The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Reformed Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square (Grote Markt) in the Dutch city of Haarlem.

 

This church is an important landmark for the city of Haarlem and has dominated the city skyline for centuries. It is built in the Gothic style of architecture, and it became the main church of Haarlem after renovations in the 15th century. It is dedicated to Saint Bavo, who is commemorated for saving Haarlem from the Kennemers.

 

The interior of the church has changed little over the years, though the inner chapels suffered greatly during the Beeldenstorm, and many stained-glass windows were lost to neglect. Fortunately, the interior has been painted many times by local painters, most notably by Pieter Jansz Saenredam and the Berckheyde brothers. Based on these paintings, work has been done to reconstruct the interior so various items such as rouwborden or "mourning shields" hang again today in their "proper" place.

 

The organ of the Sint-Bavokerk (the Christiaan Müller organ) is one of the world's most historically important organs. It was built by the Amsterdam organ builder Christian Müller, with stucco decorations by the Amsterdam artist Jan van Logteren, between 1735 and 1738. Upon completion it was the largest organ in the world with 60 voices and 32-foot pedal-towers. In Moby-Dick (1851), Herman Melville describes the inside of a whale's mouth:

 

"Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes?"

 

Today concerts are regularly held in the church, and all through the year special opening times are organized so the public can walk in free of charge to listen to this famous organ in action.

by stocksyunited ift.tt/1QBXAzU

No Fear of God

 

In the opening chapters of Romans, Paul has been methodically building his case that all mankind in Adam is without the righteousness that allows us to stand unafraid before God Almighty. The Gentiles who do not have the Mosaic law nonetheless suppress and reject the Lord's revelation in creation and their consciences. The Jews who have the Scriptures are no better off, for they have not kept God's law with the perfection required for justification—the Lord's declaration that a person is righteous in His sight. True, Jews have benefits that Gentiles lack, but mere possession of these benefits is not enough, and like the Gentiles, the Jews have fallen far short of God's glory. But although this teaching is offensive to anyone who measures goodness by comparing themselves to others and not to the Lord's perfect standards, it should not be difficult for anyone who actually knows the Old Testament. After all, the Hebrew Scriptures provide ample testimony of the pervasive sinfulness of humanity (Rom.1:18; 3:17). The worst indictment of all that we read in the Old Testament is Psalm 36:1, which the Apostle quotes in today's passage (Rom.3:18). "There is no fear of God before their eyes" represents a stinging and decisive rebuke for all who think themselves in the right before our Creator. Remember that the fear of God or the fear of the Lord is the foundation of all true piety. It is the starting point for godliness, the beginning of wisdom that leads to eternal life (Psa.111:10; Pro.10:27). The fear of God is properly held before our "eyes" because fearing Him means that we keep Him and His statutes as the focus and center of our attention. But human beings in Adam have utterly failed to view the Lord with such reverence. Because of this, we sin in what we think, do, and say. Ultimately, if we cannot keep the fear of God before our eyes, we cannot do anything else that is pleasing to Him. We start off on the wrong foot, as it were, and that means the entire direction of our lives is oriented away from the things of the Lord. Because there is no fear of the Almighty for the naturally conceived-and-born sons and daughters of Adam, "..None is righteous, no, not one" (Rom.3:10). Matthew Henry comments on today's passage, "Where no fear of God is, no good is to be expected." Fallen people might do civic goods that are praiseworthy from a human perspective, but they cannot do what is fully and truly good in the Lord's sight. Apart from Christ, we are as bad off as we could possibly be.

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Renewing Your Mind - A Message by R.C. Sproul

Devotional originally published at Ligonier.org

Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)

 

The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus Gymnorhina and is most closely related to the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi). It is not, however, closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid.

 

The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length, with distinctive black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, and can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.

 

Described as one of Australia's most accomplished songbirds, the Australian magpie has an array of complex vocalisations. It is omnivorous, with the bulk of its varied diet made up of invertebrates. It is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range. Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia and New Guinea. This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests.

Over 1000 Australian magpies were introduced into New Zealand from 1864 to 1874 but have subsequently been accused of displacing native birds and are now treated as a pest species. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, where the birds are not considered an invasive species. The Australian magpie is the mascot of several Australian sporting teams, most notably the Collingwood Magpies, the Western Suburbs Magpies and Port Adelaide Magpies.

  

Taxonomy

 

The Australian magpie was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as Coracias tibicen, the type collected in the Port Jackson region. Its specific epithet derived from the Latintibicen "flute-player" or "piper" in reference to the bird's melodious call. An early recorded vernacular name is piping poller, written on a painting by Thomas Watling, one of a group known collectively as the Port Jackson Painter, sometime between 1788 and 1792. Tarra-won-nang, or djarrawunang, wibung, and marriyang were names used by the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney Basin. Booroogong and garoogong were Wiradjuri words, and carrak was a Jardwadjali term from Victoria. Among the Kamilaroi, it is burrugaabu, galalu, or guluu. It was known as Warndurla among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara. Other names used include piping crow-shrike, piper, maggie, flute-bird and organ-bird. The term bell-magpie was proposed to help distinguish it from the European magpie but failed to gain wide acceptance.

 

The bird was named for its similarity in colouration to the European magpie; it was a common practice for early settlers to name plants and animals after European counterparts. However, the European magpie is a member of the Corvidae, while its Australian counterpart is placed in the family Artamidae (although both are members of a broad corvid lineage). The Australian magpie's affinities with butcherbirds and currawongs were recognised early on and the three genera were placed in the family Cracticidae in 1914 by John Albert Leach after he had studied their musculature. American ornithologists Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist recognised the close relationship between woodswallows and the butcherbirds in 1985, and combined them into a Cracticini clade, in the Artamidae. The Australian magpie is placed in its own monotypic genus Gymnorhina which was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840. The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek gumnos for "naked" or "bare" and rhis, rhinos "nostrils". Some authorities such as Glen Storr in 1952 and Leslie Christidis and Walter Boles in their 2008 checklist, have placed the Australian magpie in the butcherbird genus Cracticus, arguing that its adaptation to ground-living is not enough to consider it a separate genus. A molecular genetic study published in a 2013 showed that the Australian magpie is a sister taxon to the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi) and that the two species are in turn sister to a clade that includes the other butcherbirds in the genus Cracticus. The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago).

The Australian magpie was subdivided into three species in the literature for much of the twentieth century—the black-backed magpie (G. tibicen), the white-backed magpie (G. hypoleuca), and the western magpie (G. dorsalis). They were later noted to hybridise readily where their territories crossed, with hybrid grey or striped-backed magpies being quite common. This resulted in them being reclassified as one species by Julian Ford in 1969, with most recent authors following suit.

  

Subspecies

 

There are currently thought to be nine subspecies of the Australian magpie, although there are large zones of overlap with intermediate forms between the taxa. There is a tendency for birds to become larger with increasing latitude, the southern subspecies being larger than those further north, except the Tasmanian form which is small.[26] The original form, known as the black-backed magpie and classified as Gymnorhina tibicen, has been split into four black-backed races:

•G. tibicen tibicen, the nominate form, is a large subspecies found in southeastern Queensland, from the vicinity of Moreton Bay through eastern New South Wales to Moruya, New South Wales almost to the Victorian border. It is coastal or near-coastal and is restricted to east of the Great Dividing Range.

 

•G. tibicen terraereginae, found from Cape York and the Gulf Country southwards across Queenslandto the coast between Halifax Bay in the north and south to the Mary River, and central and western New South Wales and into northern South Australia, is a small to medium-sized subspecies. The plumage is the same as that of subspecies tibicen, although the female has a shorter black tip to the tail. The wings and tarsus are shorter and the bill proportionally longer. It was originally described by Gregory Mathews in 1912, its subspecies name a Latin translation, terra "land" reginae "queen's" of "Queensland". Hybridisation with the large white-backed subspecies tyrannica occurs in northern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales; intermediate forms have black bands of varying sizes in white-backed area. Three-way hybridisation occurs between Bega and Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast.

 

•G. tibicen eylandtensis, the Top End magpie, is found from the Kimberley in northern Western Australia, across the Northern Territory through Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt and into the Gulf Country. It is a small subspecies with a long and thinner bill, with birds of Groote Eylandt possibly even smaller than mainland birds. It has a narrow black terminal tailband, and a narrow black band; the male has a large white nape, the female pale grey. This form was initially described by H. L. White in 1922. It intergrades with subspecies terraereginae southeast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

 

•G. tibicen longirostris, the long-billed magpie, is found across northern Western Australia, from Shark Bay into the Pilbara. Named in 1903 by Alex Milligan, it is a medium-sized subspecies with a long thin bill. Milligan speculated the bill may have been adapted for the local conditions, slim fare meaning the birds had to pick at dangerous scorpions and spiders. There is a broad area of hybridisation with the western dorsalis in southern central Western Australia from Shark Bay south to the Murchison River and east to the Great Victoria Desert.

  

The white-backed magpie, originally described as Gymnorhina hypoleuca by John Gould in 1837, has also been split into races:

 

•G. tibicen tyrannica, a very large white-backed form found from Twofold Bay on the New South Wales far south coast, across southern Victoria south of the Great Dividing Range through to the Coorong in southeastern South Australia. It was first described by Schodde and Mason in 1999. It has a broad black tail band.

 

•G. tibicen telonocua, found from Cowell south into the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas in southern South Australia, as well as the southwestern Gawler Ranges. Described by Schodde and Mason in 1999, its subspecific name is an anagram of leuconota "white-backed". It is very similar to tyrannica, differing in having a shorter wing and being lighter and smaller overall. The bill is relatively short compared with other magpie subspecies. Intermediate forms are found in the Mount Lofty Ranges and on Kangaroo Island.

  

•G. tibicen hypoleuca now refers to a small white-backed subspecies with a short compact bill and short wings, found on King and Flinders Islands, as well as Tasmania.

 

•The western magpie, G. tibicen dorsalis was originally described as a separate species by A. J. Campbell in 1895 and is found in the fertile south-west corner of Western Australia. The adult male has a white back and most closely resembles subspecies telonocua, though it is a little larger with a longer bill and the black tip of its tail plumage is narrower. The female is unusual in that it has a scalloped black or brownish-black mantle and back; the dark feathers there are edged with white. This area appears a more uniform black as the plumage ages and the edges are worn away. Both sexes have black thighs.

 

•The New Guinean magpie, G. tibicen papuana, is a little-known subspecies found in southern New Guinea. The adult male has a mostly white back with a narrow black stripe, and the female a blackish back; the black feathers here are tipped with white similar to subspecies dorsalis. It has a long deep bill resembling that of subspecies longirostris. Genetically it is closely related to a western lineage of Australian magpies comprising subspecies dorsalis, longirostris and eylandtensis, suggesting their ancestors occupied in savannah country that was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia and was submerged around 16,500 years ago.

  

Description

 

The adult magpie is a fairly solid, sturdy bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length with a 65–85 cm (25.5–33.5 in) wingspan, and weighing 220–350 g (7.8–12.3 oz). Its robust wedge-shaped bill is bluish-white bordered with black, with a small hook at the tip. The black legs are long and strong. The plumage is pure glossy black and white; both sexes of all subspecies have black heads, wings and underparts with white shoulders. The tail has a black terminal band. The nape is white in the male and light greyish-white in the female. Mature magpies have dull red eyes, in contrast to the yellow eyes of currawongs and white eyes of Australian ravens and crows. The main difference between the subspecies lies in the "saddle" markings on the back below the nape. Black-backed subspecies have a black saddle and white nape. White-backed subspecies have a wholly white nape and saddle. The male Western Australian subspecies dorsalis is also white-backed, but the equivalent area in the female is scalloped black.

Juveniles have lighter greys and browns amidst the starker blacks and whites of their plumage; two- or three-year-old birds of both sexes closely resemble and are difficult to distinguish from adult females. Immature birds have dark brownish eyes until around two years of age. Australian magpies generally live to around 25 years of age, though ages of up to 30 years have been recorded. The reported age of first breeding has varied according to area, but the average is between the ages of three and five years.

