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At least the 'main event' didn't disappoint !
The ever growing vegetation is making it harder to achieve the desired shot here. Much of it track side of the fence. Surely this will become an issue if not rectified. Clear views of signals for example need to be maintained for instance ?
It is with many thanks to Mr Carruthers whom I met at Mancetter for alerting me to this quick return working.
It’s November 29th, 2024. Another day, another adventure. Started my morning off heading towards Buckhannon and the A&O in hopes of finding a rare daylight run on the west end of the railroad. Unfortunately that was out of the equation by time I hit the state line with West Virginia. So I called an audible and asked around to see what else might be out there in the coal fields. I got a hit on a train showing to be on CSX’s Coleman Sub near Somerset, PA, which is a pretty difficult piece of railroad to find anything moving, just one of those lines where have to be in the right place at the right time to luck into finding anything. So without further ado, I turned the car around near Morgantown, WV and beat feet eastbound towards the small town of Berlin, to investigate further. By the time I arrived much readily visible cut of cars were already finished being loaded which admittedly had me worried. Was this the last few cars to load? I don’t see any other cars visible in the small yard there. Thankfully that turned to not be the case due to limited capacity of the small yard below the loadout, the train had to be busted into 3 cuts for each half of the train to load it all. I was always reluctant to buy a drone for the longest time. Even after purchasing it I left it sitting in the box for months, debating if I really wanted to go down this route. Eventually I started to experiment with it and it completely revolutionized how I looked at things from the ground. Without the investment into a drone in this instance, partially at this location where PBS Coal’s Cambria loadout is not one that you can even get anywhere close to without trespassing onto mine property or neighboring private property. The drone does just fine at not stepping on anybody’s toes and I come away with some stellar shots of another coal operation I’ve been trying to photograph for a long time.
Example of an older, asbestos plaster wall system on wood lath. While these plaster materials may look like any typical plaster, that's partly the point of this photo: asbestos-containing plaster might be present in any ordinary-looking plaster material; whether the plaster is troweled-on or spray-applied onto wood or metal lath, on gypsum wallboard panels, onto concrete or applied to any type of substrate. In this particular example, asbestos was found within the thicker, plaster base layer.
For a more conclusive determination about whether or not plaster contains asbestos (or any type of suspect material for that matter), multiple bulk samples of the material, including all layers of a "system", are to be properly collected by a trained, certified, and accredited ("licensed") asbestos inspector, and then tested via specialized, laboratory microscopy method(s) to determine asbestos presence or absence and its respective percentage therein. The testing can be relatively inexpensive, ranging on average between $6-to-$30 USD (or more) per sample, per layer, often depending upon required turn-around time
Another point of interest regarding the plaster system in the above example is that there are actually three layers of plaster: the bottom ("render") thick base-layer; the thin ("floating" or "setting") skim-layer, and a textured finishing layer. Each type of plaster layer, (base-coat, skim-coat, textured surfacing, etc.) has been known to contain asbestos.
The coarse, base plaster in this instance, sometimes referred to as "brown-coat" or "scratch-coat", in addition to asbestos, also contains small aggregate and animal hair fibers (likely bovine, equine, porcine, caprine, or cervine). These constituents are more visible in the inset image.
Although not in this particular case, sometimes the white, finish layer or "skim-coat" may contain asbestos. Or, even the textured finish, stucco-style spackling may contain asbestos as well.
Particular attention to different types of plasters, possibly applied in different areas, such as: mechanical rooms, boiler rooms, fan rooms, auditoriums, stages, arenas, churches/temples (or other places of worship), cafeterias, theaters, air plenums, utility areas, electrical rooms/vaults, workshops, stairwells, corridors, decorative applications, lobbies, elevator shafts, radiator shielding, instrumental-band/choir rooms, library/media centers, etc.; are all unique functional spaces that should be especially considered when evaluating the potential for differing types of plaster applications.
Further yet, ceiling plaster may contain asbestos and wall plaster may not, despite being in the same functional space and having similar appearance/texture.
Of further importance in distinguishing different types of plasters that may exist in a building is knowing the renovation history of the structure, and also if additions were constructed or patching was installed that contain plaster(s) applied at later date(s). Each plaster from differing dates of construction or patches should be assessed separately.
