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The nominate subspecies of the common potoo is found in Trinidad & Tobago and every mainland South American country except Chile, though it has been recorded in that country as a vagrant. There it ranges from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean.
The common potoo seeks to mimic the perch on which it rests, using a technique called masquerading. Adult and juvenile potoos alike choose perches that are similar in diameter to their own bodies, so that they can better blend in with the stump. These birds adjust their perching angle to best mimic the stump where they are. The potoo sits with its eyes open and its bill horizontal while awake, but if disturbed, assumes an alert “freezing” posture (flexibility). This entails sticking its beak vertically up in the air, closing its eyelids (through which it can still see via slits), and remaining still.
Perched in a tree near Argyle Waterfall on the island of Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Blue Whistling Thrush
(Nominate with a yellow bill)
The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a whistling thrush present in the mountains of Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
This whistling thrush is dark violet blue with shiny spangling on the tips of the body feathers other than on the lores, abdomen and under the tail. The wing coverts are a slightly different shade of blue and the median coverts have white spots at their tips. The bill is yellow and stands in contrast. The inner webs of the flight and tail feathers is black. The sexes are similar in plumage.
It measures 31–35 cm (12–14 in) in length. Weight across the subspecies can range from 136 to 231 g (4.8 to 8.1 oz). For comparison, the blue whistling thrush commonly weighs twice as much as an American robin. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can measure 15.5–20 cm (6.1–7.9 in) long, the tarsus is 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) and the bill is 2.9–4.6 cm (1.1–1.8 in). Size varies across the range with larger thrushes found to the north of the species range and slightly smaller ones to the south, corresponding with Bergmann's rule. In northern China, males and females average 188 g (6.6 oz) and 171 g (6.0 oz), whereas in India they average 167.5 g (5.91 oz) and 158.5 g (5.59 oz).
Several populations are given subspecies status. The nominate form with a black bill is found in central and eastern China. The population in Afghanistan, turkestanicus, is often included in the widespread temminckii which has a smaller bill width at the base and is found along the Himalayas east to northern Burma. The population eugenei, which lacks white spots on the median coverts, is found south into Thailand. Cambodia and the Malay peninsula have crassirostris, while dichrorhynchus with smaller spangles occurs further south and in Sumatra. The Javan population, flavirostris, has the thickest bill. The subspecies status of several populations has been questioned.
It is found along the Tian Shan and Himalayas, in temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. They make altitudinal movements in the Himalayas, descending in winter.
The blue whistling thrush is usually found singly or in pairs. They hop on rocks and move about in quick spurts. They turn over leaves and small stones, cocking their head and checking for movements of prey. When alarmed they spread and droop their tail. They are active well after dusk and during the breeding season (April to August) they tend to sing during the darkness of dawn and dusk when few other birds are calling. The call precedes sunrise the most during November. The alarm call is a shrill kree. The nest is a cup of moss and roots placed in a ledge or hollow beside a stream. The usual clutch consists of 3 to 4 eggs, the pair sometimes raising a second brood. They feed on fruits, earthworms, insects, crabs and snails. Snails and crabs are typically battered on a rock before feeding. In captivity, they have been known to kill and eat mice and in the wild have been recorded preying on small birds.
Grammy-nominated country music artist Taylor Swift poses for a photo at a hotel in the Universal City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) ORG XMIT: NY493
Nominate subspecies clamator.
Near San Hilarion [230m], Tarapoto - Bellavista Road, San Martin, Peru
Nominated in the Pic of the Week #82 in the DFW Metro Group
One of those busy but a good week. What more can one ask, when all is well.
One just says "Thank you"
Nominator people of 2008 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC global photography competition/2008 《国家地理》全球摄影大赛中国区人物类入围作品
NOMINATED BEST LIVE VOCAL BY deejaymags'09
Shot in a Limo only using my SB900 with my DIY bounce card, bounced of the ceiling.
G South Images Photography
Copyright © 2008 James Triay. All rights reserved.
Email triay85@gmail.com for prints and/or commercial use or visit www.gsouthimages.com for more information.
You can also visit/join my fanpage on facebook: www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/G-South-Images/196791010...
Check out my short video:
... was nominated to do a Nature Photography Challenge by Lake Sturgeon. day 6 / 7. still … 靜如止水... @ Blue Mountain, Collingwood, Ontario
Day 5/7. I've been nominated by @smithgaltney for a nature photography challenge. For seven days, I'll post a picture each day and nominate a new photographer. Today I nominate @fh3rny. This is a self portrait from Olympic National Park, on the Hall of Mosses trail in 2010.
104 Likes on Instagram
21 Comments on Instagram:
lilylandes: Thank you @sturley ✨🌿
lilylandes: Thanks @mikeybellis 🌲💗🌲
assolmorskaya: Magic place
travelessentialslife: Wonderful :)
LOS ANGELES - Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez announced on January 18, 2022 that Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas will retire after nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the Los Angeles Fire Department — and that Kristin Crowley, a top deputy with a stellar 25-year track record at the Department, has been nominated as its next Chief.
If confirmed by the City Council, Crowley, currently Acting Administrative Operations Chief Deputy and Fire Marshal, will be the 19th Fire Chief, and the first woman to ever lead the LAFD.
“We’re living through an unprecedented moment that has called on our Fire Department not just to protect us – but to lead us in the fight to overcome public safety challenges we’ve never faced before. At the same time, the LAFD is leading a transformative national discussion about strengthening equity and inclusion within the firefighting ranks, and we must overcome those internal challenges too,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Throughout her distinguished career, Kristin Crowley has proven her brilliance, determination and bravery on the job again and again. She’s also shown this city her heart, with her tireless commitment to helping students access life-changing educational opportunities. There is no one better equipped to lead the LAFD at this moment than Kristin. She’s ready to make history, and I’m proud to nominate her as the Department’s next Chief.”
“Today is a big moment in this City. For the first time in its history the Los Angeles Fire Department will be led by a woman,” said Council President Martinez. “Chief Kristin Crowley is known by her colleagues and by this city as someone who is dedicated, hard working, and goes above and beyond what is expected of her. This announcement is not just important for the City of Los Angeles, but for girls across LA who never imagined they could one day serve as Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department.”
Crowley is a 22-year veteran of the Fire Department who has moved seamlessly through the ranks, proving her credibility and character along the way. She made history as the Department’s first female Fire Marshal and is the second woman to earn the rank of Chief Deputy.
Chief Deputy Crowley, who serves as program director for the LAFD’s youth development program, has played a key role in ensuring that over 1,000 LAUSD high school students continue in their education.
In her current role, she helped to develop a five-year strategic plan to identify areas of growth within the Department and foster culture more open to change. As Chief, she plans to work to both deepen existing efforts and create new mechanisms to foster equity and inclusion in the Department.
"I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to be the next Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department and to lead the Department into the future," Crowley said. "As the Fire Chief, if confirmed, I vow to take a strategic and balanced approach to ensure we meet the needs of the community we serve. We will focus our efforts on increasing our operational effectiveness, enhancing firefighter safety and well-being, and fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture within the LAFD. Thank you, Mayor Garcetti, Council President Martinez, and Chief Terrazas for entrusting me to lead and to work with the dedicated women and men of the finest department in the world."
Chief Terrazas, who was sworn in as L.A.’s Fire Chief in 2014, was the first Latino to serve in that role. A 39-year veteran of the Department, Chief Terrazas helped steer the City through some of its greatest challenges, and brought about meaningful advancements and innovations within the Fire Department.
Under his leadership, LAFD supervised the City’s free public COVID-19 testing and vaccination programs, which has administered nearly 4.86 million tests and approximately 1.43 million vaccinations to date. The City of L.A.’s testing effort was the nation’s largest municipal testing program and tested over 40,000 Angelenos per day at its peak.
“Ralph Terrazas has dedicated his life to keeping the people of Los Angeles safe. For nearly 40 years, he has served our Fire Department with bravery, determination and compassion for the Angelenos he’s sworn to protect,” said Mayor Garcetti. “I couldn’t imagine having anyone else as Fire Chief, through some of the most difficult fire and public safety challenges L.A. has ever faced. And when a once-in-a-century pandemic hit, Ralph’s leadership and bold action helped us save countless lives. I am honored to have served alongside him, and I know the mark he’s left on this city will never be forgotten.”
Early in his time leading LAFD, Chief Terrazas oversaw the rebuilding of the Department, which had stopped hiring new firefighters for five years as a result of the Great Recession. In 2015, he successfully reorganized the Department into four bureaus – the first restructuring of LAFD in 50 years, which helped to enhance accountability and improve service delivery.
Chief Terrazas also launched and implemented a variety of innovative initiatives, including Advanced Provider Response Units, Alternate Destination Response Units, and Fast Response Vehicles, efforts that enable firefighters to go beyond simply bringing patients to emergency rooms. Chief Terrazas has also made diversity a top priority – for the first time in department history, 51.4% firefighters are now people of color. Since 2014, the Department has maintained a steady increase in the number of hired sworn women at LAFD. Of the current sworn force, more than half of those who are currently employed were hired on in the last 8 years, and nearly 10% were brought on in 2021.
