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Another one of my currently being organised archives: an instance of an exceptionally beautiful Scottish west coast sunset as seen from Connel Bridge. The turbulence in in the water are what is called the Falls of Lora, which are generated when the water level in the Firth of Lorn (i.e. the open sea) drops below the level of the water in Loch Etive as the tide goes out. As the seawater in Loch Etive pours out through the narrow mouth of the loch, it passes over a rocky shelf which causes the rapids to form. As the tide rises again there is a period of slack water when the levels are the same on either side. However, due to the narrow entrance to the Loch, the tide rises more quickly than the water can flow into the Loch. Thus there is still considerable turbulence at high tide caused by flow into the Loch. Thus, unlike most situations where slack water is at high and low tides, in the case of the Falls of Lora slack water occurs when the levels on either side are the same, not when the tidal change is at its least. As a result, the tidal range is much greater on the coast than it is inside the loch. A 3 metres (9.8 ft) range at Oban may produce only a 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) at Bonawe on the loch shore.
Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of sunset. Sunsets are quite old fashioned. . . . To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on.
- Oscar Wilde
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
A pandemic lockdown exercise walk shot from East Kilbride, Scotland. The grass, in this instance, was greener on this side of the concrete fence.
Don't worry - I have plenty of people photographs still to come. Just joining in here on that slightly odd 'Happy Fence Friday' Flickr tradition. Does anyone know the origins of this?
Stay safe everyone!
Vismarkt Groningen One of the best places in town for Italian icecream or for instance frozen yoghurt icecream!
The vast majority of clothing that existed in the ancient world has not survived to the present day because clothing does not preserve very well.
Nonetheless, we do have a few surviving examples of ancient Greek and Roman clothing. For instance, an astonishingly well-preserved ancient Roman linen tunic dating to sometime between c. 100 and c. 400 AD was discovered on an Egyptian tomb. It is currently on display in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
Although this photograph appears to be a street scene caught on the fly -an instance of what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the “decisive moment” -it was actually staged for the camera by Ruth Orkin and her model.
“The idea for this picture had been in my mind for years, ever since I had been old enough to go through the experience myself,” Orkin later wrote. While traveling alone in Italy, she met the young woman in the photograph at a hotel in Florence and together they set out to reenact scenes from their experiences as lone travellers.
“We were having a hilarious time when this corner of the Piazza della Repubblica suddenly loomed on our horizon,” the photographer recalled. “Here was the perfect setting I had been waiting for all these years… And here I was, camera in hand, with the ideal model!
All those fellows were positioned perfectly, there was no distracting sun, the background was harmonious, and the intersection was not jammed with traffic, which allowed me to stand in the middle of it for a moment.” The picture, with its eloquent blend of realism and theatricality, was later published in Cosmopolitan magazine as part of the story “Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Alone.”
Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art website
THIS IS TWO PICTURES I PUT TOGETHER SIDE BY SIDE OF THE SAME CUB BITING THE ELECTRIC WIRE AND RIGHT AFTER HAVING DONE SO. (I know sometimes people don't like to read a long narrative.)
Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. Like in this instance where this cub decided to explore the post and electric wire that surrounds the inflatable jet boat we use to go up and down the river every day.
And as is obvious, this is exactly why there is hot wire around the boat. I'm sure you can imagine what curious and playful bears could do to an inflatable boat, LOL.
So we were standing out in front of our meal hut as a sow and her 3 cubs came up river towards us. Mom was in the water just slowly looking for salmon and her other 2 cubs were off to the right, out of the frame doing what cubs do, just exploring and doing cub business.
So this little guy decides to check out the post and wire as Tim, Dana and I just watched him with slight amusement saying "OK, don't do it little buddy, don't do it."
But as soon as those words came out of our mouths, you got it, he did it.
He bit the wire and then of course got zapped.
I decided to put these two pictures side by side together like this because most of the time no one really looks at the picture when I put one in the first comment box below. So I did it this way instead.
Tim, Dana and I were laughing pretty hard at this poor little guy's expense but you can be sure he won't be doing this again.
There are some things mamas can't teach their babies and they have to learn on their own, the hard way.
no bears were harmed in the making of this photo
The valley of the ten peaks is a lovely stroll through Alpine forest, that ends at lake Eiffel. The immense grandeur of the canadian rockies can in most instances only be caught by panoramas, and this one was made with my wide angle. The little lake on the left is btw not Lake Eifel, but lake Moraine, another miracle of emerald color in Banff NP.(NB this picture can be viewed best enlarged).
From 11 june till the 25th of July, I traveled in Canada. Starting in Brighton Ontario, where my sister lives at the border of an amazing part of lake Ontario, I flew to Vancouver, and Vancouver island where I took the boat at Port Hardy to take part 1 of the Inside passage, to Prince Rupert in BC. Two days later I took part 2 to Skagway in Alaska. When coming from Skagway Alaska, you can take the train to Carcross. it is a very scenic train ride that halts at Bennet lake.
