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2010 - Day 71. Mar. 12, 2010.
Daily Shoot - Electronic gadgets pervade our world. You've probably got several. Make a photo of your favorite gadget today.
Blackberry - an aggregate fruit. This powerful tool, (long ago elevated from 'gadget' status), is key to aggregating all the many pieces of my life as a manageable whole.
My daughter needle-felted these elf-ears for her Halloween costume this year. See more of the costume in my post today in the Every Second Sunday in Film blog.
While there please visit the other wonderful Sunday on Film posts: Sunday on Film posts.
I haven't given up on Flickr. My older daughter has been performing in a high school performance of As You Like It, and I have spent this week involved with headshots, group shots, candids, and photos of the play, and this is the first moment I've had to do something else. I have to go sort through 400 photos and narrow it down to something manageable now. I really miss my flickr time though, so I will return.
The dream of staying somewhere where time stands still - one hour follows after the other - one day follows after the other - most of it is manageable and is a repetition of something one has already experienced and lived through. Bedouins in the Sahara desert
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Originating in China, the Limequat (Citrus x floridana) is cultivated in Japan, Israel, Spain, and Malaysia. In the United States, the Limequat is grown in Florida and California. The self-fertile Limequat is almost everbearing with heavy crops of oval-shaped, lemon-colored fruit, larger than both of the parents. The flesh is juicy, acidic and high in Vitamin C.
There are 3 (three) original varieties of Limequat, resulting from different crosses between a Key Lime (Citrus aurantifolia) and a Kumquat (Citrus fortunella). They were produced in Florida and named Eustis, Lakeland, and Tavares (could be a Lemon X Kumquat hybrid) in honor of the Florida cities of the same names. They are grafted onto Flying Dragon dwarfing rootstock (Poncirus trifoliata) syn. (Citrus trifoliate) to attain manageable heights desired in dooryard trees and container gardening.
Because of the parentage, Limequats are much cold hardier than the Key Lime and are much less susceptible to disease than the Key Lime.
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This is a display of 4 Lakeland Limequats in various stages of ripeness, compared with a 2.54cm (1inch) coin.
Limequat 'Lakeland'
Citrus japonica 'Marumi' X Citrus aurantiifolia
Family Rutaceae
Rockledge Gardens, Rockledge, Florida, USA.
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Just Around Midnight. Couldn't resist spending a night out with the fireflies in the back yard last night. The weather was very pleasant - a nice, calm breeze, cool with low humidity - and the light show was pretty good. No, it wasn't a Scioto County extravaganza, but that made it easier to observe the individual species' flash patterns - - the dot-dots, the bright green streakers, the abundant twinklers, an occasional orange pop and the big green flash bulbs. Fun. The neighborhood light pollution was manageable with most of the light coming from a big, bright moon. 30 sec. exposure.
Tango practice continues. The weekly classes are becoming a little more manageable. This is not a dance you can crash course. Jim and I are dance buddies. He struggles with the footwork. I think tango is much more difficult for men to learn than women. Jim asks if I want to practice later in the week, but I don't know the men's steps. What I do have is some confidence that a practice session with Jim would devolve into frustration within its first 60 seconds. He's new in his learning and doesn't know footwork yet. Here is my wonderful teacher dancing the woman's part, helping Jim with his molinete (turns).
The beginning of a new year - and a new challenge. At the end of each month I will post one image. At the end of last year the 365 challenge began to unravel so I think this is more manageable!
This is my first photo using the animal focus-tracking feature on my new Canon EOS R5 camera (insects don't count). It was amazing to see the tiny green focus-zone indicators jump around to stay on the hummingbird's eye or head as the bird moved.
Deep shade, sunlit background. I made this photo through an open kitchen window. The Tamron 150-600mm zoom is large, heavy, and clumsy in the hands, but it is very manageable when balanced on my Wemberley gimbal mount.
Odenton Quad
39076_A6
39 04 40N, 76 39 34W
Grabbing something a bit more manageable, this guys will swallow this and then grab something bigger to take a tree branch to work on.
Nikon Z6ii with Nikkor Z 24-200mm ƒ4-6.3 lens
Flora needs an outfit and a battery change, but her back screw is rusted so I have to deal with that first. Bloom just needs new batteries and shoes.
Their hair was absolutely dreadful, but it wasn't too hard to fix. It's nice and soft and manageable now.
A group of people have a snowball fight in Times Square (in Father Duffy Square) during winter storm Nemo in New York City.
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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
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.
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).
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).
Tulsa, 21st Street during the recent storm.
High ISO set to 3200. Nice detail in very bad stormy weather.
Noise is manageable.
View from the St. Johns parking garage.
Press L for best view.
Amanita muscaria, many fables of myth and magic are associated with this mushroom . The Sami people of Lapland use this mushroom to round up their reindeer herds ,they take advantage of the reindeers liking for the mushroom and scatter dried ones for the herd to eat, which makes them more manageable. And thats a fact .
In terms of luxury, there's not much than can top the last of the mighty Maybachs, the stylish and structurally unsound 57 and the even larger 62 being what all car manufacturers aspire to build. Now, while many consider these cars for being failures in their own right of not being able to appeal to a market outside of business executives and company vehicles, I wouldn't consider them pseudonyms for bad cars, if anything they're incredibly well built, and the attention to every single detail is astounding, even giving the well established Rolls Royce and Bentley a run for their money!
The Maybach company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach, one of the founding fathers of the original motor car back in the late 1800's. For a period the company created a selection of admirable but often forgotten creations that were meant to rival the luxury and premise of their Anglican rivals, Rolls Royce and Bentley. The first Maybach to be built was in 1921, this being the W3. Not much is known about these early pre-war Maybachs, but for the few that have managed to survive the years in museums or private collections have been noted for their esteemed luxury. However, World War II dealt a bitter blow to the Maybach brand, which although had been able to produce engines for the German Army's Panzer II and Panzer III tanks, the company never restarted production and for the next 20 years lay dormant until it was bought up by Daimler-Benz in 1960, with the engine division being renamed MTU.
However, in the mid to late 1990s a sudden interest in large luxury cars such as contemporary Rolls Royces and Bentleys gave parent company Daimler AG (parent company of Mercedes-Benz) the incentive to create their own superluxury car, only this one was going to be so lavish and chocked full of so many luxury items that it would simply blow the British builders out of the water. The first concept cars for their new luxury brand were unveiled in 1997 at the Tokyo Motor Show, being dubbed the 57 and the 62, a representation of the car's length in decimetres. At the time Rolls Royce and Bentley were still the same company, and competed with the brand new Rolls Royce Silver Seraph/Bentley Arnage, though it wouldn't be before 2002 until the first of the Maybach models were introduced to the public market.
The launch of Maybach was ideal in terms of timing as in 2002, the five year contract between BMW and Volkswagen over the ownership of Rolls Royce/Bentley ceased, and the company was split. Rolls Royce was taken over by BMW and promptly ceased production of the Silver Seraph and Corniche V whilst their new range of BMW models were developed, and Bentley remained with Volkswagen, continuing to build the Arnage, the Continental of the early 1990's and the Azure of 1995. Indeed it looked like Maybach's new investment into the luxury car market was well placed, seeing as their closest competition was in utter dismay!
The Maybach 57 & 62's design is derived from the Mercedes S-Class, and cars are powered by 5.5L and 6.0L V12 engines, providing the cars with 518hp in the 57 and 570hp in the 62. Performance wise it's very impressive, with the 57 accelerating from 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, and the 62 in 4.8 seconds, not bad, considering these cars weight 6,000lbs! The asking prices for such incredible pieces of kit ranged from $366,000 for the Maybach 57 to $492,000 for the 62 S (Special), as well as the jaw-dropping $1,350,000 cost of the rare and ambiguous Landaulet convertible!
Of course when you pay for these things, you are paying for a hell of a lot of car! I remember attending an overview of the Maybach 62 a couple of years back at a car show and was actually very impressed with the number of gadgets and features the owner were lucky enough to have bestowed upon them.
Sitting inside it was like being in the first class cabin of a British Airways Boeing 747, crossed with the promenade deck of a luxury yacht! There are TV screens in the backs of the seat complete with DVD player and a hugely complicated radio/stereo system, there's wood veneer on all the surfaces, the seats you sank into with lovely thick head cushions (in fact I nearly fell asleep they were so comfy!), a Champagne bar with silver glasses and a fridge in the centre console for the bottle of Bubbly, as well as housing a mobile phone! The door panels were a maze of buttons for seat alignments and reclining options, including also heating, cooling, massaging, tumble drying, etc. In fact the seats recline so far back that they almost turn into beds!
And just so you're all tucked up warm at night, there's a blind that comes across the rear window!
