Everyone tries to do work hard to get perfect ripped body, but they are not able to achieve their goals. If you want to get maximum result with your gym workout plan, then you need to avoid some of the essential things during workout program, to know that visit link here goo.gl/8ZLgPD

Manufactured by VEB Pentacon, former East Germany

Model: c. 1979, version 4.1 (A&R 1, Hummel 059), (produced between 1977-83)

All Exa 1b produced between 1977-85

as to Andrzej Wrotniak

35mm film SLR film camera

BODY

Lens release: simply screw counter clockwise

Focusing: simple matte glass screen, ring and scale on the lens

Shutter: Mirror acts like a curtain as a part of the shutter, vertical moving, due to this maximum speed is limited to 1/175

Speeds: 1/30-1/175 +B setting: dial under the rewind crank knob

Shutter release: on the left fron of the camera, w/cable release socket

Cocking lever: also winds the film, short stroke, on the right of the top plate

Frame counter: on the cocking lever knob, regressive type, manual setting

Viewfinder: eye level SLR pentaprism, interchangeable

Finder release: by a small lever on the back of top plate, turn it left and pull-up the finder

Mirror: not instant return. Mirror is actually a part of the shutter mechanism. When the shutter released, the mirror goes up as in a conventional SLR, but when the exposure is over, a second cover rotates upward to block the light. There is no real shutter curtain.

Re-wind lever: folding crank type, on the left of the top plate

Re-wind release: by a small knob beside cocking lever

Flash PC socket: on the right front of the camera, M and X, setting with the speeds knob

Cold-shoe: none

Self-timer: none

Memory dial: for ASA, a ring on the cocking lever knob under the frame counter

Back cover: removable with the bottom plate, opens by a thumb wheel on the bottom plate

Engaving on the back cover: Made in G.D.R.

Film loading: special take-up spool

Tripod socket: 1/4''

Strap lugs

Body: metal; Weight:

serial no.700490

LENS:

Domiplan (Meyer Optik), 50mm f/2.8, fully automatic, 3 elements

filter thread: 40.5mm serial no.10416736

Domiplan is the standard lens of Exa 1b.

Mount: M42 screw mount

There is a standard M42 type arc/lever on the body, that depresses the pin on the lens that closes the diaphragm blades. When the pressure is let up, the lens opens fully again. A half-depression of the shutter release allows a depth of field preview.

Aperture: f/2.8-f/22,

Focus range: 075-12m +inf

+original ever ready case

 

VEB Pentacon licensed the production of screw-mount Exas (some late Ib version 4.4 and all Ic version 4.5) to Certo Camera Werk, Dresden-Großzsachwitz, a part of VEB Pentacon. Cameras built by Certo have serial numbers preceded with a letter C.

The later models of Exa 1b have black plastic top- and bottom plates.

Exa 1b body is virtually identical to Exa Ia except rewind knob replaced with a crank and the lens mount is M42 (Pentax/Practica standard), instead of the traditional Exakta bayonet mount. The camera also has internal aperture coupling for M42 automatic lenses.

Exa 1b uses most standard Exakta viewfinders, waist-level and prism.

Other main lenses are Tessar, Makinon and Super Takumar.

Exa 1b is not a real part of the Exakta/Exa system, although its family relationship with Exa cannot be denied.

Exa 1b renamed as Exa 1c without practically any other changes.

More info

Andrzej Wrotniak

Captain Jack

www.exakta.org/org35/orgexa/orgexa.html

The Black Cats are the Royal Navy's helicopter display team. The team is composed of two Westland Lynx anti-submarine and anti-shipping helicopters, with the aircraft and crews drawn from No No. 702 Naval Air Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.

 

The team performs at air shows and other public events around the UK and Europe. They perform a display which mixes close formation, opposition and synchronised manoeuvres.

 

The Black Cats were formed in 2001. For their first three display seasons, the team was known as the 'Lynx Pair' - the "Black Cats" title was applied in 2004. The team's predecessors as the Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team were "The Sharks", who used four red Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters and disbanded in 1992.

 

The team won the Steadman Sword for the best British participant at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2003 and as "Les Chats Noir" performed at the French Navy's 30th Anniversary of operating the Lynx at Lanveoc in Brittany.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants, which went into operational usage in 1977 and were later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations, where it primarily serves in the battlefield utility, anti-armour, search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles. In 1986 a specially modified Lynx broke Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's official airspeed record for helicopters, which it still holds. The helicopter is now produced and marketed by Agusta Westland.

 

Registrations:

 

•Lynx 1: ZD268

•Lynx 2: XZ697

 

General characteristics

 

•Crew: 2 or 3

•Payload: 737 kg

•Length: 15.241 m (50 ft)

•Rotor diameter: 12.80 m (42 ft)

•Height: 3.734 m for mk7; 3.785 m for mk9 (12.25 ft for mk7; 12.41 ft for mk9)

•Disc area: 128.71 m² (1,385 ft²)

•Empty weight: 3,291 kg (7,255 lb)

•Max takeoff weight: 5,330 kg (11,750 lb)

•Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Gem turboshaft, 835 kW (1,120 shp) each

 

Performance

 

•Maximum speed: 324 km/h (201 mph)

•Range: 528 km (328 miles) with standard tanks

 

Armament

 

•Naval: 2 x torpedoes or 4x Sea Skua missiles or 2 x depth charges.

•Attack: 2 x 20mm cannons, 2 x 70mm rocket pods CRV7, 8 x TOW ATGM

•General: 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Guns (AH.7 and AH.9), Browning AN/M3M 0.50 calibre heavy machine gun (HAS.3 and HMA.8)

 

Text and specifications based on Wikipedia article under the Creative Commons License for non-profit use.

mémoire2cité - A la fin des années 1930, sous le Front Populaire, s’amorce une démocratisation des loisirs et du sport. Cette massification des loisirs sportifs, et en particulier de la natation, s’intensifie après-guerre, grâce à la mise en place d’une véritable politique d’Etat en faveur du développement de la pratique sportive, accompagnée par la construction d’équipements de proximité. Cette politique conduit à redéfinir et à rationaliser la conception de la piscine, autant d’un point de vue architectural que fonctionnel.

 

I. Vers une étatisation des politiques sportives

 

1. Une idée en germe depuis les années 1930

 

Vers la fin des années 1920, le sport, et en particulier la question de l’équipement sportif, commence à s’imposer au niveau national, comme un objet incontournable de souci et d’action politique. La volonté de créer une structure institutionnelle chargée de concevoir et de contrôler cette politique publique relative au sport s’affirme de plus en plus. Cette idée est en germe depuis l’armistice, comme l’indique la réflexion d’Edouard Herriot, maire de Lyon : « Peut-être arriverons-nous ainsi peu à peu à la constitution d’un grand service central – ministère ou non – de l’Éducation physique » (Édouard Herriot, 1919).

 

Parallèlement, des revendications sociales se font entendre pour une meilleure accessibilité au sport par la classe populaire. Ces requêtes sont entendues par le Front populaire, qui initie une politique de démocratisation de la culture sportive, s’appuyant sur l’invention de notions telles que temps libre et loisirs. Dans le but de diffuser et de mettre en oeuvre cette conception du sport pour tous, est créé en 1937 (à l’occasion d’un remaniement ministériel), un sous-secrétariat d’Etat aux Sports, aux Loisirs et à l’Education physique (rattaché au ministère de l’Education nationale dirigé par Jean Zay), à la tête duquel est placé Léo Lagrange. Ce dernier entreprend une série d’actions, à la fois concrètes et symboliques, comme l’aide à l’équipement communal (dont la nécessité est rendue évidente par les conclusions d’un inventaire national des installations existantes) ou la création d’un Brevet sportif populaire. Cette conception du sport de masse n’obtient cependant pas la faveur de tous. On note d’ailleurs, dans le mouvement sportif national, le rejet d’une politique d’intervention autoritaire des pouvoirs publics. Si les actions du Front Populaire sont stoppées par la déclaration de la guerre, elles ont toutefois conduit à une véritable prise de conscience de l’enjeu politique sportif au niveau national.

 

Sous le régime de Vichy (juin 1940-juin 1944), est créé un Commissariat Général à l’Education Générale et Sportive (CGEGS), qui s’appuie sur le sport pour diffuser l’idéologie du gouvernement, prônant des valeurs de discipline, de redressement moral, physique et intellectuel et de retour à l’ordre. Dans ces années, où le sport est surtout un outil de propagande, s’esquissent toutefois de nouvelles prescriptions concernant l’architecture des piscines (qui se doit d’être épurée et rationnelle), et la volonté de rattraper le retard de la France en matière d’équipement sportif par rapport aux autres pays européens.

 

2. Quelques réalisations remarquables des années 1950

 

Au sortir de la guerre, la question sportive n’est pas une priorité et la période 1945-1957 se caractérise par une faible intervention publique. Malgré les constructions réalisées grâce à des politiques municipales sociales et volontaristes dans les années 1930, le nombre d’équipements sportifs, et en particulier de piscines couvertes et chauffées, est encore très faible par rapport à la moyenne européenne. Ce sous-équipement va rapidement poser problème, d’autant plus que l’accroissement démographique est en plein essor, entraînant une augmentation de la jeunesse et donc une recrudescence de la pratique sportive, parallèlement à une forte urbanisation. Si l’effort est d’abord porté vers la reconstruction (du secteur industriel et du cadre de vie : logements, services administratifs, voirie, etc.), les questions de la jeunesse, du sport, de l’éducation populaire et du plein air travaillent les esprits du gouvernement.

 

Dans les Hauts-de-France, de nombreuses piscines ont subi des dégradations pendant la guerre et nécessitent une rénovation (une grande partie des piscines cheminotes par exemple).

 

Le stade nautique olympique de Tourcoing est complété, en 1951, d’un toit en partie ouvrant, une première du genre, amené à un grand développement dans les deux décennies suivantes. Faute de moyens financiers suffisants (il existe des subventions, mais les moyens alloués à la Jeunesse et aux Sports restent faibles) et d’une volonté politique forte, le nombre de constructions de piscines entre 1945 et 1958 demeure restreint. Ainsi, à Lens, suite à la destruction du stade nautique pendant la guerre, la construction d’une nouvelle piscine est projetée dès l’après-guerre, mais faute de financement, il faut attendre les années 1960 pour que le projet aboutisse.

 

Les quelques installations nautiques nouvelles qui sont réalisées au cours des 1950, sous l’impulsion d’initiatives locales, sont majoritairement découvertes et ne sont donc exploitables que quelques mois dans l’année. Si ces édifices sont aboutis au niveau technique et architectural, ils ne sont pas en mesure de satisfaire les besoins en matière de bassins éducatifs praticables pendant l’année scolaire. Ils répondent plus à une volonté d’offrir à la population un équipement de loisirs sportifs. Il s’agit souvent de la réalisation de projets municipaux d’avant-guerre, n’ayant pas eu l’occasion de voir le jour.