"It was a privilege to serve as the Fire Chief of this world-class Department," said Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas. "For nearly eight years, we made considerable strides in technology, implemented innovative ways to respond to emergencies, and became a model for other agencies. Chief Crowley is an exemplary leader and has a broad base of experience that will serve the Department well. She has risen through the ranks over the past 26 years and I proudly promoted her three times during my tenure because she demonstrated a commitment to advancing the Department. Chief Crowley has been successful at every position and I expect her success to continue as the next Fire Chief."
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I have been nominated by Mandy Steer to post a BW image every day for five days. I nominate Debbie Boydston to post one BW image every day for five days. Check out Debbie's work at www.flickr.com/photos/dbphotographyblogger/
Female Common Goldeneye (nominate) (Kvinand / Bucephala clangula clangula) with ducklings in Numedalslågen, Kongsberg (Norway).
Canon EOS 550D, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6.
The photo is part of a Female Common Goldeneye album.
For male birds, see my Male Common Goldeneye (nominate) set.
via Instagram ift.tt/1SkztJ4 lgbt, Instagram,lesbian,gay,lesbian wedding,gay wedding,gay couples,lesbian couples,#teamlesbian
Rev. Channing E. Phillips is shown in a photograph published November 30, 1978 upon his appointment as congressional liaison officer for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Phillips gained national prominence when he became the first black person nominated by a major party at the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
Phillips, who was the District of Columbia national committeeman for the party, was nominated as its favorite son after Sen Robert F. Kennedy was slain. Phillips received 67 ½ votes from 18 states.
Phillips also ran in the District’s first election for non-voting Delegate to Congress in 1971. He was an early favorite, but was criticized for being aloof and finished a distant third to winner Rev. Walter Fauntroy and behind appointed city council member Joseph Yeldell.
He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and grew up in New York and Pittsburgh, serving in the U.S. Army in the late 1940s. He graduated from Virginia Union where he was the center on the basketball team. He received a divinity degree from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School and did postgraduate work at Drew University in New Jersey.
He came to Washington in 1956 as a lecturer at Howard and American Universities and later taught at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.
He pastored at two churches in New York before returning to Washington D.C., accepting a position as minister of the Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ.
During his time at Lincoln Temple he moved into the forefront of the local civil rights movement advocating for Home Rule, affordable housing and against police brutality.
He resigned his position as senior minister at Lincoln Temple in 1970 after some members charged he was neglecting the congregation for his involvement in social issues.
During his time at Lincoln Temple, he accepted a job as head of the District’s Housing Development Corporation where he led the building of over a 1,000 new units of affordable housing ranging from efficiency to five-bedroom houses.
He also had failures at the HDC—particularly at the Clifton Terrace apartments on 14th Street NW where the renovation project went bankrupt. He was criticized for not ensuring that the low income housing he built remained in low income residents hands. Many units were later sold by the initial residents to wealthier buyers.
He resigned from HDC in 1974 and accepted at job as vice president of Virginia Union University but was quickly fired on charges of nonperformance and attempting to “undermine the university’s administration.” Phillips filed a lawsuit and negotiated a substantial out-of-court settlement.
He returned to Washington, D.C. as director of congressional relations for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a position he held until 1982 when he moved to New York accepting a job as minister of planning and coordination for the Riverside Church there.
He sharply disagreed with senior minister William Sloane Coffin over gay parishioners and gave a sermon in Coffin’s absence called homosexuality a “sin” and opposed a church task force report that recommended upholding gay rights.
He did not prevail at the church in his views and the Riverside congregation adopted the task force report.
Phillips was on medical leave from Riverside in 1987 when he succumbed to lung cancer at age 59.
For other random radicals, see flic.kr/s/aHske413N1
The photographer is unknown. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
Nominate / Vote for @jordynjones for the Kids' Choice Awards 2016! 🌟 Tweet at @ KCANominees on Twitter suggesting Jordyn Jones! (@ jjjordynjones on Twitter / Hashtag: #KCA2016) The Kids Choice Awards 2016 is LIVE Saturday March 12th 🌟 #KCA #Nickelodeon #KidsChoiceAwards #KidsChoiceAwards2016 🌟 Jordyn Jones @JordynOnline Photo www.instagram.com/p/BALdOljwJKZ/ #Jordyn #Jones #Actress #Model #Modeling #Singer #Dancer #Dancing #Dance #Star #Instagram #Photography #Jordyn Jones #JordynOnline www.jordynonline.com #JordynJones
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of more than 2,773 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, directors, producers, musicians, theatrical/musical groups, fictional characters, and others.
The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who hold the trademark rights, and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist attraction, receiving an estimated 10 million annual visitors in 2010.
The Walk of Fame runs 1.3 miles (2.1 km) east to west on Hollywood Boulevard, from Gower Street to the Hollywood and La Brea Gateway at La Brea Avenue, plus a short segment on Marshfield Way that runs diagonally between Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea; and 0.4 miles (0.64 km) north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. According to a 2003 report by the market research firm NPO Plog Research, the Walk attracts about 10 million visitors annually—more than the Sunset Strip, the TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's), the Queen Mary, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art combined—and has played an important role in making tourism the largest industry in Los Angeles County.
As of 2023, the Walk of Fame comprises 2,752 stars, which are spaced at 6-foot (1.8 m) intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass (not bronze, an oft-repeated inaccuracy) inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background. The name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters in the upper portion of each star. Below the inscription, in the lower half of the star field, a round inlaid brass emblem indicates the category of the honoree's contributions. The emblems symbolize six categories within the entertainment industry:
Circular 4-inch brass plaque showing a side view of a classic movie camera. Classic film camera representing motion pictures.
Circular 4-inch brass plaque with a tube-type television with twin aerials. Television receiver representing broadcast television.
Circular 4-inch brass plaque with a top view of phonograph disc and pickup arm. Phonograph record representing audio recording or music.
Circular 4-inch brass plaque with an antique studio-style microphone. Radio microphone representing broadcast radio.
Circular 4-inch brass plaque with the classic theatrical comedy/tragedy masks. Comedy/tragedy masks representing theater/live performance (added in 1984).
[image needed] Athletic trophy representing sports entertainment (added in 2023).
Of all the stars on the Walk to date, 47% have been awarded in the motion pictures category, 24% in television, 17% in audio recording or music, 10% in radio, fewer than 2% in theater/live performance, and fewer than 1% in sports entertainment. According to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year.
Locations of individual stars are not necessarily arbitrary. Stars of many particularly well-known celebrities are found in front of the TCL (formerly Grauman's) Chinese Theatre. Oscar-winners' stars are usually placed near the Dolby Theatre,[citation needed] site of the annual Academy Awards presentations. Locations are occasionally chosen for ironic or humorous reasons: Mike Myers's star lies in front of an adult store called the International Love Boutique, an association with his Austin Powers roles; Roger Moore's star and Daniel Craig's star are located at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard in recognition of their titular role in the James Bond 007 film series; Ed O'Neill's star is located outside a shoe store in reference to his character's occupation on the TV show Married ... with Children; and The Dead End Kids' star is located at the corner of LaBrea and Hollywood Boulevard.
Honorees may request a specific location for their star, although final decisions remain with the Chamber. Jay Leno, for example, requested a spot near the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave. because he was twice picked up at that location by police for vagrancy (though never actually charged) shortly after his arrival in Hollywood. George Carlin chose to have his star placed in front of the KDAY radio station near the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Vine St., where he first gained national recognition. Lin-Manuel Miranda chose a site in front of the Pantages Theatre where his musicals, In The Heights and Hamilton, played. Carol Burnett explained her choice in her 1986 memoir: While working as an usherette at the historic Warner Brothers Theatre (now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre) during the 1951 run of Alfred Hitchcock's film Strangers on a Train, she took it upon herself to advise a couple arriving during the final few minutes of a showing to wait for the next showing, to avoid seeing (and spoiling) the ending. The theater manager fired her on the spot for "insubordination" and humiliated her by stripping the epaulets from her uniform in the theater lobby. Twenty-six years later, at her request, Burnett's star was placed at the corner of Hollywood and Wilcox—in front of the theater.
Special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. For example, former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley's star displays the Seal of the City of Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) star emblem is a replica of a Hollywood Division badge; and stars representing corporations, such as Victoria's Secret and the Los Angeles Dodgers, display the honoree's corporate logo. The "Friends of the Walk of Fame" monuments are charcoal terrazzo squares rimmed by miniature pink terrazzo stars displaying the five standard category emblems, along with the sponsor's corporate logo, with the sponsor's name and contribution in inlaid brass block lettering. Special stars and Friends monuments are granted by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce or the Hollywood Historic Trust, but are not part of the Walk of Fame proper and are located nearby on private property.
The monuments for the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon are uniquely shaped: Four identical circular moons, each bearing the names of the three astronauts (Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins), the date of the first Moon landing ("7/20/69"), and the words "Apollo XI", are set on each of the four corners of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E.M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to "maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world". Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, received credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and an architectural firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955, the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, and plans were submitted to the Los Angeles City Council.
Multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. According to one, the historic Hollywood Hotel, which stood for more than 50 years on Hollywood Boulevard at the site now occupied by the Ovation Hollywood complex and the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre—displayed stars on its dining room ceiling above the tables favored by its most famous celebrity patrons, and that may have served as an early inspiration. By another account, the stars were "inspired ... by Sugarman's Tropics Restaurant drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars".