These weren't cars, they were Beverley Hills Mansions on wheels! It was like driving around in Blenheim Palace, and performed just as well, seeing as they are very long and will probably mount the curb a few times on sharp city bends! For a short while Maybach had absolutely cornered the market, but in 2003 Rolls Royce got its act back in gear and launched the Phantom, an equally as outrageous car in terms of luxuries provided and raw power, but not as much as the Maybach. Although I'm an avid Rolls Royce man, I will not hesitate to say that the Maybach delivers luxury in spades and contemporary Rollers don't hold a candle to it. But I will defend the Spirit of Ecstasy by saying that these cars are by no means 'Driver's Cars'. In order to truly appreciate the Maybach you have to be a passenger, otherwise it's just like driving any other car, but with the addition of it being very heavy, which makes pulling away from traffic lights a bit stunted and cornering a bit cautious because of how long these things are. A Rolls Royce on the other hand, especially the Ghost, is a more manageable car, something you can drive but at the same time still enjoy the luxuries of.
Because the Rolls Royce is a driver's car, and the Bentley Continental and Continental GT that were launched the same year are much more agile and sporty, the Maybach began to suffer, and that's even before we get down to the name. Probably the biggest advantage Rolls Royce and Bentley had were brand recognition, seeing as both these names have become bywords for wealth, affluence and gratuitous luxury. Maybach on the other hand had been a dormant brand since 1945, so anyone under the age of 80 had probably never heard of them and therefore didn't know what they were getting themselves in for. In the end the Maybach's primary market was the chauffeur driven business executive, luxury hotel transfer or company car market, and if you take a walk around London, you'll probably find a majority of the Maybach's you come across will be in this employment. No one could really own such a massive car for individual purposes. Indeed word-of-mouth about the Maybach's luxury performance, as well as a few features on Top Gear, may have helped it along, but Maybach simply weren't able to shift enough of these cars to justify the costs that went into making them, exacerbated by the 2008 economic recession.
With Maybach making a loss of 330,000 Euros on every car they sold, parent company Daimler AG decided to review the situation. Finding that the idea of buying such overly exuberant and massively expensive cars was no longer viable for the new-money, Daimler announced that they would bring an end to the Maybach brand in 2013. In the end only 2,110 cars were produced in it's 11 year production life, a sad end to such an endearing machine, but unfortunately a misguided one. Replaced by the Mercedes S-Class Pullman, the company has now once again become dormant, with hindsight reviews of the car being mixed.
Some say that the Maybach is probably the greatest luxury car ever made, and was ranked the #1 Luxury Car in 2008 over Rolls Royce and Bentley. Others such as Top Gear, who had lauded the car upon its launch in 2002, went on to rank it as 2nd on their Top 13 worst cars of the past 20 years countdown, pointing out the fact that the car's brand was unrecognisable for the new money, and due to it being such a large car specifically for chauffeur driven executives, it wasn't able to rake in the market for oligarchs and celebrities who desired a 'Driver's Car'. The biggest problem however for the Maybach was indeed its name. Whilst Rolls Royce and Bentley both have distinguished and long lasting histories that can be traced across the last century, and have become bywords for exclusivity and luxury as well as the fact that they're built in their own factories away from their parent companies, the Maybach had little to no recognisable history, had a name that no one outside of Germany or born since 1950 knew about, and was built on the same production lines as other Mercedes products, which made it seem a bit more run-of-the-mill.
But in any case, the Maybach 57 and 62 did show us how far luxury cars of such unbelievable variety, size and outrageous gadgetry can go, pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible for such massive luxury machines. Announcements however have been made in late 2014 to revive the Maybach brand, which means we could have more titanic luxury motors coming our way soon!
Watch this space...
As seen from my train window. Actually, I don't. I need a future that's serene, manageable, and just my size.
This is what you see from the viewing deck of Mt.Luho, Boracay. You can't see the famous stretch of the white beach. What you can see is the more subdued and underrated bolabog beach on the other side of the island. Its may not have the finest sand compared to its sister but it boast of strong swells and winds that make it perfect for kite and wind surfing.
During our stay, a storm was in the vicinity so you can actually see the large but manageable swells on the entire stretch. Despite of that I saw more than a dozen surfers out there having the fun of their vacation in the famous island.
BOX DATE: 1995
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
MISSING ITEMS: Tub/bed, pillow, 2 nail polish bottles, shampoo, perfume bottle, comb, brush, jar, towel
IMPORTANT NOTES: I have seen foreign versions of a similar set that feature a window/sink and are dated 1993 (these sets are called "Barbie Bed & Bath").
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I've literally had this simple blanket for years and years. I can't even recall anymore if it was something I got as a child in a bin of doll stuff, or if it joined my collection early on when I was an adult. Either way, it's always taken up residency in my "unknown" doll clothes bags. Even after many cycles of removing potential clone items to make the bags more manageable to sort through, I just knew this blanket was special. I was actually trying to identify my newly acquired Dream Glow Bed bedding when I spotted a picture of this blanket online. It took a little extra hunting, but I was able to confirm what set it went to originally. I would have LOVED this Bed & Bath playset growing up. I remember lusting for a similar set that I saw at CVS when I was a child. This blanket is very stretchy, kind of like the fabric used on 80s Barbie clothes. I love how it has bow details on the ends--this was one of the hints that suggested this blanket was in fact authentic Barbie!
"Fanciful" is an adjective sometimes used in the technology press to describe the design philosophy of Phayze Fructification, inc.. Regardless of the intent behind it, PFi prefers to assume that the word is a compliment; many of their VIP customers would agree, such as the husband and wife team that serves as the colonial self defense force on Seitti Tre, an out-of-the-way agricultural colony known mostly for it's lush vineyards and the fine wines they produce. In actuality the vast majority of the colony's exports are perfectly mundane foodstuffs sold to outlets across the Goodfellow Cluster.
"Actaeon" was custom built to their specifications for a somewhat unorthodox, though quite efficient combat style. The frame itself serves as a mobile command center for up to four semi-autonomous "Schutzhund" combat drones. Alfonse pilots Actaeon, offering long range fire support for the drones, which are managed remotely by Izumi, who rides along right behind her husband in the modified tandem cockpit. Typically the drones are given simple commands regarding things like positioning and target priority, then the on-board AI handles the details on its own, however, if needed Izumi can also assume direct control of any drone for execution of more precise maneuvers and tactics.
Actaeon: Crossbow, Teleforce Barrier, 2x Control Aerials (wwRaBYY)
Rott: 2x Teleforce Barriers (wwBB)
Spits: 2x Teleforce Blaster (wwRdRd)
Pitt: Blazebite, Teleforce Barrier (wwRhB)
Pointer: Teleforce Blaster, Signal Repeater (wwRdY)
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So, my wife is on this big "Dido and Aeneas" kick, and there's a song in the opera that tells the story of Actaeon making the mistake of peeping on Artemis at bathtime (don't do that - no future in it), so she transformed him into a stag and set his own hounds to tear him apart. Good times, amiright!? ^^; We made a little movie of it here. My wife does the vocals and plays Artemis/Dianna, her mom handled the music, I'm Actaeon, and our dogs are the most adorable little man-eating hell hounds ever.
Anyway, it's a cool story, and given PFi's flair for mythical drama, it sounded like the kind of thing they would commemorate with a mobile frame company.
Actaeon himself is nothing special, just a goat-legged MCS variation - to be honest, I'm not sure that I'm sold on those hooves, though meat-space trials demonstrated decent balance. The crossbow is part of an as-yet-unreleased series of MCS weapons that I haven't finished enough of to make public. I was tempted to make something more longbow-ish, but decided that this gets the "huntsman" vibe without looking too out of place in a sci-fi setting. Chewbacca could do it, so why not this guy?
The hounds were originally meant to be modified from the lower parts of the MCS Centaur Ixion, but early drafts of the frame were a lot bigger than I liked (for this squad, anyway - I kept a copy of the bigger version for future use), so I had to spend considerable time on stripping it down and rebuilding it into a more manageable size. I went through hell trying to get the head right - part of me wanted to make it very dog-like, while another part of me felt like that was too cheesy. What do you think? Did I overdo it?
Really just basements. The Shanghai Tunnels, less commonly known as the Portland Underground, are a group of passages running underneath Old Town/Chinatown down to the central downtown section of Portland, Oregon, United States. The tunnels connected the basements of many downtown hotels and bars to the waterfront of the Willamette River. They were built to move goods from the ships docked on the Willamette to the basement storage areas, which allowed businesses to avoid streetcar and train traffic on the streets when delivering their goods.
However...
If you’ve ever heard Portland referred to as the Forbidden City of the West and wondered why, a visit to the Shanghai Tunnels could clear things up for you. Then again, it could just raise more questions about a legend that persisted for over 150 years.