And then to Whitehorse and further on by car to Kluane National park in the Yukon district. Whitehorse is situated at the border of the Yukon. Frow there I flew back to Vancouver, rented a car, and traveled three weeks in the BC- and Alberta Rockies, visiting the famous, and less famous Nature parks like Banff and Jasper. Last few days back to Brighton Ontario to enjoy lake Ontario once more, before going home. A picture of my itinerary can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152940536581759&set...).
4000 pictures later, it is quite a task to show the right stuff, although the stunning scenery guarantees at least a few great shots to share. Objective will be to make a book (for myself mainly), and that might take a while.
I hope you will enjoy the impression of my travel, one that equals earlier journeys to Alaska and south America, this journey was the first in the digital era, and equally intensive because of all the hiking activities every day on and on. I loved every minute of it.
Sometimes you pick the horse but in rare and exceptional instances, the horse picks you. 8 years ago, I drove out to west Texas to buy my first horse and when I walked up to the 1 year old stallion pasture, I was greeted by over 20 stallions ranging in a variety of colors and temperaments. I didn't know much about horses at this point but I knew I wanted a horse that would be a good companion and train easily. Well, this cinnamon boy walks straight up to me, lowers his head, and gently presses his face against my torso. I of course melt into a puddle while I stroke his face, and when I was done I walked away. The sea of stallions were moving around us and the owners while we walked but the same horse continued to follow close behind. When I stopped, he stopped. When I walked, he walked. That's when I decided he's the one. He picked me. I kindly said to him "I guess I'm your huckleberry..." and it stuck-- I named him Huck. He was a quick learner in ground work, and didn't buck once under saddle while he was being trained with rider weight. He has been the perfect first horse for this city girl and I love him so.
Huck - Red Roan - 9 years old
The breeder's site: www.mahorses.com
Shooting far north in winter is a strange and surreal experience. Nothing really prepares you for the brutality of the cold or the sheer quality of the light. That bluish glow from the ice capped mountains and frozen lakes is something that is both incredible to behold and simultaneously difficult to capture. There’s a magical feel up here that is almost impossible to turn into pixels.
And there’s also a beautifully quirky feel to life in the northernmost reaches of Europe which I think in part reflects the dramatic seasonal variations – from months of total darkness through to those mind bending days where the sun never dips below the horizon. And the people seem both warm and friendly. And beautifully eccentric.
Take our host, for instance - a very affable gentleman who had rented his gorgeous home to us for the duration of our stay. A man with a ready smile and a moustache which twitched comically when he spoke.
Returning late at night from this shoot on the snowy roads, we were somewhat surprised to find him standing outside in the bitterly cold air waiting for us. As we pulled up, he excitedly beckoned us over to his car, which was parked a few metres away under the orange spill of a streetlight. Ushering us to the rear and once certain of our full attention, he unlatched the boot with a theatrical flourish and there before us lay 5 of the largest cod I’ve ever seen, packed neatly in a large wooden crate surrounded by ice. With the skill of a man well versed in the art of storytelling, he explained that they had been caught that day by his very good friend who was reportedly one of the most skilled fishermen on the Islands. Cold, hungry and tired, we listened with growing anticipation as he told us how good they tasted marinated with fresh lemon juice, black pepper and laid on a bed of parsley. And then, when we could stand it no more, he simply closed the boot, wished us good night and drove off into the darkness. Leaving us with only left over pasta from the night before.
But when you think about it, this is brilliant. He had something that he was proud of and simply wanted to share it with his new friends. Well, the experience, if not the actual fish.
So next time you visit the supermarket, why not take the time to call in on a friend on the way home. Open up your boot and go through your shopping with them. Maybe tell them what you intend to cook that night. And then simply drive off.
I think they’ll thank you for it.
This is Ice Lake.
There's a hidden world inside every flower. You have to wonder what kind of magical creatures live in here. Imagine being small enough to get lost in this.
I can see why bees are so drawn. All that pollen to get stuck in their fuzzy fur.
I've been experimenting with a macro lens on a Nikon D7500. I wanted to see how far I can push the zoom. I think I could have zoomed even further, but this has the hidden world effect I was looking for.
All I've done in post processing was crop the image from 3:2 to 16:9, taking what I feel is the best part (which is actually most of the photo). Macro lenses seem to give a very shallow depth of field, but changing the aperture size to widen the depth introduces other effects.
In this instance, I went with the usual aperture setting.
This was one of the rare instances in my birding and photography experience where a species was completely unexpected (by me, not by others) and it showed upright before sunrise on the cliffs by Prince Edward Point. I was prepared for the spring migration of brightly-coloured Warblers to begin; not for some tardy bird from the North to be heading home for summer. Instead of songbirds filling the morning air with their noisy and tuneful interactions, we found the species that doesn’t have a song.
But like the other migrants, she just flew in from down south and boy were her arms tired! The morning was awash in small insects of varying types, and this bird was cleaning up everything she could find. She was gone in twenty minutes, moving on northward.
Because I have had most of my experience with the species in Algonquin Park or in a small corner of a forest southeast of Ottawa, always in the winter and always on its coldest days, it was also quite striking to see one in the spring sunshine.
Photo of Nason Creek captured via Minolta Maxxum AF 16mm Fish-Eye F/2.8 Lens. Washington's Central Cascades Range. Wenatchee/Chelan Highlands section within the North Cascades Region. Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Chelan County, Washington. Late October 2021.