In February 1956, a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree (John Wayne, by some accounts) inside a blue star on a brown background. However, caricatures proved too expensive and difficult to execute in brass with the technology available at the time; and the brown and blue motif was vetoed by Charles E. Toberman, the legendary real estate developer known as "Mr. Hollywood", because the colors clashed with a new building he was erecting on Hollywood Boulevard.
By March 1956, the final design and coral-and-charcoal color scheme had been approved. Between the spring of 1956 and the fall of 1957, 1,558 honorees were selected by committees representing the four major branches of the entertainment industry at that time: motion pictures, television, audio recording, and radio. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant,[32] and they included such prominent names as Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz.
A requirement stipulated by the original audio recording committee (and later rescinded) specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement. As a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed to create a separate award for the music industry, leading to the first Grammy Awards in 1959.
Construction of the Walk began in 1958, but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first lawsuit was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment (equivalent to $13 million in 2022) levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting and trees. In October 1959, the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin Jr., sought damages for the exclusion of his father, whose nomination had been withdrawn due to pressure from multiple quarters (see Controversial additions). Chaplin's suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project.
While Joanne Woodward is often singled out as the first person to receive a star on the Walk of Fame—possibly because she was the first to be photographed with it—the original stars were installed as a continuous project, with no individual ceremonies. Woodward's name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558 and inscribed on eight prototype stars that were built while litigation was holding up permanent construction. The eight prototypes were installed temporarily on the northwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in August 1958 to generate publicity and to demonstrate how the Walk would eventually look. The other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence. Official groundbreaking took place on February 8, 1960. On March 28, 1960, the first permanent star, director Stanley Kramer's, was completed on the easternmost end of the new Walk near the intersection of Hollywood and Gower.
Although the Walk was originally conceived in part to encourage redevelopment of Hollywood Boulevard, the 1960s and 1970s were periods of protracted urban decay in the Hollywood area as residents moved to nearby suburbs. After the initial installation of approximately 1,500 stars in 1960 and 1961, eight years passed without the addition of a new star. In 1962, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance naming the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce "the agent to advise the City" about adding names to the Walk, and the Chamber, over the following six years, devised rules, procedures, and financing methods to do so. In December 1968, Richard D. Zanuck was awarded the first star in eight years in a presentation ceremony hosted by Danny Thomas. In July 1978, the city of Los Angeles designated the Hollywood Walk of Fame a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
Radio personality, television producer, and Chamber member Johnny Grant is generally credited with implementing the changes that resuscitated the Walk and established it as a significant tourist attraction. Beginning in 1968, Grant stimulated publicity and encouraged international press coverage by requiring that each recipient personally attend his or her star's unveiling ceremony. Grant later recalled that "it was tough to get people to come accept a star" until the neighborhood finally began its recovery in the 1980s.
In 1980, Grant instituted a fee of $2,500 (equivalent to $8,879 in 2022), payable by the person or entity nominating the recipient, to fund the Walk of Fame's upkeep and minimize further taxpayer burden. The fee has increased incrementally over time. By 2002, it had reached $15,000 (equivalent to $24,405 in 2022), and stood at $30,000 in 2012 (equivalent to $38,240 in 2022). As of 2023, the fee was $75,000, about nine times the original amount adjusted for inflation.
Grant was himself awarded a star in 1980 for his television work. In 2002, he received a second star in the "special" category to acknowledge his pivotal role in improving and popularizing the Walk. He was also named chairman of the Selection Committee and Honorary Mayor of Hollywood (a ceremonial position previously held by Art Linkletter and Monty Hall, among others). He remained in both offices from 1980 until his death in 2008 and hosted the great majority of unveiling ceremonies during that period. His unique special-category star, with its emblem depicting a stylized "Great Seal of the City of Hollywood", is located at the entrance to the Dolby Theatre adjacent to Johnny Grant Way.
In 1984, a fifth category, Live Theatre, was added to acknowledge contributions from the live performance branch of the entertainment industry, and a second row of stars was created on each sidewalk to alternate with the existing stars.
In 1994, the Walk of Fame was extended one block to the west on Hollywood Boulevard, from Sycamore Avenue to North LaBrea Avenue (plus the short segment of Marshfield Way that connects Hollywood and La Brea), where it now ends at the silver "Four Ladies of Hollywood" gazebo and the special "Walk of Fame" star. At the same time, Sophia Loren was honored with the 2,000th star on the Walk.
During construction of tunnels for the Los Angeles subway system in 1996, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) removed and stored more than 300 stars. Controversy arose when the MTA proposed a money-saving measure of jackhammering the 3-by-3-foot terrazzo pads, preserving only the brass lettering, surrounds, and medallions, then pouring new terrazzo after the tunnels were completed; but the Cultural Heritage Commission ruled that the star pads were to be removed intact.
In 2023, a sixth category, Sports Entertainment, was added to acknowledge contributions of athletes to the entertainment industry.
In 2008, a long-term restoration project began with an evaluation of all 2,365 stars on the Walk at the time, each receiving a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F. Honorees whose stars received F grades, indicating the most severe damage, were Joan Collins, Peter Frampton, Dick Van Patten, Paul Douglas, Andrew L. Stone, Willard Waterman, Richard Boleslavsky, Ellen Drew, Frank Crumit, and Bobby Sherwood. Fifty celebrities' stars received "D" grades. The damage ranged from minor cosmetic flaws caused by normal weathering to holes and fissures severe enough to constitute a walking hazard. Plans were made to repair or replace at least 778 stars at an estimated cost of over $4 million.
The restoration is a collaboration among the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and various Los Angeles city and county governmental offices, along with the MTA, which operates the Metro B Line that runs beneath the Walk, since earth movement due to the presence of the subway line is thought to be partly responsible for the damage.
To encourage supplemental funding for the project by corporate sponsors, the "Friends of Walk of Fame" program was inaugurated, with donors recognized through honorary plaques adjacent to the Walk of Fame in front of the Dolby Theatre. The program has received some criticism; Alana Semuels of the Los Angeles Times described it as "just the latest corporate attempt to buy some good buzz", and quoted a brand strategist who said, "I think Johnny Grant would roll over in his grave".
Los Angeles introduced the "Heart of Hollywood Master Plan", which promotes the idea of closing Hollywood Boulevard to traffic and creating a pedestrian zone from La Brea Avenue to Highland Avenue, citing an increase in pedestrian traffic including tourism, weekly movie premieres and award shows closures, including ten days for the Academy Award ceremony at the Dolby Theatre. In June 2019, the city of Los Angeles commissioned Gensler Architects to provide a master plan for a $4 million renovation to improve and "update the streetscape concept" for the Walk of Fame. Los Angeles city councilmember Mitch O'Farrell released the draft master plan designed by Gensler and Studio-MLA in January 2020. It proposed widening the sidewalks, adding bike lanes, new landscaping, sidewalk dining, removing lanes of car traffic and street parking between the Pantages Theater (Gower Street) at the east and The Emerson Theatre (La Brea Avenue) at the west end of the boulevard. The approved phase one includes removing the parking lanes between Orange Drive and Gower Street, adding street furnishings with benches, tables and chairs with sidewalk widening. Phase two is in the schematic stage. Phase two is planned for 2024 and will include closing down the boulevard to two lanes, adding landscaping with shade trees and five public plazas made up of art deco designed street pavers and kiosks. Planned to be completed by 2026, funding is being raised for the $50 million project.
Each year an average of 200 nominations are submitted to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame selection committee. Anyone, including fans, can nominate anyone active in the field of entertainment as long as the nominee or their management approves the nomination. Nominees must have a minimum of five years' experience in the category for which they are nominated and a history of "charitable contributions". Posthumous nominees must have been deceased at least five years. At a meeting each June, the committee selects approximately 20 to 24 celebrities to receive stars on the Walk of Fame. One posthumous award is given each year as well. The nominations of those not selected are rolled over to the following year for reconsideration; those not selected two years in a row are dropped, and must be renominated to receive further consideration. Living recipients must agree to personally attend a presentation ceremony within two years of selection. If the ceremony is not scheduled within two years, a new application must be submitted. A relative of deceased recipients must attend posthumous presentations. Presentation ceremonies are open to the public.
A fee of $75,000 (as of 2023), payable at time of selection, is collected to pay for the creation and installation of the star, as well as general maintenance of the Walk of Fame. The fee is usually paid by the nominating organization, which may be a fan club, film studio, record company, broadcaster, or other sponsor involved with the prospective honoree. The Starz cable network, for example, paid for Dennis Hopper's star as part of the promotion for its series Crash.
Actor Matt Damon's star under construction, showing the brass star-shaped rim, exposed wire grid foundation, brass letters attached to two horizontal brackets, and the Motion Picture emblem, prior to pouring of pink terrazzo
Actor Matt Damon's star under construction, August 2007
Traditionally, the identities of selection committee members, other than its chairman, have not been made public in order to minimize conflicts of interest and to discourage lobbying by celebrities and their representatives (a significant problem during the original selections in the late 1950s). However, in 1999, in response to intensifying charges of secrecy in the selection process, the Chamber disclosed the members' names: Johnny Grant, the longtime chair and representative of the television category; Earl Lestz, president of Paramount Studio Group (motion pictures); Stan Spero, retired manager with broadcast stations KMPC and KABC (radio); Kate Nelson, owner of the Palace Theatre (live performance); and Mary Lou Dudas, vice president of A&M Records (recording industry). Since that 1999 announcement, the chamber has revealed only that Lestz (who received his own star in 2004) became chairman after Grant died in 2008. Their current official position is that "each of the five categories is represented by someone with expertise in that field".
