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Diamond Head view along the Kuhio Beach section of Waikiki Beach around Liliuokalani Avenue. Mid 1950s vintage based on the cars visible on Kalakaua Avenue. I’m always amazed at how nonexistent the beach was in this area back then! Real photo postcard postmarked 1961.

The second stop on the way home from my college visit was in Richmond!

 

The Richmond Kmart appears to be a former Grants (and thus reminded me of the Erie Kmart that I visited last summer). It is very noticeably bigger than Anderson; it is also very nice; it has a Kmart Express gas station and it has a former Kmart Cafe (that still has the counter/displays, the full menu board and even the register! Looks like a more recent KCafe closure from what I've seen; if anybody else here has any more information I would like to know more about it!). This store appears to be doing fairly well for one of the last remaining stores in/near the Miami Valley.

 

Of course, I had to check out the Kmart Express after my main store rounds were complete, so I headed over there and looked around. This is the second Kmart Express I've seen, but the first one I have actually visited, as the other one (at the now nonexistent Brooklyn Super Kmart) had already closed. I didn't buy anything at this KExpress though, as I had spent my money in the main store. Hopefully next time I can buy some coffee or donuts from Kmart Express while going to/from Anderson (if I plan another college visit to Anderson U, which is likely)!

 

Hopefully the Richmond Kmart will still be able to remain "normal" for a good time longer...I like this store! :D

 

Kmart #7246 - 3150 National Road West - Richmond, Indiana

The Mourning Babbler, previously the Short-tailed Babbler, is a species of bird in the ground babbler family Pellorneidae. A long-legged babbler with an almost nonexistent stump for a tail, found in primary and secondary evergreen lowland and foothill forest.

It is found in the Malay Peninsula, Anambas Islands, Sumatra, Banyak Islands, Batu Islands, Riau Islands, Lingga Islands and the Natuna Islands.

 

Read more on: wildart.works/behindthelens/short-tailed-babbler

 

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Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).

 

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Hawaiian archipelago, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch (c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus.

 

Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction.

 

Etymology

The English word snake comes from Old English snaca, itself from Proto-Germanic *snak-an- (cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root *(s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder, as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent, is from French, ultimately from Indo-European *serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’.

 

The fossil record of snakes is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids, the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from the West Bank, dated to between 112 and 94 million years old.

 

Based on comparative anatomy, there is consensus that snakes descended from lizards. Pythons and boas—primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs, which are used to grasp during mating The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of the pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible.

 

Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes, controlling limb morphogenesis. The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution, the Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas, axis, and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only a short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species.

 

Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene, alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs. The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were a minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia, Lampropeltis, Pituophis, and Pantherophis).

 

Fossils

There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during the Cretaceous Period. An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, and was fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it also is semiaquatic). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent, fused eyelids (brille) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in the ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis, which are slightly older than Najash.

 

This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus. It has many snake-like features, is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from the Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes.

 

An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—forming the clade Pythonomorpha. According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids.

 

Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis.

 

Genetic basis of snake evolution

Main article: Limb development

Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards, hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks, anguids, and other lizards.

 

In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS.

 

Distribution

There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland, Iceland, and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by the yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait).

 

Taxonomy

All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy, part of the order Squamata, though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial.

 

The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia. This separation is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia, with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes (colubrids, vipers, elapids, hydrophiids, and atractaspids) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae, a family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi.

 

There are numerous debates in the systematics within the group. For instance, many sources classify Boidae and Pythonidae as one family, while some keep the Elapidae and Hydrophiidae (sea snakes) separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relation.

 

Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids (Cylindrophis, Anomochilus, uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians.

 

Legless lizards

Main article: Legless lizard

While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include the slowworm and glass snake.

 

Other serpentine tetrapods that are unrelated to snakes include caecilians (amphibians), amphisbaenians (near-lizard squamates), and the extinct aistopods (amphibians).

 

Biology

The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python, measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda, which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb).

 

At the other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae, with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.

 

Perception

Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas have infrared-sensitive receptors in deep grooves on the snout, allowing them to "see" the radiated heat of warm-blooded prey. In pit vipers, the grooves are located between the nostril and the eye in a large "pit" on each side of the head. Other infrared-sensitive snakes have multiple, smaller labial pits lining the upper lip, just below the nostrils.

 

A snake tracks its prey using smell, collecting airborne particles with its forked tongue, then passing them to the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue provides a sort of directional sense of smell and taste simultaneously. The snake's tongue is constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water, analyzing the chemicals found, and determining the presence of prey or predators in the local environment. In water-dwelling snakes, such as the anaconda, the tongue functions efficiently underwater.

 

The underside of a snake is very sensitive to vibration, allowing the snake to detect approaching animals by sensing faint vibrations in the ground. Despite the lack of outer ears, they are also able to detect airborne sounds.

 

Snake vision varies greatly between species. Some have keen eyesight and others are only able to distinguish light from dark, but the important trend is that a snake's visual perception is adequate enough to track movements. Generally, vision is best in tree-dwelling snakes and weakest in burrowing snakes. Some have binocular vision, where both eyes are capable of focusing on the same point, an example of this being the Asian vine snake. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina. Diurnal snakes have round pupils and many nocturnal snakes have slit pupils. Most species possess three visual pigments and are probably able to see two primary colors in daylight. The annulated sea snake and the genus Helicops appears to have regained much of their color vision as an adaption to the marine environment they live in. It has been concluded that the last common ancestors of all snakes had UV-sensitive vision, but most snakes that depend on their eyesight to hunt in daylight have evolved lenses that act like sunglasses for filtering out the UV-light, which probably also sharpens their vision by improving the contrast.

 

Skin

The skin of a snake is covered in scales. Contrary to the popular notion of snakes being slimy (because of possible confusion of snakes with worms), snakeskin has a smooth, dry texture. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, allowing them to grip surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales, also known as brille, which remain permanently closed.

 

The shedding of scales is called ecdysis (or in normal usage, molting or sloughing). Snakes shed the complete outer layer of skin in one piece. Snake scales are not discrete, but extensions of the epidermis—hence they are not shed separately but as a complete outer layer during each molt, akin to a sock being turned inside out.

 

Snakes have a wide diversity of skin coloration patterns which are often related to behavior, such as the tendency to have to flee from predators. Snakes that are at a high risk of predation tend to be plain, or have longitudinal stripes, providing few reference points to predators, thus allowing the snake to escape without being noticed. Plain snakes usually adopt active hunting strategies, as their pattern allows them to send little information to prey about motion. Blotched snakes usually use ambush-based strategies, likely because it helps them blend into an environment with irregularly shaped objects, like sticks or rocks. Spotted patterning can similarly help snakes to blend into their environment.

 

The shape and number of scales on the head, back, and belly are often characteristic and used for taxonomic purposes. Scales are named mainly according to their positions on the body. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing these to be counted without the need for dissection.

 

Molting

Molting (or "ecdysis") serves a number of purposes. It allows old, worn skin to be replaced and it can remove parasites such as mites and ticks that live in the skin. It has also been observed in snakes that molting can be synced to mating cycles. Shedding skin can release pheromones and revitalize color and patterns of the skin to increase attraction of mates. Renewal of the skin by molting supposedly allows growth in some animals such as insects, but this has been disputed in the case of snakes.

 

Molting occurs periodically throughout the life of a snake. Before each molt, the snake stops eating and often hides or moves to a safe place. Just before shedding, the skin becomes dull and dry looking and the snake's eyes turn cloudy or blue-colored. The inner surface of the old skin liquefies, causing it to separate from the new skin beneath it. After a few days, the eyes become clear and the snake "crawls" out of its old skin, which splits close to the snake's mouth. The snake rubs its body against rough surfaces to aid in the shedding of its old skin. In many cases, the cast skin peels backward over the body from head to tail in one piece, like pulling a sock off inside-out, revealing a new, larger, brighter layer of skin which has formed underneath.

 

A young snake that is still growing may shed its skin up to four times a year, but an older snake may shed only once or twice a year. The discarded skin carries a perfect imprint of the scale pattern, so it is usually possible to identify the snake from the cast skin if it is reasonably intact. This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius.

 

Scale counts can sometimes be used to identify the sex of a snake when the species is not distinctly sexually dimorphic. A probe is fully inserted into the cloaca, marked at the point where it stops, then removed and measured against the subcaudal scales. The scalation count determines whether the snake is a male or female, as the hemipenes of a male will probe to a different depth (usually longer) than the cloaca of a female.

 

Skeleton

The skeletons of snakes are radically different from those of most other reptiles (as compared with the turtle here, for example), consisting almost entirely of an extended ribcage.

The skeleton of most snakes consists solely of the skull, hyoid, vertebral column, and ribs, though henophidian snakes retain vestiges of the pelvis and rear limbs.

 

The skull consists of a solid and complete neurocranium, to which many of the other bones are only loosely attached, particularly the highly mobile jaw bones, which facilitate manipulation and ingestion of large prey items. The left and right sides of the lower jaw are joined only by a flexible ligament at the anterior tips, allowing them to separate widely, and the posterior end of the lower jaw bones articulate with a quadrate bone, allowing further mobility. The mandible and quadrate bones can pick up ground-borne vibrations; because the sides of the lower jaw can move independently of one another, a snake resting its jaw on a surface has sensitive stereo auditory perception, used for detecting the position of prey. The jaw–quadrate–stapes pathway is capable of detecting vibrations on the angstrom scale, despite the absence of an outer ear and the lack of an impedance matching mechanism—provided by the ossicles in other vertebrates—for receiving vibrations from the air.

 

The hyoid is a small bone located posterior and ventral to the skull, in the 'neck' region, which serves as an attachment for the muscles of the snake's tongue, as it does in all other tetrapods.

 

The vertebral column consists of between 200 and 400 vertebrae, or sometimes more. The body vertebrae each have two ribs articulating with them. The tail vertebrae are comparatively few in number (often less than 20% of the total) and lack ribs. The vertebrae have projections that allow for strong muscle attachment, enabling locomotion without limbs.

 

Caudal autotomy (self-amputation of the tail), a feature found in some lizards, is absent in most snakes. In the rare cases where it does exist in snakes, caudal autotomy is intervertebral (meaning the separation of adjacent vertebrae), unlike that in lizards, which is intravertebral, i.e. the break happens along a predefined fracture plane present on a vertebra.

 

In some snakes, most notably boas and pythons, there are vestiges of the hindlimbs in the form of a pair of pelvic spurs. These small, claw-like protrusions on each side of the cloaca are the external portion of the vestigial hindlimb skeleton, which includes the remains of an ilium and femur.

 

Snakes are polyphyodonts with teeth that are continuously replaced

 

Snakes and other non-archosaur (crocodilians, dinosaurs + birds and allies) reptiles have a three-chambered heart that controls the circulatory system via the left and right atrium, and one ventricle. Internally, the ventricle is divided into three interconnected cavities: the cavum arteriosum, the cavum pulmonale, and the cavum venosum. The cavum venosum receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium and the cavum arteriosum receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Located beneath the cavum venosum is the cavum pulmonale, which pumps blood to the pulmonary trunk.

 

The snake's heart is encased in a sac, called the pericardium, located at the bifurcation of the bronchi. The heart is able to move around, owing to the lack of a diaphragm; this adjustment protects the heart from potential damage when large ingested prey is passed through the esophagus. The spleen is attached to the gall bladder and pancreas and filters the blood. The thymus, located in fatty tissue above the heart, is responsible for the generation of immune cells in the blood. The cardiovascular system of snakes is unique for the presence of a renal portal system in which the blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart.

 

The vestigial left lung is often small or sometimes even absent, as snakes' tubular bodies require all of their organs to be long and thin.[71] In the majority of species, only one lung is functional. This lung contains a vascularized anterior portion and a posterior portion that does not function in gas exchange. This 'saccular lung' is used for hydrostatic purposes to adjust buoyancy in some aquatic snakes and its function remains unknown in terrestrial species. Many organs that are paired, such as kidneys or reproductive organs, are staggered within the body, one located ahead of the other.

 

Snakes have no lymph nodes.

 

Venom

Cobras, vipers, and closely related species use venom to immobilize, injure, or kill their prey. The venom is modified saliva, delivered through fangs. The fangs of 'advanced' venomous snakes like viperids and elapids are hollow, allowing venom to be injected more effectively, and the fangs of rear-fanged snakes such as the boomslang simply have a groove on the posterior edge to channel venom into the wound. Snake venoms are often prey-specific, and their role in self-defense is secondary.

 

Venom, like all salivary secretions, is a predigestant that initiates the breakdown of food into soluble compounds, facilitating proper digestion. Even nonvenomous snakebites (like any animal bite) cause tissue damage.

 

Certain birds, mammals, and other snakes (such as kingsnakes) that prey on venomous snakes have developed resistance and even immunity to certain venoms.Venomous snakes include three families of snakes, and do not constitute a formal taxonomic classification group.

 

The colloquial term "poisonous snake" is generally an incorrect label for snakes. A poison is inhaled or ingested, whereas venom produced by snakes is injected into its victim via fangs. There are, however, two exceptions: Rhabdophis sequesters toxins from the toads it eats, then secretes them from nuchal glands to ward off predators; and a small unusual population of garter snakes in the US state of Oregon retains enough toxins in their livers from ingested newts to be effectively poisonous to small local predators (such as crows and foxes).

 

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins, and are stored in venom glands at the back of the head. In all venomous snakes, these glands open through ducts into grooved or hollow teeth in the upper jaw. The proteins can potentially be a mix of neurotoxins (which attack the nervous system), hemotoxins (which attack the circulatory system), cytotoxins (which attack the cells directly), bungarotoxins (related to neurotoxins, but also directly affect muscle tissue), and many other toxins that affect the body in different ways. Almost all snake venom contains hyaluronidase, an enzyme that ensures rapid diffusion of the venom.

 

Venomous snakes that use hemotoxins usually have fangs in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. Some snakes that use neurotoxins (such as the mangrove snake) have fangs in the back of their mouths, with the fangs curled backwards. This makes it difficult both for the snake to use its venom and for scientists to milk them. Elapids, however, such as cobras and kraits are proteroglyphous—they possess hollow fangs that cannot be erected toward the front of their mouths, and cannot "stab" like a viper. They must actually bite the victim.

 

It has been suggested that all snakes may be venomous to a certain degree, with harmless snakes having weak venom and no fangs. According to this theory, most snakes that are labelled "nonvenomous" would be considered harmless because they either lack a venom delivery method or are incapable of delivering enough to endanger a human. The theory postulates that snakes may have evolved from a common lizard ancestor that was venomous, and also that venomous lizards like the gila monster, beaded lizard, monitor lizards, and the now-extinct mosasaurs, may have derived from this same common ancestor. They share this "venom clade" with various other saurian species.

 

Venomous snakes are classified in two taxonomic families:

Elapids – cobras including king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, sea snakes, and coral snakes.

Viperids – vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, and bushmasters.

There is a third family containing the opistoglyphous (rear-fanged) snakes (as well as the majority of other snake species):

 

Colubrids – boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, cat snakes, although not all colubrids are venomous.

 

Reproduction

Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes, all employ internal fertilization. This is accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined—designed to grip the walls of the female's cloaca. The clitoris of the female snake consists of two structures located between the cloaca and the scent glands.

 

Most species of snakes lay eggs which they abandon shortly after laying. However, a few species (such as the king cobra) construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even "shiver" to generate heat to incubate the eggs.

 

Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Several species of snake, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, are fully viviparous, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac; this is highly unusual among reptiles, and normally found in requiem sharks or placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments.

 

Sexual selection in snakes is demonstrated by the 3,000 species that each use different tactics in acquiring mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to mate with includes topping, a behavior exhibited by most viperids in which one male will twist around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and force it downward. It is common for neck-biting to occur while the snakes are entwined.

 

Facultative parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Agkistrodon contortrix (copperhead) and Agkistrodon piscivorus (cottonmouth) can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, meaning that they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. The most likely type of parthenogenesis to occur is automixis with terminal fusion, a process in which two terminal products from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process leads to genome-wide homozygosity, expression of deleterious recessive alleles, and often to developmental abnormalities. Both captive-born and wild-born copperheads and cottonmouths appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.

 

Reproduction in squamate reptiles is almost exclusively sexual. Males ordinarily have a ZZ pair of sex-determining chromosomes, and females a ZW pair. However, the Colombian Rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus) can also reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, resulting in production of WW female progeny. The WW females are likely produced by terminal automixis.

 

Embryonic Development

Snake embryonic development initially follows similar steps as any vertebrate embryo. The snake embryo begins as a zygote, undergoes rapid cell division, forms a germinal disc, also called a blastodisc, then undergoes gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis. Cell division and proliferation continues until an early snake embryo develops and the typical body shape of a snake can be observed. Multiple features differentiate the embryologic development of snakes from other vertebrates, two significant factors being the elongation of the body and the lack of limb development.

 

The elongation in snake body is accompanied by a significant increase in vertebra count (mice have 60 vertebrae, whereas snakes may have over 300). This increase in vertebrae is due to an increase in somites during embryogenesis, leading to an increased number of vertebrae which develop. Somites are formed at the presomitic mesoderm due to a set of oscillatory genes that direct the somitogenesis clock. The snake somitogenesis clock operates at a frequency 4 times that of a mouse (after correction for developmental time), creating more somites, and therefore creating more vertebrae. This difference in clock speed is believed to be caused by differences in Lunatic fringe gene expression, a gene involved in the somitogenesis clock.

