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Another wonderful magazine, Hair Setting Patterns had a description and instructions for each style inside. Like Set 'n Style, every style was done with a roller set, now matter how simple. What is really lost these days but was obviously known then was how a roller set can add body and texture to hair, and make hair more manageable even for straight styles.
Guenievre's IC History
Pre-F-List:
The Hoenn Chronicles -
"Every journey begins with a single step"
Guenievre was originally a male ralts who lived on Route 102 near Petalburg City in the region of Hoen. At a young age, Guenievre as a ralts was very interested in travelling. With an interesting unnamed trainer seeking to become inducted into the Hoenn Hall of Fame by defeating all the gym leaders and the elite four; Guen decided to follow this trainer and grow with him/her. She would watch the human from the shadows, learn from him/her and the pokemon partners (s)he carried. By level 5, Guen had reached petalburg woods where it met a shroomish named 'Mishi'. The two continued following the trainer, learning as (s)he learned. This trainer defeated the first gym leader of the Hoenn Region, Roxanne in a pokemon battle using only one pokemon, an amazing feat (to Guen at least). By level 12, Guen had reached a small island with the town of Dewford on it. Here, she encountered the trainer again this time going against Brawly. Once more, the trainer defeated Brawly using only a single pokemon.
By level 15, the trainer had made it through cycling road and reached Mawvile city where a friendly Voltorb named 'Volt' joined the shroomish and ralts in peering over the trainer. This is when Guenievre learned the move 'thief'. Another trainer managed to spot her and sent a ralts to face off against her. Guenievre conjured the dark-type energy and managed to defeat this trainer's ralts, growing another level in the process. This battle caused Guen to miss the battle between this powerful trainer and the leader of the Mauville City gym, however - she believed that the same powerful pokemon that defeated Roxanne greatly contributed to the trainer's victory.
North of mount chimney, going through the ash-covered wild-lands, Guenievre encountered a spinda who mistook her for one of the trainer's pokemon and attacked. She defeated the wild spinda and in the process grew to level 20 causing her to evolve into Kirlia. Not knowing where to go, Guenievre the Kirlia went to Lavaridge town at the base of mount chimney. She got there in time to see a confident looking trainer emerging with two powerful pokemon on either side. Behind the human trainer, Guenievre could barely make out in the steam-filled haze a defeated red-head on her knees.
Not wanting to fall behind, Guenievre began to actively train herself in the psychic ways quickly gaining the most powerful psychic attack - Psychic at level 26. While she continued her personal training, the pokemon trainer she followed at a distance seemed to be continuing his onslaught on the pokemon gyms. Norman, leader of petalburg gym had fallen to an evolved Mishi (now a Breloom) and an Aron from Dewford Isle known simply as "Aeris".
On the way to Fortree City, Guenievre achieved level 30, evolving once more into the form she currently still holds... the embrace pokemon Gardevoir. At the same time, a powerful electrical attack 'Shockwave' which can never miss with its ever-shifting bolts of lightning came to the Gardevoir. She learned this attack by watching 'Volt', now an electrode single-handedly decimate Winoa's entire team of bird-pokemon using a similar elemental attack.
Between the journey from Fortree City and Mossdeep city, the trainer whom Guen was following around the Hoenn region seemed to be flying around the world on the back of a powerful flying-type pokemon. Where (s)he went was unknown to the gardevoir but while she waited for the trainer's return, she honed her skills mastering the powerful psychic power of 'imprison'. This move sealed away any techniques shared by Guenievre and those around her. Unbeknownst to her, she accidentally sealed away the ability of Tate and Liza's pokemon to use their powerful psychic attacks during the battle between the trainer Guenievre was following and the twin psychic gym leaders.
The journey to Sootopolis City was much more engaging to the gardevoir as she read the mind of her travel companion allowing her to teleport to an undersea cavern where a large-scale battle was transpiring between the trainer and the forces of team Aqua. During this onslaught, Guenievre managed to catch sight of a legendary beast of the sea who she named '[i]the Leviathan[/i]'. Following his release from the deep-sea cavern, torrential rain and blistering heat followed as it seemed that [i]the behemoth[/i] of the land was also released from his slumber. The two were locked in a fierce battle which wreaked havoc on the landscape around them until the legendary 'high-sky' pokemon descended through a break in the clouds.
After this incident, Guenievre decided to temporarily join the trainer on his/her journey as she knew that if she did, she would eventually come into contact with these three legendary pokemon of the weather and be able to test her mettle against them. For this reason, the trainer used her against the gym leader of Sootopolis City's strongest pokemon, kingdra. The two had a fierce battle both maxing out their 'double team' abilities so it seemed as though two powerful armies were clashing against one another on the battle-field. Eventually, Guenievre's 'calm mind' which brought her latent psychic power to its maximum capacity was the deciding factor in the war between the illusions and the water-dragon pokemon was felled!
Guenievre and the mysterious trainer stood against the first of the elite four. Mishi, the fighting-grass mushroom pokemon decimated the entirety of the dark-type pokemon master's team leaving nothing in its wake but bitter tears. This match was over before anyone knew what had transpired.
The second trainer of the tropical elite fit the bill of an island girl but was surprising with her powerful ghost pokemon. Unfortunately, the ghosts were entirely ineffective against the fully evolved aggron that stood between them and the trainer they were supposed to defeat. This lead to a long battle of attrition which culminated in Guenievre's ability to use double-team and calm mind to raise her survivability, knocking out the second member of the Hoenn's pokemon league pokemon in a late vicious counter attack.
The combination of Mishi the breloom and Aeris the aggron proved fatal for the ice-type third member of the Hoenn elite four. Not many ice-pokemon live in the tropical region of Hoenn and so, the fight consisted in part of the two-some obliterating the same opposing pokemon until none stood before them.
Finally, the dragon-master of Hoenn stood before Guen and her mysterious partner, this powerful pokemon trainer. The dragon master had the fierce beasts under his command but a single pokemon stood against them. A mud-fish pokemon wielding the devastating power of 'ice beam'. This same pokemon had defeated Roxanne and Flannery but had mostly been kept away from the fighting for its powerful 'torrent' ability.
Once the entire elite four had been defeated, the mysterious trainer approached the champion, Wallace for a battle. The two went head to head though Volto, the electrode decimated most of the water-type expert's team early on in the match. When Whishcash came in hoping to be the end of the rampant electric pokemon's relentless assault, the mystery trainer switched into Mishi and the water/ground type only served as a tasty meal for the fungus pokemon's powerful 'giga-drain'. Finally, the match came down to Guenievre versus Milotic... Once more, Guenievre's powerful psychic defences shielded it from the damage of the beautiful water pokemon's attacks until an army of 'Guenievres' ended the match with a max-power psycho-kinetic assault.
Thus, the trainer was inducted into the Hoenn hall of fame. This wasn't to be the end of the journey however. There were still six pokemon to find as a promise to the psychic pokemon Guenievre.
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Blue Silver Forge: A journey through Johto and Kanto
A journey from the traditional to the dynamic -
Guenievre began her journey through Johto at the intersection of its neighbouring region of Kanto at Tohjo falls. From here, she travelled west to the traditional region of Johto were legend and lore were interwoven with the landscape. The first town she came across was New Bark where she met a very familiar individual with whom she would take her journey through the lands of Johto. Wandering together, the two walked through Cherrygrove city deciding it would be better to come back to it after a trip to Azela town to pick up a certain 'item' that would assist them on their journey. Instead, they headed to 'Dark Cave' where an Onix by the name of 'Rocky' made its appearance. Stopping at the famous Violet city, Guenievre decided it would be best if she took up meditation with the fabled 'sages of the bellsprout' that made their residence on the outskirts of the city while her familiar acquaintance challenged the gym leader of Violet City, Falkner. With Guenievre's power, the psychic pokemon blasted through the worthy 'sages of the bellsprout way', decimating their bellsprouts and in the process learning abilities she never knew she could master before. It was here, Guenievre gained what could be called 'enlightenment' as her body's dazzling light could not light up the bleakest of darkness. The cost of 'enlightenment' was taxing on her body however and it reduced her abilities to next to naught. She was told by the sage that she would have to regain her former power, one ability at a time. Through patience and understanding, she would gain even more abilities she didn't have before.
After travelling through a dank cavern where Rocky felt most at home, the trio (Rocky, Guen and the trainer) came upon the nestled town of Azalea where the legendary pokeball craftsman 'Kurt' made his residence. While the trainer and Rocky visited Kurt and inquired about the origins of pokeball manufacture, Guenievre paid a visit to Slowpoke well. Here, she came across a psychic pokemon who resonated with her if only for its simple mind and easy life. She stayed with the slowpoke for a night and was awakened the next morn by the trainer who caught the slowpoke, nicknaming it 'HokeyPokey' after some dance from a foreign region Guenievre had never visited. After these events it was off to the Azalea gym to challenge the gym leader. For the first time, Guenievre lay witness to the awesome might of 'Rocky' the onix as it lay waste to every bug pokemon of the Azalea gym including the leader of the gym's prized Scyther.
Through the Ilex forest, Guenievre met an exegcute by the name of Koko who would later join the trainer she was following on the journey through Johto. However, before the trainer captured the pokemon, Guenievre battled against it to weaken the egg pokemon for capture. Through this, she managed to learn one of the secrets the egg pokemon carried, namely how to erect psychic barriers against physical attacks.
The next step of the journey was to go through the bustling Golden Rod City. It was here, at the Golden Rod City Gym that Guenievre saw the power of teamwork. Rocky, the Onix obliterated Whitney's first pokemon, Cleffairy with a series of piercing screeches to lower its defence to an abysmal state and a quick follow-up with a powerful 'headbutt'. The second pokemon was much more tricky to go against and the battle seemed like a showcase of two metapods fighting against one another only using harden. Koko the exegcute leech-seeded Whitney's Miltank before Rocky was once again sent out. Thanks to Rocky's beastly defences, it was incapable of being damaged by Whitney's final pokemon. However, Miltank managed to attract Rocky who refused to attack its would-be lover. And so the battle continued, Miltank would damage Rocky who would be healed in turn by Koko's leech-seed. Then, when Miltank grew weaker, it would use milk drink to heal itself. The cycle continued until finally, Miltank was unable to continue using milk drink having drained its udders dry. Only then did it fall to the sapping away of leech-seed. Guenievre estimated the entire match to have taken thirty minutes, far longer than any match she had seen with this trainer to date....
Guenievre continued following the trainer from Golden Rod City north to the very quaint town of Ekruteak. It was a town steeped in tradition and lore. The trainer almost immediately went to the Gym to challenge the gym leader there, Morty and his Ghost type pokemon. Guenievre on the other hand floated around the town until she heard a commotion at the dance theater in the middle of the town. Sailors visiting from the Unova region who had been in the port of Olivine to the west came to see the sensual dance of the kimono girls. However they were vastly disappointed by the 'lack of skin' shown throughout the affair and grew agitated by this. Their drunken ruckus drew the attention of other trainers who made Johto their home and a large battle ensued. Eventually, the fray was quelled by five powerful pokemon. A flareon, vaporeon, jolteon, umbreon and espeon entered the fray and managed to counter both sides without harming either side. It was unknown to all who wielded the power of these eeveelutions but it brought peace back to the dance theater. When the trainer emerged from the gym, there was nothing but an awestruck look upon Morty's face. A lone rattata strutted proudly. Did this lowly mouse really demolish Morty's entire team of ghosts by itself? Guen was truly curious about the battle she had missed between this trainer and the 'ghost master, Morty'.
The next stop on the journey was Olivine City where the sailors had come from. There, the trainer re-united with a powerful ally, the Electrode Volt who had accompanied them on their journey through Hoenn earlier. While in Olivine, the angry sailors from Ekruteak stormed the gym in Olivine City seeking Jasmine to aide in their retribution against the mysterious eevee trainers of the dance theater. Not wanting to get involved in the fray, the trainer opted to instead continue further west passed the Whirl Islands to a small island where a master of fighting pokemon made his home. The trainer fought against the gym leader Chuck and his powerful Poliwrath. It was a one on one battle and the trainer used a now evolved Koko the Exeggutor against the water/fighting pokemon. Early on, Koko managed to land a leech seed upon its adversary and then the fighter countered by beginning to continuously raise its evasion with the infamously frustrating 'Double Team' strategy. Unfortunately, Koko resisted all of Chuck's Poliwrath's attacks and its added screen defense, reflect proved to be too much of a hurdle to overcome. Koko remained strong, sapping Poliwrath's energy while conserving its own strength until finally, the fighting toad pokemon collapsed from exhaustion. The battle was once again long and Guenievre began to wonder if the trainer changed their strategy from 'raw power' to dwindling away an opponent's will to fight with drawn out battles from the last time they traveled together.
Sailing back to Olivine City, it seemed that the sailors had left for another port and the trainer was free to challenge Jasmine for the next badge of the Johto league. During the battle, Guen opted to instead head north to a Miltank farm where her psychic power and empathy told her of an ill miltank. She secretly visited the cow pokemon in the dead of night when the humans were asleep. The miltank seemed to need help and Guenievre had a plan. Using her teleport, she flashed herself back to her home in Hoenn where Oran berries were plentiful. Plucking several berries from the tropical trees, she teleported back to the farm in Johto and fed the ill miltank the berries she had gathered. Once the cow pokemon was well enough to produce milk again, Guenievre left again to go in search of the trainer she had left behind.
By the time Guenievre met the trainer again, the trainer was facing off against Pryce, the gym leader of Mahogany Town east of Ekruteak. The battle was significantly one sided with Rocky, now a Steelix (supposedly having received a metal coat from Jasmine) decimating all of Pryce's ice-type pokemon. The combination of 'rock polish' and iron tail was too much for the elderly baron of winter and he was forced to concede against the steel serpent pokemon that stood menacingly against him. The next stop on the journey was through the freezing 'Ice Path' and on to Black Thorn City, home of the Blackthorn family, the oldest lineage of dragon-masters this side of Unova. Guenievre did not know of the lore behind Black Thorn city but upon seeing the dragons around, the gardevoir was suddenly filled with a zeal to battle against them. Guenievre appeared to her long time companion and using telepathy communicated her intentions to battle against Claire's powerful dragon pokemon.
The battle came down to a near mirroring of what transpired in Sootopolis City. Guenievre stood her ground against the powerful Kingdra and the two continued using 'double team' to amass illusion armies with which to face one another down. Kingdra's powerful attacks, even in the rain could not pierce through the walls of clones that surrounded the real psychic pokemon. However, Guenievre's less powerful but homing 'magical leaf' managed to always hit its mark. The Kingdra took punishing blow after punishing blow, each time unable to land even a single attack on the powerful psychic pokemon. Finally, after its trainer ran out of hyper potions, the kingdra finally fell to Guenievre's onslaught leaving the trainer victorious and Claire utterly defeated.