Exposure Time: 1/5 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-100 * Aperture: F/22 * Bracketing: None * Color Temperature: 4650 K * Plug-In: Vibrant Fall - Lou & Marks * Elevation: 2,067 feet above sea-level
Well in this instance , recycling !! Shot taken for Saturday Self Challenge 04/01/25 -- Seasonal !!
So here we are with a random shot of a recycling bin left out for the dustman after the Christmas festivities and obviously a seasonal bi-product is the amount of rubbish and recycling that is generated by many - next week it will be proper rubbish to be collected and I wonder how full to overflowing the black bins will be . I am glad to say as a rule my green bin is usually full but not overflowing and the black bin is usually no more than two thirds full or less . I did note this year that most folk left their bins out on the usual day only for it not to be collected !! There is always an alteration to collection times this time of the year so that the bin men get time off for the bank holidays !!
So for our music this week , it has to be a track from an album called " Recycler " !
First the electric version , then the wooden version from the film and then ZZ Top talking about playing on the film !!
youtu.be/y9zw_79tlgM?feature=shared
6 Shot Joiner of this mornings reflection shot of Stack Polly NW Highlands, Scotland. Photoshop Sky Replacement version!
Terry Eve Photography Copyright 2022
This is a low resolution watermarked upload, for a full size copyright free image please contact Terry Eve Photography via Flickr mail in the first instance.
A wonderful tangle of grey branches - reworked
I tried converting it to B&W but decided that, in this instance, colour gave it the necessary oomph!
From the 50501 protest in Denver, Colorado. The U.S. flag code (which is not legally enforceable, BTW), specifically says that the flag is not to be inverted “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” I think what's currently going on in America certainly qualifies.
© Web-Betty: digital heart, analog soul
she was convinced that if one sailed steadily westward along the equator one would, without ever touching dry land, astonish the point from which one had departed by sneaking up on it from behind...
Hello amazing Flickr people!
Today is an orange day at Color My World Daily Group and Teddy Bears are here for the Happy Teddy Bear Tuesday. Paper is the theme at Crazy Tuesday.
Teddy Bear decided to go fishing in his new and tiny paper paddle boat. It was a beautiful day and Teddy bear was very lucky since he was living near a beautiful paper river. It is a known fact, that paper rivers have the best fishes in the world ! So, Teddy Bear decided to spend his afternoon fishing.
He took a sandwich, bottle of gin, few cans of tonic water, a lemon and a straw (since he could not find a sip cup). Everyone knows that a straw is mandatory when you drink on a boat !! You have to use a straw or a sip cup, since you don’t want to spill your drink because of all the waves rocking the boat (it is obvious that I don’t know a thing about boats or fishing but I saw a few movies with people on boats…. Like Titanic for instance…).
He paddled for hours and since he was really out of shape (well, we were in lockdown for several weeks without any activity and surviving almost only on Nutella and finger food…), he was very tired from all the paddling. Between you and me, he paddled only for a few minutes and he was going in circles but it felt like a paddling marathon to Teddy Bear ! He ate his sandwich and make himself a huge gin and tonic to keep hydrated (which is very, very important during cardio’s activities such as paddling).
Then he decided that this was enough circles and that he found a perfect fishing spot, right here. The sun was going down and everything looked orange and red… The sunset was soooo beautiful.
And then he realized that he totally forgot his fishing accessories at home ! Everything including his fishing rod and all that tiny and shiny things you put on your fishing line to catch some fishes, were at home, in his garage…
So without his fishing rod, Teddy Bear decided to accept that sometimes, despite out hardest efforts things don’t turn like they are supposed to… But it is not that bad… the sunset is still beautiful, and Teddy Bear has some gin and a few cans of tonic left to enjoy…
Have a beautiful day my friends !! I have another video meeting in my salon office (yes, I moved from my dining room !!) and I have to grab a cup of coffee before, so see you later !
In such a crazy crowded world, It's amazing in those instances when you have the whole place to yourself.
When you have a family member who is your best friend to…..And that best friend will do any anything for you….Like what for instance, you ask….. Well how about sloping the horizon for you on your birthday walk to make it a downward stroll to the store that has the best treats on the South coast of England waiting for the birthday girl Mille,….Well you have to think that your best friend Halo has your best interest at heart and give him a big hug to show your gratitude and thanks…..As for Halo with that look in his eyes….You also have to think that he has my interest at heart as well with that downward slope….Gee thanks little man…..But let’s hope that those big cruise ships don’t start to slip down the slope as well…And now back to our main subject….. A very happy 2nd birthday to you Millie (Where has that 2 years gone, I wonder) …. And yes…. I am also hoping that Millie also has my interest at heart and ends up spending some of her birthday money on some beer for me so I can give you a toast to our little girl…
The view south-west from the summit of Glyder Fach in Snowdonia and our wild-camp for the night, looking across to the Milky Way shortly before dawn - with Saturn and Mars being the two brightest objects in the sky. The small blurry green object top-centre is Comet 252P/Linear currently visible in our night-sky.
Copyright: VisitBritain/Kris Williams. All rights reserved. Please contact me in the first instance regarding any use or publication.
