizards of the Magic Isles. His personal favorite- Incinerate enemies faster than dragonfire, giving him his title, "Bringer of Ashes."

Cedric "The Bull" Farrier: the name Cedric "The Bull" has been passed down from generation to generation, ever since Cedric the 1st fought king Leo and his knights. The current Cedric is the 10 generation of the line. Born an Outlaw, he has fought as one all his life, becoming infamous enough and rising in his clans to become a Hordechief. He currently travels with the twins Zelaji and Zelea as well as Grundir on a quest to finish what his ancestor started.

Grundir, The Faceless One: Named this because of his armor, Grundir, The Faceless One says no words nor has any facial expression. He is rumored to be a zombie after Zelea resurrected him. He is the grunt of the group, known for charging bravely yet carefully into battle.

 

Sorry for the TL;DR folks, but I really wanted to get their backstories down as i hope to use them in future LoR builds. I may improve their backstories in the future.

C&C appreciated! Enjoy!

 

P.S. Yes i went a little overboard on editing, as part of Zelea's staff was cut off. I only noticed after I finished the pic. :P

That is the time of starting his story; that is the time of his great stap to get new life. Autumn and colors of autumn is felt him like the way in future

Operations image of the week:

 

A team of researchers at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, are investigating new concepts for controlling rovers on a planet and satellites in orbit.

 

One approach is to assess the latest developments in augmented and virtual reality and how they can be applied to the stringent operational and safety requirements of spaceflight, both robotic and human.

 

“In one case, we are looking into emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, working together with colleagues from ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne,” says Mehran Sarkarati.

 

“In particular, we are developing prototypes in astronaut operations and training while identifying scenarios for interactive spacecraft and robotic control.”

 

In this image, Steffen Bamfaste, a data systems engineer, demonstrates how astronauts might train in future to extinguish a fire inside a lunar habitat.

 

Similar augmented reality technology holds promise for satellite control by means of virtual displays and advanced, integrated team communication capabilities.

 

Today, engineers must upload a stack of commands to instruct a satellite to adjust its orbit or a rover to switch one of its onboard devices on or off, for example.

 

In future, perhaps they’ll do this with a simple wave of a hand.

 

More info on the Advanced Ground Software Applications Laboratory.

 

Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

As I was driving from my home to Holland I saw this farmstand in nearby Richland . It just caught my eyes with it's delightful color and bounty. This stand boasted not only the standard fare but a number of heirloom tomatoes and onions ... just BEAUTIFUL!

 

It's a blessing to have farmers selling their locally grown produce to us at farm stands and farmers markets. Unfortunatelly my fridge was filled with vegetables already BUT I will most certainly purchase some of this bounty in future. I strongly believe purchasing locally grown foods is one of the best things we can do to keep ourselves healthy and to support local small farms. This food is simply better for us and better for the earth (just think of all the gasoline saved by not paying for trucks that have to haul the produce across country); it's much fresher and the flavors of these delicious fruits and veggies speak for themselves! ...

An alley somewhere in Dublin city.

 

Please, if you're giving this photo a low rating tell me why. That way I can improve in future.

 

For more photos follow me on twitter, on my blog or on shuttrr.

 

This is the 102nd Image in my 365 challenge.

another beastie ive been hunting, Biffa Bin Wagons are now quite common, but actually having a camera handy when there is one around has been so difficult, i think in future i shall take my camera everywhere

Sometimes I keep a flower pot with the ulterior motive, 'Maybe I can using it in future'. And sometimes it is the beginning of a long friendship

Parambikulam Tiger Reserve , a home away from home for self and currently for a larger population of Tourists visiting that Tiger Reserve after the Sanctuary is recently declared a Tiger Reserve and 'm sure this is going to be the best TR's in India in future.

 

The recent Management practices and measures taken and the easy task of taking decisions and the troubled part of Successfully implementing those ....!!!! ofcourse a real Messy thing, and Kudos to the Manager of the Reserve and support from higher ups, A dedicated Team of Forest Heads with the timely intervention from the Union Minister for Environment & Forests, Mr.Jayaram Ramesh himself, the decision makers never got it wrongly, the reserve is proving its ability to sustain and thrive the inhabitants, the most n best way they can!!