With all eight badges, it left nothing between Guenievre, the mysterious trainer and Johto's "Four Heavenly Kings"....
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F-List History:
[The First Date]
Guenievre arrived in the unnamed forest in the cold month of December. She knew not how she arrived in this world but found it stranger than any of the places she had been to. Unlike Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh and Unova this place had no name. More disturbing than this was how many of the pokemon here were akin to humans. They walked on hind limbs and wore clothes as the humans did. This disturbed the gardevoir however, with cautious curiosity she began to explore this new, unnamed region in search of answers. The first friend she made in this strange place was an umbreon by the name of Gaelstrom. He taught her that there was nothing to fear from these strange pokemon she met. Some called themselves 'anthro-pokemon' while others who were much more human-like in appearance and mannerisms referred to themselves as Gijinka. Whilst Guenievre understood neither of these terms, soon both became part of her vernacular. She could identify what was 'feral', what was 'anthro', what was 'gijinka' and what was 'human'. Of course, Guenievre herself didn't really fall into these broad categories. She may have been a 'feral' gardevoir but what was the difference between a humanoid 'feral' gardevoir and an 'anthro' gardevoir?
As time went on, Guenievre's interactions with Gael continued and eventually he became 'a good friend' however it seemed that he was fairly unhappy with this term. He wanted Guenievre's affections, but Guenievre's affections seemed to lay elsewhere. The first 'romantic interest' the psychic pokemon had was with a gijinka luxray. The two shared a camp fire in the cold December night and as they say 'one thing led to another'. It was a casual relationship at best and allowed both of them to 'see other people' as they saw fit. Something that a relationship with Gael may not have allowed Guenievre to partake in. This is what led Guenievre to have numerous 'casual interactions' with several other pokemon and humans. The psychic pokemon continued to meet many individuals through a group who would play a bizarre game involving an empty bottle. It was all good fun and for a time, Guenievre enjoyed herself.
Guenievre was still a 'fighting pokemon' at heart though, these peaceful days while pleasant would eventually need to come to an end. As all pokemon are drawn to face off against powerful opponents in contests of strength, will and ferocious combat, Guenievre was eventually being drawn into a world of blood-shed and death. If this was the time of Eden, then Guenievre was about to take a bite of the forbidden fruit and plunge into a 'fall' from which she would never recover in mind, soul or body.
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Fight or Flight
Guenievre's first encounter with 'The Pokemon Fight Club' came after witnessing a battle transpire in the unnamed forest. A certain ghost type pokemon fought against a certain dragon type pokemon and many were caught in the cross fire. Such a thing caused the psychic pokemon to reflect upon her own 'mortality' and drove her to 'need' to become stronger. This 'need', this nagging reminder of her own mortality would eventually corrode Guenievre to her very soul. Guenievre's first encounter with 'The Pokemon Fight Club' was against a certain human male. She was warned by this man where this path to power would lead her but Guenievre did not care. The psychic human male demonstrated Guenievre's own weakness to her and warned her against walking the 'line of power'. There would come a time when 'the power to protect' would not be enough for her and she would [i]take[/i] power for the sole reason of [i]taking power[/i]. It could be said that Guenievre's own psychic premonitions knew of her 'fall' before it began - yet she could do nothing to change her own future and neither could those who blissfully continued on the journey with her.
The Pokemon Fight Club began to swell in popularity. Pokemon from all over the world felt the same drive that Guenievre did, the craving to fight against those with power for the sole purpose of fighting against those with power. The psychic pokemon proved her worth through toil, blood and battle. She felled many an opponent and became known as one of the 'elite' ranks of the pokemon fight club. When time came to choose amongst the warriors of the fight club who would be the representative gym leaders, Guenievre became part of the 'Lucky Seven' gym, one of three gym leaders who dominated any opponent who stood against them. Eventually, Guenievre would become the eighth gym leader and was even offered to become a part of the 'Elite Four' of the Fight Club. She graciously declined as she was much more comfortable as a gym leader than as some 'lofty' member of 'the four heavenly kings'. Such a blissful fighting experience would not last forever. Guenievre's 'corruption' continued with every fight she participated in, her drive to fight was turning into a blood lust, a drive to kill, maim, murder.
All this blood lust culminated in Guenievre's manufacture of 'the DNA splicer', a heinous device that allowed her to forcibly draw the power of others from their blood. Guenievre wanted to create 'the perfect type', a 'new type' that could devastate the dragon kind that dominated the battle field at the fight club. She didn't know how well she would succeed or the cost that would befall her for such a power. Her days of being a 'pure psychic' pokemon were long gone. She became 'psychic/ice', 'psychic/steel', 'psychic/fighting' and many other things by stealing away the power of other pokemon she came into contact with. With each power she gained, Guenievre took a step closer to losing her mind, to losing her 'self'.
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[Psychosis]
The first type to fall into her grasp was the 'Ice' type. Known for their fragile strength but the power to lay waste to the dragon kin, Guenievre absorbed the essence of a Cryogonal and achieved a 'hollow-like mask' to use in combat with the properties of 'the ice type' locked within it. Soon after this, the ground type came from a fallen friend who 'loved her'. The flying type came from a Tornados, the only 'pure flying type' in existence after she did battle against the legendary genie pokemon. The 'normal' type fell into her hands after this, extracting 'data' from a Porygon Z in the most painful of ways. Soon enough, these types and the memories from whom they came began to manifest into an ethereal being who continued to lurk within Guenievre's mind. The more she lusted for power, the more 'types' she gained, the more powerful this ghostly being became.
Eventually, the dragon type fell to her, drawing blood from a haxorous, the water type from a Feralligator, the fire type from a rapidash, the grass type from a sceptile and so it continued. The ghost lurking within her mind gained a name, 'Natasha of the Grave'. On more than one occasion, Natasha 'wholly consumed' Guenievre's persona and puppeteer-ed her body about, attacking anything that stood in her way. Ever gaining more and more 'types', eventually Natasha was 'born' from the DNA Splicer as her own entity. In the process she changed the 'splicer' into the 'Odd Keystone' with which she could draw in the souls of others and consume them for her own nefarious purposes.
This process completely eroded the psychic pokemon's control over her vast power and rather than controlling her prowess with her mind, her psychic capabilities controlled her mind with its incredible power. She wanted little more than to destroy the 'dark' type and the 'dragon' type at this point. She attacked them whenever they drew near and relished in their destruction. Eventually, a group of unknown individuals came to take Guenievre away. They took her to a relaxing place on a mountain where she could be alone. A place where her power would dwindle back down to a manageable state. The serenity and calm state around her would hopefully quell the raging power of her emotionally-charged psychic powers.
----
[The Glass House]
(Coming Eventually)
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[Fiore and the Fae]
Guenievre Fiore was born in the tropical Hoenn region but Fiore is not a Hoenn name. Fiore is a Kalos name. Fiore translates to 'flower' and is a name given to a noble lineage who served under the king of Kalos several millennia ago. The name reflected the king's fabled pokemon which he brought back using the power of many other pokemon and the name 'Fiore' was given to the 'Knights' of Kalos to protect the precious flower before it ultimately disappeared along with the king himself. The pokemon used by these nobles were known then as 'Sir Knight' but today we call them 'Gardevoir'. These pokemon, despite being psychic pokemon did not fear dark type pokemon as they brandished the light of justice to smite the darkness. These pokemon did not fear the mythical dragon pokemon of lore who gained fame in Unova and Johto with the latter having the infamous 'Blackthorn' lineage of dragon tamers. For they wielded the power of the fae, the power of the fairy-type that allowed them to battle against these 'dark' type pokemon and 'dragon' type pokemon on even ground.
After Guenievre had locked herself away from the world having separated into Natasha Bellegrave and Guenievre, she was afraid of 'the darkness' both in herself and in her fellow pokemon. She became a monster to protect herself and saw the tyrannical nature of those 'gifted with power'. The species of pokemon that were powerful by birth and flaunted their power. Guenievre sought a different way and she would find it in the lands of her ancestors in Kalos.
Guenievre arrived in the Kalos region on Parterre Way, a beautiful garden cared for by gardners. The fields were filled with red and yellow flowers where she first encountered a strange pokemon she had never seen before. This small pokemon was attached to a yellow flower. At first, Guenievre believed it to be a grass-type pokemon. But as she grew closer, she discovered that in actuality it was the 'fairy' type. Strangely, the little flower petal pokemon was attracted to Guenievre and seemed to believe they were of the same type. Whether these were the residual effects of the DNA splicer or not, Guenievre did not know. However, the new little fairy pokemon made her feel homely and at peace. From here, Guenievre began her journey through the lands of Kalos.
The psychic pokemon continued westward from where she came, eventually passing through Camphrier Town and heading to the Riverie Walk. Here, she met artists, painters and the like capturing not pokemon but the landscape on canvas. She met more flower petal pokemon, little flabebe that escorted her through the numerous fields of flowers. The psychic humanoid pokemon breathed in the atmosphere of this land of Kalos, it was a breath of fresh air to her compared to her previous experiences of human interactions. These fairy pokemon were quite playful, if a bit mischievous. While Guenievre did wonder why she felt very at peace with them, she didn't question it too much. Instead, she enjoyed the serenity of the pristine land around her.
Through the connecting cave, Guenievre made her way to the coastal scene of Cyllage City. Here, she witnessed a downhill race of cyclists and rollerbladers moving down steep slopes at breakneck speeds. Men, women, children and pokemon of all types were crowded around the streets to catch glimpses of the trainers as they made their way through the town as a series of blurs. One man, a dark skinned individual with glittering hair at the front of the pack caught her eye. The man radiated power and Guenievre's battling instincts to fight with this man began to surface. However, she managed to curb her bloodlust as a 'wild pokemon' and began to move northward. Crossing a small, quaint wooden bridge, the psychic took time to stop and smell the salt in the sea breeze and for the first time since she left Hoenn on her long journeys... she dipped herself in sea water. It was a most relaxing experience, one that made her quite nostalgic of her home region. It seemed many trainers drifting the seas even spoke with a 'Hoenn accent' when they did battle with passing trainers.
(More to come as I feel like writing it)
['Game' Statistics]
[b]Note[/b]: Yes, Guenievre's level fluctuates. The reasons for this include the following:
- Gardevoirs draw 'power' from the emotions. If their emotions are more geared to fighting, their psychic power becomes stronger and more sharply focussed. If their emotions are calmer then their psychic power is more lax.
- Pokemon (in the games and anime) fluctuate their levels all the time. From having 'set levels' in the frontier, battle subway and online play in the games to Pikachu going back to being beaten by starter pokemon used by novice trainers in the anime seemingly 'forgetting' everything it learned over the course of the last journey.
- Guenievre likes fighting people 'at their own level' and as much as possible she will try to remain at her opponent's level.
If you don't like these reasons, either assume she's level 100 or don't roleplay with her in a situation where level would come in to play. If it disturbs you that much for whatever reason, don't roleplay with her at all.
[i]Tropical Guen[/i] - (Guenievre as she was after her original journey through Hoenn)
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 50
Nature: Modest
Personality: "Highly curious"
Often carries a lum berry
Ability: [i]Synchronize[/i] - Passes on status problems onto the opponent that caused the status problem
Hit Points (HP): 129
Attack (ATK): 63
Defense (DEF): 72
Special Attack (SPATK): 174
Special Defense (SPDEF): 122
Speed (SPD): 118
Moves:
- Thief
- Psychic
- Double Team
- Calm Mind
[i]Sir Knight[/i] - (Guenievre as she was after her journey through the Kalos region)
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 79
Nature: Modest
Personality: "Alerts to Sounds"
Often carries Gardevoirite
[b]Ability[/b]: [i]Synchronize[/i] - Passes on status problems onto the opponent that caused the status problem.
[b]Mega-Evolution Ability[/b]: [i]Pixilate[/i] - Changes 'normal' type attacks to 'fairy' type.
Hit Points (HP): 220
Attack (ATK): 110
Defense (DEF): 123
Special Attack (SPATK): 299
Special Defense (SPDEF): 212
Speed (SPD): 191
Moves:
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
[i]Nurse Guen[/i] -
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 35
Nature: Modest
Personality: "Highly curious"
Often carries a Revival Seed
Ability: [i]Synchronize[/i] - Passes on status problems onto the opponent that caused the status problem
Hit Points (HP): 103
Attack (ATK): 50
Defense (DEF): 57
Special Attack (SPATK): 137
Special Defense (SPDEF): 96
Speed (SPD): 93
Moves:
- Heal Bell
- Heal Pulse
- Ally Switch
- Disable
[i]Psycho Psychic[/i] -
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 100
Nature: Modest
Personality: "Highly curious"
Often carries choice spectacles
Ability: [i]Trace[/i] - Copies the opponent's abilities
Hit Points (HP): 332
Attack (ATK): 206
Defense (DEF): 229
Special Attack (SPATK): 383
Special Defense (SPDEF): 329
Speed (SPD): 259
Moves:
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast / Signal Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic / Psyshock
[i]Double Trouble; Para-Fusion[/i] -
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 100
Nature: Modest
Personality: "Highly curious"
Often carries bright powder
Ability: [i]Trace[/i] - Copies the opponent's abilities
Hit Points (HP): 332
Attack (ATK): 206
Defense (DEF): 229
Special Attack (SPATK): 383
Special Defense (SPDEF): 329
Speed (SPD): 259
Moves:
- Double Team
- Thunder Wave
- Confuse Ray
- Psychic / Shadow Ball
[i]Guenievre God-Slayer[/i] - [Not limited to four moves; requires hitmonchan DNA splicer fusion]
Pokemon Species Name: Gardevoir/Hitmonchan fusion
Pokemon Nickname: Guenievre
Gender: [?]
Level: 100
Nature: [???]
Personality: [???]
Often carries reviver seed
Ability: [i]Synchronise[/i] - Passes on status problems onto the opponent that caused the status problem
Ability: [i]Iron Fist[/i] - Powers up 'punching' attacks
Hit Points (HP): 332
Attack (ATK): 340
Defense (DEF): 260
Special Attack (SPATK): 383
Special Defense (SPDEF): 329
Speed (SPD): 259
Moves:
- [???]
[/collapse]
[collapse=How Guen learned her moves]
I have not experienced it for myself but I have seen in some people's profiles complaints that pokemon learn like every move available in their move-pool etc. etc. While I personally have no problem with this - if someone uses all the moves in their species move-pool so will I; I also understand the frustration some people might have. So, to clarify this situation I am going to present how Guenievre learned all of her moves and the order in which she learned them.
[b]Learned Naturally while growing up[/b]:
(It should be noted that all of these moves come from Gen III and [b]not[/b] Gen V (or VI soon). As a result, she did not have many of the 'new' moves that pokemon have today while she was growing up.)