Well-known and easily recognisable, the Australian magpie is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The pied butcherbird has a similar build and plumage, but has white underparts unlike the former species' black underparts. The magpie-lark is a much smaller and more delicate bird with complex and very different banded black and white plumage. Currawong species have predominantly dark plumage and heavier bills.

 

Vocalisation

 

One of Australia's most highly regarded songbirds, the Australian magpie has a wide variety of calls, many of which are complex. Pitch may vary as much as four octaves, and the bird can mimic over 35 species of native and introduced bird species, as well as dogs and horses. Magpies have even been noted to mimic human speech when living in close proximity to humans. Its complex, musical, warbling call is one of the most familiar Australian bird sounds. In Denis Glover's poem "The Magpies", the mature magpie's call is described as quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry, and as waddle giggle gargle paddle poodle, in the children's book Waddle Giggle Gargle by Pamela Allen.

 

When alone, a magpie may make a quiet musical warbling; these complex melodious warbles or subsongs are pitched at 2–4 KHz and do not carry for long distances. These songs have been recorded up to 70 minutes in duration and are more frequent after the end of the breeding season. Pairs of magpies often take up a loud musical calling known as carolling to advertise or defend their territory; one bird initiates the call with the second (and sometimes more) joining in. Often preceded by warbling, carolling is pitched between 6 and 8 kHz and has 4–5 elements with slurring indistinct noise in between. Birds will adopt a specific posture by tilting their heads back, expanding their chests, and moving their wings backwards. A group of magpies will sing a short repetitive version of carolling just before dawn (dawn song), and at twilight after sundown (dusk song), in winter and spring.

 

Fledgling and juvenile magpies emit a repeated short and loud (80 dB), high-pitched (8 kHz) begging call. Magpies may indulge in beak-clapping to warn other species of birds.They employ several high pitched (8–10 kHz) alarm or rallying calls when intruders or threats are spotted. Distinct calls have been recorded for the approach of eagles and monitor lizards.

 

Distribution and habitat

 

The Australian magpie is found in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea, between the Oriomo River and Muli Strait, and across most of Australia, bar the tip of Cape York, the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts, and southwest of Tasmania. Birds taken mainly from Tasmania and Victoria were introduced into New Zealand by local Acclimatisation Societies of Otago and Canterbury in the 1860s, with the Wellington Acclimatisation Society releasing 260 birds in 1874. White-backed forms are spread on both the North and eastern South Island, while black-backed forms are found in the Hawke's Bay region. Magpies were introduced into New Zealand to control agricultural pests, and were therefore a protected species until 1951. They are thought to affect native New Zealand bird populations such as the tui and kereru, sometimes raiding nests for eggs and nestlings, although studies by Waikato University have cast doubt on this, and much blame on the magpie as a predator in the past has been anecdotal only. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, although the species has failed to become established. It has become established in western Taveuni in Fiji, however.

 

The Australian magpie prefers open areas such as grassland, fields and residential areas such as parks, gardens, golf courses, and streets, with scattered trees or forest nearby. Birds nest and shelter in trees but forage mainly on the ground in these open areas. It has also been recorded in mature pine plantations; birds only occupy rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in the vicinity of cleared areas. In general, evidence suggests the range and population of the Australian magpie has increased with land-clearing, although local declines in Queensland due to a 1902 drought, and in Tasmania in the 1930s have been noted; the cause for the latter is unclear but rabbit baiting, pine tree removal, and spread of the masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) have been implicated.

 

Behaviour

 

The Australian magpie is almost exclusively diurnal, although it may call into the night, like some other members of the Artamidae. Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting. The Australian raven may take nestlings left unattended.

 

On the ground, the Australian magpie moves around by walking, and is the only member of the Artamidae to do so; woodswallows, butcherbirds and currawongs all tend to hop with legs parallel. The magpie has a short femur (thigh bone), and long lower leg below the knee, suited to walking rather than running, although birds can run in short bursts when hunting prey.

 

The magpie is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range, living in groups occupying a territory, or in flocks or fringe groups. A group may occupy and defend the same territory for many years. Much energy is spent defending a territory from intruders, particularly other magpies, and different behaviours are seen with different opponents. The sight of a raptor results in a rallying call by sentinel birds and subsequent coordinated mobbing of the intruder. Magpies place themselves either side of the bird of prey so that it will be attacked from behind should it strike a defender, and harass and drive the raptor to some distance beyond the territory. A group will use carolling as a signal to advertise ownership and warn off other magpies. In the negotiating display, the one or two dominant magpies parade along the border of the defended territory while the rest of the group stand back a little and look on. The leaders may fluff their feathers or caroll repeatedly. In a group strength display, employed if both the opposing and defending groups are of roughly equal numbers, all magpies will fly and form a row at the border of the territory. The defending group may also resort to an aerial display where the dominant magpies, or sometimes the whole group, swoop and dive while calling to warn an intruding magpie's group.

 

A wide variety of displays are seen, with aggressive behaviours outnumbering pro-social ones. Crouching low and uttering quiet begging calls are common signs of submission. The manus flutter is a submissive display where a magpie will flutter its primary feathers in its wings. A magpie, particularly a juvenile, may also fall, roll over on its back and expose its underparts. Birds may fluff up their flank feathers as an aggressive display or preceding an attack. Young birds display various forms of play behaviour, either by themselves or in groups, with older birds often initiating the proceedings with juveniles. These may involve picking up, manipulating or tugging at various objects such as sticks, rocks or bits of wire, and handing them to other birds. A bird may pick up a feather or leaf and flying off with it, with other birds pursuing and attempting to bring down the leader by latching onto its tail feathers. Birds may jump on each other and even engage in mock fighting. Play may even take place with other species such as blue-faced honeyeaters and Australasian pipits.

 

Breeding

 

Magpies have a long breeding season which varies in different parts of the country; in northern parts of Australia they will breed between June and September, but not commence until August or September in cooler regions, and may continue until January in some alpine areas. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with softer material such as grass and bark. Near human habitation, synthetic material may be incorporated. Nests are built exclusively by females and generally placed high up in a tree fork, often in an exposed position. The trees used are most commonly eucalypts, although a variety of other native trees as well as introduced pine, Crataegus, and elm have been recorded. Other bird species, such as the yellow-rumped thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa), willie wagtail(Rhipidura leucophrys), southern whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis), and (less commonly) noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), often nest in the same tree as the magpie. The first two species may even locate their nest directly beneath a magpie nest, while the diminutive striated pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) has been known to make a burrow for breeding into the base of the magpie nest itself. These incursions are all tolerated by the magpies. The channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is a notable brood parasite in eastern Australia; magpies will raise cuckoo young, which eventually outcompete the magpie nestlings.

 

The Australian magpie produces a clutch of two to five light blue or greenish eggs, which are oval in shape and about 30 by 40 mm (1.2 by 1.6 in). The chicks hatch synchronously around 20 days after incubation begins; like all passerines, the chicks are altricial—they are born pink, naked, and blind with large feet, a short broad beak and a bright red throat. Their eyes are fully open at around 10 days. Chicks develop fine downy feathers on their head, back and wings in the first week, and pinfeathers in the second week. The black and white colouration is noticeable from an early stage. Nestlings are fed exclusively by the female, though the male magpie will feed his partner. The Australian magpie is known to engage in cooperative breeding, and helper birds will assist in feeding and raising young. This does vary from region to region, and with the size of the group—the behaviour is rare or nonexistent in pairs or small groups.

 

Juvenile magpies begin foraging on their own three weeks after leaving the nest, and mostly feeding themselves by six months old. Some birds continue begging for food until eight or nine months of age, but are usually ignored. Birds reach adult size by their first year. The age at which young birds disperse varies across the country, and depends on the aggressiveness of the dominant adult of the corresponding sex; males are usually evicted at a younger age. Many leave at around a year old, but the age of departure may range from eight months to four years.

 

Feeding

 

The Australian magpie is omnivorous, eating various items located at or near ground level including invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes, snails, spiders and scorpions as well as a wide variety of insects—cockroaches, ants, beetles, cicadas, moths and caterpillars and other larvae. Insects, including large adult grasshoppers, may be seized mid-flight. Skinks, frogs, mice and other small animals as well as grain, tubers, figs and walnuts have also been noted as components of their diet. It has even learnt to safely eat the poisonous cane toadby flipping it over and consuming the underparts. Predominantly a ground feeder, the Australian magpie paces open areas methodically searching for insects and their larvae. One study showed birds were able to find scarab beetle larvae by sound or vibration. Birds use their bills to probe into the earth or otherwise overturn debris in search of food. Smaller prey are swallowed whole, although magpies rub off the stingers of bees and wasps before swallowing.

 

Relationship with humans

 

Swooping

 

Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early - mid October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest.

 

The percentage has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%. Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male, and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around 50 m (160 ft) from their nest, and cyclists at around 100 m (330 ft). There appears to be some specificity in choice of attack targets, with the majority of individuals specializing on either pedestrians or cyclists.Smaller - especially younger - people, lone people, and people travelling quickly (i.e., runners and cyclists) appear to be targeted most often by swooping magpies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that if a magpie sees a human trying to rescue a chick that has fallen from its nest, the bird will view this help as predation, and will become more aggressive to humans from then on.

 

Magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders. Least threatening are alarm calls and distant swoops, where birds fly within several metres from behind and perch nearby. Next in intensity are close swoops, where a magpie will swoop in from behind or the side and audibly "snap" their beaks or even peck or bite at the face, neck, ears or eyes. More rarely, a bird may dive-bomb and strike the intruder's (usually a cyclist's) head with its chest. A magpie may rarely attack by landing on the ground in front of a person and lurching up and landing on the victim's chest and pecking at the face and eyes.

 

Magpie attacks can cause injuries, typically wounds to the head, and being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury.

 

If it is necessary to walk near the nest, wearing a broad-brimmed or legionnaire's hat or using an umbrella will deter attacking birds, but beanies and bicycle helmets are of little value as birds attack the sides of the head and neck.

 

Magpies prefer to swoop at the back of the head; therefore, keeping the magpie in sight at all times can discourage the bird. A basic disguise such as sunglasses worn on the back of the head may fool the magpie as to where a person is looking. Eyes painted on hats or helmets will deter attacks on pedestrians but not cyclists.

 

Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike, and the use of cable ties on helmets has become common and appears to be effective.

 

Magpies are a protected native species in Australia, so it is illegal to kill or harm them. However, this protection is removed in some Australian states if a magpie attacks a human, allowing for the bird to be killed if it is considered particularly aggressive (such a provision is made, for example, in section 54 of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act).[ More commonly, an aggressive bird will be caught and relocated to an unpopulated area. Magpies have to be moved some distance as almost all are able to find their way home from distances of less than 25 km (16 mi). Removing the nest is of no use as birds will breed again and possibly be more aggressive the second time around.

 

Some claim that swooping can be prevented by hand-feeding magpies. Magpies will become accustomed to being fed by humans, and although they are wild, will return to the same place looking for handouts. The idea is that humans thereby appear less of a threat to the nesting birds. Although this has not been studied systematically, there are reports of its success.

  

Cultural references

 

The Australian magpie featured in aboriginal folklore around Australia. The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara in the northwest of the country used the bird as a signal for sunrise, frightening them awake with its call. They were also familiar with its highly territorial nature, and it features in a song in their Burndud, or songs of customs. It was a totem bird of the people of the Illawarra region south of Sydney.

 

Under the name piping shrike, the white-backed magpie was declared the official emblem of the Government of South Australia in 1901 by Governor Tennyson, and has featured on the South Australian flag since 1904. The magpie is a commonly used emblem of sporting teams in Australia, and its brash, cocky attitude has been likened to the Australian psyche. Such teams tend to wear uniforms with black and white stripes. The Collingwood Football Club adopted the magpie from a visiting South Australian representative team in 1892. The Port Adelaide Magpies would similarly adopt the black and white colours and Magpie name in 1902. Other examples include Brisbane's Souths Logan Magpies, and Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies. Disputes over who has been the first club to adopt the magpie emblem have been heated at times. Another club, Glenorchy Football Club of Tasmania, was forced to change uniform design when placed in the same league as another club (Claremont Magpies) with the same emblem.