 

There is ample literature focusing on the limb development/lack of development in snake embryos and the gene expression associated with the different stages. In basal snakes, such as the python, embryos in early development exhibit a hind limb bud that develops with some cartilage and a cartilaginous pelvic element, however this degenerates before hatching. This presence of vestigial development suggests that some snakes are still undergoing hind limb reduction before they are eliminated. There is no evidence in basal snakes of forelimb rudiments and no examples of snake forelimb bud initiation in embryo, so little is known regarding the loss of this trait. Recent studies suggests that hind limb reduction could be due to mutations in enhancers for the SSH gene, however other studies suggested that mutations within the Hox Genes or their enhancers could contribute to snake limblessness. Since multiple studies have found evidence suggesting different genes played a role in the loss of limbs in snakes, it is likely that multiple gene mutations had an additive effect leading to limb loss in snakes.

 

Behavior

Snake coiled on a stick in Oklahoma. It was brumating in a large pile of wood chips, found by this landscaper after he bulldozed the pile in late autumn 2018.

In regions where winters are too cold for snakes to tolerate while remaining active, local species will enter a period of brumation. Unlike hibernation, in which the dormant mammals are actually asleep, brumating reptiles are awake but inactive. Individual snakes may brumate in burrows, under rock piles, or inside fallen trees, or large numbers of snakes may clump together in hibernacula.

 

Feeding and diet

All snakes are strictly carnivorous, preying on small animals including lizards, frogs, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails, worms, and insects. Snakes cannot bite or tear their food to pieces so must swallow their prey whole. The eating habits of a snake are largely influenced by body size; smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example.

 

The snake's jaw is a complex structure. Contrary to the popular belief that snakes can dislocate their jaws, they have an extremely flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in the skull, which allow the snake to open its mouth wide enough to swallow prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself. For example, the African egg-eating snake has flexible jaws adapted for eating eggs much larger than the diameter of its head.  This snake has no teeth, but does have bony protrusions on the inside edge of its spine, which it uses to break the shell when eating eggs.

 

The majority of snakes eat a variety of prey animals, but there is some specialization in certain species. King cobras and the Australian bandy-bandy consume other snakes. Species of the family Pareidae have more teeth on the right side of their mouths than on the left, as they mostly prey on snails and the shells usually spiral clockwise.

 

Some snakes have a venomous bite, which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction, while some swallow their prey when it is still alive.

 

After eating, snakes become dormant to allow the process of digestion to take place; this is an intense activity, especially after consumption of large prey. In species that feed only sporadically, the entire intestine enters a reduced state between meals to conserve energy. The digestive system is then 'up-regulated' to full capacity within 48 hours of prey consumption. Being ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), the surrounding temperature plays an important role in the digestion process. The ideal temperature for snakes to digest food is 30 °C (86 °F). There is a huge amount of metabolic energy involved in a snake's digestion, for example the surface body temperature of the South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) increases by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) during the digestive process. If a snake is disturbed after having eaten recently, it will often regurgitate its prey to be able to escape the perceived threat. When undisturbed, the digestive process is highly efficient; the snake's digestive enzymes dissolve and absorb everything but the prey's hair (or feathers) and claws, which are excreted along with waste.

 

Hooding and spitting

Hooding (expansion of the neck area) is a visual deterrent, mostly seen in cobras (elapids), and is primarily controlled by rib muscles.[98] Hooding can be accompanied by spitting venom towards the threatening object,[99] and producing a specialized sound; hissing. Studies on captive cobras showed that 13 to 22% of the body length is raised during hooding.

 

Locomotion

The lack of limbs does not impede the movement of snakes. They have developed several different modes of locomotion to deal with particular environments. Unlike the gaits of limbed animals, which form a continuum, each mode of snake locomotion is discrete and distinct from the others; transitions between modes are abrupt.

 

Lateral undulation

Lateral undulation is the sole mode of aquatic locomotion, and the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion In this mode, the body of the snake alternately flexes to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving "waves". While this movement appears rapid, snakes have rarely been documented moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement has the same net cost of transport (calories burned per meter moved) as running in lizards of the same mass.

 

Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8[clarification needed] along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.

 

When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).

 

Sidewinding

Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment that lacks irregularities to push against (rendering lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune, sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than 1⁄3 of the cost for a lizard to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.

 

Concertina

When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.

 

Arboreal

The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.

 

Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.

 

Rectilinear

The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.

 

Interactions with humans

Snakes do not ordinarily prey on humans. Unless startled or injured, most snakes prefer to avoid contact and will not attack humans. With the exception of large constrictors, nonvenomous snakes are not a threat to humans. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is usually harmless; their teeth are not adapted for tearing or inflicting a deep puncture wound, but rather grabbing and holding. Although the possibility of infection and tissue damage is present in the bite of a nonvenomous snake, venomous snakes present far greater hazard to humans.  The World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite under the "other neglected conditions" category.

 

Documented deaths resulting from snake bites are uncommon. Nonfatal bites from venomous snakes may result in the need for amputation of a limb or part thereof. Of the roughly 725 species of venomous snakes worldwide, only 250 are able to kill a human with one bite. Australia averages only one fatal snake bite per year. In India, 250,000 snakebites are recorded in a single year, with as many as 50,000 recorded initial deaths. The WHO estimates that on the order of 100,000 people die each year as a result of snake bites, and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually.

 

The treatment for a snakebite is as variable as the bite itself. The most common and effective method is through antivenom (or antivenin), a serum made from the venom of the snake. Some antivenom is species-specific (monovalent) while some is made for use with multiple species in mind (polyvalent). In the United States for example, all species of venomous snakes are pit vipers, with the exception of the coral snake. To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse. The serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses are more likely to have an allergic reaction to antivenom. Antivenom for the more dangerous species (such as mambas, taipans, and cobras) is made in a similar manner in South Africa, Australia , and India, although these antivenoms are species-specific.

 

Snake charmers

In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds. The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).

 

The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and mongoose show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.

 

Trapping

The Irulas tribe of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India have been hunter-gatherers in the hot, dry plains forests, and have practiced the art of snake catching for generations. They have a vast knowledge of snakes in the field. They generally catch the snakes with the help of a simple stick. Earlier, the Irulas caught thousands of snakes for the snake-skin industry. After the complete ban of the snake-skin industry in India and protection of all snakes under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, they formed the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative and switched to catching snakes for removal of venom, releasing them in the wild after four extractions. The venom so collected is used for producing life-saving antivenom, biomedical research and for other medicinal products. The Irulas are also known to eat some of the snakes they catch and are very useful in rat extermination in the villages.

 

Despite the existence of snake charmers, there have also been professional snake catchers or wranglers. Modern-day snake trapping involves a herpetologist using a long stick with a V-shaped end. Some television show hosts, like Bill Haast, Austin Stevens, Steve Irwin, and Jeff Corwin, prefer to catch them using bare hands.

 

Consumption

Although snakes are not commonly thought of as food, their consumption is acceptable in some cultures and may even be considered a delicacy. Snake soup is popular in Cantonese cuisine, consumed by locals in the autumn to warm their bodies. Western cultures document the consumption of snakes only under extreme circumstances of hunger, with the exception of cooked rattlesnake meat, which is commonly consumed in Texas and parts of the Midwestern United States.

 

In Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, drinking the blood of a snake—particularly the cobra—is believed to increase sexual virility. When possible, the blood is drained while the cobra is still alive, and it is usually mixed with some form of liquor to improve the taste.

 

The use of snakes in alcohol is accepted in some Asian countries. In such cases, one or more snakes are left to steep in a jar or container of liquor, as this is claimed to make the liquor stronger (as well as more expensive). One example of this is the Habu snake, which is sometimes placed in the Okinawan liqueur Habushu (ハブ酒), also known as "Habu Sake".

 

Snake wine (蛇酒) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. First recorded as being consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty, this drink is considered an important curative and is believed to reinvigorate a person according to traditional Chinese medicine

 

Pets

In the Western world, some snakes are kept as pets, especially docile species such as the ball python and corn snake. To meet the demand, a captive breeding industry has developed. Snakes bred in captivity are considered preferable to specimens caught in the wild and tend to make better pets. Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to 14 days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.

 

Symbolism

In ancient Mesopotamia, Nirah, the messenger god of Ištaran, was represented as a serpent on kudurrus, or boundary stones. Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. The horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu, but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.

 

In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide (Cleopatra). The ouroboros was a well-known ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.

 

In the Bible, King Nahash of Ammon, whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.

 

The ancient Greeks used the Gorgoneion, a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil. In a Greek myth described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, Medusa was a Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero Perseus. In the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Medusa is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of Athena, whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god Poseidon in Athena's temple. In another myth referenced by the Boeotian poet Hesiod and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero Heracles is said to have slain the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.

 

The legendary account of the foundation of Thebes mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder Cadmus all perished – leading to the term "Cadmean victory" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).

 

Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are Bowl of Hygieia, symbolizing pharmacy, and the Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius, which are symbols denoting medicine in general.

 

One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name Linda is that it might derive from Old German Lindi or Linda, meaning a serpent.

 

India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called Nagraj (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called Nag Panchami each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also Nāga.

 

In India there is another mythology about snakes. Commonly known in Hindi as "Ichchhadhari" snakes. Such snakes can take the form of any living creature, but prefer human form. These mythical snakes possess a valuable gem called "Mani", which is more brilliant than diamond. There are many stories in India about greedy people trying to possess this gem and ending up getting killed.

 

The snake is one of the 12 celestial animals of Chinese zodiac, in the Chinese calendar.

 

Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature. They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.

 

Religion

Snakes are used in Hinduism as a part of ritual worship. In the annual Nag Panchami festival, participants worship either live cobras or images of Nāgas. Lord Shiva is depicted in most images with a snake coiled around his neck. Puranic literature includes various stories associated with snakes, for example Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka, and Pingala. The term Nāga is used to refer to entities that take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.

 

Snakes have been widely revered in many cultures, such as in ancient Greece where the serpent was seen as a healer.[148] Asclepius carried a serpent wound around his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death.

 

In religious terms, the snake and jaguar were arguably the most important animals in ancient Mesoamerica. "In states of ecstasy, lords dance a serpent dance; great descending snakes adorn and support buildings from Chichen Itza to Tenochtitlan, and the Nahuatl word coatl meaning serpent or twin, forms part of primary deities such as Mixcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, and Coatlicue." In the Maya and Aztec calendars, the fifth day of the week was known as Snake Day.

 

In some parts of Christianity, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is compared to saving one's life through beholding the Nehushtan (serpent of brass). Snake handlers use snakes as an integral part of church worship, to demonstrate their faith in divine protection. However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent has been depicted as a representative of evil and sly plotting, as seen in the description in Genesis of a snake tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Saint Patrick is purported to have expelled all snakes from Ireland while converting the country to Christianity in the 5th century, thus explaining the absence of snakes there.

 

In Christianity and Judaism, the snake makes its infamous appearance in the first book of the Bible when a serpent appears before Adam and Eve and tempts them with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake returns in the Book of Exodus when Moses turns his staff into a snake as a sign of God's power, and later when he makes the Nehushtan, a bronze snake on a pole that when looked at cured the people of bites from the snakes that plagued them in the desert. The serpent makes its final appearance symbolizing Satan in the Book of Revelation: "And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."

 

In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Additionally, snakes are sometimes associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.

 

Medicine

Several compounds from snake venoms are being researched as potential treatments or preventatives for pain, cancers, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, hemophilia, and hypertension, and to control bleeding (e.g. during surgery).

The second stop on the way home from my college visit was in Richmond!

 

The Richmond Kmart appears to be a former Grants (and thus reminded me of the Erie Kmart that I visited last summer). It is very noticeably bigger than Anderson; it is also very nice; it has a Kmart Express gas station and it has a former Kmart Cafe (that still has the counter/displays, the full menu board and even the register! Looks like a more recent KCafe closure from what I've seen; if anybody else here has any more information I would like to know more about it!). This store appears to be doing fairly well for one of the last remaining stores in/near the Miami Valley.

 

Of course, I had to check out the Kmart Express after my main store rounds were complete, so I headed over there and looked around. This is the second Kmart Express I've seen, but the first one I have actually visited, as the other one (at the now nonexistent Brooklyn Super Kmart) had already closed. I didn't buy anything at this KExpress though, as I had spent my money in the main store. Hopefully next time I can buy some coffee or donuts from Kmart Express while going to/from Anderson (if I plan another college visit to Anderson U, which is likely)!

 

Hopefully the Richmond Kmart will still be able to remain "normal" for a good time longer...I like this store! :D

 

Kmart #7246 - 3150 National Road West - Richmond, Indiana

Summary Data

 

State or Country of birth: Bath, NY

 

Home prior to enlistment: Bath, NY

 

Occupation prior to enlistment: tin peddler

 

Service:

Co. A 23rd NY Infantry - 1861 - 1863

Co. G 22nd NY Cavalry - 1863 - 1864

 

Rank at enlistment: private

 

Highest rank attained: QM sergeant

 

Principal combat experience:

...Gainesville, Virginia

...Groveton, Virginia

...2nd Bull Run, Virginia

...South Mountain, Maryland

...Antietam, Maryland

...Overland Campaign, Virginia

...Ream's Station, Virginia

 

Casualties:

...WIA: Antietam

...POW: Ream's Station (Died as POW)

 

Photograph by: unknown

 

Inscription in period pencil on back: "Orderly Henry Crants, Co, G 22nd Cav N. York, Washington, United States, Henry, for General Grant."

 

Wearing company grade quartermaster sergeant chevrons with single cross tie above three V-shaped stripes.

  

Henry T. Crants (1840-1864)

 

Henry Crants' parents, Phebe Mowers and Louis Crants, had been married on Christmas Day 1839 at Urbana, New York and he was born at Bath, New York sometime in 1840. Tragically, Louis Crants died a few years later on March 2, 1846, when Henry was still quite young. He had a younger brother, Cornelius born about 1844 and his mother was apparently already pregnant with a third son, Moses, who would be born sometime later in 1846. Phobe married a second time when, on April 5, 1849, she wed George Miller who also had a young son, Ellerton Miller, the same age as her middle son Cornelius. Evidence suggests that the family was never very prosperous. At any rate, as Henry grew up he began working as a tin peddler and for several years contributed to his family's financial support.

 

As a result of President Lincoln's call for volunteer troops to put down the Rebellion following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Henry Crants, enlisted on April 30, 1861 at Elmira in Company A, 23rd New York Infantry for a period of 2 years. His age was listed as 21, although he was probably still a few months short of that milestone. About two weeks later, on May 16, 1861, Henry was appointed corporal. The day before further tragedy had struck the family when his stepfather died on May 15 leaving his mother a widow for the second time. It is not clear when Henry received the sad news, but as the oldest male member of the family, he made arrangements for his mother's well being. He allotted part of his army pay to go to his mother, as she had no one else to depend on for her support. And several years later, Phebe would state that Henry "has paid my house rent from the 6th day of June 1861 to present time. That before he went to war he bought my provisions & also bought my [fire] wood & ever since my last husband died he has entirely supported me."

 

On July 5, 1861 the 23rd New York Regiment departed Elmira for Washington, DC, where it served in the Capital's defenses. On New Year's Day, January 1, 1862, Henry Crants was promoted from corporal to sergeant, and a little over one month later, on February 15, 1862, he was promoted again, this time to 1st sergeant. Beginning in March of 1862, the 23rd NY advanced south into Virginia and took part in several engagements with the enemy, notably at the battles of Gainesville, Groveton and 2nd Bull Run. Then, with the Confederates advancing into Maryland that fall, the Federal army gave chase. Fierce fighting erupted at South Mountain on September 14 and at Antietam on September 17. In this latter battle, the bloodiest single day in American history, Sergeant Henry Crants received a gunshot wound to his right leg while fighting in the West Woods.

 

Although not wounded severely enough to result in the loss of his leg, nor even to require him to remain immobilized at a field hospital for a long period, he was therefore transferred to Capitol U.S. Army General Hospital in Washington, DC for recuperation. Nonetheless, the wound took a long time to heal. On October 7, 1862, by order of the Medical Director, Henry was transferred to the USA General Hospital at Fort Schuyler in NY City where he arrived three days later on October 10.

 

Henry Crants returned to duty on January 14, 1863, rejoining his Company south of the Potomac River, the regiment at that time being assigned to provost duty at Aquia Creek, Virginia. Henry and the other two-year men were mustered out of the service on May 22, 1863, at the expiration of their term or enlistment.

