A Wilson's snipe looks for its next meal in a shallow wetland at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. They forage by methodically probing in muddy ground for earthworms and other invertebrates. Their heads move up and down somewhat like a sewing machine running at slow speed. These secretive birds can be hard to spot, blending in with the wetland vegetation. In the breeding season, displaying males fly high in the sky and make a curious whistling noise (“winnowing”), created by air passing over his modified outer tail feathers.

www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/webless-migratory-game...

www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/webless-migratory-game...

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/id

Photo: Tom Koerner/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Vicksburg, Mississippi est. 1825, pop. (2013) 23,542 • MS Delta

U.S.S. Cairo Museum: The War on the Inland Waters

"To control the Mississippi the Confederates depended on fortified strongholds along the river’s length, supported by gunboats and rams.

"Slowly and methodically, the combined operations of Union land and naval forces forced the surrender of one Confederate bastion after another.

"The Confederate Navy fought valiantly but was no math for the heavily armored Union fleets. The Confederate fortifications resisted punishing bombardment by Union gunboats, the deep-water navy’s mortar schooners and scows, and land-based artillery, but fell in the end to Union mobility and fire power."

• U.S.S. Cairo [photo] one of seven ironclad "city class" gunboats named for towns on the upper Mississippi & Ohio rivers, each w/thirteen cannon • built by the U.S. during the American Civil War to regain control of the lower Mississippi River & split the Confederacy in two

• designed by naval architect Samuel M. Pook (1804-1878) • built by river engineer James B. Eads (1820-1887), James B. Eads & Co., Mound City, IL • commissioned January, 1862 • saw limited action at Plum Point & the Battle of Memphis

• Cairo's skipper, Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. (1836-1924) was an aggressive & promising young officer • 12 Dec., 1862, he led a small flotilla up the Yazoo River to destroy Confederate batteries & clear the channel of torpedoes (naval mines) • 7 mi. north of Vicksburg, the Cairo came under fire & was rocked by 2 explosions which tore holes in the ship's hull • within 12 min. sank into 6 fathoms (36 feet) of water without loss of life • thought to have been the first ship in history sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo

• Confederate operative Thomas Weldon (1816-1865) is said to have been instrumental in developing the electric spark underwater torpedo that is believed to have sunk the Cairo • "USS Cairo gunboat sunk by an IED" —Standing Well Back

• the gunboat was soon forgotten, a time capsule covered by silt & sand • found, 1956, using maps & divers • raised 1964 • transported to the Vicksburg National Military Park, 1977, where it was partially reconstructed • new lumber replaced rotted timbers, although some original wood remains • "city class" gunboats had colored bands on their smokestacks — the Cairo's were gray

• shelter to cover the vessel completed, 1980 • adjacent museum built to exhibit recovered artifacts • video: Salvage of the Gunboat Cairo (3:26)

• National Register # 71000068, 1971

• Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg (1863) • the 47-day Union siege ended in the Confederate surrender of the city. Victory here & at Port Hudson, LA, gave the Union control of the Mississippi River • park includes 1,325 historic monuments & markers, 20 miles (32 km) of Civil War era trenches & earthworks, 144 cannons & the USS Cairo, a restored gunboat... read on

• originally established in 1899 • 5th national military park under the control of the U.S. War Department • ownership transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior & the National Park Service, 1933 • 8th oldest National Park • Facebook

• the military leaders of the Battle of Vicksburg [photos]

• National Register # 66000100, 1966

www.phaselis.org/en/about/about-project

Phaselis Research

Phaselis

When compared with the previous period of research on the history of the city over the past quarter century it has undergone radical changes. While modern scientists follow the path of their predecessors in collecting data through systematic processes and methodically analysing them, they change the route whereby they approach the city as a context- and a process-oriented structure, having economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions which come together at different levels.

This considerably more inclusive definition expands the discipline concerning the city’s historical research, which consists of archaeology, epigraphy, ancient history and the other ancillary sciences and it encourages scientists from the natural and health sciences to participate within these studies. This is because in the course of the exploration of an ancient settlement the study of both the environment and the ecological setting which make human life possible; together with health issues, such as diet and epidemics, form the context within which human beings live, and which are thereby as important as the human actors.

Within the context of the planned Phaselis Research, even certain knowledge such as the settlement’s appearing on the stage of history as a favorite break-point with its three natural harbours, it being famous for its roses, the frequent seismic upheavals at sea and on its shores and its citizens leaving their homes because of a devastating malaria epidemic suggest the necessity of the application of this multi-dimensional research methodology in order to understand more fully the historical adventure of this city.

By presenting this research project, we aim to implement and realize this multi-dimensional research method, which as yet lacks widespread application in the field in our country, however conceptually and practically with a multi-disciplinary research team consisting of both national and international scientists, we intend to register systematically every kind of data/information regarding all contexts of the city employing modern methods and to present the results to the scientific world in the form of regular reports and monographic studies, thus forming a strong tie between past and future research.

Phaselis Territorium

The boundaries of the ancient city of Phaselis’ territorium are today within the administrative borders of the township of Tekirova, in Kemer District, determined from the archaeological, epigraphic and historical-geographical evidence, reaching the Gökdere valley to the north, continue on a line drawn from Üç Adalar to Mount Tahtalı to the south and extend along the Çandır valley to the west.

Phaselis was discovered in 1811-1812 by Captain F. Beaufort during his work of charting the southern coastline of Asia Minor for the British Royal Navy. Beaufort drew Phaselis’ plan and in the course of conducting his cartographic studies, he saw the word Φασηλίτης ethnikon on the inscriptions and consequently identified these ruins with Phaselis. C. R. Cockerell, the English architect, archaeologist and author came to Phaselis by ship and met Beaufort there. Then in 1838 C. Fellows, the English archaeologist visited the city. He found the fragments of the dedicatory inscription over the monumental gate built in honour of the Emperor Hadrianus and mistakenly thought the Imperial Period main street was the stadion due to the seats-steps on either side of the street. In 1842 Lt. T. A. B. Spratt, the English hydrographer and geographer, and the Rev. E. Forbes, the naturalist came to Phaselis via the Olympos and Khimaira routes. Due to the fact that they all came by sea and they only stayed for a short time, their descriptions of the topography inland are without detailed and there are serious errors in orientation.

PhaselisThose researchers who visited Phaselis between the late 19th and the early 20th centuries concentrated primarily upon the discovery of inscriptions. In 1881-1882 while the Austrian archaeologist and the epigraphist O. Benndorf, the founder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and his team were conducting research in southwestern Asia Minor, they examined Phaselis. In the winter of 1883 and 1884 F. von Luschan from the Austrian team took the first photographs which provide information concerning the regional features of Phaselis’ shoreline. In the same year the French scientist V. Bérard also visited Phaselis. In 1892 the members of the Austrian research team, O. Benndorf, E. Kalinka and their colleagues continued their architectural, archaeological and epigraphical studies in Phaselis. In 1904 they were followed by D. G. Hogarth, R. Norton and A. W. van Buren from the British research team. In 1908 the Austrian classical philologist E. Kalinka visited the settlement again, collected epigraphic documents and conducted research on the history of city (published in TAM II in 1944). The Italian researchers R. Paribeni and P. Romanelli visited Phaselis in1913 and C. Anti in 1921. Anti returned to Antalya overland and in consequence discovered several epigraphs and the ruins of structures within the territorium of Phaselis.

Further archaeological, epigraphical and historical-geographical studies of Phaselis were conducted by the English researchers F. M. Stark and G. Bean, who came to the region after World War II. In 1968 H. Schläger, the German architect and underwater archaeologist began exploring the topographical and architectural structures of Phaselis’s harbours. After Schläger’s death in 1969, the research was conducted under the leadership of the archaeologist J. Schäfer in 1970. H. Schläger, J. Schäfer and their colleagues obtained important data concerning the architecture and history of Phaselis through the surface exploration of the city and its periphery. Following the excavations conducted along the main axial street of the city, in 1980 under the direction of Kayhan Dörtlük, the then Director of the Antalya Museum and between 1981-1985 under the leadership of the archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu; underwater exploration was carried out in the South Harbour under the direction of Metin Pehlivaner, the then Director of the Antalya Museum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaselis

Take at a fish market in Lima.

Though closely related, the Peruvian Pelican is almost twice as large as its northern congener, the Brown Pelican. The species breeds along the Pacific Coast of South America in Peru and Chile. Though still common, with about half a million breeding adults, the population has been negatively affected by strong El Niño fluctuations and changes in food fish populations, particularly anchoveta. Peruvian Pelicans are easily observed from shore as they fly back and forth in nearshore waters by means of soaring interrupted by deep, methodical wingbeats.

We set out Friday morning very early. 5:30 am to be exact. Out flight left at 7:30 am to BWI, and we didn't want any hiccups. We decided to check no bags, and we were going to bring Fletcher's car seat. When we got to the parking garage and realized just how much stuff we would have to schlep to MARTA, we 86'd the car seat idea.

The airport was a complete grind, carrying Fletch and all those bags. We had a medium duffle and a diaper bag for him, pretty good sized backpacks for Kelly and me, my computer bag, and a beach bag for Kelly. Plus, we had to carry Fletch.

I got scanned at the new "naked picture" scanning machine at security, and the TSA used some very expensive device to electronically sniff Fletcher's milk. Fletch cried when they took his cup.

At this point, we had just borded the plane, and Fletch had been buckling and unbuckling his seatbelt for about 15 minutes.

We had given him a donut with sprinkles for breakfast, and he ate the whole thing. I mean, he sat there without making a sound, as if trying to avoid detection, methodically taking down the donut.

I predicted that he would refuse a nap based on the sugar plus the hassle of travel, but that wasn't the case. He slept for about 2 hours in the rental car.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Stitched Panorama

On October 1, 2012 I spent an interesting day out at the Marin Headlands watching the ingenious riggers of the Bigge Crane & Rigging Company move a 16” gun up the hill to Battery Townsley. Battery Townsley in the Marin Headlands and Battery Davis on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach were the two Bay Area batteries armed (of four planned) with 16” guns in World War II. Each battery had two gun emplacements within a huge concrete construction housing guns, munition storage, generators, and in the case of Townsley up to 150 resident troops.

Battery Townsley received its two guns in 1939 and was ready for action soon thereafter. Placing the guns was no small feat since they are the largest rifles ever made for the US arsenal. Each barrel weighed almost a quarter-million pounds and stretched 68 feet from breech to muzzle. The battery was decommissioned as an artillery emplacement by 1948 and its guns were cut up for scrap in that year.

Fast-forward to the current day, the Marin Headlands are now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and visitors can take a short hike up the hill to see Battery Townsley. For several years now a group of park volunteers has been restoring the battery. If you time your visit to coincide with their open house days you can tour the interior of the installation – great fun. As part of this restoration project a plan was developed to install and display a surplus naval gun nearly identical to the guns originally mounted at Battery Townsley. The surplus gun was sourced from the Naval Weapons Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada where it had been stored since 1953. In one of those pleasant little turns of history the company that won the modern day bid to move the barrel from Nevada to the Marin Headlands was Bigge, the same company that moved the original guns in 1939.

These photographs were taken during a pleasant day watching the crew methodically move this huge gun up the hill and into its storage place next to the battery. I began the day with a series of pole photographs of the gun in the Rodeo Beach parking lot (there was no wind in the morning). In the early afternoon I shot a quick round of kite aerial photographs at Rodeo Beach, the gun was still at the Rodeo Beach trailhead while transport hydraulics were tuned. I then hiked up to Battery Townsley to photograph the placement of the gun. I had originally planned to shoot a quick series of the gun being pulled through one of the hairpin turns on the approach road but my timing was off and I did not want to add distraction to what was a rather intense hauling session.

Another view of the study at the Charles Dickens Museum – the author's former home at 48 Doughty Street in London.

A few details about the study, as listed in the museum's guide book:

Dickens' working day followed a strict routine. His writing time was between breakfast and lunch and there were no distractions that could pull him from his writing. 'His mind was essentially methodical and in his labour he was governed by rules laid down by himself and rarely departed from,' wrote one of his friends. After lunch Dickens might spend time at his club, look after his charitable projects or go for a long walk. The author drew much inspiration from exploring his surroundings and meeting people, so even when he was not at his writing desk his mind was creating new plots and characters.

A visitor to this room during Dickens' time here remarked on the author's vast collection of books. Today, the book cases are filled with early editions of Dickens' works and books owned by Dickens. These form part of the National Dickens Library which is held here at the museum.

Los Angeles Firefighters skilfully rescued the seriously injured driver of a semi truck that collided with the rear of another on the westbound I-210 (Foothill) Freeway in Sunland on October 11, 2010. © Photo by David DeMulle

Imaging:

Canon 50D (modified) on Skywatcher Equinox 80mm with Televue TRF-2008. Antares ALP Filter.

Lights 10 x 600s f/5 ISO 400

Darks 14 x

Bias 64 x

Flats 108 x

Guiding:

SSAG on Skywatcher 80mm f/5 achromatic refractor

Guide frames x 1.5s

www.flickr.com/photos/torbenh/5935794674/

- - - - -

Been a long while since out with scope, and gear (hand-held had 09/14/2011 as last date input!). But i was quite happy how quickly i remembered everything, i had been very methodical in having all my gear neatly packed away, so no surprises!

So the last time i imaged this one i had just modified my 50D to use for IR, and in this case get more Ha. I found it very hard to edit the resulting image, so this time i tried using the APL filter i bought quite a while ago, but never really used much as i did not see much effect. well the APL has a huge effect on HA, without it the sky is much more red/orange. So edting this image was like 10x easier. finally my $150 investment has paid off!! I honestly had regretted buying that filter, but now i love it!

It's nearly one year ago to the day that I drove my car up a narrow, winding road about 20 minutes southeast of Jeju City. It was an uncharacteristically cold April morning, spring having yet to make it's appearance on the island.

I parked my car and struggled to the entrance of the Jeju April 3rd Peace Memorial Hall, relentless winds and freezing temperatures battering me along the way. It reminded me how perfectly the weather conditions matched this somber day.

Once inside, I made my way to a massive room where a large crowd of people had already formed. I scanned the room and my eyes were immediately drawn to the endless rows of names inscribed along its back wall. Flowers and offerings of fruit lay below the names, all of it lit by flickering candles. People had begun to pray.

This marked my introduction to a ceremony commemorating the 64 years since the Jeju Massacre, or "4.3", broke out on Jeju Island on April 3rd, 1948. One of the deadliest conflicts in Korean history, it continued for 6 bloody years, during which time an estimated 30,000 Jeju residents died at the hands of South Korean forces as punishment for perceived sympathy towards communism and the newly formed North Korea.

The conflict came to an end in 1954 but the pain and suffering caused by the loss of loved ones did not. How could something like this happen? For decades after any discussion of the massacre was censored with the threat of torture or imprisonment for those who chose to speak out.