If you aren’t familiar with shanghaiing, it refers to the capture and illegal sale of able-bodied men to sea captains in need of crewmen. Unscrupulous (to say the least) middlemen kidnapped men and sold them off to captains for as little as $50 a head. These poor men were then forced to work on ships bound for the Orient with no pay. According to legend as well as some historical data, men were shanghaied in Portland from roughly 1850 to 1941. Things were supposedly at their worst during Prohibition.
It almost sounds too bizarre and horrific to be little more than a myth or legend, but shanghaiing did take place. It was a practice that occurred in Portland as well as other locations along the West Coast. What is questioned is the means by which it was carried out in Portland, and the relationship if any between the Portland Underground and shanghai practices.
The Shanghai Tunnels or Portland Underground consist of tunnel passages linking Portland’s Old Town (Chinatown) to the central downtown area of Portland. The basements of many downtown bars and hotels were linked to the Willamette River waterfront through the tunnels, allowing supplies to be moved from ships docked there directly to basements for storage. Although many residents used to doubt it was true, the catacombs snaking beneath the city do in fact exist.
Since the mid-19th century, stories have been told about shanghai practices in Portland. Not only men but women, too were warned to take care against being drugged or kidnapped and hauled off for sale. Women were allegedly shanghaied for use as prostitutes rather than ship’s laborers. Although other ports along the West Coast including San Francisco are said to have been centers of shanghai activity, Portland’s underground tunnels are claimed to have made the practice much more manageable and wide-spread than in other areas.
According to those theories, victims were either drugged, kidnapped while intoxicated or simply knocked out, then dropped or dragged into the tunnels through trapdoors called deadfalls. Once in the tunnels, they were locked in specially designed prison cells and held captive until they were shipped off as slave laborers.
Portland Headline, 1908- During Prohibition, it is said that bars moved their operations underground, as well, making it easier than ever for unsuspecting victims to be shanghaied. Some researchers estimate that as many as 1,500 people a year were shanghaied through Portland’s Underground. Entire scenarios about the practices and experiences of the shanghaied in the tunnels have been created and elaborated on over the years.
The catacombs beneath Portland do exist and the stories almost sound plausible, but is the legend true? What evidence exists to support the allegations that these tunnels were used for shanghaiing? Is there any evidence at all?
You can take a tour aimed at demonstrating the validity of the Shanghai legend and decide for yourself, but so far the evidence does appear to be scanty to say the least. You can imagine that what is there, could have been created any time rather than during the 19th century. The persistent oral history of the legends is somewhat convincing, but remember historians don’t doubt shanghaiing took place in port cities of the West, including Portland. What they doubt is the connection between the tunnels, the basements of hotels and bars, and the kidnapping.
There is no historical record or evidence of shanghaiing being practiced in the tunnels from the time period it is said to have taken place. In fact, the earliest mention of a connection between the practice of Shanghaiing and the tunnels dates from the 1970s. Historians assert that even in the event of a massive cover-up effort, it is unlikely there would be no evidence of the practice whatsoever from the era when it was supposedly at its peak.
Evidence may finally be forthcoming, and if it is as convincing as promised, it could settle the question about Portland’s Underground once and for all. Michael P. Jones is the founder of a group offering tours of Portland’s Underground and is a proponent of the Shanghai Tunnel theory. He claims to have obtained undisputable evidence of the practice that will be revealed in a forthcoming book. The evidence supposedly consists of documents, photos and other proof of Shanghai activity.
Until the book is released or other proof surfaces, the legend of Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels remains just that – a myth individuals must decide about for themselves. Being able to explore the legend and form your own opinion is of course what makes the Shanghai Tunnels so appealing. If proof finally does come out confirming the story, it’s doubtful it will make the legend any more or less interesting than it already is.
One question that will probably come to mind on your visit to Portland’s Tunnels may haunt you more than what you believe you see. If history already confirms that shanghaiing took place in Portland, why on earth wouldn’t the tunnels have been used as a means of transporting the kidnapped?.
A shot of just part of St Mark's vicarage, obviously designed to match the style of the church, but with Gilbert Scott's favourite Dutch gables. I understand it had a modest 11 bedrooms, and has now been replaced by a much more manageable vicarage.
It looked to be a good day for a hike in the foothills east of the Rocky Mountains, except for some wind. Snow was patchy on the trail in the lower reaches, but still manageable with just our boots. Once past the junction with Prairie Link Trail, we had to don our spikes to continue. A kilometre from the summit, however, the ridge had been swept free of snow, and we were back with just our boots without spikes. The same winds that kept the snow off the ridge top returned to pester and annoy us, cooling us down. We walked just over 18 km's, gaining just over 800 m's, and taking 5 1/4 hours to so.
In Union Square Park during winter storm Nemo in NYC.
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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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Squid are cephalopods in the superorder Decapodiformes with elongated bodies, large eyes, eight arms and two tentacles. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin.
Squid diverged from other cephalopods during the Jurassic and occupy a similar role to teleost fish as open water predators of similar size and behaviour. They play an important role in the open water food web. The two long tentacles are used to grab prey and the eight arms to hold and control it. The beak then cuts the food into suitable size chunks for swallowing. Squid are rapid swimmers, moving by jet propulsion, and largely locate their prey by sight. They are among the most intelligent of invertebrates, with groups of Humboldt squid having been observed hunting cooperatively. They are preyed on by sharks, other fish, sea birds, seals and cetaceans, particularly sperm whales.
Squid can change colour for camouflage and signalling. Some species are bioluminescent, using their light for counter-illumination camouflage, while many species can eject a cloud of ink to distract predators.
Squid are used for human consumption with commercial fisheries in Japan, the Mediterranean, the southwestern Atlantic, the eastern Pacific and elsewhere. They are used in cuisines around the world, often known as "calamari". Squid have featured in literature since classical times, especially in tales of giant squid and sea monsters.
TAXONOMY AND PHYLOGENY
Squid are members of the class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleoidea. The squid orders Myopsida and Oegopsida are in the superorder Decapodiformes (from the Greek for "ten-legged"). Two other orders of decapodiform cephalopods are also called squid, although they are taxonomically distinct from squids and differ recognizably in their gross anatomical features. They are the bobtail squid of order Sepiolida and the ram's horn squid of the monotypic order Spirulida. The vampire squid, however, is more closely related to the octopuses than to any squid.
The cladogram, not fully resolved, is based on Sanchez et al, 2018. Their molecular phylogeny used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA marker sequences; they comment that a robust phylogeny "has proven very challenging to obtain". If it is accepted that Sepiidae cuttlefish are a kind of squid, then the squids, excluding the vampire squid, form a clade as illustrated. Orders are shown in boldface; all the families not included in those orders, except Sepiadariidae and Sepiidae are in the paraphyletic order "Sepiida", are in the paraphyletic order "Oegopsida".
EVOLUTION
Crown coleoids (the ancestors of octopuses and squid) diverged at the end of the Paleozoic, in the Permian. Squid diverged during the Jurassic, but many squid families appeared in or after the Cretaceous. Both the coleoids and the teleost fish were involved in much adaptive radiation at this time, and the two modern groups resemble each other in size, ecology, habitat, morphology and behaviour, however some fish moved into fresh water while the coleoids remained in marine environments.
The ancestral coleoid was probably nautiloid-like with a strait septate shell that became immersed in the mantle and was used for buoyancy control. Four lines diverged from this, Spirulida (with one living member), the cuttlefishes, the squids and the octopuses. Squid have differentiated from the ancestral mollusc such that the body plan has been condensed antero-posteriorly and extended dorso-ventrally. What may have been the foot of the ancestor is modified into a complex set of appendages around the mouth. The sense organs are highly developed and include advanced eyes similar to those of vertebrates.
The ancestral shell has been lost, with only an internal gladius, or pen, remaining. The pen, made of a chitin-like material, is a feather-shaped internal structure that supports the squid's mantle and serves as a site for muscle attachment. The cuttlebone or sepion of the Sepiidae is calcareous and appears to have evolved afresh in the Tertiary
DESCIPTION
Squid are soft-bodied molluscs whose forms evolved to adopt an active predatory lifestyle. The head and foot of the squid are at one end of a long body, and this end is functionally anterior, leading the animal as it moves through the water. A set of eight arms and two distinctive tentacles surround the mouth; each appendage takes the form of a muscular hydrostat and is flexible and prehensile, usually bearing disc-like suckers.
The suckers may lie directly on the arm or be stalked. Their rims are stiffened with chitin and may contain minute toothlike denticles. These features, as well as strong musculature, and a small ganglion beneath each sucker to allow individual control, provide a very powerful adhesion to grip prey. Hooks are present on the arms and tentacles in some species, but their function is unclear. The two tentacles are much longer than the arms and are retractile. Suckers are limited to the spatulate tip of the tentacle, known as the manus.
In the mature male, the outer half of one of the left arms is hectocotylised – and ends in a copulatory pad rather than suckers. This is used for depositing a spermatophore inside the mantle cavity of a female. A ventral part of the foot has been converted into a funnel through which water exits the mantle cavity.