In 2010, Lestz was replaced as chairman by John Pavlik, former Director of Communications for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. While no public announcement was made to that effect, he was identified as chairman in the Chamber's press release announcing the 2011 star recipients. In 2016, the chair, according to the Chamber's 2016 selection announcement, was film producer Maureen Schultz. In 2023, the selection committee chair was radio personality Ellen K.
Moon Landing monument, with square pink terrazzo surround (not the usual charcoal color), with light gray terrazzo Moon disk showing TV emblem at top and the brass lettering "Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin and Michael Collins, 7/20/69, Apollo XI"
One of the four monuments recognizing the Apollo 11 astronauts at the corners of Hollywood and Vine
Walk of Fame rules prohibit consideration of nominees whose contributions fall outside the six major entertainment categories, but the selection committee has been known to adjust interpretations of its rules to justify a selection. The Walk's four round Moon landing monuments at the corners of Hollywood and Vine, for example, officially recognize the Apollo 11 astronauts for "contributions to the television industry." Johnny Grant acknowledged, in 2005, that classifying the first Moon landing as a television entertainment event was "a bit of a stretch". Magic Johnson was added to the motion picture category based on his ownership of the Magic Johnson Theatre chain, citing as precedent Sid Grauman, builder of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Muhammad Ali's star was granted after the committee decided that boxing could be considered a form of "live performance". Its placement on a wall of the Dolby Theatre makes it the only star mounted on a vertical surface, acceding to Ali's request that his name not be walked upon, as he shared his name with the Prophet Muhammad.
All living honorees have been required since 1968 to personally attend their star's unveiling, and approximately 40 have declined the honor due to this condition. The only recipient to date who failed to appear after agreeing to do so was Barbra Streisand, in 1976. Her star was unveiled anyway, near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland. Streisand did attend when her husband, James Brolin, unveiled his star in 1998 two blocks to the east.
Entertainers with multiple stars
The original selection committees chose to recognize some notable entertainers' contributions in multiple categories with multiple stars.
Gene Autry is the only honoree with stars in all five categories.
Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Roy Rogers, and Tony Martin each have stars in four categories; Rooney has three of his own and a fourth with his eighth wife, Jan Chamberlin,[87][88] while Rogers also has three of his own, and a fourth with his band, Sons of the Pioneers.
Thirty-three honorees, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, Gale Storm, Danny Kaye, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Jack Benny, have stars in three categories.
Over a dozen have two stars:
Dolly Parton, for her solo work and part of the trio made up of her, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt;[91]
Michael Jackson, as a soloist and as a member of The Jacksons;
Diana Ross, as a member of The Supremes and for her solo work;
Smokey Robinson, as a solo artist and as a member of The Miracles;
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as individuals and as members of The Beatles.
George Eastman is the only honoree with two stars in the same category for the same achievement, the invention of roll film.
Walt Disney, has stars in two different categories for his work in both film and television; in addition, Mickey Mouse (who was originally voiced by Walt Disney) and Disneyland have stars.
Bette Davis has one star each for film and television.
Alfred Hitchcock has stars in two different categories for his work in both film and television.
Jean Hersholt, for film and radio
Hattie McDaniel, for film and radio
Judy Garland, one for motion pictures and another for recording
Arlene Francis, for radio and television
Cass Daley, for radio and television
Kermit the Frog, has an individual star for television and as a member of The Muppets for film.
Cher forfeited her opportunity to join this list by declining to schedule the mandatory personal appearance when she was selected in 1983. She did, however, attend the unveiling of the Sonny & Cher star in 1998, as a tribute to her recently deceased ex-husband, Sonny Bono.
Sixteen stars are identified with a one-word stage name (e.g., Liberace, Pink, Roseanne, and Slash). Clayton Moore is so inextricably linked with his Lone Ranger character, even though he played other roles during his career, that he is one of only two actors to have his character's name alongside his own on his star. The other is Tommy Riggs, whose star references his Betty Lou character. The largest group of individuals represented by a single star is the estimated 122 adults and 12 children collectively known as the Munchkins, from the landmark 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
Two pairs of stars share identical names representing different people. There are two Harrison Ford stars, honoring the silent film actor (at 6665 Hollywood Boulevard), and the present-day actor (in front of the Dolby Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard). Two Michael Jackson stars represent the pop singer (at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard), and the radio personality (at 1597 Vine Street).
The Westmores received the first star honoring contributions in theatrical make-up.[citation needed] Other make-up artists on the walk are Max Factor, John Chambers and Rick Baker. Three stars recognize experts in special effects: Ray Harryhausen, Dennis Muren, and Stan Winston. Only two costume designers have received a star: eight-time Academy Award Winner Edith Head, and the first African-American to win an Oscar for costume design, Ruth E. Carter.
Sidney Sheldon is one of two novelists with a star, which he earned for writing screenplays for such films as The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) before becoming a novelist. The other is Ray Bradbury, whose books and stories have formed the basis of dozens of movies and television programs over a nearly 60-year period.
Nine inventors have stars on the Walk: George Eastman, inventor of roll film; Thomas Edison, inventor of the first true film projector and holder of numerous patents related to motion-picture technology; Lee de Forest, inventor of the triode vacuum tube, which played an important role in the development of radio and television broadcasts, and Phonofilm, which made sound films possible; Herbert Kalmus, inventor of Technicolor; Auguste and Louis Lumière, inventors of important components of the motion picture camera; Mark Serrurier, inventor of the technology used for film editing; Hedy Lamarr, co-inventor of a frequency-hopping radio guidance system that was a precursor to Wi-Fi networks and cellular telephone systems; and Ray Dolby, co-developer of the first video tape recorder and inventor of the Dolby noise-reduction system.
A few star recipients moved on after their entertainment careers to political notability. Two Presidents of the United States, Ronald Reagan (40th President) and Donald Trump (45th President), have stars on the Walk. Reagan is also one of two Governors of California with a star; the other is Arnold Schwarzenegger. One U.S. senator (George Murphy) and two members of the U.S. House of Representatives (Helen Gahagan and Sonny Bono) have stars. Ignacy Paderewski, who served as Prime Minister of Poland between the World Wars, is the only European head of government represented. Film and stage actor Albert Dekker served one term in the California State Assembly during the 1940s.
On its 50th anniversary in 2005, Disneyland received a star near Disney's Soda Fountain on Hollywood Boulevard. Stars for commercial organizations are only considered for those with a Hollywood show business connection of at least 50 years' duration. While not technically part of the Walk itself (a city ordinance prohibits placing corporate names on sidewalks), the star was installed adjacent to it.
There are three dogs represented on the walk, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and Strongheart.
Charlie Chaplin is the only honoree to be selected twice for the same star on the Walk. He was unanimously voted into the initial group of 500 in 1956, but the Selection Committee ultimately excluded him, ostensibly due to questions regarding his morals (he had been charged with violating the Mann Act—and exonerated—during the White Slavery hysteria of the 1940s), but more likely due to his left-leaning political views. The rebuke prompted an unsuccessful lawsuit by his son, Charles Chaplin Jr. Chaplin's star was finally added to the Walk in 1972, the same year he received his Academy Award. Even then, 16 years later, the Chamber of Commerce received angry letters from across the country protesting its decision to include him.
The committee's Chaplin difficulties reportedly contributed to its decision in 1978 against awarding a star to Paul Robeson, the controversial opera singer, actor, athlete, writer, lawyer, and social activist. The resulting outcry from the entertainment industry, civic circles, local and national politicians, and many other quarters was so intense that the decision was reversed and Robeson was awarded a star in 1979.
In 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, Mickey Mouse became the first animated character to receive a star, and nearly twenty more followed over the next decades. Other fictional characters on the Walk include the Munchkins, the kaiju Godzilla, the live-action dog named Lassie, Pee-Wee Herman as portrayed by Paul Reubens, animated film characters such as Shrek and Snow White, and animated television characters including the Simpsons and the Rugrats.
Jim Henson is one of four puppeteers to have a star, but also has a further three stars dedicated to his creations: one for The Muppets as a whole, one for Kermit the Frog and one for Big Bird.
In 2010, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' star was constructed with the name "Julia Luis Dreyfus". The actress was reportedly amused, and the error was corrected. A similar mistake was made on Dick Van Dyke's star in 1993 ("Vandyke"), and rectified. Film and television actor Don Haggerty's star originally displayed the first name "Dan". The mistake was fixed, but years later the television actor Dan Haggerty (of Grizzly Adams fame, no relation to Don) also received a star. The confusion eventually sprouted an urban legend that Dan Haggerty was the only honoree to have a star removed from the Walk of Fame. For 28 years, the star intended to honor Mauritz Stiller, the Helsinki-born pioneer of Swedish film who brought Greta Garbo to the United States, read "Maurice Diller", possibly due to mistranscription of verbal dictation. The star was finally remade with the correct name in 1988.
Monty Woolley's star, showing a "TV" emblem, even though his category is "Motion Pictures"
"Motion Picture" category, "TV" emblem
Four stars remain misspelled: the opera star Lotte Lehmann (spelled "Lottie"); King Kong creator, director, and producer and Cinerama pioneer Merian C. Cooper ("Meriam"); cinematography pioneer Auguste Lumière ("August"); and radio comedienne Mary Livingstone ("Livingston").