[i][color=gray]Growl[/color][/i] - The first move that Guenievre started of knowing as a ralts. It wasn't used much though it did sound adorable coming from her mouth.
[i][color=pink]Confusion[/color][/i] - The first offensive move she ever had, she learned it when she was still a ralts, learned at level 6 - it was her primary form of attacking other pokemon.
[i][color=gray]Double Team[/color][/i] - Learned at level 10, she has found this move invaluable given her naturally weak physical defences. Others can't hurt you if they can't touch you she found out. After learning this, you could say she became something of a 'double-team n00b'.
[i][color=pink]Teleport[/color][/i] - One of the most useful and dynamic moves in her arsenal. Learned at level 12, she uses it to flee from danger and to visit the places she sees in the minds of others when she reads their thoughts.
[i][color=black]Thief[/color][/i] - A dark type attack learned at level 15. This move was taught to Guenievre as a ralts as a way of fighting against other ralts she came across for training purposes. While weak, the attack is capable of stealing away an opponent's item allowing Guenievre to use the item herself if possible.
[i][color=pink]Calm Mind[/color][/i] - Learned at level 21, it was the first move she learned after her evolution into Kirlia. While she has discovered that most of her species now do not learn Calm Mind until much later, several years ago when she was growing up in Hoenn, it was quite natural for a Kirlia's first move learned upon evolution to be Calm Mind to focus their psychic energies.
[i][color=pink]Psychic[/color][/i] - The most powerful move in her arsenal then and now, this move was learned at level 26 before her evolution into Gardevoir back in Hoenn. Back then since many of her pokemon friends were reluctant to battle she found little use for it and remained using Confusion which was much less powerful. Recently however, she has begun using this more powerful psychic attack much more frequently.
[i][color=yellow]Shockwave[/color][/i] - Learned at level 30, this electric attack uses bolts of lightning which rain down in every direction and perform an ever-changing pattern making it impossible to avoid even at the highest level of evasion. Guenievre learned this attack by watching an Electrode named 'Volt' decimate the team of a flying-type gym leader in Fortree City in her home region of Hoenn.
[i][color=pink]Imprison[/color][/i] - At level 33, in preparation to visit the psychic gym of Mossdeep city, Guenievre learned the [i]'Seal'[/i] ability. This attack creates a mental block upon those afflicted by it preventing them from recalling any move in their arsenal that Guenievre also knows. This seal has a semi-permanent to permanent nature and if used as a permanent seal, it must be removed either by another psychic pokemon with the Imprison ability or Guenievre herself. If used in its semi-permanent state it will last until the afflicted individual sleeps. Imprison prevents all memories associated with the techniques/moves sealed away to be 'locked' as well.
[i][color=gray]Flash[/color][/i] - Learned during her journey through bellsprout tower, Guenievre meditated on the 'growth' she had seen in the small wavering grass pokemon around her. Despite the overwhelming odds of fighting against her power, the frail little bellsprout still stood against her and it was commendable. Using her psychic abilities, she could now generate a powerful, blinding light. With this ability, she could light up the bleakest of darkness in caverns and eradicate the 'darkness' in the minds of others.
[i][color=pink]Reflect[/color][/i] - In the Ilex forest, west of Azalea town, Guenievre met an intriguing exegcute with the capacity to erect psychic barriers to protect itself against assaults of the physical nature. Through mild 'convincing' Guenievre was able to learn from the grass/psychic pokemon how to manipulate her psychic energies to erect barriers of similar constitution to protect herself against physical attacks in much the same way. Given her frail physical form, this was greatly appreciated by the gardevoir.
[i][color=pink]Light Screen[/color][/i] - The next stage of Guenievre's training was to focus her mind to erect barriers of psychic energy to protect herself against assaults of the non-physical nature. A wall of light that she mastered the control of was more than capable of reducing both psychic attacks and 'energy based' projectiles and beams by up to 50% of their original power. Given her already capable psychic defences against such attacks, with this screen, she only takes the bare minimum of damage from non-physical assaults on her form.
[i][color=gray]Attract[/color][/i] - This was learned after witnessing the battle between a specific trainer and Whitney, the leader of Golden Rod City's gym and guardian of the plain badge. In the match, Guenievre observed how pokemon used their charms and attractive bodies to attempt to out-wit the pokemon who the trainer who faced off against her was using. Unfortunately, while the attract worked, Whitney's pokemon was unable to do any considerable damage to the pokemon and so this led to her defeat. However, Guenievre did take these lessons on 'fatal attraction' to heart and is capable of using it in battle.
[i][color=gray]Lucky Chant[/color][/i] - A move learned upon entering the ghostly hallows of Ecruteak City. A group of misdreavus led by a mismagius seemed to be reciting peculiar chants. While some of these bestowed ill-will on those who they were targeted upon, some of the chants bestowed great luck and prosperity upon those who received them. Thus, Guenievre learned 'lucky chant'. Despite occasionally using the ability in battle when she first learned the technique, it has fallen into disuse as of late.
[i][color=green]Magical Leaf[/color][/i] - This is the second 'move that can never miss' in Guenievre's arsenal. She could have never learned this ability without losing all her power from fighting against the sages in Violet City. It was only when this attack came to her that she finally understood what the bellsprout sages meant when they said she would regain new abilities 'in place' of her old ones. Later in life she managed to reconcile these two potentials upon passing through the 'distortion world' after an event involving the ruby chains of fate in Sinnoh.
[b]Learned After arriving on F-List[/b]:
[i][color=purple]Shadow Ball[/color][/i] - The very first move she learned after arriving through the warp in space/time that brought her here. This move was learned after seeing a Ghost Type pokemon Psykhe. Upon their next meeting, Guenievre was attempting to replicate what she saw to which Psykhe commented, "You have to actually practice that move?". Soon after this (and practice in the Pokefurs room) Guenievre mastered Shadow Ball.
[i][color=yellow]Thunderbolt[/color][/i] - This move was learned after numerous sessions of electro-stimulation sex with her lover Luxanna. Guenievre had become somewhat addicted to electro-sex at that point and attempted to replicate the electro-stimulation during one of her masturbation sessions. After several failed attempts (and shocking herself most uncomfortably), Guenievre learned to turn these dangerous electrical impulses into arcs and bolts of lightning. Thus, thunderbolt was born.
[i][color=yellow]Thunder Wave[/color][/i] - During her first time fighting using Thunderbolt, Guenievre managed to paralyse her opponent, slowing their movement and preventing them from attacking her. Wanting to refine this aspect of her thunderbolt attack, Guenievre practised specializing the volts of electricity to only interfere with movement and not commit to actual damaging the opposition. This was how she learned her Thunder Wave attack.
[i][color=black]Focus[/color] [color=orange]Blast[/color][/i] - This technique was learned out of necessity when Guenievre began meeting numerous dark-type pokemon. She practised this move in the anthro-poke park which was ironically owned by one of the dark pokemon she was training to defend herself against. While they are all close to her now, you never know when she would need to be able to defend herself against them.
[i][color=pink]Heal Pulse[/color][/i] - This move was taught to her by a Kirlia she had met named Kaila. The two shemale psychic pokemon taught one another moves with Guen teaching the young Kirlia how to use double-team more efficiently and in return the fellow emotion pokemon re-taught Guen this move that Gardevoirs now learn while they're supposed to be growing up as Kirlia but she never had the opportunity to learn. Thus, it became more like remembering a move she had forgotten (though she never remembered learning it) than actually learning a new move.
[i][color=pink]Heal Bell[/color][/i] - Guenievre learned Heal Bell right after Heal Pulse. During this time she was participating in the pokemon fight club and wanted to be a nurse in case people got injured during her fights with them. Since (as a lot of people know) Guenievre usually carried a lum berry on her person at all times, learning this move was a matter of studying the rejuvenating powers of the lum berry which allowed it to heal pokemon of their afflicted conditions. After several attempts, Guenievre mastered Heal Bell.
[i][color=purple]Confuse Ray[/color][/i] - During one of her random teleports, Guenievre somehow ended up in the dimension between dimensions - the distortion world. There she met the legendary pokemon of anti-matter, Giratina. This legendary dragon/ghost pokemon aided Guenievre in returning to her own world. Though, now that she has done it once - Guenievre can recreate the effects of the botched teleportation and go to the distortion world any time she pleases. Using her experiences in the confusing landscape of the distortion world which distorted her own senses (physical and psychic alike) Guenievre has mastered the art of inflicting this sensation of distortion on others resulting in Confuse Ray.
[i][color=red]Will-O-Wisp[/color][/i] - This move was learned after a fight in the Pokemon Fight Club with a certain Typhlosion. Having took his flamethrower attack, Guenievre wondered if she could replicate its secondary effects of burning on her own. Using the ghastly energies associated with shadow-ball and her recent trip to the distortion world as inspiration, Guenievre learned Will-O-Wisp.
[i][color=cyan]Ice Punch[/color][/i] - After having a battle with a Samurott who referred to himself as 'Atlantis', Guenievre noticed that the water-type pokemon used a very powerful Ice-type attack to quell the sandstorm within which they were fighting. After this incident, Guenievre became obsessed with recreating the attack that she saw that night. Ice Punch was her first fundamental attempt at doing this. By focussing her psychic energies - Guenievre managed to create a thermal 'dip' around her hand. This thermal dip began to cool the water vapour in the air around her hand resulting in icy blue crystals floating around her hand and arm. This technique was refined and eventually became 'Ice Punch'.
[i][color=cyan]Icy Wind[/color][/i] - This move was Guenievre's second attempt to recreate Atlantis' 'Blizzard' attack. After mastering the method of creating thermal dips in the air, Guenievre began experimenting with using it as an attack. Using her psycho-kinetic abilities, she could guide the thermal dips creating frigid winds when they moved passed certain areas. Though some practice was required, Guenievre became faster at initializing these thermal dips as well as making them cold enough for ice shards to begin forming within and around them. Once the thermal dips began to move, the freezing cold drafts that followed them guided the small flakes and shards of ice where she pleased. This move she called 'Icy Wind'.
[i][color=blue]Rain Prayer[/color][/i] - A weather changing move performed by reciting the first half of the chant, "First some wind, then some rain joined together to form a hurricane..." After this, the psychic energies of the gardevoir manipulate the concentrations of water vapour to cause a torrential downpour. While practising this move, Guenievre got into an argument with a Lugia about the effects this sort of technique would have on the environment. This caused the psychic pokemon to wonder about her friend 'Humphery', a ground-type pokemon with the sandstream ability who creates sandstorms wherever she goes.
[i][color=red]Sunny Day[/color][/i] - Guenievre's second weather altering move, this one was taught to her by A certain nine-tailed fox who could use this ability. Being from the tropical climate of Hoenn and with prior knowledge of 'Rain Prayer' the psychic pokemon was easily able to channel the light of the sun into revealing itself whenever Guenievre desired. While the psychic pokemon is currently unsure what she will use this for, she believes it shall be useful later on in her journey.
[i][color=orange]Signal[/color] [color=green]Beam[/color][/i] - A bug-type attack learned through meditation in the anthro poke-park followed by concentrating the 'energy' of bugs into a concentrated pulse. Guenievre mastered this attack during her days as a referee at the Pokemon Fight Club. Originally, she could only summon a small swarm of multi-coloured butterflies created of psychic energy. This was later refined into allowing the butterflies of bug-type energy to swarm a stationery target and finally Guenievre managed to create her psychic butterflies and change them into a full onslaught of bug-type energy unleashed upon an unsuspecting opponent.
[i][color=gray]Mind Reader[/color][/i] - Ironically, this is not a 'psychic' attack but a 'normal' attack that allows Guenievre as a psychic pokemon to read the minds of those who would normally be immune to her psychic ability. When used in battle it allows Guenievre to predict the next movements her opponent will make based on their thoughts and ensure her next attack will hit them. It was learned from practising on two dark type pokemon over several months. Through continued practice she may use her 'mind reader' ability for other things as well.
[i][color=yellow]Thunder Punch[/color][/i] - This attack was learned almost entirely by accident during a sexual encounter with Luxia. Guenievre began growing more and more dominant as the two continued their encounter. This culminated in Guenievre beginning to spank the luxray gijinka over and over again. After some time, Guenievre began channelling electric current through her palm to give the naughty little slut 'electric' spankings. From this erotic encounter, Guenievre mastered the 'thunder punch' ability or perhaps in this case, 'lightning spank'.
[i][color=cyan]Ice Beam[/color][/i] - An attack taught to her by Tarkus Balder and Vann. The reason and method of learning this attack is unknown to the gardevoir at this point in time. There was simply an ice-cream party in a forest where they both happened to be with people using the attack to create their own ice-cream. Guenievre was forcibly taught this power to participate in the merriment.
[i][color=gray]Recover[/color][/i] - After having healed people using Heal Pulse for so long, Guenievre has discovered a way to 'cast' heal pulse inward and allow her to regenerate her own health rather than the health of others. She has become quite proficient at using this technique since she has been forbidden from participating in open conflict. However, she doesn't use the move often in actual battle unless pressed.
Thunder - The most powerful electric attack in existence was taught to her like thunderbolt before it by Tazer. Guenievre has mimicked the electric feline's 'rain dance + thunder' combination attack and has begun to perfect it. Now, with her power over weather, Guenievre continues to seek alternate ways of using powerful weather-based attacks. As of yet however, she has not witnessed any others.
Dazzling Gleam - This is the first Fairy type attack Guenievre has learned since rediscovering her heritage in the Kalos region. A powerful flash of light that damages all opponents within range of its blinding light of justice. As an area of effect attack, it damages all pokemon with malicious intent surrounding the user, however it will not damage any allies of the wielder.
Ability: Trace- Air Lock
Guenievre gained the permanent ability to use 'air lock' after it was given to her as a blessing from a Rayquaza. This was during a weather war where a garchomp attempted to sandstorm through a forest disrupting the other residents. Guenievre continuously stifled the storm through her own 'rain prayer' and sunny day abilities. However it wasn't until the arrival of the legendary 'sky high' pokemon that the weather war was quelled. Now, as a blessing of the Rayquaza, she is able to activate her 'trace' ability to mimic 'Air Lock' to prevent arduous weather effects from afflicting the environment.
Notes on Statistics:
- In normal RP circumstances, Guen will have access to all of her abilities (Synchronize, Trace & Telepathy) as well as all the moves in her move pools. This is solely for the sake of convenience in the role play.
- In times of a 'serious conflict', if my opponent insists on using only four moves then one move-set and ability will be chosen. If my opponent has more than four moves then it can be assumed that Guen will have all of her abilities and moves available to her from all move pools.