 

Immediately after the declaration of the sanctuary, the multiple sightings of Tigers with healthy cubs of various ages, proving that the Managers are doing their best to preserve n protect the species. a Litter of six, which looks too odd and unbelievable but there are supporting documentation and images - which shows the decision from those who worked behind to declare this sanctuary as Tiger Reserve has proved once again. The credits are due to the active group of dedicated force of Rangers, Foresters, Guards and the last but important, tribal task force.

 

The Managers make sure that the entry of public is restricted only to the interested lot and those who came just for a look around goes back with life time memories of the beauty around the Reserve!!

 

Zero Plastics, No domestic cattle and steps already taken and process is on the run to remove all the domestic dogs from the area, good management practises already in place and educating the public and children about the importance of such critical measures to Protect the ecosystem we share, all proved at its Best in the current scenario and again Thanks to Sanjayan Kumar IFS The current Director of the Park and his team, supported very well by the Forest Head Mr.Manoharan TM IFS, , I can say without any hesitation that this tiger reserve will flourish and GO AHEAD without doubt than any other similar Reserves in the Country.

 

Happy to see many positive energy towards better future and Zero negatives !!!!

 

Good Luck and all de Best to the Team once again.

 

Dedicating this image to the Lesser known heads of Managers and their Team around this Venture.

ICM shot I've been playing with for a while. I'm really quite pleased with this one and something ill be doing a lot more of in future.

2016, oil on canvas, 32" x 48". Image conceived from throwing of I Ching Hexagram 64 with main metaphor 'Old Fox Walking on Thin Ice' that provided perfect response to question I asked for assistance in future direction.

An der Grenze der Hochfläche des Barnim zur Niederungslandschaft Oderbruch, etwa 60 km von Berlin entfernt, überwinden Schiffe den Höhenunterschied von 36 m mit einem Fahrstuhl. Das alte Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow ist das älteste seiner Art in Deutschland, das noch in Betrieb ist, und das schon seit dem 21. März 1934. Nach einer Bauzeit von sieben Jahren und Kosten von 27,5 Millionen Reichsmark konnte so die benachbarte vierstufige Treppenschleusenanlage abgelöst werden. Der Schleusengang verkürzte sich von zwei Stunden auf 20 Minuten. Das Schiffshebewerk befördert in seinem Trog (82,5 m lang, 12 m breit und 2,50 m Wassertiefe) Schiffe innerhalb von nur fünf Minuten über eine Hubhöhe von 36 Metern innerhalb des Oder-Havel-Kanals am Rande einer Hochfläche. Mit einer Länge von 94 Metern, einer Breite von 27 Metern und einer Höhe von 52 Metern ist das bestehende Schiffshebewerk aufgrund der modernen Bauweise der heutigen Lastschiffe an seine Kapazitätsgrenze gestoßen. So entstand gleich neben dem „Alten“ seit 2008, das nach zweijährigem Probebetrieb im Oktober 2022 eingeweiht wurde. Es wird mit 133 Metern Länge und 55 Metern Höhe zukünftig auch größeren Schiffen das Passieren des Eberswalder Urstromtals ermöglichen. Sein Trog erhält eine nutzbare Länge von 115 Metern, eine Breite von 12,5 Metern und eine Trogwasser-Tiefe von 4 Metern. Wassergefüllt wiegt er 9.800 Tonnen gegenüber 4.300 Tonnen bei dem alten Schiffshebewerk, das aber parallel noch weiter betrieben wird.

 

Quellen: bad-freienwalde.de/schiffshebewerk-niederfinow/

und de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiffshebewerk_Niederfinow_Nord, beide gekürzt und leicht bearbeitet

 

On the border between the Barnim plateau and the Oderbruch lowlands, about 60 km from Berlin. ships overcome the difference in height of 36 m with a lift. The old Niederfinow Ship Lift is the oldest of its kind in Germany still in operation, and has been since 21 March 1934. After a construction period of seven years and costs of 27.5 million Reichsmarks, it replaced the neighbouring four-stage flight of locks system. The lock passage was reduced from two hours to 20 minutes. The ship lift transports ships in its caisson (82.5 metres long, 12 metres wide and 2.50 metres deep) over a lift height of 36 metres within the Oder-Havel Canal at the edge of a plateau in just five minutes. With a length of 94 metres, a width of 27 metres and a height of 52 metres, the existing ship lift has reached its capacity limit due to the modern design of today's cargo ships. This led to the construction of a new lift right next to the ‘old’ one in 2008, which was inaugurated in October 2022 after two years of trial operation. With a length of 133 metres and a height of 55 metres, it will enable even larger ships to pass through the Eberswalde glacial valley in future. Its caisson has a usable length of 115 metres, a width of 12.5 metres and a water depth of 4 metres. When filled with water, it weighs 9,800 tonnes, compared to 4,300 tonnes for the old ship lift, which will continue to operate in parallel.