The main body mass is enclosed in the mantle, which has a swimming fin along each side. These fins are not the main source of locomotion in most species. The mantle wall is heavily muscled and internal. The visceral mass, which is covered by a thin, membranous epidermis, forms a cone-shaped posterior region known as the "visceral hump". The mollusc shell is reduced to an internal, longitudinal chitinous "pen" in the functionally dorsal part of the animal; the pen acts to stiffen the squid and provides attachments for muscles.
On the functionally ventral part of the body is an opening to the mantle cavity, which contains the gills (ctenidia) and openings from the excretory, digestive and reproductive systems. An inhalant siphon behind the funnel draws water into the mantel cavity via a valve. The squid uses the funnel for locomotion via precise jet propulsion. In this form of locomotion, water is sucked into the mantle cavity and expelled out of the funnel in a fast, strong jet. The direction of travel is varied by the orientation of the funnel. Squid are strong swimmers and certain species can "fly" for short distances out of the water.
CAMOUFLAGE
Squid make use of different kinds of camouflage, namely active camouflage for background matching (in shallow water) and counter-illumination. This helps to protect them from their predators and allows them to approach their prey.
The skin is covered in controllable chromatophores of different colours, enabling the squid to match its coloration to its surroundings. The play of colours may in addition distract prey from the squid's approaching tentacles. The skin also contains light reflectors called iridophores and leucophores that, when activated, in milliseconds create changeable skin patterns of polarized light. Such skin camouflage may serve various functions, such as communication with nearby squid, prey detection, navigation, and orientation during hunting or seeking shelter. Neural control of the iridophores enabling rapid changes in skin iridescence appears to be regulated by a cholinergic process affecting reflectin proteins.
Some mesopelagic squid such as the firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans) and the midwater squid (Abralia veranyi) use counter-illumination camouflage, generating light to match the downwelling light from the ocean surface. This creates the effect of countershading, making the underside lighter than the upperside.
Counter-illumination is also used by the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes), which has symbiotic bacteria (Aliivibrio fischeri) that produce light to help the squid avoid nocturnal predators. This light shines through the squid's skin on its underside and is generated by a large and complex two-lobed light organ inside the squid's mantle cavity. From there, it escapes downwards, some of it travelling directly, some coming off a reflector at the top of the organ (dorsal side). Below there is a kind of iris, which has branches (diverticula) of its ink sac, with a lens below that; both the reflector and lens are derived from mesoderm. The squid controls light production by changing the shape of its iris or adjusting the strength of yellow filters on its underside, which presumably change the balance of wavelengths emitted. Light production shows a correlation with intensity of down-welling light, but it is about one third as bright; the squid can track repeated changes in brightness. Because the Hawaiian bobtail squid hides in sand during the day to avoid predators, it does not use counter-illumination during daylight
PREDATOR DISTRACTION WITH INK
Squid distract attacking predators by ejecting a cloud of ink, giving themselves an opportunity to escape. The ink gland and its associated ink sac empties into the rectum close to the anus, allowing the squid to rapidly discharge black ink into the mantle cavity and surrounding water. The ink is a suspension of melanin particles and quickly disperses to form a dark cloud that obscures the escape manoeuvres of the squid. Predatory fish may also be deterred by the alkaloid nature of the discharge which may interfere with their chemoreceptors.
NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSE ORGANS
Cephalopods have the most highly developed nervous systems among invertebrates. Squids have a complex brain in the form of a nerve ring encircling the oesophagus, enclosed in a cartilaginous cranium. Paired cerebral ganglia above the oesophagus receive sensory information from the eyes and statocysts, and further ganglia below control the muscles of the mouth, foot, mantle and viscera. Giant axons up to 1 mm in diameter convey nerve messages with great rapidity to the circular muscles of the mantle wall, allowing a synchronous, powerful contraction and maximum speed in the jet propulsion system.
The paired eyes, on either side of the head, are housed in capsules fused to the cranium. Their structure is very similar to that of a fish eye, with a globular lens that has a depth of focus from 3 cm to infinity. The image is focused by changing the position of the lens, as in a camera or telescope, rather than changing the shape of the lens, as in the human eye. Squid adjust to changes in light intensity by expanding and contracting the slit-shaped pupil. Deep sea squids in the family Histioteuthidae have eyes of two different types and orientation. The large left eye is tubular in shape and looks upwards, presumably searching for the silhouettes of animals higher in the water column. The normally-shaped right eye points forwards and downwards to detect prey.
The statocysts are involved in maintaining balance and are analogous to the inner ear of fish. They are housed in cartilaginous capsules on either side of the cranium. They provide the squid with information on its body position in relation to gravity, its orientation, acceleration and rotation, and are able to perceive incoming vibrations. Without the statocysts, the squid cannot maintain equilibrium. Squid appear to have limited hearing, but the head and arms bear lines of hair-cells that are weakly sensitive to water movements and changes in pressure, and are analogous in function to the lateral line system of fish.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
The sexes are separate in squid, there being a single gonad in the posterior part of the body with fertilisation being external, and usually taking place in the mantle cavity of the female. The male has a testis from which sperm pass into a single gonoduct where they are rolled together into a long bundle, or spermatophore. The gonoduct is elongated into a "penis" that extends into the mantle cavity and through which spermatophores are ejected. In shallow water species, the penis is short, and the spermatophore is removed from the mantle cavity by a tentacle of the male, which is specially adapted for the purpose and known as a hectocotylus, and placed inside the mantle cavity of the female during mating.The female has a large translucent ovary, situated towards the posterior of the visceral mass. From here, eggs travel along the gonocoel, where there are a pair of white nidamental glands, which lie anterior to the gills. Also present are red-spotted accessory nidamental glands containing symbiotic bacteria; both organs are associated with nutrient manufacture and forming shells for the eggs. The gonocoel enters the mantle cavity at the gonopore, and in some species, receptacles for storing spermatophores are located nearby, in the mantle wall. In shallow-water species of the continental shelf and epipelagic or mesopelagic zones, it is frequently one or both of arm pair IV of males that are modified into hectocotyli. However, most deep-sea squid lack hectocotyl arms and have longer penises; Ancistrocheiridae and Cranchiinae are exceptions. Giant squid of the genus Architeuthis are unusual in that they possess both a large penis and modified arm tips, although whether the latter are used for spermatophore transfer is uncertain. Penis elongation has been observed in the deep-water species Onykia ingens; when erect, the penis may be as long as the mantle, head, and arms combined. As such, deep-water squid have the greatest known penis length relative to body size of all mobile animals, second in the entire animal kingdom only to certain sessile barnacles.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Like all cephalopods, squids are predators and have complex digestive systems. The mouth is equipped with a sharp, horny beak mainly made of chitin and cross-linked proteins, which is used to kill and tear prey into manageable pieces. The beak is very robust, but does not contain minerals, unlike the teeth and jaws of many other organisms; the cross-linked proteins are histidine- and glycine-rich and give the beak a stiffness and hardness greater than most equivalent synthetic organic materials. The stomachs of captured whales often have indigestible squid beaks inside. The mouth contains the radula, the rough tongue common to all molluscs except bivalvia, which is equipped with multiple rows of teeth.[6] In some species, toxic saliva helps to control large prey; when subdued, the food can be torn in pieces by the beak, moved to the oesophagus by the radula, and swallowed.
The food bolus is moved along the gut by waves of muscular contractions (peristalsis). The long oesophagus leads to a muscular stomach roughly in the middle of the visceral mass. The digestive gland, which is equivalent to a vertebrate liver, diverticulates here, as does the pancreas, and both of these empty into the caecum, a pouch-shaped sac where most of the absorption of nutrients takes place. Indigestible food can be passed directly from the stomach to the rectum where it joins the flow from the caecum and is voided through the anus into the mantle cavity. Cephalopods are short-lived, and in mature squid, priority is given to reproduction; the female Onychoteuthis banksii for example, sheds its feeding tentacles on reaching maturity, and becomes flaccid and weak after spawning.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND EXCRETORY SYSTEMS
The squid mantle cavity is a seawater-filled sac containing three hearts and other organs supporting circulation, respiration, and excretion. Squid have a main systemic heart that pumps blood around the body as part of the general circulatory system, and two branchial hearts. The systemic heart consists of three chambers, a lower ventricle and two upper atria, all of which can contract to propel the blood. The branchial hearts pump blood specifically to the gills for oxygenation, before returning it to the systemic heart. The blood contains the copper-rich protein hemocyanin, which is used for oxygen transport at low ocean temperatures and low oxygen concentrations, and makes the oxygenated blood a deep, blue color. As systemic blood returns via two vena cavae to the branchial hearts, excretion of urine, carbon dioxide, and waste solutes occurs through outpockets (called nephridial appendages) in the vena cavae walls that enable gas exchange and excretion via the mantle cavity seawater.