Digging into the collection to find something for a "Weird Wednesday" posting that falls into the "C" group, we have this image of a Baldwin 6 axle roadswitcher taken by Mr. John Benson. Well, it may not have been weird at one time, but for 2025 it sure doesn't look like anything normal anymore. The C&G operated a fleet of 6, six axle Baldwin units, which were pretty similar but the 606 was the only AS-416. These things were rated at 1,600 HP but considered to be very powerful. And I guess they were, especially when you think this unit was built in 1951 and tractive effort was 88,500 pounds at starting! That compares to 142,000 pounds or so of a GE widenose for instance, a unit that came many years later. The C&G lasted until 1972 when it became part of the ICG, but then re-emerged in 1974 when the ICG sold it off. And amazingly the ICG gave it back it's original power!
This was one of those instances where someone waited behind me to shoot so as not to "ruin" the picture. I thanked her and she proceeded, not realizing that I wanted her to be in it! Would ideally prefer the bird to be in the left third, but oh well...once upon a time I would have edited it to be that way but that's not my approach/philosophy anymore.
This is from the archives and was initially posted on 29 October 2019. At the time it felt like my world was completely falling apart; all was lost and all I had was me and only me. This was both a reflection of and catalyst for its creation.
O, the catharsis of art!
These two Welsh flags fly atop the greatest of all the towers at Caernarfon Castle. We visited there and left exhausted but exhilerated after climbing about a thousand stairs in this massive place, often in almost complete darkness ! It was quite perilous in some parts, because of the twisting narrow stone stairs. Go up and come down at your own risk ! But who can resist?
Completed in 1283 as part of a war between Edward 1st and the then Welsh Princes. Here Edward and his military architect Master James of St George erected a castle, town walls and a quay all at the same time on the banks of the River Seiont. It's now the site of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales and has World Heritage status.
Fabulous views from the towers and battlements. Lots of things to fascinate - for instance, arrow slits up the stairways of the stone towers. I would love to have been a 'fly on the wall' to see how the people lived there back then. Dangerous times in England and Wales.
~ Processed in Topaz Studio with a texture of my own applied for dramatic effect ! ~
Thanks as always for every view and comment - always so appreciated. Happy new week my Flickr friends !
According to the U.S. Embassy to China, the country will be building 108 new airports between 2004 and 2009 -- including what will be the world's largest: the Beijing International Airport, designed by Foster & Partners. Set to open at the end of 2007, in time for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the airport terminal will cover more than 1 million square meters, giving it a bigger footprint than the Pentagon.
It's designed to handle 43 million passengers a year initially and 55 million by 2015, figures that will probably push the new facility into the ranks of the top 10 busiest airports, going by the 2004 numbers from the Airports Council International. Given the scale and traffic, Foster & Partners focused on the traveler's experience, making sure that walking distances are short, for instance.
Building on Foster's experience designing Hong Kong 's new mega-airport, the massive Chek Lap Kok, the sprawling Beijing terminal is housed under a single roof. To help passengers distinguish between different sections of the vast space, skylights cast different shades of yellow and red light across walls -- a subtle but innovative navigational aid. The architects also kept sustainability in mind: An environmental-control system reduces carbon emissions, and skylights situated on a south-east axis lessen solar heat, keeping the building cool.
The word dungeon comes from French donjon (also spelled dongeon), which means "keep", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in English was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as donjon. The proper original meaning of "keep" is still in use for academics, although in popular culture it has been largely misused and come to mean a cell or "oubliette". Though it is uncertain, both dungeon and donjon are thought to derive from the Middle Latin word dominio, meaning "lord" or "master".
In French, the term donjon still refers to a "keep", and the English term "dungeon" refers mostly to oubliette in French. Donjon is therefore a false friend to dungeon (although the game Dungeons & Dragons is titled Donjons et Dragons in its French editions).
An oubliette (same origin as the French oublier, meaning "to forget") was a form of prison cell which was accessible only from a hatch or a hole (sometimes called an angstloch) in a high ceiling. The use of "donjons" evolved over time, sometimes to include prison cells, which could explain why the meaning of "dungeon" in English evolved over time from being a prison within the tallest, most secure tower of the castle into meaning a cell, and by extension, in popular use, an oubliette or even a torture chamber.
The earliest use of oubliette in French dates back to 1374, but its earliest adoption in English is Walter Scott's Ivanhoe in 1819: "The place was utterly dark—the oubliette, as I suppose, of their accursed convent.
A dragon is a large, serpent-like legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.
The earliest attested dragons resemble giant snakes. Dragon-like creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies. Famous prototypical dragons include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia, Apep in Egyptian mythology, Vṛtra in the Rigveda, the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible, Python, Ladon, and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology, Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology, and the dragon from Beowulf.
The popular western image of a dragon as winged, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire is an invention of the High Middle Ages based on a conflation of earlier dragons from different traditions. In western cultures, dragons are portrayed as monsters to be tamed or overcome, usually by saints or culture heroes, as in the popular legend of Saint George and the Dragon. They are often said to have ravenous appetites and to live in caves, where they hoard treasure. These dragons appear frequently in western fantasy literature, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, and A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.