 

Dans ces piscines des années 1950, le double bassin est définitivement adopté et elles répondent aux nouvelles prescriptions édictées dans les années 1940 en matière d’architecture sportive, qui se doit avant tout d’être fonctionnelle et pratique, largement ouverte sur l’extérieur par des baies vitrées, sa beauté résidant essentiellement dans l’harmonie de ses proportions et l’agencement de lignes géométriques pures.

 

Ainsi, dans l’Oise, la ville de Compiègne décide en 1949 (sous le mandat de Jean Legendre), l’édification d’une piscine en bordure de l’Oise, rendue possible grâce aux indemnités des dommages de guerre et de la reconstruction, ainsi qu’à une subvention élevée de la part du Secrétariat d’Etat à l’Enseignement technique, à la Jeunesse et aux Sports. La piscine, conçue par l’architecte-urbaniste de la ville, J. Gossart, est inaugurée le 1er juin 1952. Des bains-douches sont aménagés dans les sous-sols. Il s’agit d’un grand bâtiment blanc rectangulaire en béton armé, inséré sur la berge boisée de l’Oise, s’ouvrant en son centre sur les deux bassins de plein-air de la piscine (25 x 12,5 m et 8 x 12,5 m), avec un plongeoir à double hauteur (3 et 5 mètres). Les baigneurs surplombent l’Oise et évoluent dans un cadre propice à la détente, correspondant bien aux prescriptions d’avant-guerres recommandant la construction d’équipements sportifs et de loisirs en plein air, dans un environnement naturel. Les gradins d’environ 800 places, font également face à l’Oise. L’architecture est simple et fonctionnelle, sans aucun décor ; elle obéit à un modernisme pur et efficace. Elle est remarquable du fait de sa situation en bord de rivière, comme l’était également la piscine découverte de l’Hôtel-Dieu à Pontoise (Val d’Oise) construite en 1961 par l’architecte Jean Letu et aujourd’hui détruite. La piscine de Compiègne, ouverte de mai à septembre, connaît un grand succès, qui ne cesse de croître d’année en année. Fermée dès 1985 car son bassin souffrait de fuites (et remplacée par la piscine Mercières, construite en 1988), elle est aujourd’hui à l’abandon.

 

A Caudry (Nord), le stade nautique municipal est construit en 1951-1952, sur les plans d'Edmond Lancelle (1898-1957), architecte du Cambrésis actif pendant les deux périodes de reconstruction, grâce à la volonté du maire Albert Dhélin (maire de 1947 à 1965). L’architecte est associé à Marc Revaux, ingénieur-conseil spécialisé en construction de piscines. Son architecture semble inspirée de la piscine de Bruay-en-Artois et est similaire à celle du Cateau-Cambrésis, reconstruite en 1954 par la même équipe d’architecte-ingénieur. Elle allie le style Paquebot de l’Art Déco (présence d’oculi en forme de hublots) aux codes du mouvement moderne international des années 1950. Les bassins sont entourés sur deux côtés par les bâtiments des vestiaires, et sur le deuxième grand côté par des gradins surplombés par une terrasse avec buvette (dans l’angle). La forme de U renversé de l’élégant plongeoir associée à la ligne courbe du toboggan qui lui fait face, animent l’orthogonalité des alignements de cabines. Le portique d’entrée, reprenant ces lignes courbes, s’ouvre sur un guichet vitré aux formes dynamiques et sculpturales. La piscine est dominée par une grande tour-horloge, rythmant les séances de natation. On retrouve cette tour-horloge marquant l’entrée de la piscine, à la piscine olympique de la Scarpe à Arras (1955) et au stade nautique de Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais). A Bapaume, le bâtiment abritant l’accueil et les vestiaires est largement vitré et s’ouvre sur les bassins, entourés d’un portique. Son architecte, Emile Cauwet, est spécialiste de l’architecture scolaire (groupe scolaire Ferdinand-Buisson à Boulogne-Billancourt), industrielle et sportive, et prône une esthétique moderniste et fonctionnelle.

 

A Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), une piscine municipale est judicieusement intégrée au nouveau casino, bâtiment monumental, manifeste de l’architecture des années 1950, conçu par les architectes Sonrel et Bonhomme, et situé derrière la plage de la station balnéaire. La piscine, localisée au rez-de-chaussée, est vitrée sur deux côtés et donne vue sur la plage. Le bâtiment en béton armé, monté sur pilotis (rappelant l’architecture de Le Corbusier), est décoré sur ses façades extérieures de mosaïques réalisées par l’artiste Françoise Lelong. La façade côté plage s’ouvre par un portique avec terrasse.

 

Ainsi les piscines des années 1950, souvent d’une grande sobriété correspondant aux préceptes architecturaux du mouvement moderne, s’inscrivent dans la continuité des piscines de la fin des années 1930. Il faut attendre les années 1960 pour qu’une nouvelle impulsion soit donnée à l’innovation architecturale dans le domaine des piscines, grâce à la mise en place d’une véritable politique interventionniste de l’Etat en faveur de l’équipement sportif sous la Ve République, dans le cadre de trois lois de programme planifiant la construction d’équipements sportifs et socio-éducatifs. Ce nouveau cadre législatif se traduit par une "mise en administration" du bâti sportif par l’État1.

 

II. Les mesures mises en place entre 1961 et 1976 par l’Etat en faveur de la construction des piscines

 

A partir de la Ve République, le sport et la construction sportive sont désormais perçus comme un service d’intérêt public du ressort de l’Etat. Déterminé, l’Etat entreprend une série de mesures incitatives visant à créer un maillage de piscines publiques praticables en toutes saisons (la plupart des piscines étaient alors découvertes et non chauffées) sur l’ensemble du territoire national. L’objectif principal est que tous les enfants aient accès à un bassin pour apprendre à nager, et qu’ainsi soit enfin mis en application l’apprentissage obligatoire de la natation à l’école (dans les programmes depuis la fin du 19e siècle). La priorité des piscines des années 1960-1970 est donc portée vers la jeunesse et l’éducation.

 

1. Les lois programmes : une nouvelle politique économique en faveur de l’équipement sportif

 

Lors de l’instauration du premier gouvernement de la Ve République, est créé un Haut-commissariat (puis Secrétariat d’Etat) à la Jeunesse et aux Sports (rattaché au ministère de l’Education Nationale), dirigé par Maurice Herzog. Ce dernier souhaite impulser de manière urgente une politique de construction afin de combler le sous-équipement en matière d’édifices à destination de la jeunesse : "Notre objectif, notre seul objectif est de mettre à la disposition de notre jeunesse, les moyens de s’exprimer plus complètement. Nous voulons que des millions de jeunes Français puissent aller au stade, à la piscine, se rencontrer dans les Maisons de Jeunes" (Equipements pour la jeunesse et les sports, 1962). Cette volonté se concrétise le 28 juillet 1961, avec la promulgation, dans le cadre du IVe plan, de la première loi de programme, qui instaure, sur une durée de quatre ans (1962-1965), un plan assurant un financement national durable et concret en faveur des équipements sportifs et socio-éducatifs. Ce plan prend la forme de subventions élevées (représentant généralement entre 20 et 50% du coût total) destinées à aider de nombreuses collectivités locales dans leur projet de constructions sportives. Ces aides se poursuivent et sont même revalorisées lors de la deuxième loi de programme d’équipements sportifs (1966-1970), votée le 2 juillet 1965. La troisième loi (1971-1975), votée le 13 juillet 1971, montre une détermination encore plus forte de l’Etat à augmenter massivement le nombre d’équipements à grande échelle, en particulier dans les nouvelles zones urbaines, et à former des éducateurs, ceci pour favoriser le sport de masse pour tous. Ces années marquent en revanche le début du désengagement financier de l’État, que l’on discerne par la baisse progressive des montants des subventions accordées. Ces subventions sont bien sûr soumises à certaines conditions. Et, pour assurer et contrôler la qualité technique et le respect des normes des piscines construites, les municipalités doivent en faire valider les avant-projets par l’Etat.

 

Certains dossiers de subventions conservés aux Archives nationales montrent que de nombreuses municipalités des Hauts-de-France bénéficient de cette aide dès les années 1960 (par exemple les piscines de Lomme, de Noyon, de Chantilly, de Lens, etc.).

 

Ces lois de programmes d’équipements ne se résument toutefois pas à ces aides financières : l’Etat développe également des mesures permettant d’inciter plus efficacement les collectivités à entreprendre la construction d’une piscine, en facilitant leurs démarches administratives et en réduisant les coûts de construction.

 

2. L’agrément de modèles de piscines : normaliser, encadrer et faciliter la construction

 

Suite à l’application de la première loi de programme, le Haut-Commissariat à la Jeunesse et aux Sports, constate que les prix de revient des équipements sportifs sont fréquemment trop élevés et que les architectes municipaux chargés de ces constructions ne sont la plupart du temps pas qualifiés pour ce type de constructions complexes et techniques. D’où la volonté de normaliser et de rationaliser les équipements sportifs, notamment les piscines, et de contrôler les projets proposés par de plus en plus d’entreprises, de constructeurs ou de bureaux d’études aux collectivités. Dans ce but est créée le 25 mai 1963 une commission spéciale dont la mission est d’agréer, sur le plan technique, des projets-types d’équipements susceptibles d’être réalisés dans toute la France. La commission est composée de treize sièges et se réunit plusieurs fois dans l’année pour donner son avis sur les projets d’architecture présentés à l’agrément. Pour ce faire, elle se base sur les qualités techniques du projet, sur les possibilités d’adaptation de l’architecture aux terrains divers, ainsi que sur les qualifications professionnelles des candidats à l’agrément. A partir de 1967, la commission se montre plus exigeante sur l’esthétique, l’harmonie, et l’originalité architecturale.

 

L’objectif principal de cette commission était de pouvoir proposer aux collectivités un panel de modèles de piscines variées et conformes aux caractéristiques définies par l’Etat, livrables clefs en mains et ayant des prix fixes. Cette procédure de normalisation devait de cette façon, assurer la qualité des équipements construits en France ainsi qu’une plus grande rapidité de réalisation. Le premier numéro de la revue Piscines informations résume avec enthousiasme tous les avantages que présente pour les municipalités le choix d’un projet-type agréé, se faisant ainsi le relais des services de l’Etat : "Plus que jamais, ces projets-types agréés sont la solution simple et économique. Prix plafonnés, projets clairement déterminés, normes parfaitement respectées, marché de gré à gré, financements faciles et par conséquent, réalisations rapides, tels sont les principaux avantages que permet d’obtenir le choix d’une exécution conforme à un projet-type agréé". Tout est mis en oeuvre pour inciter les collectivités à s’orienter de préférence vers un projet-type. Une documentation fournie permet en outre d’aider les maîtres d’ouvrages à choisir un programme (nombre et taille des bassins, piscine couverte ou non, etc.) adapté aux besoins de leur commune, notamment en fonction du nombre d’habitants.