Note on Guenievre and Natasha:
- Guenievre and Natasha live on two different parallel dimensional planes. In Natasha's dimension, Guenievre is dead. In Guenievre's dimension, Natasha is repelled back to the 'Ghost World'.
delighting "me" always
Picture: I suppose to focus my camera on the sculpture instead of on the pink lady. However, I was surprised when I got home with this result, my camera chosen to focus on pink lady! It is delighting me!!!
Canon, delighting you always...
Location: 798 Art Zone, Beijing. China
798 Art Zone (Chinese: 798艺术区; pinyin: 798 Yìshùqū), or Dashanzi Art District, is a part of Dashanzi in the Chaoyang District of Beijing that houses a thriving artistic community, among 50-year old decommissioned military factory buildings of unique architectural style. It is often compared with New York's Greenwich Village or SoHo.
The area is often called the 798 Art District or Factory 798 although technically, Factory #798 is only one of several structures within a complex formerly known as Joint Factory 718. The buildings are located inside alleys number 2 and 4 on Jiǔxiānqiáo Lù (酒仙桥路), south of the Dàshānziqiáo flyover (大山子桥).
Construction
798 Space gallery, Jan,2009. Old Maoist slogans are visible on the ceiling arches.
The Dashanzi factory complex began as an extension of the "Socialist Unification Plan" of military-industrial cooperation between the Soviet Union and the newly formed People's Republic of China. By 1951, 156 "joint factory" projects had been realized under that agreement, part of the Chinese government's first Five-Year Plan. However the People's Liberation Army still had a dire need of modern electronic components, which were produced in only two of the joint factories. The Russians were unwilling to undertake an additional project at the time, and suggested that the Chinese turn to East Germany from which much of the Soviet Union's electronics equipment was imported. So at the request of then-Premier Zhou Enlai, scientists and engineers joined the first Chinese trade delegation to East Germany in 1951, visiting a dozen factories. The project was greenlighted in early 1952 and a Chinese preparatory group was sent to East Berlin to prepare design plans. This project, which was to be the largest by East Germany in China, was then informally known as Project #157.
The architectural plans were left to the Germans, who chose a functional Bauhaus-influenced design over the more ornamental Soviet style, triggering the first of many disputes between the German and Russian consultants on the project. The plans, where form follows function, called for large indoor spaces designed to let the maximum amount of natural light into the workplace. Arch-supported sections of the ceiling would curve upwards then fall diagonally along the high slanted banks or windows; this pattern would be repeated several times in the larger rooms, giving the roof its characteristic sawtooth-like appearance. Despite Beijing's northern location, the windows were all to face north because the light from that direction would cast fewer shadows.
The chosen location was a 640,000 square metres area in Dashanzi, then a low-lying patch of farmland northeast of Beijing. The complex was to occupy 500,000 square metres, 370,000 of which were allocated to living quarters. It was officially named Joint Factory 718, following the Chinese government's method of naming military factories starting with the number 7. Fully funded by the Chinese side, the initial budget was enormous for the times: 9 million rubles or approximately 140 million RMB (US$17 million) at today's rates; actual costs were 147 million RMB.
Ground was broken in April 1954. Construction was marked by disagreements between the Chinese, Soviet and German experts, which led at one point to a six-month postponement of the project. The Germans' harshest critic was the Russian technology consultant in charge of Beijing's two Soviet-built electronics factories (714 and 738), who was also head consultant of the Radio Industrial Office of the Second Ministry of Machine Building Industry. The disputes generally revolved around the Germans' high but expensive quality standards for buildings and machines, which were called "over-engineering" by the Russians. Among such points of contention was the Germans' insistence, historical seismic data in hand, that the buildings be built to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale, whereas the Chinese and Russians wanted to settle for 7. Communications expert Wang Zheng, head of Communications Industry in the Chinese Ministry of National Defense and supporter the East German bid from the start, ruled in favor of the Germans for this particular factory.
At the height of the construction effort, more than 100 East German foreign experts worked on the project. The resources of as many as 22 of their factories supplied the construction; at the same time, supply delays were caused by the Soviet Red Army's tremendous drain on East Germany's industrial production. The equipment was transported directly through the Soviet Union via the Trans-Siberian railway, and a 15 km track of railroad between Beijing Railway Station and Dongjiao Station was built especially to service the factory. Caltech-educated scientist Dr. Luo Peilin (罗沛霖), formerly head of the preparatory group in 1951-1953, was Head Engineer of Joint Factory 718 during its construction phase. Dr. Luo, now retired in Beijing, is remembered by his former colleagues as a dedicated perfectionist whose commitment to the obstacle-strewn project was a major factor of its eventual success.
[edit]Operation
Joint Factory 718 began production in 1957, amid a grandiose opening ceremony and display of Communist brotherhood between China and East Germany, attended by high officials of both countries. The first director was Li Rui (李瑞), who had been involved in the early negotiations in Berlin.
The factory quickly established a reputation for itself as one of the best in China. Through its several danwei or "work units", it offered considerable social benefits to its 10,000-20,000 workers, especially considering the relative poverty of the country during such periods as the Great Leap Forward. The factory boasted, among others:
the best housing available to workers in Beijing, providing fully furnished rooms to whole families for less than 1/30 of the workers' income;
diverse extracurricular activities such as social and sporting events, dancing, swimming, and training classes;
its own athletics, soccer, basketball and volleyball teams for men and women, ranked among the best in inter-factory competitions;
a brigade of German-made motorcycles, performing races and stunt demonstrations;
an orchestra that played not only revolutionary hymns, but also German-influenced classical Western music;
literary clubs and publications, and a library furnished with Chinese and foreign (German) books;
Jiuxianqiao hospital, featuring German equipment and offering the most advanced dental facilities in China.
The factory even had its own volunteer military reserves or jinweishi (近卫师), which numbered hundreds and were equipped with large-scale weapons and anti-aircraft guns.
Workers' skills were honed by frequent personnel exchanges, internships and training in cooperation with East Germany. Different incentives kept motivation high, such as rewards systems and "model worker" distinctions. At the same time, political activities such as Maoism study workshops kept the workers in line with Communist Party of China doctrine. During the Cultural revolution, propaganda slogans for Mao Zedong Thought were painted on the ceiling arches in bright red characters (where they remain today at the latter tenants' request).
Frequent VIP visits contributed to the festive atmosphere. Notable guests included Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Kim Il-Sung.
The Joint Factory produced a wide variety of military and civilian equipment. Civilian production included acoustic equipment for Beijing's Workers' Stadium and Great Hall of the People, as well as all the loudspeakers on Tiananmen Square and Chang'an Avenue. Military components were also exported to China's Communist allies, and helped establish North Korea's wireless electronics industry.
One of the old machine tools in front of some contemporary art in Dec 2005
After 10 years of operation, Joint Factory 718 was split into more manageable components, such as sub-Factories 706, 707, 751, 761, 797 and 798. The first Head of sub-Factory 798 (the largest) was Branch Party Secretary Fu Ke (傅克), who played a major role in recruiting skilled workers from southern China and among returned overseas Chinese.
However, the factory came under pressure during Deng Xiaoping's reforms of the 1980s. Deprived of governmental support like many state-owned enterprises, it underwent a gradual decline and was eventually rendered obsolete. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, most sub-factories had ceased production, 60% of the workers had been laid off, and the remains of the management were reconstituted as a real-estate operation called "Seven-Star Huadian Science and Technology Group", charged with overseeing the industrial park and finding tenants for the abandoned buildings.
[edit]
The Dashanzi factory complex was vacated at around the time when most of Beijing's contemporary artist community was looking for a new home. Avant-garde art being frowned upon by the government, the community had traditionally existed on the fringes of the city. From 1984 to 1993, they worked in run-down houses near the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in northwestern Beijing, until their eviction. They had then moved to the eastern Tongxian County (now Tongzhou District), more than an hour's drive from the city center.
Then in 1995, Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), looking for cheap, ample workshop space away from downtown, set up in the now defunct Factory 706. The temporary move became permanent and in 2000 Sui Jianguo(隋建国), Dean of the Department of Sculpture, located his own studio in the area. The cluttered sculpture workshops have always remained open for visitors to peek at the dozens of workers milling about.
In 2001, Texan Robert Bernell moved his Timezone 8 Art Books bookshop and publishing office (founded in 1997) into a former factory canteen; he was the first foreigner to move in. One of Timezone 8's early employees was fashion designer Xiao Li, who along her husband, performance artist Cang Xin, helped artists secure and rent spaces in the area.
Through word-of-mouth, artists and designers started trickling in, attracted to the vast cathedral-like spaces. Despite the lack of any conscious aesthetic in the Bauhaus-inspired style, which grounded architectural beauty in practical, industrial function, the swooping arcs and soaring chimneys had an uplifting effect on modern eyes, a sort of post-industrial chic. At the artists' requests, workers renovating the spaces preserved the prominent Maoist slogans on the arches, adding a touch of ironic "Mao kitsch" to the place.
Later that year, Mr. Tabata Yukihito from Japan's Tokyo Gallery set up Beijing Tokyo Art Projects (BTAP, 北京东京艺术工程) inside a 400-m² division of Factory 798's main area; this was the first renovated space featuring the high arched ceilings that would become synonymous with the Art District. BTAP's 2002 opening exhibition "Beijing Afloat" (curator: Feng Boyi), drew a crowd of over 1,000 people and marked the beginning of the popular infatuation with the area.
In 2002, designer artist Huang Rui (黄锐) and hutong photographer Xu Yong (徐勇) set up the 798 Space gallery (时态空间) next to BTAP. With its cavernous 1200-m² floor and multiple-arched ceilings at the center of Factory 798, it was and still is the symbolic center of the whole district. (Huang and Xu since designed at least seven spaces in the area and became the prime movers and de facto spokespersons of the District.) A glass-fronted café was set up in the former office section at the back of the 798 space, opening into a back alley now lined with studios and restaurants such as Huang's own At Café, and Cang Xin's #6 Sichuan restaurant, the area's "canteen".
In 2003, Lu Jie (卢杰) set up the Long March Foundation, an ongoing project for artistic re-interpretation of the historical Long March, inside the 25,000 Li Cultural Transmission Center (二万五千里文化传播中心). Around that time, Singapore-owned China Art Seasons (北京季节画廊) opened for display for pan-Asian art, and was one of several new galleries setting up at that time.
Source from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/798_Art_Zone
Took a few panoramas while in Hawaii with the 24mm Tilt Shift. I love the versatility and sharpness of the lens and it makes taking panos quite easy and fun! Instead of trying to stay on the same plane and stitch together images that aren't aligned, resulting in tons of distortion and cropping, I just rotate the lens, shift it to the left, middle, right and perfect pano with little to no cropping :) It does result in some vignetting on the edges when shifted to the extremes, but it's manageable.
We actually doubled back and drove down that road in the center of the picture beside the stream where we got up-close to the taro fields and I have another pano to upload tomorrow from that level.
Day off work! Mum's birthday was yesterday so we had dinner at our favourtie thai/chinese restaurant and celebrated with lobster!
We started with the cheese puffs, and it was like biting into little puffs of air. It was so light that spearing it with a fork was too hard, and we had to resort to fingers. We suspect that it is a basic souffle mix dollopped into hot oil and fried to a light and airy puff. Amazing.
Once I saw that the cheese puffs were a manageable size, I immediately added the duck neck sausage to our order. Not long after, 4 small discs of minced pork appeared. I love a good sausage and this didn't disappoint. It was served with segments of orange that provided a nice foil. There were also a few boiled baby beets hidden under the leaves and it seemed a bit too tender compared to the nice big flavoursome beets we were used to.
Julia was very impressed with the duck fillets, and she remarked several times how tasty the flesh was. I prefered the smoky grilled quail, but it was true, the quail meat was tender and juicy like the duck, but didn't have the richness of flavour of the duck. The pommes anna under the quail went amazingly well with the madeira sauce. The crispy bits of potato on the edges were also very good. The French beans were tender and so full of Spring sweetness.
We ended our meal with a good coffee and tea, and the profiteroles to share. We both loved the chocolate sauce, but we prefer the choux pastry at Laurent Pattiserie.
Annie Smither's Bistrot & Produce
03.5422.2039
72 Piper St
Kyneton VIC 3444
Reviews:
- Annie Smithers Bistrot, By Necia Wilden, The Age Epicure, September 27, 2005 Score: 15.5/20
- Annie Smithers Bistrot The Age Good Food Guide 2009 - 1 Chefs Hat
- Annie Smithers Bistrot, Kyneton - The Breakfast Blog, Saturday, May 13, 2006 chicken livers, bacon and spinach on toast. One of several tempting dishes on offer at Annie Smithers Bistrot. I love the smell of offal in the morning. 16/20 "mmm... liver"
- Annie Smithers Bistrot - Mietta's good gutsy French based dishes
- Annie Smithers’ Bistrot - Gourmet Traveller Annie Smithers, another Stephanie Alexander alum, is consolidating her empire, a shop and bistro showcasing Central Victorian produce. Assured cooking means primary flavours shine: succulent, flaky trout almondine tastes river-fresh; sweet scallops cooked just-so are plated with discs of smoky chorizo; sweet-salty tomato Tatin is the pick of the entrées. There’s usually offal on offer, perhaps creamy brains wrapped in prosciutto, and veal schnitzel, topped with a fried egg and anchovies, is pub-simple (and sized) but restaurant-finessed. Strawberry vacherin elevates berries and cream to a fitting conclusion to the meal: simple, comforting, classy.
Food Photos:
- Cheese Puffs with tomato and chilli dipping sauce AUD7.50 - insides
- Duck Neck Sausage stuffed with pork mince and pistachios with babybeets, green leaves and orange AUD18.50
- Quails petit-duc - par boned and grilled, served on pommes anna, with grilled mushrooms and madeira sauce AUD30
- Duck fillet with orange marmalade glaze, pan-fried potatoes AUD22.50
- Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with warm dark chocolate sauce AUD14.50
- Long Black AUD3
- Mariage Freres Tea AUD4.50
Decor Photos:
- back
- Gumboots - Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation fundraiser AUD40
Another very successful Mega-marathon was held this past weekend by the German online puzzle forum puzzle-forum.de. During the 72-hour event, participants build and document puzzles of any size, indicating the number of pieces done, provided that all work takes place during the time window. The total number of pieces are tallied up at the end of the event. This year crushed the previous record with 271,413 total pieces connected, by 62 participants (also a new record).
I dug deep into my collection for this year's theme, Portrait Puzzles by Italian (and Spanish) manufacturers. This included three puzzles from Apli, an obscure vintage brand from Spain that released a series of a dozen Picasso portrait puzzles ranging in sizes from 280 to 1500 pieces. The boxes are dated to 1980, and the series was meant to celebrate the centenary of Picasso (b. 1881). The puzzles were made in Spain, according to the box, and the name Spadem - Paris is indicated in the copyright info. The puzzles are of nice quality, but have extremely loose fitting pieces, which made it difficult to work quickly.