There are also examples of asbestos inspection surveys in multi-floor buildings where asbestos (> 1% content) was found in wall/ceiling plasters on certain floors, but not others (trace to < 1%).
Keep in mind that if asbestos (>1%) is identified in one layer of a plaster application, then the entire plaster "system" is treated as an ACM.
Additionally, don't forget about potential lead or cadmium-based paint or respirable silica dust exposure issues when dealing with older painted plaster materials during demolition or renovation activities.
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
Front Page of Optical Gallery Group ( Level 3 ), June 2015
Image of the week - Chariots of Artists, August 2015
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** 2th. Place Winner
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November'15 Portfolio
!!^Walking In Heaven ☰The Finissage☰
Absolutely Unforgettable Shot !!! - December'15
Mastery of Light
2th Place Winner
Monthly contest from Build your rainbow - PURPLE December'15
Front Cover of Land of Landscapes Magazine, June'16
Front Cover of Selected Photographs, September'16
The Top Of the Month Gallery!, November 2016
$1,000+ Faves FAVTOPGRANDMASTER Gallery Of Honour
Front Page: Artist of the Year* Level 6~Double Diamond. July 2017.
Front page of OCTOBER 2017 - Richard's Gold
Front page *LEVEL - 7 : GIVE "PEACE" A CHANCE* , August'17
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Cover of week in ☼ extraordinaire silver!. February'18
Cover of week in ☼ extraordinaire gold!. April'18
Cover Photo of La Grande Galerie' group. July'18
In honor of Thanksgiving, for whatever it's worth, I give to you the "canonical pose" for a clear shot of an entire bird. In this instance, it's a wild turkey photographed during a winter visit to Zion National Park, in Utah.
I recently published my photo column in the National Parks Traveler, and this month's subject dealt with capturing photos of birds on the fly (pun intended). I'd been doing some background searches on bird photography, and in one forum, a writer expressed the view that the best (canonical) pose for getting a totally clear bird shot was a profile shot. And, I just so happened to have one here.
I first saw this flock (aka "rafter") of wild turkeys along the park road. Then, on the day before I left the park, I happened upon this rafter of turkeys again as I was hiking Sand Bench Trail, crossing the bridge toward the Court of Patriarchs and the Virgin River. There they all were, near a park maintenance building. So, for the next hour, I had fun walking around and photographing these birds, who were totally oblivious of my presence. It was then that I also discovered that turkeys can, indeed, fly - at least, up onto a tree branch.
Despite their grizzled faces, turkeys are rather pretty and their feathers are beautiful.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
*The Palace Museum in Hong Kong*
“The architecture puts great emphasis on internal acoustic control. All of the building’s internal walls are lined with imported acoustic panels, ensuring a peaceful and harmonious environment so that visitors can really enjoy and appreciate the exhibits. The panelled façade also helps divert any external noise.
Curved, gold aluminium panels, for instance, were used for the façade, echoing the design of the museum in Beijing and creating the effect of glazed tiles.
The architects sourced as many materials from China and other parts of Asia as possible, in a bid to lower long-term operational costs and reduce the project’s overall carbon footprint and energy consumption.
For more details follow the link :
www.designandarchitecture.com/article/hong-kong-palace-mu...
"L'architecture met l'accent sur le contrôle acoustique interne. Tous les murs intérieurs du bâtiment sont revêtus de panneaux acoustiques importés, ce qui garantit un environnement paisible et harmonieux pour que les visiteurs puissent vraiment profiter des expositions et les apprécier. La façade lambrissée contribue également à atténuer les bruits extérieurs.
Des panneaux incurvés en aluminium doré ont été utilisés pour la façade, faisant écho au design du musée de Pékin et créant l'effet de tuiles vernissées.
Les architectes se sont procuré autant de matériaux que possible en Chine et dans d'autres régions d'Asie, afin de réduire les coûts d'exploitation à long terme ainsi que l'empreinte carbone et la consommation d'énergie du projet"
How amazing would it be to wake up to that view and sky! I did! Even though I had a 27 hour flight from Australia to the South America the day before when I saw this, jet lag was gone in an instance. I highly recommend staying at the Lake Pehoe Camp, Patagonia, South America.