 

In New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union team, from Napier, New Zealand, is also known as the magpies. One of the best-known New Zealand poems is "The Magpies" by Denis Glover, with its refrain "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the bird – and the popular New Zealand comic Footrot Flats features a magpie character by the name of Pew.

 

An online poll conducted by Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia was held in late 2017 to choose the "Australian Bird of the Year". The Australian magpie won the contest with 19,926 votes (13.3%), narrowly ahead of the Australian white ibis.

 

[Credit: en.wikipedia.org]

You know you are living life when at the end of the day you can say "I tried."

Detail-oriented Asian housewife diligently scrubs and cleans the toilet bowl in her home's bathroom, ensuring utmost hygiene and a fresh, welcoming atmosphere.

It's been a David and Goliath battle. But I knew I would win in the end even if I had to fight a little dirty. I'm not the keenest of gardeners but if I must have a mini-estate then at least it will have fine grass lawns. Each spring I work hard to remove the thatch and remove the cubic metre after cubic metre of moss. It's not a labour of love, but merely a 'must-do' given that we live in an area logically called Mossley. Even if I have left the weeds to grow two feet high in the borders once the lawn has some nice straight stripes rolled into it, the garden looks surprisingly well tended......and un-molested.

  

The first mole hills popped up near our hen house close to the neighbours fence. I can't help thinking this was our jealous neighbour's mole and he carelessly let it stray into our garden. Perhaps with some words of encouragement? Not that I blame the mole:the grass is definitely greener on my side of the fence! With the amount of food my wife and daughter scatter on the grass for the hens it is no surprise that the worms in our gardens are easily mistaken for small snakes, they are so big. But c'est la vie, I'm not going to have an issue with a mole making a couple of humps in the less visible parts of my garden, and besides everyone says moles are good for creating drainage.

  

Although it was messy, I didn't even take issue with the mole when I discovered he had pushed up two enormous mole hills in our garage. Which has a concrete floor. But he had exploited a few cracks in the poorly laid concrete and forced the soil up through it. Moles, despite their tiny size are indeed incredibly strong.

  

But when a trail of mole hills appeared over night right across the top of our lawn, near our conservatory, I concluded this little creature was becoming a nuisance. Something would have to be done. Now my wife and daughter refuse to allow any of God's creatures to be harmed unless they can find a way to make it taste delicious with a newly thought up gourmet recipe. So I'm not allowed to harm the fox that murders our girls, the hens in the garden, and I'm not allowed to kill the mole that destroys our garden. I have two options: remove it humanely or hope that one of the plethora of cooking programmes on TV reveals to viewers how roast mole is now the latest haute cuisine.

I do find Gordon Ramsey quite entertaining only because the show has little to do with cooking and a lot to do with confrontation and verbal violence. But it is the only cooking show I can tolerate for more than the time it takes to boil an egg so I have little chance of picking up a mole recipe. ( I have since found this www.flickr.com/photos/37919560@N00/5202723832/in/photolis... )

  

Determined to spoil his day as much as he was spoiling my garden, I resort to poking the hose pipe down Mr Mole's hole and leaving it turned on for two days. As soon as I get home from work on the second day I rush to turn it off quickly. My day at Manchester airport organising exports around the world has been ruined ever since the thought got into my head that all that water disappearing under my garden lawn is creating one of those sinkholes like they have in America, into which whole houses disappear.

  

Did I drown the mole or merely 'encourage' him to move away to a drier area? I stamp the soil of the molehills down into hard brown flat grass-less discs which when viewedfrom a short distance appear like an archipelago of little islands stretching across a green sea of grass. Magically no more molehills appear. For two days. That's when four mole hills appeared before the sun came up next morning. By the evening there were five. And after the full moon of the next night there were eight in a line across the bottom of the garden. It looked like a B-52 had dropped a stick of 1000 lb bombs. Now, this was war! And I wanted to go nuclear. But I have no shot gun (and besides my wife and daughter would hear if I used it) and I had no gin traps. I reasoned I couldn't even attach a hosepipe to the exhaust on my car and humanely gas them for fear that the mole tunnels run under our house and I would exterminate my family with carbon monoxide toxic gas seeping up into our home. I tried using the garden fork to methodically spear the ground every inch over the affected areas, but it was hard work, and seemed pointless because I had no idea where the mole was at any one time. And even if I did attack the right bit, I was willing to bet that bugger would end up with two fork prongs plunging harmlessly into the ground either side of him. No, eventually I bought a couple of "Humane mole traps" from ebay. These are just a plastic tube with a little round door in each end which can be pushed open from the outside but not pushed open from the inside. But, as I discover that doesn't mean a mole can't get out! The traps arrived in the mail and were waiting for me when I got home late one evening from work.

  

"Humane mole traps" it says on the packet. "Stop moles in their tracks"... oh yeah, that's a bit corny. "The mole can get in but can't get out", it continues. Well, isn't that just the idea of a trap?

  

Armed with a spade and a metal spike I strode out with desperate determination. Using the metal spike I pierced the ground close to a mole hill feeling for the emptiness of the tunnels underground. The tunnels didn't go straight between any two molehills. They didn't even go in a zig-zaggy demented course between holes. They went everywhere, and in all directions.. Having prodded and tested around I found areas where I thought I had a 'straight' stretch of tunnel, but digging down often found it was just a chamber or a hole with a tunnel at one end but blocked off at the other. It took a while to find a clean tunnel and dig out a suitable hole to insert the trap into. But by the time I had dug holes to find a suitable tunnel to put my two traps in I've lost any sense of try to preserve the visual beauty of my lawn. So engrossed in trapping the blighter, I've just ruined as much of the garden in twenty minutes with a spade as the mole has taken a week to do. But who cares? I'm no longer bothered in the visual aesthetics of an Englishman's grass lawn, I just want that little bugger's neck.

  

I slept poorly that night, wondering if every jet that passed over our house on its way to Manchester Airport could be a B-52 and visualising the lawn next morning with another stick of craters across it. Peering out in the dawn light I counted just the same total 32 mole hills spread across all the garden that there were yesterday. Clearly he was having a rest, and I would leave the traps until I got home from work.

  

But my daughter checked them and to her joy and my ecstasy she reported there was a mole in the trap. Neither she nor my wife had seen any recipes for moles on the numerous cooking programmes in the intervening days so it was resolved she would take Mr Mole and re-home him when she went out in an hour with her boyfriend for a walk in the nearby Peak District National Park. There he could make as many 'peaks' as he liked to his heart's delight. But on her return to collect the mole in his trap....no mole.

  

I was devastated to get this news by text at work. It seemed being nice and humane wasn't working at all. I'm told I became touchy and angry at work and generally everyone avoided me, unaware of the reason for my mood swing. Would I never be free of this beast?

  

"It has been a nice day", my wife said, referring to the weather, when I got home on the Friday evening. So, perhaps she had been able to enjoy the sunshine, but I wasn't feeling sunny. After grabbing some pizza, vital energy for a battle-fatigued soldier, I headed out to the warzone. I dug more holes. I cleared more soil. I made a greater mess of my priceless lawn. I laid my traps, wishing that they were Soviet antitank mines instead. And set paving stones over them, and only then returned to the house as the evening light started to dim.

  

Thirty minutes later I went to check my traps. Bingo! There he was, little snout sniffling out of the holes in the trap sides. But this time I took no chances and got him into a shoe box as fast as possible. After a quick portrait photo for my flickr friends, and as proof that I am humane before I kill him.....no, just kidding, I set off into the gathering gloom towards the nearby golf course with my shoe box. Woah, you golfers are saying! No, of course I didn't take him to the immaculately manicured 8th Hole, I took him to a suitably rough bit of shady woodland with deep soil just near the 12th Green and set the box down in the long grass. At first he did not climb out, but after a minute getting his bearings he stepped out and within a distance of about 5 centimetres, two inches, and a time of 10 seconds (I kid you not).....he was gone from sight. I could hear little 'cracks' and pops and see the earth quivering but already my mighty mole was underground. Amazing! And on the way back home with my empty shoe box I reflected on the battle with my little adversary. Total respect. I wished him a long career in mine engineering.

 

Mole wars, PART 2 : www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/9637677669/

 

“Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 12, 1888, Henry James Soulen (1888-1965) was a distinguished illustrator. He joined the Art Students League in Milwaukee, the Art Institute of Chicago, and later studied under Howard Pyle, the founder of the Brandywine School.

 

“An illustrator for ‘The Saturday Evening Post,’ Soulen began his career in May 1912. He also worked for other publications including ‘Country Gentleman’ and ‘Ladies Home Journal’ and received the Peabody Award for his magazine cover designs. He was well known for his use of powerful, vivid color at a time when most illustrations were in black and white.

 

“He was a methodical researcher and owned a large collection of costumes, weapons, and other objects that he used in his drawings. At age 62, he became a college professor at the University of Maryland and taught illustration in the art department. Soulen passed way at the age of 77 in 1965.” – Saturday Evening Post Archives

 

Like many religious buildings in India, there are a lot of guards. They methodically get the visitors through and put up with photography as part of the job. This building is no exception. I am very thankful to one of the members of the Lotus Temple that graciously walked me across the confines of the crowd ropes and into a quiet well lit area. I was given unlimited time to set up my shot and wait for the lighting to fade into that diaphanous beautiful blue that India's dust creates once the sun has set. This is a fun building to photograph and, just like Jorn Uzton's creation in Sydney, the facets and scallops create great negative forms. In particular, the compression that is created at each entrance is noticeable and discernible from a great distance.

 

thanks for reading....jhe

This image perfectly represents the problems I have with 35mm film. The biggest issue for me is that it takes me so long to finish a roll. I am too methodical for 35mm anymore. I loaded this roll into my pinhole camera in August of 2022, shot 2/3 of the roll on a trip to Victoria, BC then promptly forgot about it. I set the camera aside, played with other pinhole cameras and then when I got the itch to shoot my 35mm pinhole again it was late March of 2024 and by this point I had forgotten there was even film in the camera still. I remembered quickly enough when I popped the lid of the camera and saw a roll inside rapidly soaking up all the light I was pouring into the camera. Thankfully this was not my first time inadvertently exposing a loaded roll of film and my reflexes kicked in and a dark bathroom got me the rest of the way to making sure I didn't spoil this roll. Even seeing the film once I had rewound it gave me no clue as to what I had been shooting with it when first loaded. It was not until I saw the developed negatives and realized this was a leftover roll from that Victoria trip that the pieces all came together in my memory. I guess if I am being fair, the length of time it takes me to get through a roll of 35mm is not the only issue at play here. There is also the fact that I have so many pinhole cameras that this one was able to sit out of rotation for way too long. And the fact that I really should be better about putting sticky notes on my cameras noting the film type loaded. But hey...

 

As far as what is going on in this image, I was using the Reality So Subtle 35R pinhole camera. It has two pinholes, one on the front of the camera and another on the back of the camera. You can expose your film either normally on the emulsion side, or through the reverse side of the film creating a redscale effect. Or, as in what I did here, you can make two exposures one via the front and then turn the camera around and make a second via the rear pinhole overlapping the normal and redscale images into a double exposure. Kind of fun and I kind of like kind of fun stuff. What else am I going to do while waiting for a drawbridge to raise?

 

Reality So Subtle 35R

Silberra Color 50

After years of restoration effort in the shops of the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, the completed Columbia River Belt Line Locomotive #7 "Skookum" sees the light of day for the first time in the yard at Garibaldi, OR. An original Baldwin delivery banner, donated by a member of the crew adorns her boiler jacket, as would likely have been the case when she was delivered new.

 

Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909 as their builder's number 33463, this unusual 2-4-4-2 articulated, compound Mallet was intended for the Little River Railroad in Townsend, TN as their number 126. Unfortunately, that railroad quickly determined that she was too long for the tight curves on their line and she was returned to Baldwin. In 1910, Baldwin managed to resell her to the Columbia River Belt Line Railway in Blind Slough, OR, where she was put to work as a logging engine. That railroad typically named their locomotives rather than number them, and this engine received the name "Skookum", which is apparently a Chinook term, meaning large, powerful or impressive. She served the Columbia River Belt Line from 1910 through 1920, before being sold to the Carlisle-Pennell Lumber Company, where she acquired the number 7. After a four-year stint there, she served 4 other railroads, including the Deep River Logging Company, where her long career came to a sudden end in 1955, when she rolled over with a string of empty log bunks. Since that line was in the process of shutting down, no attempt was made to recover her and she was left in place.