Another featured brand was International Team, an Italian company perhaps better known for making some of the earliest role-playing board games in the European style, right around the late 1970s which is also when D & D first came out. IT puzzles are pretty legendary to puzzle connoisseurs - their motives are highly unusual and sophisticated, but always with a playful element. They made puzzles from the mid-1970s until around 1983, when they went out of business. The culmination of their puzzle production was the famous "Zodiac" series, which consisted of twelve 1500-piece puzzles, one for each sign, with artwork featured by contemporary Italian illustrators, but heavily borrowing the style of Alphonse Mucha. These puzzles feature a metallic, silk-paper finish which is extremely beautiful and of superb quality.
I also selected one Ricordi puzzle that was produced during their "red box" period, circa 2010.
I usually set a goal for myself before the marathon, and this time I was going to try again for the "pyramid" - 3 x 1000 pieces, 2 x 1500 pieces, and 1 x 2000 pieces, in that order. I've already completed a pyramid a few times before, and I figured I would be able to do it again this year without any problems. What became clear, by the first evening, was that I had selected some difficult images, so I would have to work a lot harder this time around.
The weekend started off without a hitch - the first puzzle was "The Sculptor, 1931" by Picasso/Apli. The colorful cubist image consisted of lots of lines and I got through it quickly, in 3 hr., 9 mins. However, I did note on this, my first Apli puzzle, a couple of difficulties: the loose fit, the slippery texture of the pieces which often made them difficult to pick up, and the cut. I thought that the cut would be fully grid-like, with all corners lining up perfectly, because this is typical for vintage puzzles from continental Europe, but in fact many of the pieces are slightly off-set.
The cut became a real issue once I got to the second puzzle, another Apli 1000, Picasso's "La Salchichona, 1917." This gorgeous puzzle, probably my favorite of the bunch, was made using a Seurat-like series of paint dots. It really slowed me down as the evening turned into the wee hours. After 4 hours I had a long way to go, and had to wait until morning to get back to it with a meagre 5 hours' sleep. I finished the puzzle in 5 hr., 49 mins., which considering the image, was a pretty fast time. But I was beginning to fall behind my typical pace.
The third puzzle, "La Polvere di Pirlimpinpin, 1907" by Italian artist Leopoldo Metlicovitz (1868-1944), is of a spectacularly colorful and elaborate 6-sheet poster promoting a three-act musical by Constantine Lombardo and Carlo Vizzotta. Premiering in Milan on February 24, 1908, the plot follows the misadventures involving a magic powder, which can be seen on the far left in a small white sack held by a magician. The phrase Pirlimpinpin, or Pirlimpimpim, translates loosely to snake-oil, and has been used in both French theatre, and there was also a famous children's book series in Brazil published during the 1920s with the same name. This puzzle was fast and easy, and got me back on track, at 3 hr., 11 mins.
The fourth puzzle, a 1500 piece by Ricordi of Gustav Klimt's "Woman Lovers, 1916-17" wasn't the best quality as I had to spend several minutes breaking apart many pieces that weren't fully cut through. The print is also grainy, which certainly didn't help, and is indicative of the last years of production at Ricordi when their previously high standards started to slip. With a lot of red, this wasn't an easy image either, but the very easy (and familiar) Ricordi cut made it manageable. I finished it in 7 hr., 35 mins.
The fifth puzzle was a 1500 piece silk metallic puzzle by International Team of Alphonse Mucha's "Flower, 1897." Not a part of the Zodiac series, Flower is in some ways an inspiration to the series. Jorge at rarepuzzles.com has written a great review of the puzzle here.. I had never done a metallic finish puzzle before, and it didn't take long to adjust to it. The pieces were silky smooth and fit precisely, and it is a puzzle I'd easily re-make again. The image was quite challenging due to all of the flower details, and it took 8 hr., 2 mins. to finish.
At that point I had only the 2000 piece to finish the pyramid, and it was just after 5 p.m. on Saturday, with a little less than 25 hours until the marathon ended. I was really tired already, and when I started spreading out the pieces for the "Moët and Chandon, 1899" print made by Mucha for the champagne company, my spirits fell. This looked like it might be a 20 hour puzzle, and I would have to forego a lot of sleep to finish it. Everything was a hurdle: most of the edge pieces were white, all of the image was pixellated (intentionally, it seems) and the circularity of the design always makes a grid-cut puzzle harder. I considered finding a substitute, but I ended up sticking to my choice. The first four hours I barely got anything done, trying first the border, then the white/colored pieces, then the reds, looking for the path of least resistance. My level of concentration was at its peak for the marathon as time seemed to stand still. By half past midnight, after 7 hr., 15 mins. of nonstop puzzling, I had managed to get the outer details, upper graphic, and all of the white pieces done, with the center figure still remaining. The next morning I started early again and slowly made it through all of the pixellated pieces, with the pattern surrounding the woman's head being by far the hardest area. I completed the puzzle at around 3 p.m., with a total time of 14 hr., 2 mins.
I managed an extra 500 piece puzzle, "La Vie, 1903" by Picasso, from the Apli series, in 1 hr., 53 mins. This puzzle was quite muted in color and wasn't easy either, but by then I was more tuned in to the Apli cut.
In all, I completed seven puzzles for a total of 8,500 pieces while puzzling for 43 hr., 41 mins. I am glad that I stuck with my initial choices, even if they weren't the easiest ones. I love the colorful and playful nature of all these puzzles.
Robert Beall aka Maplewoodbob also took part, completing more than 6,500 pieces worth of Norman Rockwell puzzles, and David(USA) aka son2307ic placed an impressive 9,000 pieces, including three 2000 Trefl landscape puzzles and two 1500 pieces ones as well.
台湾台北タイペイ１０１
Part of the fantastic firework show ushering in 2009 at the Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Found out later that this is supposedly the last New Years firework show planned for the 101, so I guess we participated in a little bit of history.
Unfortunate as it really was quite spectacular. And the crowds were *much* more manageable than Tokyo was at the same time last year when we were together bringing in 2008.
Made Explore for December 31, 2008 (水).
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(CC) Phillip Jeffrey. fadetoplay.com. Feel free to use this photo. I request that you link back to the original picture on Flickr and credit as shown above.
Once again, I’m ecstatic at my monthly blood test results. My cancer levels (igG and Beta 2 Globulin), as in previous months. My chemo treatment continues to be successful fighting my multiple myeloma, with manageable side effects.
I’m loving life and staying positive each day!
My igG (general cancer marker) - normal range is 6.7 - 15.2 igG
Nov 30th 11.2
Nov 2nd 12.5
Oct 13.3
My Beta 2 Globulin (protein where my particular cancer resides) - normal range is 1.8 - 4.8 g/L.
Nov 30th 7.4
Nov 2nd 7.7
Oct 9.0
Hematology Profile (body’s overall response to being on chemo treatment)
WBC 8.8 (normal levels 4 - 11)
Hemoglobin 133 (135-170) - since I have anemia, expected to be below normal levels
Blood Platelets 416 (150-400)
Neutrophils 7.0 (2.0 - 8.0)
To recap: I have multiple myeloma and anemia, a rare cancer of the blood plasma. It is treatable, but incurable. On Sunday, December 6th I completed Cycle 11 Week 3 of my four week treatment cycle. I have 21 days on (Pomalyst chemo pill) and then 7 days off. In addition, I take dexamethasone, an oral steroid, every Monday.
Ilford FP4 Plus, pushed one stop, Fuji GW690iii. Home dev, V800 scan.
I love the detail in these 6x9 negatives. The GW690iii is a manageable beast.
Andong seafood market, South Korea.
Woodland Scenic's plaster cloth comes in rolls 8 inches (20 cm) wide. I use ordinary scissors to cut the plaster cloth on my craft cutting board into manageable pieces. In this photo you can see some plaster cloth draped across a mall section of Woodland Scenic's SubTerrain Risers that I use for sub roadbed for my railway track, highways, and city streets.
The plaster cloth is briefly dipped in cold water for a few seconds and placed over Risers, Inclines, and various forms I use to create city blocks, hills, fields, creeks, etc. The wet plaster cloth is laid in overlapping strips that dries in a few hours to form a strong, fairly smooth shell that I paint with ordinary interior latex paint in earth colors and add earth or grass ground foam.
As with my previous SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera) exercises, the ONLY editing I did was to reduce the size from the snapshot in SL (4000×3500) down to a 1024 size manageable for the blog and Flickr. There’s been no cropping, adjustments, or texturizing.
slicesoflifesl.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/sooc-insanity-par...
Consecutively the 3rd Sunday I was at this cafe but this time to sip my very first coffee of the day over a piece of oneh cake at around 4pm. The bald head Caucasian man at the back was playing chess with a young boy presumably his son.
There are story behind this sketch too that I was sketching in pain on my right cheekbone coz I had a fall and hit the bath tub the night before after a blast in sketch outing at ORTO in Yishun with the gang in the morning.
My face is very very round now and my right cheek is still painful but manageable, lah.
5 Image HDR/DRI using black card technique for highlight control + ND 0.9 for smoothed water effects. Taken at different timings to achieve different colour tones instead of the usual warm tone. Marina Bay Gardens, Singapore.
This was taken on 31st December 2011.... I didn't want to upload this initially but today my aunt came over to use the computer when she came across series of this shot of different exposures in my Documents folder. She told me she hasn't seen these in my gallery and it looks eye-catching. I told her I didn't quite like the result and I wasn't to the best of my emotions when I got this taken; it was meant to be a single, HDR/DRI shot. I told her photography is an art of reflected emotions at the point of time, and this doesn't mean anything to me.
She said the most simplest reply I'd never expect: try.
Alright, I'll try. So true enough, the above is the final result. And personally, I start to think it looks OK.
I thought twice, I think I should give myself a chance. Life is manageable. I should stop being pessimistic, pull myself up and I believe things will get better.
.
That's right Mickey's heading home.
And it's through your donations
that Mickeys still alive today ;-)
We can't thank you enough
for all your support for him.
At 9:AM our niece took no# 1 & Mickey to the nuns.
I wasn't invited cuz somebody has to be on guard
duty. With todays' economy, lots of thefts going on.
Right now the scooter/sidecar is out of action.
Last time we were over at the mud cobra field
I could feel an unwanted vibration causing me
to do a double check when we got home ;-0--
Rear brake is jammed solid, chain is tighter
than a mosquitoes ass stretched over a
rain barrel ! Front tire is loosing air !
Now don't go and get all worried cuz
it's time for an oil change anyway.
I'll limp it on over to the bike repair shop
and a couple of young, talented Hmong
lads will go to work on it. The price of oil
is-what-it-is, labor is very manageable ;-)
Todays Monday so they'll be busy.
Most likely it'll happen tomorrow.
Again, thank you so much for saving Mickey ;-)
Jon&Crew.
Please help with your donations here.
www.gofundme.com/saving-thai-temple-dogs.
Please,
No Political Statements, Awards, Invites,
Large Logos, Copy/Pastes or 2nd World.
***** No Invite Codes *****
© All rights reserved.
..
Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.
When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.
I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.
And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).
--
View more of my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.
View my photography profile on Google Plus: New York City photography by Vivienne Gucwa
To purchase any of my work view my site gallery for info here.
To use any of my photos commercially, simply click the link which reads "Request to license Vivienne Gucwa's photos via Getty Images". This link can be found on the bottom right corner of the page of the photo you are interested in using.
Code your robot puppy to help Nancy Drew solve the mystery!
As a member of Nancy Drew’s de-TECH-tive crew, choose disguises, find clues, and program your robot puppy to solve the mystery of a missing project at the Tech Fair. The mystery unfolds in a full narrative story spanning six chapters, as Nancy and friends encounter students who may have taken the missing project. Help Nancy track down suspects and discover what happened to the project before the Tech Fair competition begins!
Throughout the game players develop and use their growing de-TECH-tive skills. Players find clues in hidden object games and apply basic coding concepts to code their puppy and help Nancy out of tight spots at the end of every chapter. It’s the ultimate introduction to computer programming as the coding challenges increase as the story progresses and leads to a super coder award.
FEATURES:
LEARN
Kids will learn two of the three basic logic structures in computer programming:
• Sequences
• Loops
DEVELOP
Super de-TECH-tives will develop critical thinking skills:
• Pattern recognition
• Spatial visualization
• Problem solving
• Algorithmic thinking
• Attention to detail
PLAY
Kids will follow the story and have fun while narrowing down their list of suspects:
• Read along with story dialogue!
• Find clues within 20+ hidden object games!
• Review clues, evidence, and possible suspects in the player’s Clue Book!
• Select undercover disguises for Nancy, Bess and George!
• Investigate a new location in each chapter!
• Play bonus coding levels in Obstacle Course mode!
• Collect in-game charms!
• Listen to the “Codes & Clues” theme song composed by Berklee College of Music contest winner, Ana Tish, performed by Sofia Mazursky and produced by Grammy Award winner Tena Clark.
Kids will love this new Nancy Drew mobile mystery just as many generations have loved the books. Come join Nancy, Bess and George on an adventure that entertains and educates with equal measure. This is going to be fun!
*** NO IN-APP PURCHASES, ADS OR PUSH NOTIFICATIONS***
“Just as in the mystery novels, students decompose a complex story into smaller, more manageable tasks in order to build a case based upon sequential logic, just like a computer programmer would construct an algorithm. As an instructional technology teacher, Codes & Clues gets my kids excited about coding and puts those skills in a fun and familiar context. Who could want more than that?” - -- Lindsey Dunn, K-3 Instructional Technology Teacher
Hi Kids™
Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues is the first initiative under Her Interactive’s new division, Hi Kids, which will focus on mobile games and apps geared to early learners. Her Interactive was a pioneer in 1998 when it began developing and publishing Nancy Drew interactive games for females. From the beginning, the company’s videogames encouraged STEM education and careers. Since then, Her Interactive has released 32 games, won 30 Parents’ Choice awards and has sold more than 9 million copies of its games. Parents and teachers will be using Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues to introduce their children and students, respectively, to coding and computer science. Parents and teachers can sign-up for our newsletter or follow-us on any one of our social media channels.
***WE RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY AND DO NOT SHARE EMAIL ADDRESSES PROVIDED BY PARENTS***
Privacy: www.herinteractive.com/privacy-policy/
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visit us: www.herinteractive.com
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like us: www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Drew-PC-Games/48636754130?re...
watch us: www.youtube.com/user/HerInteractiveGames
Ice clings to the catwalk leading to St. Joseph lighthouse.
I had wanted to photograph St. Joseph lighthouse for a long time. With the first heavy snowfall this year and freezing temperatures I thought this might be the opportunity I was waiting for. I checked the lighthouse webcam on Friday night and saw that ice was accumulating on the outer light. In the morning I checked the weather forecast again and after a quick stop at a camping store to buy some ice crampons for my boots I made the 3.5 hour down to St. Joseph.