This was the 5th time I had traveled to Bruce Peninsula in early spring, and it seems like every time I go I find something of interest to shoot. In this instance, I tried to recreate a big milky way panorama I did last year, but with new subjects and context. Luckily for me, the sky decided to cooperate, and the landscape decided to present some really interesting compositional elements for me to work with!
All in all I was really happy with how it turned out, although once again the sun was chasing me through the shoot toward the end!
Shot with a Canon 5D Mark IV, and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8. Processed in PT Gui PRO, Camera Raw and Photoshop from 28 images (two rows of 14 portrait orientation images), creating a pano of greater than 180 degrees!
Phew... it's taken me absolutely ages to hand-stitch and blend this double-image Vertorama... five weeks and two days... exactly! :)
I probably have at least a dozen unprocessed Vertoramas still hanging around in my archive... some of them are really nice... but all of them are practically unstitchable! Take this one for instance... with the stitch-line almost exactly in the middle of this image... how could I ever hope to match up all those vertical tree-trunks and side-branches!? I've already tried Photoshop's automerge option and all the pano-stitching software I own... but they all fail miserably on scenes like this!
So how did I do it? First I created a new canvas and pasted both images into it as new layers. Then I dragged the layers roughly into position and used Photoshop's distortion correction filter to bring the trees in each layer back to their vertical status. Then I made approximately eight to ten micro-rotations to each layer, and then resized the upper layer about six or seven times before everything fitted together perfectly. Then I adjusted the brightness and contrast of each layer so that I could only just make out the hard edge of the upper layer. And then finally, I used a soft eraser brush at 100% opacity to erase that hard edge.
Was it worth it? Probably not... but you know what they say... practice makes perfect.
Nikon D300, Sigma 18-200mm at 25mm, aperture of f16, with a 1/6th second exposure.
Click here to view this one large.
Click here to check out my Vertorama tutorial.
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.
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.
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
My brother in law, right up with the latest music, bought my sister a John Denver album for Christmas a few years back. Lucky she's very forgiving! Then again, he does think Wings are the greatest band ever to grace the vinyl. If I ever hear Mull of Kintyre sung badly one more time.....
Just been out trying some long exposure shots. I think this worked ok but any suggestions would be very welcome.
PS: If I ever do start actually listening to JD, please shoot me. I'm not an advocate of capital punishment, but in certain instances....
Explore September 27 2008. Thank-you
A walk in the woods turned into a productive morning, A very bright sunny day but my thoughts of going to the woods to find a composition paid off with patches of light seeping through the trees to pick out in this instance a patch of lovely Ferns. Near Storrington in Sussex.
Back in May of 2021, there was a pretty bad train derailment on the CN Champaign Subdivision. This caused trains that traditionally ran the IC mainline to take a detour and run on the CN Gilman Subdivision to Gilman. In this instance, an empty taconite train, led by a KCS SD70ACe, makes its way towards Gilman passing some classic R2 trilight signals.
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My technique is alway the same:
Three exposures -2EV, 0, +2EV and then temperature adjustement using Lightroom and layering with luminosity mask using photoshop. Removal of distracting stuff with the stamp tool or patch tool. High pass filter to enhance details. Then saturation, contrast selectively control, dodge and burn where need...
DRI stand for Dynamic Range Increase. Three RAW files are used to achieve this. Rather than using a software like Photomatix for instance, I simply use mask to blend, my own way, the light, dark and normal shot with Photoshop and Lightroom.. To me, It looks more natural than the usual HDR treatment that I would normally applied.
Merci pour les visites, commentaires, récompenses, invitations et favoris. S.V.P. n'utilisez pas mes images sur des sites web, blogs ou autres médias sans ma permission.
Merci!
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Ma technique est toujours la même:
Trois prises de vue -2EV, 0, +2EV. Ensuite ajustement de la température de couleur avec Lightroom et usage de calques et masques de luminosités avec Photoshop. Retrait d'éléments de distraction avec l'outil tampon. Filtre High pass pour le rehaussement des détails. Ensuite saturation et contraste ajustés de façon sélectives et locales. Dodge and burn là où requis...