 

Sources: bad-freienwalde.de/schiffshebewerk-niederfinow/

and de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiffshebewerk_Niederfinow_Nord, both abridged and slightly edited

 

To begin this series, a brief explainer: last year my parents moved from North Carolina (where I grew up) to Ohio, so I was due a visit. Meanwhile, Scottish friends were touring the USA: we agreed to meet in Chicago for a few days before onward travel. They carried on and I hopped off the 5am train in Cleveland.

 

Future visits to my family in America will now involve landing in interesting and new (to me) cities across the north, so that's exciting. Toronto and Detroit are obvious choices but I intend to widen the pool the more I visit.

 

I didn't expect to be so enamoured with Chicago. I think it's now my second favourite American city - the people are lovely, the city is absurdly clean for its size, and the public realm is inviting and feels safe. While I do wish to travel to other, closer cities in future visits, I do want to and do plan to go back again. That's unusual for me but clearly an indication of just how smitten I was with this city.

 

Two minute long exposures, two frames stitched together for a panoramic, then heavily cropped to 21:9.

 

5DSR + TSE 24L II + KF ND + CPL

  

Oil on panel, 30x40cm

 

I'm trying to get a bit looser in my painting style, so the objective here was to use thicker paint and bolder brushwork. I did have to make some sacrifices in the likeness area but hopefully in future paintings I will be able to get that back as well.

Had a lot of fun creating this one.

 

Kline Howell's thread is here: www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/discuss/7215762504789...

 

Kline's wonderful art here: www.flickr.com/photos/klinehowell/

By far, one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen in a long time - anywhere - is the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. The various layers, the stone used, and the sharp clean lines are impeccable. What's more is this beauty is surrounded by water making it all the more stunning. Unfortunately, I would have to wait until a later extended visit to go inside. In future posts, I will return to what I call the "Jewel of the Middle East," and give a more in-depth view of this gem...

 

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect I.M. Pei, the Museum is comprised of the main building with an adjacent education wing connected by a large central courtyard. The main building rises five-storeys, topped by a high domed atrium within a central tower.

 

The cream-coloured limestone captures the changes in light and shade during the day.

 

The interior is no less spectacular. The centrepiece of the atrium is a curved double staircase leading up to the first floor. Above it floats an ornate circular metal chandelier echoing the curve of the staircase.

 

An oculus, at the top of the atrium, captures and reflects patterned light within the faceted dome. The five-storey 45-metre tall window on the north side gives spectacular panoramic views across the bay.

 

The geometric patterns of the Islamic world adorn the spaces, including the ceilings of the elevators. A variety of textures and materials from wood and stone has created a unique environment for the museum’s stunning collections.

 

Doha is an incredible travel destination especially if you are wanting to visit the Middle East. There are numerous experiences in Doha and all are well worth the effort. Your number one stop should be the Museum of Islamic Art. The exhibitions and permanent displays are stunningly beautiful and fascinating. It is safe to say you'll leave full of the historical knowledge of Islam.

 

I help aspiring and established photographers get noticed so they can earn an income from photography or increase sales. My blog, Photographer’s Business Notebook is a wealth of information as is my Mark Paulda’s YouTube Channel. I also offer a variety of books, mentor services and online classes at Mark Paulda Photography Mentor

 

All images are available as Museum Quality Photographic Prints and Commercial Licensing. Feel free to contact me with any and all inquiries.

 

Follow My Once In A Lifetime Travel Experiences at Mark Paulda’s Travel Journal

I had a raffle for the chance to get yourself doodled by me! 4 winners will be turned into a kittypinkstars style doodle!

 

For a chance to win in future raffles and giveaways just head over to www.facebook.com/pages/Kittypinkstars/156141547465

and press LIKE!!

  

My lovely wife and I visited "in/future" at Ontario Place last night. Billed as a transformative art experience, there were art installations scattered around the now closed entertainment complex on the shores of Lake Ontario.