This is the first in a series of photos I took on Saturday. It shows the section of the pier before the Lighthouse itself. I will post some other shots over the next few days as well as a couple of clips showing was it was like to be shooting there.
The lighthouse pier has three sections. The first one is wide and has safety railings so no issues there. This shot shows the second section leading up to the lighthouse in the middle of the pier. No safety railings on this section, but it is a wide area and manageable if you are careful. Getting beyond the lighthouse to the outer light in icy conditions is a whole different story. You must walk across a wet and ice covered ledge that is only about two feet wide and about 25 feet or so long. If you fall in the channel there is no way of getting back up and needless to say you will be putting your life at risk. Even with safety gear (i.,e. wetsuit and a lifevest), I advise against it.
I have seen outstanding photos from the shoreline as well as from the South pier. Although it was great to be out there and get the photos I had hoped for, I know I crossed the line between taking some reasonable risk to take a photo and being reckless.
By the way, the weather forecast this morning was:
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 1 PM EST /noon cst/ this afternoon. Hazardous Weather.
•An intense burst of heavy lake effect snow through this morning, along with areas of blowing snow.
•Intense lake effect snow squalls will impact Interstates 94 and 80 with zero visibilities at times this morning.
•An intense Snowband impacting Northwest Indiana early this morning will move eastward through northern La Porte and Southwest Berrien counties through Daybreak. Visibilities will be highly variable and may suddenly drop to near zero within the core of the Snowband. The Snowband will continue eastward through the remainder of Berrien and Northeast La Porte counties later this morning.
•Total snowfall amounts of 3 to 7 inches are expected, with localized higher amounts a possibility. The Heaviest lake effect snow squalls are expected across Southwest Berrien and northern La Porte counties.
•Extreme snowfall rates will peak at 2 to 3 inches per hour with zero visibility at times early this morning. Impacts:
•Roads are already extremely slick and hazardous and conditions will greatly deteriorate further. Very treacherous driving conditions are expected. Extreme caution is urged to avoid Multi-vehicle Pileups this morning.
•Expect near zero visibility within heavy bursts of snow.
Welcome to Michigan!
The Story:
Vibrant as ever, Parisian socialite Elyse Jolie makes a glamorous entrance at her favorite 5-star restaurant, absolutely looking forward to a delicious three-martini lunch with her friends Adèle and Véronique! While these three stunning beauties are busy solving the world's problems, curious onlookers get deeply invested in trying to figure out the answer to the age-old question; "just who are they wearing and where can I buy those looks?" Let's not deny it, Elyse is always deeply amused by this and she wouldn't have it any other way! Cheers!
This Elyse is the 5th doll from the "La Maison FR Paris" Collection, after Eugenia, Véronique, Korinne and Natalia from last year ...
She plays the hard to get game as she is a lottery doll only available to the W Club with a LE of 1500 ...
Her screening is the famous Dark Swan screening that appeared on Engaging, Flawless, Market Montaigne, Séduisante and Bijou ... and I've been waiting for a long time to be able to get an Elyse like this as the first ones are just grails impossible to find ...
She has the same hairstyle as Obsession Convention Vendetta Agnès ... now I'm not so sure I will be able to let her go as I like to have dolls that can be displayed together and I'm still wondering if that Vendetta was really a doll for this military theme ... with her "Bar Suit" inspired look this Agnès would have been perfect for the "La Maison FR Paris" Collection too ...
Her eclectic outfit is perfect to use as mix and match pieces and will be great with A Doll's Life Vanessa outfits ... So much play in perspective ...
In my wildest dreams I wish I was able to get two of her to be able to restyle the second one with a more manageable hairstyle ... Will know next month if I'm lucky enough, one would be so cool I'm must say ...
Rickmers Werft, Bremerhaven, 1902
Schulshiff des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bremen
Die Verwendungvon Stahl ermöglichte den Bau größerer Schiffe. Mit einem vierten Mast konnte die gleiche Segelfläche bei einer handlicheren Takelage gefahren werden. Diese Segler waren trotz ihrer geräumigen Rümpfe schnell, brauchten jedoch weniger Besatzung als ein Clipper.
Als Schulschiff gebaut, fuhr die "Herzogin Cecilie" mit 35 Mann Stammbesatzung und etwa 40 Kadetten. Nach 1918 mußte sie an Frankreich abgeliefert werden. Bei einer finnischen Reederei gewann das Schiff achtmal die "Getreiderennen" nach Australien. Es legte einmal 365 sm in 23,5 h zurück, das entspricht einer Durchschnittgeschwindigkeit von 15,6 kn = 28,7 km/h.
Länge über Alles 95,76 m, Breite 14,04 m, Tragfähigkeit ca. 4.300 t
Maßstab 1:50
_____________________________________
Training ship of the "Norddeutscher Lloyd", Bremen
The application of steel made it possible to build bigger ships. By adding a fourth mast, the same sail area could be set on a more manageable rigging. In spite of their spacious hulls, these ships still needed smaller crews than the clippers.
Built as a training ship, the "Herzogin Cecilie" had a regular crew of 35 and ca. 40 cadets. After 1918 she had to be handed over to France, and later she was bought by the legendary Gustaf Erikson of Mariehamn, Åland, Finland. During his time, the ship won the Grain Race to Australia eight times in a row. It once sailed 365 nm in 23.5 h, which means an average speed of 15.6 knots = 28.7 km/h.
Sadly, in 1936 she ran aground off Salcombe in England. An excellent history of the ship is found here: www.submerged.co.uk/hertzoginececilie-wreck.php
More on Gustaf Erikson here: sailing-ships.oktett.net/erikson.html
LOA: 95.76 m, Beam: 14.04 m, Capacity: ca. 4,300 tons.
Scale: 1:50
I'm going to try to do this. Thanks, Jacey, for the tip on a fun (yet manageable, I think!) photo challenge.
Post re: the challenge is here.
I know some are not big fans of HDR. But when you walk into a room such as this what is your best way to capture it? For some I guess it would be to capture as is and let the lighting, textures and shades fall as is. The small hand hand held mini's try for a flash and walk away disappointed. For those who shoot HDR this is a dream come true. Textures, marble, lighting all move the imagination. I personally don't think there is any other way to do this room justice without HDR.
The other issue we have is "The NO Tripod rule". So here we are shooting a Pano HDR, multi upon multi shots hand held. For this shot...18 exposures. Let me explain:
I went with my family to the Natural History museum and knowing that no tripods were permitted, flashes only create bad reflections, and I really didn't like hauling around a backpack. I decided to go with my cheap lens, the 50mm 1.8. Best $100 lens on the books bar none!
The fast lens helped with some shutter speeds that were manageable. Yes the 1.8 doesn't create for great depth of field but hey with life there are always trade offs.
With that all said, you can see the final outcome. Your feed back is greatly appreciated.
Here is my Post Processing, it maybe a little long...sorry
Pano HDR in Camera:
>6 vertical 3 Exposure (+1, 0, -1) Total 18 Exposures, 1/30-1/60-1/125, 50mm, ISO 800
I did a 1EV spread because pushing a 2EV spread would have been hard at the +2 to hold without blur
1st Part of Post Processing:
>Each 3 Segment Vertical brought into Raw
>Black slider to 0, White Balance and Temperature and Tint matched
>Default Sharpening to 0
>Noise Reduction on all
>Saved as Tiffs
>Any Exposures that had to much movement were deleted and replaced by one of the other exposures at the deleted exposures EV.
>Once finished you should have 18 tiff files
Photomatix-Detail Enhancer:
>1st 3 shot Segment brought into Photomatix
>Sliders moved to taste and saved as 16 bit tiffs
>Each additional 3 shot segment brought into Photomatix, since Photomatix saves
previous settings, each panel would get the same settings by default of previous settings and saved.
>Once all 18 shots/6 segments are processed you will end up with 6 panels of the Pano all as 16 bit tiffs.
CS-5:
>All 6 HDR Tiffs brought into CS-5
>1 Panel at a time, starting with the 2nd panel CMD-A (Select All), CMD-C (Copy), CMD-W (Delete)
>Back to 1st panel, CMD-V (Paste),
>Same process for all 5 panels stacked onto the 1st panel
>Choose 1st layer (Background Layer)
>Shift/Click on the Last Layer (5th Layer) Should choose them all
>EDIT-Auto Align Layers, Wait for processing to finish
>EDIT-Auto Blend Layers, Wait for processing to finish
>Flatten Image
>Save Image but don't delete (You save image in the event you mess up somewhere or your CS-5 closes
>Crop or Duplicate and Free Transform to get rid of any white areas
2nd Stage Post Processing:
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Pro Contrast
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Tonal Contrast
>Topaz Adjust-inFocus for global sharpening
>Shadow/highlights-For middle statue alone
>Adjustment Layer Levels-Remove color cast of yellow
>Adjustment Layer Curves-Slight global Contrast
>Left Segment of pillars duplicated, Transform/Flip Vertical and aligned on floor
>Soft Light Mode/ Opacity to choice
>Redo until you move across entire floor with a nice reflection
>Cropped and Framed for posting
We had the pleasure of sharing the beach with our oldest grandson this weekend. I didn't want to turn our time together into a photoshoot so I just grabbed my point and shoot! You know what I mean...Dragging gear and calling shots. I just wanted to be in the moment with this fast growing boy who has my heart in his grubby little hands!
Grant is in second grade and learning cursive. He loves comics and Mario. He's kind and shows compassion. He won't let me kiss him anymore and doesn't know that I wait for him to fall asleep so I can plant one on his soft little forehead.
He shares his stuff with two little brothers. He's learned that people are more important than things. He's a boy who loves adventure and hasn't learned that dreams too soon become memories.
I learn a lot from Grant. He's patient with me when we play hangman and I don't figure out the two-word name for guys who ride waves on boards. Sirf Peaple. He also suggested it was possible to keep a pet fish without the nuisance of a fish bowl. "All you have to do is hold their gills shut...because they take water in through their mouth and let it out through their gills...so if the water can't get out they won't drown." Makes perfect sense to me.
What does the beach look like through the eyes of a child? I loved the 1,000 times I heard, "Look, Grama!!!" I am now the proud possessor of a dried crab back, and several pieces of very special drift sticks (salty wood slightly larger than a toothpick!)
Confession: I was a preoccupied single mother at one time who thought that life was more manageable if it were neat and tidy. I can't tell you how much guilt and regret comes with choosing laundry over having a wedding for Ken and Barbie or because good stewadship was more important than letting the couch become a pirate ship. "Go play" was said more times than "Let's play."
My grandchildren are my second chances! Thank God for second chances!
Railways of Great Britain
This start of another one of my collections, although I have posted a few in the past.
I have taken quite a few images over the years of Old Steam, Diesel and Electric engines and after sorting out probably 3,000 plus, I’ve now got it down to a more manageable number.
I’m starting with English Engines. Some of these images could be 25 years old. Many were transferred from negatives via a scanner so the quality will not be as good I would like. I have put them all through Photoshop to get rid of the most glaring issues
Apologies to those enthusiasts if I don’t get the right engine with the right Railway, they were taken a long time ago, some of them have moved on and my memory is not as good as it was.
Happy viewing.
My 2013 Classic Ariel Doll has been completely deboxed. She is standing, supported by a Kaiser doll stand (not included with the doll), and is photographed from various angles.
The 2013 Classic Ariel mermaid doll has many differences from the 2012 model, and is a greatly improved doll. She is both more attractive and more movie accurate. The major changes are to her head and face, her hair, her tail and her legs. There is a minor change to her shell bra. The only features that haven't changed are her torso and arms. I think that overall, she is the best doll in the new class of Classic Princess dolls from the Disney Store. That is fitting, as this is the year of the Diamond Edition release of her movie, The Little Mermaid.
Her head has been redesigned to be rounder than the previous models, thus more accurate by the shape alone. Her forehead is lower, her cheeks are fuller and her cheekbones are more prominent. Her cute button nose, open mouth smile and small angular chin seem to be same as the previous model. So her head is not as long, and her face is not as flat.
Her face is similar to last years, but with many small changes. Her eye molds appears to be the same shape, but the corners of her eyes are more rounded, so overall the eyes are slightly smaller but rounder. Her big round blue green eyes are wide open, and glancing to her right. They are darker, the pupils are significantly larger, and the glance is more severe than the 2012 doll. It makes for a more lively and adorable expression. She has four short thick curving black lashes over each eye, in the same pattern as last year, and black eyeliner under them that is thicker and darker than before. She has silver eyeshadow as before, but the thick eyeliner partially obscures the eyeshadow. Her rust colored eyebrows a little thicker and darker than last year, and are closer to her eyes. The rouge on her cheeks are much darker than last year, when it was barely visible, if it was there at all. Her mouth is the same, but her lips are a dark pink (as opposed to last year's pastel pink), and her upper lip is painted thinner, and her lower lip is painted fuller. Her face is very beautiful, youthful, lively and much more movie accurate than before.
Her waist length red hair is mostly straight and soft, but it ends in large stiff curls. The area around her face is also stiffened with gel to keep it off her face, which works very well to make her face much more open than the 2012 doll. Her volume of hair is much less than before. Her hair is much more manageable, neater, and movie accurate than before. But her part is still on the wrong side of her head, and the large curving front bangs of the movie character are still missing from this doll.
Her tail is a dark blue green color, with green glitter forming a scale pattern that is fetching. However her upper and lower fins are made of light blue green tulle that looks much less realistic and movie accurate than the 2012 model. Her purple shell bra is a little darker and a little more accurate than before. It also seems to fit better.
Her body is fully articulated in the arms, but now has the rubber legs of 2011 and earlier dolls, which has internal knee joints and fixed angled feet. Her hip joints allow her to sit down with her legs together and her back straight up, unlike the 2012 doll with the fully articulated but defective legs. Her angled rubber feet also make her about 1/4 inch shorter than the 2012 doll. I'd say that the rubber legs are definitely a big improvement for Ariel over the fully articulated hard plastic legs of 2012.
The packaging for the dolls is much improved. The box art has been completely redesigned, with beautiful decorations unique to each Princess (actually for each movie), and a cameo of the animated movie character. The boxes are the same height and width, but are 1/2'' flatter, making them smaller and lighter.
The 2013 Disney Princess Classic Doll Collection, released on June 10, 2013. They consist of 11-12'' articulated dolls of the 11 official Disney Princesses, from Snow White to Merida, as well as Princes, Villains and Sidekicks. I now have all 11 Princesses, Queen Elinor, Charlotte and Gaston. I will photograph them boxed, during deboxing and fully deboxed. I will also post reviews and comparative photos.
Classic Disney Princess Ariel Doll - 12''
US Disney Store
Released online June 10, 2013.
Purchased online June 13, 2013.