DRI vient de l'anglais Dynmic Range Increase, qui pourrait se traduire par étendue dynamique améliorée. Les même 3 fichiers RAW entrent dans la composition d'un DRI. Plutôt que de se servir d'un logiciel comme Photomatix qui fait tout le travail, je me sers plutôt de masques pour filtrer l'éclairage dans photoshop et Lightroom. De mon point de vue, cette façon de faire donne une image plus naturel que le traitement HDR que j'employais auparavant.
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My GETTY IMAGES work
“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
"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."
Although this wharf on the Trent ,Beckingham side, is not serviced by any river traffic nowadays ,still good business made using road links . Scunthorpe Steel works and small special steel works remain on their books for tungsten steel ,and the like ,brought over from the Balkans for instance.
n autumn and winter, when insect prey becomes scarcer, great tits add berries and seeds to their diet. Seeds and fruit usually come from deciduous trees and shrubs, like for instance the seeds of beech and hazel.Originally a woodland bird, the Great Tit has adapted to man made habitats very well and will regularly be seen in our gardens of bird feeders. With an acrobatic nature, you may also see these small birds hopping between branches or hanging upside down to feed in our gardens.
It's interesting how scarcity alters the perception. For instance, I happen to think that the magpie (Pica pica) is one of the absolutely most beautiful birds we have in Sweden with that high contrast white and black plumage and a metallic green shimmer hiding in the black parts - but since it's an extremely common bird, people seem to rarely notice its beauty.
This here is a bee beetle (Trichius fasciatus) which if not common, at least not rare around these parts. I posted a shot of one of these several years back and got an impressed comment from someone in the UK as I in his eyes had shot an extremely rare beetle - as it is much more scarce in the UK than here.
This of course works both ways as there are loads of cool UK bugs that would be awesome to come across up here.
This particular bee beetle was enjoying pollen on a tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) near the boat pier at Lillsved in the northern part of the peninsula of Värmdö, just east of Stockholm, Sweden.
Over this summer the Hungarian State Railways have been testing a new revolutionary solution for diesel locomotives to reduce carbon emission.
The system is called NatuRail™ and can be retrofitted to any diesel engine: Here for instance it is running inside a 1978 class M41 on the UltraECO setting, making the red beast spit out hay bales instead of the ugly CO2.
So jokes aside, this is rerouted IC #12182, slowly reaching Hidasnémeti station where the engine will be swapped for a ZSSK electric locomotive to bring the train to its final destination, Kosice in Slovakia.
A disused factory is keeping the vandals busy. The saying, "the devil finds work for idle hands" seems apt in this instance. It isn't a quote from the Bible, but there's perhaps a grain of truth in it.
We all have a fallen, sinful nature. Whilst I am sure that, at times, the devil is only too willing to capitalise on that fact, we really don't need to blame the devil for inspiring our bad behaviour.
You and I might never have been tempted to break windows and spray-paint the walls of someone else's building, but, when left to our own devices, we often tend towards selfish, indulgent and destructive behaviour.
If we are honest, I think we can admit that we rarely live up to the standards we set for ourselves, nor the standards we expect of others. How much less, then, do we measure up against the standards God has set?
Romans 3:23 says: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Now, if your property was the target of vandalism, I'm sure you would like to see the perpetrators caught and punished. If there were any justice in the world they would be. Well, God is just. And He has promised a final judgement for all of us:
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
On judgement day, none of us will be able to claim that we measure up to God's standards. Let's face it, we don't even live up to our own!
Whether we realise it or not, we are all 'guilty as charged' in God's courtroom and awaiting sentencing. Justice demands punishment, but God has already paid the penalty. He has made it possible for us to have our 'charge sheet' wiped clean:
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
We cannot pay for a life of rebellion towards God, but we can exercise "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21) in order to accept God's gift of forgiveness.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
Our daughter has been accepted into all of the schools she applied too, the closest one is 5 hours away. We went to visit the school , she really likes it there. She was so excited she took off and left me..........................she didn't even look back
sigh...........
There's quite a few instances where GP40TCs led trains 29 & 30, the Capitol Limited during the early 1990s. Witness #193 leading 29 at 4:47pm on September 13th 1992. AD Saleker took this shot at Washington Grove, MD. This same pair of engines led #30 which came east earlier that day, of which I have the companion AD Saleker shot taken at Metropolitan Grove. JL Sessa collection.