Monty Woolley, the veteran film and stage actor best known for The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) and the line "Time flies when you're having fun", is officially listed in the motion picture category, but his star on the Walk of Fame bears the television emblem. Woolley did appear on the small screen late in his career, but his TV contributions were eclipsed by his extensive stage, film, and radio work. Similarly, the star of film actress Carmen Miranda bears the TV emblem, although her official category is motion pictures. Radio and television talk show host Larry King is officially a television honoree, but his star displays a film camera.
Acts of vandalism on the Walk of Fame have ranged from profanity and political statements written on stars with markers and paint to damage with heavy tools. Vandals have also tried to chisel out the brass category emblems embedded in the stars below the names, and have even stolen a statue component of The Four Ladies of Hollywood. Closed circuit surveillance cameras have been installed on the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea Avenue and Vine Street in an effort to discourage mischievous activities.
Four of the stars, which weigh about 300 pounds (140 kg) each, have been stolen from the Walk of Fame. In 2000, James Stewart's and Kirk Douglas' stars disappeared from their locations near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, where they had been temporarily removed for a construction project. Police recovered them in the suburban community of South Gate when they arrested a man involved in an incident there and searched his house. The suspect was a construction worker employed on the Hollywood and Vine project. The stars had been badly damaged and had to be remade. One of Gene Autry's five stars was also stolen from a construction area. Another theft occurred in 2005 when thieves used a concrete saw to remove Gregory Peck's star from its Hollywood Boulevard site at the intersection of North El Centro Avenue, near North Gower. The star was replaced almost immediately, but the original was never recovered and the perpetrators never caught.
Donald Trump's star, obtained for his work as owner and producer of the Miss Universe pageant, has been vandalized multiple times. During the 2016 presidential election, a man named James Otis, who claims to be an heir to the Otis Elevator Company fortune, used a sledgehammer and a pickaxe to destroy all of the star's brass inlays. He readily admitted to the vandalism and was arrested and sentenced to three years' probation. The star was repaired and served as a site of pro-Trump demonstrations until it was destroyed a second time in July 2018 by a man named Austin Clay. Clay later surrendered himself to the police and was bailed out by James Otis. Clay was sentenced to one day in jail, three years of probation, and 20 days of community service. He also was ordered to attend psychological counseling and pay restitution of $9,404.46 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. On December 18, 2018, the star was defaced with swastikas and other graffiti drawn in permanent marker, and it was vandalized yet again on October 2, 2020.
In August 2018, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting permanent removal of the star due to repeated vandalism, according to Mayor John Duran. The resolution was completely symbolic, as West Hollywood has no jurisdiction over the Walk. Activist groups have also called for the removal of stars honoring individuals whose public and professional lives have become controversial, including Trump, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, and Brett Ratner. In answer to these campaigns, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that because the Walk is a historical landmark, "once a star has been added ... it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame" and cannot be removed.
The Hollywood and La Brea Gateway is a 1993 cast stainless steel public art installation by architect Catherine Hardwicke.[ The sculpture, popularly known as The Four Ladies of Hollywood, was commissioned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency Art Program as a tribute to the multi-ethnic women of the entertainment industry. The installation consists of a square stainless steel Art Deco-style structure or gazebo, with an arched roof supporting a circular dome that is topped by a central obelisk with descending neon block letters spelling "Hollywood" on each of its four sides. Atop the obelisk is a small gilded weather vane-style sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her iconic billowing skirt pose from The Seven Year Itch. The corners of the domed structure are supported by four caryatids sculpted by Harl West representing African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge, Asian-American actress Anna May Wong, Mexican actress Dolores del Río, and Brooklyn-born actress Mae West. The installation stands at the western end of the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and North La Brea Avenue.
The gazebo was dedicated on February 1, 1994, to a mixed reception. Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight called it "the most depressingly awful work of public art in recent years", representing the opposite of Hardwicke's intended tribute to women. "Sex, as a woman's historic gateway to Hollywood", he wrote, "couldn't be more explicitly described".
Independent writer and film producer Gail Choice called it a fitting tribute to a group of pioneering and courageous women who "carried a tremendous burden on their feminine shoulders". "Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I'd ever see women of color immortalized in such a creative and wonderful fashion." Hardwicke contended that critics had missed the "humor and symbolism" of the structure, which "embraces and pokes fun at the glamour, the polished metallic male form of the Oscar, and the pastiche of styles and dreams that pervades Tinseltown."
In June 2019, the Marilyn Monroe statue above the gazebo was stolen by Austin Clay, who had vandalized Donald Trump's star a year earlier.
Recording artist Michael Jackson's star, surrounded by flowers, candles, and cards, as observed about two weeks after his death in 2009
Michael Jackson's star, about two weeks after his death in 2009
Some fans show respect for star recipients both living and dead by laying flowers or other symbolic tributes at their stars. Others show their support in other ways; the star awarded to Julio Iglesias, for example, is kept in "pristine condition a devoted band of elderly women scrub and polish it once a month".
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has adopted the tradition of placing flower wreaths at the stars of newly deceased awardees; for example, Bette Davis in 1989, Katharine Hepburn in 2003, and Jackie Cooper in 2011. The stars of other deceased celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee, Farrah Fawcett, Elizabeth Taylor Charles Aznavour, Richard Pryor, Ricardo Montalbán, James Doohan, Frank Sinatra, Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, George Harrison, Aretha Franklin, Stan Lee, and Betty White have become impromptu memorial and vigil sites as well, and some continue to receive anniversary remembrances.
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The economy of the state of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.4 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy as of 2022, behind Germany and ahead of India, as well as the 37th most populous. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.0 trillion and $0.5 trillion respectively as of 2020). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas in 2018, and is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.
Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America and contained the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including large-scale immigration into California, a worldwide economic boom, and the California genocide of indigenous people. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, following the Compromise of 1850.
Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade.
The state's extremely diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast and metropolitan areas in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. California is well known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather. The large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during at least the last 13,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population have ranged from 100,000 to 300,000. The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups, inhabiting environments from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests. These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups.
The first Europeans to explore the coast of California were the members of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as San Miguel Island. Privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of San Francisco. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain, putting ashore in Monterey. Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.
The Portolá expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, presidios, and pueblos. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled over land from Sonora into California, while the religious component was headed by Junípero Serra, who came by sea from Baja California. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on Monterey Bay.
After the Portolà expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 Spanish missions of California along El Camino Real ("The Royal Road") and along the Californian coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission San Buenaventura), or Santa Barbara (Mission Santa Barbara), among others.
Juan Bautista de Anza led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the pueblo of San Jose in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions.
During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the North Coast. Fort Ross was primarily used to supply Russia's Alaskan colonies with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.
During the War of Mexican Independence, Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution, though many Californios supported independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California and limited its development. Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited the trade prospects of Californians. Following Mexican independence, Californian ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave the Mexican Empire (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government. The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 California Gold Rush.
From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842. The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by Anglo-American residents of California, including Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham Affair, which was resolved in part with the intercession of Royal Navy officials.
One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.
After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, Manuel Micheltorena and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the Battle of Providencia near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced these men that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born Pio Pico was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.
In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterward, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[65] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.
The California Republic was short-lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the U.S. military invasion of California, with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces. In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho in Southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of Santa Clara in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing de facto American control in California.
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.
In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come. Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.
The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.
In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854 with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington in support of the Union. However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.
At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the First transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time.
Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the Gold Rush or to seek work. Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity. Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.
Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government) to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them. As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.
In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the Alien Land Act, excluding Asian immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were interned in concentration camps such as at Tule Lake and Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.
Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.
To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states. California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production. Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.
In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 Watts riots and 1992 Rodney King riots. California was also the hub of the Black Panther Party, a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren. Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around Cesar Chavez for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.
During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.
Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.
In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From 2011 to 2017, a persistent drought was the worst in its recorded history. The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably Camp Fire.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze that is known as "smog" has been substantially abated thanks to federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
One of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. Department of State evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered
via Instagram ift.tt/1lw7vNN lgbt, Instagram,lesbian,gay,lesbian wedding,gay wedding,gay couples,lesbian couples,#teamlesbian
Blue Whistling Thrush
(Nominate with a black bill)
The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a whistling thrush present in the mountains of Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
This whistling thrush is dark violet blue with shiny spangling on the tips of the body feathers other than on the lores, abdomen and under the tail. The wing coverts are a slightly different shade of blue and the median coverts have white spots at their tips. The bill is yellow and stands in contrast. The inner webs of the flight and tail feathers is black. The sexes are similar in plumage.
It measures 31–35 cm (12–14 in) in length. Weight across the subspecies can range from 136 to 231 g (4.8 to 8.1 oz). For comparison, the blue whistling thrush commonly weighs twice as much as an American robin. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can measure 15.5–20 cm (6.1–7.9 in) long, the tarsus is 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) and the bill is 2.9–4.6 cm (1.1–1.8 in). Size varies across the range with larger thrushes found to the north of the species range and slightly smaller ones to the south, corresponding with Bergmann's rule. In northern China, males and females average 188 g (6.6 oz) and 171 g (6.0 oz), whereas in India they average 167.5 g (5.91 oz) and 158.5 g (5.59 oz).