Received June 24, 2013.
$14.95 (was on sale for $10 at time of purchase).
5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan was empty at times during winter storm Nemo.
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Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
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I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.
When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.
I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.
And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).
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View more of my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.
View my photography profile on Google Plus: New York City photography by Vivienne Gucwa
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To use any of my photos commercially, simply click the link which reads "Request to license Vivienne Gucwa's photos via Getty Images". This link can be found on the bottom right corner of the page of the photo you are interested in using.
i bought new shirts today, which is not particularly exciting except that today i was able to buy and wear size XL shirts, which i haven't done since i was a senior in high school exactly 10 years ago. these are a little snug yet, but not so much that i wouldn't be able to wear them to work.
last year around this time, i had lost 8 inches. now i'm up to 14, and the total goal is between 20 and 22. on new year's eve i'll post another pic of my belts so you can see the difference between last year and this year.
in roughly another year i'll have -- to quote the stupid bowflex commercial -- "the body i've always wanted." already i have far more muscle tone and a better posture than i had in high school, even though i weighed less then. back then i was running up and down stairs all day long and strength training every other day, so that's a much different type of body than what i'm getting now. more muscle mass, but less tone and no awareness of how to carry myself. my current plan is the same as it's been for a year and a half -- 15-20 minute hatha yoga practice every morning, corpse pose every night before bed to maximize sleep quality, getting enough water, and eating manageable portions of whatever i want.
These are images from 2009 Calendars that I made for the grandsons. These involve putting pictures of the boys into fractal or other abstract or fantasy backgrounds. Most of the backgrounds to these are already on my stream, though not quite all.
The images with both boys in them are shared between the two calendars, that's why there aren't a total of 24 images here.
The boys are still at an age where they think these are pretty fun! Don't know how much longer that's going to last, but for now, it's great! :-)
Making these images is quite time consuming, that's where a lot of my time and energy on the computer were going during the last month!
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Uh Oh!!! I've just been tagged! So here we go, my sixteen things. Be warned, I'm a big blabbermouth. No nice little short sweet succinct list here!
16 Random Things about Me
1. I am a major packrat. Things pile up around me—actual and digital. My total photoshop file contains 176 GB. I just went on my computer and looked that up, and watched it take a minute to add all that up before it arrived at that number. Now that’s truly scary. And I’ve been deleting things, honestly I have! Yikes.
2. I have become a major Flickrholic. I usually spend at least an hour or two every night on Flickr and sometimes way more. I seem never to be able to keep up with all my contacts but I try.
3. I’m an aging hippie and glad of it. Those WERE the days, my friend. Did it all, don’t regret a bit of it. Walked out a lot of doors in my mind and back in through others. If you were there you know what I’m talking about.
4. I love that era music: Doors, Hendrix, Jeff Airplane, Santana, Country Joe’s one awesome psychedelic album, Zeppelin, etc. etc. Some cuts can take me back in time and space to some very awesome state-specific experiences.
5. I also love a ragingly eclectic mix of other music. World music, especially mid-eastern; dark ambient music, Steve Roach, Robert Rich etc.; singing bowls; dhrupad, didgeridoo, all kinds of world beat, I love artists who mix it up and defy categories. See my profile for a bit more detail. Along with photography and art, music is a universal language.
6. I’m addicted to scary movies and scary books. Love Dean Koonz, Stephen King, Anne Rice, vampire fiction in general. Favorite movies in this genre: The Shining, Poltergeist, Sixth Sense, The Exorcist, Interview With the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, to name a few. I do NOT like ugly bloody gory slasher type movies. That’s not scary, that’s just gross. I read constantly, always have a book going, sometimes two at once. Flickr has cut down on my reading time though!
7. As you’ve undoubtedly noticed I’m a big blabbermouth. This is not one of those beautifully succinct lists. I have been known to write entire paragraphs consisting of one sentence. Brevity-r-NOT-us! I was an English Lit major in college, and my biggest problem with writing papers etc. was always to pare it down to manageable size!
8. Spiritually I’m a mystic. I think that at the heart of all the traditions, there’s that ineffable place where we encounter the mystery, where we know our connection to one another and to the whole web of existence. I think there are many many paths to that place but they all lead to the same place. The essence of that place is love and harmony and connection and compassion and beauty and peace. It’s a place that feels like home, someplace we’ve never exactly been yet we know in our DNA, in our brain chemistry, in our soul.
9. I love nature and all her creatures. (Well OK not all. I have a hard time feeling love for, say, mosquitoes!) But I love animals and it breaks my heart that we humans are taking the habitat of so many and driving them near extinction. One of the major categories in my favorites folder is animals, wild or domestic, can’t get enough. I may not ever get to go to the wild places of the world but I need to know that they exist.
10. I am married to a wonderful man, we will celebrate our 38th anniversary this year. We have three grown children and three grandchildren, the loves of my life. Also two kitties, my current at-home children!
11. I run a small consignment clothing store. It’s very work intensive and I don’t get rich, but I make a modest living and I love it. It feels like right livelihood, recycling at its best, a win-win situation. We’ve been interviewed lately about how consignment stores are doing well in this scary economic time. So far so good, all fingers and toes firmly crossed. If you’ll look back at item number one (I’m a major packrat) you’ll see that I turned a positive aspect of that into a good way to make a living.
12. I love hot tea! Morning Thunder, Matte for day, soothing herbal teas at night.
13. I’m almost embarrassed about my Flickr handle now (Fractal Artist) because for the last couple of years I’ve not been doing much with fractals, much more with photography and making abstracts and altered images out of my digital pics. A lot of people think the altered images are fractals, but they’re not. If an image is a fractal or based on a fractal, it will say so in the title or description, and definitely in the tags. Fractals aren’t just about fractal programs, though; all of nature is based on fractal patterns and fractal math, so there are fractals everywhere! And I love patterns, I’ll sit and take multiple pictures of things like super close-ups of water in a fountain, because of the endless fractal patterns they create. I learned photoshop by working with fractals though, so I learned a lot of techniques, just by playing, that I now use in my digital photography altered images.
14. My vision is quite poor, 20/ 200 without glasses, 20/ 80 in my best eye on a good day with. The biggest pain in the ass thing about that is that I don’t drive, don’t see well enough to have ever gotten a license. That’s limiting in many ways, no point pretending it’s not. Other than that, I can do most things I want to do with some adjustments. My computer screen is set low res. so the icons and print size will be readable for me, and I have special glasses just for the computer. I can’t tell if an image on the camera is in sharp focus, so mostly must make do with the auto-focus settings. Also can’t see the little tiny read-outs on the LCD screen if I wanted to use the more manual settings. Surprised? I think the way I see effects the way I see the world in good ways as well as inconvenient ones. I sometimes have a somewhat unique and different eye for what I want to take pictures of, stuff other folks would not see or be interested in. My eyes have never focused together, but I don’t see double. Some magic hooey the brain does in it’s processing. I’ve often wondered if that didn’t have something to do with my ability to usually see both or many sides of an issue, hold them in my mind at the same time, understand divergent points of view, even if I have a strong opinion about the matter—which I often do.
15. One of the things I love best about Flickr is the internationality. I have so many contacts from all over the world! Many don’t speak my language, and I don’t speak theirs. Yet the images are a universal language which we all understand. And a fav or even a comment in a language you don’t understand, is “I really like this” in any language!
16. Boy oh boy, this was harder than it looked! I have REALLY super enjoyed reading my contacts’ 16 things lists, such a great way to learn wonderful things about everybody! I think this is a SUPER idea! Thanks for tagging me, and I’ll look forward to tagging some other folks! I'll be really surprised if very many people make it through this "list"--it's way too long!
Tagged by currentclassics, you can see her list here:
One of my favourites of any of the few Perseid meteors I have been able to catch over the last couple of evenings - though cloud conditions haven't really been favourable, but manageable :)
Slipping into my stunning LK Bennett sequin dress once the band started. Got lots of compliments. Also changed to a more manageable hairstyle
seems to be a great apple- a cooker produces clean apples consistently,
For no good aesthetic reason, I am posting a bunch of pictures from today of some of the apples on the trees in our garden.
Nice time to look at them just now – mostly still quite small but swelling rapidly as we get to late summer.
My trees are on rootstock MM106 which is very common rootstock for non-dwarf trees and they are being grown as “half standards” (so first branch at 1.4M) which gives a tree big enough to produce a good crop but just manageable in a garden setting and reasonably easy to mow under with a ride-on. The trees are now 17 years old (planted as maiden whips in February 2004). I do tend to look at them a lot but don’t seem to photograph them as much as I might.
I have just registered for a 1-day course in cider making (along with 2 of my brothers) for late September down in Galway. So today looking at the apples with extra special interest. We need to bring 8kg of apples each to the course– so that is 24kg for the 3 of us. On looking around the trees this afternoon, I don’t think this will pose a challenge to achieve in 6 weeks’ time when the course is on.
Juliet Turner - Call Me Green
Mount Sindoro standing tall in quiet solace, on a cold morning.
The couple Mount Sindoro and Mount Sumbing, a challenging yet manageable hiking destination.
Picture taken from the peak of Mount Sikunir, Dieng Plateau, Central Java, Indonesia.
THE "TORSO OF THE STAGNONE"
The so-called "torso of the Stagnone", a calcarenite torso belonging to a male statue, was discovered on July 13, 1933 in the waters of the Stagnone Lagoon of Marsala (Trapani). The discovery was entirely accidental. As told by Paolino Mingazzini, the Superintendent of western Sicily and first editor of the work, when repairing the rudimentary wooden jetty in the Contrada Spagnola from which boats departed to cross the Stagnone Lagoon and arrive on the island of Mozia, some workers noticed a boulder in the shallows that could damage their boats a few meters from the pier. Deciding to remove it, they tried to make holes using an iron poker intending to reduce it into more manageable pieces, but stopped when they realized that they were dealing with a statue, and indeed proceeded to drag the statue onto dry land.
After a few months in the Marsala Town Hall, the torso reached the National Museum of Palermo" - The Giornale di Sicilia of July 23, 1933 immediately reported the news of the discovery: "As we have announced in recent days, the torso of an athlete has been found by some fishermen in the sea area that runs along the Contrada Spagnola, along the Stagnone Lagoon Canal..."
The torso belongs to a statue which was originally more than 2 meters tall (2.3 - 2.4m); the figure, with a bare chest, wears an Egyptian type skirt (shenti) created with engraved vertical folds supported at the waist with a belt. The right arm is extended along the side, while the closed fist holds a roll; three deep furrows indicate the fingers.
The anatomy of the chest is made with a few strokes; the shoulders are broad and strong. The left leg is brought forward, as indicated by the progress of the folds of the skirt, slightly wavy in the rear.
The statue, albeit made locally - as evidenced by the local calcarenite - proposes an iconographic scheme of Egyptian type, already known through other types of artifacts (full-relief statues, ivories, bronze statuettes) and, due to its stylistic features, is part of the panorama of Phoenician-Cypriot art from the archaic period (6" century BC.).
The original site of the statue's placement is not confirmed, although some discoveries of architectural elements in the waters of the Stagnone allow us to hypothesize the existence of a sort of Egyptian type little temple (naos) within which the sculpture, perhaps depicting a deity, was probably placed.
The Antonino Salinas Regional Archeological Museum or Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonino Salinas is a museum in Palermo, Italy. It possesses one of the richest collections of Punic and Ancient Greek art in Italy, as well as many items related to the history of Sicily. Formerly the property of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, the museum is named after Antonino Salinas, a famous archaeologist and numismatist from Palermo who had served as its director from 1873 until his death in 1914, upon which he left it his major private collection. It is part of the Olivella monumental complex, which includes the Church of Sant'Ignazio all'Olivella and the adjoining Oratory.
My 2013 Classic Ariel Doll has been completely deboxed. She is standing, supported by a Kaiser doll stand (not included with the doll), and is photographed from various angles.
The 2013 Classic Ariel mermaid doll has many differences from the 2012 model, and is a greatly improved doll. She is both more attractive and more movie accurate. The major changes are to her head and face, her hair, her tail and her legs. There is a minor change to her shell bra. The only features that haven't changed are her torso and arms. I think that overall, she is the best doll in the new class of Classic Princess dolls from the Disney Store. That is fitting, as this is the year of the Diamond Edition release of her movie, The Little Mermaid.
Her head has been redesigned to be rounder than the previous models, thus more accurate by the shape alone. Her forehead is lower, her cheeks are fuller and her cheekbones are more prominent. Her cute button nose, open mouth smile and small angular chin seem to be same as the previous model. So her head is not as long, and her face is not as flat.
Her face is similar to last years, but with many small changes. Her eye molds appears to be the same shape, but the corners of her eyes are more rounded, so overall the eyes are slightly smaller but rounder. Her big round blue green eyes are wide open, and glancing to her right. They are darker, the pupils are significantly larger, and the glance is more severe than the 2012 doll. It makes for a more lively and adorable expression. She has four short thick curving black lashes over each eye, in the same pattern as last year, and black eyeliner under them that is thicker and darker than before. She has silver eyeshadow as before, but the thick eyeliner partially obscures the eyeshadow. Her rust colored eyebrows a little thicker and darker than last year, and are closer to her eyes. The rouge on her cheeks are much darker than last year, when it was barely visible, if it was there at all. Her mouth is the same, but her lips are a dark pink (as opposed to last year's pastel pink), and her upper lip is painted thinner, and her lower lip is painted fuller. Her face is very beautiful, youthful, lively and much more movie accurate than before.
Her waist length red hair is mostly straight and soft, but it ends in large stiff curls. The area around her face is also stiffened with gel to keep it off her face, which works very well to make her face much more open than the 2012 doll. Her volume of hair is much less than before. Her hair is much more manageable, neater, and movie accurate than before. But her part is still on the wrong side of her head, and the large curving front bangs of the movie character are still missing from this doll.
Her tail is a dark blue green color, with green glitter forming a scale pattern that is fetching. However her upper and lower fins are made of light blue green tulle that looks much less realistic and movie accurate than the 2012 model. Her purple shell bra is a little darker and a little more accurate than before. It also seems to fit better.
Her body is fully articulated in the arms, but now has the rubber legs of 2011 and earlier dolls, which has internal knee joints and fixed angled feet. Her hip joints allow her to sit down with her legs together and her back straight up, unlike the 2012 doll with the fully articulated but defective legs. Her angled rubber feet also make her about 1/4 inch shorter than the 2012 doll. I'd say that the rubber legs are definitely a big improvement for Ariel over the fully articulated hard plastic legs of 2012.
The packaging for the dolls is much improved. The box art has been completely redesigned, with beautiful decorations unique to each Princess (actually for each movie), and a cameo of the animated movie character. The boxes are the same height and width, but are 1/2'' flatter, making them smaller and lighter.