 

Not content to remain at home while the war still raged, Henry Crants reenlisted as a veteran in Company G, 22nd New York Cavalry at Bath, NY on Dec. 19, 1863 for a period of 3 years. His younger brother, Cornelius, also enlisted in the 22nd NY Cavalry at the same time after having had prior service in the 3rd NY Infantry. The two brothers were mustered into Federal service as veterans on February 2, 1864 at Rochester, NY. Henry was immediately appointed company quartermaster sergeant. The regiment then spent the next few months on duty at Alexandria, Virginia. But with the opening of the Overland Campaign under Lieutenant General U.S. Grant in the spring, the men set out for some hard fighting. The regiment saw action at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and on Wilson's raid to the South Side and Danville railroads. The Wilson Raid in particular cost the 22nd New York dearly. On the morning of June 28, the US cavalry troops reached Ream's Station on the Weldon Railroad that was believed to be in the hands of Union infantry, but instead was held by a Confederate Infantry division with cavalry support. With more Confederates coming up behind them, the Federal troops suddenly found themselves virtually surrounded. Charge and counter charge were made in an effort to fight their way through, with savage fighting continuing until well after nightfall. Before dawn on June 29 the 22nd New York, along with several other Union cavalry regiments were dismounted and formed in line of battle behind hastily assembled breastworks made from fence rails and such. When word arrived that a route was clear toward Ream's Station, the 22nd New York and others of the 2nd brigade were ordered to act as a rear guard while the 1st brigade retired and then to move in behind them. But due to the noise of the men of the 1st brigade moving awkwardly through the dark woods the Rebels discovered the movement and attacked in force. The New Yorkers stood their ground gallantly until the left end of the Union defensive line was flanked and gave way under the weight of superior numbers of Confederate soldiers. Union commanders tried to rally their troops, but the great skedaddle had begun. What had begun as an orderly retreat quickly became a disorganized rout with men, unable to reach their horses, scattering through the trees in all directions on foot. A great many of Wilson’s raiders were able to force their way past the Confederates and return safely to the Union lines, however much of the rear guard was cut off and captured. A large number of the prisoners hailed from the 22nd New York Cavalry. Henry Crants was one of the unfortunates.

 

Crants was marched to Richmond, Virginia where he was held for the first half of July. He was then included with a group of POWs being transferred by rail to the notorious prison pen at Andersonville, Georgia, arriving there around July 16. Confined in the sweltering heat with inadequate food and medical care, exposed to sun and rain with no shelter other than simple rag tents or dugouts made by the prisoners themselves from whatever materials they could scavenge, the men suffered severely. With a single stream bisecting the stockaded compound to serve as both drinking water and latrine, sanitation at the compound was almost nonexistent.

 

On September 1 the Confederates evacuated Atlanta and opened the door for General William T. Sherman to occupy the city. But fearing a Union thrust south from there to free the thousands of prisoners held at Andersonville, the Confederates had already begun transferring many of the POWs to other prisons in South Carolina. Henry Crants was among those sent to Charleston, South Carolina as part of this mass transfer. Along the way the prisoners had been told they were being moved preparatory to being paroled, but it was a lie intended to keep the prisoners docile during the journey and to discourage escape attempts. Whether Henry would have had the strength to attempt escape is doubtful.

 

Fellow prisoner Fred Arnd, 1st sergeant of Co. G, 22nd NY Cavalry, later reported, "Henry Crants...died while in the service of the United States and in line of his duty at Charlestown State of South Carolina on the 17th day of September 1864 of starvation while a prisoner of war...That none of the commissioned officers of said Co. were present at the time for the reason they were not allowed to be with the privates. That the officers were kept in a different place from the privates by the Rebels." Elias Schults, the farrier for the same company also claimed that Henry "died...of diarrhea & starvation while a prisoner of war." In fact, 87 men of the 22nd New York Cavalry died while in southern prisons. Henry Crants' mother was later granted a Federal pension of $8 per month commencing September 17, 1864, based on the loss of her son and sole support.

 

This photo was taken on 20 March 2017, but I also saw and photographed these rather strange animals every day that we were staying at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the island of Trinidad. They like to hang around the Asa Wright building, finding food, and then they seem to disappear into the forest for most of the day. Many of my photos of them came out blurry for some reason, but this one worked OK.

 

"Agoutis have five front and three hind toes; the first toe is very small. The tail is very short or nonexistent and hairless. Agoutis may grow to be up to 60 cm (24 in) in length and 4 kg (8.8 lb) in weight. Most species are brown on their backs and whitish or buff on their bellies; the fur may have a glossy appearance and then glimmers in an orange colour. Reports differ as to whether they are diurnal or nocturnal animals.... They can live for as long as 20 years, a remarkably long time for a rodent

 

In the wild, they are shy animals and flee from humans, while in captivity they may become trusting. In Trinidad, they are renowned for being very fast runners, able to keep hunting dogs occupied with chasing them for hours." From Wikipedia.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_agouti

 

This adventure was only the second holiday of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my dear friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going.

 

Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could choose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! We were so lucky with our flights, as we were just in time to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!

 

What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous.

 

The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up the mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a minibus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way.

 

I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

 

This is a video that I came across on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it.

 

youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M

 

I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015.

 

youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk

“The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made their living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being nonexistent persons.”

― George Orwell, 1984

I have been trying for ages to catch some of the early morning fog or mist to shoot the buildings and trees around here, but the mist that is generally pretty common at this time of the year is nonexistent this autumn. I saw a bit the morning I shot this, so I rushed outside with hope of catching it when it got a bit brighter. There was nearly no visible atmosphere when I got out there, but the sun was just rising, so I decide to stick around to see what would happen. The sky was pretty incredible, and made a great B&W opourtunity. The 40D performs well in low light condtions, and even though it's not a 5D III by any means, most of the photography I did on that morning was handheld.

 

Definitely one to view on Black (Press L). Thanks.

Manufacturer: Thunderhead

Nationality: America

First assembled: May 23, 1957

Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Engine 6.6 L V8

HP: 550 BHP

0-60: 6.3 Seconds

Top speed: 193.29 MPH

 

Thunderhead is most know for big block V8 musclecars when it comes to notable vehicles. You've got 2 door slabs of American muscle like the Roadbeast and the Mercenary, both of which in modern times are much more well-rounded performers than just dominating a quarter mile. Thunderhead doesn't just worry about musclecars, though. There are purebread sportscars like the Supercobra GTS and off-roaders like the Gila. Also as of recent the ultra-luxury sedan known as the Royale is now on the markets. The Royale wasn't Thunderhead's first stint at luxury, though. As a matter of fact Thunderhead's history is outright drowned in luxury, with big comfortable sedans and cruisers worthy of carrying royalty. Not to say that these luxo-barges were big, soft rolling couches, though. They could move when needed to. Probably the luxo-barge of Thunderhead's old days has to be the Empire Coupe. Though the Empire nameplate existed since the early 2240's, the coupe model was virtually nonexistent until 1957. Not to say it wasn't just as popular, though. The Empire was said to actually look better as a coupe, something a king would surely be proud to ride around in. That king would sure enjoy the ride, too. The quality of the interior and ride rivaled that of the Empire's European competitors. The Empire wasn't just for low and slow cruising, though. The 6.6 L V8, which would later be extensively modified for usage in the Roadbeast, gave the Empire and respectable 550 BHP. The 0-60 was just above 6 seconds, and the top speed nearing 200. Quick for a rolling barge. The Empire nameplate is still a part of Thunderhead's lineup today, though it's largely agreed that the Empire has fallen from grace since the days of the original coupe, which doesn't even exist nowadays in place of just the standard sedan. And original Empire Coupe from the olden days will run about $80,000 to $120,000 at auction.

* Tarea Master Estilismo Minimalista

 

ROPA - CLOTHES:

BLUSA, *COCO*_SleevelessBlouse_White by cocoro Lemon

PANTALONES, *COCO*_SideSlitWideLegPants_Beige by cocoro Lemon

CARDIGAN, *COCO*_CardiganOverShoulders_Beige by cocoro Lemon

 

ACCESORIOS - ACCESORIES:

PENDIENTES, RAMA - Pearl Anna Earrings 'Rose Gold' by Tracey (faullon)

MALETIN, NYU - Pastel Brushed leather Bag, Black by 妞 (nyunyu.kimono)

LENTES, Izzie's - Retro Glasses by Izzie Button

RELOJ, Amala - The Nova Watch - Rose Gold by Crystal (crystalny)

 

MAQUILLAJE - MAKEUP:

UÑAS, NAILS alme. Autumn Kit II - Shiny by Chloe Electra (chloeelectra)

SOMBRA Y LABIAL, The Face ~ PowderPack November Edition by ::Nattie:: (nataliewells)

 

CABELLO - HAIR:

TRUTH HAIR Arwen - by Truth Hawks

 

SANDALIAS - SANDALS:

*COCO*_FlatformSandals_Natural by cocoro Lemon

 

Ropa olgada amplia, lineas rectas, textura limpia y similar en ambas prendas principales (blusa y pantalon). Colores neutrales nude, sandalias planas con algo de plataforma.

Los accesorios escazos o inexistentes, he puesto solo un reloj, unas perlas como pendientes y las gafas de sol como complemento.

El cabello ligeramente ondualdo atras.

Un look conseguido para el cierre de la temporada.

 

Opaque clothing, straight lines, clean texture and similar in both main garments (blouse and pants). Neutral nude colors, flat sandals with some platform.

The accessories are lacking or nonexistent, I have put only a watch, some pearls as earrings and sunglasses as a complement.

The hair slightly slanted back.

A look achieved for the closing of the season.

 

Yashica Mat 124G

 

Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired 1976)

 

Developed in Diafine at 400

 

They were a bit disappointed when I couldn't show them the picture on the nonexistent LCD of my old TLR :)

 

view large

At least I think that's what mountain it is. The plan was to hike up to Laguna de los Tres (again!) but since the visibility of Fitz Roy was nonexistent I decided to stop about 1/4 of the way up to shoot the sunrise. Two shot pano from the 24 TS-E.

______________

 

Patagonia is one fickle mistress. She lures you in with views of stunning peaks and turquoise pools. Yet, once you arrive she dances just out of reach. Light and clouds rarely align just right with the iconic mountains. Still she strings you along with glimpses of what could be. Giving just enough golden light - in the wrong places – to not crush all hope. And finally, when you’re just about to give into frustration she relents - the light and peaks align. Hope is renewed.

 

~MW

 

Megan pretty much summed it up. I'll just say, I gave myself 12 days to photograph 3 locations. After 9 days, some nice light here and there, but zero check marks. The last three mornings the stars aligned and I caught the light I wanted at all three locations. I left Patagonia a tired and smelly, but happy man. Thanks to my wife for spending her vacation lugging around a big bag, waking up early and sleeping in the dirt with me.

“Mao Zedong used to enjoy a winter swim in the Yongjiang river,” informs Li Zhixin, drying his not inconsiderable frame with a small hand towel. “But that is in the south of China, and the water temperature is about 14 degrees.” He puffs out his chest, and gestures to a large hole cut into the frozen lake, where a silver-haired man is leisurely performing the backstroke. “That is only 3.”

 

Mr. Li, a garrulous 60-something, is the Chairman of the Beijing Winter Swimming Club, which, incredibly, boasts some 2000 members. They are all enthusiastic advocates of a peculiar extreme sport which is part test of character, part physical regime, and even part philosophy. “Beijing winters are very cold,” explains Li, “and people like to hide indoors. This is the natural reaction to anything difficult – to keep away. But we believe it is much better in life to face things, to strengthen our resistance.”

 

He glances over his shoulder as a middle-aged man in stripy red underpants lets out an exaggerated roar of self-encouragement, and plunges himself into the icy waters below. “Not too bad today,” the man splutters to Mr. Li “I’d say maybe a 4!”

 

A revolving cast of about 20 swim club members appear every day on the banks of the capital’s Houhai Lake to perform this ritual. Most are recently retired, and emphasize the activity’s health-boosting capabilities. “Exposure to cold water strengthens our immune system,” insists Mr. Ma, who used to be a factory worker, and has been swimming for more than a decade now. “We get fewer colds in winter, though we still get some.”

 

A spirited French man named Olivier ambles over and chats to the men, eager to try himself. He strips, grinning and pretending to shiver with each layer shed, and makes his way to the water’s edge. After a few perfunctory stretches he hovers. An anxious pause. More stretching. More hovering. His cheery bravado is gradually replaced by a slightly bewildered expression, as if he thought he’d volunteered for something else. Then suddenly he is in, thrashing and cursing loudly. He completes a face-saving lap, and that is enough. The regulars laugh and cheer. They have recruited their first foreigner into the club.

 

“It’s not actually that bad,” Olivier later insists, as the memory subsides. “Just the initial impact…you come up for air feeling like you are suffocating, but after a few seconds it gets better.” He says he’d try it again, but is not convinced it can be good for health. “Ask me in the morning.”

 

Mr. Li, the Secretary, who has been watching with a paternalistic frown, offers a kindly reprimand. “It is unwise to just try this one time,” he says. “We swim here all year round so our bodies adjust to the water as it grows colder each season. Otherwise it may be unhealthy. Humans are not built for extremes.”

 

Li admits to being uninformed about the science behind the physical benefits, or indeed possible dangers, of winter swimming. In actual fact, such science is more or less nonexistent. Researchers agree that sudden, unexpected entry into near-freezing water, such as accidentally falling through ice, is extremely hazardous to health, and potentially fatal. But there has been no definitive judgement concerning voluntary entry. Some believe it is possible it helps toughen the body against disease, but there is very little supporting evidence.

 

Li is more of an empiricist. “All I know is that our oldest member is 93,” he grins, then offers a loose analogy: “If you want a piece of beef to last longer, you put it in a freezer… well, the lake is just our freezer. We take precautions, and allow our bodies to grow steadily used to it. That way there is little risk.”

 

Not sure he has fully convinced, he fetches a swimming club newsletter from a satchel and points to a line written in heavy print, underlined twice for certainty. “Safety is heavier than Mount Tai,” it reads.

 

Half a kilometer south of Houhai is a smaller lake named Qianhai, where 69 year old Wang Yansheng is standing on a tall pillar in a pair of blue speedos, serenading a swelling crowd of passersby with a song of friendship. Below him is an icy pool. Jutting rocks are visible barely 2 meters below the surface.

 

“If you are sad, please come see me,” Wang’s shaky, earnest baritone implores. “If you are happy, please forget me.” After a brisk salute, he counts to three, then launches himself into the air, arms spread like a showman. A lady gasps, a little girl shrieks. Wang crashes into the pool with an uncultured ‘wump.’ The crowd roar their approval.

 

Mr. Wang doesn't belong to the Beijing Winter Swimming Club, and it’s fair to say he gives thoughts of safety fairly short shrift. He comes to entertain.

 

Wang is from a renowned sporting family – his daughter is a former Asian Games 800m champion, his son is a national weightlifting finalist – and used to perform this stunt on a daily basis. But after recently becoming a grandfather, he has been forced to scale back performances to once every Sunday, on the dot at 3 o’clock. There is always a crowd.

 

“Believe it or not, it helps me relax,” he smiles. “Other things just don't work… buying clothes, eating in nice restaurants… the only thing I have found is coming here to sing and make people smile.”

 

Wang says he isn’t really motivated by health benefits – the swimming is more of an afterthought. In fact, he has injured himself several times, lacerating his skin on the ice. “There was once 6 or 7 of us diving here,” he points out, putting on his clothes. “But they all retired hurt or found a safer hobby. I am the only one left.” He compares his stunt to drinking a glass of local rice wine: it will be unpleasant, but you will feel more alive. “I only hope I can still do it when I’m 70,” he adds.

 

For all these winter swimming enthusiasts, it seems part of the attraction of this peculiar activity is as an act of defiance. Not to say it is some geriatric ‘raging against the dying of the light’ or anything so patronizing. It is a form of retaking control. “Too often our minds tell our bodies what they can’t do,” Mr. Li put it memorably. “We try not to listen.”

 

The greatest LEGO Space theme that never was, Seatron was conceived right after Futuron and would have given us our first (and more creative and interesting) LEGO aliens most of a decade before the UFO theme released.

 

All we have is some intriguing preliminary shots of a fascinating theme with a white, black and trans red "surface" palate and an Aquanauts-like yellow, black and trans blue "underwater" palate.

 

Anyway, I think it would have been a great theme, and it's well worth a MOC or several. And it being FebRovery let's make a rover.

 

Probably the Seatron faction minifigures would have been more Futuron-like than CS-like, but my Futuron minifig supplies are practically nonexistent.

 

I've done some Seatron-like MOCs before, connected with the Ice Planet faction as explorers of a subsurface ocean within Planet Krysto (a subtheme I call "Ice Planet: Aquarius Project"), but this is my first actual Seatron MOC.

USS Wisconsin (BB64) at Norfolk, VA on August-10th-2018.

Suntrust Building is in the background.

USS Wisconsin is an Iowa-class battleship, the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. She was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and launched on 7 December 1943 (the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid), sponsored Margaret Goodland, wife of Governor Walter Goodland of Wisconsin.

 

During her career, Wisconsin served in the Pacific theater of World War II, where she shelled Japanese fortifications and screened United States aircraft carriers as they conducted air raids against enemy positions. During the Korean War, Wisconsin shelled North Korean targets in support of United Nations and South Korean ground operations, after which she was decommissioned. She was reactivated on 1 August 1986; after a modernization program, she participated in Operation Desert Storm in January and February 1991.

 

Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991 after a total of 14 years of active service in the fleet, and having earned a total of six battle stars for service in World War II and Korea, as well as a Navy Unit Commendation for service during the January/February 1991 Gulf War. She currently functions as a museum ship operated by Nauticus, The National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Wisconsin was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) 17 March 2006, and was donated for permanent use as a museum ship. On 15 April 2010, the City of Norfolk officially took over ownership of the ship.

 

Wisconsin was one of the "fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair. She was the third of four completed ships of the Iowa class of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 25 January 1941, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She was launched on 7 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Goodland, wife of Walter S. Goodland, the Governor of Wisconsin, and commissioned on 16 April 1944, with Captain Earl E. Stone in command.