The passage of time has healed some wounds. Since the 1990's the South Korean government has made a series of apologies and, in 2006, then President Roh Moo-Hyun officially apologized to the people of Jeju. But, apologies will never bring back those who lost their lives in the uprising.

With these thoughts in my mind, I slowly worked my way through the crowd and began to focus my attention on an elderly couple desperately trying to find the name of somebody lost in those attacks so many years ago. The pain of their loss clearly etched on their faces, they methodically scanned the names on the wall row by painstaking row.

I followed them for nearly 30 minutes until, finally, the husband's eyes showed a spark of recognition and his arm shot up into the air, his finger shaking as it pointed at a name on the wall. I saw a brief flicker of satisfaction, even triumph, on the elderly couples' faces that, after so many years, at least they could pay their respects to a fallen loved one.

It was at this moment I took a photo, my best of the day and one that would win at prize in the 2012 Jeju Sasam Photo Contest. When I look at that photo today I'm reminded of magnitude of the loss this terrible event had on so many families on Jeju Island and I pray that nothing like this will ever happen again.

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Morning Rituals and Unspoken Tensions

The morning light filtered through the lace curtains of their shared room, casting delicate patterns on the polished hardwood floor. Claire and Sophia stirred in their beds, both keenly aware of the rigid schedule they had to adhere to.

The Morning Toilet

Claire was the first to rise, her golden waves tumbling over her shoulders as she stretched. She moved with a practiced grace, slipping out of bed and into the adjoining bathroom, where the cool tiles sent a shiver up her spine. She turned on the tap, letting the water run for a moment before cupping her hands beneath it. The icy sensation against her skin jolted her fully awake. She splashed her face, rubbing gently to ensure every trace of sleep disappeared.

Sophia followed moments later, her darker locks spilling over her white nightgown as she padded into the room. Unlike Claire, she took her time, methodically brushing her teeth, staring at her reflection as if searching for something beyond the glass. Claire, having finished drying her face, watched her sister’s slow movements in the mirror.

“You’re always so meticulous,” Claire remarked, her voice light but laced with an underlying tension.

“It’s not about being meticulous,” Sophia replied, rinsing her mouth. “It’s about control. Some things should be done right, even if we don’t have a choice.”

Claire said nothing, instead reaching for her comb. She began running it through her golden locks, the repetitive strokes calming her nerves.

Dressing with Precision

The girls moved to their shared wardrobe, their outfits already chosen for them by the strict rules they lived under. A crisp white blouse hung neatly on either side, waiting for them. Next to them, the skirts—Claire’s adorned with delicate red florals, Sophia’s marked by sharp geometric lines in monochrome.

But first, they reached for their undergarments. Claire took a delicate ivory slip from the drawer, its silk fabric whispering against her fingertips. She slid it over her frame, adjusting the thin straps on her shoulders. Beneath it, she wore a matching lace-trimmed bra and briefs, the soft fabric hugging her form.

Sophia, in contrast, chose a black satin slip, its edges lined with a more austere, minimalist lace pattern. Her undergarments were equally refined but bore no unnecessary embellishment—practical, yet undeniably elegant. She fastened the clasp of her bra with a quiet snap, smoothing down the fabric before stepping into her slip.

Only once they were properly clad in their foundation layers did they retrieve their blouses and skirts. Claire picked up her blouse, smoothing the fabric between her fingers. “Another day,” she murmured.

Sophia’s gaze flickered to her. “Another day of blending in. Of being who we’re supposed to be.”

They began dressing in silence, each button fastened with precision, each movement a reminder of their place. Claire’s fingers hesitated at the collar before fastening the final button. She glanced at Sophia, who mirrored her movement in perfect synchronization.

The Art of Perfection – Makeup Ritual

With their clothing in place, they moved to the vanity, where an array of cosmetics was neatly arranged. Their makeup was to be flawless, subtle yet polished—a reflection of their disciplined lifestyle.

Claire reached for the primer first, smoothing it over her skin in careful circular motions. Sophia followed, her own application precise and methodical. Next came the foundation, a light but effective formula that evened out their complexions without looking heavy.

Claire dusted a hint of blush onto her cheeks, bringing warmth to her porcelain skin, while Sophia opted for a more sculpted look, subtly contouring her cheekbones. Their eyeshadow was kept neutral—taupe and soft browns, just enough to define without drawing undue attention.

Then came the final, most important touch: the lipstick. The one piece of their routine where they were allowed a bold statement. Claire uncapped a crimson tube, gliding the vibrant red across her lips, the pigment rich and velvety. Sophia did the same, the exact shade painting her lips with identical precision.

As Claire pressed her lips together, ensuring an even finish, she turned to her sister. “You ever wonder what it would be like to wear something else?”

Sophia sighed, capping her lipstick with a decisive click. “It’s not about the clothes, Claire. It’s about what they represent.”

Claire turned toward her, searching her expression. “And what do they represent to you?”

Sophia met her gaze, her dark eyes unreadable. “Obligation.”

For a moment, neither spoke. The weight of unspoken thoughts hung in the air between them. The routine, the expectations, the subtle but ever-present resistance simmering beneath their polished exteriors.

Claire exhaled softly, smoothing down the folds of her floral skirt. “At least we have each other.”

Sophia’s lips curled into the faintest of smiles. “For now.”

With one last glance in the mirror, they stood, side by side, identical in poise yet worlds apart in thought. The day awaited them, and as always, they would step into it flawlessly dressed, their true emotions hidden beneath crisp white fabric, carefully buttoned collars, and perfectly painted lips.

www.phaselis.org/en/about/about-project

Phaselis Research

Phaselis

When compared with the previous period of research on the history of the city over the past quarter century it has undergone radical changes. While modern scientists follow the path of their predecessors in collecting data through systematic processes and methodically analysing them, they change the route whereby they approach the city as a context- and a process-oriented structure, having economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions which come together at different levels.

This considerably more inclusive definition expands the discipline concerning the city’s historical research, which consists of archaeology, epigraphy, ancient history and the other ancillary sciences and it encourages scientists from the natural and health sciences to participate within these studies. This is because in the course of the exploration of an ancient settlement the study of both the environment and the ecological setting which make human life possible; together with health issues, such as diet and epidemics, form the context within which human beings live, and which are thereby as important as the human actors.

Within the context of the planned Phaselis Research, even certain knowledge such as the settlement’s appearing on the stage of history as a favorite break-point with its three natural harbours, it being famous for its roses, the frequent seismic upheavals at sea and on its shores and its citizens leaving their homes because of a devastating malaria epidemic suggest the necessity of the application of this multi-dimensional research methodology in order to understand more fully the historical adventure of this city.

By presenting this research project, we aim to implement and realize this multi-dimensional research method, which as yet lacks widespread application in the field in our country, however conceptually and practically with a multi-disciplinary research team consisting of both national and international scientists, we intend to register systematically every kind of data/information regarding all contexts of the city employing modern methods and to present the results to the scientific world in the form of regular reports and monographic studies, thus forming a strong tie between past and future research.

Phaselis Territorium

The boundaries of the ancient city of Phaselis’ territorium are today within the administrative borders of the township of Tekirova, in Kemer District, determined from the archaeological, epigraphic and historical-geographical evidence, reaching the Gökdere valley to the north, continue on a line drawn from Üç Adalar to Mount Tahtalı to the south and extend along the Çandır valley to the west.

Phaselis was discovered in 1811-1812 by Captain F. Beaufort during his work of charting the southern coastline of Asia Minor for the British Royal Navy. Beaufort drew Phaselis’ plan and in the course of conducting his cartographic studies, he saw the word Φασηλίτης ethnikon on the inscriptions and consequently identified these ruins with Phaselis. C. R. Cockerell, the English architect, archaeologist and author came to Phaselis by ship and met Beaufort there. Then in 1838 C. Fellows, the English archaeologist visited the city. He found the fragments of the dedicatory inscription over the monumental gate built in honour of the Emperor Hadrianus and mistakenly thought the Imperial Period main street was the stadion due to the seats-steps on either side of the street. In 1842 Lt. T. A. B. Spratt, the English hydrographer and geographer, and the Rev. E. Forbes, the naturalist came to Phaselis via the Olympos and Khimaira routes. Due to the fact that they all came by sea and they only stayed for a short time, their descriptions of the topography inland are without detailed and there are serious errors in orientation.

PhaselisThose researchers who visited Phaselis between the late 19th and the early 20th centuries concentrated primarily upon the discovery of inscriptions. In 1881-1882 while the Austrian archaeologist and the epigraphist O. Benndorf, the founder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and his team were conducting research in southwestern Asia Minor, they examined Phaselis. In the winter of 1883 and 1884 F. von Luschan from the Austrian team took the first photographs which provide information concerning the regional features of Phaselis’ shoreline. In the same year the French scientist V. Bérard also visited Phaselis. In 1892 the members of the Austrian research team, O. Benndorf, E. Kalinka and their colleagues continued their architectural, archaeological and epigraphical studies in Phaselis. In 1904 they were followed by D. G. Hogarth, R. Norton and A. W. van Buren from the British research team. In 1908 the Austrian classical philologist E. Kalinka visited the settlement again, collected epigraphic documents and conducted research on the history of city (published in TAM II in 1944). The Italian researchers R. Paribeni and P. Romanelli visited Phaselis in1913 and C. Anti in 1921. Anti returned to Antalya overland and in consequence discovered several epigraphs and the ruins of structures within the territorium of Phaselis.

Further archaeological, epigraphical and historical-geographical studies of Phaselis were conducted by the English researchers F. M. Stark and G. Bean, who came to the region after World War II. In 1968 H. Schläger, the German architect and underwater archaeologist began exploring the topographical and architectural structures of Phaselis’s harbours. After Schläger’s death in 1969, the research was conducted under the leadership of the archaeologist J. Schäfer in 1970. H. Schläger, J. Schäfer and their colleagues obtained important data concerning the architecture and history of Phaselis through the surface exploration of the city and its periphery. Following the excavations conducted along the main axial street of the city, in 1980 under the direction of Kayhan Dörtlük, the then Director of the Antalya Museum and between 1981-1985 under the leadership of the archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu; underwater exploration was carried out in the South Harbour under the direction of Metin Pehlivaner, the then Director of the Antalya Museum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaselis

© jackharrybill www.jackharrybill.co.uk

Day 124 of 365

"Blowing Smoke in My Own Face"

While searching online for some fun science projects for my 4-year-old, I discovered a world of nerd-based youtube videos of people doing rather remarkable things. Among the myriad of bizarre videos, I came upon a video of a guy creating smoke rings with a water bottle, a balloon and some burning paper. Naturally, I decided this was the project for my daughter!! Actually, it was perfect for a daily posting. So, here it is. With camera remote in my mouth, I set up a strobe beneath my camera's lens, and methodically "shot" smoke rings at the lens. When I estimated the smoke ring was above the strobe, I would set off the camera. It obviously took several exposures before I nailed it. While I did all I could to avoid being seen in the final image, I ended up accepting it, and I will say it is part of my "out of focus" series. I will inevitably use this technique again in a more elaborate fashion. Anyway, thanks for checking out my smoke signals!!

#smokerings #smoke #puff #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon50mm #stripbank #pocketwizards

In the glittering dark of the galaxy there spins a worthless remote planet. Its inhospitable craggy surface only matched by the poison in its air. Above, orbits a silent corporate branded haven. The Vitruvius Space Station.

Inside, a lone technician stares in horror at the bank of security screens. A facade of life lurks in a distant hallway, silently waiting. Unnervingly still, it calculates its next opening to strike.

Long had the Weyland-Yutani Corporation tried and failed to manipulate the bio engineering practices of the xenomorph species. Long had they known failure.

However, another idea of malicious obsession arose. The company already had a sizable investment in synthetic androids to maintain authority on stations, ships, and colonies. Perhaps if the creatures’ behavior is what led to such prior loss of containment, a ground up rebuild would be necessary.

Building the prototype was relatively simple. The organic brain scanned and copied. The duplicate manufactured and tweaked to respond to company programming. Nurture would supplant nature.

What they had not known, is that in the digital sequencing, the strange Chemical A0-3959X.91 would be included within the synthetic genome. What they had not noticed, was the slow and methodical corruption of their next ‘perfect’ experiment.

The black goo had transcended organics. A self evolving and degenerating sentience within the machine. A virus. The reversion back to mimicry of its base animal instincts took little time. For the science crew, loss of control was all the quicker.

Out of the maddening quiet comes a shrieking din. A proximity alarm. A new ship prepares its docking harness. The cybernetic creature stirs for the first time in what feels like an eternity. Its mechanical frame shudders as it begins the hunt for its next kill.

Inspired by a weekend rewatch of all the alien movies and finally seeing ALIEN: Romulus

www.phaselis.org/en/about/about-project

Phaselis Research

Phaselis

When compared with the previous period of research on the history of the city over the past quarter century it has undergone radical changes. While modern scientists follow the path of their predecessors in collecting data through systematic processes and methodically analysing them, they change the route whereby they approach the city as a context- and a process-oriented structure, having economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions which come together at different levels.

This considerably more inclusive definition expands the discipline concerning the city’s historical research, which consists of archaeology, epigraphy, ancient history and the other ancillary sciences and it encourages scientists from the natural and health sciences to participate within these studies. This is because in the course of the exploration of an ancient settlement the study of both the environment and the ecological setting which make human life possible; together with health issues, such as diet and epidemics, form the context within which human beings live, and which are thereby as important as the human actors.

Within the context of the planned Phaselis Research, even certain knowledge such as the settlement’s appearing on the stage of history as a favorite break-point with its three natural harbours, it being famous for its roses, the frequent seismic upheavals at sea and on its shores and its citizens leaving their homes because of a devastating malaria epidemic suggest the necessity of the application of this multi-dimensional research methodology in order to understand more fully the historical adventure of this city.

By presenting this research project, we aim to implement and realize this multi-dimensional research method, which as yet lacks widespread application in the field in our country, however conceptually and practically with a multi-disciplinary research team consisting of both national and international scientists, we intend to register systematically every kind of data/information regarding all contexts of the city employing modern methods and to present the results to the scientific world in the form of regular reports and monographic studies, thus forming a strong tie between past and future research.

Phaselis Territorium

The boundaries of the ancient city of Phaselis’ territorium are today within the administrative borders of the township of Tekirova, in Kemer District, determined from the archaeological, epigraphic and historical-geographical evidence, reaching the Gökdere valley to the north, continue on a line drawn from Üç Adalar to Mount Tahtalı to the south and extend along the Çandır valley to the west.