BUOYANCY
Unlike nautiloids which have gas-filled chambers inside their shells which provide buoyancy, and octopuses which live near and rest on the seabed and do not require to be buoyant, many squid have a fluid-filled receptacle, equivalent to the swim bladder of a fish, in the coelom or connective tissue. This reservoir acts as a chemical buoyancy chamber, with the heavy metallic cations typical of seawater replaced by low molecular-weight ammonium ions, a product of excretion. The small difference in density provides a small contribution to buoyancy per unit volume, so the mechanism requires a large buoyancy chamber to be effective. Since the chamber is filled with liquid, it has the advantage over a swim bladder of not changing significantly in volume with pressure. Glass squids in the family Cranchiidae for example, have an enormous transparent coelom containing ammonium ions and occupying about two-thirds the volume of the animal, allowing it to float at the required depth. About half of the 28 families of squid use this mechanism to solve their buoyancy issues.
LARGEST AND SMALLEST
The majority of squid are no more than 60 cm long, although the giant squid may reach 13 m. The smallest species are probably the benthic pygmy squids Idiosepius, which grow to a mantle length of 10 to 18 mm, and have short bodies and stubby arms.
In 1978, sharp, curved claws on the suction cups of squid tentacles cut up the rubber coating on the hull of the USS Stein. The size suggested the largest squid known at the time.
In 2003, a large specimen of an abundant but poorly understood species, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (the colossal squid), was discovered. This species may grow to 10 m in length, making it the largest invertebrate. In February 2007, a New Zealand fishing vessel caught the largest squid ever documented, weighing 495 kg and measuring around 10 m off the coast of Antarctica. Dissection showed that the eyes, used to detect prey in the deep Southern Ocean, exceeded the size of footballs; these may be among the largest eyes ever to exist in the animal kingdom.
DEVELOPMENT
The eggs of squid are large for a mollusc, containing a large amount of yolk to nourish the embryo as it develops directly, without an intervening veliger larval stage. The embryo grows as a disc of cells on top of the yolk. During the gastrulation stage, the margins of the disc grow to surround the yolk, forming a yolk sac, which eventually forms part of the animal's gut. The dorsal side of the disc grows upwards and forms the embryo, with a shell gland on its dorsal surface, gills, mantle and eyes. The arms and funnel develop as part of the foot on the ventral side of the disc. The arms later migrate upwards, coming to form a ring around the funnel and mouth. The yolk is gradually absorbed as the embryo grows. Some juvenile squid live higher in the water column than do adults. Squids tend to be short-lived; Loligo for example lives from one to three years according to species, typically dying soon after spawning.
n a well-studied bioluminescent species, the Hawaiian bobtail squid, a special light organ in the squid's mantle is rapidly colonized with Aliivibrio fischeri bacteria within hours of hatching. This light-organ colonization requires this particular bacterial species for a symbiotic relationship; no colonization occurs in the absence of A. fischeri. Colonization occurs in a horizontal manner, such that the hosts acquires its bacterial partners from the environment. The symbiosis is obligate for the squid, but facultative for the bacteria. Once the bacteria enter the squid, they colonize interior epithelial cells in the light organ, living in crypts with complex microvilli protrusions. The bacteria also interact with hemocytes, macrophage-like blood cells that migrate between epithelial cells, but the mechanism and function of this process is not well understood. Bioluminescence reaches its highest levels during the early evening hours and bottoms out before dawn; this occurs because at the end of each day, the contents of the squid's crypts are expelled into the surrounding environment. About 95% of the bacteria are voided each morning before the bacterial population builds up again by nightfall.
BEHAVIOUR
LOCOMOTION
Squid can move about in several different ways. Slow movement is achieved by a gentle undulation of the muscular lateral fins on either side of the trunk which drives the animal forward. A more common means of locomotion providing sustained movement is achieved using jetting, during which contraction of the muscular wall of the mantle cavity provides jet propulsion.
Slow jetting is used for ordinary locomotion, and ventilation of the gills is achieved at the same time. The circular muscles in the mantle wall contract; this causes the inhalant valve to close, the exhalant valve to open and the mantle edge to lock tightly around the head. Water is forced out through the funnel which is pointed in the opposite direction to the required direction of travel. The inhalant phase is initiated by the relaxation of the circular muscles causes them to stretch, the connective tissue in the mantle wall recoils elastically, the mantle cavity expands causing the inhalant valve to open, the exhalant valve to close and water to flow into the cavity. This cycle of exhalation and inhalation is repeated to provide continuous locomotion.
Fast jetting is an escape response. In this form of locomotion, radial muscles in the mantle wall are involved as well as circular ones, making it possible to hyper-inflate the mantle cavity with a larger volume of water than during slow jetting. On contraction, water flows out with great force, the funnel always being pointed anteriorly, and travel is backwards. During this means of locomotion, some squid exit the water in a similar way to flying fish, gliding through the air for up to 50 m, and occasionally ending up on the decks of ships.
FEEDING
Squid are carnivores, and, with their strong arms and suckers, can overwhelm relatively large animals efficiently. Prey is identified by sight or by touch, grabbed by the tentacles which can be shot out with great rapidity, brought back to within reach of the arms, and held by the hooks and suckers on their surface. In some species, the squid's saliva contains toxins which act to subdue the prey. These are injected into its bloodstream when the prey is bitten, along with vasodilators and chemicals to stimulate the heart, and quickly circulate to all parts of its body. The deep sea squid Taningia danae has been filmed releasing blinding flashes of light from large photophores on its arms to illuminate and disorientate potential prey.
Although squid can catch large prey, the mouth is relatively small, and the food must be cut into pieces by the chitinous beak with its powerful muscles before being swallowed. The radula is located in the buccal cavity and has multiple rows of tiny teeth that draw the food backwards and grind it in pieces. The deep sea squid Mastigoteuthis has the whole length of its whip-like tentacles covered with tiny suckers; it probably catches small organisms in the same way that flypaper traps flies. The tentacles of some bathypelagic squids bear photophores which may bring food within its reach by attracting prey.
Squid are among the most intelligent invertebrates. For example, groups of Humboldt squid hunt cooperatively, spiralling up through the water at night and coordinating their vertical and horizontal movements while foraging.
REPRODUCTION
Courtship in squid takes place in the open water and involves the male selecting a female, the female responding, and the transfer by the male of spermatophores to the female. In many instances, the male may display to identify himself to the female and drive off any potential competitors.[46] Elaborate changes in body patterning take place in some species in both agonistic and courtship behaviour. The Caribbean reef squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea), for example, employs a complex array of colour changes during courtship and social interactions and has a range of about 16 body patterns in its repertoire.
The pair adopt a head-to-head position, and "jaw locking" may take place, in a similar manner to that adopted by some cichlid fish. The heterodactylus of the male is used to transfer the spermatophore and deposit it in the female's mantle cavity in the position appropriate for the species; this may be adjacent to the gonopore or in a seminal receptacle.
The sperm may be used immediately or may be stored. As the eggs pass down the oviduct, they are wrapped in a gelatinous coating, before continuing to the mantle cavity, where they are fertilised. In Loligo, further coatings are added by the nidimental glands in the walls of the cavity and the eggs leave through a funnel formed by the arms. The female attaches them to the substrate in strings or groups, the coating layers swelling and hardening after contact with sea water. Loligo sometimes forms breeding aggregations which may create a "community pile" of egg strings. Some pelagic and deep sea squid do not attach their egg masses, which float freely.
ECOLOGY
Squid mostly have an annual life cycle, growing fast and dying soon after spawning. The diet changes as they grow but mostly consists of large zooplankton and small nekton. In Antarctica for example, krill is the main constituent of the diet, with other food items being amphipods, other small crustaceans, and large arrow worms. Fish are also eaten, and some squid are cannibalistic.
As well as occupying a key role in the food chain, squid are an important prey for predators including sharks, sea birds, seals and whales. Juvenile squid provide part of the diet for worms and small fish. When researchers studied the contents of the stomachs of elephant seals in South Georgia, they found 96% squid by weight. In a single day, a sperm whale can eat 700 to 800 squid, and a Risso's dolphin entangled in a net in the Mediterranean was found to have eaten angel clubhook squid, umbrella squid, reverse jewel squid and European flying squid, all identifiable from their indigestible beaks. Ornithoteuthis volatilis, a common squid from the tropical Indo-Pacific, is predated by yellowfin tuna, longnose lancetfish, common dolphinfish and swordfish, the tiger shark, the scalloped hammerhead shark and the smooth hammerhead shark. Sperm whales also hunt this species extensively as does the brown fur seal. In the Southern Ocean, penguins and wandering albatrosses are major predators of Gonatus antarcticus.