 

It was a trip down memory lane. I had many dinners in the West Island Pavilion complex after a full day with the Boy Scout Service Corps. Boy Scouts would take wheelchair patients from the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hospital and tour them through the CNE and Ontario Place.

 

It's a little sad that this once magnificent facility, a jewel opened in 1971, has become tired and neglected. Thank you to the in/future folks for opening up the area, I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

The guard around the port area is so strict. I climbed up the barbed wire fence and shot twice somehow...with a splitzer... in the heavy rain.

LOMO LC-A+/Lomography X-Pro100(X-Processed)

Venom wishes to take his revenge on Peter Parker, and begins a quest to hunt down those Peter loves, starting with Mary Jane Watson! Venom's already arrived at her house, but Spidey's swooping in now to stop his evil plans!

 

__________________

 

So here is the new Spider-man Diorama I talked about. Hopefully you enjoy it. Now this scene was partially inspired by a scene from the Spiderman N64 game released in... I believe 2000? Anyway the scene in the game you're chasing Venom around New York and fight him in a back alley, he then jumps down into the sewers where Mary Jane is being held captive. I was originally going to build sewers and a drain pipe leading down kinda thing, but I know in future I'll be doing a Batman vs Killer Croc Diorama, so I wanted to save that kinda thing for that diorama. So instead I'll just say this is inspired by that scene, and not based off it.

 

I'm planning more Marvel MOC's too btw, working on an Avengers Diorama now, you you can expect that in the near-ish future :)

 

Credit to Larry Lars for the Window design btw (www.flickr.com/photos/28192677@N06/11907061253/)

Major moves moment! I was personally invited to No.10 Downing Street today to speak about diversity in fashion with the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor for Civil Society, Samuel Kasumu. We discussed my career as an influential black fashion illustrator & designer, the hard work it has taken to get here, what I want to accomplish in the future & how I can continue to inspire/make an impact on creatives + changes I would like to see happen & how I can contribute to that. It was truly an honour to be asked for my contribution & I hope to help make a positive impact with the very productive discussion today & in future discussions. I feel like my career is taking on a new trajectory, where I am using my voice more in many powerful ways, alongside creating my art. Also, special shout out to legend Naomi Campbell for giving me personal advice before I attended. Talk about ending the year with a bang! #Major #No10 #Diversity #DiversityInFashion

Not something you often see in Derbyshire (if ever but sit to be corrected), is a bendibus in revenue-earning stage service. However, today was a trial by TM Travel who had this rather splendid privately-owned Mercedes-Benz artic on hire for one day's additional operation on route 218. With the major Christmas Fayre at Chatsworth it provided a good people mover between Sheffield via Baslow and the House. Will we see the likes of this in future, I suspect it's a matter of watch this space. By the way it is originally MA18 (BX04 MXS) with Arriva London then 5005 with Arriva Midlands and is in pretty damn good condition. Mrs.W and I enjoyed our ride to/from the House and well driven, negotiated turns with ease and felt powerful on the open road.

Ok not really relaxing as such more posing but that is my way of relaxing now days.

So the diet started this week! so far things haven't gone so well tooooo much chocolate still in the house but not for long lol.

I think I have found my best side so in future this is the only angle from which I shall be photographed.

so the new year is here and I plan to get out and about a little more a London trip is well over due as is a visit to leeds and maybe the south coast.

So if you see me say hello.

Three artificially constructed, landscaped islands were built to house the facility as well as several 'Pod' buildings suspended over the water and the Cinesphere geodesic dome IMAX theatre, the first permanent IMAX theatre. The park itself was originally conceived as an onshore exhibit, but this idea was discarded in favour of five large, architecturally unique, three-level Pods. Each Pod would be approximately 8,000 square feet (743 m²) in area, and suspended by steel cables from four large central pylons driven deep into the lake bed. These Pods would initially house various Ontario-themed exhibits in an aquatic setting somewhat similar in concept to Montreal's Expo 67 grounds. Architect: Eb Zeidler

I've just come back from Skomer where I stayed for 3 nights with a great group of photographers. I can't remember when I have laughed so much! Contrary to this image though, the weather was not kind to us. We only managed 2 afternoons of sunshine and a brief 20 minute sunrise but as you will see in future posts the weather gave us lots of drama (and a lot of wet clothes)

I must apologise to all my contacts for my lack of comments over the last month. Due to a shoulder injury, and knowing I had this trip coming up, I had to abandon the computer.