Several populations are given subspecies status. The nominate form with a black bill is found in central and eastern China. The population in Afghanistan, turkestanicus, is often included in the widespread temminckii which has a smaller bill width at the base and is found along the Himalayas east to northern Burma. The population eugenei, which lacks white spots on the median coverts, is found south into Thailand. Cambodia and the Malay peninsula have crassirostris, while dichrorhynchus with smaller spangles occurs further south and in Sumatra. The Javan population, flavirostris, has the thickest bill. The subspecies status of several populations has been questioned.
It is found along the Tian Shan and Himalayas, in temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. They make altitudinal movements in the Himalayas, descending in winter.
The blue whistling thrush is usually found singly or in pairs. They hop on rocks and move about in quick spurts. They turn over leaves and small stones, cocking their head and checking for movements of prey. When alarmed they spread and droop their tail. They are active well after dusk and during the breeding season (April to August) they tend to sing during the darkness of dawn and dusk when few other birds are calling. The call precedes sunrise the most during November. The alarm call is a shrill kree. The nest is a cup of moss and roots placed in a ledge or hollow beside a stream. The usual clutch consists of 3 to 4 eggs, the pair sometimes raising a second brood. They feed on fruits, earthworms, insects, crabs and snails. Snails and crabs are typically battered on a rock before feeding. In captivity, they have been known to kill and eat mice and in the wild have been recorded preying on small birds.
Was nominated to do a 5 day B&W image challenge by MsFoo
I am meant to nominate another contact but I won\'t nominate anyone unless I\'ve had the chance to contact them first and I really don\'t have the time to do that at the moment, so, if anyone wants to partake please feel free and lets see if we can get a few B&W images up over the next few days.
So kicking things off today with another Lego Minifugre shot I took earlier in the week. This is my Lego Spooky Girl.
After being nominated for the first time at the Emmys for her roles in “Orphan Black,” Tatiana Maslany failed to bring home the trophy from last Sunday’s awards show. The best actress winner, “How to Get Away With Murder” star Viola Davis, has been praised for her...
asianpin.com/tatiana-maslany-news-orphan-black-star-furio...
The nominated Bryce Canyon National Park Scenic Trails District consists of five structures including the Navajo Loop Trail, the Queen's Garden Trail, the Peekaboo Loop Trail, the Fairyland Trail, and the Rim Trail. All of these structures are located within the scenic heartland of the park-between Fairyland Point to the north and Bryce Point to the south. Although the trails have individual names, they do intersect with one another, forming a contiguous series of paths that provide visual and physical access to the erosional features that characterize Bryce Canyon National Park (BRCA).
The Queen's Garden Trail (an unpaved graded trail between three and five feet in width) accesses the area below the plateau rim between Sunrise and Sunset points. The length of the Queen's Garden Trail is listed in various documents as .8 or 1.8 miles in length, depending upon whether or not one includes both the canyon bottom and switchback segments under the designation. This trail provides access to the rock formation known as Queen Victoria. The upper portion of the trail is cut through bare sandstone with little or no vegetation. However, vegetation increases as one descends into the bottom of Bryce Canyon. Scattered stands of ponderosa pine, bristlecone pine, and brushy understory vegetation occur adjacent to the trail. Notable features of the trail include two tunnels cut through a sandstone ridge.
A comparison of historic and modern maps indicates that the current alignment of the Queen's Garden Trail follows closely the trail as it was constructed in 1929. Modifications have been made due to erosion, rock fall, etc., however these are to be expected given the character of the natural environment within BRCA. This trail continues to provide access to the formation known as "Queen Victoria" and provides hikers with vistas that are little changed since the historical period. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/95000422.pdf
Hey all!
So I applied for the Better Photography Wedding Photographer of the Year Contest back in February.
What I ended up with:
- 3 Top 6 Nominations in 3 different categories (including the 12-shot Wedding Series!)
- 5 Top 15 Shortlists in 4 different categories
Look forward to the April 2010 issue of Better Photography and do pick up one to check out the nominated photos!
I guess the best part of this is that all the photos are from the first wedding I ever shot completely! :D
:)
The roof gardens at the top of the Library of Birmingham, a Library was designed by Buro Happold and built at a cost of £188 million. In Centenary Square, Birmingham, West Midlands.
Birmingham City Council looked into relocating the library for many years. The original plan was to build a new library in the emerging Eastside district, which had been opened up to the city centre following the demolition of Masshouse Circus. A library was designed by Richard Rogers on a site in the area. However, for financial reasons and reservations about the location this plan was shelved. The Council suggested that the Library be split between a new building built between the Rep Theatre and Baskerville House at Centenary Square, which until 2009 was a public car park (to house the main lending library) and a building at Millennium Point in "Eastside" (to house the archives and special collections).
In August 2006, the Council confirmed the area between the Rep Theatre and Baskerville House as the future site for the library. Capita Symonds had been appointed as Project Managers for the Library of Birmingham. The council's intention was to create a "world class" landmark civic building in Centenary Square. Not long after this, the two-sites idea was scrapped and the archives and special collections will move to the site at Centenary Square.
Preparation of the ground for building, and archaeological work between Baskerville House and The Rep had begun before planning permission had been granted. Planning permission was finally granted and approved by Birmingham City Council in December 2009. Building work, which was undertaken by Carillion, commenced in January 2010, with a completion schedule for 3 September 2013. A topping out ceremony to mark the completion of the highest part of the building took place on 14 September 2011.
At the 2014 RIBA West Midlands Awards, the Library of Birmingham was named overall West Midlands building of the year Mecanoo architect Patrick Arends won emerging architect of the year and Birmingham City Council won client of the year. In the June 2014 birthday honours, the library's director, Brian Gambles, was made MBE "for services to libraries". On 17 July 2014 the Library of Birmingham was nominated as one of the six short-listed buildings for the 2014 Stirling Prize, awarded for excellence in architecture.
The library has a number of nationally and internationally significant collections, including the Boulton and Watt archives, the Bournville Village Trust Archive, the Charles Parker Archive, the Parker collection of children's books, the Sir Benjamin Stone photographic collection, the Wingate Bett transport ticket collection, the Warwickshire photographic survey, the British Institute of Organ Studies archive and the Railway and Canal Historical Society Library.
The specialist Shakespeare Memorial Room was designed in 1882 by John Henry Chamberlain for the first Central Library. When the old building was demolished in 1974 Chamberlain's room was dismantled and later fitted into the new concrete shell of the new library complex. When the Library of Birmingham was built, it was again moved, to the top floor. It houses Britain’s most important Shakespeare collection, and one of the two most important Shakespeare collections in the world; the other being held by the Folger Shakespeare Library. The collection contains 43,000 books including rare items such as a copy of the First Folio 1623; copies of the four earliest Folio editions; over 70 editions of separate plays printed before 1709 including three "Pavier" quartos published in 1619 but falsely dated. There are significant collections from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, a near complete collection of Collected Works, significant numbers of adaptations, anthologies and individual editions.
The Boulton and Watt Collection is the archive of the steam engine partnership of Matthew Boulton and James Watt, dating from its formation in 1774 until the firm's closure in the 1890s. The archive comprises about 550 volumes of letters, books, order books and account books, approximately 29,000 engine drawings and upwards of 20,000 letters received from customers. Boulton and Watt manufactured the screw engines for Brunel's SS Great Eastern and the archive includes a portfolio of 13 albumen prints by Robert Howlett documenting the construction of the Great Eastern, including a rare variant of the Brunel portrait of 1857.
Blue Whistling Thrush
(Nominate with a yellow bill)
The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a whistling thrush present in the mountains of Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
This whistling thrush is dark violet blue with shiny spangling on the tips of the body feathers other than on the lores, abdomen and under the tail. The wing coverts are a slightly different shade of blue and the median coverts have white spots at their tips. The bill is yellow and stands in contrast. The inner webs of the flight and tail feathers is black. The sexes are similar in plumage.
It measures 31–35 cm (12–14 in) in length. Weight across the subspecies can range from 136 to 231 g (4.8 to 8.1 oz). For comparison, the blue whistling thrush commonly weighs twice as much as an American robin. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can measure 15.5–20 cm (6.1–7.9 in) long, the tarsus is 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) and the bill is 2.9–4.6 cm (1.1–1.8 in). Size varies across the range with larger thrushes found to the north of the species range and slightly smaller ones to the south, corresponding with Bergmann's rule. In northern China, males and females average 188 g (6.6 oz) and 171 g (6.0 oz), whereas in India they average 167.5 g (5.91 oz) and 158.5 g (5.59 oz).
Several populations are given subspecies status. The nominate form with a black bill is found in central and eastern China. The population in Afghanistan, turkestanicus, is often included in the widespread temminckii which has a smaller bill width at the base and is found along the Himalayas east to northern Burma. The population eugenei, which lacks white spots on the median coverts, is found south into Thailand. Cambodia and the Malay peninsula have crassirostris, while dichrorhynchus with smaller spangles occurs further south and in Sumatra. The Javan population, flavirostris, has the thickest bill. The subspecies status of several populations has been questioned.
It is found along the Tian Shan and Himalayas, in temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. They make altitudinal movements in the Himalayas, descending in winter.