Photographing a poppy flower is quite a challenge, the slightest breeze makes them hard to photograph. In this instance I found poppies growing in front of a metal barrier creating a grey background instead of the usual green or blue.
22 juni 2019
A dolmen or cromlech is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (4000–3000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting dolmens are trash
stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone "skeleton" of the mound intact.
It remains unclear when, why and by whom the earliest dolmens were made. The oldest known are found in Western Europe, dating from c 7,000 years ago. Archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens, which makes it difficult to know why they did it. They are generally all regarded as tombs or burial chambers, despite the absence of clear evidence for this. Human remains, sometimes accompanied by artefacts, have been found in or close to the dolmens which could be scientifically dated using radiocarbon dating. However, it has been impossible to prove that these remains date from the time when the stones were originally set in place.
The Court of the Myrtles is the central part of the Comares Palace inside the Alhambra palace complex in Granada, Spain. It is located east of the Mexuar and west of the Palace of the Lions. It was begun by the Nasrid sultan Isma'il I in the early 14th century and significantly modified by his successors Yusuf I and Muhammad V later in the same century. In addition to the Court of the Myrtles, the palace's most important element is Hall of Ambassadors , the sultan's throne hall and one of the most impressive chambers in the Alhambra.
The name of the Palace, Comares, has led to various etymological research. For instance, Diego de Guadix wrote a dictionary about Arabic words in which it is said that Comares originally comes from cun and ari. The first term means "stand up" and the second one "look", in other words it would have meant "Stand up and look around" or possibly "Open your eyes and see", which is a way of referring the beauty of the place. In the sixteenth century, a historian from Granada called Luis de Mármol Carvajal claimed that the term Comares derived from the word Comaraxía, which actually has a meaning related to a craftsmanship labor very appreciated by Muslims: a manufacturing technique of glass for exterior and ceilings. A third suggested theory is that the name comes from the Arab word qumariyya or qamariyya. These ones designate the stained glasses that can be glimpsed from the Hall of the Ambassadors' balcony. According to scholar James Dickie, another possibility is that Qumarish was the name of a region in the North of Africa where most craftsmen came from, in other words, the place might be called Comares in honour of the people who worked there. Yet another suggestion is that it derives from an Arabic word relating to the Moon, such as the adjective form qamarīyya.
The name of the Court of the Myrtles (Patio de los Arrayanes) is due to the myrtle bushes that surround the central pool. Because of the pool, the courtyard is also called the Patio de la Alberca ('Courtyard of the Pool'). It is sometimes also called the Patio de Comares ('Comares Court').
The Alhambra was a palace complex and citadel begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada. Several palaces were built and expanded by his successors Muhammad II (r. 1273–1302) and Muhammad III (r. 1302–1309). In 1314 Isma'il I came to the throne and undertook many further works in the Alhambra. His reign marked the beginning of the "classical" period or high point of Nasrid architecture. Isma'il decided to build a new palace complex to serve as the official palace of the sultan and the state, known as the Qaṣr al-Sultan or Dār al-Mulk. The core of this complex was the Comares Palace, while another wing of the palace, the Mexuar, extended to the west. On the east side the Comares Baths, a royal hammam, were also built. The baths are probably the section that is best-preserved from Isma'il I's time, as the rest of the complex was significantly modified and refurbished by his successors.
Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354) expanded the palace, most notably building the Comares Tower and the Hall of the Ambassadors (the throne hall) on the north side of the Court of the Myrtles; prior to this, a smaller lookout room or mirador may have existed on this side, similar to earlier palaces like the Partal Palace or the Generalife. He also built or converted existing towers along the northern walls of the Alhambra to serve new purposes, such as the Torre de Machuca in the Mexuar and the Torre de la Cautiva in another area further east. Under Muhammad V (r. 1354–1359 and 1362–1391) Nasrid architecture reached its apogee, which is evident in the nearby Palace of the Lions which he built to the east of the Comares Palace. Between 1362 and 1365, he rebuilt or refurbished the Mexuar and between 1362 and 1367 he refurbished the Comares Palace (namely the Court of the Myrtles and the Hall of Ambassadors). The Comares Façade on the south side of the Patio de Cuarto Dorado ('Courtyard of the Gilded Room') is dated to 1370 during his reign. Thus, the Comares Palace's current appearance and decoration was finalized by Muhammad V, whose name is mentioned in many surviving inscriptions inside.