Phaselis was discovered in 1811-1812 by Captain F. Beaufort during his work of charting the southern coastline of Asia Minor for the British Royal Navy. Beaufort drew Phaselis’ plan and in the course of conducting his cartographic studies, he saw the word Φασηλίτης ethnikon on the inscriptions and consequently identified these ruins with Phaselis. C. R. Cockerell, the English architect, archaeologist and author came to Phaselis by ship and met Beaufort there. Then in 1838 C. Fellows, the English archaeologist visited the city. He found the fragments of the dedicatory inscription over the monumental gate built in honour of the Emperor Hadrianus and mistakenly thought the Imperial Period main street was the stadion due to the seats-steps on either side of the street. In 1842 Lt. T. A. B. Spratt, the English hydrographer and geographer, and the Rev. E. Forbes, the naturalist came to Phaselis via the Olympos and Khimaira routes. Due to the fact that they all came by sea and they only stayed for a short time, their descriptions of the topography inland are without detailed and there are serious errors in orientation.

PhaselisThose researchers who visited Phaselis between the late 19th and the early 20th centuries concentrated primarily upon the discovery of inscriptions. In 1881-1882 while the Austrian archaeologist and the epigraphist O. Benndorf, the founder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and his team were conducting research in southwestern Asia Minor, they examined Phaselis. In the winter of 1883 and 1884 F. von Luschan from the Austrian team took the first photographs which provide information concerning the regional features of Phaselis’ shoreline. In the same year the French scientist V. Bérard also visited Phaselis. In 1892 the members of the Austrian research team, O. Benndorf, E. Kalinka and their colleagues continued their architectural, archaeological and epigraphical studies in Phaselis. In 1904 they were followed by D. G. Hogarth, R. Norton and A. W. van Buren from the British research team. In 1908 the Austrian classical philologist E. Kalinka visited the settlement again, collected epigraphic documents and conducted research on the history of city (published in TAM II in 1944). The Italian researchers R. Paribeni and P. Romanelli visited Phaselis in1913 and C. Anti in 1921. Anti returned to Antalya overland and in consequence discovered several epigraphs and the ruins of structures within the territorium of Phaselis.

Further archaeological, epigraphical and historical-geographical studies of Phaselis were conducted by the English researchers F. M. Stark and G. Bean, who came to the region after World War II. In 1968 H. Schläger, the German architect and underwater archaeologist began exploring the topographical and architectural structures of Phaselis’s harbours. After Schläger’s death in 1969, the research was conducted under the leadership of the archaeologist J. Schäfer in 1970. H. Schläger, J. Schäfer and their colleagues obtained important data concerning the architecture and history of Phaselis through the surface exploration of the city and its periphery. Following the excavations conducted along the main axial street of the city, in 1980 under the direction of Kayhan Dörtlük, the then Director of the Antalya Museum and between 1981-1985 under the leadership of the archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu; underwater exploration was carried out in the South Harbour under the direction of Metin Pehlivaner, the then Director of the Antalya Museum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaselis

Toby - checking out his domain.

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Daily Dog Challenge - #5207. 3/7 “Every Day I…”

He makes his way around the yard, sniffing all the usual places. Toby is quite methodical, unlike Riley's random scampering about.

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- It was a double Cinderella story for the Presidio of Monterey volleyball championship Jan. 30 and the 229th Military Intelligence Battalion. Fourth-seeded Company D took on the loser's bracket entry, second-seeded Company A, that was a player short for the championship. The Black Sheep methodically won in the required two matches to become champs over Co. D, 25-12, 19-25, 15-6 and 24-13, 10-25, 15-13.

Official Presidio of Monterey Web site

Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook

PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

A Wilson's snipe looks for its next meal in a shallow wetland at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. They forage by methodically probing in muddy ground for earthworms and other invertebrates. Their heads move up and down somewhat like a sewing machine running at slow speed. These secretive birds can be hard to spot, blending in with the wetland vegetation. In the breeding season, displaying males fly high in the sky and make a curious whistling noise (“winnowing”), created by air passing over his modified outer tail feathers.

www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/webless-migratory-game...

www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/webless-migratory-game...

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/id

Photo: Tom Koerner/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

eid stood in the hard Kazakh light at Baikonur with the kind of calm that doesn’t announce itself. No performance to it. Just presence. The suit techs moved with practiced rhythm around him, hands checking seals, cables, pressure. The Soyuz waited out on the steppe, white and improbable, pointed at a sky that has seen a thousand departures. TMA-13M would carry him into a long arc of work and isolation, but in that moment it felt simple. A man, a machine, a trajectory already written in physics.

Reid Wiseman came to this through a path that favors discipline over spectacle. He grew up in Maryland, studied systems engineering, then flew with the U.S. Navy as a test pilot, the kind of work where curiosity is paired with restraint. In 2009, NASA selected him as part of a new class of astronauts, and he moved into the long apprenticeship that spaceflight still demands. Years of training in simulators, in water tanks, in classrooms that try to compress the complexity of orbit into something the body can remember.

Expedition 40 and 41 were his first real test. Once on the International Space Station, the days stretch and compress at the same time. Sixteen sunrises. Maintenance that never quite ends. Moments of stillness where Earth rolls beneath you in silence. Reid worked methodically. Spacewalks with Barry Wilmore, hands in bulky gloves, working outside the station where every movement is deliberate. Inside, he became known for something else too. He noticed things. He photographed the thin blue line of atmosphere, the geometry of cities at night, the soft gradients of storms. He wrote in short bursts that felt immediate and unfiltered. A human voice in a place that can easily become abstract.

Back on Earth, he moved into leadership, eventually serving as Chief of the Astronaut Office. That role is less visible but no less critical. It means shaping how crews train, how missions are approached, how risk is understood and carried forward. It means translating between engineers, flight directors, and the people who will actually ride the rocket. Reid did that with a kind of steadiness that people trust.

Now the work points outward again. Artemis II. The first crewed mission in this new chapter of lunar exploration. Reid will command the flight, leading a crew that will leave low Earth orbit, loop around the Moon, and come home. It is a mission that sits between eras. Not quite Apollo, not yet the sustained presence that Artemis promises, but a bridge that has to hold. The systems are new. The distances are old and unforgiving. There is no margin for theater.

When I photographed him at Baikonur, there was already a sense of that future in him, even if none of us named it yet. The same composure. The same attention to detail. You get the feeling that he understands the weight of what comes next, but doesn’t carry it as burden. More like alignment. The work in front of him, the people beside him, the trajectory ahead.

Spaceflight has a way of turning individuals into symbols, but standing there with Reid, it felt more grounded than that. He is not trying to be the face of anything. He is trying to do the job well, with clarity, with care for the crew, and with respect for the thin line between success and failure that every launch rides.

Artemis will push humans farther from Earth than anyone has gone in half a century. Reid will be at the front of that return. Not as a figure of myth, but as a pilot, a commander, a person who has spent years preparing to sit atop a rocket and trust both the machine and the team behind it.

I made this portrait as part of my New Heroes project, which is about spending time with the people shaping our future and trying to see them clearly, as they are.

The story of Margareten

For the first time in 1373 has been an estate named, the in contrast to an "upper court" at the height of the Viennese mountain (Wienerberg) as "lower court" on (today) Margaretenplatz is designated. 1395 donated Rudolf Tirna, an owner of the facility, together with his wife Anna and his brother Louis one to Saint Margaret of Antioch dedicated chapel. As other early mentions of the "Lower Court" and the chapel we find in 1411 the St. Margaretenkapelln to Metzleinstorff, 1548 St. Margareten, 1568 Sandt Margareten and in 1594 hoff to St Margareten. The around this Margaretner Hof in todays area Margaretenplatz - Hofgasse - Schlossgasse emerged estate hamlet constituted the starting point for the development of the suburb. The estate, it is shown on the circular plan of Niklas Meldemann in 1530 armed with a mighty tower, has been at the siege of 1529 of Turkish groups of fighters set on fire - a commemorative plaque on the house Margaretenplatz 3 remembers at it. The court subsequently changed hands several times until it purchsed Olav Nicholas, Archbishop of Gran, 1555 commercially. Olai had the courtyard and the chapel partially rebuild and he layed out a large castle garden.

He appointed settlers to Margareten and founded south of his farm Nikolsdorf. In the middle of the 17th Century, 1647-1667, finally completed the envoy to the Sublime Porte, Johann Rudolf Schmidt von Schwarzhorn the building. In the 1662 appeared "Topographia Archiducatus Austriae Inferioris Modernae" by Georg Matthäus Vischer the present castle is represented as a two-storey building whose siebenachsiger (7-axle) residential wing in the east is reinforced by a corner tower with loggia-like ambulatory and to the west is surmounted by an onion-shape crowned clock tower. In this figure, however, lacks the this very day preserved with mighty rusticaded stones cladded castle portal. After the destruction of the Türkenjahr (Siege of Vienna) 1683 the construction was rebuilt. Already about 1725 had in the front of the castle developed in the run of today Margaretenstraße through building development the methodic rectangular shape of today's Margaret Square.

1727 sold Earl of Sonnau the manorial system Margareten to the city of Vienna. Between 1749 and 1783 was located in the large deserted castle garden, which served partly as a grain field and pasture, the first Mulberry School in Vienna. In the premises of the castle in 1751 a factory of Leonean goods was established, but which burned down in 1768. 1786 Anton Schwarzleithner moved the factory to Mannersdorf (Lower Austria). Thereafter, the entire reality was measured and came up for auction. The largest parcel, the old castle at Margaretenplatz with the adjacent factory building at 23 Schlossgasse, bought the silk ribbon maker and judge of Margareten, Francis Plumper. By a daughter Prallers, Elizabeth, married Pichler, the building complex came into the possession of a book printer family, which to 1869 handled a print shop here. The new factory building at 21 Schlossgasse was purchased by auction by Johann Brauneck who in the same year petitioned for an increase. On the neighbouring to the west to the castle connecting parcel (Margaretenplatz 3) the silk stuff promoter Paul Hochholzer in 1787 by architect Johann Michael Adelpodinger the existing buildings had adapted, over the entrance gate the building inscription of the old castle of 1651 was immured. The to the west adjoining parcel with the in 1783 deconsecrated St Margaret's Chapel acquired the Samtmacher (velvet maker) Leopold Urspringer, who had the chapel demolished and the ground for the construction of a residential building (77 Margaret Street) used. Also the area of ​​the small castle garden that had the Vienna municipal judge Leopold van Ghelen on lease, was parceled out and developed through newly created streets. In the period from 1781 to 1788 arised on the site of the great palace garden in the of the Gartengasse and Schlossgasse on the one hand and Margaretenstraße and Siebenbrunnengasse surrounded territory on the other not less than 41 parcels.

Margaretenplatz as a historical center of Margareten is particularly accentuated by the 1835/36 before the House Margaretenplatz 3 built well, on those square base the by Johann Nepomuk Schaller modelled statue of the over the dragon triumphant hl. Margaret, the eponym of the suburb rises. As part of the regulation of 1886, the Margaret Square fountain was offset by 20m to the southwest, and received its present location .

In the west the square is surrounded by the instead of the in 1883 demolished brewery according to plans of the architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer by builder Joseph Müller for Baroness Amalie Lipthay 1884/85 established Margartenhof. The castle-like complex occupies an extremely important position as regards urban development in the district. Historically, it represents the symbolic succession building of the old, today only in fragments existing Margaretner Castle (Margaretenplatz 2,3). The large residential complex with the street-like designed "Zierhof" is an early example of urban development concepts, which in Vienna otherwise only could unfold in the interwar period.

To the east the Margaretenplatz is dominated by an according to plans of Ferdinand Seif 1898 built monumental palace-like structured tenement, where forms of the Venetian city palace of the 16th Century were used. Buildings of the Gründerzeit round off the Margaretenplatz in the north.

www.bezirksmuseum.at/default/index.php?id=376

The Morning Ritual of Elegance and Endurance

The morning sun filtered softly through the lace curtains of Clara and Sophie’s shared dressing room, casting golden streaks across the polished mahogany vanity. The air was thick with the mingling scents of perfume, hairspray, and the faint floral fragrance of their soaps. The heavy silence between them spoke volumes—neither wanted to go through this routine today.

Clara stood by the mirror, a towel wrapped tightly around her body, staring at her reflection with resigned exhaustion. The steam from their morning bath still clung to the air, the warmth settling uncomfortably against her freshly-shaven legs. She traced a careful fingertip along her calf, ensuring that not a single stray hair remained. Perfection was expected. Perfection was demanded.

Across the room, Sophie sat on the edge of the vanity stool, methodically running a fresh razor along her thigh. She had already done her underarms, her skin left smooth and slightly pink from the warm water and rich shaving cream. With each stroke, she felt her frustration simmering beneath the surface.

“This is ridiculous,” Sophie muttered, rinsing the razor under the water basin. “Why do we have to go through all this every single time?”

Clara sighed, picking up a bottle of rose-scented lotion and smoothing it over her legs, feeling the cool relief against her overheated skin. “Because Aunt Matilde would die before she let us leave the house looking anything less than impeccable.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “She makes it sound like the world will collapse if we ever dared to have a single hair out of place. Or—God forbid—skip the stockings.”

Clara gave a humorless laugh, reaching for her perfume bottle and spritzing a delicate mist of Chanel No. 5 onto her wrists and neck. The classic scent wrapped around her like an obligation. “Oh, skipping stockings isn’t even an option. You know the rules. A lady is never bare-legged, regardless of season or circumstance.”

Sophie set down the razor with an irritated clink and turned to face her sister. “It’s August, Clara. People are out there wearing shorts, sundresses, sandals. Meanwhile, here we are, about to get stuffed into high collars, stockings, and skirts that trap every ounce of heat against our skin. Does that seem fair to you?”

Clara’s lips tightened as she began brushing out her long golden curls, carefully taming them into smooth, structured waves. “Of course it isn’t fair. But when has fairness ever mattered in this house?”

Sophie let out a slow, frustrated breath. She reached for her makeup compact, dabbing a powder puff over her already flushed cheeks. The foundation was light but perfectly blended, ensuring a flawless, porcelain-like finish. She followed it with a subtle touch of eyeliner and mascara, her brown eyes darkening as she stared at her reflection. The final touch was her signature red lipstick—too bold, according to Aunt Matilde, but Sophie wore it anyway. A quiet rebellion.

Clara finished her makeup—soft taupe eyeshadow, precisely shaped brows, and a delicate rose lipstick that enhanced her natural features. Her look was classic, understated, the perfect image of refinement.

Then came the worst part. The dressing.

Clara slipped into her white button-up blouse, feeling the crisp fabric settle over her arms like a second skin. She buttoned it all the way up to the stiff collar, sighing as she fastened the cuffs at her wrists. There was no comfort in this. No ease. It was structured, rigid, suffocating.

Sophie struggled with her own blouse, shaking her head as she tugged it into place. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like to just… not do this? To wear something light? Something that lets your skin breathe?”

“All the time,” Clara admitted, pulling on her high-waisted gray pencil skirt. The fabric hugged her hips and thighs, restrictive but perfectly tailored. She smoothed it down, already feeling the heat prickling against her skin.

Sophie stepped into her navy-blue pleated midi skirt, adjusting it carefully at the waist. The layers of fabric felt heavy even before she had finished fastening the last button. She could already imagine how it would cling to her legs in the sweltering afternoon heat.