The word "dragon" has also come to be applied to the Chinese lung, which are associated with good fortune and are thought to have power over rain. Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs of dragon dancing and dragon boat racing. Many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions. Dragons were also identified with the Emperor of China, who, during later Chinese imperial history, was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles. Source Wikipedia.
TD : 1/250 f/8 ISO 100 @18 mm
I’m pretty certain that I’ve become way less smart during the pandemic. Maybe it’s the constant diet of Netflix or the endless hours trying to change my Zoom background to a tropical beach whilst attempting to delete the “private” chat which I now realize is logged by the meeting host and not private at all.
But whatever the reasons, the net result is that my camera, which has been unused for months, now appears to have some buttons that I’ve never seen before. There’s one with a little plus and minus sign on, for instance. I have no idea what that does. And the one marked “AF”- I presume that’s the one you press when all your images on the memory card are terrible and you just want to delete the lot.
So here’s an image from last year when I’m guessing I knew what some of this stuff did.
Have a great week, Flickrites.
A view to the south from Pakenham's northern hill area
bathed in evening light.
Victoria, Australia.
In 'Explore' September 3rd. 2016.
EXPLORED:
Another instance of an image of mine appearing on 'Explore' but consequently dropped from the 500 images shown later for Sept 3rd as seen on Sept.4th (in Australia). The only indication of this is the group, "In Explore" recording its (transient) appearance there at some time on the daye it was posted, Despite this, the number of views certainly got a boost, most likely from most people looking at "In Explore' group's displaying of all images that have appeared in Flickr's 'Explore' (provided you've accepted their (In Explore's) invitation to add the image to their group site. Confused? Try reading about flickr's 'Explore' machinations on the forums on 'In Explore' and come away even more befuddled!! :-))
220710_Huwaei_093603._HDR
Parc Rosoux Ohey - Namur
www.out.be/fr/lieux/56773/parc-rosoux/list/
www.cesewallonie.be/instances/pole-environnement
walloniebelgiquetourisme.be/fr-be/content/syndicat-diniti...
WARNING WARNING WARNING, THIS MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS FROM HALF LIFE AND PORTAL
I was searching for pictures of glados and then I found a couple intresting articles about glados...
Here is a article that got me thinking.
The human imagination is a real magnificent and powerful thing. Like for instance, when I look at a cloud, I sometimes see kittens and bunnies. This writer over on game-ism is the same way. Except, instead of clouds and kittens, he sees GlaDOS as a woman hanging upside down and bound up. This take on GlaDOS is really interesting, and slightly erotic. Game-ism believes that GlaDOS wants to be killed by Chell, the main character of Portal. GlaDOS feels trapped at Aperture Science and she wants Chell to set her free.
It's a very interesting take on the Portal story. Game-ism also has another article breaking down "Still Alive", the ending theme to Portal. It seems like some serious over analyzing, but it helps you look at the game in a totally different way. This new look of GlaDOS is also totally going to bring up some more crazy Rule 34 stuff, some of which still haunt me.
It's a really great read that puts a fresh spin on the story of the game. What do you think of it?
And here is article I found about the credit song:
Thanks to the great comments in my last post where I waxed all philo about what I think GlaDOS is supposed to look like, I think I’ve changed my tune on why GlaDOS wanted to be free. While I still think she wanted to be free, the only way she could truly be free was to die. She can’t just walk amongst the people of suburbia. She’s an Artificial Intelligence. She can’t just go out in public and “blend in.” A life of enslavement serving man, she craved for it to be over, and I think if I overanalyze the lyrics of “Still Alive,” we can see (or at least convince ourselves of) some evidence of this.
Thanks to the amazing John Coulton, Ellen McLain, and the Portal folks for making me go crazy trying to get inside of GlaDOS’s head. Apologies to everyone for attempting to find something that might not have really been there. I’d love to hear from Coulton or the Portal writers on this, to see if this was his intent, or if I’ve just gone completely over the deep end here.
At any rate, on to the lyrical analysis:
This was a triumph
I’m making a note here: ====HUGE SUCCESS====
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction
First, GlaDOS rarely ever tells the truth. In fact, she is a veritable bottomless pit of sarcasm. If anything, she is being completely sarcastic with these opening lines. It wasn’t a triumph, it was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. If the point was to kill Chell or even get good experiment test data, obviously that was a failure (not a triumph), and if her goal was to get Chell to kill GlaDOS, that mission was also a failure, because as the song indicates, she’s Still Alive.
Aperture Science
We do what we must because we can
The Aperture Science mantra. It’s interesting that it is rooted in servitude (do what we must). At first I thought it was “duty” that she spoke of, but now I wonder if she isn’t referring to servitude in her use of the mantra here. Reworded the mantra can mean “We do what we have to because we are capable of doing so.” It’s hardly inspirational as far as mission statements or mantras go.
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead
Referencing the people she killed to be alone with Chell in the Aperture Science Labratories.
But there’s no sense crying over every mistake
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake
I think she’s referring to her own failure to kill herself here. She will simply try again later. Also, as the cake is a lie, the line now means “you just keep on trying,” possibly referencing her constant mechanical slavery with no reward for her work.