The 2013 Disney Princess Classic Doll Collection, released on June 10, 2013. They consist of 11-12'' articulated dolls of the 11 official Disney Princesses, from Snow White to Merida, as well as Princes, Villains and Sidekicks. I now have all 11 Princesses, Queen Elinor, Charlotte and Gaston. I will photograph them boxed, during deboxing and fully deboxed. I will also post reviews and comparative photos.
Classic Disney Princess Ariel Doll - 12''
US Disney Store
Released online June 10, 2013.
Purchased online June 13, 2013.
Received June 24, 2013.
$14.95 (was on sale for $10 at time of purchase).
The tree surgeons had just completed the demolition of this tree on the edge of the 'lake' in Central Park and are now cutting it up into manageable parts to fit in the back of the lorry.
This is what the camera/lens looks like after I (crudely) cut down the lens board to something more manageable. Samples already posted to the flickr album for this lens.
You know it's a tragedy when you use to write paragraphs on how you feel because it was all so somewhat manageable, going from that to not knowing where to start because you feel too much at once is extremely unsettling for me.
In 1958 the German architect Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, was commissioned to design a new quarter in the south-east of the West-Berlin. He planned manageable living spaces in building with a average of four and maximum of 17 floors, all of which would be intesected by a green corridor. In addition to good infrastructure, the complex contained shopping centers, cinemas, post offices and community centers ensuring the residents could still live an urban life.
Then the Berlin Wall was built in 1962, and the planned settlement ran near the Wall. The plans were adjusted accordingly: he area of space reduced in size, and the complex built higher. Some 14,500 apartments were planned, yet 19,000 were eventually built, with building reaching up to 30 storey-high housing more than 50,00 residents. By the time construction was completed in 1975, Gropiusstadt - or the Gropius City - as it came to be known, became a residential juggernaut. The place were Christiane F. grew up.
See also my blog: giarasphotoblog.blogspot.nl/
The final stop on our Avalon Siem Reap Mekong River cruise was to Kampong Tralach on Tonlé Sap River.
Our visit to Tralach metal smith shop is over.
While waiting to board the Siem Reap our Cambodian tour guide Sokun was giving an explanation and demonstration of the uses of the lotus plant including the production of lotus thread.
ABOUT LOTUS THREAD:
If there should be any textile fitting for faith and devotion, a piece of fine fabric meticulously woven by hand from the delicate fibres of tens of thousands of lotus stems is no doubt one of the top contenders.
The fabric looks similar to linen, but has the delicate fineness of raw silk.
Lotus stems are first cut into manageable sections before being scored, twisted and pulled to reveal a web of thin filaments.
Barely visible to the naked eye, the filament is laid out on a wooden workbench and kept moist with occasional splashes of water.
As the process is repeated with new stems, the artisan rolls the moistened fibres together to create a thicker, stronger thread. With a quick roll of the palm, a new length is soldered onto the last to form one continuous thread.
A square metre of this fabric requires at least 20,000 lotus stems and takes a skilled artisan 40 days to produce. A one-metre-long scarf made of lotus threads is worth a minimum US$450.
Given its laborious production and sacred origin, lotus threads were mostly used for monk robes and coverings for Buddha images.
The birth of this rare fabric is believed to go back more than a century, when a skilled weaver named Sa Oo noticed the fine fibres of lotus flowers blossoming across the lake.
The lotus’ beauty, symbolic of purity of the mind in Buddhism, inspired the devout artisan to turn its delicate filaments into a monk robe - a sacred offering of passionate devotion and purity of the soul.
Legend has it that Sa Oo spent one whole year extracting and weaving lotus fibres into an exquisite garment for an abbot she revered.
Another cold wet Wintry day, strolling around The Glen shopping centre, debating what to have for lunch. I realise it is Saturday, and Shira Nui is open for lunch! All it takes is a quick phone call to confirm and book.
Because this is a sushi restaurant, our choices are easy. A Sushi Lunch Special and a Sashimi Lunch Special, oh and send us a plate of wagyu beef yakiniku. Yum!
The chawan mushi arrived first, and it was the silkiest, smoothest savoury egg custard I have ever had, again :) The chicken broth on top was rich and very tasty. So tasty, yet so hot, I burnt my tongue.
This was followed by 2 cold starters, a chewy crunchy konnyaku with a sesame sauce, and a peppery spaghetti salad with a light mayonnaise.
Then comes the beef! There is no better way to serve marbled wagyu beef that to sear it quickly, yakiniku style, to give it a nice burnt colour and melt some of the fat. Of course, the lesser cuts can be made into burgers, etc, but sometimes, we need a bit of luxury.
The fish is good as always, and today's sashimi included hiramasa kingfish, wild barramundi, tuna and salmon. The kingfish with shisho was good, but surprisingly Suzuran's kingfish sahimi seemed fresher with a distinct crunch to the flesh. The barammundi was good too, but the tuna, was soft, smooth and buttery. Very good! As always, the offcuts from the fish were tossed into the salad, dressed with sesame oil and vinegar.
On the sushi platter we had cod, according to Nishikura-san, salmon, tuna, wild barammundi, hiramasa kingfish, prawn, tamago (egg omelet). All very good.
Even on such a Wintry day, Shira Nui was full. For both sessions. Both the tables, and the counter were full. It is obvious that bookings, even on the day, are essential.
Shira Nui 不知火
247 Springvale Rd
Glen Waverley VIC 3150
(03) 9886-7755
Lunch Tue-Sat noon-2pm. Dinner Tue-Sun 6pm-10pm
Reviews:
- Shira Nui, by Dani Valent, Epicure, The Age May 22, 2007 Sit at the sushi counter. Order the omakase
- Shira Nui By Jane Faulkner, Epicure, The Age October 10, 2005 Shira Nui is worth crossing town for.
- Fusion without power By John Lethlean, The Age August 5 2003 At Shira Nui, only certain types of sushi will be delivered to the table, so fanatical is the chef. The full range is available only to a manageable group of sushi-bar diners. He makes; you eat immediately; then he makes again. This is the omakase menu, a sushi-only degustation that is the purest, most pleasurable dining experience I have had all year.
- Shira Nui ... again - TummyRumbles by mellie on May 17th, 2009
Age Good Food Guide 2010 Score: 14.5/20
Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 14.5/20
Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide "A nondescript Glen Waverley shopping strip is not the obvious place to seek boundarypushing Japanese food, but Shira Nui's camouflage partially explains its 'hidden treasure' status"
Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 15/20
Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 15/20
Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 14/20
AGFG 2004, score 14/20
Metra F40C 607, long since reduced to more-manageable hunks of steel, was in charge of Milwaukee West Line scoot 2223 back in 2003.
The B12 interlocking has since been reconfigured to the point that standing at this location today would just be a dumb thing to do.
Needless to say hubby and I were pretty well done in by the time we got home. But the people at the office were lovely, which makes these things easier to take. Hubby made tea for us when we got home. The pain is manageable, and tomorrow afternoon I can remove the bandages and see how Frankensteinish my nose looks, with its dime sized different skin.
To reward myself for being so well behaved yesterday, I will dress a Francie in an outfit from my friend Didier. Happy 2023, Flickr pals!
This and the next LightPainting try to image some Solutions we´ve kreated to make our Life manageable and konvenient... Inventions we should be also proud of as for Spaceships, Laser and Komputers... I am for sure...
Try the large Size....
pART of Pure candidus
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©1999-2006 all Rights reserved, Krystian
Recently I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work at an airshow. At the airshow I was given a little bit of a private tour with the group I was with of this amazing aircraft. And of course now that inspired me to build it. This is the biggest project I've ever taken on, even considering I built that AT-AT I built recently which just looks tiny compared to this thing. Anyway I have no idea how long this is going to take, I don't expect it's going to be done anytime soon that is, but hopefully I'll get it done in somewhat of a timely manor. I've gotten this far in only a couple days so who knows maybe I'll be done by Christmas. Leave a comment if you think you know what this monster of a plane is!
Happy building!
Oh! P.S. it's 1/45 scale because that is at least a reasonable good scale for figs and still like semi manageable compared to like 1/35 or something crazy.
BOX DATE: 2009
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
DOLLS IN LINE: Sleeping Beauty; Belle; Cinderella; Tiana; Snow White; Mulan; Ariel
BODY TYPE: 2006; molded dot panties; bend & snap legs
HEAD MOLD: No date; Disney
PERSONAL FUN FACT: This cute little Snow White doll joined my doll family during the summer of 2016. I found her at my local flea market being sold by one of my regular sellers--"Ken Suitcase lot Guy." I also purchased my 2009 Sparkling Princess Belle doll from the same seller that day. When I initially decided to purchase this Snow White, I was actually under the impression that she was in fact another 2008 Sparkling Princess Snow White doll, since most Disney dolls reused the same facial screenings more or less for several years. But when I got home, I realized that this Snow White doll had a very different, super adorable hair style! Firstly, she has little bangs, which curl up at her cheek bones, and flip away from her face. I really love how these short layers/bangs frame Miss Snow's face, and accentuate her huge, warm, friendly eyes. Her hair is also substantially shorter than my 2008 Sparkling Princess Snow White dolls' locks--whose hair cascades down to just past their shoulders. This girl has a very short bob, which stops only a little bit past the nape of her neck. I really love how short and manageable this Snow White doll's hair style is. It holds the curly flips well, and I think it looks a bit more true to the movie character's do. I have to say that this Snow White is one of the cutest ones in my collection--I'm so glad I wanted to buy her for the Sleeping Beauty dress she was wearing, because I had no idea just how special she would end up being! And of course it all worked out in the end, because a few years later, I mated this Snow with her original dress (although she looked even more incredible in my Disney Store fashions)!
We were looking forward to a good hike with mild temperatures and little wind. The winds were much higher than predicted, but manageable. There was much less snow than we would have thought, considering we've above average snowfalls for this year. While the wind was annoying, the fact that wet snow would often clump to our boots was very frustrating... With all the ups and downs, we gained just over 800 m's on this very undulating 10.3 km return distance hike, but took 6 and a half hours to complete. The loveliest surprise was herd of Rocky Mountain Sheep near the true summit.
The ONLY editing I did to the pictures was reducing them from the size I shoot in SL (4000×3500) down to a 1024 size manageable for the blog and Flickr. There’s been no cropping, no liquifying, no adjusting contrast or color balances or any of the other Photoshop tools I use on a regular basis.
slicesoflifesl.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/sooc-the-void-par...
The Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club, patron - HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT GBE
The Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club was inaugurated on 16th. April 1859 when a number of “boating gentlemen” met to discuss the formation of a club and an entry fee of two guineas with an annual subscription of one guinea was established. Col. George Wilson of Beccles was elected the first Commodore and a Sailing Committee was formed with representatives from Great Yarmouth and the rivers Bure, Yare and Waveney. The first club burgee was a white flag bearing a red cross of St. George. Sailing fixtures were initially organised at Cantley in June, Wroxham in July and Oulton Broad in August, these regatta dates have remained largely unchanged to this day. Club cruises remained popular until the development of ‘machines for racing’ were built without accommodation.
In 1884 it was decided to build a clubhouse at Lowestoft and members formed a company to fund the building, the land being leased from the Great Eastern Railway until 1960. The original Clubhouse was completed in 1886 but soon proved too small and George Skipper of Norwich produced the winning design of an early butterfly or ‘X’ plan building. Edward VII formalised the Royal Warrant, backdating it to its original issue date of 1898.
At the turn of the nineteenth century when the Club was still sailing most of its regattas on the Broads, with only six races a year at Lowestoft, Naval Architect Linton Hope was commissioned to design a half decked one design yacht for sailing on the Broads but equally able to deal with the coastal conditions off Lowestoft. The Broads One Design Yacht, affectionately known as the ‘Brown Boat’ has proved a mainstay of Club racing ever since 1901.
The Broads One Design yacht is the oldest one design class racing at the Club. The yacht is 24ft. (7.3m) overall, 5ft. 1in. (1.55m) beam, 3ft. (0.9m) draft with a waterline length of 16ft. 6in. (4.9m) and a gaff rigged sail area of 262 sq.ft (24 sq.m).
The first five yachts were delivered by train on flatbed trucks from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex where the majority of the timber yachts were built. The first race was held on Oulton Broad on Whit Monday, 1901. Thirty one timber yachts were built over a period of 38 years. Twenty seven still remain, including the first five built. The first twelve were carvel built in cedar and the remainder in mahogany.
The Broads One Design Class also became known as ‘Brown Boats’ due to their varnished hulls as opposed to other one design classes arriving on the Broads with their white painted softwood hulls.
During 1933 and 1934 a Bermudian rig was tried on Number 7 'Kingfisher', however it was beaten by the original gaff rig yachts and the idea was dropped.
A unique feature of the class is that each yacht is allocated an individual racing flag. Initially the yachts were allocated a flag from the International Code of Signals flags, progressing to the numeral pennants and substitutes until all had been used. Currently house flags and others are allocated. The first twelve yachts used their flags for identification during racing until 1911. Sail numbers were used in the 1912 sailing season for the first time, under protest from the class members, after the Club asked them to use numbers for better identification whilst at sea. Brown sail numbers were used first, changing to black for the 1927 season.
As the yachts proved so manageable, in 1908 a lady became an owner and several others followed. This became a problem for the Club, membership at that time being male only. It was not until after World War II that the Club relaxed its rules to allow female members.
In 1987 a glass fibre yacht was built, undergoing trials before being accepted. The introduction of the glass fibre yachts has rejuvenated the class. A further 55 glass fibre yachts have currently been built. The design lends itself well to fibreglass. Whilst the spoon bows and flat counter belonged to the period of its design, the short keel and shallow midships would not look out of place thirty years later.
Over the years, Linton Hope’s design has proved to be very safe and capable at sea, coping with the sometimes rough conditions experienced off Lowestoft while also racing successfully on the Broads against yachts designed specifically for Broads sailing.
In 1959 at the Club’s Centenary, Commodore Michael Johnson was able to boast that the only two gold medals won by Great Britain for yachting in the previous fifty years had both been won by members of the RN&SYC.
In 1998 a grant was secured for a marina, and in partnership with Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club recognition as an RYA/Volvo Centre of Excellence for sail training was achieved.
In 2009 the Club celebrated its 150th. birthday, commencing with a reception and supper at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich in commemoration of the meeting held to initiate the formation of the club in the the same hotel in 1859.
Upon receipt of a new Tokina 11-20mm F/2.8 lens for Christmas, I went out for a walk and brought the camera with me to test it out. Handheld, unplanned, and taken on a whim, it's certainly not my best photo, nor was it the best time of day or weather conditions for photography. Nevertheless, I'm pretty excited to get out and use the ultra-wide capacity of this new lens. It's pretty sharp and the distortions seem manageable. I can't wait to for the opportunity to get out and use it more seriously, especially for astrophotography!