 

Il faut attendre 1966 pour que les premiers projets-types soient validés par la commission d’agrément, qui est alors placée sous la responsabilité du nouveau ministère de Jeunesse et des Sports, créé en janvier 1966. La procédure d’agrément est un succès auprès des constructeurs, ingénieurs et architectes. Ils sont ravis de pouvoir bénéficier de ce moyen permettant d’officialiser leurs projets, et mettent à profit leur savoir-faire et leurs idées au service de l’élaboration d’une nouvelle architecture des piscines. Ainsi, parmi les 134 projets-types validés par la commission d’agrément entre 1966 et 1971 (date de mise en arrêt de la procédure), on compte 64 modèles de piscines. La plupart de ces projets présentent des programmes simples et polyvalents, avec un ou plusieurs bassins susceptibles de s’adapter à différents besoins. Avant le lancement de la procédure, toujours dans le but de promouvoir l’apprentissage de la natation, le secrétariat d’Etat avait également agréé trois modèles de piscines-écoles, bassins de natation découverts ou couverts. Ces piscines scolaires, en matériaux préfabriqués, sont constituées d’un bassin métallique suspendu sous lequel sont situées les cabines de change et les installations techniques. Une carte postale montre un de ces bassins découverts (type PF) construit à Barlin (Pas-de-Calais).

 

Seuls certains de ces modèles agréés ont eu du succès et ont été sélectionnés à plusieurs reprises par les municipalités mais ils n’ont pas véritablement été construits à grande échelle. Pour "vendre" leurs piscines, les constructeurs n’hésitent pas à vanter les avantages de leurs projets agréés à travers de nombreuses publicités diffusées dans la presse spécialisée2, ou grâce à des brochures publicitaires envoyées aux municipalités. Dans les Hauts-de-France, on dénombre onze modèles adoptés une ou plusieurs fois par les communes, conduisant à la construction de vingt-trois piscines couvertes. Certains modèles de piscines sont construits avant que les architectes en demandent l’agrément : par exemple la piscine S.5 de l’architecte Michel Denisse, qu’il met en oeuvre dans sa ville natale, Hénin-Liétard, et pour le district urbain de Montreuil-sur-Mer en 1966, alors qu’il n’obtient l’agrément qu’en 1967. C’est le cas également pour la piscine couverte de Cambrai, inaugurée en 1964, qui sert de prototype à Pierre Prod’homme et René Lancelle (architectes à Cambrai) avant de proposer à l’agrément un modèle de piscine.

 

On relève toutefois que, si la commission privilégie l’agrément de piscines couvertes ou transformables (c’est-à-dire pouvant s’ouvrir aux beaux-jours), en ne validant qu’un seul modèle de piscine de plein-air, c’est encore ce type qui est majoritairement construit en France, en raison de son faible coût de fabrication.

 

Ainsi les résultats de la procédure d’agrément sont plutôt satisfaisants mais pas suffisants pour l’Etat qui souhaite intensifier davantage l’implantation de piscines publiques exploitables toute l’année en France, en particulier dans les petites et moyennes communes, ou les quartiers populaires de grandes agglomérations, dont les budgets sont très modestes et qui n’ont pas pu bénéficier de l’élan de construction des décennies précédentes. Pour ce faire, le ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports, lance, suite à l’organisation de plusieurs concours d’architecture sur le thème des piscines économiques et transformables, une opération nommée « Mille piscines » visant à une répartition uniforme et égalitaire des piscines sur tout le territoire, afin que désormais tous les enfants puissent apprendre à nager. La création d’un réseau d’équipements natatoire apparaît d’autant plus nécessaire depuis la décentralisation de l’enseignement du second degré en 1964 et la création de collèges d’enseignement secondaires (CES) dans des petites villes.

 

3. L’opération "Mille piscines" : une industrialisation totale des piscines pour équiper le territoire à grande échelle

 

Mise en place de l’opération Mille piscines

 

La troisième loi de programme prévoit, en 1971, la réalisation prioritaire, entre autres équipements, d’un millier de piscines (dont 850 industrialisées et 150 destinées à la compétition) en quatre ans (1972-1976). Cette opération, appelée "Mille piscines", entre dans la continuité des volontés étatiques édictées depuis le début de la Ve République en matière d’équipement natatoire, mais elle est également motivée par deux évènements qui ont frappé l’opinion publique à l’été 1968 : la noyade de 150 personnes, dont une majorité d’enfants, suite au naufrage d’un bateau de plaisance sur le lac Léman à moins de 50 mètres de la rive ; et les mauvaises performances des nageurs français aux jeux Olympiques de Mexico. Le général de Gaulle donne alors pour mission à Joseph Comiti, secrétaire d’Etat à la Jeunesse et aux Sports, d’équiper la France d’un maximum de piscines afin d’enseigner la natation à toute la jeunesse française.Devant l’importance de l’objectif à atteindre : mille piscines, pouvant s’adapter aux possibilités financières souvent limitées des petites et moyennes communes (de 8000 à 15000 habitants) et dont le programme doit concilier l’apprentissage de la natation, la détente et l’entraînement sportif quelle que soit la saison , le secrétariat d’Etat oriente résolument la recherche vers le développement de techniques de préfabrication et d’industrialisation totale de l’architecture, afin de pouvoir produire des piscines en grande série à moindre coût (le prix de revient doit être situé autour de 1 200 000 francs). Pour augmenter l’efficacité et la rapidité de l’opération, l’Etat centralise et facilite le processus administratif (conception et passage des marchés), assure le suivi des réalisations et des travaux, devenant ainsi le maître d’ouvrage des opérations, dont il subventionne largement le coût auprès des villes qui se portent acquéreurs. Les municipalités doivent seulement fournir le terrain et se décider pour un modèle de piscine parmi ceux proposés. A noter que l’Etat se réserve toutefois de refuser ce choix et d’attribuer un autre modèle à la commune, compte tenu des obligations liés aux marchés de série. Pour aider à choisir et expliquer les démarches à mettre en oeuvre, le secrétariat d’Etat diffuse auprès des communes intéressées une documentation abondante et incitative (dépliants, brochures, albums techniques, etc.). Ce système très rationalisé laisse donc peu de marge de manoeuvre aux petites communes qui, si elles souhaitent s’équiper rapidement d’une piscine, sont quasiment obligées de passer par ce système. Ainsi, il s’agit, selon Patrick Facon (2006), de "construire plus vite, moins cher, sans viser d’emblée la perfection – mais en donnant des outils même rudimentaires dans les meilleurs délais".

 

Dès 1970, l’Etat amorce le lancement de cette opération avec la création de 50 "bassins d’apprentissage mobiles" (B.A.M.), dont la fabrication, la conception, le montage et la mise en service sont réalisés par deux entreprises sélectionnées sur concours en 1969 : Walrvae Nausicaa et la société Techniques et Loisirs. Ces bassins de 12,5 x 6 m, peu onéreux et facilement mis en oeuvre, en service d’avril à septembre, sont à affectés par roulement à des communes ne possédant pas d’établissement natatoire. Ils ont pour but de faire patienter les municipalités pendant l’avancée de l’opération "Mille piscines", et de sensibiliser, en attendant, les futurs usagers des piscines industrialisées et ainsi amorcer le développement de la pratique massive de la natation à l’école. Ce service rencontre un grand succès et le secrétariat passe une deuxième commande de 45 B.A.M. en 1972. Ces installations ont été mises en service dans plus de 700 communes jusqu’en 1976 (date fin de l’opération "Mille piscines").

  

Les concours nationaux d’idées de 1969

 

Précédant le lancement de cette opération, l’Etat avait organisé en 1969 et 1971 des séries de concours d’architecture nationaux sur le thème de la piscine, qui devaient conduire à une sélection de modèles de piscines facilement industrialisables. Les deux premiers concours sont lancés le 22 mai 1969 et ont pour objectif de recenser et de comparer toutes les idées nouvelles en matière de piscine. Ces concours sont avant tout ouverts aux architectes, contrairement aux agréments qui mobilisent plutôt des entreprises.

 

Le premier concours porte sur les "piscines transformables", confirmant l’orientation voulue par le ministère de favoriser la construction d’équipements conciliant, en un seul équipement, les bénéfices d’une installation de plein-air et d’une piscine couverte. Les architectes doivent imaginer une piscine ouverte aux beaux-jours, destinée aux agglomérations moyennes et aux quartiers de grandes villes et comportant les équipements suivant : un bassin sportif de 25 m sur 15 m équipé d’un plongeoir, un bassin d’apprentissage de 15 sur 12,5 m, une pataugeoire de 30 m2 et des annexes fonctionnelles et techniques.

 

Le second concours concerne les "piscines économiques". Le programme, plus dépouillé, visant à l’économie tant du point de vue de la construction que de la gestion, correspond aux besoins des petites villes : un bassin mixte de 25 m sur 10 m (dont la profondeur varie de 0,7 à 2 m) permettant de nombreuses activités (baignade familiale, entraînement sportif, apprentissage, compétition, détente) et des annexes fonctionnelles et techniques. Comme pour le premier concours, la façade ou la toiture doit être largement ouvrable. L’architecte doit également prévoir la possibilité d’extensions par l’ajout de bassins de plein air.

 

Ces deux concours connaissent un grand succès : d’après Joseph Comiti, 400 architectes s’y sont intéressés et 150 projets ont été reçus. Neuf avant-projets de piscines transformables sont retenus et quatre pour les piscines économiques. Ces projets, d’une grande originalité, présentent tous des systèmes inédits de toitures ou de façades escamotables permettant l’ouverture complète de la piscine sur l’extérieur. La piscine Tournesol de Bernard Schoeller remporte le premier prix aux deux concours. Robert Hirt gagne le deuxième prix pour les piscines transformables, tandis que le deuxième prix pour les piscines économiques est attribué à la piscine Caneton de Jean-Paul Aigrot, Franc Charras et Alain Charvier. Tous les avant-projets primés doivent normalement faire l’objet d’un prototype en vue d’étudier les possibilités concrètes d’une industrialisation. Mais au final, peu de projets s’y prêtent véritablement. Quelques projets du premier concours sont construits à titre expérimental, et seuls les deux premiers projets lauréats au concours des piscines économiques (Tournesol et Caneton) sont retenus en février 1970 par le secrétariat d’Etat pour la poursuite des études techniques en vue d’une construction en série. Les architectes sont mis en contact avec le bureau d’études SERI-Renault pour approfondir leur projet, puis un appel d’offres international pour les différents lots (tous les éléments doivent être préfabriqués en usine) est lancé en août 1971 pour la construction de prototypes. Pour la réalisation de la coque de la piscine Tournesol, c’est la proposition de la société Durafour qui est retenue, et l’entreprise générale GBA pour la piscine Caneton. Les prototypes primés sont construits à Nangis (Seine-et-Marne) pour la piscine Tournesol et à Salbris (Loir-et-Cher) pour la piscine Caneton. Après une année d’observation et de fonctionnement, les marchés en série sont conclus en décembre 1972 et les premières piscines Tournesol et Caneton sont construites sur tout le territoire national à partir de 1973. Il est prévu de construire 250 exemplaires de chaque piscine. En réalité, 183 piscines Tournesol ont été réalisées en France, et 196 piscines Caneton.