And then, the stockings.

Sheer, black, unnecessary. Yet mandatory.

Clara rolled them up her legs with practiced ease, wincing slightly as the fabric stretched tight over her calves and thighs. The sensation was unbearable in the summer, like being wrapped in a layer of artificial heat.

Sophie groaned as she did the same. “I swear, if I get heatstroke today, I’m blaming Aunt Matilde.”

Clara let out a tired laugh. “She’d just say it’s a lesson in perseverance.”

Finally, they stepped into their glossy black stilettos, the pointed toes already pressing uncomfortably against their feet. These weren’t shoes for an afternoon in the park. They were for polished floors and controlled environments. But comfort was not part of the equation.

Sophie adjusted her cuffs, glancing at Clara in the mirror. “Do we look perfect enough now?”

Clara gave a resigned nod. “Perfect. And miserable.”

And with that, they braced themselves for the inevitable battle with Aunt Matilde—knowing full well that they had already lost before it had even begun.

Aunt Matilde’s Unyielding Standards

The argument had begun the moment Clara and Sophie descended the grand staircase of their aunt’s house, their outfits already a calculated rebellion against the unbearable August heat. They had wanted to be reasonable. They had hoped for a compromise. But Aunt Matilde had been waiting for them in the foyer, arms crossed, an unimpressed arch to her thin brows.

Clara, already bracing for battle, had spoken first. “It’s thirty-three degrees outside, Aunt Matilde. No one else will be dressed like this.”

Sophie, ever the diplomat, chimed in. “We could still look elegant in something lighter. A summer dress, maybe. Linen, cotton—still tasteful, just practical.”

Matilde’s lips pursed, a silent indication of the storm about to break. “Practical?” she repeated, voice measured but sharp. “Ladies, let me be painfully clear. I don’t care what everyone else is wearing. You will be dressed appropriately.”

Sophie sighed, already feeling the battle slipping away. “We are dressed appropriately. Just… more in line with the season.”

Matilde took a slow, deliberate step forward. “Do you think I don’t know what happens when standards start slipping? First, it’s ‘a little more in line with the season.’ Then, it’s ‘a little more comfortable.’ Then before you know it, you’re traipsing about in sundresses with spaghetti straps and bare legs like a pack of tourists.”

Clara folded her arms. “So? What if we were? What’s wrong with dressing for the weather?”

“What’s wrong is that it’s undignified,” Matilde snapped. “Respectable young women do not go gallivanting around in flimsy little dresses, no matter how hot it is. The world is watching. People notice when standards slip. You represent more than just yourselves.”

Sophie exhaled sharply. “But the dress code makes no sense in this weather!”

Matilde’s expression hardened. “The dress code exists precisely because it does not bend to fleeting inconveniences like weather or personal comfort. It is a mark of discipline, of self-respect. If you want to be taken seriously, you must always be impeccable.”

Clara clenched her jaw, heat rising—not just from the humidity, but from sheer frustration. “So we’re expected to suffer? To bake in stockings and long skirts while everyone else enjoys the breeze in light summer clothes?”

“Yes,” Matilde said simply. “Because you are better than that.”

The silence was thick, nearly suffocating.

Sophie finally spoke, voice tight with defeat. “So there’s no room for discussion.”

“None whatsoever.” Matilde’s gaze flicked over their outfits, searching for any final imperfections. “Stockings on. Shirts buttoned. Skirts long. Heels polished. And if I see so much as a single undone cuff, you will regret it.”

And so, with simmering resentment and no choice in the matter, Clara and Sophie left for the concert—dressed not for the sweltering August heat, but for the suffocating weight of unyielding tradition.

The Unforgiving Elegance of Clara and Sophie

The August sun bore down relentlessly, turning the park into a shimmering haze of heat. The air was thick and unmoving, heavy with the scent of cut grass, melting ice cream, and the distant metallic tang of an approaching thunderstorm. All around them, concertgoers fanned themselves lazily, the lucky ones wearing light cotton sundresses and linen shirts that billowed in the rare breeze. But Clara and Sophie had no such luxury.

They stood among the seated crowd, rigid in their refined, oppressive attire, their every movement dictated by an unyielding dress code that allowed no exception for weather, comfort, or personal preference.

Clara’s long, golden curls, usually the picture of poised elegance, clung stubbornly to the back of her neck, damp with sweat despite her best efforts. Her crisp white button-up shirt, starched to perfection in the morning, now felt suffocating, the stiff fabric resisting the natural movement of her shoulders. The high collar—fastened all the way up—prickled against her flushed skin, and though the cuffs of her sleeves were neatly buttoned, she could feel a slow trickle of sweat inching down her wrist.

Beneath the heavy cotton, her nude-colored bra stuck to her skin uncomfortably, the fabric absorbing the humid air like a sponge. Her high-waisted gray pencil skirt, form-fitting and unyielding, clung to her thighs like a second skin. The herringbone fabric, so sophisticated in cooler weather, felt thick and stifling now, trapping the heat against her legs. Her sheer black stockings, mandatory and merciless, wrapped her calves and thighs in a layer of unnecessary warmth, making her wish—desperately—that she could rip them off. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t allowed. The dress code was strict.

Her feet, encased in pointed black patent leather stilettos, burned inside their glossy prisons. The soft grass beneath them offered no relief—if anything, the heels only sank slightly into the ground, making her balance precarious. Every step was a reminder that these shoes weren’t meant for a summer afternoon in the park. They were meant for polished floors and air-conditioned hallways. But again, there was no room for compromise.

Beside her, Sophie was faring no better. Her long, dark waves, usually immaculately smooth, now stuck to her temples, framing a face damp with the unbearable heat. Her white button-up—identical to Clara’s—was just as stifling, and she could feel the fabric clinging to the small of her back. If she moved even slightly, she could feel the material shift against her skin, uncomfortably damp. Her navy-blue pleated midi skirt, chosen for its refined elegance, was nothing short of a furnace now, the thick pleats trapping the hot air against her legs. Like Clara, she, too, wore sheer black stockings, a requirement rather than a choice, and she, too, felt the relentless heat wrapping around her like a punishment.

Her feet ached inside her sharp-toed stilettos, the patent leather merciless against the swelling caused by the relentless humidity. She shifted her weight slightly, feeling the stockings rub against her skin, and resisted the overwhelming urge to kick her shoes off and let her overheated toes breathe.

Both of them wished—more than anything—that they could wear something light and effortless, something that wouldn’t turn them into walking ovens. A simple cotton summer dress. Sleeveless, airy, fluttering in the breeze. Sandals instead of suffocating heels. Bare legs instead of oppressive hosiery. But such thoughts were futile. Their dress code was unwavering, set in stone, unbending in the face of reason or comfort.

A bead of sweat slipped down Clara’s spine, disappearing beneath the waistband of her skirt. She exhaled sharply, glancing at Sophie, who looked just as miserable.

The concert had only just begun.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

© jackharrybill www.jackharrybill.co.uk

One of calming activities is finding nice sticks while out on walks, taking the bark off and letting them dry in the sun. Then I spend days/weeks/months sitting outside slowly and methodically sanding them down. I work in stages increasing the fineness of the grit to nearly buffing it. I then use local beeswax (often infused with herbs or hemp) and a microfiber cloth to bring the surface to a protected smooth shine. There is no “purpose” to this really, just something nice to do with my hands when my anxiety is high. Plus other than keeping stocked on sandpaper and beeswax, it’s more or less a free activity which I also love.

Have you ever watched an American dipper wading in a mountain stream and dipping its head underwater for an extended period? This mallard was doing the same thing in a riffle on Seedskadee NWR. The swift water flowing over the shallow rocks (a riffle) makes a great spot for aquatic insects needing lots of oxygen, like stoneflies. I had used a kick net to collect insects in this same spot weeks earlier, and found an abundance of large to medium sized stoneflies. I was not able to get a photo of a stonefly in his bill, but am pretty shure he was eating stoneflies. He methodically worked over nearly every rock in the riffle over the course of a half hour.

Photo: Stonefly eating mallard on Seedskadee NWR

Tom Koerner/USFWS

Modern and Contemporary Art

The origins of the Moravian Gallery collections go back to the Francis Museum (now the Moravian Provincial Museum) in Brno, established in 1818. However, systematic acquisition only started under Dr. Jaroslav Helfert, the first director of the museum (from 1923) and curator of its picture gallery. His methodical approach enabled a more consistent structure to be brought to the collections and their expansion with topical works representing Czech modernism. The first acquisitions included, for example, the sculpture Before the Bath (1906) by Jan Štursa. The picture gallery permanent exhibition was installed in the Dietrichstein Palace in the late 1920's.

Helfert's successor in the gallery management was Dr. Albert Kutal, who (apart from building a collection of Moravian Gothic art) compiled a series of modern Czech art at the end of the 1920's and the beginning of the 1930's. Among major acquisitions in these years were Procházka's Players (1909) and Prometheus (1911), as well as further works of Czech modernism by Emil Filla, Josef Šíma and Jaroslav Král.

In 1948 Albert Kutal was succeeded by Dr. Karel Krejčí, followed by Dr. Jiří Hlušička, Dr. Vlasta Kratinová, Dr. Marie Dohnalová, Dr. Kateřina Svobodová and Dr. Jitka Sedlářová. The period after 1945 was associated with unprecedented expansion of the collections; for example, in 1945 the gallery received donations of Kubišta's Still Life with a Lamp (1909), and in 1948 Haymaking (1939) by Jaroslav Král. The complicated administrative situation of the picture gallery, part of the Moravian Provincial Museum, improved under Director Jiří Hlušička in 1961 when the Moravian Gallery in Brno came into existence, through the separation of the picture gallery of the museum and its merging with the Museum of Applied Arts.

The gallery activities centre upon the documentation of the main features of the development of 20th- and 21st-century art. A remarkable series of sculptures and a collection of drawings and graphic art gradually developed alongside the painting collection. The first permanent exhibition of Czech 20th-century art was created in 1970 (in the Moravian Provincial Museum building) by Jiří Hlušička; the collection had later to be stored in a depository.

The collection of modern and contemporary art boasts masterpieces by the luminaries of Czech modern art: Jan Štursa, Jan Preisler, Josef Mařatka and František Bílek, leading protagonist of Czech symbolism. It contains a series of major works by the members of the Osma [Eight] group and the Group of Visual Artists (paintings by Filla, Kubišta, Kubín, Špála, Čapek, early pieces by Antonín Procházka and Jan Zrzavý and cubist sculptures by Otto Gutfreund such as Anxiety, 1911). A large collection of works by Antonín Procházka enables viewers to observe changes in his artistic approaches, largely associated with Brno culture. The Czech interwar avant-garde is represented by works of Czech poetism, by the artificialism of Jindřich Štyrský and Toyen (Dawn, 1931) and reflections of surrealism (sculpture Girl with Child by Vincenc Makovský, Josef Šíma's painting Europe, works by František Muzika, František Foltýn and others). The 1940's are represented by echoes of the war (Emil Filla, Jan Bauch), works by members of Skupina 42 [Group 42] (František Gross, Bohumír Matal, Jan Smetana and others) and the Ra Group (Bohdan Lacina, Václav Zykmund). The Czech informel is illustrated with works of Mikuláš Medek, Robert Piesen, Josef Istler and others, while art trends in the second half of the 20th century are represented by selected works by Adriena Šimotová, Jiří John, Václav Boštík, Jiří Kolář, Michael Rittstein, Brno artists Dalibor Chatrný, Miroslav Štolfa and others.

A new permanent exhibition of modern and contemporary Czech art was opened in 1994 in the reconstructed Pražák Palace. A section mapping the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century was opened, in revised form, in 2001. A year later it was supplemented with a further section spanning the mid-20th century and the present.

www.moravska-galerie.cz/moravska-galerie/o-galerii/sbirky...

(further information you can get by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

History

Plaque to the founder of the Hyrtl'schen orphanage Joseph Hyrtl and Joseph Schöffel

© IMAREAL / E. Vavra

The Biedermeier-influenced city on the edge of the Vienna Woods is the capital of the district Mödling in the south of Vienna. The town has experienced in its 1100-year history since the first mention very different phases: in the Middle Ages briefly Babenberg residence, for centuries an economically potent wine market, from the 19th Century summer resort and industrial center, since 1875 town, in the 20th Century for almost two decades XXIVth district of Vienna, since 1954 again an independent municipality of Lower Austria and as a school and garden city popular residential area in the vicinity of Vienna.

Mödling has partnerships with cities in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Serbia, Bulgaria and Italy.

The historical tradition of Mödling goes back far beyond the first written mention, how settlement finds from the Neolithic Age, Hallstatt period (eg calendar mountain) and Roman times as well as the great Avar burial ground "at the Golden Staircase" from the 7/8th Century BCE prove. In the year 903 Mödling is first mentioned (Medilihha). The later settlement was probably made in the 11th Century beneath an early castle building on the church mountain (Kirchenberg), where later a Romanesque predecessor of Othmar church was built.

In the late 12th century Mödling was for a few decades the residence of a Babenberg branch line. Henry the Elder, a brother of Duke Leopold V., had since the 1170 century belongings in and around Mödling. He and his son Henry the Younger, calling himself "Duke of Mödling", resided on the castle probably built around 1150 in the Klausen, among whose most famous visitors was Walther von der Vogelweide. With the death of Henry the Younger in 1236 extinguished the Mödlinger line of the Babenberg and the reign became princely domain. The time of the Babenberg commemorates the in late 12th Century built Romanesque ossuary at Othmar church - a circular building with an apse - as well as the denomination "Babenberg".

In the late Middle Ages, Medlich developed into a major wine market (1343 mention of market town) which in the 15th Century as one of the four princely spell markets was also represented in the Parliament - in addition to Gumpoldskirchen, Langenlois and Perchtoldsdorf. For centuries shaped the wine-growing the economy and social structure. The Mödlinger wine was good and helped the market particularly in the 15th and 16th Century to its prosperity. The settlement reached at the end of the Middle Ages that extent, which until the 19th Century should remain essentially unchanged. The center formed ​​the area around the Schrannenplatz with a dense stand of late medieval and early modern town houses that bear evidence of the wealth and self-confidence of the citizens of the market town. From the late medieval Schrannen building, the official residence of the market judge, was created in 1548 the representative Renaissance town hall with loggia.

The elevated lying Othmar church became in the 15th Century by transferring the rights of the church of St. Martin parish church of Mödling. The massive late Gothic church was built in a nearly 70-year construction period from 1454 to 1523 on the walls of six predecessors and able to resist fortified. As Mödling was destroyed in 1529 by the Ottomans, the just completed church lost its roof and remained for over a century till the restoration in 1660/70 a ruin. On the Merian engraving from 1649 the uncovered Othmar church on the left side is clearly visible. As a temporary parish church served the about 1450 built late-Gothic hospital church.