 

Wisconsin's main battery consisted of nine 16 in (406 mm)/50 cal Mark 7 guns, which could fire 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) armor-piercing shells some 20 mi (32 km). The secondary battery consisted of 20 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns in 10 twin turrets, which could fire at targets up to 10 mi (16 km) away. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of allied aircraft carriers; to this end, Wisconsin was fitted with an array of Oerlikon 20 mm and Bofors 40 mm antiaircraft guns to defend allied carriers from enemy airstrikes. When reactivated in 1986, Wisconsin had her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns removed, and was outfitted with Phalanx CIWS mounts for protection against enemy missiles and aircraft, and armored box launchers and quad cell launchers designed to fire Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, respectively.Wisconsin and her sister ship Missouri were fitted with thicker transverse bulkhead armor, 14.5 inches (368 mm), compared to 11.3 inches (287 mm) in the first two ships of her class, the Iowa and New Jersey.

 

Wisconsin is numerically the highest-numbered US battleship built. Although her keel was laid after USS Missouri's, she was commissioned before Missouri's commissioning date. Thus, Wisconsin's construction began after Missouri's, and finished earlier. Iowa and Wisconsin were finally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 2006, making them the last battleships on a navy list in the world.

 

After the ship's trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay, Wisconsin departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 July 1944, bound for the British West Indies. Following her shakedown cruise (conducted out of Trinidad), she returned to the builder's yard for alterations and repairs.

 

On 24 September 1944, Wisconsin sailed for the West Coast, transiting the Panama Canal, and reporting for duty with the Pacific Fleet on 2 October. The battleship later moved to Hawaiian waters for training exercises and then headed for the Western Caroline Islands. Upon reaching the Caroline Island Ulithi, she joined Admiral William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet on 9 December.

  

Wisconsin tied up alongside the hulk of Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in November 1944, prior to her departure to join up with the 3rd Fleet

Due to the time it took needed to build her, Wisconsin missed much of the initial thrust into Japanese-held territory, having arrived at a time when the reconquest of the Philippines was well underway. As a part of that movement, the planners had envisioned landings on the southwest coast of Mindoro, south of Luzon. From that point, American forces could threaten Japanese shipping lanes through the South China Sea. In preparation for the coming invasion of Mindoro, Wisconsin was assigned to protect the 3rd Fleet's Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38), as they conducted air raids at Manila to soften up Japanese positions.

 

On 18 December, the ships of TF 38 unexpectedly found themselves in a fight for their lives when Typhoon Cobra overtook the force–seven fleet and six light carriers, eight battleships, 15 cruisers, and about 50 destroyers–during their attempt to refuel at sea. At the time, the ships were operating about 300 mi (480 km) east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea.The carriers had just completed three days of heavy raids against Japanese airfields, suppressing enemy aircraft during the American amphibious operations against Mindoro in the Philippines. The task force met with Captain Jasper T. Acuff and his fueling group 17 December with the intention of refueling all ships in the task force and replacing lost aircraft.Although the sea had been growing rougher all day, the nearby cyclonic disturbance gave relatively little warning of its approach. On 18 December, the small but violent typhoon overtook the task force while many of the ships were attempting to refuel. Many of the ships were caught near the center of the storm and buffeted by extreme seas and hurricane-force winds. Three destroyers, Hull, Monaghan, and Spence, capsized and sank with nearly all hands, while a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers suffered serious damage. About 790 men were lost or killed, with another 80 injured. Fires occurred in three carriers when planes broke loose in their hangars and some 146 planes on various ships were lost or damaged beyond economical repair by fires, impact damage, or being swept overboard. Wisconsin reported two injured sailors as a result of the typhoon,but otherwise proved her seaworthiness as she escaped the storm unscathed.

 

Wisconsin's next operation was to assist with the occupation of Luzon. Bypassing the southern beaches, American amphibious forces went ashore at Lingayen Gulf, the scene of initial Japanese assaults to take Luzon nearly three years before.

 

Wisconsin, armed with heavy antiaircraft batteries, performed escort duty for TF 38's fast carriers during air strikes against Formosa, Luzon, and the Nansei Shoto to neutralize Japanese forces there and to cover the unfolding Allied Lingayen Gulf operations. Those strikes, lasting from 3–22 January 1945, included a thrust into the South China Sea, in the hope that major units of the Imperial Japanese Navy could be drawn into battle.

 

Wisconsin's carrier group launched air strikes between Saigon and Camranh Bay, French Indochina, on 12 January, resulting in severe losses for the enemy. TF 38's warplanes sank 41 ships and heavily damaged docks, storage areas, and aircraft facilities. Formosa, already struck on 3–4 January, was raided again on 9 January, 15 January, and 21 January. Throughout January Wisconsin shielded the carriers as they conducted air raids at Hong Kong, Canton, Hainan Island, the Canton oil refineries, the Hong Kong Naval Station, and Okinawa

 

Wisconsin was assigned to the 5th Fleet when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance relieved Admiral Halsey as commander of the fleet. She moved northward with the redesignated TF 58 as the carriers headed for the Tokyo area. On 16 February, the task force approached the Japanese coast under cover of adverse weather conditions and achieved complete tactical surprise. As a result, Wisconsin and the other ships shot down 322 enemy planes and destroyed 177 more on the ground. Japanese shipping, both naval and merchant, also suffered drastically, as did hangars and aircraft installations.

 

Wisconsin and the task force moved to Iwo Jima on 17 February to provide direct support for the landings slated to take place on 19 February. They revisited Tokyo on 25 February and hit the island of Hachino off the coast of Honshū the next day, resulting in heavy damage to ground facilities; additionally, American planes sank five small vessels and destroyed 158 planes.

 

Wisconsin's task force stood out of Ulithi on 14 March bound for Japan. The mission of that group was to eliminate airborne resistance from the Japanese homeland to American forces off Okinawa. Enemy fleet units at Kure and Kobe, on southern Honshū, reeled under the impact of the explosive blows delivered by TF 58's airmen. On 18–19 March, from a point 100 mi (160 km) southwest of Kyūshū, TF 58 hit enemy airfields on that island; unfortunately, allied antiaircraft fire on 19 March failed to stop an attack on the carrier Franklin. That afternoon, Wisconsin and the task force retired from Kyūshū, screening the blazing and battered flattop, and shooting down 48 attackers.

 

On 24 March, Wisconsin trained her 16 in (406 mm) guns on targets ashore on Okinawa. Together with the other battleships of the task force, she pounded Japanese positions and installations in preparation for the landings. Japanese resistance, while fierce, was doomed to failure by dwindling numbers of aircraft and trained pilots.[5]

  

Wisconsin escorting Essex-class aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The tail crane was used to recover reconnaissance planes launched by Wisconsin.

While TF 58's planes were dealing with Yamato and her escorts, enemy aircraft attacked the American surface units. Combat air patrol (CAP) shot down 15 enemy planes, and ships' gunfire shot down another three, but not before one kamikaze attack penetrated the CAP and screen to crash on the flight deck of the fleet carrier Hancock. On 11 April, the Japanese renewed their kamikaze attacks; and only drastic maneuvers and heavy barrages of gunfire saved the task force. CAP shot down 17 planes, and ships' gunfire shot down 12. The next day, 151 enemy aircraft attacked TF 58, but Wisconsin, together with other units of the screens for the vital carriers, kept the kamikaze pilots at bay and destroyed them before they could reach their targets. Over the days that ensued, Japanese kamikaze attacks managed to crash into three carriers—Intrepid, Bunker Hill, and Enterprise—on successive days.

 

By 4 June, a typhoon was swirling through the fleet. Wisconsin rode out the storm unscathed, but three cruisers, two carriers, and a destroyer suffered serious damage. Offensive operations were resumed on 8 June with a final aerial assault on Kyūshū. The Japanese aerial response was virtually nonexistent; 29 planes were located and destroyed. On that day, one of Wisconsin's floatplanes landed and rescued a downed pilot from the carrier Shangri-La.

  

Wisconsin ultimately put into Leyte Gulf and dropped anchor there on 13 June for repairs and replenishment. Three weeks later, on 1 July, the battleship and her escorts sailed once more for Japanese home waters for carrier air strikes on the enemy's heartland. Nine days later, carrier planes from TF 38 destroyed 72 enemy aircraft on the ground and smashed industrial sites in the Tokyo area. Wisconsin and the other ships made no attempt whatsoever to conceal the location of their armada, due in large part to a weak Japanese response to their presence.

 

On 16 July, Wisconsin fired her 16 in (406 mm) guns at the steel mills and oil refineries at Muroran, Hokkaido. Two days later, she wrecked industrial facilities in the Hitachi Miro area, on the coast of Honshū-, northeast of Tokyo itself. During that bombardment, British battleships of the British Pacific Fleet contributed their heavy shellfire. By that point in the war, Allied warships such as Wisconsin were able to shell the Japanese homeland almost at will.

 

TF 38's planes subsequently blasted the Japanese naval base at Yokosuka, and put the former fleet flagship Nagato out of action, one of the two remaining Japanese battleships. Throughout July and into August, Admiral Halsey's airmen visited destruction upon the Japanese, the last instance being against Tokyo on 13 August. Two days later, the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II.

 

Wisconsin, as part of the occupying force, arrived at Tokyo Bay on 5 September, three days after the formal surrender occurred on board the battleship Missouri. During Wisconsin's brief career in World War II, she had steamed 105,831 mi (170,318 km) since commissioning, shot down three enemy planes, claimed assists on four occasions, and fueled her screening destroyers on some 250 occasions.

 

Shifting subsequently to Okinawa, the battleship embarked homeward-bound GIs on 22 September 1945, as part of Operation Magic Carpet staged to bring soldiers, sailors, and marines home from the far-flung battlefronts of the Pacific. Departing Okinawa on 23 September, Wisconsin reached Pearl Harbor on 4 October, remaining there for five days before she pushed on for the West Coast on the last leg of her state-side bound voyage. She reached San Francisco on 15 October.

 

Heading for the East Coast of the United States soon after the start of the new year, 1946, Wisconsin transited the Panama Canal from 11 to 13 January and reached Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 18 January. Following a cruise south to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the battleship entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul. After repairs and alterations that consumed the summer, Wisconsin sailed for South American waters.

 

Over the weeks that ensued, the battleship visited Valparaíso, Chile, from 1–6 November; Callao, Peru, from 9–13 November; Balboa, Canal Zone, from 16 to 20 November; and La Guaira, Venezuela, from 22 to 26 November, before returning to Norfolk on 2 December 1946.

 

Wisconsin spent nearly all of 1947 as a training ship, taking naval reservists on two-week cruises throughout the year. Those voyages commenced at Bayonne, New Jersey, and saw visits conducted at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the Panama Canal Zone. While underway at sea, the ship would perform various drills and exercises before the cruise would end where it had started, at Bayonne. During June and July 1947, Wisconsin took United States Naval Academy midshipmen on cruises to northern European waters.

 

In January 1948, Wisconsin reported to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk for inactivation. Placed out of commission, in reserve on 1 July, Wisconsin was assigned to the Norfolk group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

  

Buck, Wisconsin, and Saint Paul steam in close formation during operations off the Korean coast, 1952

Her sojourn in "mothballs", however, was comparatively brief, due to the North Korean invasion of South Korea in late June 1950. Wisconsin was recommissioned on 3 March 1951 with Captain Thomas Burrowes in command.[5] After shakedown training, the revitalized battleship conducted two midshipmen training cruises, taking the officers-to-be to Edinburgh, Scotland; Lisbon, Portugal; Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York City; and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before she returned to Norfolk. While leaving New York, Wisconsin was accidentally grounded on mud flats in New York Harbor, but was freed on 23 August 1951 with no damage to the ship.

 

Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 25 October, bound for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 29 October and reached Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 November. There, she relieved New Jersey as flagship for Vice Admiral H. M. Martin, Commander, 7th Fleet.

 

On 26 November, with Vice Admiral Martin and Rear Admiral F.P. Denebrink, Commander, Service Force, Pacific, embarked, Wisconsin departed Yokosuka for Korean waters to support the fast carrier operations of TF 77. She left the company of the carrier force on 2 December, and screened by the destroyer Wiltsie, provided gunfire support for the Republic of Korea (ROK) Corps in the Kasong-Kosong area. After disembarking Admiral Denebrink on 3 December at Kangnung, the battleship resumed station on the Korean "bombline", providing gunfire support for the American 1st Marine Division. Wisconsin's shelling accounted for a tank, two gun emplacements, and a building.[5] She continued her gunfire support task for the 1st Marine Division and 1st ROK Corps through 6 December, accounting for enemy bunkers, artillery positions, and troop concentrations.[5] On one occasion during that time, the battleship received a request for call-fire support and provided three star-shells for the 1st ROK Corps, illuminating an enemy attack that was consequently repulsed with a considerable number of enemy casualties

 

After being relieved on the gunline by the heavy cruiser Saint Paul on 6 December, Wisconsin briefly retired from gunfire-support duties. She resumed them, however, in the Kasong-Kosong area on 11 December screened by the destroyer Twining. The following day, 12 December, had the helicopter embarkation on Wisconsin of Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber, Commander, Battleship Division 2 (BatDiv 2), as part of his inspection trip in the Far East.

 

Wisconsin continued her naval gunfire-support duties on the bombline, shelling enemy bunkers, command posts, artillery positions, and trench systems through 14 December. She departed the "bombline" on that day to render special gunfire support duties in the Kojo area shelling coastal targets in support of United Nations (UN) troops ashore. That same day, Wisconsin returned to the Kasong-Kosong area. On 15 December, she disembarked Admiral Thurber by helicopter. The next day, Wisconsin departed Korean waters, heading for Sasebo to rearm.

 

Returning to the combat zone on 17 December, Wisconsin embarked United States Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan on 18 December. That day, the battleship supported the 11th ROK invasion with night illumination fire that enabled the ROK troops to repulse a North Korean assault with heavy enemy casualties.Departing the "bombline" on 19 December, the battleship transferred Ferguson by helicopter to the carrier Valley Forge.

  

On 20 December, Wisconsin participated in a coordinated air-surface bombardment of Wonsan to neutralize selected targets in its area. The ship shifted its bombardment station to the western end of Wonsan harbor, hitting boats and small craft in the inner swept channel with her 5-inch (127 mm) guns during the afternoon and helping forestall attempts to assault the friendly held islands nearby. Wisconsin then made an antiboat sweep to the north, firing her 5-inch batteries on suspected boat concentrations. She then provided gunfire support to UN troops operating at the bombline until 22 December, when she rejoined the carrier task force.

  

Wisconsin shells North Korean targets during the Korean War

On 28 December, Cardinal Francis Spellman, on a Korean tour over the Christmas holidays, helicoptered aboard the ship to celebrate Mass for the Catholic members of the crew. He left as he came, off Pohang. On New Year's Eve day, Wisconsin put into Yokosuka.

 

Wisconsin departed that port on 8 January 1952 and returned to Korean waters. She reached Pusan the following day and entertained the president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, and his wife, on 10 January. The couple received full military honors as they came on board, which Rhee reciprocated by awarding Vice Admiral Martin the ROK Order of the Military Merit.

 

Wisconsin returned to the bombline on 11 January, and over the ensuing days, delivered heavy gunfire support for the 1st Marine Division and the 1st ROK Corps. As before, her primary targets were command posts, shelters, bunkers, troop concentrations, and mortar positions. As before, she stood ready to deliver call-fire support as needed, shelling enemy troops in the open on 14 January at the request of the ROK 1st Corps.

 

Rearming once more at Sasebo, she shortly joined TF 77 off the coast of Korea and resumed support at the bombline on 23 January. Three days later, she shifted again to the Kojo region, to participate in a coordinated air and gun strike. That same day, the battleship returned to the bombline and shelled the command post and communications center for the 15th North Korean Division during call-fire missions for the 1st Marine Division.

 

Returning to Wonsan at the end of January, Wisconsin bombarded enemy guns at Hodo Pando before she was rearmed at Sasebo. The battleship rejoined TF 77 on 2 February, and the next day blasted railway buildings and marshaling yards at Hodo Pando and Kojo before rejoining TF 77. After replenishment at Yokosuka a few days later, she returned to the Kosong area and resumed gunfire support. During that time, she destroyed railway bridges and a small shipyard while conducting call-fire missions on enemy command posts, bunkers, and personnel shelters, making numerous cuts on enemy trench lines in the process.

 

On 26 February, Wisconsin arrived at Pusan, where Vice Admiral Shon, the ROK chief of naval operations; United States Ambassador J.J. Muccio; and Rear Admiral Scott-Montcrief, Royal Navy, Commander, Task Group 95.12 (TG 95.12), visited the battleship. Departing that South Korean port the following day, Wisconsin reached Yokosuka on 2 March, and a week later, she shifted to Sasebo to prepare to return to Korean waters.

 

Wisconsin arrived off Songjin, Korea, on 15 March and concentrated her gunfire on enemy railway transport. Early that morning, she destroyed a communist troop train trapped outside a destroyed tunnel. That afternoon, she received the first direct hit in her history, when one of four shells from a North Korean 152 mm gun battery struck the shield of a starboard 40 mm mount; although little material damage resulted, three men were injured.Wisconsin subsequently destroyed that battery with a full 16-inch (406 mm) salvo before continuing her mission.After again supporting 1st Marine Division with her heavy rifles, the battleship returned to Japan on 19 March.

 

Relieved as flagship of the 7th Fleet on 1 April by sister ship Iowa, Wisconsin departed Yokosuka, bound for the United States. En route home, she touched briefly at Guam, where she took part in the successful test of the Navy's largest floating dry dock on 4–5 April, the first ever to accommodate an Iowa-class battleship. She continued her homeward-bound voyage via Pearl Harbor and arrived at Long Beach, California, on 19 April before continuing on for Norfolk.