 

In 1956, she was acquired by a man named Charles Morrow, who removed her from her wreck site in pieces....and she's spent the next 60 years in pieces, owned by several individuals and moved several different places. In 2005, she was acquired by Chris Baldo, who had her moved to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, with the goal of restoring her. It's been a long road. Some pieces had been damaged when she was removed from the wreck site, and some pieces had been lost. Over the past 13 years, a restoration team has slowly and methodically restored her major components and re-assembled her into the condition you see here. She appeared in public for the first time at a Lerro Productions Charter in October of 2018, but alas, she was unable to perform for the photographers, because she still has some technical issues, including valve timing, which must be tweaked and adjusted. She's a complex locomotive, and there's still some work to do. But the heavy lifting has been done, and after 60 years in pieces, one of the most unique steam locomotive survivors will shortly be gracing the rails in the Pacific Northwest, where she made her living during the first half of the last century.

Good morning Durban!

 

"If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning.... The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living." - Marion Woodman

 

One way to nourish your soul is to get up early, at least an hour before the sun, and watch the day break; slowly, methodically, gracefully. Photography isn't just about the photo for me, it's about the preparation before the shoot, the meditation while shooting, and the artistic licence you give yourself while shaping the end product in your digital darkroom.

 

Canon South Africa​ 6D from Orms​, Canon EF 17–40mm lens​, F16, 1/250 sec, ISO 640 - Durban Royal Natal Yacht Club​: Sunday 5 April 2015, taken off marina pier

 

#sunrise #landscape #seascape #daybreak #durban #ilovedurban #031durbz #031mycity #mycity #canon #canonsouthafrica #ethekwini #mycity031

Wetland Dawn, Trees. Sacramento Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

 

Trees and dawn sky reflected in the surface of a wetlands pond, Sacramento Valley

 

Some people speak and write a lot about the role of careful planning followed by slow and methodical work in landscape photography. Sometimes that certainly does pay off, but I find that far more often it is about acting on hunches, making good guesses about conditions and locations, and being ready and prepared to take advantage of pure, dumb luck when it comes to you. This photograph is a case in point.

 

There is no way that I could actually plan much a photograph — the best I could do (and I do this) is to carry around some ideas about clouds reflecting in water and about silhouettes of trees, and then be ready to recognize the opportunity and act when something similar actually appears. But to take credit for dawn clouds whose curve mirrors that of a grove of trees, reflected in a seasonal pond on a morning that just happened to produce a bit of ground fog and beautiful colors would be both egotistical and a lie!

  

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, "California's Fall Color: A Photographer's Guide to Autumn in the Sierra" is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

23. When one is not expressing himself, he is not free. Thus, he begins to struggle and the struggle breeds mechanical routine. Soon, he is doing his methodical routine as response rather than responding to what is.

My first hummingbird moth! While over at my parent's house last week I saw this little guy feeding on a patch of bee balm. I didn't have a camera with me but fortunately when I returned the next day it was again at the same patch of flowers. Fun to watch, it moved from flower to flower very similar to a bumble bee with the exception that it never landed on the flower but hovered like a hummingbird at each petal as it worked its way methodically around each flower.

 

So glad I got to see one of these!

British card. Photo: Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985).

 

Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis (1957) won the Best Actor Oscar for My Left Foot (1990), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2013). Day-Lewis has also received more than 90 other acting awards fort these films and for his roles in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), A Room with a View (1985), Gangs of New York (2002) and Nine (2009).

 

Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis was born in Kensington, London, in 1957. His father was the British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis. His mother, actress Jill Bacon, came from a Jewish family and was the daughter of Sir Michael Balcon, former head of Ealing Studios. Cecil Day-Lewis was already 53 when his son was born, and it seemed that he had little interest in his children. Cecil died when Daniel was 15. Day-Lewis later said that he regretted never having had a good relationship with his father. At his school in Greenwich, Day-Lewis was often bullied by children, often because of his Jewish heritage and the luxurious way of life at home. Day-Lewis later said that he behaved badly in his younger years. He got into trouble several times for shoplifting and other illegal activities. In 1968, he went to a boarding school in Kent because his parents thought he was behaving too freely. Although he disliked the school, it was there that he was first introduced to two of his main interests, acting and woodworking. Day-Lewis made his debut in Sunday Bloody Sunday (John Schlesinger, 1971). He was 14 years old at the time and played a vandal. His role is not mentioned in the credits. According to Day-Lewis, he received two dollars for that role to wreck some expensive cars and he later said that this wrecking felt like "heaven". After two years at boarding school, he attended Bedalas School in Petersfield. He left the school in 1975. His behaviour had improved somewhat by then. Day-Lewis arrived at a time when he had to choose in which direction he wanted to go, acting or woodworking. He decided for acting, but he was not accepted because he had too little experience. That is why he chose acting. He followed a three-year course at the Bristol Old Vic theatre school. He then acted on stage with the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare Companies. He made his West End stage debut in 1982, starring for several months in the play 'Another Country'.

 

In 1982, Daniel Day-Lewis had another small role in a major film, this time as the bully in Gandhi (Richard Attenborough, 1982). Later, he also starred in a 'Romeo and Juliet' play and had a supporting role in the film The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984), starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. His next theatre role was in 'The Count', a play about Dracula. In My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears,1985), he played a lower-class, gay ex-skinhead in love with an ambitious Pakistani businessman (Gordon Warnecke) in Margaret Thatcher's London. His next film A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985) was again very well received. In that film, he played the fiancée of the main character played by Helena Bonham Carter. My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room With a View opened on the same day in New York. Day-Lewis astonished critics and audiences with his chameleon-like versatility. The New York Film Critics Circle took particular note of his talent, naming him the year's Best Supporting Actor for his work in both films. In 1987, Day-Lewis starred in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman, 1987), along with Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche. Day-Lewis played the role of a philandering surgeon from Prague, who gets an emotional relationship with a woman for the first time. In 1989, Day-Lewis did a brilliant performance as the disabled Irish writer Christy Brown in the film My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989). He won several awards for this role, including an Academy Award for Best Actor. During filming, Day-Lewis broke two ribs after an accident with the wheelchair in which his character always sat. After several films, Daniel Day-Lewis returned to the stage for Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet'. He collapsed on stage, however, when (supposedly) the ghost of Hamlet's father came on stage. Day-Lewis later said that he mistook him for his father's ghost. After this incident, Day-Lewis never returned to the stage. In 1992, three years after he won an Oscar, Day-Lewis starred in The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992), a film that met with mixed reviews but was a great success at the box office. He played a turn-of-the-century New York society man in Martin Scorsese's lavish adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993) opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. Another success was In the Name of the Father (Jim Sheridan, 1993). For his role as an innocent convict of an IRA bombing, he lost a lot of weight and had to act with an Irish accent. According to Day-Lewis, he frequently urged crew members to throw cold water on him and use verbal abuse against him so that his anger, which his character must have in circumstances such as the film, would become more realistic. Day-Lewis was again nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for his role. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for the third time and a Golden Globe for the second time. Next, he starred as the tragically adulterous John Proctor alongside Winona Ryder in The Crucible (Nicholas Hytner, 1996). The film was based on a script by Arthur Miller, who would become Day-Lewis' father-in-law. He then had a role in Jim Sheridan's The Boxer (1997), as a former boxer trying to make a new life for himself after being imprisoned for fourteen years for his work with the IRA. He had to prepare for that role as well, training for six months in boxing with former world boxing champion Barry McGuigan.

 

Daniel Day-Lewis took a break for several years. He decided to focus on his old passion: woodworking. He moved to Florence in Italy. It was not until 2002 that another of his films premiered, Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz. Day-Lewis' decidedly methodic approach to creating convincing screen characters would ultimately pay off as many cited his Oscar nominated performance as one of the most convincing of the talented actor's career. Day-Lewis typically disappeared from sight yet again after Gangs, waiting two years before appearing again in a film. In 2005, The Ballad of Jack and Rose premiered. This film was directed by his own wife, Rebecca Miller. Day-Lewis played the role of an old man who is dying and reflects on his life. During filming, he lived apart from his wife to make his role as a lonely old man even more believable. His next film was based on Upton Sinclair's novel 'Oil!'. The film was renamed There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) and Day Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in that film. In 2009, Day-Lewis starred in Rob Marshall's musical adaptation Nine (2009) as film director Guido Contini. In 2013, he won his third Oscar for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2013) with Sally Field. Daniel Day-Lewis is the only person in film history to have won the Oscar for best male lead three times. In 2014, he received a knighthood for his services to drama. Following the filming of Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017 ), for which he was again nominated for an Oscar for best male lead, Day-Lewis announced that he was quitting acting. Day-Lewis is very protective of his privacy. He rarely reveals his private life in public. Day-Lewis first had a relationship with the French actress Isabelle Adjani. They had a son together, Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis (in 1995), but by then the relationship had already ended. In 1996, while working on the film The Crucible, he went to visit the writer of the script, Arthur Miller. During that visit, he fell in love with Miller's daughter, Rebecca Miller. They were married two weeks before the premiere of The Crucible. They have two sons together, Ronan (born in 1998) and Cashel (2002). They spend their time together in their homes in the United States and Ireland. Daniel Day Lewis was in a relationship with Isabelle Adjani from 1989 to 1994. They have one son together, Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis (born 1995). With Rebecca Miller, he has two sons, Ronan Cal Day-Lewis (born 1998) and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis (born 2002). Daniel Day-Lewis has dual citizenship between the United Kingdom and Ireland.

 

Sources: Rebecca Flint Marx (AllMovie), Pedro Borges (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

A 1.6 sec exposure that I got handheld whilst trying out the Image Stabilisation in the 18-55mm kit lens. I can't say I did a series of methodical tests but given the number of blurry shots, this may have been a complete fluke!

Bigger and better On Black

Wanted to playfully conceptualize a literal interpretation of a digital portrait with an early model computer/bit format style feeling for the overall image. Original photo was edited generously and methodically coated with layer-after-layer-upon-layer, (so much in fact total count is genuinely unknown and file required compressing to keep manageable), to receive final effect.

The last day of the month! I love watching Carman's video

youtu.be/fYegOwzLb3A

on this day every year. Based on a true story and powerful!

 

"Witches Invitation" lyrics

One peaceful afternoon I picked up from my mailbox the strangest looking letter I'd ever seen, a chilling little envelope bordered with flying bats, and eerie serpents whose eyes were tinted green. The letter was addressed to me so as I opened it I froze. What I read turned my complexion three shades of blue. It said, 'My name is Isaac Horowitz. I'm a male witch, a warlock and I feel I need to spend some time with you.'

 

Now as a Christian from a little church with God's call on my life, a man of faith and power with a challenge to grow I did what any saint would do in my situation. I tore it up said, 'Lord, no way I'm gonna go.' Then gently and methodically the Holy Spirit spoke and reminded me we're God's voice to our nation. It's the church's responsibility to witness, so reluctantly I accepted this witch's invitation.

 

He had the house you'd expect, the old English cottage, a 'Nightmare on Elm Street' special right to the core, the overgrown ivy, the gate that creaked when opened, somehow you'd expect Freddy to answer this door. The doorbell rang, a hollow gong, the knob twisted then opened, and Isaac stood before me with a grin. His jet black hair and well trimmed beard flowed with his black silk clothes. My skin crawled as he said, 'Please come on in.'

 

His house was filled with every occultist symbol you could fathom; Hanging pentagrams and horoscope signs, a Ouija board and dungeons and dragons game set on the table, a crystal ball with an incandescent shine. Then graciously he handed me some steaming herbal tea. Its presence caused my memory to jog...I thought of every horror flick I'd seen when I was a kid and thought 'man if you drink this stuff next day you'll be a frog.'

 

Then he led me to a high backed chair as he meticulously began to unfold his scenario with evil patience. I was given a giant leather bound book jammed with newspaper clippings, thus the reason for this witch's invitation. With eagerness he pointed to each article with pride. He said, 'I healed this woman through a Babylonian chant; You see this man, I cured him while performing druid worship; I was paid to curse this man with AIDS by his aunt.'