The internal conditions at this time were mainly marked of the clashes of the market with the princely rule Burg Mödling - since 1558 combined with the rule of Liechtenstein - which reached its climax in 1600 under the energetic administrator Georg Wiesing (1593-1611). During the Reformation, the market largely became Protestant. In the course of recatholicization a Capuchin monastery was founded in 1631, which served as a factory after the repeal under Joseph II and was then bought by the Thonet family (so-called Thonet Schlössel, today Bezirksmuseum).

In Türkenjahr 1683 (besiegement of the Turks) took place in the Othmar church a horrific bloodbath, in which hundreds of people who had sought refuge there were killed. The church was destroyed again, but this time built up rapidly with the market judge Wolfgang Ignaz Viechtl in a few years.

End of the 18th Century occurred in Mödling the settlement of industrial enterprises, especially textile mills that took advantage of the cheaper production possibilities and also its proximity to Vienna. Was decisively shaped the character of the place but by the rise to a summer resort, initiated by Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein beginning of the 19th Century, which acquired in 1807 the rule of Liechtenstein-Mödling with the former family ancestral home. He had the area under enormous cost reforested (Schirmföhren/pinus mugo, acacia, etc.) and transformed to a public park in Romantic style with promenade paths, steep paths and artificial constructions (Black tower, amphitheater, Husarentempel). The ruined castles Mödling and Liechtenstein were restored. The former Liechtenstein'sche landscape park is considered a remarkable example of the garden culture in 1800 and is now a popular tourist destination (1974 Natural Preserve Föhrenberge).

Since the Biedermeier Mödling in the summer was an extremely popular artist hangout. Among the most famous artists of the 19th Century who were inspired by the romantic nature here, were Franz Schubert, Franz Grillparzer, Ferdinand Waldmüller, Ferdinand Raimund and Ludwig van Beethoven, who here worked on one of his major works, the "Missa Solemnis". In the 20th Century settled inter alia Arnold Schönberg, Anton von Webern, Anton Wildgans, Franz Theodor Csokor and Albert Drach temporarily or permanently down. To Beethoven, Schönberg and Wildgans memorials have been established (Beethoven House, Schönberg House, Wildgans archive).

In the second half of the 19th Century Mödling became administrative center (District Court, District administration) and an industrial site and educational location with high schools and colleges (eg educational establishment Francisco-Josephinum). The good traffic situation at the southern railway, the progressive industrialization and the expansion of health facilities (park, Kursalon) led to a rapid expansion of the hitherto for centuries unchanged market. Under mayor Joseph Schöffel (1873-1882), who became famous because of his successful engagement against the deforestation of the Vienna Woods as the "savior of the Vienna Woods", followed the methodical installation of the so-called Schoeffel(before) city - Schöffelvorstadt (New Mödling) east of the Southern Railway and the establishment of workers' settlements. Later followed the exclusive residential areas of the turn of the century with their representative residential buildings. Probably the most important building of the late 19th Century is the Hyrtl'sche orphanage (1886-1889), founded by the Viennese anatomist, Joseph Hyrtl and Joseph Schöffel. The Orphanage church St. Joseph was built on the in 1787 demolished Martin Church.

On 18th November 1875 the emerging market town was raised to the status of a city, two years later the incorporation of Klausen and Vorderbrühl took place. Through the establishment of Great-Vienna under the Nazi regime on 15th October 1938 the young city for 16 years lost its municipal autonomy; 1954 it became again a part of Lower Austria.

Symbol for the characteristic environment of Mödling was the "width pine" on the Anninger whose age goes back to the 16th Century (around 1550). It was a well-known natural landmark and has become the symbol of the city. 1988 died the tree and it had to be removed in 1997 for safety reasons. The remains are now in the Lower Austrian Provincial Museum.

www.xn--gedchtnisdeslandes-ntb.at/orte/action/show/contro...

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708) was a French botanist. He was born to a well-to-do family in Aix-en-Provence. Tournefort initially took up studies in theology. However, as he had a marked inclination towards natural sciences, he turned to medicine. He completed his studies at the University of Montpellier. In 1681, he was in Barcelona doing research in botany. In 1694 Tournefort published his first three-volume work, in which he classified 8846 plants. In 1698 he became Doctor in Medicine of the University of Paris. At that time his treatise was also translated into Latin. Tournefort became a famous physician and naturalist. He travelled extensively in Western Europe (Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, England). He had published a number of works on botany, and had acquired a fabulous collection of nearly 50.000 books, as well as costumes, arms, minerals, shells and various curiosities. Thus, he already had a very important career behind him when Louis XIV entrusted him with the mission to bring new plants to the Royal Botanical Garden.

Tournefort started out on his voyage to the Near East in the spring of 1700, at the age of 44, accompanied by a painter and a doctor. He visited thirty-eight islands of the Greek archipelago, as well as Northern Anatolia, Pontus and Armenia, and reached Tiflis in Georgia. Tournefort returned to Marseilles in June 1702.

His manuscript, composed of his letters to the Minister of the Exterior Count de Pontchartain, was published posthumously in 1717. A number of re-editions followed, while his work was also translated into English, German and Flemish. There is also a Greek translation of the first part. The fact that Tournefort had discovered new plants in his journey led him to publish a supplement to his main work of botanical classification in 1703. He taught Botany in the Académie, while continuing to practice medicine; at the same time, he was in charge of the Royal Gardens, where many plants he brought from his travels were cultivated with success. Having survived a multitude of adventures, Tournefort died of an accident in 1708. He did not live to see the publication of his travel chronicle, which in the following three centuries became the basic manual to all travellers to these regions. Until today, researchers from numerous fields turn to Tournefort’s text, as it remains an invaluable source of information. He describes the places he visited in a particular systematic manner.

The systematic way he organizes his information on topography, economy, administration, ethnic composition, customs and habits of everyday life shows how one can arrive at truth and knowledge through research, methodical study, classification and generalisation. To document his research, Tournefort cites a hundred and thirty-five texts by Greek and Latin authors as well as Byzantine writers, Humanists, and earlier travel accounts.

He methodically narrates his visit to each island, and describes the locations as well as events that he witnessed and encounters with locals. He then continues with the island’s history from ancient times to the current age, citing the corresponding myths, and comparing with the information provided by ancient coins. Subsequently, he writes on the island’s administration and taxes, commerce, products and prices thereof. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Greek church. Tournefort also writes on monasteries and churches, house architecture and caves. He also describes the customs, the dress and the occupations of the inhabitants. He concludes his chapters with geographical observations from the highest point of each main region.

Naturally, his work includes engravings of city views, locations and monuments as well as plants, instruments and costumes. The text becomes alive with vivid descriptions of his encounters with islanders, be it Turks, Franks, Greeks or privateers. Of special interest are his descriptions of fortresses, ports, safe havens and his information on map drawing.

The second volume is a publication of his thoroughly documented manuscripts. It was not edited by Tournefort himself as had happened with the first. On numerous occasions he refers to the politics, administration and ethnic composition of the Ottoman Empire. He continues with his journey on the southern coast of the Black Sea to Armenia. The work closes with a short description of Smyrna and Ephesus.

Tournefort is considered the first to have shown the islands of the Archipelago to be “travel material”, as he offered information which inspired the interest for further research, and also highlighed each location’s wealth and uniqueness.

Written by Ioli Vingopoulou

Fransız botanikçi Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708) Aix-en-Provence'da varlıklı bir aile içinde doğar, ilk önce tanrıbilim (teoloji) dersleri izler ancak genç yaştan beri doğa bilimlerine eğilim gösterir. Bu yüzden Montpellier'de tıp öğrenimi görüp 1681'de botanik araştırmaları yapmak üzere Barcelona'ya gelir. 1694 yılında üç ciltlik ve 8.846 bitkinin sınıflandırmasına ilişkin ilk eserini yayınlar; 1698'de Paris Tıp Fakültesinden doktor unvanını alır ve bu kazanımı yapıtının latince çevirisi izler. Doktor ve doğa bilimcisi olarak ün salmış, Batı Avrupa'da (İspanya, Portekiz, Hollanda, İngiltere'ye) seyahat etmiş, botanoloji ile ilgili kitaplar yayınlamış, 50.000'e yakın kitaptan meydana gelen bir kitaplık oluşturmuş, ayrıca yerel kıyafet, silah, mineral, deniz kabuğu ve daha başka ilginç şeylerden oluşan hayranlık uyandıran koleksiyonlar sahibi olmuşken, kral 14. Louis ona Kraliyet Botanik Bahçesine yeni bitkiler getirme görevini verir. Tournefort 1700 yılının ilkbaharında, 44 yaşındayken, yanına yoldaş olarak bir ressam ve bir doktor alarak Yakın Doğu'ya doğru yola çıkar.

Ege adalarından 38 tanesini ziyaret eder, Kuzey Anadolu'nun her tarafını gezip Karadeniz ve Ermenistan yörelerine gelir, Tiflis'e varır. Tournefort, 1702 yılının Haziran ayında Marsilya'da karaya ayak basar.

Kaleme aldığı metin (Dışişleri bakanı Kont de Pontchartain'e yolladığı mektuplar biçiminde) ilk olarak 1717'de yayınlanır, bu ilk yayını bir çok yeni baskı izler ve eser ingilizce, almanca ve flamanca gibi dillere- ilk kısmı yunancaya da - çevrilir. Yeni keşfettiği bitkilerin daha önce belirlemiş olduğu sınıflandırma sistemine eklenmesi sonucu olarak 1703'te yeni bir cilt yayınlar. Tournefort botanik profesörü sıfatıyla Akademide dersler verir, doktorluk mesleğini ve bunlara koşut olarak Kraliyet Bahçesinin sorumluluğu görevini sürdürür. Gezilerinden getirmiş olduğu birçok yeni bitki bu bahçede başarılı bir şekilde yetiştirilir. Tournefort geçirdiği birçok maceradan kefeni yırtmışken, üç asır boyunca her gezginin bu bölge için başucu kitabı olacak seyahatnamesinin yayınlanmasını göremeden 1708'de bir kaza sonucu ölür. Bugün hâlâ çeşitli dallardan araştırmacılar Tournefort'un metnine başvurup son derece değerli bilgilerinden faydalanmak durumundalar. Eseri anında ingilizce, hollandaca ve almancaya çevrilmişti.

Gezdiği yerleri betimlerken belirli bir yöntem izleyerek topoğrafya, ekonomi, yönetim, milletler sentezi ve günlük yaşamdaki örf ve adetlere ilişkin bilgiler verirken, Tournefort, bilginin gerçeğe uyup uymadığı konusuna araştırma, düzenli okuma, sınıflandırma ve genelleştirme yoluyla yanaşılabileceğini kanıtlıyor. Kanıtlayıcı belgeleri arasında antik Yunan ve Latin yazarlarından, ayrıca Bizans yazarlarından ve daha eski hümanist bilgin ve gezginlerden 135 tane metin bulunmakta.

Ziyaret ettiği her ada için düzenli olarak ziyaretini anlatıp birçok yeri ve olayı hatta yerlilerle olan görüşmelerini de betimler. Bunlara ek olarak, adanın eski çağlardan gününe dek tarihi ve bununla ilintili efsaneler, sikkeler hakkında, yönetim, vergilendirme usulleri, ticaret, ürünler ve fiyatları hakkında bilgiler verir. Ayrıca Yunanistan'ın dinî (kilise) yaşamına başlıbaşına bir bölüm ayırır. Manastırlar, kiliseler, evlerin mimarisi, mağaralar hakkında yazar, adetler ve kıyafetleri betimleyip halkın uğraşlarından sözeder ve önemli yörelerin her birinin en yüksek irtifasından yaptığı coğrafya gözlemleri ile anlatımını bitirir.

Doğal olarak eserinde şehir, yer, anıt, bitki, alet, ve kıyafet görünümleri ile ilgili gravürler de yer almakta. Ayrıca metni ada halkıyla (Türkler, Latinler, Yunanlılar, korsanlarla) ilişkilerinden çarpıcı betimlemelerle de çeşitlenir. Kitabında hisarlar, gemi barınakları, güvenli limanlar hakkında yaptığı betimlemeler ve harita çizimi ile ilgili verdiği bilgiler özel ilgi uyandıran kısımlar arasındadır.

Eserinin birinci cildinin yayına hazırlığını kendisi denetlemişken ikinci cilt kendi ayrıntılı yazılarına sadık kalınarak basılır. Bu cildin başındaki birçok bölüm Osmanlıların siyasal, yönetimsel ve etnografik durumuna ayrılmıştır. Bunun devamında Karadeniz'in güney kıyılarında yaptığı Ermenistan'a kadar varan yolculuğunu anlatıp kitabı İzmir ve Efes'in kısa bir betimlemesi ile bitirir.

Böylece Tournefort, başkalarında arayış isteğini besleyecek nitelikte malzeme sağlamanın yanısıra, gördüğü her yerin sonsuz zengiliğini ve kendine özgü niteliklerini yüzeye çıkarması açısından Ege adalarına bir "yolculuk uknumu" veren ilk şahıs olarak bilinir.

Yazan: İoli Vingopoulou

Part of a group of hundreds of Peruvian Brown Pelicans on the pier as we approached Paita, Peru.

Though closely related, the Peruvian Pelican is almost twice as large as its northern congener, the Brown Pelican. The species breeds along the Pacific Coast of South America in Peru and Chile. Though still common, with about half a million breeding adults, the population has been negatively affected by strong El Niño fluctuations and changes in food fish populations, particularly anchoveta. Peruvian Pelicans are easily observed from shore as they fly back and forth in nearshore waters by means of soaring interrupted by deep, methodical wingbeats.

The LS is the quintessential top-of-the-line luxury model for the Lexus brand and continues to evolve to satisfy upper echelon automotive connoisseurs. Recently updated with various performance modalities; Takumi craftsmanship (or detailed artisanship build quality); Omotenashi hospitality, an array of preemptive services to cater to customers' needs; and Lexus Driving Signature, a modern design approach to the vehicle’s development and refinement. As a frequent visitor to Nihon (Nippon), aka “The Land of the Rising Sun,” Automotive RHythms can attest firsthand to the methodical philosophies instilled into Japanese engineering. Yet, it is accomplished with a semblance of meditative balance.

Artist Statement:

Palatably gauche as a two left-footed ballerina and as tacky as shag carpeting, the self-flagellation and pseudo self-deprecation I express through my work serves both as a criticism of myself and the social class in which I was raised. I spend time reflecting upon my upbringing and childhood memories of a lower middle class-to-working class dynamic.

I predominantly use craft or non-fine art materials that challenge American middle class aesthetic through their playful and undeniably handmade appearance. Such materials are oversaturated roughed up ceramics, Crayola’ed tile, reconstituted wood, imitation Swarovski rhinestones, and embroidered wife-beater fabric. These individual components display sloppy craft, whereby art is intentionally designed to look shoddily made.

Combined with satire I develop narrative elements in form and surface that reference my childhood, memory, past wrongs, and anxieties that I have, feeling sometimes penitential. I find balance in methodical and haphazard construction that considers tensions between gravity and levity. The purgation of ills and rabble of com-misery leads me to the assumption that after all, I might as well be the first to get a laugh in.