The blue whistling thrush is usually found singly or in pairs. They hop on rocks and move about in quick spurts. They turn over leaves and small stones, cocking their head and checking for movements of prey. When alarmed they spread and droop their tail. They are active well after dusk and during the breeding season (April to August) they tend to sing during the darkness of dawn and dusk when few other birds are calling. The call precedes sunrise the most during November. The alarm call is a shrill kree. The nest is a cup of moss and roots placed in a ledge or hollow beside a stream. The usual clutch consists of 3 to 4 eggs, the pair sometimes raising a second brood. They feed on fruits, earthworms, insects, crabs and snails. Snails and crabs are typically battered on a rock before feeding. In captivity, they have been known to kill and eat mice and in the wild have been recorded preying on small birds.
The cover Ingrid did for Wallpaper* has been nominated for the prestigious Dutch Design Awards 2009. For more information see the following link: www.dutchdesignawards.nl/en/home/
Blue Whistling Thrush
(Nominate with a black bill)
The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a whistling thrush present in the mountains of Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
This whistling thrush is dark violet blue with shiny spangling on the tips of the body feathers other than on the lores, abdomen and under the tail. The wing coverts are a slightly different shade of blue and the median coverts have white spots at their tips. The bill is yellow and stands in contrast. The inner webs of the flight and tail feathers is black. The sexes are similar in plumage.
It measures 31–35 cm (12–14 in) in length. Weight across the subspecies can range from 136 to 231 g (4.8 to 8.1 oz). For comparison, the blue whistling thrush commonly weighs twice as much as an American robin. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can measure 15.5–20 cm (6.1–7.9 in) long, the tarsus is 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) and the bill is 2.9–4.6 cm (1.1–1.8 in). Size varies across the range with larger thrushes found to the north of the species range and slightly smaller ones to the south, corresponding with Bergmann's rule. In northern China, males and females average 188 g (6.6 oz) and 171 g (6.0 oz), whereas in India they average 167.5 g (5.91 oz) and 158.5 g (5.59 oz).
Several populations are given subspecies status. The nominate form with a black bill is found in central and eastern China. The population in Afghanistan, turkestanicus, is often included in the widespread temminckii which has a smaller bill width at the base and is found along the Himalayas east to northern Burma. The population eugenei, which lacks white spots on the median coverts, is found south into Thailand. Cambodia and the Malay peninsula have crassirostris, while dichrorhynchus with smaller spangles occurs further south and in Sumatra. The Javan population, flavirostris, has the thickest bill. The subspecies status of several populations has been questioned.
It is found along the Tian Shan and Himalayas, in temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. They make altitudinal movements in the Himalayas, descending in winter.
The blue whistling thrush is usually found singly or in pairs. They hop on rocks and move about in quick spurts. They turn over leaves and small stones, cocking their head and checking for movements of prey. When alarmed they spread and droop their tail. They are active well after dusk and during the breeding season (April to August) they tend to sing during the darkness of dawn and dusk when few other birds are calling. The call precedes sunrise the most during November. The alarm call is a shrill kree. The nest is a cup of moss and roots placed in a ledge or hollow beside a stream. The usual clutch consists of 3 to 4 eggs, the pair sometimes raising a second brood. They feed on fruits, earthworms, insects, crabs and snails. Snails and crabs are typically battered on a rock before feeding. In captivity, they have been known to kill and eat mice and in the wild have been recorded preying on small birds.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès "Carboplane", no. 873. Photo: Paramount Pictures Inc.
Distinguished American actor Robert Ryan (1909-1973) was known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains. In 1948, he was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Crossfire (1947). He achieved more fame with roles in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and The Wild Bunch (1969).
Robert Bushnell Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1909. He was the first child of Mabel Arbutus (née Bushnell), a secretary, and Timothy Aloysius Ryan, who was from a wealthy family who owned a real estate firm. Ryan's first successes came at Dartmouth College, where he held the school's heavyweight boxing title for all four years of his attendance, along with lettering in football and track. After graduating in 1932, he worked in various odd jobs: as a stoker on a ship that travelled to Africa and as a roustabout on a ranch in Montana. He returned home in 1936 when his father died, and after a brief stint modelling clothes for a department store, he decided to become an actor. In 1937 Ryan joined a little theatre group in Chicago. The following year he enrolled in the Max Reinhardt Workshop in Hollywood. His role in the 1939 play 'Too Many Husbands' brought an offer from Paramount. Although he had done a screen test for them in 1938 and been turned down as "not the right type", the studio offered him a $ 75-a-week contract. He made his debut as a boxer in Golden Gloves (Edward Dmytryk, 1940), Throughout the 1940s, he appeared on stage or in supporting roles in films on several occasions. In 1943, he signed a contract with RKO and was fourth-billed in Behind the Rising Sun (Edward Dmytryk, 1943), which was a huge box-office success. RKO promoted him to star status in Tender Comrade (Edward Dmytryk, 1943), where he was Ginger Rogers' leading man. It was another big hit. In 1944, he joined the United States Marine Corps and was active as a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton, in Southern California. There, he befriended writer/director Richard Brooks. After his discharge from the Marine Corps, RKO immediately cast Ryan in the Randolph Scott Western, Trail Street (Ray Enright, 1947), which was very popular. However, his next film, The Woman on the Beach (Jean Renoir, 1947) with Joan Bennett, lost money. Ryan's big film breakthrough came with his role in Edward Dmytryk's superb Film Noir Crossfire (1947), based on the novel by Richard Brooks. For his portrayal of the anti-Semitic bully and murderer Montgomery, Ryan was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Supporting Actor in 1948. Ryan went on to become one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, able to play both the sympathetic leading man and the film villain. Some of Ryan's portrayals also blurred the lines between good and evil, which is probably why he was often cast in Film Noirs. In his personal favourite, The Set-Up (Robert Wise, 1949) he played a washed-up boxer who has to pay dearly for his last success in the ring,
For RKO, Robert Ryan starred in the Film Noir On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray, 1951) in which he played a hostile and jaded cop opposite Gloria Grahame. Ryan went to MGM where he played a villain in Anthony Mann's Western The Naked Spur (1953), starring James Stewart. The picture was very popular. Other successes were the suspense film Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges, 1955) in which he played the head villain opposite intrepid investigator Spencer Tracy and the grimy, gangster film Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise, 1959) starring Harry Belafonte. In the summer of 1960, Ryan starred opposite Katharine Hepburn at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, playing Antony to Hepburn's Cleopatra. Ryan remained in high demand throughout the 1960s and was part of some big productions that could count on an all-star cast. For instance, Ryan starred in the biblical epic King of Kings (Nicholas Ray, 1961), the all-star war film The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck, 1962), the war adventure The Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich, 1967) and the violent Western The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969). On the political front, Ryan also made himself heard on several occasions. He was a liberal Democrat and a great defender of civil rights. In the McCarthy era, he joined the short-lived Committee for the First Amendment and protested against the persecution of the Hollywood Ten. Ryan's later political activities included efforts to fight racial discrimination. He served in the cultural division of the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King Jr., and helped organise the short-lived Artists Help All Blacks, with Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, and Sidney Poitier. In 1972, Ryan's wife, former actress Jessica Cadwalader died of cancer. The two had been married to each other since 1939. Robert Ryan, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer a year later at the age of 63. He left behind two sons and a daughter. His final film role was as the terminally-ill political activist Larry Slade in the drama The Iceman Cometh (John Frankenheimer, 1973), based on the play by Eugene O'Neill. For his performance, he was posthumously honoured with several awards including the National Board of Review Award.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Nominated by JennFL2
Post a black and white doll photo every day for five days and nominate your Flickr friends to join in. If you see this photo consider yourself nominated - the more the merrier!
Blue Whistling Thrush
(Nominate with a yellow bill)
The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a whistling thrush present in the mountains of Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
This whistling thrush is dark violet blue with shiny spangling on the tips of the body feathers other than on the lores, abdomen and under the tail. The wing coverts are a slightly different shade of blue and the median coverts have white spots at their tips. The bill is yellow and stands in contrast. The inner webs of the flight and tail feathers is black. The sexes are similar in plumage.
It measures 31–35 cm (12–14 in) in length. Weight across the subspecies can range from 136 to 231 g (4.8 to 8.1 oz). For comparison, the blue whistling thrush commonly weighs twice as much as an American robin. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can measure 15.5–20 cm (6.1–7.9 in) long, the tarsus is 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) and the bill is 2.9–4.6 cm (1.1–1.8 in). Size varies across the range with larger thrushes found to the north of the species range and slightly smaller ones to the south, corresponding with Bergmann's rule. In northern China, males and females average 188 g (6.6 oz) and 171 g (6.0 oz), whereas in India they average 167.5 g (5.91 oz) and 158.5 g (5.59 oz).
Several populations are given subspecies status. The nominate form with a black bill is found in central and eastern China. The population in Afghanistan, turkestanicus, is often included in the widespread temminckii which has a smaller bill width at the base and is found along the Himalayas east to northern Burma. The population eugenei, which lacks white spots on the median coverts, is found south into Thailand. Cambodia and the Malay peninsula have crassirostris, while dichrorhynchus with smaller spangles occurs further south and in Sumatra. The Javan population, flavirostris, has the thickest bill. The subspecies status of several populations has been questioned.
It is found along the Tian Shan and Himalayas, in temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. They make altitudinal movements in the Himalayas, descending in winter.