HUMAN USES
IN LITERATUR AND ART
Giant squid have featured as monsters of the deep since classical times. Giant squid were described by Aristotle (4th century BC) in his History of Animals and Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) in his Natural History. The Gorgon of Greek mythology may have been inspired by squid or octopus, the animal itself representing the severed head of Medusa, the beak as the protruding tongue and fangs, and its tentacles as the snakes. The six-headed sea monster of the Odyssey, Scylla, may have had a similar origin. The Nordic legend of the kraken may also have derived from sightings of large cephalopods.
In literature, H. G. Wells' short story "The Sea Raiders" featured a man-eating squid species Haploteuthis ferox.[59] The science fiction writer Jules Verne told a tale of a kraken-like monster in his 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
AS FOOD
Squid form a major food resource and are used in cuisines around the world, notably in Japan where it is eaten as ika sōmen, sliced into vermicelli-like strips; as sashimi; and as tempura. Three species of Loligo are used in large quantities, L. vulgaris in the Mediterranean (known as Calamar in Spanish, Calamaro in Italian); L. forbesii in the Northeast Atlantic; and L. pealei on the American East Coast. Among the Ommastrephidae, Todarodes pacificus is the main commercial species, harvested in large quantities across the North Pacific in Canada, Japan and China.
In English-speaking countries, squid as food is often called calamari, adopted from Italian into English in the 17th century. Squid are found abundantly in certain areas, and provide large catches for fisheries. The body can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces, or sliced into rings. The arms, tentacles, and ink are also edible; the only parts not eaten are the beak and gladius (pen). Squid is a good food source for zinc and manganese, and high in copper, selenium, vitamin B12, and riboflavin.
COMMERCIAL FISHING
According to the FAO, the cephalopod catch for 2002 was 3,173,272 tonnes. Of this, 2,189,206 tonnes, or 75.8 percent, was squid. The following table lists squid species fishery catches that exceeded 10,000 tonnes in 2002.
IN BIOMIMICRY
Prototype chromatophores that mimic the squid's adaptive camouflage, have been made by Bristol University researchers using an electroactive dielectric elastomer, a flexible "smart" material that changes its colour and texture in response to electrical signals. The researchers state that their goal is to create an artificial skin that provides rapid active camouflage.
The squid giant axon inspired Otto Schmitt to develop a comparator circuit with hysteresis now called the Schmitt trigger, replicating the axon's propagation of nerve impulses.
WIKIPEDIA
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.
Completing the 592's for last week we see
59205 pulling away from Westbury at 05:06 in the morning with light just about manageable for photography. The train being the class 6 freight between Whatley Quarry and Appleford Sidings leaving Whatley at 04:12 arriving at its destination near Didcot just after seven.
The second, another shot of 59202 heading towards Whatley Quarry at the popular location of Fairwood Junction with the famous white horse in the background. Catching a fine bit of sun opposed to the darkness when later captured.
Just one 592xx was missing - 204. 59206 passed through the area on the 00:28 Whatley Quarry to Westbury and presumably slipped out under the cover of darkness.
Words are often not accurate enough to describe something experiential. Something that requires all your senses and those small moments transcend something tangible. And they're rare, these moments. We so rarely experience something unique, transcendental, eternally memorable. Perhaps we'd have more if we just stopped every now and then. Took our time. Unplugged from our devices. Unplugged from our vices. And just sat. Quiet. Maybe we'd realize that despite the most horrible of things that fill our lives, fill our world, daily; that all of it is manageable, all of it tolerable, all of it meaningful. But as it is we only have those moments a few times in our lives. Watch for them.
BOX DATE: 1998
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
VARIATIONS: Blonde; African American; Hispanic; Asian
BODY TYPE: 1966; molded B print panties; Twist 'n Turn waist; Shani arms; ring hole; straight, non bending legs; molded slippers
HEAD MOLD: 1976 "Superstar"; pierced ears
PERSONAL FUN FACT: These two Princess Barbies are the kinds of dolls I drooled over when I was a kid! In fact, one of my favorite Barbies was 2001 Pretty Princess, who was also a basic princess themed doll with molded slippers. Despite the inconvenient body mold, which is annoying as the dolls can't wear regular shoes, these sorts of basic Barbie dolls are total babes! Okay, so honestly my doll on the left is WAY prettier than the gal on the right. But before I get ahead of myself, I should tell you when/where I got them. It's kind of a coincidence really, because both of these dolls were from lots, both lots had 60ish dolls, most of the dolls were naked, and they were purchased at the same flea market. My first doll, on the left, was part of the notorious "60 Doll bin" of 2013. I found it on opening day that year, and was ecstatic about all the ethnic variations the bin contained. If I recall correctly, this poor gal was a head rolling around the bottom of the container, as was my 1999 Princess Barbie. But luckily for her, the ball had simply popped out of her neck, but her neck was still structurally sound (meaning it had no cracks). So after a bath, I was able to reattach her head to her body. Her hair is like brand new--I find that a lot of dolls who were decapitated for long periods of time tend to have really beautiful hair, despite floating around the bottoms of drawers/containers. She has a breathtaking face. I love how delicate and natural it is--plus her hair is beautiful too! I appreciate the manageable length of her hair style, but it still has curls which add some personality. Not to mention, this shade of blonde does wonders for her skin tone. As a kid, I would have been over the moon to own such a stunning, yet simple Barbie...she would have seen even more play than my beloved Crystal!
My shabbier gal on the right was from the "Teresa lot" of 2016. It almost looks as though she is some kind of facial variant--her facial features look far less fresh and defined. But this is only an illusion, thus why I didn't picture both these gals' faces for my facial closeup (I only feature my first doll's face). It's obvious upon inspection that the only real difference between these two dolls' faces is the condition. My second lady has rubbed eyebrows--which are shorter looking since she's missing tons of paint. The rest of her paint is also faded from age. To top it off, her hair had a lot of split ends, and isn't nearly as shiny and bouncy as my first doll's. I boil washed her several times, but her hair will never look as mint as my other doll's. But I think that this wear is a sign that this gal was loved once upon a time. She was probably a favorite doll, which is why she took such a beating. All the dolls from her lot showed signs of care and love, not abuse or neglect. I can totally see why her old owner was so taken with her...as I mentioned before, I would have been obsessed with this version of Princess Barbie when I was growing up!
Just a 5 minute drive down the road from where we live is Redgrave and Lopham Fen which is the largest remaining example of the ancient valley fen system of North Suffolk which lay along the valleys of the Little Ouse and Waveney.
Valley fens have suffered a dramatic decline throughout Europe because of drainage and people's use of water. In the UK there are only 43 valley fens left. Of all eco-systems in the UK, fens are one of the most valuable botanical resources, with a large range of plant species, including many that are uncommon and declining and several that are already rare. We spent an hour or so walking there yesterday and were lucky enough to come across the wild horses that they have there. The horses are modern Tarpans called konik polski which means small horse in Polish. Koniks are very manageable and very efficient browsers and grazers. They are at home in the wettest of conditions and can graze in permanently wet conditions without health problems. They are very hardy and are used to wintering out of doors in their native Poland where temperatures regularly drop to below -14 C. Their husbandry requirements are minimal, since they are rarely ill and wounds heal quickly, although they occasionally require worming, hoofcare and some preventative medicine such as immunisation against tetanus. They have a higher fertility than domestic stock, with easy births.
The horses have successfully eaten their way through areas of the fen which had been left unmanaged for years.
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The Tarpan is a prehistoric wild horse type. The Tarpan ranged from Southern France and Spain eastward to central Russia. Cave drawings of Tarpan horses can be found in France and Spain, and artifacts showing this breed can be found in Southern Russia where this horse was domesticated by Scythian nomads in about 3000 B.C.
The original wild Tarpan died out during the late 1800's. The last Tarpan horse died in a Russian game preserve at Askania Nova in 1876. When their natural forest and steppe habitat was destroyed to make room for more people, they came into conflict with farmers who did not want the wild Tarpans eating their crops or stealing their tame mares.
The Polish government created a preserve for animals descended from the wild Tarpan at a forest in Bialowieza. Over the years this herd has developed more and more Tarpan characteristics. Today this breed is sometimes referred to as the Polish Primitive Horse and the modern Tarpan is a genetic recreation of the original wild breed.
Heinz and Lutz Heck, two German zoologists working at the Tierpark Hellabrunn (Munich Zoo) in Germany believed that all living creatures were the result of their genetic make-up and that genes could be rearranged like the pieces of a puzzle to recreate certain vanished species. Only breeds that still had living descendants could be recreated because those living breeds would be a source for genetic material.
Several European pony breeds had descended from the prehistoric Tarpan. Primarily the Heck Brothers selected Polish Koniks, Icelandic Ponies, Swedish Gotlands and Polish Primitive Horses from the preserve in Bialowieza.