The set was inspired by the eighteen equally intricate designed dollhouse-style interiors made by Frances Glessner Lee, which she titled "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" Her sets consist of a series of eighteen intricately designed dollhouse-style dioramas created by the greatest and my favorite doll house interior designer Frances Glessner Lee, a millionaire heiress with an interest in forensic science.

Her dioramas are detailed representations of death scenes that are composites of actual court cases, created by Glessner Lee on a 1 inch to 1 foot (1 : 12) scale./same as mine/ She attended autopsies to ensure accuracy, and her attention to detail extended to having a wall calendar include the pages after the month of the incident, constructing openable windows, and wearing out-of-date clothing to obtain realistically worn fabric. She called them the Nutshell Studies because the purpose of a forensic investigation is said to be to "convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth in a nutshell. Students were instructed to study the scene methodically—she suggested moving the eyes in a clockwise spiral—and draw conclusions from the visual evidence. At conferences hosted by Glessner Lee, prominent crime-scene investigators were given 90 minutes to study each diorama.

The dioramas show tawdry and in many cases disheveled living spaces very different from Glessner Lee's own background. The dead include prostitutes and victims of domestic violence.

Glessner Lee used her inheritance to set up Harvard's department of legal medicine, and donated the Nutshell dioramas in 1945 for use in lectures on the subject of crime scene investigation. In 1966 the department was dissolved and the sets were placed in storage. Presently the dioramas can be viewed by appointment at the Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore. A exhibit well worth while to visit for those interested in doll house interiors.Those wishing to view these sets, I strongly suggest making an appointment well before setting out to view them.

We are once again, after many years revisiting my own sets, each with it's own story connected to real life events and sharing them with some of my flickr. friends who expressed interest in viewing them.

None of the renderings have previously been exhibited or published.

I am most interested in your comments for we are once again entertaining the thought of publishing them with their stories in book form.

Thank you!

thank you for your interest.

The story of Margareten

For the first time in 1373 has been an estate named, the in contrast to an "upper court" at the height of the Viennese mountain (Wienerberg) as "lower court" on (today) Margaretenplatz is designated. 1395 donated Rudolf Tirna, an owner of the facility, together with his wife Anna and his brother Louis one to Saint Margaret of Antioch dedicated chapel. As other early mentions of the "Lower Court" and the chapel we find in 1411 the St. Margaretenkapelln to Metzleinstorff, 1548 St. Margareten, 1568 Sandt Margareten and in 1594 hoff to St Margareten. The around this Margaretner Hof in todays area Margaretenplatz - Hofgasse - Schlossgasse emerged estate hamlet constituted the starting point for the development of the suburb. The estate, it is shown on the circular plan of Niklas Meldemann in 1530 armed with a mighty tower, has been at the siege of 1529 of Turkish groups of fighters set on fire - a commemorative plaque on the house Margaretenplatz 3 remembers at it. The court subsequently changed hands several times until it purchsed Olav Nicholas, Archbishop of Gran, 1555 commercially. Olai had the courtyard and the chapel partially rebuild and he layed out a large castle garden.

He appointed settlers to Margareten and founded south of his farm Nikolsdorf. In the middle of the 17th Century, 1647-1667, finally completed the envoy to the Sublime Porte, Johann Rudolf Schmidt von Schwarzhorn the building. In the 1662 appeared "Topographia Archiducatus Austriae Inferioris Modernae" by Georg Matthäus Vischer the present castle is represented as a two-storey building whose siebenachsiger (7-axle) residential wing in the east is reinforced by a corner tower with loggia-like ambulatory and to the west is surmounted by an onion-shape crowned clock tower. In this figure, however, lacks the this very day preserved with mighty rusticaded stones cladded castle portal. After the destruction of the Türkenjahr (Siege of Vienna) 1683 the construction was rebuilt. Already about 1725 had in the front of the castle developed in the run of today Margaretenstraße through building development the methodic rectangular shape of today's Margaret Square.

1727 sold Earl of Sonnau the manorial system Margareten to the city of Vienna. Between 1749 and 1783 was located in the large deserted castle garden, which served partly as a grain field and pasture, the first Mulberry School in Vienna. In the premises of the castle in 1751 a factory of Leonean goods was established, but which burned down in 1768. 1786 Anton Schwarzleithner moved the factory to Mannersdorf (Lower Austria). Thereafter, the entire reality was measured and came up for auction. The largest parcel, the old castle at Margaretenplatz with the adjacent factory building at 23 Schlossgasse, bought the silk ribbon maker and judge of Margareten, Francis Plumper. By a daughter Prallers, Elizabeth, married Pichler, the building complex came into the possession of a book printer family, which to 1869 handled a print shop here. The new factory building at 21 Schlossgasse was purchased by auction by Johann Brauneck who in the same year petitioned for an increase. On the neighbouring to the west to the castle connecting parcel (Margaretenplatz 3) the silk stuff promoter Paul Hochholzer in 1787 by architect Johann Michael Adelpodinger the existing buildings had adapted, over the entrance gate the building inscription of the old castle of 1651 was immured. The to the west adjoining parcel with the in 1783 deconsecrated St Margaret's Chapel acquired the Samtmacher (velvet maker) Leopold Urspringer, who had the chapel demolished and the ground for the construction of a residential building (77 Margaret Street) used. Also the area of ​​the small castle garden that had the Vienna municipal judge Leopold van Ghelen on lease, was parceled out and developed through newly created streets. In the period from 1781 to 1788 arised on the site of the great palace garden in the of the Gartengasse and Schlossgasse on the one hand and Margaretenstraße and Siebenbrunnengasse surrounded territory on the other not less than 41 parcels.

Margaretenplatz as a historical center of Margareten is particularly accentuated by the 1835/36 before the House Margaretenplatz 3 built well, on those square base the by Johann Nepomuk Schaller modelled statue of the over the dragon triumphant hl. Margaret, the eponym of the suburb rises. As part of the regulation of 1886, the Margaret Square fountain was offset by 20m to the southwest, and received its present location .

In the west the square is surrounded by the instead of the in 1883 demolished brewery according to plans of the architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer by builder Joseph Müller for Baroness Amalie Lipthay 1884/85 established Margartenhof. The castle-like complex occupies an extremely important position as regards urban development in the district. Historically, it represents the symbolic succession building of the old, today only in fragments existing Margaretner Castle (Margaretenplatz 2,3). The large residential complex with the street-like designed "Zierhof" is an early example of urban development concepts, which in Vienna otherwise only could unfold in the interwar period.

To the east the Margaretenplatz is dominated by an according to plans of Ferdinand Seif 1898 built monumental palace-like structured tenement, where forms of the Venetian city palace of the 16th Century were used. Buildings of the Gründerzeit round off the Margaretenplatz in the north.

www.bezirksmuseum.at/default/index.php?id=376

www.phaselis.org/en/about/about-project

Phaselis Research

Phaselis

When compared with the previous period of research on the history of the city over the past quarter century it has undergone radical changes. While modern scientists follow the path of their predecessors in collecting data through systematic processes and methodically analysing them, they change the route whereby they approach the city as a context- and a process-oriented structure, having economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions which come together at different levels.

This considerably more inclusive definition expands the discipline concerning the city’s historical research, which consists of archaeology, epigraphy, ancient history and the other ancillary sciences and it encourages scientists from the natural and health sciences to participate within these studies. This is because in the course of the exploration of an ancient settlement the study of both the environment and the ecological setting which make human life possible; together with health issues, such as diet and epidemics, form the context within which human beings live, and which are thereby as important as the human actors.

Within the context of the planned Phaselis Research, even certain knowledge such as the settlement’s appearing on the stage of history as a favorite break-point with its three natural harbours, it being famous for its roses, the frequent seismic upheavals at sea and on its shores and its citizens leaving their homes because of a devastating malaria epidemic suggest the necessity of the application of this multi-dimensional research methodology in order to understand more fully the historical adventure of this city.

By presenting this research project, we aim to implement and realize this multi-dimensional research method, which as yet lacks widespread application in the field in our country, however conceptually and practically with a multi-disciplinary research team consisting of both national and international scientists, we intend to register systematically every kind of data/information regarding all contexts of the city employing modern methods and to present the results to the scientific world in the form of regular reports and monographic studies, thus forming a strong tie between past and future research.

Phaselis Territorium

The boundaries of the ancient city of Phaselis’ territorium are today within the administrative borders of the township of Tekirova, in Kemer District, determined from the archaeological, epigraphic and historical-geographical evidence, reaching the Gökdere valley to the north, continue on a line drawn from Üç Adalar to Mount Tahtalı to the south and extend along the Çandır valley to the west.

Phaselis was discovered in 1811-1812 by Captain F. Beaufort during his work of charting the southern coastline of Asia Minor for the British Royal Navy. Beaufort drew Phaselis’ plan and in the course of conducting his cartographic studies, he saw the word Φασηλίτης ethnikon on the inscriptions and consequently identified these ruins with Phaselis. C. R. Cockerell, the English architect, archaeologist and author came to Phaselis by ship and met Beaufort there. Then in 1838 C. Fellows, the English archaeologist visited the city. He found the fragments of the dedicatory inscription over the monumental gate built in honour of the Emperor Hadrianus and mistakenly thought the Imperial Period main street was the stadion due to the seats-steps on either side of the street. In 1842 Lt. T. A. B. Spratt, the English hydrographer and geographer, and the Rev. E. Forbes, the naturalist came to Phaselis via the Olympos and Khimaira routes. Due to the fact that they all came by sea and they only stayed for a short time, their descriptions of the topography inland are without detailed and there are serious errors in orientation.

PhaselisThose researchers who visited Phaselis between the late 19th and the early 20th centuries concentrated primarily upon the discovery of inscriptions. In 1881-1882 while the Austrian archaeologist and the epigraphist O. Benndorf, the founder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and his team were conducting research in southwestern Asia Minor, they examined Phaselis. In the winter of 1883 and 1884 F. von Luschan from the Austrian team took the first photographs which provide information concerning the regional features of Phaselis’ shoreline. In the same year the French scientist V. Bérard also visited Phaselis. In 1892 the members of the Austrian research team, O. Benndorf, E. Kalinka and their colleagues continued their architectural, archaeological and epigraphical studies in Phaselis. In 1904 they were followed by D. G. Hogarth, R. Norton and A. W. van Buren from the British research team. In 1908 the Austrian classical philologist E. Kalinka visited the settlement again, collected epigraphic documents and conducted research on the history of city (published in TAM II in 1944). The Italian researchers R. Paribeni and P. Romanelli visited Phaselis in1913 and C. Anti in 1921. Anti returned to Antalya overland and in consequence discovered several epigraphs and the ruins of structures within the territorium of Phaselis.

Further archaeological, epigraphical and historical-geographical studies of Phaselis were conducted by the English researchers F. M. Stark and G. Bean, who came to the region after World War II. In 1968 H. Schläger, the German architect and underwater archaeologist began exploring the topographical and architectural structures of Phaselis’s harbours. After Schläger’s death in 1969, the research was conducted under the leadership of the archaeologist J. Schäfer in 1970. H. Schläger, J. Schäfer and their colleagues obtained important data concerning the architecture and history of Phaselis through the surface exploration of the city and its periphery. Following the excavations conducted along the main axial street of the city, in 1980 under the direction of Kayhan Dörtlük, the then Director of the Antalya Museum and between 1981-1985 under the leadership of the archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu; underwater exploration was carried out in the South Harbour under the direction of Metin Pehlivaner, the then Director of the Antalya Museum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaselis

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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Armor offers reliable protection against external forces, but what if the enemy is so small that it can take aircraft down from the inside?

Sand and dust can significantly damage helicopter engines, which is why scientists and engineers at the Army Research Laboratory are experimenting with coatings in high-temperature environments with the goal of creating something -- anything -- that will cause sand to slide off the inside of a turbine engine the way an egg slides off a nonstick skillet.

"We are going through a very methodical process to understand the underpinning science and then use the science to predict the materials, what we call the engineered or tailored materials, that will lead to the right solution," explained Dr. Anindya Ghoshal, chief scientist for the laboratory's Vehicle Technology Directorate.

Read more... www.army.mil/article/177698

The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large bovid originating in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, and some American countries. The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) native to Southeast Asia is considered a different species, but most likely represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.

Two extant types of water buffalo are recognized based on morphological and behavioural criteria – the river buffalo of South Asia and further west to the Balkans, Egypt, and Italy, and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east. The origins of the domestic water buffalo types are debated, although results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the swamp type may have originated in China and was domesticated about 4,000 years ago, while the river type may have originated from India and was domesticated about 5,000 years ago. Water buffalo were traded from the Indus Valley Civilisation to Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, 2500 BC by the Meluhhas. The seal of a scribe employed by an Akkadian king shows the sacrifice of water buffalo.

At least 130 million domestic water buffalo exist, and more human beings depend on them than on any other domestic animal. They are especially suitable for tilling rice fields, and their milk is richer in fat and protein than that of dairy cattle. The large feral population of northern Australia became established in the late 19th century, and smaller feral herds are in New Guinea, Tunisia, and northeastern Argentina. Feral herds are also present in New Britain, New Ireland, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, and Uruguay.

CHARACTERISTICS

The skin of river buffalo is black, but some specimens may have dark, slate-coloured skin. Swamp buffalo have a grey skin at birth, but become slate blue later. Albinoids are present in some populations. River buffalo have comparatively longer faces, smaller girths, and bigger limbs than swamp buffalo. Their dorsal ridges extend further back and taper off more gradually. Their horns grow downward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral. Swamp buffalo are heavy-bodied and stockily built; the body is short and the belly large. The forehead is flat, the eyes prominent, the face short, and the muzzle wide. The neck is comparatively long, and the withers and croup are prominent. A dorsal ridge extends backward and ends abruptly just before the end of the chest. Their horns grow outward, and curve in a semicircle, but always remain more or less on the plane of the forehead. The tail is short, reaching only to the hocks. Height at withers is 129–133 cm for males, and 120–127 cm for females. They range in weight from 300–550 kg, but weights of over 1,000 kg have also been observed.

Tedong bonga is a black pied buffalo featuring a unique black and white colouration that is favoured by the Toraja of Sulawesi.

The swamp buffalo has 48 chromosomes; the river buffalo has 50 chromosomes. The two types do not readily interbreed, but fertile offspring can occur. Buffalo-cattle hybrids have not been observed to occur, and the embryos of such hybrids do not reach maturity in laboratory experiments.