 

inventaire.hautsdefrance.fr/dossier/les-piscines-des-tren... -

 

les Piscines TOURNESOL En réalité, 183 piscines Tournesol ont été réalisées en France, et 196 piscines Caneton.

 

inventaire.hautsdefrance.fr/dossier/les-piscines-des-tren... - @ les pisçines Tournesol ↑ a et b Dossier sur la piscine de Carros

 

↑ Notice de la piscine de Bonneveine [archive], sur le site de la DRAC de PACA.

 

↑ Notice de la piscine de Carros-le-Neuf [archive], sur le site de la DRAC de PACA.

 

↑ Bilan 2011-2012 : Patrimoine architectural du xxe siècle, édifices « labellisés », édifices « labellisés » inscrits ou classés [archive], sur le site du ministère de la Culture.

 

↑ Christine Lescoutte-Gardent, « La piscine en travaux », Sud Ouest,‎ 9 février 2013 (lire en ligne [archive]).

 

↑ Marc Gaillard, Architectures des sports, Éditions du Moniteur, coll. « Architecture / Les bâtiments », 1981 (ISBN 2-281-00014-1), p. 54.

 

↑ « Piscine de Carros » [archive], 2006 (consulté le 9 décembre 2017)

 

↑ « Les piscines Tournesol de Monsieur Schoeller » [archive], sur archipostcard.blogspot.fr (consulté le 9 décembre 2017)

 

↑ www.pss-archi.eu/immeubles/FR-50129-19686.html [archive]

 

↑ « Piscine du bois du château à Lorient » [archive], sur guide-piscine.fr, 1er juin 2016 (consulté le 21 août 2016)

 

↑ « Piscine de Baud » [archive], sur guide-piscine.fr, 28 juin 2016 (consulté le 21 août 2016)

 

↑ a et b « La piscine Tournesol en phase de démolition » [archive], sur ouest-france.fr, Ouest France, 27 novembre 2015 (consulté le 21 août 2016)

 

↑ « Démolition de la piscine communautaire | CCB – Communauté de Communes du Bouzonvillois » [archive] (consulté le 29 août 2016)

 

↑ « Lille : la piscine tournesol de la rue françois coppee, c'est déja fini » [archive], sur www.lavoixdunord.fr/ [archive], 26 avril 2016 (consulté le 9 janvier 2017)

 

↑ « Fermeture définitive de la piscine Tournesol à Louvroil » [archive], sur Agglo Maubeuge-Val de Sambre, 24 mars 2016 (consulté le 9 janvier 2017)

 

↑ Dixième anniversaire de la piscine Atlantis. [archive]

 

↑ « Sa démolition a débuté : la piscine à ventre ouvert ! » [archive], sur lavoixdunord.fr, 19 décembre 2012 (consulté le 9 janvier 2017)

 

↑ Emmanuel Delahaye, « La piscine Tournesol a vécu », L'Alsace,‎ 5 février 2016 (lire en ligne [archive])

 

↑ « La piscine a été démolie », L'Alsace,‎ 12 janvier 2014 (lire en ligne [archive])

 

↑ CMS Anan6, « Communauté de Communes du Sud-Ouest Amiénois | Piscine communautaire » [archive], sur www.ccsoa.fr (consulté le 9 janvier 2017)

 

↑ Schoeller, Bernard, Piscine tournesol, plans de projet M 1:100, Archives Commune de Larochette, Paris, 1974.

 

↑ Galerie d'architecture moderne [archive], sur citedechaillot.fr.

 

↑ [PDF] Plein air, Beauvais, Diaphane, 2008 (ISBN 978-2-9530799-1-3, lire en ligne [archive]), chap. 15 (« Jurisprudence, dénomination, botanique »), p. 40–41.

 

Bernard Schoeller et Secrétariat d'État à la Jeunesse et aux Sports, Projet Tournesol : Opération 1000 piscines, dossier technique de présentation, Paris, R. Lacer, 1972, 31 p. (OCLC 1505704, notice BnF no FRBNF35900611, LCCN 75503940)

 

Gérard Monnier (dir.), L'architecture moderne en France, vol. 3 : De la croissance à la compétition : 1967-1999, Paris, Picard, coll. « Librairie de l'architecture et de la ville », 2000, 311 p. (ISBN 2-7084-0571-3), « Les piscines Tournesol », p. 16–18

 

Patrick Facon, « Les piscines Tournesol », dans Gérard Monnier (dir.) et Richard Klein (dir.), Les années ZUP : Architectures de la croissance, 1960-1973, Paris, Picard, 2002, 301 p. (ISBN 2-7084-0629-9), p. 91–110

 

« Remise à neuf de la coupole d'une piscine 'Tournesol' », Les Cahiers techniques du bâtiment, no 279,‎ mai 2008, p. 32–34 (ISSN 0241-6794)

 

Odile Fillion, « Volumes d'eau », D'A. D'Architectures, no 104,‎ août-septembre 2000, p. 36–51

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscine_Tournesol

Rosebay Rhododendron - Rhododendron maximum - on Margarette Falls Trail in Cherokee National Forest near Greeneville, Tennessee.

Also called Great-laurel, is a native small tree or large shrub with evergreen leaves, multistemmed and often thicket forming, with flowers that are less crinkled and more symmetrical and with rounded petal tips than other native rhododendrons and with elliptic, strap-like leaves often crowded near branch tips.

Found on moist, shady mountain slopes, along streams, ponds, and bogs, to elevations of 6000 feet.

Kershner, Mathews, Nelson, and Spellenberg, National Wildlife Federation Guide to Trees of North America

Technika 6x9, 105mm lens

Kodak Ektachrome 120mm EP (~1970)

Self developed in c41 @ room temp

Scanned and curves adjusted

 

Testing the Rangefinder Focus at maximum focus distance ~2ft. ~f3.5

Fenesta provides information about interior design of windows, window interior design so that interior windows can be constructed or modified so as to give maximum benefit to it users.

DA UN'IDEA DEL BRILLANTE UNDINI DETTO IL "Conducator Maximum"

  

Con la partecipazione allegra, scanzonata e amichevole di Adriana Nadia Selvy Alessio Amos Ciccio Francesco Giancarlo Valerio

   

Il parco nazionale di Monfrague, un autentico paradiso per il birdwatcher, ospita un favoloso mosaico di ambienti, che vanno dalle foreste di sughere alle steppe, dalle pareti rocciose alla macchia mediterranea. Non c’è angolo di Monfrague in cui non si possa fare un proficuo birdwatching. Ecco un piccolo programma dei tre giorni che spenderemo nelle aree del parco; nella stessa cittadina di Trujillo potremo vedere, sulle torri e palazzi della cinquecentesca Plaza Mayor, Cicogne bianche, Grillai, Rondoni pallidi, Taccole, Rondini rossicce. L’highlight del tour sarà l’escursione al Peña Falcon, l’impressionante parete rocciosa dove nidificano la Cicogna nera, il Grifone, il Capovaccaio, il Falco pellegrino; dal Castillo de Monfrague si domina il Peña Falcon e si possono osservare i Grifoni che volano a pochi metri sopra e sotto di noi; tra i tanti Grifoni passa ogni tanto l’Avvoltoio monaco e, nei pressi del castello, potremo vedere anche Monachelle nere, Passeri solitari, Zigoli muciatti, Gazze azzurre, Cappellacce di Thekla, Bigie grosse, Sterpazzole, Sterpazzoline, Occhiocotti, Tottaville, Passere lagie; Monfrague è uno dei parchi spagnoli dove negli ultimi anni ha nidificato una specie africana, il Rondone cafro; ma, al di là delle rarità, l’incontro con le quali fa sempre piacere, saranno le specie tipiche del parco ad emozionarci, e i rapaci sono il tipo di uccelli per cui Monfrague è famoso; quello che potremmo vedere, e che in effetti abbiamo visto nei precedenti ORNITOUR è il seguente: Grifone, Capovaccaio, Avvoltoio monaco, Aquila imperiale, Aquila reale, Aquila di Bonelli, Aquila minore, Biancone, Nibbio reale, Nibbio bruno, Sparviere, Astore, Poiana, Falco pecchiaiolo, Falco pellegrino, Lodolaio, Gheppio, Grillaio. Se aggiungiamo che nelle steppe vicine vedremo l’Albanella minore e che il Nibbio bianco è sempre più che una remota possibilità, si capisce come Monfrague rappresenti un must per i rapacisti. Nelle steppe di Matalascanas cercheremo le specie tipiche di quelle grandi distese: Otarda, Gallina prataiola, Occhione, Ganga, Grandule, Cuculo dal ciuffo, Succiacapre collorosso, Civetta, Barbagianni, Ghiandaia marina, Gruccione, Upupa, Monachella, Passera sarda.

 

The Chorco de los lobos is an ingenious trap that was used since ancient times to hunt the maximum predator of the cattle herd, the wolf. In the past, and because of the abundance of these carnivores in the area and the geographical isolation of the territory of Valdeón itself, especially in winter, The Chorco de los lobos was possibly an important point of union for the defense and interest of the inhabitants of Valdeón, this is for the villages of Caldevilla, Soto, Posada, Prada, Los Llanos, and Cordiñanes.

 

To such an extent it had its weight in Valdeón society, that the “Ordinanzas de Montería” were written from the beginning, detailing the system of harassment and capture of wolves, specifying the positions and functions to be performed by each person, as well as the obligations of the neighbors for the maintenance of the palisade and the Chorco and even of the same mount of Corona.

Native American variety, blooming now in the UC Botanical Garden's Eastern North America section. My favorite, for its subtle beauty.

It's worth mentioning that most rhododendrons grown in private home gardens in America these days are imported from Asia. This is the native variety, which hails from the mountains of the Southern Highlands (the Appalachians). It was collected in the wild and brought here for display and conservation by scientists at the University of California.

 

Stool from thrifstore, painted.

Cover out of old t-shirts.

kisskus.typepad.com/kisskus/2011/09/the-new-stool.html

Molto Alto Heeft deze week een foto van de Maxima geüpload www.flickr.com/photos/moltoalto/6046793394/. Ik vond zelf de compositie van de foto geweldig! Zelf ben ik geen fan van cargo, maar in een industriële omgeving vind ik het tof. En laat het deze keer kloppen! Ik heb toestemming gevraagd én gekregen van molto alto om te laten zien wat ik er zelf mee gedaan zou hebben.