Mares from these breeds were then mated to Przewalski stallions because the Heck brothers felt that the blood of the wild Przewalski would serve as a catalyst to draw out the latent Tarpan characteristics dormant in these more modern breeds. The first bred back Tarpan, a colt, was born May 22, 1933 at the Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich, Germany.
The Tarpan is mouse dun or grulla in color. This means that the body is a smoky gray color, with the face and legs being darker than the body. The mane and tail are flaxen, but dark in the center where the dorsal stripe passes through. They stand between 13 and 13.2 hands tall. The mane is semi-erect. The head is large, with massive jaws and thick neck. The back is short and strong, with very low withers. The hooves are dark and very tough, never requiring shoes.
Explored May 2, 2017 #172
When we moved to our present house, there were a couple of these bushes in the garden, old and very large. They are not on our 'favourites list', and were removed. This bush is one that must have self seeded and managed to escape removal and is now in one of the borders. It produces a nice show of spring flowers and after flowering, it is pruned to keep it to a more manageable size of about 4 feet high.
The genus Ribes includes the edible currants (blackcurrant, redcurrant, white currant), the gooseberry, and several hybrid varieties. It should not be confused with the dried currant used in cakes and puddings, which is a small-fruited cultivar of grape (Zante currant). Ribes gives its name to the popular blackcurrant cordial Ribena.
The genus also includes the group of ornamental plants collectively known as the flowering currants, for instance R. sanguineum.
There are restrictions on growing some Ribes species in some U.S. states, as they are the main alternate host for White Pine Blister Rust.
Overlooking Garie Beach.
I did this (guided) walk with Sydney Coast Walk, a local tour operator.
www.sydneycoastwalks.com.au/ (Two-day Wattamolla hiking tour)
www.sydneycoastwalks.com.au/blog/
Track descriptions:
www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/royal-nat...
short-walks.com.au/new-south-wales/sydney/bundeena-to-otf...
It is a great walk for locals as well as tourists visiting Sydney who wish to go off the beaten tourist track. The two-day walk is easy-medium (a number of ascents and descents) and there is plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and take photos of the beautiful coast line.
Some people do this walk in one day, and the one-day walk is rated as 'hard', mainly due to its length. (Depending on the detours you take, or who you ask; 26km to 31km. The 'official' length as per National Parks information is 26km).
This is the bit I wrote for tripadvisor:
I recently did the Wattamolla Hiking Tour (known as, and referred to, as Coast Track) with ‘Sydney Coast Walk’ and it was my third walk with this tour operator. I was so impressed that I booked my fourth walk, a day-hike, a few days later.
The coast track runs just about the whole length of the Royal National Park and is overlooking spectacular coastal scenery. Depending on whom you ask and small detours made, the track is between 26km and 31km long.
I decided to have the overnight luggage transported to the camp site and I was glad I did. For me, a lighter day-pack allowed an easier hike to enjoy the beautiful coastal scenery without being burdened by stuff I only needed for the night. I found the first day quite easy and the walking pace just right. Carol was a wonderful guide with plenty of stories to tell and great local knowledge. It was obvious that she too enjoyed the walk and this enthusiasm spread throughout the group, adding to a great shared experience.
Arriving at the Wattamolla campsite brought an immediate smile to my face; a marquis with a table and white table cloth awaited us and we enjoyed a pre-dinner glass of wine and nibblies. While the walkers were chatting Carol prepared a delicious dinner, including a lovely dessert! The tents were set up and, like in a good hotel; our over-night bag was neatly placed inside the tent. I am sure I fell asleep smiling! Once the park gates are locked and all day-visitors gone, Wattamolla becomes an exclusive camp site for this group only. What more could you want?
I found the second day also pretty easy; some sections of the track are on elevated steel grates. There are ascents and descents which some people may find a bit hard on knees and muscles, but the walking pace is such that they are manageable for reasonably fit people. The walk up to Otford is all uphill but, again, if you take it easy it is manageable. For footwear I usually wear what the guides wear, hiking boots. The track is uneven and can be wet in some places. However, as mentioned on the website, trainers or joggers with a good sole are fine too. The Bundeena to Otford track is not a city stroll and if you have hiking boots I would suggest to wear them. Don’t be discouraged or disappointed if rain is forecast. As on my first hike with Sydney Coast Walks, it rained on the first day. Bring a rain jacket and enjoy the difference. Listening to and watching huge waves thunder onto the beaches is an experience not to be missed and often only happens on or after rainy days. www.flickr.com/photos/30079014@N03/sets/72157629062807957/
The food, from breakfast to dinner, was excellent and I found the description on Sydney Coast Walk’s website informative and accurate.
I am looking forward to the next hike and will do this hike again one day.
Westward view across Alvord Desert and Barren Valley toward Steens Mountain, June 8, 2017, by Greg Shine, BLM.
The Bureau of Land Management manages 517 wilderness study areas containing about 12.6 million acres located in the Western States and Alaska. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 directed the Bureau to inventory and study its roadless areas for wilderness characteristics. To be designated as a Wilderness Study Area, an area had to have the following characteristics:
Size - roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres of public lands or of a manageable size;
Naturalness - generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature;
Opportunities - provides outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined types of recreation.
In addition, Wilderness Study Areas often have special qualities such as ecological, geological, educational, historical, scientific and scenic values.
The congressionally directed inventory and study of BLM's roadless areas received extensive public input and participation. By November 1980, the BLM had completed field inventories and designated about 25 million acres of wilderness study areas. Since 1980, Congress has reviewed some of these areas and has designated some as wilderness and released others for non-wilderness uses. Until Congress makes a final determination on a wilderness study area, the BLM manages these areas to preserve their suitability for designation as wilderness.
In Oregon/Washington there are 83 wilderness study areas comprising 2,642,289 acres. These 83 wilderness study areas are primarily located in southeast Oregon in the Prineville, Lakeview, Burns and Vale Districts.
To learn more about wilderness study areas head on over to: www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/oregon-w...
Leh, the capital city of Ladakh is a historical transit point for caravans of the bygone Silk Route, and still looks and feels like a trading post of the ancient past. It is an imminently accessibleand fascinating locale, featuring notable monasteries, a palace,a mosque, and countless narrow, crooked alleyways beckoning the curious visitor.
To stroll through Leh, taking in it’s sights, sounds, and a pleasantly‐manageable population of just 10,000, is to experience what writer Andrew Harvey called “the peaceful life.”The town is still dominated by the now ruined Leh Palace, former home of Ladakh’s royal family. It also plays host to a cultural dance show every evening.
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 v1 Samyang 14mm/2.8 is finicky as hell on a full frame, but on a crop sensor is much more manageable.
This was a painful task for me...it was only manageable because I was on a "no-kids-no-hubby-only ladies" weekend trip to San Francisco . :)
mypresscoverage.com,
myfreedomofthepress.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Press-Coverage-Photography/2230286...
went for an early run trying to beat what dark sky described as “light rain”. about 2 miles out it turned to heavy rain which is manageable but as i started to get nervous as the thunder started to get more rumbly and i noted i was one of the taller objects around while running along a road with soy fields on both sides.
i turned around to head home and soon after a police cruise passed me and went around a bend and about 20 seconds later a lighting bolt hit in a nearby stand of trees and was so loud and so startling that i almost tripped in the street and let out an involuntary stream of expletives.
i thought about asking a homeowner if i could hang out on their porch for a bit while the storm passed and while i was mulling it over, the cruiser rolls up and the officer rolls down his window and says, “hey, you want a ride home? it’s getting ugly out here."
“you bet!"
thanks viroqua pd! i never did catch the officer’s name but i sure appreciated the ride.
French postcard by Viny, no. 92. Photo: Milo Films. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Was Austrian-born Erich von Stroheim (1885 – 1957) a Hollywood movie star or a European film star? (Who cares!) As the sadistic, monocled Prussian officer in both American and French films, he became ‘The Man You Love to Hate’. But maybe he is best known as one of the greatest and influential directors of the silent era, known for his extravaganza and the uncompromising accuracy of detail in his monumental films.