 

On and on, page after page, delightfully he flaunted each incident for an hour without a breath. He said, 'Do you realize through my understanding of the dark regions that I can make you rich or even curse someone to death?' I sat literally intimidated by his immensity in demon power while his face shone with a satanic arrogant bliss. Then placing his hands on the arms of my chair and leaning into my face he said, 'What can your God do to compete with this?'

 

I knew then how Moses felt, when his rod turned to a serpent and the three Egyptian magicians did the same. It's as if you're sitting there in that stunned moment while your faith gets violated and all you feel is weak, powerless and lame. I desperately and deeply prayed saying, 'Jesus give me wisdom - I don't want to put you through some foolish test. Then a shaft of light shot through my soul igniting my eyes with fire. God stood me up and I threw the book back in his chest.

 

I said 'Isaac, I'll not compare God's miracles versus Satan's - the issue's not God's kingdom and Satan's lair. The real comparison is the condition of your soul and the condition of mine, and you puppet of the devil, that I will compare. I said, My friend, one day they're coming for you - the soft associates in your incantations - the friendly demons you think you now control. The time will come when you'll be lying in bed wheezing like a dying animal and those spirits lay claim to the rights they own to your soul.'

 

'Then the room will grow dark, and the most hideous evil faces you ever seen will come flaming out of the floor with a yell! The vile informants that promised reincarnation will claw your spirit and victoriously drag your soul to hell!'

 

Then I grabbed the book and said, 'In that moment which mantra, which incantation you gonna chant to tell them to leave you alone? I said, My friend, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I would say...'I'm bought with the blood of Jesus! Let me go!' '

 

I said, 'Isaac, when you tossed that book in my lap, you gloated with a sinister victory. You rejoiced when you saw your name in black and white. Now I rejoice, but not that your counsel of demons are subject to Jesus, but that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life!' Then Isaac jumped up from his chair and screamed, 'You must leave now!' I said, 'I will, but one last obligation - Next time think twice before you rumble with a man of God!!! And by the way thanks for your.. uhh... witch's invitation

 

-^- Central City, 2463 -^-

 

"My name is Eobard Thawne… and I am the fastest man alive."

 

"No, Eobard!"

 

"C'mon, you're ruining it."

 

"What the hell man…"

 

Eobard lowered his raised fist, staring at the group of kids hanging on the jungle gym. He frowned as the oldest of them, Tomon, hopped down from the top of the structure with his arms crossed.

 

"What are you doing, Eobard," he asked, narrowing his eyes at the smaller boy.

 

"I-I… I'm the Flash!" Eobard exclaimed, raising his fist into the air.

 

"No you aren't, we went over this," Tomon said, jutting a finger into Eobard's shoulder. "Kammi won the draw, so he gets to be Flash today."

 

"B-but you said if I played how you wanted last time, I could finally be Flash," Eobard pouted, staring up at the taller boy.

 

"Nope, not what I said," Tomon said, shaking his head. "I said you can be a Flash, not Flash."

 

"I don't wanna be Kid Flash, i-"

 

"You won't be," Tomon smirked, "you're the Reverse Flash."

 

Eobard's face fell, his head lowering. "You always make me Reverse Flash… it's not fun," he mumbled, listening to the other boys laugh. "He doesn't even have a name, can I at least be Godspeed?"

 

"Nope! That's not a Flash!" Tomon said, shaking his head at Eobard. "Besides, a nobody is perfect for you, Eobard."

 

Eobard but his lip, attempting to stop his tears from falling. Turning, he began walking away from the jungle gym. His teeth chewed on his bottom lip as he exited the park, hearing the mocking words from the boys he left behind, words he'd heard hundreds of times but never hurt any less.

 

He wasn't special. He was the opposite, really. He was the first generation of lab made children, the birthmark on his inner forearm showcasing it to the world. It was something frowned upon by society, but his parents had needed the money given to the participants, so they gladly offered their DNA.

 

They despised him. He was sure they'd have put him up for adoption if any orphanage would take a test tube child like himself. For a while, he thought it may have been the prospect of having a child, but his younger, natural born brother, Robern, proved the thought wrong. It proved he was the problem.

 

As he walked alone, his tears fell freely. He didn't care about being the Flash. He'd always wanted to, just once when playing with his friends, but it was never truly a deal breaker. He just wanted to play without being reminded of being different, to play without being called a science project gone wrong.

 

'Stop crying,' he thought to himself, wiping his eyes and nose with his sleeve. 'The Flash doesn't cry, you can't either.'

 

As he wiped his nose, he noticed the large golden statue he stood under, its freshly polished marble pedestal reflecting the sunlight perfectly. The golden figure shone brightly in the sun's rays, its lightning crest standing out brilliantly. Behind the statue was a large building of the same marble that made up the statue's base.

 

'Huh… I guess I just came here on instinct…' Eobard thought, staring up at the statue of his hero, The Flash. 'It's not like mom and dad will care if I'm late anyways.'

 

Eobard walked forward, heading up the cherry red stairs and into the Flash Museum. Any time he'd entered the building, it was just like the first time. White walls were lined with lightning patterns that glowed a golden aura. Statues of heroes and villains alike stood tall throughout the main atrium, paintings of Flash's greatest battles hung from the walls with holo-logs available for the details on each piece. Eobard followed the red tile floor past the various halls, his destination made up in his mind

 

Jay Garrick; the Golden Age Hero, Wally West; the Ultimate Successor, Bart Allen; the Flash of the Future, Godspeed; the Redemption from Darkness, and the Hall of Team-ups were all exhibits he'd visited countless times. They were the people who surrounded his hero, the people who built him up to be who he was. They made him, him.

 

Barry Allen; Savior of the Multiverse. The hall that Eobard had visited more than any others. In his mind, the greatest hero to ever live.

 

Eobard's cheeks, still red from tear stains, widened with his smile. If stepping into the museum was a moment of awe, walking into Barry Allen's hall was like Christmas morning, at least like his brother's.

 

All of his greatest battles were on full display, each one marking a victory in Barry's journey to becoming the greatest hero. His first villain, the Mirror Master, the first generation of Rogues with Snart, Scudder, and Harkness, and even the first speedster he'd faced, Zoom. It was all here.

 

Eobard moved through the empty hall, rushing to the display of Barry's suits in the back of the room. Barry's hall was always empty, most patrons flocking to his successor Wally West's, or even the villain turned hero Godspeed. Eobard never cared, a room all to himself and his hero was always the best part of his week. He felt bad that people were missing out, however.

 

His eyes shone like stars as he approached the red and yellow suit display, the gold lighting behind the mannequin giving the costume an ethereal glow. He quickly tapped on the holo-log next to the suit, scrolling through the article he'd read hundreds of times. It was Barry's third suit, his most iconic suit that was worn through his prime years. It was Eobard's favorite. How could it not be?

 

"This suit was worn through perilous adventures, the most notable being his battle with Cobalt Blue, his estranged brother taken at birth," Eobard read, his head shifting to the statue of the blond swordsman facing off against the hero. "I wish I could've been his brother… I never would fight him."

 

Eobard looked back up from the holo-log, staring at the suit once more. "I bet you never cried as a kid. You were probably the bravest person ever," he said, sighing. "I just wish I could be more like you."

 

A buzz in his pocket caught his attention. Sliding his phone free, he saw three missed calls from his younger brother. "I guess I have to go…" he mumbled, looking back up at the suit and seeing his eyes reflect off the mannequin's mouth. "Maybe one day it'll fit."

 

Making his way out of the Barry Allen hall he felt a strange chill run down his back. Turning his head, he eyed his least favorite part of the museum, one most usually avoided.

 

The Hall of Villains.

 

Eobard's curiosity, against his better judgement, made him enter the wing. The boy shuffled past countless mannequins, all clad in colorful costumes. The rogues were lined together on the right, the three original members front and center with any after lined behind them. To his left was each villain that had super speed, the largest statue being Zoom.

 

The sound of metal clattering on the ground caused Eobard to jump, his head shooting in the direction of the noise. "Wh-whos there?" he mumbled. Receiving no response, he took slow, cautious steps towards the noise. "What?"

 

Tucked away in the corner of the room was a yellow and black costume, with red lightning accents along the torso and legs. Eobard gulped, stepping forward towards the mannequin. As his feet placed just before the costume, he noticed it had been knocked forward slightly, allowing his face to reflect off its own.

 

"Reverse Flash… I hate you," he said, staring into his own eyes. "You don't have a name. You don't have a story. You don't even have an original gimmick."

 

Looking down, he tapped on the holo-log, staring at the blank spots where any information could be held. "A ghost lost to time," he read, looking back up at the costume. "You hurt Flash more than anyone else… and you don't even have a reason to show. Why do you even exist? What made you… you?"

 

Eobard stepped back from the costume as his pocket buzzed once again. "I'm glad no one remembers you," he said, spitting on the display. Turning he walked out of the Hall of Villains and left the Flash Museum.

 

-^-

 

"Mom? Dad? Robern?"

 

Eobard stepped into his apartment, his hand lingering on the opened door as he entered. His body froze, arms stiff and jaw hanging, like a camera had taken a snapshot. Indecipherable noises came from the boy's mouth as he shook, staring at his family in front of him.

 

The room was painted crimson. His mother was split in two, her torso was face down in the living room while her legs sat against the fridge, intestines strung between the two. His father hung from the wall by his pinned hands, a steak knife lodged between the two just above his head. Gashes lined his body, the deepest where his heart would be, causing a constant drip of blood onto the floor.

 

Eobard dropped to his knees, gaze stuck on the massacre. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to run away, but he couldn't. Like a weight was pressing him down, he was completely frozen in place.

 

That's when a flash of red lightning sparked through the room, causing Eobard to blink. When his eyes reopened, two figures stood in front of him. "Re-re-re-reverse… Flash…" he mumbled.

 

The figure in yellow, black, and red smiled as he held onto Robern, one hand wrapped around the boy's neck while the other rested on his shoulder. In an instant, the resting hand began to vibrate, slipping through Robern's temple. Letting go of his throat, the boy fell forward, plopping lifelessly onto the ground.

 

"R-robern?" Eobard whispered, his voice trembling.

 

Reverse Flash stepped forward, grabbing Eobard by the throat and lifting him into the air. Eobard dug his nails into the man's black gloves, but the struggle only caused the villain to tighten his grip.

 

"P-p-please… p-p-please don't…"

 

"Kill you?" Reverse Flash asked, smiling as his free hand pulled the yellow cowl from his head. "How can I kill you… if I am you?"

 

"Wh… what?" Eobard asked, dropping to the floor as Reverse Flash loosened his grip. "What are you…"

 

"My name is Eobard Thawne… I'm you."

 

"Y-y-you're lying…" Eobard mumbled, scooting until his back hit the door. "Y-y-you can't be… you're Flash's enemy! You're an adult… I-I-I'm me!"

 

"You have so much to learn…" Reverse Flash said crouching down to stare Eobard in the eyes. "I am you. You are me. We are the same. We murdered your family, we killed Nora Allen, and we are Barry Allen's greatest enemy."

 

"I-I… I… I what?"

 

"Do you know why I made sure Reverse Flash's identity was lost in time?" he asked, leaning in close to Eobard's ear. "So you'd never have guessed you would be the man your hero hates most in the world."

 

With a gust of air, Reverse Flash was gone, leaving Eobard alone with the bodies of his family. His eyes were wide open, pupils constricting to tiny dots. He didn't know when his tears began to fall, but the sound of the droplets against his floor caused him to look down.

 

He stared at himself in the tile floor's reflection. The Eobard who looked back was different, however. His eyes weren't normal, instead a blood red, and his flat mouth was a large smile. Eobard grabbed onto his face, digging his nails into the skin and dragging down. It was then he finally felt a scream leave his body.

 

It was that moment he realized what he'd done.

 

-^- Central City, 2474 -^-

 

Eobard strapped the large silver device to his chest, making sure the locking mechanism was in place. His left hand typed away at the laptop sat beside him, while his eyes shifted between the screen and the stormy sky. It was New Year's Eve. Eobard stood atop the Flash Museum, ready to finally embrace his destiny.