After the 1492 conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, the Alhambra was converted into a royal palace of Christian Spain. Significant modifications were carried out in the Mexuar and in the environment around the Comares Palace. The Catholic Monarchs linked the Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions together for the first time. The Spanish monarchs also knew the significance of the Comares Tower in the complex and when they visited the Alhambra the royal flag was flown from this tower instead of the Torre de la Vela in the Alcazaba. In the 16th century, some southern parts of the Comares Palace were demolished to make way for the new Renaissance-style Palace of Charles V.
In the 19th century Rafael Contreras undertook many restorations across the Alhambra palace complex, sometimes adding his own modifications. In the Comares Palace he added crenelated turrets above the east and west ends of the Sala de la Barca (on the north side of the Court of the Myrtles) and also repainted the Comares Baths in garish colours that are likely inaccurate. In 1890, a fire severely damaged the Sala de la Barca, resulting in the loss of its wooden ceiling. The ceiling was later reconstructed with the help of surviving fragments and finished in 1965.
The Court of the Myrtles measures 23 to 23.5 metres wide and 36.6 metres long, with its long axis aligned roughly north-to-south. At the middle, aligned with the axis of the court, is a wide reflective pool. The pool measures 34 metres long and 7,10 meters wide. The myrtle bushes that are the court's namesake grow in hedges along either side of this pool. Two circular floor fountains are located at either end of the pool. The water from each fountain runs along a short channel towards the pool, but the channel is design to let the water slow and pause before emptying into the pool, thus reducing the formation of ripples and preserving the water's still surface. The effect of the water reflecting sunlight during the day as well as the image of the architecture around it is a crucial part of the aesthetic effect of this space. Elongated rectangular courtyards with a central water basin were already an established feature of Nasrid architecture that is evident in older palaces of the Alhambra, in particular the Palacio del Partal Alto.
At the south and north ends of the courtyard are ornate porticos consisting of a wide central arch flanked by three smaller arches on either side. The arches are richly decorated with stucco sculpted in arabesque (vegetal), sebka, and epigraphic motifs. This decoration, like that of the halls behind them, dates from the time of Muhammad V, probably between 1362 and 1367. The gallery spaces behind the porticos are flanked at their east and west ends by decorative niches covered with muqarnas vaulting.
Behind each portico is a set of halls. The southern halls or "southern pavilion" were largely demolished during the construction of the adjacent Palace of Charles V in the 16th century. Only the façade of this structure was preserved in order to maintain the visual integrity of the courtyard. The doors on the sides of the Court of the Myrtles lead to four rooms that probably served as living spaces, while other doors lead to passages to and from the Patio de Cuarto Dorado to the west and the Comares Baths (the hammam) to the east. A passage also now leads to the Palace of the Lions, but during the Nasrid period these two palaces were completely independent of each other. They were only connected together after the 1492 conquest, when the Catholic Monarchs moved in.
Not sure that this Dodge Demon is street legal but in this instance the streets are closed off at both ends many blocks apart and you can cruise anything back and forth to the crowds delight.
Man I am missing summer and car shows :-(
An old friend once said he was going to write a photographic book titled 'Not the Golden Hour'. I think it's wise not to fall into the trap of doing what everyone else is doing. In this instance the leaves look great (to me) when they're backlit by the sun.
I guess I should give the old Vivitar lens its due when it worked OK, like in this instance. But many of my late 1980s-era slides suffer from soft focus and vignetting on account of it. Some of which can be corrected now days. And further technology leaps in the future will make me regret the ones I circular filed years ago.
View from the famous Italian Island of Capri - here you find many attractions,
for instance the Blue Cave and the Villa from Dr. Axel Munthe.
- - -
Blick von der berühmten Insel Capri, wo es viele Attraktionen zu bewundern gibt,
z. B. die Blaue Grotte und die Villa von Dr. Axel Munthe.