Erich von Stroheim's most recent biographers, such as Richard Koszarski, say that he was born in Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1885 as Erich Oswald Stroheim. He was the son of Benno Stroheim, a middle-class hat-maker, and Johanna Bondy, both of whom were practicing Jews. Stroheim emigrated to America at the end of 1909. On arrival at Ellis Island, he claimed to be Count Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim und Nordenwall, the son of Austrian nobility like the characters he later played in his films. However, both Billy Wilder and Stroheim's agent Paul Kohner claimed that he spoke with a decidedly lower-class Austrian accent. In 1912 while working at a tavern he met his first wife, Margaret Knox, and moved in with her. Knox acted as a sort of mentor to von Stroheim, teaching him language and literature and encouraging him to write. Under Knox's tutelage, he wrote a novella entitled In the Morning, with themes that anticipated his films: corrupt aristocracy and innocence debased. The couple married in 1913, but money woes drove von Stroheim to deep depressions and terrible temper tantrums, and in 1914 Knox filed for divorce. By then he was working in Hollywood. He began his cinema career in bit-parts and as a consultant on German culture and fashion. His first film was The Country Boy (1915, Frederick A. Thomson) in which he was an uncredited diner in a restaurant. His first credited role came in Old Heidelberg (1915, John Emerson) starring Wallace Reed and Dorothy Gish. He began working with D. W. Griffith, taking uncredited roles in Intolerance (1916). Additionally, Von Stroheim acted as one of the many assistant directors on Intolerance, a film remembered in part for its huge cast of extras. Later, he played the sneering German with the short Prussian military hairstyle in such films as Sylvia of the Secret Service (1917, George Fitzmaurice) and The Hun Within (1918, Chester Whitey) with Dorothy Gish. In the war drama The Heart of Humanity (1918, Allen Holubar), he tore the buttons from a nurse's uniform with his teeth, and when disturbed by a crying baby, threw it out of a window. Following the end of World War I, Von Stroheim turned to writing.
In 1919, Erich von Stroheim directed his own script for Blind Husbands (1919), and also starred in the film. As a director, Stroheim was known to be dictatorial and demanding, often antagonizing his actors. He is considered one of the greatest directors of the silent era, with both cynical and romantic views of human nature. His next directorial efforts were the lost film The Devil's Pass Key (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), in which he also starred. Studio publicity for Foolish Wives claimed that it was the first film to cost one million dollars. ‘Von’ translated sexual subjects in a witty and ostentatious manner, and his first films for Universal are among the most acclaimed sophisticated films of the silent era. In 1923, Stroheim began work on Merry-Go-Round. He cast the American actor Norman Kerry in a part written for himself 'Count Franz Maximilian Von Hohenegg' and newcomer Mary Philbin in the lead actress role. However, studio executive Irving Thalberg fired Von Stroheim during filming and replaced him with director Rupert Julian. He left Universal for Goldwyn Films to make Greed (1924). This monumental film is now one of Stroheim's best-remembered works as a director. It is a detailed film of Frank Norris’ novel McTeague, about the power of money to corrupt. The original print ran for an astonishing 10 hours. Knowing this version was far too long, Stroheim cut out almost half the footage, reducing it to a six-hour version to be shown over two nights. It was still deemed too long, so Stroheim and director Rex Ingram edited it into a four-hour version that could be shown in two parts. However, in the midst of filming, Goldwyn was bought by Marcus Loew and merged into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After rejecting Stroheim's attempts to cut it to less than three hours, MGM removed Greed from his control and gave it to head scriptwriter June Mathis, with orders to cut it down to a manageable length. Mathis gave the print to a routine cutter, who reduced it to 2.5 hours. In what is considered one of the greatest losses in cinema history, a janitor destroyed the cut footage. The shortened release version was a box-office failure and was angrily disowned by Von Stroheim. He followed with his most commercially successful film The Merry Widow (1925), the more personal The Wedding March (1928) and the now-lost The Honeymoon. Stroheim's unwillingness or inability to modify his artistic principles for the commercial cinema, his extreme attention to detail, his insistence on near-total artistic freedom, and the resulting costs of his films led to fights with the studios. As time went on he received fewer directing opportunities. In 1929, Stroheim was dismissed as the director of the film Queen Kelly after disagreements with star Gloria Swanson and producer and financier Joseph P. Kennedy over the mounting costs of the film and Stroheim's introduction of indecent subject matter into the film's scenario. It was followed by Walking Down Broadway, another project from which Stroheim was dismissed.
After the introduction of sound film, Erich von Stroheim returned to working principally as an actor, in both American and French films. One of his most famous roles is the prison-camp commandant Von Rauffenstein in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion/Grand Illusion (1937) with Jean Gabin. It is a classic anti-war film about friendship, comradeship, and human relations. Working in France on the eve of World War II, Stroheim was prepared to direct the film La dame blanche from his own story and screenplay. Jean Renoir wrote the dialogue, Jacques Becker was to be assistant director, and Stroheim himself, Louis Jouvet, and Jean-Louis Barrault were to be the featured actors. The production was prevented by the outbreak of the war on 1 September 1939, and Stroheim returned to the United States. There he appeared in Five Graves to Cairo (1943, Billy Wilder). He is perhaps best known as an actor for his role as Max von Mayerling in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder), co-starring Gloria Swanson. For this role, Von Stroheim was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His character states in the film that he used to be one of the three great directors of the silent era, along with D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and he and Swanson watch excerpts from Queen Kelly in the film. Their characters in Sunset Boulevard thus had an autobiographical basis and reflected the humiliations Von Stroheim suffered through his career. Erich von Stroheim was married three times. His second wife was Mae Jones. Their son Erich Jr. became an assistant director. With his third wife, actress Valerie Germonprez, he had another son, Joseph Erich von Stroheim, who eventually became a sound editor. From 1939 until his death, he lived with actress Denise Vernac. She had worked for him as his secretary since 1938 and starred with him in several films. Von Stroheim spent the last part of his life in France where his silent film work was much admired by artists in the French film industry. In France, he acted in films, wrote several novels that were published in French, and worked on various unrealized film projects. Erich von Stroheim was awarded the French Légion d'honneur shortly before his death in 1957 in Maurepas, France at the age of 71.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
A photo found in the family archive.
The Marton Scout Band lead horse drawn floats sometime in the 1930s. My father is at the front of the band with a bass tuba, and from what he has said would have been playing the march "Slaidburn" as it is one of the most manageable
The location is Newhouse Road in Marton, Blackpool. The houses and shops are still there but the works for H. V. Burlingham, coach builders have been replaced by flats(?)
Built at Standard Motors. as TE910 and delivered to the RAF at No.27 MU on 19 November 1945. Ferried from the UK and accepted by the RNZAF on 28 April 1947. Ferried to Woodbourne for storage and later placed with No.75 Squadron coded YC-B. Stored again at Woodbourne on 22 April 1952. and declared surplus on 30 June 1955. Total airframe hours just 80:35. NZ2336, from the last batch of Mosquitoes sold in 1956 to John Smith of Mapua, Nelson. Although he was forced to cut the aircraft into manageable sections at Woodbourne to facilitate transport to Gardener's Valley, Mapua, he spliced the aircraft together again, where it remains intact and complete in remarkable condition. Now preserved in a private barn. Amazing find!
Rolls Royce Twenty (1922-29) Engine 3127cc S6
Coachwork Arthur Mulliner of Northampton
Engine Number F4V
Chassis Number GUJ36
Registration Number MP 704 (Middlesex)
ROLLS ROYCE SET
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623690651737...
Introduced in 1922 as a companion to the hugely successful 40/50hp ‘Silver Ghost’, the 20hp Rolls-Royce led the company away from its one model policy, offering a more convenient car for town use and a more manageable car for her ladyship to drive.
This car was ordered in July 1927 and delivered on 26th September that year to Park, Ward & Co. Ltd. of Willesden “to be used for Demonstration purposes”, the chassis being prepared to carry interior drive saloon coachwork and factory files record that the chassis would “receive special attention” in view of its demonstrator role. In September 1928 the car passed to George P Nash of Hanover Court, London, later to W.E. Sear of Clapham Common, eventually passing to a lady in Kent who retained the car until 1959, when it passed to Wilkinsons of Derby, noted restorers.
Sometime during the 1930's it was upgraded to Limousine status The six-light limousine coachwork, carries Mulliner plates and is furnished with sliding division, occasional seats to the rear and an opening roof ventilator.
Offered at the Bonhams sale of 23rd November 2004 at Harrogate, Great Yorkshire Showground it sold for £ 18,400 inc premiums
Many thanks for a fantabulous
44,334,019 views (adjusted and readjusted during FLICKR re-engineering, reduced by around 650,000)
Shot 23.08.2015 at Lupin Farm, Classic Vehicle Gathering, Orgreave, Alrewas, Staffordshire - Ref 109-991
so, i've been being very careful with money lately, trying to clear up debts and not make impulse buys -- but when i did my taxes & discovered I'd be getting a larger-than-expected refund (not including the alleged economic stimulus package checks we'll be getting), i broke down and bought a manual Hasselblad
I'd actually fallen hopelessly in love with Nick's 203fe, but really couldn't afford one -- but the 500c/m was manageable, & I even could get an extra lens! and they all arrived today: camera body, film back, 80mm and 120mm "makro" lens. I'm SO excited (although of course my light meter is at home!)
We didn't really wear ideal hiking clothes that day, but compared to Gros Morne (which we had hiked 6 days earlier), we probably figured any other hike would pale in comparison in terms of exertion. This staircase was a lot, but manageable.
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