The blue whistling thrush is usually found singly or in pairs. They hop on rocks and move about in quick spurts. They turn over leaves and small stones, cocking their head and checking for movements of prey. When alarmed they spread and droop their tail. They are active well after dusk and during the breeding season (April to August) they tend to sing during the darkness of dawn and dusk when few other birds are calling. The call precedes sunrise the most during November. The alarm call is a shrill kree. The nest is a cup of moss and roots placed in a ledge or hollow beside a stream. The usual clutch consists of 3 to 4 eggs, the pair sometimes raising a second brood. They feed on fruits, earthworms, insects, crabs and snails. Snails and crabs are typically battered on a rock before feeding. In captivity, they have been known to kill and eat mice and in the wild have been recorded preying on small birds.
Day 6/7. I've been nominated by @smithgaltney for a nature photography challenge. For seven days, I'll post a picture each day and nominate a new photographer. Today I nominate @mansura. This is a 120 scan from Cannon Beach in Oregon. #Oregon #naturechallenge #film
59 Likes on Instagram
2 Comments on Instagram:
mansura: Thanks, Lily! ❤️
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), better known under her professional name Winona Ryder, is a two-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress. Although Ryder made her screen debut in Lucas (1986), her first significant role came in 1988 with Beetlejuice as Lydia, a Goth teenager, in a performance that gained her critical and commercial recognition. After making various appearances in film and television, Ryder continued her career with the cult film Heathers (1989) in a prominent and critically acclaimed performance. Her subsequent roles have not only won her critical praise but numerous film awards. In 2000, Ryder received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.
Ryder is known for her relationship with actor Johnny Depp throughout the early 1990s. She also received noteworthy media attention for her participation in the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of Polly Klaas in 1993, who was from Ryder's hometown. Ryder also received worldwide attention after her arrest on December 12, 2001 for shoplifting from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, California. Since then, with the exception of co-starring in Mr. Deeds (2002), Ryder has not received top billing in a major motion picture.
The nominated Bryce Canyon National Park Scenic Trails District consists of five structures including the Navajo Loop Trail, the Queen's Garden Trail, the Peekaboo Loop Trail, the Fairyland Trail, and the Rim Trail. All of these structures are located within the scenic heartland of the park-between Fairyland Point to the north and Bryce Point to the south. Although the trails have individual names, they do intersect with one another, forming a contiguous series of paths that provide visual and physical access to the erosional features that characterize Bryce Canyon National Park (BRCA).
The Queen's Garden Trail (an unpaved graded trail between three and five feet in width) accesses the area below the plateau rim between Sunrise and Sunset points. The length of the Queen's Garden Trail is listed in various documents as .8 or 1.8 miles in length, depending upon whether or not one includes both the canyon bottom and switchback segments under the designation. This trail provides access to the rock formation known as Queen Victoria. The upper portion of the trail is cut through bare sandstone with little or no vegetation. However, vegetation increases as one descends into the bottom of Bryce Canyon. Scattered stands of ponderosa pine, bristlecone pine, and brushy understory vegetation occur adjacent to the trail. Notable features of the trail include two tunnels cut through a sandstone ridge.
A comparison of historic and modern maps indicates that the current alignment of the Queen's Garden Trail follows closely the trail as it was constructed in 1929. Modifications have been made due to erosion, rock fall, etc., however these are to be expected given the character of the natural environment within BRCA. This trail continues to provide access to the formation known as "Queen Victoria" and provides hikers with vistas that are little changed since the historical period. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/95000422.pdf
In my last year as a youth, and my second year displaying this MOC, The Steampunked Supercycle was nominated for best youth creation! Needless to say, I didn't win, but the winner totally deserved it (not only was his MOC better, but he was younger). Anyway, I'm super proud of it, and it shows me that people actually take notice of what I do.
Please go to Philofaxy.blogspot.com and vote for me, Alondra, for best photography if you have been a fan of my photos here on Flickr :)
1. Nominate something you are going to go out and hunt for - the more abstract the better
2. Give yourself a time constraint
3. Go out and start work
4. Ask yourself why everything else that you encounter is so much more engaging than what you are hunting for
5. Ask yourself whether the time constraint is a useful tool
B side the nominated hunt: www.flickr.com/photos/56361767@N06/5771256194/
This is the nominate race, breeding in mainland western and central Europe, migrating through North Africa and the Middle East.
Related Species
Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla flava
Sykes' Wagtail
Motacilla flava beema
Ashy-headed Wagtail
Motacilla flava cinereocapilla
Black-headed Wagtail
Motacilla flava feldegg
Grey-headed Wagtail
Motacilla flava thunbergi
[order] Passeriformes | [family] Motacillidae | [latin] Motacilla flava | [UK] Blue-Headed Wagtail | [FR] Bergeronnette printanière | [DE] Schafstelze | [ES] Lavandera Boyera | [IT] Cutrettola | [NL] Gele Kwikstaart
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 24 cm
spanwidth max.: 28 cm
size min.: 15 cm
size max.: 16 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 11 days
incubation max.: 13 days
fledging min.: 14 days
fledging max.: 17 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 4
eggs max.: 7
Eukaryote
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyMotacillidae
GenusMotacilla
Speciesflava
Subspeciesflava
Physical characteristics
Smallest, most compact of west Palearctic wagtails, with form and silhouette more like pipit than any of the others. Plumage of both adult and 1st-winter basically yellow below and on patterned edges of wing-feathers. Adult breeding male of the many races differ in head pattern: various combinations of yellow, white, bluish, grey, and black. Sexes dissimilar in summer, less so in winter. Seasonal variation most marked on head of male only and chest.
Habitat
Breeds in west Palearctic from lower middle to high latitudes, in arctic rundra and subarctic, boreal, temperate, steppe, and Mediterranean zones, mainly continental but marginally oceanic, largely on level or gently sloping lowlands.
Other details
Motacilla flava is a widespread summer visitor to most of Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is very large (>7,900,000 pairs), and was stable between 1970-1990. Although there were widespread declines—most notably in Romania—during 1990-2000, other key populations (such as those in Russia, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria) were stable, and the species probably underwent only a slight decline overall.
Feeding
Small invertebrates. Three main foraging techniques, including use of high flight: 1) Picking, picks items from ground or water sufface while walking. 2) Run-picking, makes quick darting run at prey, picking it op either from surface or as it takes off. 3) Flycatching, makes short flight from ground or perch, catching prey in mid-air either in bill or by knocking it down with wings. Occasionally takes insects from plants in hovering fllight, or flies low over water snatching insects fromsurface. Tail assists balance when turning rapidly in flight.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 5,000,000-50,000,000 individuals (Rich et al. 2003). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Breeding starts May-June in Scandinavia, April-May in Britain and Ireland, April-June in Southern and Eastern Europe, April-May in North Africa. Nest site is built on ground, in side of tuft of vegetation. Nest, cup of grass leaves and stems placed in shallow scrape, lined with hair, wool, or fur. Clutch size is 4-6 eggs, which are Incubated 11-13 days by both sexes.
Migration
Most populations migratory, wintering Afrotropics, India, and south-east Asia. Egyptian race largely resident, and some parts of breeding range in north-west Africa and southern Spain occupied through the winter, with possibility that some individuals are resident. Several factors make this a particularly well documented migrant: large populations; conspicuous (mostly diurnal) movement; use of huge communal roosts, both on migration and in winter, facilitating ringing; assumption by males of racially distinct breeding plumage shortly before spring migration. On the other hand, confusion can arise through racial intermediates and disjunct pattern of geographical variation. Precise wintering areas of the various races are not well established but in the main lie between south-east and south-west of respective breeding areas. Movement broad-front in both spring and autumn, with numerous sightings of migrants at sea in all areas. Autumn passage in Switzerland has been noted as early as late July but main passage begins second half of August and peaks through September usually to end abruptly in early October, though individuals have been noted still passing in first third of November. At Straits of Gibraltar, passage extends from early August to early November peaking mid-September. Arrives in Afrotropics in late September, further south in October. Movement north in spring, after build-up of fat just south of Sahara, is also on broad front, starting in March and extending to early May. males reach breeding grounds before females; arrivals are from late March in south, west, and much of central Europe, from mid-April in Moscow area, and from early May or early June in Lapland. Many records occur of birds resembling a particular race well outside that race‘s normal range, but some (at least) of these are part of the species‘ normal variability and do not necessarily indicate vagrancy. Birds showing the characters of several races have been recorded in Britain, for example, mainly in spring and sometimes well outside their normal range: continental nominate flava occurs regularly and has bred occasionally.
I was nominated me for the 7 day nature photography challenge on Facebook. Yesterday was Day 1 - today, Day 2, I spotted a squirrel in the tree out the window, and scrambled to get my camera and turn it on. By the time I'd got it pointing at the squirrel, s/he was off, scurrying up the branches. This was all I got. But I quite like it - it makes me laugh. Out-squirrelled!
Tim and I went climbing this morning. I wasn't feeling brilliant, but still climbed quite well. Only managed just over an hour though, then started to flag, so we warmed down and came home. Popped into Wickes on the way back, to compare our sample kitchen cabinet door against the range we'd liked in there. It's exactly the same! Which is great news, as it means we should be able to get the same quality kitchen a whole lot cheaper. Had a quick look at worktops and tiles, too.
Had a peaceful afternoon, then cooked a massive veggie cottage pie, took the bins out, and cooked (well, re-heated)Tim's dinner, too - a sudden flurry of activity!