  

On 9 June, Wisconsin resumed her role as a training ship, taking midshipmen to Greenock, Scotland, Brest, France, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before returning to Norfolk. She departed Hampton Roads on 25 August and participated in the NATO exercise Operation Mainbrace, which was held out of Greenock, Scotland. After her return to Norfolk, Wisconsin underwent an overhaul in the naval shipyard there. Wisconsin remained in the Atlantic fleet throughout 1952 and into 1953, training midshipmen and conducting exercises. After a month of routine maintenance Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 9 September 1953, bound for the Far East.

 

Sailing via the Panama Canal to Japan, Wisconsin relieved New Jersey as 7th Fleet flagship on 12 October. During the months that followed, Wisconsin visited the Japanese ports of Kobe, Sasebo Navy Yard, Yokosuka, Otaru, and Nagasaki. She spent Christmas at Hong Kong and was ultimately relieved of flagship duties on 1 April 1954 and returned to the United States soon thereafter, reaching Norfolk, via Long Beach and the Panama Canal, on 4 May.

 

Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 11 June, Wisconsin underwent a brief overhaul and commenced a midshipman training cruise on 12 July. After revisiting Greenock, Brest, and Guantánamo Bay, the ship returned to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. Shortly thereafter, Wisconsin participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises as flagship for the commander, Second Fleet. Departing Norfolk in January 1955, Wisconsin took part in Operation Springboard, during which she visited Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Then, upon returning to Norfolk, the battleship conducted another midshipman's cruise that summer, visiting Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Guantánamo Bay before returning to the United States.

 

Upon completion of a major overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard, Wisconsin headed south for refresher training in the Caribbean Sea, later taking part in another Springboard exercise. During that cruise, she again visited Port-au-Prince and added Tampico, Mexico, and Cartagena, Colombia, to her list of ports of call. She returned to Norfolk on the last day of March 1955 for local operations.On 19 October, while operating in the East River in New York Harbor, Wisconsin was accidentally grounded, but the ship was freed in about an hour without any serious damage.

  

Throughout April 1956 and into May, Wisconsin operated locally off the Virginia Capes. On 6 May, the battleship collided with the destroyer Eaton in a heavy fog; Wisconsin put into Norfolk with extensive damage to her bow, and one week later entered dry dock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.A novel experiment sped her repairs and enabled the ship to carry out her scheduled midshipman training cruise that summer. A 120-ton, 68 foot (21 m) section of the bow of Wisconsin's incomplete sister ship Kentucky was transported by barge, in one section, from Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation of Newport News, Virginia, across Hampton Roads to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Working around the clock, Wisconsin's ship's force and shipyard personnel completed the operation that grafted on the new bow in 16 days. On 28 June 1956, the ship was ready for sea.

  

The bow of Kentucky was transported in one section, by barge, to repair Wisconsin.

Wisconsin resumed her midshipman training on 9 July 1956. That autumn, Wisconsin participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises off the coast of the Carolinas, returning to port on 8 November 1956. Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard a week later, the battleship underwent major repairs that were not finished until 2 January 1957.

 

After local operations off the Virginia capes on 3–4 January 1957 and from 9–11 January, Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 16 January, reporting to the commander, Fleet Training Group, at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay. Wisconsin served as Admiral Henry Crommelin's flagship during the ensuing shore bombardment practices and other exercises held off the isle of Culebra, Puerto Rico, from 2–4 February. Sailing for Norfolk upon completion of the training period, the battleship arrived on 7 February and resumed local operations off Norfolk. On 27 March, Wisconsin sailed for the Mediterranean Sea, reaching Gibraltar on 6 April, she pushed on that day to rendezvous with TF 60 in the Aegean Sea before reporting to Turkey for the NATO exercise Red Pivot.

Departing Xeros Bay on 14 April, she arrived at Naples four days later, and conducted exercises in the eastern Mediterranean. In the course of those operational training evolutions, she rescued a pilot and crewman who survived the crash of a plane from the aircraft carrier Forrestal.[6] Wisconsin reached Valencia, Spain, on 10 May, and three days later, entertained prominent civilian and military officials of the city.

 

Departing Valencia on 17 April, Wisconsin reached Norfolk on 27 May. En route, she was called upon to sink a Boeing KC-97F-55-BO Stratofreighter, 51-0258, which had ditched in the Atlantic on 9 May, 550 km (343.8 mi) southeast of the Azores Islands following a double engine failure, and subsequently floated for 10 days.

  

On 27 May, Rear Admiral L.S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as Commander, BatDiv 2. Departing Norfolk on 19 June, the battleship, over the ensuing weeks, conducted a midshipman training cruise through the Panama Canal to South American waters, and reached Valparaiso on 3 July. Eight days later, the battleship headed back to the Panama Canal and the Atlantic.

 

After exercises at Guantánamo Bay and off Culebra, Wisconsin reached Norfolk on 5 August and conducted local operations that lasted into September. She then participated in NATO exercises, which took her across the North Atlantic to the British Isles.

 

Wisconsin's days as an active fleet unit were numbered, and she prepared to make her last cruise. On 4 November, she departed Norfolk with a large group of prominent guests on board. Reaching New York City on 6 November, the battleship disembarked her guests, and on 8 November, headed for Bayonne, New Jersey, to commence a preinactivation overhaul. She was placed out of commission at Bayonne on 8 March 1958, and joined the United States Navy reserve fleet (better known as the "mothball fleet") there, leaving the Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1895.[5] Subsequently, taken to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Wisconsin remained there with her sister ship Iowa into the 1980s. While berthed in the Philadelphia Naval Yard, an electrical fire damaged the ship and left her as the Iowa-class battleship in the worst material condition prior to her 1980s reactivation.

  

As part of President Ronald Reagan's Navy Secretary John F. Lehman's effort to create a "600-ship Navy," Wisconsin was reactivated 1 August 1986, a precommissioning unit (PCU) crew established, and the ship moved under tow to the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana, to commence pre-recommissioning workups. The battleship was then towed from the Avondale Shipyard and arrived at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 2 January 1987 to receive weapons system upgrades for her modernization. During the modernization, Wisconsin had all of her remaining 20 mm Oerlikon and 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft guns removed, due to their ineffectiveness against modern jet fighters and enemy antiship missiles; additionally, the two 5 in (127 mm) gun mounts located at midship and in the aft on the port and starboard sides of the battleship were removed.

  

Wisconsin alongside Saratoga (CV-60) during her 1990–91 Mediterranean cruise

Over the next several months, the ship was upgraded with the most advanced weaponry available. Among the new weapon systems installed were four MK 141 quad cell launchers for 16 RGM-84 Harpoon antiship missiles, eight armored box launcher mounts for 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and four of the United States Navy's Phalanx Close-in weapon system 20 mm Gatling guns for defense against enemy antiship missiles and enemy aircraft. Wisconsin also received eight RQ-2 Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely controlled drones that replaced the helicopters previously used to spot for her nine 16 in (406 mm) guns.Also included in her modernization were upgrades to radar and fire control systems for her guns and missiles, and improved electronic warfare capabilities. Armed as such, Wisconsin was formally recommissioned on 22 October 1988 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, under the command of Captain Jerry M. Blesch, USN. Assigned to the United States Atlantic Fleet, she was subsequently homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, where she became the centerpiece of her own surface action group (SAG), also referred to as a battleship battle group (BBBG).

 

Wisconsin spent the first part of 1989 conducting training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Puerto Rico before returning to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a post-recommissioning shakedown that lasted the rest of the year. In mid-1990, the battleship participated in a fleet exercise.

  

Wisconsin launched a BGM-109 Tomahawk missile against a military target in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. In the middle of the month, President George H. W. Bush, in keeping with the Carter Doctrine, sent the first of several hundred thousand troops, along with a strong force of naval support, to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf area to support a multinational force in a standoff with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On 7 August, Wisconsin and her battle group were ordered to deploy in defense of Kuwait for Operation Desert Shield, and they arrived in the Persian Gulf on 23 August.[6] On 15 January 1991, Operation Desert Storm commenced operations, and Wisconsin found herself serving alongside her sister Missouri, just as she had done in Korea 40 years previously. Both Wisconsin and Missouri launched Tomahawk missile attacks against Iraq; they were among the first ships to fire cruise missiles during the 1991 Gulf War. Wisconsin served as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) strike commander for the Persian Gulf, directing the sequence of launches that marked the opening of Operation Desert Storm and firing a total of 24 of her own TLAMs during the first two days of the campaign.] Wisconsin also assumed the responsibility of the local antisurface warfare coordinator for the Northern Persian Gulf Surface Action Group.

  

Wisconsin fired her big guns on Iraqi positions in then Iraqi-occupied Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Wisconsin, escorted by Nicholas, relieved Missouri on 6 February, then answered her first combat call for gunfire support since March 1952. The most recently recommissioned battleship sent 11 shells 19 mi (31 km) to destroy an Iraqi artillery battery in southern Kuwait during a mission called in by USMC OV-10 Bronco aircraft. Using an RQ-2 Pioneer UAV as a spotter in combat for the first time, Wisconsin pounded an Iraqi communications compound on 7 February. Her main guns lobbed 24 shells on Iraqi artillery sites, missile facilities, and electronic-warfare sites along the coast. That evening, she targeted naval sites with her 16 in (406 mm) guns, firing 50 rounds, which severely damaged or sank 15 Iraqi boats, and destroyed several piers at the Khawr al-Mufattah marina.[6] In response to calls for fire support from US and coalition forces, Wisconsin's main battery was used again on 9 February, blasting bunkers and artillery sites, and shelling Iraqi troop positions near Khafji after the Iraqis were ousted from the city by Saudi and Qatari armor. On 21 February, one of Wisconsin's UAVs observed several trucks resupplying an Iraqi command post; in response, Wisconsin trained her 16 in (406 mm) guns on the complex, leveling or heavily damaging 10 of the buildings. Wisconsin and Missouri alternated positions on the gun line, using their 16 in (406 mm) guns to destroy enemy targets and soften defenses along the Kuwait coastline for a possible amphibious assault.

  

A technician moved a Pioneer RPV across the fantail of Wisconsin.

On the night of 23 February, Missouri and Wisconsin turned their big guns on Kuwait's Faylaka Island to support the US-led coalition ground offensive to free Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation forces. The two ships were to conduct a diversionary assault aimed at convincing the Iraqi forces arrayed along the shores of Faylaka Island that coalition forces were preparing to launch an amphibious invasion.As part of this attack, Missouri and Wisconsin were directed to shell known Iraqi defensive positions on the island. Shortly after Missouri completed her shelling of Faylaka Island, Wisconsin, while still over the horizon (and thus out of visual range of the Iraqi forces) launched her RQ-2 Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to spot for her 16 in (406 mm) guns. As Wisconsin's drone approached Faylaka Island, the pilot of the drone was instructed to fly the vehicle low over Iraqi positions so that the soldiers would know that they were once again being targeted by a battleship.[20] Iraqi troops on the ground heard the Pioneer's distinctive buzzing sound, and having witnessed the effects of Missouri's artillery strike on their trench line, the Iraqi troops decided to signal their willingness to surrender by waving makeshift white flags, an action dutifully noted aboard Wisconsin. Amused at this sudden development, the men assigned to the drone's aircrew called Wisconsin's commanding officer, Captain David S. Bill III, and asked, "Sir, they want to surrender, what should I do with them?"This surrender to Wisconsin's Pioneer has since become one of the most remembered moments of the Gulf War; the incident was also the first-ever surrender of enemy troops to an unmanned aircraft controlled by a ship.Wisconsin drone also carried out a number of reconnaissance missions on occupied Kuwait before the coalition's ground offensive.

The next day, Wisconsin answered two separate call-fire support missions for coalition forces by suppressing Iraqi troops barricaded in two bunkers. After witnessing the effects of Wisconsin's strike against the Iraqi positions, an elated Saudi marine commander commented over the radio, "I wish we had a battleship in our navy."

 

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the absence of a perceived threat to the United States came drastic cuts in the defense budget. The high cost of maintaining and operating battleships as part of the United States Navy's active fleet became uneconomical; as a result, Wisconsin was decommissioned on 30 September 1991 after 14 total years of active service, and joined the Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) on 12 January 1995, then on 15 October 1996, she was moved to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and on 12 February 1998, she was restored to the Naval Vessel Register. On 7 December 2000, the battleship was towed from Portsmouth, Virginia and berthed adjacent to Nauticus, The National Maritime Center in Norfolk. On 16 April 2001 the battleship's weather decks were opened to the public by the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, a U.S. Navy museum charged with Wisconsin's interpretation and public visitation. The ship was still owned by the Navy and was considered part of the mothball fleet.

  

Wisconsin was named (along with Iowa) as one of two US Navy battleships to be maintained in the United States Navy reserve fleets in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 as shore-bombardment vessels. However, Wisconsin was then over 60 years old and would have required extensive modernization to return to the fleet since most of her technology dated back to World War II, and the missile and electronic-warfare equipment added to the battleship during her 1988–89 modernization were considered obsolete. In addition, the cost of modernizing the battleships was estimated to be around $500 million for reactivation and $1.5 billion for a full modernization program.

  

On 17 March 2006, the Secretary of the Navy exercised his authority to strike Iowa and Wisconsin from the NVR, which cleared the way for both ships to be donated for use as museums; however, the U.S. Congress remained "deeply concerned" over the loss of naval surface-gunfire support that the battleships provided, and noted, "...navy efforts to improve upon, much less replace, this capability have been highly problematic."Partially as a consequence, Congress passed Pub.L. 109–163 (text) (PDF), the National Defense Authorization Act 2006, requiring that the battleships be kept and maintained in a state of readiness should they ever be needed again.[Congress had ordered that the following measures be implemented to ensure that Wisconsin could be returned to active duty if needed:

 

She must not be altered in any way that would impair her military utility.

The battleship must be preserved in her present condition through the continued use of cathodic protection, dehumidification systems, and any other preservation methods as needed.

Spare parts and unique equipment, such as the 16 in (406 mm) gun barrels and projectiles, must be preserved in adequate numbers to support Wisconsin, if reactivated.

The Navy must prepare plans for the rapid reactivation of Wisconsin should she be returned to the Navy in the event of a national emergency.

These conditions closely mirror the original three conditions that the Nation Defense Authorization Act of 1996 laid out for the maintenance of Wisconsin while she was in the mothball fleet.These conditions would be unlikely to impede a plan to turn Wisconsin into a permanent museum ship at her berth in Norfolk.

 

On 14 December 2009, the US Navy officially transferred Wisconsin to the city of Norfolk, ending the requirement for the ship to be preserved for possible recall to active duty. The US Navy had paid the city of Norfolk $2.8 million between 2000 and 2009 to maintain the ship.A formal ceremony transferring the ship to the city of Norfolk took place on 16 April 2010. Wisconsin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 March 2012.

 

Wisconsin earned five battle stars for her World War II service via the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal , and one for the Korean War Campaign Metal . The ship also received the Combat Action Ribbon and Navy Unit Commendation for actions in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She also received over a dozen more awards for World War II, the Korean War, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm including the World Two Victory Medal

featuring guitar, keyboard and ... Anna on the phone

THEME: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUAcDMHuC2E

 

Introducing my Self-MOC! This is actually the 12th version (12.4 to be exact) and a character reboot, though, and I have revamped the whole thing again since this version, too. I will post a picture showing some of the previous versions (I don't have pictures of pre-7th versions, except for the very first), just so you can get an idea of the evolution of the character.

 

---DESCRIPTION---

Nicknamed "Rahksha" due to her Makuta heritage, Nyctoria is somewhat of a Toa: the most accurate way to put it is, she's a protector...of sorts. She has a strong link with the Netherverse, enabling her to draw on its dark power to perform necromancy, as well as harvest souls and summon them as Netherwalkers (inhabitants of the Netherverse) with her scythe. She can also reanimate corpses to serve her by using seals on their Kanohi.

 

However, the power of the Netherverse always takes it toll, and the user's soul - and therefore body - will decay the more they use it. The only way to maintain oneself is to harvest the souls of others. Hence, Nyctoria hunts down villains to defeat and consume.

 

While Nyctoria does defend others from Makuta and other threats, she is not altrustic in her motives -- she will just as easily consume innocents if there is no other source available, and rarely helps others unless she perceives them or the target as useful in her quest for revenge against her "father", Teridax -- and by extension, her de facto creator, Mutran.

 

As an individual, Nyctoria is largely anti-social, apathetic and an on-off misanthrope - hardly surprising considering her origins. That being said, she is not without a sense of justice and empathy, although her concept of morality is nonexistent at worst and dubious at best.

 

---BIO---

NAME: Nyctoria

 

ALIASES: Rahksha, Daughter of Teridax, Destral's Shadowborne

 

SPECIES: Rahkshi/Toa (mutant; Kraata infused with energy from a Nui Stone)

 

GENDER: Female

 

KANOHI: N/A

 

ELEMENT: Shadow

 

WEAPON: Harvest Scythe - "Slayer's Slave"

 

Full of doubt bc he seems nonexistent

Purchased from Transdev Lancashire United, and still in their livery but with same-style branding applied for York route 36, Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown T128 OAH is passing by York Maze heading to the city centre - during the school summer holidays most 36 journeys have been extended further down Elvington Lane beyond the air museum in order to serve the maze, the bus turns around in a small service yard. Before York Pullman took over operating the 36, connections to the Maze by bus from York were poor at the best of times if not nonexistent on some days

The fierce Kingda Ka is simply the tallest, fastest roller coaster on Earth. This remarkable thrill ride breaks all world records for coaster speed and height, zooming from

0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds and catapulting you 45 stories into the sky.