 

"I'll be like you, Barry!" he shouted, pressing enter on the keypad, causing the large device behind him to spur to life; Clyde Mardon's weather machine. "I don't need to become your enemy! I can still be good!"

 

In an instant, a bolt of lightning came down against the device strapped to his chest. Eobard's eyes lit up white, an excruciating pain roaring through his body. The lights on his chest device glowed red as it pulsed electricity throughout Eobard's body. The man dropped to his knees, crying out as the device stopped, the glow dimming to a dark red.

 

Eobard's eyelids were heavy as he swayed side to side. He could hear the sizzling of his skin, but the pain didn't last. He could feel his fatigue quickly leave him, as red sparks began to generate around him.

 

His lips curved up into a smile. He'd done it, he'd finally done it.

  

-^- Central City, 2007 -^-

 

Eobard's eyes widened as he watched Barry slam his fist in the gut of Clyde Mardon, the Weather Wizard. He badly wanted to intervene, to help Barry beat his foe, but he knew he was far too inexperienced to be of any use to the speedster.

 

As Barry loaded the villain into the police transport van, Eobard made his move. Running towards Barry, he grabbed onto him, dragging him to the nearest rooftop. Barry was dazed for a moment, but his eyes widened the moment he saw Eobard.

 

"Thawne!?" he shouted, grabbing Eobard and slamming him against the roof door.

 

"Barry, listen to me," Eobard said, raising his hands. "I'm here to talk, to make amends!"

 

"Make amends?" Barry asked, pushing harder against Eobard's chest. "To talk? Why would I listen to you!?"

 

"It may sound strange, but I haven't murdered anyone yet! I'm Eobard Thawne after just gaining powers, not the one you know!" he explained, smiling at the man. "You have to believe me, I want to be better than the me you know!"

 

Barry grit his teeth, grabbing Eobard, and throwing him off the roof. Eobard acted fast, spinning his arms wildly to slow his fall as he landed in a back alley. Barry rushed down the building side, straddling Thawne.

 

"You think I'd just believe you!?" he shouted, slamming his fist into Eobard's face. "Not Eobard Thawne… never."

 

A rush of wind caused both to turn, spotting August Heart, the reformed villain Godspeed standing in the alleyway. "What's going on, Joe said you disappeared?" August asked, before looking down at Eobard. "Thawne…"

 

"Right there!" Eobard said, ignoring the bloody nose Barry had given him and pointing at August. "Godspeed… he was a villain… but you believed in him! He changed for the better! Let me try too!"

 

"Don't ever compare yourself to him!" Barry shouted, slamming his fist into Eobard's face once more. "You're a monster Thawne… you always will be. You are nothing like Godspeed… and you'll never be anything like me!"

 

"B-b-barry…"

 

As a tear rolled down Eobard's face, red lightning burst from his body, knocking both Barry and August away. Eobard stood, his eyes a burning red. "I thought you were a hero… but I was wrong…" he said, pulling the yellow cowl over his head. "You're nothing…"

 

In that moment, Eobard dashed away, returning to his own time, his tears burning away at the speed of light.

 

-^- Central City, 2475 -^-

 

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow boss."

 

"Night, Keiton."

 

Tomon smiled as he waved his line cook goodbye, flipping the closing sign on the restaurant door. The hefty man began lifting the chairs at various tables, placing them atop the tables to mop the floor.

 

As he cleaned, he felt an odd presence loom over him. Turning, his eyes widened as he spotted a ball of red lighting outside the building. He instantly dropped the mop, rushing to the kitchen, not turning as the glass of the front door shattered. He quickly grabbed the phone on the wall, dialing the authorities with a quickness.

 

"H-h-hello!? I need the science police, as-"

 

He stopped speaking as he heard a soft hum come from the phone. The line had been cut. Looking out at the dining floor through the serving window, the creature was gone. Gulping, his body turned, only to topple over as he spotted the intruder in the kitchen. The man wore a yellow suit, black and red complimenting the yellow.

 

"Reverse Flash!?" he shouted, watching as the man in yellow smiled.

 

Tomon picked himself up, running through the kitchen while knocking over anything he could to block the villain's path. Each obstacle created had no effect, however, as Reverse Flash simply phased through each appliance. In his panic, Tomon stumbled, falling face first into the ground.

 

"St-st-stay away!" he cried, shuffling backwards away from Reverse Flash. "You're supposed to be long dead!"

 

"My death was an… oversimplification of things," the villain mumbled. "Time is a tricky thing."

 

"What do you want from me!"

 

"Not much," Reverse Flash said. "I wanted to congratulate you, actually."

 

"Co-congratulate me?"

 

"You were always right back then," the man mumbled, pulling his cowl off his head, revealing the smiling face of Eobard Thawne. "I do make a good Reverse Flash."

 

"E-E-Eobard?" Tomon gasped.

 

"The one and only."

 

"I… we… we were friends!" he pleaded, crawling until his back hit the wall. "Sure, we gave you a tough time, but it was all in good fun!"

 

"Yeah, we were good friends," Eobard said, crouching down in front of the man and placing a hand on his shoulder, "weren't we?"

 

"Y-yeah… yeah," he said smiling with a slight chuckle. "The best of friends…"

 

Tomon let out a strained cough, blood flying from his mouth. Looking down, his eyes widened, staring at every knife in the kitchen lodged into his stomach. His eyes moved back up to Eobard, the yellow cowl over his head once more.

 

"Too bad I don't need friends anymore," he said, patting the man on the head. "Say hi to the others for me." Eobard then sped out of the building, leaving Tomon alone as his final moments passed.

 

-^- Central City, 1983 -^-

 

Eobard exited the negative Speed Force, skidding to a halt in the middle of the road. His body was in a constant smokescreen of black and red energy, a side effect of the constant time jumps, he assumed. It was quiet, the only sounds coming from the spring birds and yard sprinklers. Eobard surveyed the suburbs, the houses each looking incredibly different than the ones he had grown up in.

 

It was then that he spotted, through an open bay window, a woman standing up from her couch and moving to the kitchen. 'Nora…' he thought, a smile spreading across his face.

 

Dashing to the house, his body began to vibrate, allowing him to slip inside. He took slow, methodical steps as he rounded the couch, ready to strike his target. It was then that he spotted a boy, one that looked similar to Barry, but not identical.

 

'Malcolm?' he wondered, looking down at the boy. 'He isn't supposed to be here… the timeline is…' At that thought, he smiled, vibrating his hands as he looked at the boy. 'I guess a few changes won't hurt.'

 

"Oh god Malcolm!" Nora cried, running to the pool of blood left on the couch. The woman dropped to her knees, clutching the stained clothes.

 

As Eobard reentered the room, he bore a soft smile, staring at the woman.

 

"Clariss!"

 

Eobard's smile fell, his head swivelling towards the voice. His eyes locked onto some type of red, ghost-like figure. Yellow lightning sparked around him, which helped create an outline, one that shaped a dome helmet on his head.

 

'Garrick?' he thought, closing his eyes for a moment. 'He thinks I'm the Rival. It must be the side effects but… how is he… a Speed Force link. Barry must have gotten his powers differently.'

 

Eobard smiled, emulating the long-dead speedster. "A ghost from the future," he said, shifting his vocal chords to imitate what he'd heard from Clariss' holo-logs. "Too bad I'm not a ghost." Eobard dashed out of the home, reappearing seconds later with a kitchen knife laced with Henry Allen's prints. "I'm the reaper."

 

Eobard stared at Garrick's projection as he drove the knife forwards, carving into Nora's heart. The woman's screams were loud and long, but died out quickly as her body toppled to the side, her blood mixing with Malcolm's. Eobard dipped his hands into the blood, letting it soak into his gloves.

 

"Mom! Malcolm!" a young voice called from outside. "School let out early!"

 

Eobard's eyes narrowed as Barry entered the home. 'It would be so easy…' he thought, looking back down at the knife on the ground. 'Too easy for you…'

 

"Mom… m-m-mom…" Barry mumbled, freezing in place as he rounded the couch, staring at the dead woman on the floor. "Mom?"

 

Eobard turned towards Garrick, smirking at the ghost before charging at the blond boy. Barry leapt back, falling to the ground, reminding Eobard of his own reaction. Reaching out his hands, Nora and Malcolm's blood dripped onto the ground in front of Barry. As tears began to fall from the boy's eyes, Eobard left, his mission accomplished.

 

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

 

NEXT TIME: A Future Far Beyond!

Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.

   

A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.

  

Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.

  

In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms

.

 

Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.

  

Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.

 

In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.

  

The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.

  

The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.

 

Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.

  

Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.

 

The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.

 

In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.

  

Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.

   

Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.

   

However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.

   

In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)

 

The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus Gymnorhina and is most closely related to the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi). It is not, however, closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid.

 

The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length, with distinctive black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, and can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.

 

Described as one of Australia's most accomplished songbirds, the Australian magpie has an array of complex vocalisations. It is omnivorous, with the bulk of its varied diet made up of invertebrates. It is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range. Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia and New Guinea. This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests.

Over 1000 Australian magpies were introduced into New Zealand from 1864 to 1874 but have subsequently been accused of displacing native birds and are now treated as a pest species. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, where the birds are not considered an invasive species. The Australian magpie is the mascot of several Australian sporting teams, most notably the Collingwood Magpies, the Western Suburbs Magpies and Port Adelaide Magpies.

  

Taxonomy

 

The Australian magpie was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as Coracias tibicen, the type collected in the Port Jackson region. Its specific epithet derived from the Latintibicen "flute-player" or "piper" in reference to the bird's melodious call. An early recorded vernacular name is piping poller, written on a painting by Thomas Watling, one of a group known collectively as the Port Jackson Painter, sometime between 1788 and 1792. Tarra-won-nang, or djarrawunang, wibung, and marriyang were names used by the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney Basin. Booroogong and garoogong were Wiradjuri words, and carrak was a Jardwadjali term from Victoria. Among the Kamilaroi, it is burrugaabu, galalu, or guluu. It was known as Warndurla among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara. Other names used include piping crow-shrike, piper, maggie, flute-bird and organ-bird. The term bell-magpie was proposed to help distinguish it from the European magpie but failed to gain wide acceptance.

 

The bird was named for its similarity in colouration to the European magpie; it was a common practice for early settlers to name plants and animals after European counterparts. However, the European magpie is a member of the Corvidae, while its Australian counterpart is placed in the family Artamidae (although both are members of a broad corvid lineage). The Australian magpie's affinities with butcherbirds and currawongs were recognised early on and the three genera were placed in the family Cracticidae in 1914 by John Albert Leach after he had studied their musculature. American ornithologists Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist recognised the close relationship between woodswallows and the butcherbirds in 1985, and combined them into a Cracticini clade, in the Artamidae. The Australian magpie is placed in its own monotypic genus Gymnorhina which was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840. The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek gumnos for "naked" or "bare" and rhis, rhinos "nostrils". Some authorities such as Glen Storr in 1952 and Leslie Christidis and Walter Boles in their 2008 checklist, have placed the Australian magpie in the butcherbird genus Cracticus, arguing that its adaptation to ground-living is not enough to consider it a separate genus. A molecular genetic study published in a 2013 showed that the Australian magpie is a sister taxon to the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi) and that the two species are in turn sister to a clade that includes the other butcherbirds in the genus Cracticus. The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago).

The Australian magpie was subdivided into three species in the literature for much of the twentieth century—the black-backed magpie (G. tibicen), the white-backed magpie (G. hypoleuca), and the western magpie (G. dorsalis). They were later noted to hybridise readily where their territories crossed, with hybrid grey or striped-backed magpies being quite common. This resulted in them being reclassified as one species by Julian Ford in 1969, with most recent authors following suit.

  

Subspecies

 

There are currently thought to be nine subspecies of the Australian magpie, although there are large zones of overlap with intermediate forms between the taxa. There is a tendency for birds to become larger with increasing latitude, the southern subspecies being larger than those further north, except the Tasmanian form which is small.[26] The original form, known as the black-backed magpie and classified as Gymnorhina tibicen, has been split into four black-backed races:

•G. tibicen tibicen, the nominate form, is a large subspecies found in southeastern Queensland, from the vicinity of Moreton Bay through eastern New South Wales to Moruya, New South Wales almost to the Victorian border. It is coastal or near-coastal and is restricted to east of the Great Dividing Range.