The rumen of the water buffalo has important differences from that of other ruminants. It contains a larger population of bacteria, particularly the cellulolytic bacteria, lower protozoa, and higher fungi zoospores. In addition, higher rumen ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) and higher pH have been found as compared to those in cattle

ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

River buffalo prefer deep water. Swamp buffalo prefer to wallow in mudholes which they make with their horns. During wallowing, they acquire a thick coating of mud. Both are well adapted to a hot and humid climate with temperatures ranging from 0 °C in the winter to 30 °C and greater in the summer. Water availability is important in hot climates, since they need wallows, rivers, or splashing water to assist in thermoregulation. Some breeds are adapted to saline seaside shores and saline sandy terrain.

DIET

Water buffalo thrive on many aquatic plants and during floods, will graze submerged, raising their heads above the water and carrying quantities of edible plants. They eat reeds (quassab), a giant reed (birdi), a kind of bulrush (kaulan), water hyacinth, and marsh grasses. Some of these plants are of great value to local peoples. Others, such as water hyacinth, are a major problem in some tropical valleys, and water buffalo may help to keep waterways clear.

Green fodders are used widely for intensive milk production and for fattening. Many fodder crops are conserved as hay, chaffed, or pulped. Fodders include alfalfa, berseem and bancheri, the leaves, stems or trimmings of banana, cassava, fodder beet, halfa, ipil-ipil and kenaf, maize, oats, pandarus, peanut, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, bagasse, and turnips. Citrus pulp and pineapple wastes have been fed safely to buffalo. In Egypt, whole sun-dried dates are fed to milk-buffalo up to 25% of the standard feed mixture.

REPRODUCTION

Swamp buffalo generally become reproductive at an older age than river breeds. Young males in Egypt, India, and Pakistan are first mated at about 3.0–3.5 years of age, but in Italy

they may be used as early as 2 years of age. Successful mating behaviour may continue until the animal is 12 years or even older. A good river male can impregnate 100 females in a year. A strong seasonal influence on mating occurs. Heat stress reduces libido

Although buffalo are polyoestrous, their reproductive efficiency shows wide variation throughout the year. Buffalo cows exhibit a distinct seasonal change in displaying oestrus, conception rate, and calving rate. The age at first oestrus of heifers varies between breeds from 13–33 months, but mating at the first oestrus is often infertile and usually deferred until they are 3 years old. Gestation lasts from 281–334 days, but most reports give a range between 300 and 320 days. Swamp buffalo carry their calves for one or two weeks longer than river buffalo. It is not rare to find buffalo that continue to work well at the age of 30, and instances of a working life of 40 years are recorded.

TAXONOMIC HISTORY

Carl Linnaeus first described the genus Bos and the water buffalo under the binomial Bubalis bubalus in 1758; the latter was known to occur in Asia and as a domestic form in Italy. Ellerman and Morrison-Scott treated the wild and domestic forms of the water buffalo as conspecifics whereas others treated them as different species. The nomenclatorial treatment of wild and domestic forms has been inconsistent and varies between authors and even within the works of single authors.

In March 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature achieved consistency in the naming of wild and domestic water buffalo by ruling that the scientific name Bubalus arnee is valid for the wild form. B. bubalis continues to be valid for the domestic form and applies also to feral populations.

DOMESTICATION AND BREEDING

Water buffalo were domesticated in India about 5000 years ago, and in China about 4000 years ago. Two types are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria – the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans and Italy, and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east. The present-day river buffalo is the result of complex domestication processes involving more than one maternal lineage and a significant maternal gene flow from wild populations after the initial domestication events. Twenty-two breeds of the river type water buffalo are known, including Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Surti, Jafarabadi, Anatolian, Mediterranean, and Egyptian buffalo. China has a huge variety of buffalo genetic resources, comprising 16 local swamp buffalo breeds in various regions.

Results of mitochondrial DNA analyses indicate that the two types were domesticated independently. Sequencing of cytochrome b genes of Bubalus species implies that the domestic buffalo originated from at least two populations, and that the river and the swamp types have differentiated at the full species level. The genetic distance between the two types is so large that a divergence time of about 1.7 million years has been suggested. The swamp type was noticed to have the closest relationship with the tamaraw.

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATIONS

The water buffalo population in the world is about 172 million.

IN ASIA

More than 95.8% of the world population of water buffalo are found in Asia including both river and swamp types. The water buffalo population in India numbered over 97.9 million head in 2003, representing 56.5% of the world population. They are primarily of the river type, with 10 well-defined breeds comprising Badhawari, Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Jafarabadi, Marathwada, Mehsana, Nagpuri, Pandharpuri, Toda, and Surti. Swamp buffalo occur only in small areas in the north-eastern part of the country and are not distinguished into breeds.

In 2003, the second-largest population lived in China, with 22.759 million head, all of the swamp type with breeds kept only in the lowlands, and other breeds kept only in the mountains; as of 2003, 3.2 million swamp-type carabao buffalo were in the Philippines, nearly three million swamp buffalo were in Vietnam, and 772,764 buffalo were in Bangladesh. About 750,000 head were estimated in Sri Lanka in 1997.

The water buffalo is the main dairy animal in Pakistan, with 23.47 million head in 2010. Of these, 76% are kept in the Punjab. The rest of them are mostly in the province of Sindh. Breeds used are Nili-Ravi, Kundi, and Azi Kheli. Karachi has the largest population of water buffalos for an area where fodder is not grown, consisting of 350,000 head kept mainly for milking.

In Thailand, the number of water buffalo dropped from more than 3 million head in 1996 to less than 1.24 million head in 2011. Slightly over 75% of them are kept in the country's northeastern region. The statistics also indicate that by the beginning of 2012, less than one million were in the country, partly as a result of illegal shipments to neighboring countries where sales prices are higher than in Thailand.

Water buffalo are also present in the southern region of Iraq, in the marshes. These marshes were drained by Saddam Hussein in 1991 in an attempt to punish the south for the uprisings of 1991. Following 2003, and the fall of the Saddam regime, these lands were reflooded and a 2007 report in the provinces of Maysan and Thi Qar shows a steady increase in the number of water buffalo. The report puts the number at 40,008 head in those two provinces.

IN EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

Water buffalo likely were introduced to Europe from India or other Oriental countries. To Italy they were introduced about the year 600 in the reign of the Longobard King Agilulf. As they appear in the company of wild horses, they probably were a present from the Khan of the Avars, a Turkic nomadic tribe that dwelt near the Danube River at the time. Sir H. Johnston knew of a herd of water buffalo presented by a King of Naples to the Bey of Tunis in the mid-19th century that had resumed the feral state in northern Tunis.

European buffalo are all of the river type and considered to be of the same breed named Mediterranean buffalo. In Italy, the Mediterranean type was particularly selected and is called Mediterranean Italian breed to distinguish it from other European breeds, which differ genetically. Mediterranean buffalo are also found in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Kosovo, and the Republic of Macedonia, with a few hundred in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Hungary. Little exchange of breeding buffalo has occurred among countries, so each population has its own phenotypic features and performances. In Bulgaria, they were crossbred with the Indian Murrah breed, and in Romania, some were crossbred with Bulgarian Murrah. Populations in Turkey are of the Anatolian buffalo breed.

IN AUSTRALIA

Between 1824 and 1849, water buffalo were introduced into the Northern Territory from Timor, Kisar, and probably other islands in the Indonesian archipelago. In 1886, a few milking types were brought from India to Darwin. They have been the main grazing animals on the subcoastal plains and river basins between Darwin and Arnhem Land since the 1880s. In the early 1960s, an estimated population of 150,000 to 200,000 buffalo were living in the plains and nearby areas.

They became feral and are causing significant environmental damage. Buffalo are also found in the Top End. As a result, they were hunted in the Top End from 1885 until 1980. The commencement of the brucellosis and tuberculosis campaign (BTEC) resulted in a huge culling program to reduce buffalo herds to a fraction of the numbers that were reached in the 1980s. The BTEC was finished when the Northern Territory was declared free of the disease in 1997. Numbers dropped dramatically as a result of the campaign, but have since recovered to an estimated 150,000 animals across northern Australia in 2008.

During the 1950s, buffalo were hunted for their skins and meat, which was exported and used in the local trade. In the late 1970s, live exports were made to Cuba and continued later into other countries. Buffalo are now crossed with riverine buffalo in artificial insemination programs, and may be found in many areas of Australia. Some of these crossbreds are used for milk production. Melville Island is a popular hunting location, where a steady population up to 4,000 individuals exists. Safari outfits are run from Darwin to Melville Island and other locations in the Top End, often with the use of bush pilots. The horns, which can measure up to a record of 3.1 m tip-to-tip, are prized hunting trophies.

The buffalo have developed a different appearance from the Indonesian buffalo from which they descend. They live mainly in freshwater marshes and billabongs, and their territory range can be quite expansive during the wet season. Their only natural predators in Australia are adult saltwater crocodiles, with whom they share the billabongs, and dingoes, which have been known to prey on buffalo calves and occasionally adult buffalo when the dingoes are in large packs.

Buffalo were exported live to Indonesia until 2011, at a rate of about 3000 per year. After the live export ban that year, the exports dropped to zero, and had not resumed as of June 2013.

IN SOUTH AMERICA

Water buffalo were introduced into the Amazon River basin in 1895. They are now extensively used there for meat and dairy production. In 2005, the buffalo herd in the Brazilian Amazon stood at roughly 1.6 million head, of which 460,000 were located in the lower Amazon floodplain. Breeds used include Mediterranean from Italy, Murrah and Jafarabadi from India, and Carabao from the Philippines.

During the 1970s, small herds were imported to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cayenne, Panama, Surinam, Guyana, and Venezuela.

In Argentina, many game ranches raise water buffalo for commercial hunting

IN NORTH AMERICA

In 1974, four water buffalo were imported to the United States from Guam to be studied at the University of Florida. In February 1978, the first herd arrived for commercial farming. Until 2002, only one commercial breeder was in the United States. Water buffalo meat is imported from Australia. Until 2011, water buffalo were raised in Gainesville, Florida, from young obtained from zoo overflow. They were used primarily for meat production, frequently sold as hamburger.[38] Other US ranchers use them for production of high-quality mozzarella cheese.

HUSBANDRY

The husbandry system of water buffalo depends on the purpose for which they are bred and maintained. Most of them are kept by people who work on small farms in family units. Their buffalo live in very close association with them, and are often their greatest capital asset. The women and girls in India generally look after the milking buffalo while the men and boys are concerned with the working animals. Throughout Asia, they are commonly tended by children who are often seen leading or riding their charges to wallowing places. Water buffalo are the ideal animals for work in the deep mud of paddy fields because of their large hooves and flexible foot joints. They are often referred to as "the living tractor of the East". It probably is possible to plough deeper with buffalo than with either oxen or horses. They are the most efficient and economical means of cultivation of small fields. In most rice-producing countries, they are used for threshing and for transporting the sheaves during the rice harvest. They provide power for oilseed mills, sugarcane presses, and devices for raising water. They are widely used as pack animals, and in India and Pakistan also for heavy haulage. In their invasions of Europe, the Turks used buffalo for hauling heavy battering rams. Their dung is used as a fertilizer, and as a fuel when dried.

Buffalo contribute 72 million tones of milk and three million tones of meat annually to world food, much of it in areas that are prone to nutritional imbalances. In India, river-type buffalo are kept mainly for milk production and for transport, whereas swamp-type buffalo are kept mainly for work and a small amount of milk.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Water buffalo milk presents physicochemical features different from that of other ruminant species, such as a higher content of fatty acids and proteins. The physical and chemical parameters of swamp and river type water buffalo milk differ. Water buffalo milk contains higher levels of total solids, crude protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus, and slightly higher content of lactose compared with those of cow milk. The high level of total solids makes water buffalo milk ideal for processing into value-added dairy products such as cheese. The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content in milk ranged from 4.4 mg/g fat in September to 7.6 mg/g fat in June. Seasons and genetics may play a role in variation of CLA level and changes in gross composition of the water buffalo milk.

Water buffalo milk is processed into a large variety of dairy products:

- Cream churns much faster at higher fat levels and gives higher overrun than cow cream.

- Butter from water buffalo cream displays more stability than that from cow cream.

- Ghee from water buffalo milk has a different texture with a bigger grain size than ghee from cow milk.

- Heat-concentrated milk products in the Indian subcontinent include paneer, khoa, rabri, kheer and basundi.

- Fermented milk products include dahi, yogurt, and chakka.

- Whey is used for making ricotta and mascarpone in Italy, and alkarish in Syria and Egypt.

- Soft cheeses made include mozzarella in Italy, karish, mish, and domiati in Egypt, madhfor in Iraq, alghab in Syria, kesong puti in the Philippines, and vladeasa in Romania.

- The semihard cheese beyaz peynir is made in Turkey.

- Hard cheeses include braila in Romania, rahss in Egypt, white brine in Bulgaria, and akkawi in Syria.

- Watered-down buffalo milk is used as a cheaper alternative to regular milk.

MEAT AND SKIN PRODUCTS

Water buffalo meat, sometimes called "carabeef", is often passed off as beef in certain regions, and is also a major source of export revenue for India. In many Asian regions, buffalo meat is less preferred due to its toughness; however, recipes have evolved (rendang, for example) where the slow cooking process and spices not only make the meat palatable, but also preserve it, an important factor in hot climates where refrigeration is not always available.Their hides provide tough and useful leather, often used for shoes.

BONE AND HORN PRODUCTS

The bones and horns are often made into jewellery, especially earrings. Horns are used for the embouchure of musical instruments, such as ney and kaval.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Wildlife conservation scientists have started to recommend and use introduced populations of feral domestic water buffalo in far-away lands to manage uncontrolled vegetation growth in and around natural wetlands. Introduced water buffalo at home in such environs provide cheap service by regularly grazing the uncontrolled vegetation and opening up clogged water bodies for waterfowl, wetland birds, and other wildlife. Grazing water buffalo are sometimes used in Great Britain for conservation grazing, such as in Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve. The buffalo can better adapt to wet conditions and poor-quality vegetation than cattle.

Currently, research is being conducted at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies to determine the levels of nutrients removed and returned to wetlands when water buffalo are used for wetland vegetation management.

However, in uncontrolled circumstances, water buffalo can cause environmental damage, such as trampling vegetation, disturbing bird and reptile nesting sites, and spreading exotic weeds.

RESEARCH

The world's first cloned buffalo was developed by Indian scientists from National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. The buffalo calf was named Samrupa. The calf did not survive more than a week, and died due to some genetic disorders. So, the scientists created another cloned buffalo a few months later, and named it Garima.

On 15 September 2007, the Philippines announced its development of Southeast Asia's first cloned buffalo. The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), under the Department of Science and Technology in Los Baños, Laguna, approved this project. The Department of Agriculture's Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) will implement cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer as a tool for genetic improvement in water buffalo. "Super buffalo calves" will be produced. There will be no modification or alteration of the genetic materials, as in genetically modified organisms.

On 1 January 2008, the Philippine Carabao Center in Nueva Ecija, per Filipino scientists, initiated a study to breed a super water buffalo that could produce 4 to 18 litres of milk per day using gene-based technology. Also, the first in vitro river buffalo was born there in 2004 from an in vitro-produced, vitrified embryo, named "Glory" after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Joseph Estrada's most successful project as an opposition senator, the PCC was created through Republic Act 3707, the Carabao Act of 1992.