 

Get propelled horizontally at 128 mph via hydraulic launch

Hang on tight as you shoot 90 degrees into a quarter-turn

Blast 456 feet high, then plunge vertically into a 270-degree spiral

Experience weightlessness as you swoop down a valley and up a 129-foot camel hump

Kingda Ka is a roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey, USA. At its opening on May 21, 2005, it became the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, claiming the title from Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. The train is launched by a hydraulic launch mechanism to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds.[1] At the end of the launch track, the train climbs the main top hat tower reaching a height of 456 feet (139.5 m).[2] Due to aviation safety concerns, the tower is equipped with three dual strobes: two mid-way up, and one on the top.

 

History

 

Kingda Ka was officially announced on September 29, 2004, at an event held for the media and enthusiasts.[3] It was revealed that the ride would become "the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth", reaching 456 feet (139 m) high and accelerating up to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds.[4]

 

On January 13, 2005, Kingda Ka was topped off at its 456-foot (139 m) height, finishing construction.[5] A crane over 500 feet (150 m) tall was used to hoist up the highest track piece for the ride. Just approximately four months later, Kingda Ka opened to the public, media day being two days before, on May 19.

 

Kingda Ka was originally supposed to open on Saturday, April 23, 2005, but on April 18, 2005, Six Flags announced that Kingda Ka's opening would be delayed; media day would have been on April 21. [6] Before Kingda Ka was built, Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster was the tallest and fastest roller coaster on the planet.

 

During a test run with no passengers on June 8, 2005, a bolt failure caused damage to the launch cable resulting in closure of the ride until August 2005, and the reconfiguration of the line area.

  

Major malfunctions

On June 6, 2005, less than a month after its grand opening, a bolt failure caused the liner inside the trough that the launch cable travels through to come loose and create friction against the cable. The friction caused the train to not accelerate to the correct speed. The rubbing of the cable against the inside of the metal trough caused sparks and shards of metal to fly out from the bottom of the train. The engine, as it is designed, attempted to compensate by applying more force to the cable to attain the 128 mph (206 km/h) launch speed.

The brake fins—metal fins attached to the underside of some roller coaster cars that slide between brakes mounted to the track[7]—rise up into the braking position on a timing pattern, independent of the launching mechanism. The fins are mounted in steel supports that are connected to actuators that raise and lower the fins into the desired position. There are four braking zones, and each zone has about 24 individual brake fins. The fins actually caught up to the launching train as the timing pattern of the rising fins was faster than the accelerating train. The magnetic brakes began to slow the train in the launch area, and the engine tried to compensate even more, and dragged the train through the brake zones. The catch car released, but the train was still in the brake zone and came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill.

 

This malfunction occurred when no passengers were aboard during a test run. No injuries or deaths occurred. Damage occurred to the launch cable (frayed and needed to be replaced), engine (minor routine damage to seals), and brake fins (many needed to be replaced). The brake fins in the launch section are mounted in such a way to keep fast moving trains from moving backwards into the station, but a fast moving train being pulled forwards caused an unexpected stress on a number of fins that bent them forward. Not all of the fins needed to be replaced, but there were more damaged brake fins than Six Flags had replacements, and extra brake fins had to be specially ordered from Intamin. In addition, Kingda Ka had to be re-inspected. Kingda Ka started testing on July 21, 2005. It reopened on August 4, 2005, with the line modified so that it no longer ran under the launch track.[8] The dark blue train was being launched when the malfunction occurred. It was used for the rest of the season, but major problems requiring replacement parts were discovered when the train was inspected during the off-season. Consequently, this train remained disassembled throughout the 2006 season.

  

Ride experience

After the train has been locked and checked, it slowly advances out of the station to the launch area. The train goes through a switch track which allows 4 trains on two tracks to load simultaneously. Once the train is in position, the hydraulic launch mechanism rockets the train from 0 to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds,[9] pulling about 1.67 g's. At the end of the launch track, the train climbs the main tower, or top hat, twisting 90 degrees to the right before reaching a height of 456 feet (139.5 m).[10] The train then descends 418 feet (127 m) straight down through a 270-degree spiral. Finally, the train climbs the second, 129 foot hill, producing a moment of weightlessness before being smoothly brought to a stop by the magnetic brakes. The train then makes a U-turn and enters the station. The ride lasts 28 seconds from the start of the launch to the end of the brake run, but has an "official" ride time of 50.6 seconds.

 

The hydraulic launch motor is capable of producing 20,800 horsepower (15.5 MW) peak. Due to the high speed and open nature of the trains, this ride will not operate in light rain, as rider contact with rain drops can cause discomfort.[8]

  

Rollbacks and launch

Sometimes, it is possible for a train to roll back—to fail to reach the top of the tower and descend. The train instead reaches as high on the tower as it can go (in most cases to the very top), and rolls back. Kingda Ka includes retractable brakes on its launch track that will bring a train rolling backwards down the tower to a stop. Rollbacks are more common in breezy weather, or just after wet weather. Many riders look forward to a rollback.

It is hard to know exactly when Kingda Ka's launch will occur. When the signal to launch is given, the train rolls back slightly to engage the catch car, then the brakes on the launch track retract. Most times there will be a voice that says "arms down, head back and hold on". The launch will occur five seconds after the "hiss" of the brakes retracting or the warning voice. Previously, Kingda Ka's horn sounded before every launch, but it has been turned off because of noise complaints from nearby residents. The horn now sounds only when Kingda Ka first launches after being idle for a certain period of time. Kingda Ka's launch mechanism is capable of launching a train every 45 seconds, resulting in a capacity of 1400 guests per hour.

  

Camera

Kingda Ka features two on-ride cameras. One is placed shortly after the beginning of the launch, the other is at the end of the brake run, resulting in "before" and "after" photographs. Since both cameras are located on the right side of the track, riders intending to purchase their on-ride photo are advised to sit in the right-hand seat.

 

Station

 

Kingda Ka's station has two parallel tracks with switch tracks at the entrance and exit. Each of the station's tracks accommodates two trains, so that each of the four trains has its own station. Each train only loads and unloads at its own station; it does not go to any others. During operation, the trains on one side are loaded while the trains on the other side are launched. This system works extremely efficiently as long as all four trains are running and there are no significant delays in loading and checking the trains. This system was not used at all in 2006 because only two trains were working that year. It also results in a very fast-moving line before the station, but a long wait inside the station, especially if waiting for the front row. An employee directs riders in line to go to a particular side of the station, but riders will then be able to choose the front or rear train. Two operators load, check and dispatch each train, and one launches the trains. Kingda Ka's music is by Safri Duo, "Adagio" is played in the queue and "Played-A-Live" and "Samba Adagio" are played in the station.

 

Trains

Kingda Ka's four trains are color coded for easy identification: green, dark blue, light blue (commonly called teal) and orange. These four colors are also used on the seats and restraints. Kingda Ka's trains seat 18 people, with two per row. The rear car has one row, while the rest have two. The rear row of each car is positioned higher than its front row for better visibility. The trains do not have official names, only numbers.

 

The dark blue train was being launched when 2005's major malfunction (see above) occurred, and problems stemming from this malfunction were discovered in the train's off-season rehab, putting this train out of service throughout the 2006 season. As a result, Kingda Ka only ran two trains for the whole year. The teal and green trains ran from the start of the season until late July, and the teal and orange trains ran for the rest of the season. Kingda Ka opened for the 2007 season with all four trains running.[11]

 

Each of Kingda Ka's trains has a panel behind the last row of seats that covers an extra row of seat mounts. These panels could be removed for the installation of additional seats at some future time. This modification would increase the capacity of each train to from 18 to 20 guests and the hourly capacity of the coaster from 1400 to 1600 guests per hour. Kingda Ka's station is already set up for this modification; it has the entrance gates for the currently nonexistent row of seats.

 

While this modification has not yet been done, the trains were slightly modified for the 2006 season - the nose of each train got a new coat of paint, after which the large "Kingda Ka" logo and the train number decals were not put back on the trains. The non-padded portions of the restraints are now bare metal rather than painted orange.

  

Seat restraints

Kingda Ka's over-the-shoulder restraint system consists of a thick, rigid lap bar and two thin, flexible over-the-shoulder restraints. Because the over-the-shoulder portions of the restraint are not rigid, the hand grips are mounted to the lap bar. This type of restraint feels like a lap bar restraint, while still providing the safety of a traditional over-the-shoulder restraint.

These restraints use a hydraulic locking system (rather than a ratchet) which allows them to be pulled down to any position; when "locked", they can move down to any position but not up. In contrast, a ratchet-based restraint only locks at each "notch", and will often be too loose or uncomfortably tight. Kingda Ka's restraints are also held down by a belt in case the main locking system fails. In order to speed up loading, riders are asked to secure their own restraints if they are able to. The minimum height restriction is 54 inches, the same as most other major coasters. In addition, it is actually possible for a rider to be too tall to ride Kingda Ka - if you are tall enough that your head is entirely above the seat, you would not be able to ride as the launch could give you whiplash.

  

Queue area

Kingda Ka's line starts well before the actual entrance arch. The line passes by an ice cream stand, then goes under the entrance arch. It then enters a long switchback area, where a DJ is sometimes present to entertain the guests in the line. After the switchback area, the line passes by the lockers and then into the station. At this point, an employee will direct guests to a particular side of the station. Each train's station has a separate line for the front row.

Before 2005's major malfunction, Kingda Ka's line area was much larger. It started at the main entrance arch, went under the launch track, traveled through two large switchback areas, and split into separate lines for each side of the station. Most of the entire line used to be set in the ride's infield. Due to the parts that came flying from the launch track during its first malfunction, the park (Six Flags Great Adventure) or state (New Jersey) perhaps both, felt it would be safer to have guests stay as far away from the track as possible at all times. The current main entrance to the station was previously the "flash pass" entrance.

  

Awards and records

Golden Ticket Awards: Best Steel Coaster

Year 2005 2006 2007

Ranking 31 28 31

      

These days winter is hard to find at home. It’s barely cold and snow is nonexistent. So, a suitable substitute must be found. Luckily nature provides some things that at least look alike.

Rail replacement is something that Robertson Buses readily take part in when vehicles are available, with buses travelling around the East Midlands to destinations such as Derby, Lincoln and Sheffield when the need arises. Since such instances tend to involve a range of operators anyway it’s easy to envisage RB joining them on this slightly more haphazard (and fun) form of contract. It’s a good excuse to have a bigger fleet of deckers and heavyweight singles than what the service routes really require, although as shown when I was explaining RB’s contracts and excursions, you can come up with some creative ways to keep bigger buses busy in a fictitious fleet… or I suppose you could run a lot of important services, but with the quality of IRL operators in Nottingham there really is no need. (Not that I can even assemble any replacement double deckers for the one intensive route RB do have…)

 

Since I touched on specific cases when talking about each route, plus other model/fictitious fleets, I might as well address how various real life operators are viewed in the universe in which Robertson Buses exists. Pretty much all major operators around Nottingham are reasonably as they are, with RB playing second fiddle to the likes of NCT and TrentBarton. A few Nottinghamshire County Council and CT4N routes encroach on what would otherwise be an RB service, so the services mentioned like the 510, 536 and 16 (Long Eaton town bus) would be nonexistent or amended but the operators themselves very much still there. I know some model fleets exist on the basis that XXXXX-operator doesn’t, but given how small RB is I’ve tried to work around what’s already there. Sometimes it happens where a Robertson Buses route pre-empts something similar that does occur later on in real life, like the Vectare Grantham-Bingham bus, or the launch of Econnect. For instances such as those, the RB route is deemed to be ‘already existing’ and (in the universe of RB) the new development either doesn’t happen or is a more minor change.

 

If anyone is interested in that kind of ‘major operator replacement’, I do have that Lincoln bus network revamp I was working on back in the summer, and ideas for a modern-day Road Car as if Robertson Buses (or a subsidiary of it) took over parts of Stagecoach East Midlands. Due to space, budget and time limitations I won’t be able to do it as a model fleet, but possibly as a CG drawn and OMSI one. Let me know if that’s the kind of thing that wants to be seen.

I am alive!

 

This is the MOC I took down to the Christchurch Brick Show in July. Yeah, July. The internet side of my lego life has been virtually (haha, pun not intended :P) nonexistent for ages now.

 

Some of you might remember the Lego graphic novel I was writing and video blogging about earlier this year, until about April. It and I disappeared from the face of the internet without notice. Sorry about that. My beautiful 1-year-old niece passed away very suddenly at the beginning of May, and the project was not a priority.

 

Anyhow, hopefully I'll get back to it at some point. It would be really good to actually get something out of it, because it did have a plot and concepts that I really liked. Right now I'm working on my exhibit for the Auckland Brick Show 2014, a part of a pirate/castleish collaboration. It should be pretty cool :)

 

Thanks for checking this out! :D

Port des Saint-Pères 03/06/2016 19h19

The harbor along the Quai Malaquais seems nonexistent at the moment of the high water level. In the distance the Pont du Carrousel.

 

2016 European Floods

In late May and early June 2016 flooding began after several days of heavy rain in Europe, mostly Germany and France, but also Austria, Belgium, Romania, and Moldova. Beginning at the river Neckar, also the Danube, Rhine, Seine and their tributaries were affected by high water and flooding along their banks. At least 16 people have died to date.

In France, the river Seine burst its banks and one town was evacuated. Two people died in the floods. An 86-year-old woman was found dead in Souppes-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne, after her house was flooded. A 74-year-old man on horseback died in Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, south of Paris while crossing a flooded field.

Some areas reported the worst flooding ever seen in a century. In the department of Loiret, six weeks worth of rain reportedly fell in three days. Drivers on a highway had to be rescued by soldiers.

 

In Paris, boat cruises were cancelled. The Louvre museum barred public admission on 2 June to 3 June to preemptively secure the artwork in case of flooding caused by the river Seine. Flooding in Paris was expected to peak at around 6.30m over normal, higher than 6.18m high seen in 1982, but below the 1955 flood level of 7.12m, and the 1910 Paris flood which saw levels at 8.62m over normal.

[ Source and more Information: Wikipedia - 2016 European Floods ]

 

Le vent soufflait depuis deux jours sans discontinuité. Entêtant. Glacial. La température frôlait les −10 °C, mais le ressenti était bien en dessous.

J'avais réussi à obtenir la météo malgré un réseau presque inexistant. Les prévisions concordaient : la nuit allait offrir un ciel parfaitement dégagé. La lune se couchait à 4 h 18 et la nuit était complète jusqu’à 4 h 43. Cela laissait un créneau de 25 minutes pour photographier la Voie lactée.

Pas vraiment l’heure à laquelle on a envie de sortir par ce froid. L’idée de quitter la chaleur du refuge ne m’enchantait guère, mais l’envie de faire une image était plus forte. J’avais déjà la composition en tête. Une grosse incertitude subsistait : allais-je réussir une pose de 15 secondes par ce vent ? Le risque de bouger était élevé.

Pour maximiser mes chances, j’ai protégé l’appareil en interposant mon corps aux bourrasques.

Une nuit trop courte et une onglée plus tard… Voilà la photo !

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The wind had been blowing non-stop for two days. Relentless. Bitterly cold. The temperature was hovering around −10°C, but it felt much colder.

 

I had managed to get the forecast despite an almost nonexistent signal. The predictions were consistent: the night would offer perfectly clear skies. The moon was setting at 4:18 a.m., and full darkness would last until 4:43 a.m., leaving a 25-minute window to photograph the Milky Way.

 

Not exactly the kind of hour you feel like heading out in that kind of cold. The idea of leaving the warmth of the refuge didn’t thrill me, but the urge to capture an image was stronger. I already had the composition in mind. One big uncertainty remained: would I manage a 15-second exposure in that wind? The risk of camera shake was high.

 

To maximize my chances, I shielded the camera by placing my body between it and the gusts.

 

One too-short night and a bout of frostbite later… here’s the shot!

Por favor, no use esta imagen en su web, blogs u otros medios sin mi permiso explícito. © Todos los derechos reservados.

© Alejandro Cárdaba Rubio/2013

 

La Punta de San Lorenzo, situada en la costa sur de Madeira, ofrece unas excepcionales vistas de la costa. La vegetación en esta punta es casi inexistente, debido a la cantidad de sol que recibe, al contrario de lo que sucede en la mayor parte de la isla. No hay más que una fina hierba y pitas. Además, ésta es una zona de mucho viento, hasta el punto de que se han instalado motores de viento. Cuidado con acercarse demasiado a los acantilados, carecen de barandilla. Pasearse por los senderos de la costa es muy agradable. Pero lleva puesto un buen calzado, ya que los caminos están llenos de piedras.

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The Punta de San Lorenzo, located on the south coast of Madeira, offers exceptional views of the coast. The vegetation in this tip is almost nonexistent, due to the amount of sunlight it receives, contrary to what happens in most of the island. There is only a thin grass and pitas. Moreover, this is a zone of high wind, to the extent that motors are installed wind. Beware of getting too close to the cliffs, no railing. Strolling along the paths of the coast is very nice. But wearing good shoes, because the roads are full of stones.

 

Más Información / More Information : www.easyviajar.com/portugal/la-punta-de-san-lorenzo-2140

It's been a couple of (long) years... With "stay home" orders, park closure and overcrowding, my visits to BPNP had been nonexistent. It was time to see if it still has a place in my heart ...