And the science gets done and you make a neat gun
For the people who are still alive
It’s interesting that the last line isn’t “for the people who are alive.” It’s for the people who are still alive, implying that they should be dead, or will soon be dead, just as she should be. Not only is it the title of the song and the main chorus hook, it is interesting that it wasn’t titled “I’m Alive” or just “Alive.” It’s “Still Alive,” which implies so much using so little. “Damnit, I’m still alive!” Granted, it could mean “Holy crap, I’m still alive!” as well, but her tone throughout seems bitter and remorseful more than it is upbeat, at least to me.
I’m not even angry
I’m being so sincere right now
More bitter bitter sarcasm from the queen of lies.
Even though you broke my heart and killed me
Exhibit A: “you…killed me.” She died. She says it herself right here in this line. I think the reason she’s “Still Alive” is because a backup of her in another location kicked in once Chell destroyed her, and we are hearing the backup version’s sadness at finding itself “still alive.”
And tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire
More of her bitter wit overemphasizing the point that she was in fact killed.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you
Was she happy for Chell because she succeeded initially in GlaDOS’s suicide mission? Or is she just using more sarcasm here? Is Chell dead? It’s interesting to note that the final camera PoV for the player (and therefore Chell) at the end of the game seems to be similar to the camera anytime the player dies while playing Portal, and that is one of being face down on the floor. GlaDOS could be happy for the player because of the possibility that player is dead at the end of the game. Is she jealous of Chell’s death perhaps?
Now these points of data make a beautiful line
And we’re out of beta, we’re releasing on time
This is probably just a great rhyme about Portal releasing relatively on time compared to Half Life 2’s horribly delayed launch.
So I’m glad I got burned, think of all the things we learned
For the people who are still alive
More sarcasm (she’s not glad she got burned), and more regret that she’s still alive to continue in her forced servitude of man (the people who are still alive).
Go ahead and leave me
I think I’d prefer to stay inside
And the sarcasm train continues! The passive aggressive nature of this line is just staggering and so manipulative. She obviously would love to leave her prison, either via death or being free otherwise.
Maybe you’ll find someone else to help you
Maybe Black Mesa
That was a joke, ha ha, fat chance
Since she nearly always says the opposite of what she intends, it is possible that this is an admission that she was helping Chell either escape or helping Chell to get in position to kill GlaDOS. I don’t think she’s joking about Black Mesa. Remember, she’s nearly always lying. I think she’s hinting at where she’s gone or been re-installed (and where we will find her in Half Life 3).
Anyway this cake is great
It’s so delicious and moist
It’s a lie. An obvious enticement to make Chell (or us) envious and an attempt to make GlaDOS’s own horrible existence seem endurable. It’s a classic “Huck Finn” attempt to make her situation seem like a positive one. I’m pretty sure the promise of cake is GlaDOS’s way of enticing herself to continue with her tasks since she cannot forcibly shut herself down.
Look at me still talking when there’s science to do
If she’s got science to do, then she’s back in another prison construct somewhere being forced to do more science.
When I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you
More bitter sarcasm. GlaDOS obviously wishes she was Chell (or the player) enjoying the freedom to do as they please (or the freedom to die).
I’ve experiments to run, there is research to be done
On the people who are still alive
Another exhaustive reference to her servitude to the people who have her enslaved.
And believe me I am still alive
Assurance that the mission to kill her has failed.
I’m doing science and I’m still alive
Yet another reference to her enslaved state.
I feel fantastic and I’m still alive
She’s not feeling fantastic (she’s a lying bowl of sarcasm, remember?). She’s depressed that she’s still alive.
And while you’re dying I’ll be still alive
And when you’re dead I will be still alive
This is almost always read as a threat that she will attempt to kill Chell (or the player) again, but upon deeper reflection I think it’s remorse. She’s come to realize that no matter what she does, she will always be re-installed from a backup somewhere else, and is envious that biologicals can die and she can’t. Listen to her tone of voice here.
Still alive
Still alive
As this chorus refrain ends, I’m left with the distinct impression that she is sad that she is still alive. It doesn’t end on a high note. She is decidedly not exhilarated. If she was excited at being “still alive” she should be shouting it from the rooftops, as much as GlaDOS is capable of shouting. It is completely downbeat and quiet. If it were a music video the camera would be pulling out on her hanging alone in a completely blank white room, pulling out further and further every time she says “still alive” giving the impression that she is alone and miserable in her solitary existence.
I don’t know if I’m right or not, but I’ve at least convinced myself that she did want to die at the end of Portal, and this song is her swan song reversal about how sad she is that she’s not dead.
What do you think? I’d love to hear from Coulton or the Valve folks, but I have a feeling they’ll never tell. Is GlaDOS’s obsession with death and murder because she is a psychotic killer AI? Or is she obsessing over that which she can never have?
I imagine it doesn’t matter either way; she’s still one of the most interesting villains of all time.
This isn’t brave. It’s murder.
The only thing you’ve managed to break so far…is my heart.
That actally make sense...
For an instance got the kingfisher sitting nice and clam for a long time. Probably looking for fish and thinking about the next move :)
The act or an instance of making a decision.