 

nu kun je uiteraard zeggen dat 'bewerking' niet meetelt en dat het niet helemaal klopt in de wetten van fotografie. Echter is dat niet helemaal waar. Ook met rolletjes en film werd al gegoocheld met kleuren en effecten. Er zijn opnames in het verleden gemaakt met dubbele filmlagen, uitgeknipt en ingeplakt. Het ouderwetse 'photoshoppen'. Bewerkingen zijn van alle tijden en horen nou eenmaal bij het vak. Fotografie is namelijk het vertellen van een verhaal d.m.v. beelden. Zwart wit rolletjes hoefden niet per sé zwart wit te zijn.

 

Zelf ben ik voor de geïndustrialiseerde omgeving en het benadrukken ervan. Dus spelen met lagere vibrantie in kleuren, minder verzadiging, meer benadrukking van de industrie. Daar zijn varianten op zoals ik hier laat zien, met het Orgineel van Molto Alto onderaan.

 

Mijn persoonlijke voorkeur gaat uit naar de middelste, omdat het de kenmerkende gele snuit weergeeft.

 

Zo zie je dat een foto meerdere gezichten kan hebben. Meerdere verhalen, meerdere betekenissen. Dat is wat ik hiermee wilde laten zien. :)

2023-07-01_094048

Seoul, South Korea

BODY

Manufactured by Ihagee Kamerawerk Steenbergen & Co, Dresden, East Germany

Model: 1959, Version 1.5.2, (A&R: 5, Hummmel: 048), (produced between 1959-60, quantity: 38300)

Special feature of Version 5: Exa on the front plate embossed, (not engraved like in all other versions).

Version, manufacturing year, body and lens info are as to Andrzej Wrotniak

The original Exa is known as Exa 0 also.

All Exa 0 produced between 1951-62

35mm SLR film camera

Engraving on the front plate: Ihagee Dresden

Lens release: via a lever on the left of the lens flange

Focusing: via Fresnel matte screen, ring and scalel on the lens, w/DOF scale

Shutter: Mirror acts like a curtain as a part of the shutter, vertical moving, due to this maximum speed is limited to 1/150, speeds: 1/25-1/150 +B

setting: via a lever and scale on the right of the top plate

Shutter release: a knob, on front of the body, w/ a safety locking cap, and cable release socket, it can be pressed with the plunger on the lenses, w/ cable release socket also

Cocking knob: also winds the film, on the right of the top plate

Frame counter: window on the right of the top plate, additive type, manual reset by a thumb ring on front of it

Viewfinder: SLR pentaprism finder , interchangeable with Waist level finder

Finder release: via a knob beneath the Exa logo

Mirror: Stays up after exposure, so viewfinder is dark, cocking the shutter returns the mirror to normal position

Re-wind knob: on the left of the top plate

Re-wind release: by a button just beside the cocking knob

Flash PC socket: two, on the right front side of the camera, F and X

Self-timer: none

Back cover: Hinged, removable, opens by a latch on the left side of the camera

Tripod socket: 378'' w/1/4'' adaptor

Strap lugs

Body: metallic, Weight:557g (wo/ the lens)

serial no. 545089 (inside the camera)

LENS:

Meyer-Optik Görlitz Lydith 30mm f/3,5 (Zebra), 5 elements,

preset type, Mount: Exakta bayonet mount, interchangeable with Exakta Varex lenses,

filter thread: 49mm, serial no. 4082192, (introduced in 1962)

Aperture: f/3.5-f/22, setting: ring and scale on the lens

Focus range: 0.33 - 6m +inf

 

+Original leather ever ready case

+ Waist level finder, Ihage Dresden, w/original leather case

+Sunlux Tele Converter, (Zebra), with Exacta bayonet mount and lens release, (Made in Japan), w/ original leather case

+ B+W Skylight filter, 49ES KR1,5 1,1x w/leather case

 

Although Exa is much simpler than the professional Exakta cameras, the workmanship is equally good, finish similar, and the family resemblance obvious. With its lower price, Exa cameras are addressed to the amateur photographers.

Ihagee Kamerawerk Steenbergen & Co, in Dresden, which was the largest independent camera manufacturer in Germany and was founded in 1912 by Johan Steenbergen.

The true Exaktas and Exas are ones made by Ihagee in Dresden.

Ihagee did not produce their own lenses. Instead, they relied on many of the major optical firms of their day to each produce a series of lenses for their cameras, eg. Carl Zeiss (Jena), Meyer-Optik (Görlitz) and Joseph Schneider (Kreuznach). The lenses from these three makers, in terms of the number and variations of lenses produced, are the most plentiful and in most cases the easiest for collectors and users to acquire. Maybe, over 80% of the Exaktas offered for sale are equipped with normal focal length lenses from these three firms.

Notes about Exa/Exakta classification

I use the Exa/Exakta classification of Andrzej Wrotniak. As to me, it is the best.

Some opinions of a serious Exa/Exakta collector, F W Tappe :

Andrzej Wrotniak uses a very sensible classification, listed on his website, which I personally like the best. It is multi dimensional in setup, without being complicated!

Richard Hummel's 1995 book lists an "one dimensional" classification, which is incomplete, but many sources still refer to this.

Aguila and Rouah (A&R) in their 2003 edition of "Exakta cameras 1933 - 1978", come to an improved classification. They built on their previous 1987 edition classification, which was the leading standard among collectors.

Klaus Wichmann, prolific writer of books about Exakta - and Exa cameras, published his classifications earliest.

More info Captain Jack, Maurizio Frizziero, F W Tappe, Exa Original in Camerapedia

 

Just before the sun went down over the River Adur at Shoreham in Sussex

Specimens and ephemera from Schriftguss AG Brüder Butter at the library of the Klingspor Museum, Offenbach

borrowed from cdbaby.com :

 

It was really only a matter of time before Buttercup went nuts.

   

Of course, lotsa folks figured the San Antonio foursome was kinda already there from the get-go. Certainly frontman/guitarist Erik Sanden was always at least borderline crazy, going back to “Dial-a-Song” days when he wrote and recorded a tune a week just for anyone with enough time on their hands to call a special hotline and hear a song over the telephone. Not to mention the stunt where he committed to playing a single song over and over again for 24 hours, just to see if he could. And the bass player, Odie? Goodness, where does one start? Sweetest dude you’ll ever meet, but not “normal” even by the most liberal definition of the word. As for the two straight guys, drummer Jamie Roadman and lead guitarist Joe Reyes … they’d have to be nuts to hang around with the other two, right?

   

And let us not forget all those “Grackle Mundys” — Buttercup’s handle for their legendary, no-two-alike, what-will-they-possibly-think-of-next very special … events. Concerts, if you will — though they were more like performance art music socials. They were usually held in some tiny art studio in or around downtown San Antone. Or maybe in somebody’s living room or, every now and then, just to fuck with the status quo, an actual rock club. What happened at Grackle Mundys? We could tell you, but unless you were there, you wouldn’t believe it. Come to think of it, most folks who were there — band members included —didn’t believe it, either.

   

But they did learn to believe in a band that through years of strange gigs, countless songs, and more than a little practice has grown into a moody, melodic, powerful rock band with a sound that is somewhere between the Kinks at their most depressed and Neil Young at his most ecstatic.

   

Four loons, five-years worth of “Grackle Mundys,” and, just last year, a damn good sophomore album that they actually saddled with the name, um, Hot Love. So yeah, Buttercup has been on the road to madness for a while now. But as Sanden outlines the band’s schedule for the year ahead, it’s clear they’ve now officially gone certifiable.

   

With two albums under their belt (the aforementioned giddy Hot Love and the previous year’s moodier Sick Yellow Flower), Buttercup will triple their catalog in 2007 by writing, recording and releasing four CDs (three generous EPs and one full-length) before the end of the year. From scratch. First out of the gate is the freewheelin’ rock ’n’ roll EP Captains of Industry — its very title a cheeky nod to the band’s lunatic ambition. Hot on its heels will be the largely acoustic Living Again (July), followed by August’s Camp Zama, an “experimental” live album which may or may not be recorded somewhere in West Texas, far from the band’s San Antonio/Austin comfort zone. The as-yet-untitled full-length, schedule for October … well, there’s no telling what shape and sound that one will take. The band’s kinda making this all up as they go. Truth be told, the whole campaign was pretty much decided on a whim with a quarter of 2007 already in the rear-view mirror.

   

It’s an ambitious little to-do list, to say the least — and a cynic (realist?) would surely point out that they’ll never pull it off. But there were doubters at quite a few of those Grackle Mundy fetes, too: lured to the shows by friends or curiosity over what all the buzz was about, but ready to call “bullshit” the moment the band broke out the ukuleles, asked the crowd to watch the show on monitors at the bottom of oil drums or led the whole audience outside for a musical parade through a dicey part of town. By evening’s end, though, cynicism was invariably dropped in favor of the warm, fuzzy embrace of the “Buttercult.” Buttercup fans learn fast that this is a band that thrives on the unexpected and taking risks. And they’ve watched this band grow into one of the best, most solid rock bands around.

   

“We needed to move the goalposts a bit,” says Sanden of the Buttercup’s four-records-in-a-year gameplan, noting that Buttercup’s previous one-album-a-year schedule felt like a snail’s pace to the band. “I think doing this was my idea at first, but nobody in the band needed any convincing. They were all like, ‘Let’s do it! Why not?’”

   

Ah yes, the Buttercup battle cry: “Why not,” every bit as much as their songwriting and musical chops, is what makes this band tick. It’s what made Sanden, Odie and Roadman — three-quarters of San Antonio’s late, great Evergeen — decide to regroup after a year or two apart and pick up nowhere near where they left off: With the slacker, goof-off rhythm guitarist (Sanden) recast as a take-charge visionary and dynamic frontman, and the whole Stones swagger traded for an unabashedly more fey and whimsical but ultimately more daring and mercurial Kinks fetish. “Why not” is also the mindset that made Reyes, formerly half of the acclaimed Alamo City flamenco duo Lara & Reyes and a Grammy-winning producer (for Freddy Fender, R.I.P.), decide to throw caution to the wind and expand his musical horizons with a group of guys long on originality but initially short on prospects. A few years and countless laughs and musical dares later, “why not” remains Buttercup’s answer to pretty any challenge they set their minds to.

   

It’s also the key to the characteristic insouciance that pervades their approach to songwriting, performance and, most recently, recording. The Captains of Industry EP marks Buttercup’s first attempt at producing themselves, with every note cooked up in Sanden’s freshly installed home studio. Reyes’ Grammy-certified production mettle notwithstanding, Sanden admits to finding the DIY method daunting — but ultimately exhilarating. After recording half a dozen tracks that went into the “delete pile,” the band had a bit of an epiphany while recording “Sun in the Sky,” a 7-minute epic reminiscent of the Pixies and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd that Sanden describes as “scream therapy on a boat.”

   

The epiphany came when they captured Reyes beating up Sanden’s bathroom — slamming the toilet seat cover and spilling all his hair care products into the bathtub. “To my ears, this was freedom,” enthuses Sanden. “This was a realization that we could do anything we wanted to, and that there were no rules that we had to obey.”

   

Nuts? Yeah. But like everything else Buttercup has ever done — or even attempted — it’s all in the name of fun. In the name Art, too, of course, but first and foremost, fun. And should they fail … well, it still promises to be an epic ride.

   

“If we should falter in our quest,” says Sanden (invoking one of his musical heroes, Jad Fair) “we solemnly promise to wear our clothes inside out for a one year period. On this you have our word!”

Part of my recent film on recycling and saving this valuable resource. For the whole film which shows you three different 'pallet scenarios' and the tools you will need, please visit www.youtube.com/user/Organikmechanic?feature=mhum

Blog thegreenlever.blogspot.com/

Une partie de mon court-métrage récent sur le recyclage et l'utilisation de cette précieuse ressource. Pour l'ensemble du film qui vous montre trois différents «scénarios de palettes et les outils dont vous aurez besoin, consultez www.youtube.com/user/Organikmechanic?feature=mhum

 

minolta hi-matic 7s

adox silvermax 100

adox silvermax developer

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed - Press Release:

 

Budget 2013 and unemployment

 

After much speculation Budget 2013 has finally been announced. The Budget does not do enough in two vital areas. It will make the path to work, education and training more difficult for unemployed people and will further undermine the social insurance model, a model that the Minister sees as integral to our social protection system.

 

As predicted the duration an unemployed person can stay on Jobseekers Benefit has been cut from 12 months to 9 if he or she has made over 260 PRSI contributions. Similarly, if the person has paid less than 260 contributions they will only now have an entitlement to a JB payment for 6 months. So, for example, a person who has worked for 20 years or more and whose partner is working may find themselves cut adrift from any supports from the State after nine months. Yet he or she will be unemployed, see him or herself as unemployed but they will receive no supports from the State to assist them to get back to work.

Yet the State will be taking more PRSI contributions off all workers as anyone earning over €352 per week will pay on everything after: this is a regressive step and will particularly hit low income workers.

 

Another striking feature of the budget is the cutting of supports for unemployed people undertaking further education and training. This will hit in particular young people for whom Jobseekers Allowance had been cut in the past to encourage them to take up education and training options. The rationale for offering participants a full rate was to support people to re-skill themselves, to improve their chances of securing employment. Yet the cut to the Cost of Education Allowance; the equalisation of a training allowance with a participant’s previous social welfare payment; and a maximum limit of €160 for young people will make it harder for people to go down this path as they will find it unaffordable.

 

Child Benefit has not only been cut by €10: it has also been cut from €148 for the third child to €130; and from €160 for 4th child+ to €140. The provision of additional childcare or early years supports may be of benefit to some families. However, for many families struggling on a social welfare payment or a low income job this cut in Child Benefit is further exacerbated by the cut in the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. This payment has been cut from €150 to €100 for children of primary age; and from €250 to €200 for children aged 12+. Yet the cost of education continues to rise. According to the last Consumer Price Index education inflation ran at 6.7% in comparison to a national average of 1.2%.

 

The INOU is acutely aware of the importance of local and community development in providing important supports and services to unemployed people including the provision of access to employment. At a time when increasing demand on the ground it is disappointing to see further expenditure cuts envisaged for these programmes.

 

On a positive note the maintenance of the basic social welfare rate, as sought by the INOU, is to be welcomed. As are the additional places in Community Employment, TUS, JobBridge: it is critical important that these supports are meaningful for participants and lead on to decent employment.

 

Two brushes at once, for maximum mess.

MY IMAGES ARE FOR SALE ONLY FROM ME, DIRECTLY, see below!

A BEAUTY, about 15cm diameter.

 

The Christmas lights are lighting the streets, the shop-windows sparkle with tinsel, the shops are brimmed with goodies.

It's cold outside, the nights are long, days still getting shorter. Too early for me for Christmas, candles, yes, in the studio, I'm having fun with decorations.

Here a late MUM, with its very own halo/corolla and brightness.

Thank you for your comments and likes, M, (*_*)

 

For more of my other work visit here: www.indigo2photography.co.uk

Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

PROBLEM: I needed to build a quick toy, and only had two nights for work. No money to buy some components.

 

SOLUTION: Blue Steel robot was damaged, and Gorirobot too. Then, let's join the good parts of every one and... voila!! Shivatron (homage to the "Venture Bros." cartoon and the idiot transformation of them in a silly four-arms battle robot), is the maximum recyclobot. The Recycling of the Re-used. Or, how my brother Rodrigo says , "Un calentado hecho de calentados"!

 

I forgot, it's motorized and lights its eyes.

I think I killed this part of the Dramway! The section just past Bitterwell Lake, and known as 'the scrapyard' has been fenced off at both ends, has security dogs and cctcv cameras. I don't think they liked that my book gave their little strip of land such exposure.

 

This is the site of the very first railway to be built in Bristol. One of the very first railways to be built in the world. This actual section, serving the coalpit heath collieries, was where the first rails were laid. And now it's out of bounds. Goodness knows what goes on behind the fence.

 

This should have been compulsory purchased years ago. What a waste.

The Carnage symbiote was born with dangerous and deadly abilities well before the Secret Crisis.

Cletus Kasady is a homicidal psychopath with the alien bonded in his blood. Now combined with technology stolen from Reed Richard's lab the alien symbiote can grow to enormous size and possesses incredible strength.

 

This new and deadly and shape-shifting form endows Carnage with the ability to project a web-like substance from any part of the mech including the formation of weapons making Maximum Carnage the ultimate mech killer.

 

Built for FBTB's Mech Madness.

Apertura máxima. David, aprendiendo trucos de fotografía, aunque creo que la apertura no se selecciona así... ¿o será la ISO la que quiere ajustar? En cualquier caso, sonreid para la foto!

 

David, learning some photography tricks, though I think this is not how you select aperture... or maybe he's trying to change the ISO? Anyway, smile and say "Cheese"!!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The 21 cm Kanone 39 (K 39) was a Czech-designed heavy gun used by the Germans in the Second World War. It was original designed by Škoda as a dual-purpose heavy field and coast defence gun in the late 1930s for Turkey with the designation of ‘K52’. Only two had been delivered before the rest of the production run was appropriated by the Heer upon the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

Initially, the K 39 only saw limited use as a field cannon in Operation Barbarossa, the Siege of Odessa, Siege of Leningrad and the Siege of Sevastopol. During the war, nine of these guns were sold to Sweden, too.

 

With the ongoing (and worsening) war situation and the development of heavy tank chassis towards late 1944, the K 39 received new attention and was adapted by the Wehrmacht as a long-range mortar, primarily intended as a mobile coastal defense weapon for strategically important naval sites, and as a second line artillery support. There were several reasons that made the heavy weapon still attractive: Unlike the German practice of sliding block breeches that required a metallic cartridge case to seal the gun's chamber against combustion gases, Škoda had preferred to use an interrupted screw breech with a deBange obdurator to seal the chamber. This lowered the rate of fire to 3 rounds in 2 minutes but had the great economic advantage of allowing bagged propellant charges that didn't use scarce brass or steel cartridge cases, since these metals became more and more short in supply. This also meant that the propellant charge could be adjusted to the intended range, what also helped save material.

The other unusual feature of the gun was a monobloc auto-frettaged barrel, created from a single piece of steel that was radially expanded under hydraulic pressure. This had the advantage of placing the steel of the barrel under compression, which helped it resist the stresses of firing and was simpler and faster to build since the barrel didn't require assembly as with more traditional construction techniques.

 

Every shell used by the K 39 weighed 135 kilograms (298 lb). HE shells (the 21 cm Gr 40), anti-concrete shells (21 cm Gr 39 Be) and an armor-piercing, base-fuzed shell, the 21 cm Pzgr 39 were available. The K 39 used a bagged charge with a total weight of 55 kilograms (121 lb). The base charge (“Kleine Ladung”) weighed 21.5 kilograms (47 lb) and had an igniter stitched to its base. The two increments (“Vorkart”) were lightly stitched together and enclosed in another bag tied at the top and with another igniter stitched to the base. The medium charge (“Mittlere Ladung”) consisted of the base charge and increment 2 while the full charge (“Grosse Ladung”) consisted of the base charge and both increments. The increments were loaded before the base charge. This resulted in a muzzle velocity of 800–860 m/s (2,600–2,800 ft/s) and a maximum firing range of 33 km (36,000 yd).

 

Emplacing the K 39 on its original box trail carriage took six to eight hours, mainly to dig in and anchor the firing platform, and a significant entourage was necessary to operate it. To improve the weapon’s handling and mobility, and to protect the crew especially against aircraft attacks, the K 39 was in 1943 to be mounted on a self-propelled chassis. Initially, a standardized “Schwerer Waffenträger”, which would also be able to carry other large-caliber guns (like the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette), was favored. However, the vehicle’s functional specification included the ability to set the heavy weapon gun down on the ground, so that it could be operated separately, and this meant an open weapon platform as well as complex and heavy mechanisms to handle the separate heavy guns. The Schwere Waffenträger’s overall high weight suggested the use of existing standard heavy tank elements and running gear and drivetrain elements from the heavy Tiger II battle tank were integrated into the design. The development of this mobile platform had high priority, but the focus on more and new battle tanks kept the resources allocated to the Schwerer Waffenträger project low so that progress was slow. As it became clear that the Schwere Waffenträger SPG would not become operational before 1945 a simpler alternative was chosen: the modification of an existing heavy tank chassis. Another factor was the Heeresleitung’s wish to protect the weapon and its crew through a fully enclosed casemate, and the ability to set the weapon down was dropped, too, to simplify the construction.

Originally, the SdKfz. 184 (Porsche’s chassis design for the Tiger I battle tank, which was not accepted in this role but instead developed into the tank hunter SPG Elefant/Ferdinand with a modified combat compartment at the rear, was chosen. But since this type’s production ended prematurely and many technical problems occurred through its complex propulsion system, the chassis of the Sd.Kfz. 186, the heavy Jagdtiger SPG, was selected instead, as it was the only readily available chassis at the time in production that was capable of carrying the K 39’s size and weight and of accepting its massive recoil forces.

 

The Jagdtiger itself was based on the heavy Tiger II battle tank, but it was lengthened by 260 mm. Due to production problems with its main armament, many Jagdtiger hulls were left uncompleted, and to bring more of these heavy vehicles to the frontlines it was adapted to the Sd.Kfz. 187, the Jagdtiger Ausf. M with a modified internal layout (casemate and engine bay positions were switched to fit an 88 mm gun with an extra-long barrel), a stronger but still experimental X16 gasoline engine, and a simplified Porsche running gear.

Since it was readily available, this re-arranged Jagdtiger base was adopted for the so-called Sd.Kfz. 190 “Küstenbatterie K 39 (auf Jagdtiger (Ausf. M)” self-propelled gun (SPG), or “KüBa 39” for short. The casemate-style combat section at the rear offered sufficient space for both the huge weapon and its crew, and also prevented the long gun barrel from hanging over too far ahead of the tank, improving its handling. Space for ammunition was still limited, though: racks on the casemate’s side walls offered space for only four rounds, while fifteen gun charges were stored separately. Gun elevation was between +50° and –3°, azimuth adjustment was achieved through turning the whole vehicle around.

The Sd.Kfz. 190’s hull featured the Jagdtiger’s standard heavy armor, since the Sd.Kfz. 190 was converted from existing lower bodies, but the new battle compartment was only heavily armored at the front. This was intended as a protection against incoming RPGs or bombs dropped from Hawker Hurricane or Typhoon fighter bombers, and as a sufficient protection against frontal ground attacks – the vehicle was supposed to retreat backwards into a safe position, then turn and move away. Roof and side walls had furthermore to be thinner to reduce the vehicle’s overall weight and lower its center of gravity, but they still offered enough protection against 20mm projectiles. Nevertheless, the Sd.Kfz. 190 weighed 64 tonnes (71 short tons), almost as much as the original Jagdtiger SPG it was based upon. Since it was not intended to operate directly at the front lines, the Sd.Kfz. 190 retained the Jagdtiger’s original (but rather weak) Maybach HL230 P30 TRM petrol engine with 700hp and the Henschel suspension with internal torsion bars, what simplified the conversions with readily available material.

 

A pair of retractable supports at the rear of the vehicle could be lowered to stabilize the vehicle when firing and distribute the gun’s massive recoil into the ground. The tall casemate’s rear featured a large double swing door which were necessary to avoid crew injuries from the massive gun’s pressure when it was firing. The doors were also necessary to re-load the gun – a small crane was mounted above the doors on the roof of the casemate, and a hoist to move the heavy rounds around in the casemate was mounted on tracks under the combat compartment’s ceiling.

 

The KüBa 39 had a standard crew of six men. The crew in the hull retained their role and positions from the Tiger II, with the driver located in the front left and the radio operator in the front right. This radio operator also had control over the secondary armament, a defensive machine gun located in a mount in the front glacis plate. In the casemate were the remaining 4 crew, which consisted of a commander (front right), the gunner (front left), and two loaders in the rear, which were frequently augmented by a third loader to handle the heavy rounds with an internal hoist under the casemate’s roof. Due to the severe maintenance and logistics needs, the KüBa 39 never operated on its own. Typically, several dedicated vehicles accompanied the self-propelled gun carrier as a “battle group”, including at least one ammunition carrier like the Hummel Munitionsträger, a crew transporter like a Sd.Kfz. 251 for more helping hands outside of the vehicle and frequently a command/radio vehicle to coordinate and direct the fire onto targets far beyond visual range.

 

The KüBa 39 was quickly developed and fielded, but it came too late for the Allied invasion in 1944 where it could have been a valuable asset to repel Allied ships that operated close to the French coast or even in second line in the Channel. The first vehicles became operational only in early 1945, and production was limited and rather slow. The ever-worsening war situation put more and more emphasis on the production of battle tanks and tank hunters, so that the heavy artillery vehicle only received low priority. However, the few vehicles that were produced (numbers are uncertain, but not more than 30 were eventually completed and fielded), found a wide range of uses – including the defense of the Elbe mouth and the Hamburg port. Some were shipped to Norway for coastal defense purposes, and a handful was allocated to the defense of German submarine bases in France.

Towards the end of hostilities, the survivors were integrated into infantry groups and used for long-range fire support at both Western and Eastern front. No vehicle survived, since most Sd.Kfz. 190 were destroyed by their crews after breakdowns or when the heavy vehicle got stuck in difficult terrain – its weight made the KüBa 39 hard to recover.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Six - seven (commander, gunner, 2 -3× loader, radio operator, driver)

Weight: 64 tonnes (71 short tons)

Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)

9.72 metres (31 ft 10 in) overall in marching configuration

Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)

Height 3.81 metres (12 1/2 ft)

Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)

Suspension: Torsion bar

Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

 

Armor:

25 – 150 mm (1 – 5.9 in)

 

Performance:

Speed

- Maximum, road: 38 km/h (23.6 mph)

- Sustained, road: 32 km/h (20 mph)

- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)

Operational range: 120 km (75 mi) on road

80 km (50 mi) off road

Power/weight: 10,93 PS/tonne (9,86 hp/ton)

 

Engine:

V-12 Maybach HL HL230 P30 TRM gasoline engine with 700 PS

 

Transmission:

ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears

 

Armament:

1× 21 cm K 39/41 L45 heavy siege gun with 4 rounds and 15 separate charges

1× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 or 42 with 800 rounds in the front glacis plate

  

The kit and its assembly:

The project to put the massive (real) Czech 21 cm K39 gun on a German chassis had been on my agenda for a long time, but I have never been certain about the vehicle donor for this stunt. I initially favored a Modelcollect E-50/75 since it is available as an SPG version with a reversed engine/casemate layout. But this kit has two serious issues: it would IMHO be too late to be adapted for the pre-war weapon, and – worse - the kit has the flaw that the mould designers simply ignored the driver/radio operator in the hull’s front – the glacis plate immediately migrates into the engine deck and bay, so that there’s no internal space for the driver! Even if you’d assume that the driver would sit with the rest of the crew in the casemate behind the engine, there are no hatches, sights slits or mirrors? Well, it’s a fictional tank, but IMHO it has been poorly designed.

Correcting this might be possible, but then I could also convert something else, probably easier. This alternative became a serious option when I recently built my fictional Sd.Kfz. 187, a Jagdtiger with a reversed layout. This stunt turned out to be easier than expected, with good results, and since I had a second Jagdtiger kit left over from the Sd.Kfz. 187 project I simply used it for the KüBa 39 – also having the benefit of being rooted in an earlier time frame than the E-50/75, and therefore much more plausible.

 

The Trumpeter 1:72 Jagdtiger first lost its mid-positioned casemate. Internal stiffeners were glued into the hull and the engine deck was cut out and glued into the former casemate’s place, directly behind the driver section. The casemate for the 21 cm gun (a Revell field gun model of this weapon, highly detailed) was scratched, though, and designing it was a gradual step-by-step process. To offer more internal space, the engine deck was slightly shortened, what also changed the vehicle’s profile. From the Jagdtiger’s superstructure I just retained the roof. Things started with another donor piece, though, the massive gun mantlet from a Trumpeter 1:72 KV-2 tank. It was mated with the21 cm gun and the movable KV-2 mantlet mounted with styrene sheet spacer onto a scratched casemate front plate. More styrene sheet was used to create covers around the mantlet, and inside I glued an “arm” to the gun with lead bead ballast, so that the gun could be easier posed in raised position. The finished gun element was glued onto the hull, and the Tiger II roof positioned as far back as possible, what revealed a 3mm gap to the front plate – bridged by another styrene sheet filler, which was also used to raise the roof and add a kink to the roofline that would make the casemate look less boxy.

 

With the roofline defined I decided to extend the casemate backwards – after all, the original rear engine was gone and the vehicle would certainly need a spacious back door to enter and load it. Therefore, a back wall section was cut out and a casemate extension scratched from styrene sheet. When this was in place, the vertical casemate rear wall was added, and with the profile now fully defined the casemate side walls were created from 1.5 and 0.5 mm styrene sheet. The kink under the roofline was a self-imposed challenge, but I think that this extra effort was worthwhile because the casemate looks more organic than just a simple box design like the Ferdinand/Elefant’s superstructure?

Once the casemate was closed, surface details were added, including the doble door at the rear, the small crane on the roof, and the retractable supports (which came, IIRC, from a Modelcollect 1:72 T-72 kit). The rest of the original Jagdtiger kit was simply taken over OOB.

 

Painting and markings:

As a vehicle operated in the open field, I gave the KüBa 39 a classic, contemporary “Hinterhalt” paint scheme, in the sophisticated original style that was only applied to a few vehicles on factory level until the camouflage job was soon delegated to the frontline units. Painting started with a base coat of RAL 8000 (Grünbraun) as an overall primer, then 7028 Dunkelgelb (Tamiya TS-3) was sprayed onto the upper surfaces from a rattle can for a light shading effect. At this stage the markings/decals were already applied, so that the additional camouflage could be applied round them. They were puzzled together from the scrap box.

Then clusters/fields in Olivgrün (RAL 6003; Humbrol 86) and Rotbraun (RAL 8012, Humbrol 160) were added onto the sand tone base with circular templates/stencils made from densely foamed styrene that were glued onto the tip of toothpicks – the large casemate with its even surfaces lent itself for this elaborate “factory finish” scheme variant. The stamp method worked better than expected, and the result is very convincing. I just tried to concentrate the dark areas to the upper surfaces, so that the contrast against the ground when seen from above would be smaller than from a side view, which became more fragmented. The running gear remained uniform Dunkelgelb, as a counter-shading measure and to avoid wobbling patterns on camouflaged wheels that could attract attention while the vehicle would move.

 

After protecting the decals with a thin coat of varnish the model and the still separate wheels received a dark-brown washing with highly thinned acrylic paint and an overall dry-brushing treatment with light grey and beige. Additionally, water colors were used to simulate dust and light mud, and to set some rust traces on exposed areas.

 

Artist mineral pigments were dusted into the running gear and onto the tracks after their final assembly, and some mud crusts on the tail supports were created with a bit of matt acrylic varnish and more pigments.

  

A thorough conversion project, and the result is a really massive vehicle - its bulk is hard to convey, the Jagdtiger basis is already a massive vehicle, but this is "super-size", close to an E-100! However, you have to place something next to it to fathom the size of the 21 cm mortar and the huge casemate that covers it. But the conversion looks IMHO rather natural, esp. for a scratched work, and the Hinterhalt suits the bulky vehicle well, it really helps to break the outlines up.

FORT CARSON, Colo. – First Lieutenant Aaron Berg, battalion medical officer/executive officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, takes the VO2 Max test at the Standardized Fort Carson Army Wellness Center, Jan. 11, 2013, in preparation for the VO2 Max competition in February. VO2 Max is the scientific term used for cardio respiratory fitness, and is the maximum capacity to transport and use oxygen in the body. “I’m in the competition to see where I rank amongst other Soldiers, and to challenge myself,” said Berg. “It gives your a baseline approach to see where you need to improve.”

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Nathan Thome, 4th Inf. Div. PAO)

Arriva the Shires 3018 (BD12DJE)

Seen at SHOWBUS 2017

Arbustos caducifolios de 1,5-3 m de alto. Ramillas grises, cilíndricas, algo sulcadas, glabras, brotes amarillo pálidos o amarillo purpúreos, dispersamente cubiertos de verrugas negras, sin espinas o a veces con espinas simples de menos de 1 cm de largo. Hojas con peciolo de hasta 1,5 cm, lámina con haz verde oscuro y envés verde pálido, de elípticas a oblongo elípticas, de 2,5-8 cm de largo x 0,5-3 cm de ancho, más o menos papiráceas, envés no pruinoso, margen con 20-40 pares de dientes espinosos, base cuneada, ápice agudo o redondeado. Inflorescencias en racimos con 8-14 flores, de 4-6 cm de largo, flores con tépalos en 3 verticilos, amarillas. Fruto en baya roja, oblonga, de 8-11 mm de largo, no pruinoso. Especie nativa de China, en Henan. En Iturraran se encuentra en la zona 6.

 

Zuhaixka hosto erorkorrak, 1,5-3 m garai. Adaxkak grisak dira, zilindrikoak, apur bat ildokatuak, glabroak, kimuak laru edo hori purpura kolorekoak, han-hemen garatxo beltzez estaliak. Arantza gabeak edo 1 cm luze baino laburragoak diren arantza bakunekin. Hostoek 1,5 cm-ko pezioloa dute; orriaren gainaldea berde iluna eta azpialdea berde margula, eliptikoa, luzanga-eliptikoa edo tartekoa, 2,5-8 cm luze eta 0,5-3 cm zabal, ± papirazeoa, azpialdea ez-lausoduna, ertza arantzaduna 20-40 pare hortzekin, oinaldea falka itxurakoa, punta zorrotza edo biribila. Lore elkartea 8-14 loreko lukua da, 4-6 cm luze dena; loreek 3 bertiziloko tepalo dituzte, hori kolorekoak. Fruitua baia gorria da, luzanga, 8-11 mm luze, ez-lausoduna. Espeziearen jatorria: Txinako Henan. Iturraranen 6. gunean dago.

 

Arbustes à feuillage caduc de 1,5-3 m de hauteur. Branchettes grises, cylindriques, quelque peu sillonnées, glabres, pousses jaune pâle ou jaune pourpre, vaguement couverts de verrues noires, sans épines ou parfois avec des épines simples de moins de 1 cm de long. Feuilles avec pétiole de maximum 1,5 cm, lame avec adaxial vert foncé et abaxial vert pâle, d'elliptiques à oblongue elliptique, de 2,5-8 cm de long x 0,5-3 cm de large, plus ou moins papyracées, abaxial non pruineux, bord avec 20-40 paires de dents épineuses, base cunée, sommet aigu ou arrondi. Inflorescences en grappes avec 8-14 fleurs, de 4-6 cm de long, fleurs avec des tépales en 3 verticilles, jaunes. Fruit en baie rouge, oblong, de 8-11 mm de long, non pruineux. Espèce originaire de la Chine, à Henan. À Iturraran on les trouve dans la zone 6.

 

Deciduous shrubs 1.5-3 m tall. Branchlets grey, cylindrical, somewhat sulcate, glabrous, pale yellow or purplish-yellow shoots, sparsely covered with black warts, without spines or sometimes with simple spines of less than 1 cm long. Leaves with petiole of up to 1.5 cm, leaf blade with dark green upper face and pale green underside, elliptic to oblong elliptic, 2.5-8 cm long x 0.5-3 cm wide, broadly papyraceous, non-pruinose underside, margin with 20-40 pair of spiny teeth, base cuneate, apex acute or rounded. Inflorescences in clusters with 8-14 flowers, 4-6 cm long, flowers with tepals in 3 whorls, yellow. Fruit in red berries, oblong, 8-11 mm long, non-pruinose. Native species of China, in Henan. In Iturraran it is found in zone 6.

There's only one thing creepier than Stepford Child thanking "Mr Hooker", and that's Mr Hooker being a real estate agent. Ew.

Below a certain

Manifesting force

Inseparable matter

 

Internation horde of daredevils

"Maximum Shame" (poster 03) - David Castro is "The Pawn" - The new underground feature movie by Carlos Atanes. - www.maximumshame.com

Subject - Natasha

 

Abandoned barracks, abandoned schoolhouses, junk yards, and now abandoned gas station. Natasha and I got the end of the world covered.

Six minutes before for us in fact.

After a dismal start with plenty of cloud cover the sky cleared rapidly to allow some imaging.

  

All above buses out of contract in 2012 , these buses were chopped up in 2013. Sisters 1802-1804-1808-1809 had been picked out of these and renovated, 3 of them remaining in service today, 1805 & 1812 were never out of contract until withdrawn December 2015

From: www.connectedaction.net

Link: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6882297835/sizes/l

Data set: nodexlgraphgallery.org/Pages/Graph.aspx?graphID=404

 

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word Dell Listens OR Dell Cares when queried on February 14, 2012, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another. The data set starts on 2/7/2012 5:13 and ends on 2/14/2012 20:13 UTC. Green lines are "follows" relationships, blue lines are "reply" or "mentions" relationships.

 

Layout created with the "Group Layout" feature of NodeXL which tiles bounded regions for each cluster. The Harel-Koren layout algorithm positioned each vertex: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force-based_algorithms_(graph_drawing).

 

Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color. Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm is defined here: pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v70/i6/e066111

 

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6882297835/sizes/l/

 

Betweenness Centrality is defined here: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality#Betweenness_centrality

 

Top most between users:

@dellcares

@dell

@dirkatxpsforum

@susanatdell

@lisagatdell

@dellenterprise

@delltechcenter

@dellcarespro

@shashankatdell

@billatdell

 

Top word pairs and frequency count

service, tag, 104

please, follow, 84

issue, specifics, 40

@dell, @dellcares, 35

issue, details, 28

@susanatdell, @dell, 27

service, tag#, 22

hdmi, output, 21

inconvenience, caused, 21

unresolved, issue, 19

hard, drive, 15

@dellcares, team, 14

help, thanks, 14

@dellcares, @dell, 12

order, nbr, 12

trouble, shooting, 12

shooting, failed, 12

tech, replaced, 12

replaced, motherboard, 12

customer, service, 12

 

Graph Metric, Value

Graph Type, Directed

Vertices, 165

Unique Edges, 329

Edges With Duplicates, 735

Total Edges, 1064

Self-Loops, 143

Connected Components, 4

Single-Vertex Connected Components, 3

Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component, 162

Maximum Edges in a Connected Component, 1061

Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter), 3

Average Geodesic Distance, 1.975464

Graph Density, 0.019660015

Modularity, 0.21103

NodeXL Version, 1.0.1.201

 

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/ and here:

www.nodexlgraphgallery.org/Pages/Default.aspx

 

A gallery of NodeXL network data sets is available here: nodexlgraphgallery.org/Pages/Default.aspx?search=twitter

 

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl

 

NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) - which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

 

Donations to support NodeXL are welcome through PayPal: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_bu...

 

The book, Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, is available from Morgan Kaufmann and from Amazon.

 

Marc Smith on Twitter.

Evil Queen Disney Villains Designer Collection Doll

Personal Photos - Deboxed

 

Designer Evil Queen is joined by Designer Snow White (released and purchased in Sept 2011), both completed deboxed and placed on their display stands with the cover and cardboard backing removed. They have contrasting looks both in their facial expressions and their outfits. Here, as suggested by a fellow Flickr member, I have placed a bluebird in Snow White's hand (borrowed from LE 17'' Snow White). The poison apple that was in her hand has been placed in the Evil Queen's hand instead, which is more appropriate for a scene including both of them.

 

The doll has been entirely freed from all shipping restraints, undressed, reclothed, and finally placed back on the included doll stand. The dress was VERY tight and unyielding around her legs, so lifting her out of the doll stand took quite a bit of effort. Putting her back on the stand was even more of an adventure. In fact, in hindsight, I should have taken her dress off BEFORE trying to remove her from the stand. And likewise, I should have placed her on the stand BEFORE putting her dress on.

 

While trying to put her on the stand while dressed, there was so much resistance that I actually broke the plastic head piece of the stand, where it connected to the metal rod. I did a makeshift repair of the stand, making it sturdy enough to place the Evil Queen back on the stand and be stable enough to pose her for photographs. I will have to superglue the pieces back together when I have a bit of time.

 

Her outfit is not very movie accurate, but is luxurious looking, and fit for a Queen. At least the colors of the dress, cape and collar are close to those of the movie. The deep purple velvet dress, with purple satin liner, is sewn to the cape and collar. The collar is white two layered satin. The cape is black velvet with a red satin lining. The gloves are deep purple satin. Her crown, which is sewn to her hair, is matte finish golden plastic, with small ruby rhinestones. Her bracelet-like main part of her belt consists of three strands of rhinestones in gold, with a large ruby jewel in the center. From the center hangs two strands of rhinestones in gold ending in chain link tassles. She has gold beaded earrings that are similar to those of LE 17'' Belle.

 

Her dramatic makeup and scowling, haughty face reminds me of Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She has thin double arched eyebrows, rooted eyelashes with superlong antennae-like lashes at the ends. She has violet eyeshadow with dark purple eyeliner, eyes narrowed to slits, from which small green irises peer straight ahead. She has blood red lips in a grimace. There is a hint of red rouge on her cheeks.

 

The Disney Store

Disney Villains Designer Collection

Limited Edition 12'' Doll

Released in stores 2012-09-17

To be released online 2012-09-18

 

Purchased on her release day, Monday September 17, 2012, at my local Disney Store. I was the 18th of 20 winners of the raffle to earn the right to buy her. I photograph her boxed, during her unboxing, and fully unboxed, both alone and with other comparable dolls.

 

Full release schedule:

 

September 10, 2012: Maleficent.

September 17, 2012: Evil Queen.

September 24, 2012: Queen of Hearts

October 01, 2012: Ursula.

October 08, 2012: Mother Gothel.

October 15, 2012: Cruella de Vil.

 

Description from the Disney Store US website:

 

Evil Queen Disney Villains Designer Collection Doll

Item No. 6070040908253P

Our Price: $79.50

 

The vain villainess from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been reimagined with regal style. This limited edition Evil Queen Disney Villains Designer Collection Doll is glamorously detailed with red velvet cape and purple velvet dress.

 

Product Details

 

Please Note: Each Guest will be limited to ordering a maximum of one of this item per order.

 

This elegant Designer Collection Evil Queen doll was carefully crafted by Disney artists to re-imagine the fairest of them all's regal style. Inspired by Disney's 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this Evil Queen doll was brought to life with thoughtful attention to detail to uniquely capture the essence of the Disney Villain, creating a one of a kind doll collection that will be a treasured keepsake of collectors and Disney fans alike!

 

•Dramatic eye make-up and rooted eyelashes

•Elegant velvet cape with red satin lining and high crisp white collar

•Purple velvet dress with deep V neckline

•Adorned with rhinestone-studded chain belt with red stone and chain tassels

•Five-pointed crown with beaded cluster earrings

•Purple satin gloves

•Doll is sold in a special keepsake display case with stand

•Includes special Disney Villains Designer Collection Gift Bag

•Plastic/polyester

•11 1/2'' H

•Imported

•Includes Certificate of Authenticity

•Worldwide Limited Edition of 13000

•Part of the Disney Villains Designer Collection

 

*Intended for adult collectors -- Not a child's toy.