You ever see an old movie where a rolling window blind suddenly snaps open and startles everyone? That would be a good description of how spring has finally taken its rightful place here in Durham, North Carolina. The fresh green evident throughout this image was nonexistent a scant few days ago... it also makes obvious the overall condition of the Eno River, which is quite good. So much so that the loop parking area at the end of Cole Mill Road was nearly full. Everyone I met seemed to be taking full advantage of a beautiful day on the river.

 

While I am continuing photographing and documenting the wildflowers along the Eno River, the thought occurred to me that you may want to have a look at the river itself. This was taken just upstream from the old cabin across from the suspension bridge. The images in the links below were taken on the same day within minutes of this spot. Again, my point is not to just shoot pictures of flowers, but to find extraordinary compositions that express how such diversity indicates a healthy ecosystem.

This morning I was up with the sun and out for the best light of the day and I happened upon a pair of grebes on the lake. I didn't cross paths with them until around 8:00AM but I found them in one of the most ideal locations with lots of open water and some nice backdrops. With the winds being almost nonexistent and these little birds being very relaxed, I was able to get really close at just the right angle with the sun and just kind of park next to them. I only got one decent pic with the both of them in the frame but I'm totally stoked by what I ended up bringing home with me.

 

I realize that I've been really negligent of commenting to all of my contacts and for that I apologize. I've been packing as much fishing time into the last several weeks as possible since it won't be too much longer before the boat goes into dry-dock for the winter. I've also got a ton of backlog photos to post over the coming weeks but some have been sitting since May so who knows when I'll get around to it. I'll be back in commenting mode soon enough but, for the next couple of months I'll probably just post and run. Thanks for the comments and I'll do my best to visit your streams as soon as I can carve out some time for it.

 

This made Explore #341 on Thursday, September 22, 2011. Thanks everyone!

Though personalized art appeared during World War I, and occasionally grew to incorporate the entire aircraft, most pilots carried a saying or a slogan, or a family crest, or squadron symbol. Some were named, but nose art was not common. During World War II, nose art not only saw its true beginnings, but its heyday.

 

No one knows exactly who started nose art first--it appeared with both the British and the Germans around the first time, with RAF pilots painting Hitler being kicked or skulls and crossbones on their aircraft, while German nose art was usually a personal symbol, named for a girlfriend or adopting a mascot (such as Adolf Galland using Mickey Mouse, something Walt Disney likely didn't approve of). It would be with the Americans, and a lesser extent the Canadians, that nose art truly became common--and started including its most famous forms, which was usually half-naked or completely naked women. This was not always true, but it often was.

 

The quality of nose art depended on the squadron or wing artist. Some of it was rather crude, while others were equal to the finest pinup artists in the United States, such as Alberto Vargas. For men thousands of miles away from home and lonely, a curvaceous blonde on a B-17 or a P-51 made that loneliness a bit easier. Others thought naked women were a little crude, and just limited themselves to names, or depicted animals, cartoon characters, or patriotic emblems, or caricatures of the Axis dictators they were fighting.

 

Generally speaking, there was little censorship, with squadron and group commanders rarely intervening on names or pictures; the pilots themselves practiced self-censorship, with profanity almost unknown, and full-frontal nudity nearly nonexistent. After the loss of a B-17 named "Murder Inc.," which the Germans captured and used to make propaganda, the 8th Air Force, at least, set up a nose art committee that reviewed the nose art of aircraft--but even it rarely wielded its veto. For the most part, nose art was limited only by the crew's imagination and the artist's ability. The British tended to stay away from the lurid nudes of the Americans, though the Canadians adopted them as well. (The Axis also did not use nose art in this fashion, and neither did the Soviets, who usually confined themselves to patriotic slogans on their aircraft, such as "For Stalin!" or "In the Spirit of the Motherland!")

 

When World War II ended, so did nose art, for the most part. In the peacetime, postwar armed forces, the idea of having naked women were wives and children could see it was not something the postwar USAF or Navy wanted, and when it wasn't scrapped, it was painted over. A few units (especially those away from home and family) still allowed it, but it would take Korea to begin a renaissance of nose art.

 

"Flo" is B-25J Mitchell 44-28834, a former USAF TB-25N trainer aircraft and later water bomber; it was eventually acquired by Grand Forks AFB and placed on display at the base airpark in 1986. The original "Flo" was 43-27889, which flew with the 321st Bomb Group, based in Italy during World War II; the pilot, John O'Keefe, was later the head of the Grand Forks Volunteer Association. "Flo" looks to be loosely based on a Varga Girl, dressed in a flimsy nightgown. (This is an accurate reproduction of the original nose art--"Flo" didn't get more clothes for a modern audience!)

"Maldito el soldado que vuelva las armas de la República contra su pueblo."

 

Simón Bolívar

 

O como dicen ahora, ¡Ya está bueno ya!

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El periodista Fernando Rospigliosi de El Comercio de Lima dice lo que debe ser obvio a todos:

 

Aunque desde diversos ángulos se intenta disfrazar la dictadura establecida por Hugo Chávez en 1999, en realidad es eso, una dictadura. En primer lugar, concentra todos los poderes y los usa descaradamente contra sus adversarios. El Ejecutivo, el Parlamento, el Poder Judicial y en general todas las instituciones están directa y totalmente controladas por el chavismo, como muestra el arbitrario y escandaloso encarcelamiento de Leopoldo López, que además está impedido de participar en elecciones desde el 2008.

 

En segundo lugar, no existe alternancia en el poder, los líderes gobiernan hasta su muerte o hasta que son derrocados, como en todas las dictaduras personalistas. Hugo Chávez modificó la Constitución y se hizo reelegir varias veces. Y quizás hubiera cumplido su promesa de gobernar hasta el 2030 si no hubiera fallecido en marzo pasado. Nicolás Maduro se mantendrá en el poder hasta que sea depuesto por el pueblo.

 

En tercer lugar, la libertad de expresión ha sido restringida hasta casi desaparecer. Los canales de televisión están controlados por el gobierno, los diarios que no se han doblegado están siendo asfixiados, los periodistas independientes son perseguidos. Y en situaciones de crisis como la actual el gobierno simplemente censura las emisiones, como ocurrió con el canal de cable NTN24, al que sacaron del aire.

 

En cuarto lugar, las Fuerzas Armadas y la Guardia Nacional están politizadas, tremendamente corrompidas y controladas por el chavismo. Adicionalmente, están los “colectivos chavistas”, matones paramilitares que atacan violentamente a los opositores. Y también la “milicia bolivariana”, que depende directamente del presidente de la República.

 

El servicio de inteligencia, Sebin, ha sido el responsable directo de varios de los asesinatos de manifestantes en los últimos días, a tal punto que Maduro tuvo que cambiar al director que apenas llevaba un mes en el puesto. El nuevo director es un general que ha sido el jefe de la milicia bolivariana.

 

Es decir, en Venezuela no existe ninguna de las cualidades que hacen que una democracia sea tal: división de poderes, balances y contrapesos; alternancia regular en el poder a través de elecciones libres y competitivas; libertad de prensa que permita fiscalizar al poder; institutos militares no politizados.

 

En suma, para todo efecto práctico, en Venezuela existe una dictadura. El hecho de que se realicen elecciones amañadas que siempre gana el oficialismo –salvo algunos gobiernos locales– no la convierte en una democracia. Muchos parecen haber olvidado que las dictaduras personalistas que proliferaron en América Latina los primeros 60 años del siglo XX realizaban puntualmente elecciones que indefectiblemente ganaban los dictadores, militares o civiles.

 

elcomercio.pe/opinion/columnistas/izquierdas-y-venezuela-...

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En su editorial de hoy, El Comercio de Lima nos advierte que:

 

Sea como fuere, el régimen chavista, que ya no posee los recursos para seguir comprando el nivel de apoyo que en otros tiempos tenían sus tropelías, está intentando encerrar las voces de Venezuela como en una caja hermética. Algo similar, esto es, al estado en que viven los cubanos desde hace décadas. Tendría que ser el deber de quienes en la región creemos en la democracia hacer todo lo que esté en nuestras manos para que las voces de la oposición se oigan, antes de que la caja logre cerrarse sobre ellas.

 

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The eloquence gets lost in translation, but the gist is that the soldier who takes up arms against his people is damned. Today, the Venezuelan opponents of the government are just saying "Enough is enough!"

 

What's it like in Venezuela now? There are so many issues and so many back stories that it's hard to put together a list that doesn't go on for pages. So here are two conditions that stand out from the rest:

 

> The independence of the judiciary has been severely compromised, to the point where it's nonexistent in high-stakes situations. If that had happened here, we never would have gotten rid of Nixon because no court would have ordered him to turn over the tapes that were his undoing.

 

So if we had Venezuela's judicial system, it's unlikely any court would overturn laws enacted by the ruling party and the president. For example, no court would gutted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and it's unlikely the courts would be overturning state laws that impede the recognition of same-sex marriage.

 

> The regime prevents the press and TV from disseminating information about events, issues or people the president and those acting in his name don't want the public to know about.

 

If it were like that in the US, our campaigns would look very different. You would see very little of the opposition in the papers or on TV. You'd probably have to be present at an opposition campaign event to and witness it in person to find out what happened. PACs (assuming they still existed) would not be able to but air time for opposition issues. In contrast, the ruling party and the incumbent president would barrage the press and airwaves with campaign-related information and events.

 

And we would never have read about the Occupy Wall Street movement or the nationwide anti-war rallies that took place before Bush II began bombing Baghdad. But I can guarantee the president would have been on TV calling them "fascists" and "coup-plotters."

 

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Here's the only good article about the current situation in Venezuela that I've come across lately:

 

feministing.com/2014/02/20/toward-a-nuanced-feminist-disc...

I was visiting with Jeanette, a classmate of mine, on campus when he approached, trailing his rollerboard suitcase, and asked for directions to a city information bureau. He had a British accent and friendly manner. He had just gotten off the bus from Buffalo and had walked a couple of blocks to where we met. He is visiting Toronto from Coventry England. Jeanette was just on her way to meet a friend so I told him I would give him directions. He seemed an interesting fellow so we stood on the street chatting for a few minutes. He was surprised (and pleased) that I knew of Coventry because, as he said, many people draw a blank when he mentions it. It is famous for its cathedral, among other things. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry) We shook hands. Meet John from Coventry.

 

John is 84 and is retired from a career in the plastics manufacturing industry. “Do you know of bakelite?” he asked. “Yes, I do.” “Well my career didn’t have anything to do with bakelite” he said with a wry smile, but with other forms of plastic. “Were you a chemical engineer?” I asked, trying to get a handle on his expertise. “Well, you’re glorifying me just a bit” he said. Call it a “production manager.”

 

John has arrived in Toronto to spend the final week of his holiday getting to know this part of Canada. He started out in New York before going to Buffalo prior to his arrival in Toronto. He had the name and address of a hostel to stay at but wanted to get to the visitor’s bureau for maps and other suggestions for his week in the city. I told him there is an office nearby and said I would walk him over but first I wanted to invite him to join my Human Family photography project. “Sure” he said. “I’d be glad to.” I asked him if he’s ever heard of Humans of New York. “Can’t say that I have” he replied. “Good” I continued, because this isn’t quite the same.” We laughed as I got even with him for his use of bakelite as an example of what he had not worked with. John had that friendly, dry wit which we often associate with the British.

 

As we moved out of the direct afternoon sunlight to a rather grungy nearby loading dock which offered diffuse light, John said he had been interested in photography in past years. “Have you ever worked with wet plates?” Wow. I feel that my past experience with developing 35mm black and white film sets me apart from most people I know and here’s a guy who has worked with wet plates! Photos taken, we continued to chat and he was a fascinating man. “What has been your biggest surprise so far on this trip?” I asked. “I had no idea that Buffalo had a load of Frank Lloyd Wright homes so that was a fantastic treat. I had architecture student flatmates when I was in school and some of it rubbed off on me. I really appreciate architecture.” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright) I asked if he’d seen Niagara Falls and he said “Oh yes. I couldn’t be that close to the Falls without taking the boat tour and getting myself soaked in the spray!” I asked if he traveled a lot and he said “There were a number of years when I was unable to travel, so now I’m trying to make up for it.” What a guy.

 

When I asked about the greatest challenge he’s faced in life he said “I can’t really give you an answer to that one so I’ll just take a pass.” “How about a message to share through my project?” “Well” he said, “don’t give people advice because given a bit of encouragement they can usually figure things out for themselves using their own resources.” A most interesting message. “What did you like most about your career in the plastics manufacturing industry?” “I’d say the greatest satisfaction was in getting people to do what they really didn’t want to do” he said. “Oh, so you’re a very persuasive guy?” “No, you don’t get it” he said. “You don’t persuade; you encourage them to come up with the idea themselves and volunteer to do it!” I couldn’t help laughing. What an interesting and clever fellow.

 

I asked if he had an email address to send his photo to and he said “I’m afraid not. My cyber footprint is nonexistent but thank you anyway.”

 

I walked John over to the travel bureau, only to discover it had been moved to Union Station about a mile away. “That’s fine” John said. “Just point me in the right direction and I’ll be fine. My suitcase just follows along quietly on its wheels.” I walked him to Yonge Street and pointed him south. It was time for me to head for home and for John to find his map and accommodations for the night. I hope I’ve got half that much spirit of adventure when I reach 84.

 

Thank you John for the friendly chat and for taking part in the Human Family project. Enjoy your stay in Toronto and safe travels back to Coventry.

 

This is my 78th submission to The Human Family on Flickr.

 

You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.

Nightmares in which you cease to exist and are left behind in the deep, numbing cold....

New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) R32 car 3694, marked for the nonexistent X route, is the lead unit on a southbound refuse train, seen crossing onto the seldom used express track on the Culver Line. This train operates daily from Coney Island Yard to Jamaica, collecting garbage bins from stations along the way. The equipment used varies, on this day being an uncommon arrangement of R32s on the front and an R127 refuse motor on the rear.

 

R32 (X) (Budd, 1964-1965)

4th Ave-9th St Station

Culver Line - IND

Hiroshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (Hiroden): the city of Hiroshima has the largest tram network in Japan, with 35.1 km of standard gauge tracks, electrified at 600 V DC. This network can be divided into two parts: the urban one, with 19.0 km o tracks, and the suburban light rail line of Miyajima (16.1 km). The rolling stock consists of almost 300 vehicles and, unlike most Japanese tram networks, there are a large number of long articulated trams.

 

Public transportation in Japan is extraordinary. The impressive professionalism of its workers is fundamental to its operation.

 

And I want to reflect on this. During my trip, I observed that all public transportation systems have a large number of employees. A huge number! This is a fundamental difference compared to European services, where the presence of staff at stations, on trains, and on trams is increasingly smaller, or even nonexistent. It's true that the sheer volume of Japanese transportation can only function with such efficiency thanks to the large number of employees. But it's equally true that the staff reductions we experience in the West only create more problems.

 

Here we see a worker who wouldn't exist in Europe. This is the guard who protects the entrance and exit of the trams at the Hiroden-honsha-mae depot, as they have to cross the sidewalk. A job that wouldn't exist in our unfortunate ultra-liberal culture.

Stivan, a small settlement on Adriatic Sea island Cres in Kvarner bay, is an almost abandoned place. Incredibly stony ground, almost nonexistent arable soil, not close enough to the sea shore to be of interest for tourists, offers little to survive. Some old fig trees and olive trees and sheep, this is all one can rely on. But it is situated in a great landscape, in an open, rather flat (as the whole south part of the island) Mediterranean landscape, harsh, wind-swept and sunny, with mild spring and autumn climate and hot summers. Yet, 200 years ago men was capable not only to survive here but also to live full lives and to build large stony farmhouses like this one on my pictures. Now it is a ruin worth nothing, defeated by time and overtaken by Wulfen's Spurge (Euphorbia wulfeni).

Vitis (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce wine. The study and cultivation of grapevines is called viticulture.

 

Most cultivated Vitis varieties are wind-pollinated with hermaphroditic flowers containing both male and female reproductive structures, while wild species are dioecious. These flowers are grouped in bunches called inflorescences. In many species, such as Vitis vinifera, each successfully pollinated flower becomes a grape berry with the inflorescence turning into a cluster of grapes. While the flowers of the grapevines are usually very small, the berries are often large and brightly colored with sweet flavors that attract birds and other animals to disperse the seeds contained within the berries.

 

Grapevines usually only produce fruit on shoots that came from buds that were developed during the previous growing season. In viticulture, this is one of the principles behind pruning the previous year's growth (or "One year old wood") that includes shoots that have turned hard and woody during the winter (after harvest in commercial viticulture). These vines will be pruned either into a cane which will support 8 to 15 buds or to a smaller spur which holds 2 to 3 buds.

 

Description

Flower buds are formed late in the growing season and overwinter for blooming in spring of the next year. They produce leaf-opposed cymes. Vitis is distinguished from other genera of Vitaceae by having petals which remain joined at the tip and detach from the base to fall together as a calyptra or 'cap'. The flowers are mostly bisexual, pentamerous, with a hypogynous disk. The calyx is greatly reduced or nonexistent in most species and the petals are joined together at the tip into one unit but separated at the base. The fruit is a berry, ovoid in shape and juicy, with a two-celled ovary each containing two ovules, thus normally producing four seeds per flower (or fewer by way of aborted embryos).