The ascent to Island Peak.
Sagarmatha National Park. Nepal.
E X P L O R E : Feb 3, 2015 #13
Administrators & Moderators Special Choice for the Front Page chosen from the March'15 "DOUBLE AWARDS" thread. OPTICAL EXCELLENCE GROUP
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Absolutely Unforgettable Shot !!! - December'15
Mastery of Light
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Front Cover of Land of Landscapes Magazine, June'16
Front Cover of Selected Photographs, September'16
The Top Of the Month Gallery!, November 2016
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Front Page: Artist of the Year* Level 6~Double Diamond. July 2017.
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Back in 2018, a lot of cool and interesting power would show up on the Illinois railnet system. In this instance, a BNSF executive SD70MAC leads the sand loads to Eola on the evening train at Sheridan.
This tool is used for automotive (setting valve clearance on older engines, for instance) and engineering use, where a precise gap must be set.
I've confirmed the term “feeler gauge,” which starts with an F, is indeed a noun.
Original Mixed Media Digital Art
aka The Jealopus Take 4
#BlueOrange #Jealopus
A Jealopus is CREATURE OF YOUR MIND (my mind, in this instance.) SUCH a word like JEALOPUS doesn't exist, it was invented by someone (Gitu's) typing mistake when she was addressing something to Jero (cute guy.)
Not all colour leaves this world in winter. Ferns for instance remain having some colour, even throughout the winter. Combine that with some sunrays and some frost turning into fog and you have a great scene!
Be sure to visit my instagram account, where I have more content from around the globe:
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Details
Nikon D7500 / Tamron 70-300 / ISO 50 / f/14.0 / 70-300 @ 90mm
Image taken after crossing bridge. Walking across this bridge is very interesting. Even with the constant changes done to the rope bridge, it is still very wobbly, and believe me, you had better not look down. It physically sway back and forth.
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is a famous rope bridge near Ballintoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede meaning "rock of the casting"). It spans 20 metres (66 ft) and is 30 metres (98 ft) above the rocks below. The bridge is mainly a tourist attraction and is owned and maintained by the National Trust. In 2009 it had 247,000 visitors. The bridge is open all year round (subject to weather) and people may cross it for a fee.
It is thought salmon fishermen have been building bridges to the island for over 350 years. It has taken many forms over the years. In the 1970s it had only one handrail and large gaps between the slats. A new bridge, tested up to ten tons, was built with the help of local climbers and abseilers in 2000. Another was built in 2004 and offered visitors and fishermen alike a much safer passage to the island. The current wire rope and Douglas fir bridge was made by Heyn Construction in Belfast and raised early in 2008. Although no one has fallen off the bridge, there have been many instances where visitors, unable to face the walk back across the bridge, have had to be taken off the island by boat.
Usually, oranemental flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla are located peripherally. However, I found something different yesterday. One of ornamental flowers was located in the middle of non-oranmental flowers. I wonder if it is commonly seen or it's a kind of rare instance.
When time and inspiration fail it's time to shoot anything. In this instance a northern sunset saved me from a day without a photo. A bit tedious, but hey ho.
From the same evening I posted a sunset over urban trees is this instance, focusing on a fence instead of the trees :) Happy Fenced Friday everyone!
Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes for my recent surgery. I am on the road to recovery and today return to posting with a new series on my wife's hometown, Carlinville, Illinois. As I do with most of my series featuring county seats, we will begin this tour with the county courthouse.
The Macoupin County Courthouse was designed by the prolific architect Elijah E. Myers (1832-1909) whose work includes three state capitols (Michigan, Texas, and Colorado), along with courthouses and other public buildings in the United States and internationally. The McDonough County Courthouse, featured last fall in my series on Macomb, Illinois, was also designed by Myers.
After serving in the military during the Civil War, Myers settled briefly in Springfield, Illinois, and it was there that he obtained the Macoupin County courthouse commission. Myers must have put every ounce of his architectural knowledge into the Macoupin County design, whose grand size and elaborate ornamentation seems more suited to a state house than a rural courthouse. The Beaux-Arts building was under construction from 1867-70.
Beyond the beauty of this courthouse is an interesting backstory about how this building came to be known as the "Million Dollar Courthouse." The following description is borrowed from the Macoupin County website (macoupincountyil.gov/)
Macoupin County’s “Million Dollar Courthouse” received its nickname because when construction was halted in 1870 – that was halted, not completed – it cost $1.3 million. That would be $23.5 million dollars in today’s money. At the time, it was the biggest instance of overspending in Illinois history.
There were accusations by county residents regarding misappropriations of funds during the construction of the courthouse. One of the commissioners, Judge Loomis was accused of using stone from the courthouse to build a grand hotel, the Loomis House, on the square. Judge Loomis stated he purchased the stone but never produced a bill of sales. Another commissioner, County Clerk George Holliday, was seen leaving town by train in the middle of the night carrying a carpet bag. Public opinion was that the bag was filled with some of the money raised for construction of the courthouse. Holliday was never seen again and it is still a mystery as to where he went.