We "meandered" on our way back from Shelby, stopping in every small town. Each place had something different to offer.
Take the tiny town of Champion, for instance. It should have been called "Halloweenville." Or maybe "Laststopforstupidcitypeoplewhodrivedownbackalleys-ton." This was a seriously creepy place...so creepy that you could feel...ummmm..."creepy" in the air, sort of like the way a carnival feels when the people have all gone home. Everything looked brown or dead.
There's an abandoned hotel, with clapboard walls bowing with age, a surreal display of a scarecrow doll in tiny park that rustles with the dueling corpses of brittle branches. (Both of these photos somehow showed up on Larry Talbot's photostream.) Even the obligatory small town Alberta Chinese restaurant had a sinister look that would leave you wondering if you'd ever walk out again...after dining on moo shoo pork that would undoubtedly taste just a little funny.
Sheree and I decided to drive down a couple of back alleys. Of course. That's where we saw this garage.
To the immediate left, just out of the frame, is a hulking pickup truck, battered and rusting with a license plate that says "Evil, Wicked Mean and Nasty." I've seen this plate before, of course. But it seemed to fit here, looking like a vehicle direct from a Stephen King novel, parked in a back yard where they do unspeakable things late at night while late autumn leaves dance in the wind.
We paused to look at this building and take some shots because it is, well...a really interesting building.
"Someone's coming," said Sheree...rather suddenly, I thought.
I was about 40% freaked out by Champion so I drove away with as much nonchalance as I could muster under the circumstances, trying hard not to spin the tires because everyone knows that the jerk who spins his tires as he drives away from the cannibal hillbilly is the first to die. (Right before the brain-dead-heroine-who-for-reasons-only-a-brain-dead-heroine-could-possibly-understand-goes-down-into-the-basement-of-an-abandoned-building-in-her-underwear-carrying-a-flashlight-powered-by-dubious-batteries-even-though-she-freaking-KNOWS-some-nut-with-a-chainsaw-has-just-murdered-all-of-her-friends gets killed.)
"Did you see that guy?" asked Sheree. She went on to describe a guy in a cowboy hat who looked like one of the inbred wild eyed psychopaths from "The Hills Have Eyes."
"Why did you drive away?" she asked.
It seemed pretty obvious to me, so I just looked at her, as visions of my own head mounted on the wall just under the STOP sign came to mind.
I love road trips.
'In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.' (Auden) 😊
There have been a few instances a while back last year when I posted a picture that got almost no hits for a couple days, as if it was not showing up correctly on Flickr. Once such case is the STL 673, which I am reposting here in the D&H album. Thanks to those who saw it before; for those who didn't, I present the RPPY of 11 November 1985, heading west at BD in Binghamton, part of the great tunnel detour that routed all D&H traffic over the Penn Division in one last blaze of glory. Leading a bunch of Alco power is C-424m No. 456.
Sélestat (Bas-Rhin) - Tribunal d'instance (1900, style néogothique)
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9lestat#Lieux_et_monuments
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribunal_d%27instance_de_S%C3%A9lestat
The draconian ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court which bans pregnancy terminations even in instances where a foetus is diagnosed with a serious and irreversible birth defect, has brought thousands of people to the streets. Protesting during the COVID pandemic is bit weird, but if a government full of cowards tries to use the pandemic to push an extremist agenda, people will react. So Poland says enough: Women's rights are human rights.
Here are some online petitions supporting women's rights in Poland:
secure.avaaz.org/campaign/pl/solidarity_with_polish_women...
www.change.org/p/polish-government-legalise-abortions-in-...
Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English, Australian English, South African English), ladybugs (North American English) or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly.
They are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of species are mostly or entirely black, grey, or brown and may be difficult for non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids (and, conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken as such, like tortoise beetles).
Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described, more than 450 native to North America alone.
A few species are pests in North America and Europe, but they are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens.
Well let us see...scarf. I have the scarf but I can say that paper is made from leaves and then I have that right? Just no red, if only my hair was red for this one instance.
I've been listening to this one boy band song for about 100 times and it is never getting old. Oh, this is me, for those that do not know in 52 weeks.