 

Other parts of the vine include the tendrils which are leaf-opposed, branched in Vitis vinifera, and are used to support the climbing plant by twining onto surrounding structures such as branches or the trellising of a vine-training system.

 

In the wild, all species of Vitis are normally dioecious, but under domestication, variants with perfect flowers appear to have been selected.

 

The genus Vitis is divided into two subgenera, Euvitis Planch. have 38 chromosomes (n=19) with berries borne on clusters and Muscadinia Planch. 40 (n=20) with small clusters.

 

Wild grapes can resemble the single-seeded Menispermum canadense (moonseed), which is toxic.

 

Species

Most Vitis species are found mostly in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in North America and eastern Asia, exceptions being a few in the tropics and the wine grape Vitis vinifera which originated in southern Europe and southwestern Asia. Grape species occur in widely different geographical areas and show a great diversity of form.

 

Their growth makes leaf collection challenging and polymorphic leaves make identification of species difficult. Mature grapevines can grow up to 48 centimetres (19 inches) in diameter at breast height and reach the upper canopy of trees more than 35 metres (115 feet) in height.

 

Many species are sufficiently closely related to allow easy interbreeding and the resultant interspecific hybrids are invariably fertile and vigorous. Thus the concept of a species is less well defined and more likely represents the identification of different ecotypes of Vitis that have evolved in distinct geographical and environmental circumstances.

 

The exact number of species is not certain. Plants of the World Online states 81 species are accepted, but lists 84. More than 65 species in Asia are poorly defined. Approximately 25 species are known in North America and just one, V. vinifera has Eurasian origins; some of the more notable include:

 

Vitis aestivalis, the summer grape, native to the Eastern United States, especially the Southeastern United States

Vitis amurensis, native to the Asian continent, including parts of Siberia and China

Vitis arizonica, The Arizona grape is native to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico.

Vitis berlandieri, native to the southern North America, primarily Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas. Primarily known for good tolerance against soils with a high content of lime, which can cause chlorosis in many vines of American origin

Vitis californica, the California wild grape, or Northern California grape, or Pacific grape, is a wild grape species widespread across much of California as well as southwestern Oregon

Vitis coignetiae, the crimson glory vine, a species from East Asia grown as an ornamental plant for its crimson autumn foliage

Vitis labrusca L., the fox grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the Eastern United States and Canada. The Concord grape was derived by a cross with this species

Vitis riparia, the riverbank grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern United States and north to Quebec

Vitis rotundifolia (syn. Muscadinia rotundifolia), the muscadine, used for jams and wine. Native to the Southeastern United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico

Vitis rupestris, the rock grapevine, used for breeding of Phylloxera resistant rootstock. Native to the Southern United States

Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine. Native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

Vitis vulpina, the frost grape, native to the Eastern United States, from Massachusetts to Florida, and west to Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas Treated by some as a synonym of V. riparia.

 

Plants of the World Online also includes:

Vitis acerifolia Raf.

Vitis amoena Z.H. Chen, Feng Chen & WW.Y. Xie

Vitis baihuashanensis M.S.Kang & D.Z.Lu

Vitis balansana Planch.

Vitis bashanica P.C.He

Vitis bellula (Rehder) W.T.Wang

Vitis betulifolia Diels & Gilg

Vitis biformis Rose

Vitis blancoi Munson

Vitis bloodworthiana Comeaux

Vitis bourgaeana Planch.

Vitis bryoniifolia Bunge

Vitis × champinii Planch.

Vitis chunganensis Hu

Vitis chungii F.P.Metcalf

Vitis cinerea (Engelm.) Millardet

Vitis davidi (Rom.Caill.) Foëx

Vitis × doaniana Munson ex Viala

Vitis erythrophylla W.T.Wang

Vitis fengqinensis C.L.Li

Vitis ficifolia Bunge

Vitis flavicosta Mickel & Beitel

Vitis flexuosa Thunb.

Vitis girdiana Munson

Vitis hancockii Hance

Vitis heyneana Schult.

Vitis hissarica Vassilcz.

Vitis hui W.C.Cheng

Vitis jaegeriana Comeaux

Vitis jinggangensis W.T.Wang

Vitis jinzhainensis X.S.Shen

Vitis kaihuaica Z.H.Chen, Feng Chen & W.Y Xie

Vitis kiusiana Momiy.

Vitis lanceolatifoliosa C.L.Li

Vitis longquanensis P.L.Chiu

Vitis luochengensis W.T.Wang

Vitis menghaiensis C.L.Li

Vitis mengziensis C.L.Li

Vitis metziana Miq.

Vitis monticola Buckley

Vitis mustangensis Buckley

Vitis nesbittiana Comeaux

Vitis × novae-angliae Fernald

Vitis novogranatensis Moldenke

Vitis nuristanica Vassilcz.

Vitis palmata Vahl

Vitis pedicellata M.A.Lawson

Vitis peninsularis M.E.Jones

Vitis piasezkii Maxim.

Vitis pilosonervia F.P.Metcalf

Vitis popenoei J.L.Fennell

Vitis pseudoreticulata W.T.Wang

Vitis quinlingensis P.C.He

Vitis retordii Rom.Caill. ex Planch.

Vitis romanetii Rom.Caill.

Vitis ruyuanensis C.L.Li

Vitis saccharifera Makino

Vitis shenxiensis C.L.Li

Vitis shizishanensis Z.Y.Ma, J.Wen, Q.Fu & X.Q.Liu

Vitis shuttleworthii House

Vitis silvestrii Pamp.

Vitis sinocinerea W.T.Wang

Vitis sinoternata W.T.Wang

Vitis tiliifolia Humb. & Bonpl. ex Schult.

Vitis tsoi Merr.

Vitis wenchowensis C.Ling

Vitis wenxianensis W.T.Wang

Vitis wilsoniae H.J.Veitch

Vitis wuhanensis C.L.Li

Vitis xunyangensis P.C.He

Vitis yunnanensis C.L.Li

Vitis zhejiang-adstricta P.L.Chiu

There are many cultivars of grapevines; most are cultivars of V. vinifera. One of them includes, Vitis 'Ornamental Grape'.

 

Hybrid grapes also exist, and these are primarily crosses between V. vinifera and one or more of V. labrusca, V. riparia or V. aestivalis. Hybrids tend to be less susceptible to frost and disease (notably phylloxera), but wine from some hybrids may have a little of the characteristic "foxy" taste of V. labrusca.

 

The Latin word Vitis is feminine,[19] and therefore adjectival species names take feminine forms, such as V. vinifera.

 

Ecology

Phylloxera is an American root aphid that devastated V. vinifera vineyards in Europe when accidentally introduced in the late 19th century. Attempts were made to breed in resistance from American species, but many winemakers and customers did not like the unusual flavour profile of the hybrid vines. However, V. vinifera grafts readily onto rootstocks of the American species and their hybrids with V. vinifera, and most commercial production of grapes now relies on such grafts.

 

Commercial distribution

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world is dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be used as a sweetener for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.

 

Domestic cultivation

Grapevines are widely cultivated by gardeners, and numerous suppliers cater specifically for this trade. The plants are valued for their decorative foliage, often colouring brightly in autumn; their ability to clothe walls, pergolas and arches, thus providing shade; and their fruits, which may be eaten as dessert or provide the basis for homemade wines. Popular varieties include:-

 

Buckland Sweetwater' (white dessert)

'Chardonnay' (white wine)

'Foster's Seedling' (white dessert)

'Grenache' (red wine)

'Muscat of Alexandria' (white dessert)

'Müller-Thurgau' (white wine)

'Phoenix' (white wine)

'Pinot noir' (red wine)

'Regent' (red wine)

'Schiava Grossa' (red dessert)

'Seyval blanc' (white wine)

'Tempranillo' (red wine)

 

The following varieties have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

'Boskoop Glory' (dessert/wine)

'Brant' (black dessert)

'Claret Cloak' or 'Frovit' (ornamental)

'New York Muscat' (black dessert)

'Purpurea' (ornamental)

 

Uses

The fruit of several Vitis species are grown commercially for consumption as fresh grapes and for fermentation into wine. Vitis vinifera is the most important such species.

 

The leaves of several species of grapevine are edible and are used in the production of dolmades and Vietnamese lot leaves.

 

Culture

The grapevine (typically Vitis vinifera) has been used as a symbol since ancient times. In Greek mythology, Dionysus (called Bacchus by the Romans) was god of the vintage and, therefore, a grapevine with bunches of the fruit are among his attributes. His attendants at the Bacchanalian festivals hence had the vine as an attribute, together with the thyrsus, the latter often entwined with vine branches. For the same reason, the Greek wine cup (cantharos) is commonly decorated with the vine and grapes, wine being drunk as a libation to the god.

 

The grapevine has a profound symbolic meaning in Jewish tradition and culture since antiquity. It is referenced 55 times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), along with grapes and wine, which are also frequently mentioned (55 and 19, respectively). It is regarded as one of the Seven Species, and is employed several times in the Bible as a symbol of the Israelites as the chosen people. The grapevine has a prominent place in Jewish rituals: the wine was given a special blessing, "creator of the fruit of the vine", and the Kiddush blessing is recited over wine or grape juice on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. It is also employed in various parables and sayings in rabbinic literature. According to Josephus and the Mishnah, a golden vine was hung over the inner chamber of the Second Temple. The grapevine is featured on Hasmonean and Bar Kokhba revolt coinage, and as a decoration in mosaic floors of ancient synagogues.

 

In Christian iconography, the vine also frequently appears. It is mentioned several times in the New Testament. We have the parable of the kingdom of heaven likened to the father starting to engage laborers for his vineyard. The vine is used as symbol of Jesus Christ based on his own statement, "I am the true vine (John 15:1)." In that sense, a vine is placed as sole symbol on the tomb of Constantia, the sister of Constantine the Great, and elsewhere. In Byzantine art, the vine and grapes figure in early mosaics, and on the throne of Maximianus of Ravenna it is used as a decoration.

 

The vine and wheat ear have been frequently used as symbol of the blood and flesh of Christ, hence figuring as symbols (bread and wine) of the Eucharist and are found depicted on ostensories. Often the symbolic vine laden with grapes is found in ecclesiastical decorations with animals biting at the grapes. At times, the vine is used as symbol of temporal blessing.

 

In Mandaeism, uthras (angels or celestial beings) are often described as personified grapevines (gupna).

Blue gold sky

Your fire is burning

Horizon questions why

Your evening is yearning

For a day that is soon gone

Into oblivion abyss

To carry the night on

In dreamy nocturnal kiss

 

All the blue gold is bound

Into your drifting clouds

Sunset of silver found

Among the streets and crowds

Love song of dusky distant

Where weaving dreams go

In to the nonexistent

Of ocean’s nightly glow

 

Blue gold sky

Yesterday is in your sight

When you come in sweet lullaby

In the falling off the eve light

Chariot of fire gold

Blue silver moon beyond

Nothing your dreams can hold

You are to stars whishes bond

 

Peter S. Quinn

 

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Operation “Salt City" resulted in the arrest of 248 individuals from May through September 2015. Of those arrested, 124 were active gang members. During the operation 22 firearms, more than $237,000 in U.S. currency, 70 grams of heroin, 266 grams of cocaine, and 723 grams of marijuana with a total estimated street value of almost $44,000 was taken off Syracuse streets by participating agencies.

Operation Salt City is part of the U.S. Marshals nation-wide “Triple Beam” gang reduction initiative. Triple Beam partners federal, state, and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and take dangerous offenders off the streets. The goal of the U.S. Marshals Gang Enforcement Program is to seek out and disrupt illegal gang activity in areas of the country with smaller or nonexistent gang enforcement units by providing manpower, funding and the Marshals’ renowned fugitive tracking abilities.

 

Photo by Shane T. McCoy / US Marshals

Though personalized art appeared during World War I, and occasionally grew to incorporate the entire aircraft, most pilots carried a saying or a slogan, or a family crest, or squadron symbol. Some were named, but nose art was not common. During World War II, nose art not only saw its true beginnings, but its heyday.

 

No one knows exactly who started nose art first--it appeared with both the British and the Germans around the first time, with RAF pilots painting Hitler being kicked or skulls and crossbones on their aircraft, while German nose art was usually a personal symbol, named for a girlfriend or adopting a mascot (such as Adolf Galland using Mickey Mouse, something Walt Disney likely didn't approve of). It would be with the Americans, and a lesser extent the Canadians, that nose art truly became common--and started including its most famous forms, which was usually half-naked or completely naked women. This was not always true, but it often was.

 

The quality of nose art depended on the squadron or wing artist. Some of it was rather crude, while others were equal to the finest pinup artists in the United States, such as Alberto Vargas. For men thousands of miles away from home and lonely, a curvaceous blonde on a B-17 or a P-51 made that loneliness a bit easier. Others thought naked women were a little crude, and just limited themselves to names, or depicted animals, cartoon characters, or patriotic emblems, or caricatures of the Axis dictators they were fighting.

 

Generally speaking, there was little censorship, with squadron and group commanders rarely intervening on names or pictures; the pilots themselves practiced self-censorship, with profanity almost unknown, and full-frontal nudity nearly nonexistent. After the loss of a B-17 named "Murder Inc.," which the Germans captured and used to make propaganda, the 8th Air Force, at least, set up a nose art committee that reviewed the nose art of aircraft--but even it rarely wielded its veto. For the most part, nose art was limited only by the crew's imagination and the artist's ability. The British tended to stay away from the lurid nudes of the Americans, though the Canadians adopted them as well. (The Axis also did not use nose art in this fashion, and neither did the Soviets, who usually confined themselves to patriotic slogans on their aircraft, such as "For Stalin!" or "In the Spirit of the Motherland!")

 

When World War II ended, so did nose art, for the most part. In the peacetime, postwar armed forces, the idea of having naked women were wives and children could see it was not something the postwar USAF or Navy wanted, and when it wasn't scrapped, it was painted over. A few units (especially those away from home and family) still allowed it, but it would take Korea to begin a renaissance of nose art.

 

Depicted with the yellow nose and red tail of the 34th Bomb Group, based at RAF Mendlesham, UK, B-17G 44-85778 "Miss Angela" is a former USAF TB-17G trainer, VB-17G executive transport, and firebomber. It was restored back as a wartime B-17G in 1991, and joined the Palm Springs Air Museum's collection in 1997. Initially, the aircraft carried a Varga Girl pinup with no name attached, but in 2004, it was repainted with a custom pinup done with an airbrush. "Miss Angela" might be a bit overdressed for a World War II-era B-17 nose art girl, but it's beautiful all the same.

 

How shiny is the bare metal finish on "Miss Angela"? You can see my reflection just in front of the girl's face.

 

EDIT (2022): Almost 25,000 views in a little over a year? Wow! Thank you all!

 

EDIT (2023): 52,330 views? Whoa. Thanks so much!

Peter, a retired Navy helicopter pilot takes Bill, a retired Navy F-14 Tomcat RIO up for a flight in the T-6 Texan. Bill is head down, perhaps looking for a nonexistent Tactical Information Display.

 

To view a hi-res version and for more information visit my website:National Capitol Squadron Meetings

9x19mm compact machine pistol.

 

A diminutive and cheap machine pistol designed by Archwell, and is based off of the vaunted HK VP70M.

 

Small enough to conceal behind a jacket, it is an ideal weapon for covert operations or personal defense. And with a monstrous 900 RPM fire rate emptying a 19 round magazine, it surely doesn't lack in firepower as well. Unfortunately, due to the small frame, control is all but nonexistent.

 

Commonly used by government bodyguards and covert operatives around the world, sales have skyrocketed since its introduction in 2041. In fact, it has surpassed the AMP-18/A1 in terms of export sales.

Behance

nonexistent in New Jersey and that is DELICIOUSNESS ! So now for the benefit of those with taste buds I introduce Edge Blondies! The Ultimate Homemade Blondies, Speared with Chocolate Chips and Pecans and baked into the shape of a Star! (some are decorated with black and red icing to resemble The Rated-R Superstar's tattoos). The Ultimate Dessert for the Ultimate Edgehead!

I took a drive out to Sherod Park, on the shore of Lake Erie in Vermillion, Ohio. I was hoping to capture the sunset on the beach. However, Mother Nature decided it was a better idea, to be cloudy and rain. So, I decided to make the best of it. I started adjusting the shutter speed, and wasn't too happy with the results. I don't like that the background is virtually nonexistent. This was one of the only images, i liked enough to share. I'll forever be my own worst critic. I know what I need to work on, and will focus on that, more and more, in the coming months.

The last of the FED cameras (model 5C) which were made in Ukraine in the late 80's, when even Soviet citizens no longer wanted such old fashioned cameras...

Nevertheless these were fairly good rangefinder cameras when not defective (quality control was almost nonexistent in Soviet factories in those days, because quantity with the quota system was the order of the day).

And today these Ukrainian and Russian rangefinder cameras are very much appreciated by those of us in the West who are looking for classic rangefinder cameras at reasonable prices (Leica prices having gone through the roof) in order to do traditional street photography such as used to be done by the great photographers of the 20th century like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Robert Doisneau, Josef Koudelka, and many others,

 

The 39mm Leica screw-mount on these rangefinder cameras of the former Soviet Union permits us to use a wide variety of lenses made not only by the Soviets themselves (Industar and Jupiter lenses) but also those made by Leitz since 1930, and by Canon in Japan since about 1935, as well as others in Japan like Nikon and Topcon who made lenses for Leicas and Leica copies after 1945. And in recent decades, the excellent lenses made in Japan by Cosina under the Voigtlander label (which they purchased from the Germans).