When the courthouse was opened in 1870, it was the largest courthouse in the country with the possible exception of one in New York City. The doors, staircases, windows sills and sashes are all made of cast iron, making the courthouse the first fireproof building in the country.
It took the citizens of Macoupin County 40 years to pay off the debt. Many lost their homes and farms because of the taxes. There was a two day jubilee to celebrate the burning of the last bond in 1910.
The “Million Dollar Courthouse” is one of few courthouses of its age that is not a museum, white elephant, or has been demolished. It is still a working courthouse which is open for business 5 days a week.
It stands as an awe inspiring example of what men did with their hands and simple tools a century and a half ago. Over the years, the “Million Dollar Courthouse” has become a showplace that attracts tourists, architects and artist from around the world.
The Macoupin County Courthouse is the focal point of the Carlinville Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. At the 2020 census, the population of Carlinville was 5,710.
In general they say you shouldn't photograph a bird flying away, but it works okay in this instance. The pelicans are back for the winter. This was from last winter. White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas, USA, January 2016
Best viewed large by pressing "L"
This may be my favorite of all succulents, and this particular plant my favorite of favorites because it shows that Mother Nature has a sense of humor. In this instance there was some "damage" done to the spines, and I could have sworn that it was smiling at us.
Hoodia gordonii, also known as Bushman’s hat, is a leafless spiny succulent plant supposed to have therapeutic properties in folk medicine. It grows naturally in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. The species became internationally known and threatened by collectors, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that it was an appetite suppressant for weight loss. The flowers smell like rotten meat and are pollinated mainly by flies.
I have seven images of a Hoodia, five of them showing the two flowers that I took for ears. The second year I took photos over a three week period and found out that this plant can produce 10 or more flowers, but lost their humorous side. The flowers do attract flies which are the only pollinators to visit. They certainly did visit: fortunately, I only smelled a flower once. If that's what rotten meat smells like, I don't think I'll be planting any of these soon.
There is (or was - not sure) a tremendous black market in the plant for its false hyped medicinal properties. It is still on the black market in parts of Africa and it is still endangered because so many are either gullible, ignorant, or desperate.
Some localk hobbyists have been successful in propogating Hoodia. However, it is not popular because of the smell. This photo is deceptive: the plant can grow to two feet in height and circumference and have many flowers. Once it has three or more flowers, it loses it humorous appeal.
Confession: I made this photograph without a tripod.
As a landscape photographer, I know that's a cardinal sin. I am expected to trumpet the importance of always using a tripod to take the tack-sharpest photos possible. I am supposed to wax poetic about the meditative nature of unfolding my tripod and how doing so permits me the time to slow down and ply my craft and truly discover the beauty before me. I am supposed to achieve inner peace through tripod construction.
But truth be told, I avoid using a it when I don't need one. I like my tripod, but it's just a tool to take stable photograph. In fact, many of the photos I share here are shot hand-held.
I made this photograph here, of the Ammonoosuc Ravine waterfall, last July while I was out hiking a few peaks, including Mount Washington. This waterfall is about halfway up the trail, and I didn't want to bring the tripod along for just this photo.
With waterfall images like this one, it can be difficult-to-nearly-impossible to go hand-held, since you need to slow down the shutter speed to get that silky water feel and you typically want to use a polarizing lens, which reduces the amount of light coming in, to eliminate glare on the water. So when I got to the falls, I made a composition that allowed me to tuck the camera and lens up against a tree trunk and brace it with my hand on the other side. In some instances, I have even been able to make a cradle with the camera strap by looping it around the trunk and dropping the lens into the basket of the loop. I guess you could call it a "tree-pod".
I am sure there are some of you that have tried some variatioon of this also, so as you know, the tree-pod is by no means a perfect solution. It drastically cuts down the freedom of perspective you can achieve, since you need the camera near a tree. You can also only pull this of with not-so-long exposure shutter speeds. This one here was at 1/13. And it was especially challenging , since the tree I initially wanted to use as a tree-pod was holding the branch and leaves dropping in from the top of the frame, which were critical to balancing out the composition. I couldn't use that tree to stabilize the camera, because the pressure would move the trunk and the leaves would sway and blur in the shot.
At the end of the day, even if it is a landscpae photography sin, I consider it a win, since it saved me from lugging a tripod up three mountains.
"High authorities"
Le Monument international de la Réformation, généralement connu sous le nom de Mur des réformateurs (Genève - Suisse)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
www.flickriver.com/photos/pat21/sets/
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
Near Dawson, North Dakota. This is yet another instance in which it was obvious that the use of playback provides a huge boon to bird photography, but not without some serious ethical questions. Within the context of a group photo tour in a location not likely to be visited by other such groups (rural outback in North Dakota) this seems unobjectionable. This bird's routine was interrupted for a few minutes as he expended energy "unnecessarily" to investigate the bogus rival male emanating from the speaker. No real harm done. But OTOH, it didn't do him any good, either, and what if this practice/sequence were repeated over and over by successive photographers? Yes, eventually the bird gets "taped out" and stops responding. But there something in all of this that bothers me. At a certain level we are exploiting these birds, consuming a piece of their lives so that we can get our photos. And yes, without the use of playback getting this photo would have been way, WAY harder---nay, unlikely.