IN CULTURE

Some ethnic groups, such as Batak and Toraja in Indonesia and the Derung in China, use water buffalo or kerbau (called horbo in Batak or tedong in Toraja) as sacrificial animals at several festivals.

- Legend has it that the Chinese philosophical sage Laozi left China through the Han Gu Pass riding a water buffalo.

- According to Hindu lore, the god of death Yama, rides on a male water buffalo.

- The carabao subspecies is considered a national symbol in the Philippines.

- In Vietnam, water buffalo are often the most valuable possession of poor farmers: "Con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp". They are treated as a member of the family: "Chồng cày, vợ cấy, con trâu đi bừa" ("The husband ploughs, the wife sows, water buffalo draws the rake") and are friends of the children. Children talk to their water buffalo, "Bao giờ cây lúa còn bông. Thì còn ngọn cỏ ngoài đồng trâu ăn." (Vietnamese children are responsible for grazing water buffalo. They feed them grass if they work laboriously for men.) In the old days, West Lake, Hà Nội, was named Kim Ngưu - Golden Water Buffalo.

- The Yoruban Orisha Oya (goddess of change) takes the form of a water buffalo.

FIGHTING FESTIVALS

- Pasungay Festival is held annually in the town of San Joaquin, Iloilo in the Philippines.

- Moh juj Water Buffalo fighting, is held every year in Bhogali Bihu in Assam. Ahotguri in Nagaon is famous for it.

- Do Son Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Vietnam, held each year on the ninth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar at Do Son Township, Haiphong City in Vietnam, is one of the most popular Vietnam festivals and events in Haiphong City. The preparations for this buffalo fighting festival begin from the two to three months earlier. The competing buffalo are selected and methodically trained months in advance. It is a traditional festival of Vietnam attached to a Water God worshipping ceremony and the Hien Sinh custom to show martial spirit of the local people of Do Son, Haiphong.

- "Hai Luu" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Vietnam, According to ancient records, the buffalo fighting in Hai Luu Commune has existed from the 2nd century B.C. General Lu Gia at that time, had the buffalo slaughtered to give a feast to the local people and the warriors, and organized buffalo fighting for amusement. Eventually, all the fighting buffalo will be slaughtered as tributes to the deities.

- "Ko Samui" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Thailand, is a very popular event held on special occasions such as New Year's Day in January, and Songkran in mid-April, this festival features head-wrestling bouts in which two male Asian water buffalo are pitted against one another. Unlike in Spanish Bullfighting, wherein bulls get killed while fighting sword-wielding men, Buffalo Fighting Festival held at Ko Samui, Thailand is fairly harmless contest. The fighting season varies according to ancient customs & ceremonies. The first Buffalo to turn and run away is considered the loser, the winning buffalo becomes worth several million baht. Ko Samui is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in the South China Sea, it is 700 km from Bangkok and is connected to it by regular flights.

- "Ma'Pasilaga Tedong" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival, in Tana Toraja Regency of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, is a very popular event where the Rambu Solo' or a Burial Festival took place in Tana Toraja.

RACING FESTIVALS

Carabao Carroza Festival is being held annually every May in the town of Pavia, Iloilo, Philippines.

Kambala races of Karnataka, India, take place between December and March. The races are conducted by having the water buffalo (he buffalo) run in long parallel slushy ditches, where they are driven by men standing on wooden planks drawn by the buffalo. The objectives of the race are to finish first and to raise the water to the greatest height and also a rural sport. Kambala races are arranged with competition, as well as without competition and as a part of thanks giving (to god) in about 50 villages of coastal Karnataka.

In the Chonburi Province of Thailand, and in Pakistan, there are annual water buffalo races.

Chon Buri Water buffalo racing festival, Thailand In downtown Chonburi, 70 km south of Bangkok, at the annual water buffalo festival held in mid-October. About 300 buffalo race in groups of five or six, spurred on by bareback jockeys wielding wooden sticks, as hundreds of spectators cheer. The water buffalo has always played an important role in agriculture in Thailand. For farmers of Chon Buri Province, near Bangkok, it is an important annual festival, beginning in mid-October. It is also a celebration among rice farmers before the rice harvest. At dawn, farmers walk their buffalo through surrounding rice fields, splashing them with water to keep them cool before leading them to the race field. This amazing festival started over a hundred years ago when two men arguing about whose buffalo was the fastest ended up having a race between them. That’s how it became a tradition and gradually a social event for farmers who gathered from around the country in Chonburi to trade their goods. The festival also helps a great deal in preserving the number of buffalo, which have been dwindling at quite an alarming rate in other regions. Modern machinery is rapidly replacing buffalo in Thai agriculture. With most of the farm work mechanized, the buffalo-racing tradition has continued. Racing buffalo are now raised just to race; they do not work at all. The few farm buffalo which still do work are much bigger than the racers because of the strenuous work they perform. Farm buffalo are in the "Buffalo Beauty Pageant", a Miss Farmer beauty contest and a comic buffalo costume contest etc.. This festival perfectly exemplifies a favored Thai attitude to life — "sanuk," meaning fun.

Babulang Water buffalo racing festival, Sarawak, Malaysia, is the largest or grandest of the many rituals, ceremonies and festivals of the traditional Bisaya (Borneo) community of Limbang, Sarawak. Highlights are the Ratu Babulang competition and the Water buffalo races which can only be found in this town in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Vihear Suor village Water buffalo racing festival, in Cambodia, each year, people visit Buddhist temples across the country to honor their deceased loved ones during a 15-day period commonly known as the Festival of the Dead but in Vihear Suor village, about 35 km northeast of Cambodia, citizens each year wrap up the festival with a water buffalo race to entertain visitors and honour a pledge made hundreds of years ago. There was a time when many village cattle which provide rural Cambodians with muscle power to plough their fields and transport agricultural products died from an unknown disease. The villagers prayed to a spirit to help save their animals from the disease and promised to show their gratitude by holding a buffalo race each year on the last day of "P'chum Ben" festival as it is known in Cambodian. The race draws hundreds of spectators who come to see riders and their animals charge down the racing field, the racers bouncing up and down on the backs of their buffalo, whose horns were draped with colorful cloth.

Pothu puttu matsaram, Kerala, South India, is similar to Kambala races.

WIKIPEDIA

Matching fan shaped toggle. Strung on vintage glass beads. A heart of stone lasts forever.......Rare agate stone carvings. The chunks are 50% coarse blue quartz crystals. Methodically cutting the solid 50%. I was able to get some one of a kind stone to work.

The forgotten house of Hope.

When I came around the back side of the house, this was the unexpected view. Why the wall had been torn off I have no idea. There was no sign of a fire or other more methodical demolition. Was it someone trying to get into the house, or someone trying to get out? Like the rest of the house, it was a mystery.

As I was setting up my tripod I kept hearing sounds behind me, but there was nothing there but forest. Still, the sounds kept occurring, thudding and rustling in the dry leaves. It was a bit unsettling. Finally I saw an apple drop from a tree behind me that was as overgrown as the rest of the property and realized that was the sound I had been hearing. Apples continued to drop as I photographed from this vantage point. Then I decided to have a look inside.

For the technically curious, this is a blend of three exposures, but not an HDR. I tried it as an HDR but was not pleased with the softening of the details so I put it together manually, which preserved the sharpness much better. The usual mojo and uneven color seasoning has been applied.

Larger is better.

After a brief repose which followed our initial ascent up the Longji terraced fields, our band of three left the hotel to resume again our hiking. To catch the setting sun, we set off for the high western hills that lay directly behind our residence. Another group of ardent Hong Kong tourists joined us on this trek.

Though we neither anticipated such an arduous journey, nor did we bring enough water to satisfy our parched lips, we nonetheless reached the peak of the acclivity without too much ennui to warrant a hasty departure. As if crack troops on the watch, we bunkered down on our hill, affectionately called "47," and from there we waited for the sun's final languid descent into obscurity.

No sooner had we made ourselves quite comfortable, exploring the adjacent mounds and running along the ridge while emoting in our Braveheart impersonations, than we noticed the ominous smoke billowing into the sky from the nearby mountaintops. The concentrated haze, the result of controlled brushfires, we concluded, was moving closer and closer towards us. Eventually, the crackling from the intense combustion of browned and dry foliage, that had been methodically placed on certain declivities, tinged our ears; and the smoke, which had so far been blown away by an easter gale whose ferocity also invited a biting cold to hill 47, at length enveloped our position, compromising our ability to remain there any longer. But by this time thankfully, the meek sun had ambled its way into the opaque distance and with our primary objective met, we gladly capitulated our untenable camp to our fiery nemesis. As the dark blanket of dusk settled on Longji, we swiftly fell back into the dimming wood, eager to return to our lodgings for a hot meal.

My drawer!

AI:

1. Drawer Contents

Clothing Type: The drawer contains various pieces of folded and unfolded undergarments, mainly consisting of underwear. The garments visible are mainly in neutral colors such as white, gray, and black, with some pieces featuring colored details (like blue and yellow).

Condition: The clothing items appear to be clean but not neatly organized, suggesting this is a drawer for casual or frequently used items. The unfolded or loosely tossed appearance of some pieces may indicate regular access or quick retrieval rather than a methodical arrangement.

Material: Some garments appear to be made from breathable fabric, likely cotton or a cotton blend, as seen in the structure of the material. One of the white items, with mesh-like qualities, appears to be made from a synthetic or performance fabric, possibly for athletic purposes.

2. Drawer

Material: The drawer is made of wood or wood-like material (likely plywood or MDF) with a light, natural wood finish on the outside. The interior of the drawer has a white, clean finish, which is commonly seen in modern dressers or furniture designed for practical home use.

Size: From the visible part of the drawer, it seems to be moderately deep, likely part of a medium-sized dresser. The drawer is wide enough to hold multiple items side-by-side, suggesting it may be a storage space for frequently used essentials like undergarments or socks.

Usage: The drawer is partially pulled open, with a hand visible at the bottom left corner holding it, likely preparing to either organize or retrieve something from the contents.

3. Surrounding Elements

Human Interaction: A person's hand is visible on the left side of the image, pulling or holding the drawer open. This adds to the casual and spontaneous nature of the image, as if it were taken mid-action while accessing the drawer. The person’s hand appears relaxed, and the forearm suggests casual clothing like jeans or dark trousers.

Flooring: The bottom part of the image shows a glimpse of a floor, which appears to be wooden or laminate, consistent with common home decor. There’s also a partial view of an object on the floor, likely a box or magazine, featuring a colorful design. It could be part of the surrounding room's entertainment or storage area.

4. Lighting and Image Quality

Lighting: The image is well-lit, likely using natural daylight or overhead room lighting. There are no harsh shadows, and the bright, even lighting helps reveal the details of the clothing and drawer's interior.

Image Focus: The focus of the image is sharp, especially on the foreground objects such as the drawer and the clothing inside. The background and the lower parts of the image are slightly blurred, possibly due to motion or the focus being set on the contents of the drawer.

5. Interpretation and Context

Casual Organization: The image depicts an everyday scenario—someone opening a drawer to retrieve or organize underwear. The somewhat disorganized state of the clothing suggests this drawer is used regularly and for quick access to items, like undergarments or socks. It’s a utilitarian storage space with no particular effort made to present the items neatly.

Practical Setting: The drawer is likely part of a dresser in a bedroom or closet, a common place to store personal clothing items. The casual nature of the image, with a hand holding the drawer open, gives a candid, practical vibe.

Summary:

The image shows a drawer containing casual undergarments that are loosely arranged, with a person holding the drawer open, likely in the process of accessing or organizing the contents. The drawer itself is simple, with a light wood finish on the outside and a white interior, indicating it's part of a practical storage solution, probably in a bedroom. The overall scene conveys an everyday task or moment of retrieving clothing.

A group of us from Porthmadog fire station decided to visit this storage facility in 2000. It was an excellent visit, very intersesting to see how methodical it was there, loads of parts available for any part required for the goddess

© jackharrybill www.jackharrybill.co.uk

This fisherman was methodically working his way up and down the beach casting his net for fish. I waited for him to be in front of the sun and Chinese nets before taking this portrait. Panasonic GH2, Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm f2.8.

Enigma machines for sale 24,000 to 45,000 USA. You have something to hide? These were mostly desroyed methodically by grenade after the war - a few dozen survived in attics and the like. Boxboro Hamfest 2003.

The American Kestrel seen in this series of photos depicting the dining process—a Meadow Vole, in this case—was so neat to witness. This particular tree is where a young family of them resides, and on this day, as we were walking the path along the vast marshland area, we heard this non-stop cacophony of screeches revealing some state of commotion. Apparently, the male had just returned with a meal (a whole Meadow Vole), but another third Kestrel was nearby. We did not believe it to be the recent newborn, from only several weeks back, so figured that it might have been a stranger. Once that was gone, the female proceeded to dine away. We wanted to see if we could, at least, capture some shots of it eating, rather than just have the memory of seeing it through the binoculars. So, slowly, and ever so carefully, we walked toward the tree with deliberate step by step, occasionally stopping to be certain that we were not alarming it. The Kestrel did notice the approaching human presence, but seemed not to be threatened, given our calm disposition. Once we felt close enough to take a series of photos as it ripped into the body and pried out the innards, we maintained the position and managed to shoot a successful series that clearly represented the methodical means of eating the rodent. We continued to observe for about 15 minutes or so, before finally leaving the scene. It was obvious that this dining on a fat rodent was not a quick process, for at the time or our departure, there was still a great amount of the prey left to eat. By the way, the head was already missing when we first secured the initial photos.

The late, Doris Duke, had left a wonderful legacy in converting her magnificent estate into a Natural Wildlife Preserve for the public’s education and enjoyment. The paths throughout the estate offer such splendid scenery. One is forever exploring, always seeing something subtly beautiful. There are always pleasant surprises, from the general scenery to the world of birds and other wildlife, including tiny insects and flowers that are quite enjoyable to observe and study. The bucolic nature of the preserve is so relaxing—akin to meditating while experiencing the landscape. The beauty of visiting Duke Farms is that so many incredible views are there simply by absorbing the surroundings.

Besides the wonderful diversity of nature’s jewels, Doris Duke has left a part of her legacy through her passion for art—well situated throughout the preserve is a collection of glorious sculptures and fabulous examples of supreme stonework and design in the bridges, old ruins of enormous barns and stables, and a variety of other structures. The old Hay Barn ruin with its fabulous sculpture garden is truly a favorite of ours, for each and every statue seems to possess a spirit and sense of life. The landscape and backdrop can alter the mood, accordingly, depending on the time of day and seasonal changes in particular. So, spotting new and fascinating wildlife (both animals and plants) and art never ceases to add to the experience.

The arborist is positioned astride the very top of the trunk of this Silver Maple as he prepares to methodically cut it down.