 

•G. tibicen terraereginae, found from Cape York and the Gulf Country southwards across Queenslandto the coast between Halifax Bay in the north and south to the Mary River, and central and western New South Wales and into northern South Australia, is a small to medium-sized subspecies. The plumage is the same as that of subspecies tibicen, although the female has a shorter black tip to the tail. The wings and tarsus are shorter and the bill proportionally longer. It was originally described by Gregory Mathews in 1912, its subspecies name a Latin translation, terra "land" reginae "queen's" of "Queensland". Hybridisation with the large white-backed subspecies tyrannica occurs in northern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales; intermediate forms have black bands of varying sizes in white-backed area. Three-way hybridisation occurs between Bega and Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast.

 

•G. tibicen eylandtensis, the Top End magpie, is found from the Kimberley in northern Western Australia, across the Northern Territory through Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt and into the Gulf Country. It is a small subspecies with a long and thinner bill, with birds of Groote Eylandt possibly even smaller than mainland birds. It has a narrow black terminal tailband, and a narrow black band; the male has a large white nape, the female pale grey. This form was initially described by H. L. White in 1922. It intergrades with subspecies terraereginae southeast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

 

•G. tibicen longirostris, the long-billed magpie, is found across northern Western Australia, from Shark Bay into the Pilbara. Named in 1903 by Alex Milligan, it is a medium-sized subspecies with a long thin bill. Milligan speculated the bill may have been adapted for the local conditions, slim fare meaning the birds had to pick at dangerous scorpions and spiders. There is a broad area of hybridisation with the western dorsalis in southern central Western Australia from Shark Bay south to the Murchison River and east to the Great Victoria Desert.

  

The white-backed magpie, originally described as Gymnorhina hypoleuca by John Gould in 1837, has also been split into races:

 

•G. tibicen tyrannica, a very large white-backed form found from Twofold Bay on the New South Wales far south coast, across southern Victoria south of the Great Dividing Range through to the Coorong in southeastern South Australia. It was first described by Schodde and Mason in 1999. It has a broad black tail band.

 

•G. tibicen telonocua, found from Cowell south into the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas in southern South Australia, as well as the southwestern Gawler Ranges. Described by Schodde and Mason in 1999, its subspecific name is an anagram of leuconota "white-backed". It is very similar to tyrannica, differing in having a shorter wing and being lighter and smaller overall. The bill is relatively short compared with other magpie subspecies. Intermediate forms are found in the Mount Lofty Ranges and on Kangaroo Island.

  

•G. tibicen hypoleuca now refers to a small white-backed subspecies with a short compact bill and short wings, found on King and Flinders Islands, as well as Tasmania.

 

•The western magpie, G. tibicen dorsalis was originally described as a separate species by A. J. Campbell in 1895 and is found in the fertile south-west corner of Western Australia. The adult male has a white back and most closely resembles subspecies telonocua, though it is a little larger with a longer bill and the black tip of its tail plumage is narrower. The female is unusual in that it has a scalloped black or brownish-black mantle and back; the dark feathers there are edged with white. This area appears a more uniform black as the plumage ages and the edges are worn away. Both sexes have black thighs.

 

•The New Guinean magpie, G. tibicen papuana, is a little-known subspecies found in southern New Guinea. The adult male has a mostly white back with a narrow black stripe, and the female a blackish back; the black feathers here are tipped with white similar to subspecies dorsalis. It has a long deep bill resembling that of subspecies longirostris. Genetically it is closely related to a western lineage of Australian magpies comprising subspecies dorsalis, longirostris and eylandtensis, suggesting their ancestors occupied in savannah country that was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia and was submerged around 16,500 years ago.

  

Description

 

The adult magpie is a fairly solid, sturdy bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length with a 65–85 cm (25.5–33.5 in) wingspan, and weighing 220–350 g (7.8–12.3 oz). Its robust wedge-shaped bill is bluish-white bordered with black, with a small hook at the tip. The black legs are long and strong. The plumage is pure glossy black and white; both sexes of all subspecies have black heads, wings and underparts with white shoulders. The tail has a black terminal band. The nape is white in the male and light greyish-white in the female. Mature magpies have dull red eyes, in contrast to the yellow eyes of currawongs and white eyes of Australian ravens and crows. The main difference between the subspecies lies in the "saddle" markings on the back below the nape. Black-backed subspecies have a black saddle and white nape. White-backed subspecies have a wholly white nape and saddle. The male Western Australian subspecies dorsalis is also white-backed, but the equivalent area in the female is scalloped black.

Juveniles have lighter greys and browns amidst the starker blacks and whites of their plumage; two- or three-year-old birds of both sexes closely resemble and are difficult to distinguish from adult females. Immature birds have dark brownish eyes until around two years of age. Australian magpies generally live to around 25 years of age, though ages of up to 30 years have been recorded. The reported age of first breeding has varied according to area, but the average is between the ages of three and five years.

Well-known and easily recognisable, the Australian magpie is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The pied butcherbird has a similar build and plumage, but has white underparts unlike the former species' black underparts. The magpie-lark is a much smaller and more delicate bird with complex and very different banded black and white plumage. Currawong species have predominantly dark plumage and heavier bills.

 

Vocalisation

 

One of Australia's most highly regarded songbirds, the Australian magpie has a wide variety of calls, many of which are complex. Pitch may vary as much as four octaves, and the bird can mimic over 35 species of native and introduced bird species, as well as dogs and horses. Magpies have even been noted to mimic human speech when living in close proximity to humans. Its complex, musical, warbling call is one of the most familiar Australian bird sounds. In Denis Glover's poem "The Magpies", the mature magpie's call is described as quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry, and as waddle giggle gargle paddle poodle, in the children's book Waddle Giggle Gargle by Pamela Allen.

 

When alone, a magpie may make a quiet musical warbling; these complex melodious warbles or subsongs are pitched at 2–4 KHz and do not carry for long distances. These songs have been recorded up to 70 minutes in duration and are more frequent after the end of the breeding season. Pairs of magpies often take up a loud musical calling known as carolling to advertise or defend their territory; one bird initiates the call with the second (and sometimes more) joining in. Often preceded by warbling, carolling is pitched between 6 and 8 kHz and has 4–5 elements with slurring indistinct noise in between. Birds will adopt a specific posture by tilting their heads back, expanding their chests, and moving their wings backwards. A group of magpies will sing a short repetitive version of carolling just before dawn (dawn song), and at twilight after sundown (dusk song), in winter and spring.

 

Fledgling and juvenile magpies emit a repeated short and loud (80 dB), high-pitched (8 kHz) begging call. Magpies may indulge in beak-clapping to warn other species of birds.They employ several high pitched (8–10 kHz) alarm or rallying calls when intruders or threats are spotted. Distinct calls have been recorded for the approach of eagles and monitor lizards.

 

Distribution and habitat

 

The Australian magpie is found in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea, between the Oriomo River and Muli Strait, and across most of Australia, bar the tip of Cape York, the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts, and southwest of Tasmania. Birds taken mainly from Tasmania and Victoria were introduced into New Zealand by local Acclimatisation Societies of Otago and Canterbury in the 1860s, with the Wellington Acclimatisation Society releasing 260 birds in 1874. White-backed forms are spread on both the North and eastern South Island, while black-backed forms are found in the Hawke's Bay region. Magpies were introduced into New Zealand to control agricultural pests, and were therefore a protected species until 1951. They are thought to affect native New Zealand bird populations such as the tui and kereru, sometimes raiding nests for eggs and nestlings, although studies by Waikato University have cast doubt on this, and much blame on the magpie as a predator in the past has been anecdotal only. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, although the species has failed to become established. It has become established in western Taveuni in Fiji, however.

 

The Australian magpie prefers open areas such as grassland, fields and residential areas such as parks, gardens, golf courses, and streets, with scattered trees or forest nearby. Birds nest and shelter in trees but forage mainly on the ground in these open areas. It has also been recorded in mature pine plantations; birds only occupy rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in the vicinity of cleared areas. In general, evidence suggests the range and population of the Australian magpie has increased with land-clearing, although local declines in Queensland due to a 1902 drought, and in Tasmania in the 1930s have been noted; the cause for the latter is unclear but rabbit baiting, pine tree removal, and spread of the masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) have been implicated.

 

Behaviour

 

The Australian magpie is almost exclusively diurnal, although it may call into the night, like some other members of the Artamidae. Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting. The Australian raven may take nestlings left unattended.

 

On the ground, the Australian magpie moves around by walking, and is the only member of the Artamidae to do so; woodswallows, butcherbirds and currawongs all tend to hop with legs parallel. The magpie has a short femur (thigh bone), and long lower leg below the knee, suited to walking rather than running, although birds can run in short bursts when hunting prey.

 

The magpie is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range, living in groups occupying a territory, or in flocks or fringe groups. A group may occupy and defend the same territory for many years. Much energy is spent defending a territory from intruders, particularly other magpies, and different behaviours are seen with different opponents. The sight of a raptor results in a rallying call by sentinel birds and subsequent coordinated mobbing of the intruder. Magpies place themselves either side of the bird of prey so that it will be attacked from behind should it strike a defender, and harass and drive the raptor to some distance beyond the territory. A group will use carolling as a signal to advertise ownership and warn off other magpies. In the negotiating display, the one or two dominant magpies parade along the border of the defended territory while the rest of the group stand back a little and look on. The leaders may fluff their feathers or caroll repeatedly. In a group strength display, employed if both the opposing and defending groups are of roughly equal numbers, all magpies will fly and form a row at the border of the territory. The defending group may also resort to an aerial display where the dominant magpies, or sometimes the whole group, swoop and dive while calling to warn an intruding magpie's group.

 

A wide variety of displays are seen, with aggressive behaviours outnumbering pro-social ones. Crouching low and uttering quiet begging calls are common signs of submission. The manus flutter is a submissive display where a magpie will flutter its primary feathers in its wings. A magpie, particularly a juvenile, may also fall, roll over on its back and expose its underparts. Birds may fluff up their flank feathers as an aggressive display or preceding an attack. Young birds display various forms of play behaviour, either by themselves or in groups, with older birds often initiating the proceedings with juveniles. These may involve picking up, manipulating or tugging at various objects such as sticks, rocks or bits of wire, and handing them to other birds. A bird may pick up a feather or leaf and flying off with it, with other birds pursuing and attempting to bring down the leader by latching onto its tail feathers. Birds may jump on each other and even engage in mock fighting. Play may even take place with other species such as blue-faced honeyeaters and Australasian pipits.

 

Breeding

 

Magpies have a long breeding season which varies in different parts of the country; in northern parts of Australia they will breed between June and September, but not commence until August or September in cooler regions, and may continue until January in some alpine areas. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with softer material such as grass and bark. Near human habitation, synthetic material may be incorporated. Nests are built exclusively by females and generally placed high up in a tree fork, often in an exposed position. The trees used are most commonly eucalypts, although a variety of other native trees as well as introduced pine, Crataegus, and elm have been recorded. Other bird species, such as the yellow-rumped thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa), willie wagtail(Rhipidura leucophrys), southern whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis), and (less commonly) noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), often nest in the same tree as the magpie. The first two species may even locate their nest directly beneath a magpie nest, while the diminutive striated pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) has been known to make a burrow for breeding into the base of the magpie nest itself. These incursions are all tolerated by the magpies. The channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is a notable brood parasite in eastern Australia; magpies will raise cuckoo young, which eventually outcompete the magpie nestlings.

 

The Australian magpie produces a clutch of two to five light blue or greenish eggs, which are oval in shape and about 30 by 40 mm (1.2 by 1.6 in). The chicks hatch synchronously around 20 days after incubation begins; like all passerines, the chicks are altricial—they are born pink, naked, and blind with large feet, a short broad beak and a bright red throat. Their eyes are fully open at around 10 days. Chicks develop fine downy feathers on their head, back and wings in the first week, and pinfeathers in the second week. The black and white colouration is noticeable from an early stage. Nestlings are fed exclusively by the female, though the male magpie will feed his partner. The Australian magpie is known to engage in cooperative breeding, and helper birds will assist in feeding and raising young. This does vary from region to region, and with the size of the group—the behaviour is rare or nonexistent in pairs or small groups.

 

Juvenile magpies begin foraging on their own three weeks after leaving the nest, and mostly feeding themselves by six months old. Some birds continue begging for food until eight or nine months of age, but are usually ignored. Birds reach adult size by their first year. The age at which young birds disperse varies across the country, and depends on the aggressiveness of the dominant adult of the corresponding sex; males are usually evicted at a younger age. Many leave at around a year old, but the age of departure may range from eight months to four years.

 

Feeding

 

The Australian magpie is omnivorous, eating various items located at or near ground level including invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes, snails, spiders and scorpions as well as a wide variety of insects—cockroaches, ants, beetles, cicadas, moths and caterpillars and other larvae. Insects, including large adult grasshoppers, may be seized mid-flight. Skinks, frogs, mice and other small animals as well as grain, tubers, figs and walnuts have also been noted as components of their diet. It has even learnt to safely eat the poisonous cane toadby flipping it over and consuming the underparts. Predominantly a ground feeder, the Australian magpie paces open areas methodically searching for insects and their larvae. One study showed birds were able to find scarab beetle larvae by sound or vibration. Birds use their bills to probe into the earth or otherwise overturn debris in search of food. Smaller prey are swallowed whole, although magpies rub off the stingers of bees and wasps before swallowing.

 

Relationship with humans

 

Swooping

 

Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early - mid October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest.

 

The percentage has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%. Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male, and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around 50 m (160 ft) from their nest, and cyclists at around 100 m (330 ft). There appears to be some specificity in choice of attack targets, with the majority of individuals specializing on either pedestrians or cyclists.Smaller - especially younger - people, lone people, and people travelling quickly (i.e., runners and cyclists) appear to be targeted most often by swooping magpies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that if a magpie sees a human trying to rescue a chick that has fallen from its nest, the bird will view this help as predation, and will become more aggressive to humans from then on.

 

Magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders. Least threatening are alarm calls and distant swoops, where birds fly within several metres from behind and perch nearby. Next in intensity are close swoops, where a magpie will swoop in from behind or the side and audibly "snap" their beaks or even peck or bite at the face, neck, ears or eyes. More rarely, a bird may dive-bomb and strike the intruder's (usually a cyclist's) head with its chest. A magpie may rarely attack by landing on the ground in front of a person and lurching up and landing on the victim's chest and pecking at the face and eyes.

 

Magpie attacks can cause injuries, typically wounds to the head, and being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury.

 

If it is necessary to walk near the nest, wearing a broad-brimmed or legionnaire's hat or using an umbrella will deter attacking birds, but beanies and bicycle helmets are of little value as birds attack the sides of the head and neck.

 

Magpies prefer to swoop at the back of the head; therefore, keeping the magpie in sight at all times can discourage the bird. A basic disguise such as sunglasses worn on the back of the head may fool the magpie as to where a person is looking. Eyes painted on hats or helmets will deter attacks on pedestrians but not cyclists.

 

Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike, and the use of cable ties on helmets has become common and appears to be effective.

 

Magpies are a protected native species in Australia, so it is illegal to kill or harm them. However, this protection is removed in some Australian states if a magpie attacks a human, allowing for the bird to be killed if it is considered particularly aggressive (such a provision is made, for example, in section 54 of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act).[ More commonly, an aggressive bird will be caught and relocated to an unpopulated area. Magpies have to be moved some distance as almost all are able to find their way home from distances of less than 25 km (16 mi). Removing the nest is of no use as birds will breed again and possibly be more aggressive the second time around.

 

Some claim that swooping can be prevented by hand-feeding magpies. Magpies will become accustomed to being fed by humans, and although they are wild, will return to the same place looking for handouts. The idea is that humans thereby appear less of a threat to the nesting birds. Although this has not been studied systematically, there are reports of its success.

  

Cultural references

 

The Australian magpie featured in aboriginal folklore around Australia. The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara in the northwest of the country used the bird as a signal for sunrise, frightening them awake with its call. They were also familiar with its highly territorial nature, and it features in a song in their Burndud, or songs of customs. It was a totem bird of the people of the Illawarra region south of Sydney.

 

Under the name piping shrike, the white-backed magpie was declared the official emblem of the Government of South Australia in 1901 by Governor Tennyson, and has featured on the South Australian flag since 1904. The magpie is a commonly used emblem of sporting teams in Australia, and its brash, cocky attitude has been likened to the Australian psyche. Such teams tend to wear uniforms with black and white stripes. The Collingwood Football Club adopted the magpie from a visiting South Australian representative team in 1892. The Port Adelaide Magpies would similarly adopt the black and white colours and Magpie name in 1902. Other examples include Brisbane's Souths Logan Magpies, and Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies. Disputes over who has been the first club to adopt the magpie emblem have been heated at times. Another club, Glenorchy Football Club of Tasmania, was forced to change uniform design when placed in the same league as another club (Claremont Magpies) with the same emblem.

 

In New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union team, from Napier, New Zealand, is also known as the magpies. One of the best-known New Zealand poems is "The Magpies" by Denis Glover, with its refrain "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the bird – and the popular New Zealand comic Footrot Flats features a magpie character by the name of Pew.

 

An online poll conducted by Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia was held in late 2017 to choose the "Australian Bird of the Year". The Australian magpie won the contest with 19,926 votes (13.3%), narrowly ahead of the Australian white ibis.

 

[Credit: en.wikipedia.org]

Day 56/366: On a walk around the marina, I took a lot of backlit shots, none of which worked very well! The subjects are too dark and the background is blown, rather than soft. Thank you for your comments on previous images; I think I need to be more methodical in my practicing, to learn more about the capabilities and limitations of the camera. Is there anything you can suggest about backlighting? I really appreciate all your feedback and constructive criticism - thank you again

 

Since 9/11 the number of crimes committed daily by America's corporations & politicians has increased so dramatically that no one - & no single agency - is able to feel adequately informed. During this era of runaway mob scheming & proliferation I've read 25 & usually more serious news articles daily, which is the minimum number that must be examined & absorbed to enable more than a glimmer of the magnitude & scope of the criminality.

 

In the early months of George W. Bush's institutionalization of Federal Government as Mob Operation it was apparent that the people of the nation were under the spell of a psychopathic cult leader who, unlike the usual religious con men - say, Jim Jones, David Koresh, L. Ron Hubbard, Ayn Rand or the convicted felon, Joseph Smith - had at his disposal & command the whole vast apparatus of the empire's instruments for social control, including the police, army, legal system, churches, news press & television media. And of course the oligarchs & their executives (Bush's peers by birthright) were anxious to steal all that they could while the taking was easy ... & very easy it became, & very easy it still is.

 

Habeas corpus was taken away from us, as was posse comitatus. The Watergate criminal, ex-Admiral John Poindexter, was appointed to create Total Information Awareness, a DARPA program designed to spy on all citizens at all hours, which when public outcries arose against it was disbanded but instantly replaced here & there in various other government agencies, such as the CIA & NSA, in which agencies it grew like flies multiplying in a dung heap, as indeed it continues to do, most recently with drones supplied to local police forces, able to identify & track a milk carton from 60,000 feet above the earth. Again, under Mob Boss Bush, the capitalists joined in, & we became & are still spied upon by our telephone & internet servers, & banks, which collect & dispense the history of our once private individual activities & behaviors from birth to our death. Cameras serving police record our passage from Starbuck's to Sears. Like all people caught up in cults, we came to believe that all of this is as it must & should be, & we silently conform to it, as do trained dogs to their masters.

 

The deep function of what has happened is this: The wages we receive & the taxes we pay must all be instantly given up to the superrich. Our physical health is a commodity owned by the superrich, not us. Likewise, our welfare is owned by the aristocrats, not by us. In a few short years, for instance, student debt was made to exceed the nation's credit card debt - our children, in other words, were sold into debt peonage, & this is enforced by new law that says the children must pay it even after filing bankruptcy, & even in old age by garnishment from Social Security income. And of course there has been & will be no let up in the quest of the superrich to own Social Security, which surely they will in the near future unless a people's government is somehow - repeat, somehow - created.

 

As Thomas Frank has explained, a college graduate can no longer pursue his or her intellectual dream, such as becoming a teacher, artist or journalist committed to discovering & telling the truth, because student debt & laws enforcing payment compel immediate entrance into the empire's mainstream occupations, where the objectives to be pursued are the properties of others, not of oneself. Thus our children are now born into bonded servitude, for which on the whole wages are pitiful & increasingly buy little more than necessities.

 

All great institutions in the empire assure us that all of this criminality is necessary for two reasons: One, immensely determined evil external & internal personages are out to destroy our country, & we must surrender all of our civil rights & wealth in order to survive; & Two, alas alas, our nation has no money, & so must sell all of the people's assets & public services to the superrich. Well ... please, the first reason does not survive the briefest review of its merit, & let me not bother anyone with further words about it. And the second reason is equally preposterous, because the United States prints its own money, & under Obama did so to the tune of two trillion dollars given by the Federal Reserve to its clients, the big banks (which naturally did not, have not & will not do anything socially responsible with it). No economist who is committed to an understanding not of capitalist dogma, but rather to the truth of what was very well learned during & consequent to previous severe economic demand crises, such as the one we are now in, believes that 'shrinking government' is anything other than a vicious, irresponsible policy devised by & for the sole benefit of aristocrat thieves & their sociopathic politicians. Economics, after all, is a science, & as such its method & conclusions are dependent upon the collection & interpretation of empirical data, not any of which does in fact or in the least support shrinking government during a demand crisis. Indeed, the only agency known to be capable of or potentially possessed of the will to end such crises is a nation's government.

 

But all good sense is lost upon cultists, who will do anything to secure life in death, a clear clear E-meter reading, a galaxy to be an eternal god of with one's dead wife, morality in selfishness, up in down, straight in crooked, or - now - an American in Washington, DC (or in Dallas or Tombstone or any other city or town).

 

-----------

 

Hope Burning

 

Posted on May 30, 2012

 

By Robert Scheer

 

EXCERPTS: Obama as the cool triggerman is an image useful to White House operatives as they buff the president’s persona for the coming election. But what it reveals is the mindset of a political cynic whose seductive words cloak the moral indifference of a methodical executioner. Forget Harry Truman, who obliterated the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or Lyndon Johnson, who carpet-bombed millions in Vietnam. The Democrats have got themselves another killer, one whose techniques are as devastatingly effective, but brilliantly refined.

The story obviously was planted in The New York Times to benefit the Obama political campaign.

 

.... Pfc. Bradley Manning was held for many months in solitary confinement for allegedly disclosing information of far lower security classification. The difference is that the top secrets in the news article are ones the president wants leaked in the expectation they will burnish his “tough on terrorism” credentials. This is clearly not the Obama whom many voted for in the hope that he would stick by his word, including the pledge he made on his second day in office to ban brutal interrogation and close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. “What the new president did not say was that the orders contained a few subtle loopholes,” the Times now reports concerning the early promises by Obama. “They reflected a still unfamiliar Barack Obama, a realist who, unlike some of his fervent supporters, was never carried away by his own rhetoric.”

Parse that sentence carefully to learn much of what is morally decrepit in our journalism as well as politics. The word “realist” is now identical to “hypocrite,” and the condemnation of immoral behavior addresses nothing more than “rhetoric” that only the “fervent” would take seriously. The Times writers all but thrill to the lying, as in recounting the new president’s response to advisers who warned him against sticking to his campaign promises on Guantanamo prisoners: “The deft insertion of some wiggle words in the president’s order showed that the advice was followed.”

 

Please Continue to Full Text: www.truthdig.com/report/item/hope_burning_20120531/

 

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With spotmeter.

 

Pentax 67, 45mm f4, Kodak Tri-X 320 (320TX), developed in T-Max. Drumscanned.

 

...::: 4nalog :::...

Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.

   

A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.

  

Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.

  

In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms

.

 

Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.

  

Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.

 

In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.

  

The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.

  

The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.

 

Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.

  

Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.

 

The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.

 

In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.

  

Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.

   

Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.

   

However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.

   

In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha