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A modern computer hovers between the obsolescent and the nonexistent
Sidney Brenner
I found this broken down truck buried in the show near the entrance to
Joshin-Etsu Kogen National Park, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Why it Works: The diagonal border of the snow on the truck divides the frame in two. Then there’s the rust signifying the battle between things manmade and nature. Reference number: JA_110219_1252
Minutes after leaving Wolfville, heading east towards Halifax on the Evangeline Trail, I spotted the skeleton of a completely demolished house. It sat dejectedly amongst its own innards which lay strewn about the yard. A quick U-turn in the middle of the empty Thursday afternoon highway brought me back to the rutted, overgrown road which led to the house. Without a fence, "no trespassing" sign, or person in sight I approached the house, carefully avoiding the minefield of bared, rusted nails jutting out of the shingles and boards about the yard. The house, beaten and broken, appeared to be giving itself up to the land, an offering readily accepted by the weeds and wildflowers that had already gently consumed a window frame or two as well as the foundations. Initially I enjoyed the starkness of the remaining stairs which lead up to the nonexistent second floor, yet upon a full circulation of the house I came across the bathroom. This remarkably preserved room was situated snugly under the stairs facing a vast stretch of land that was marked only by a perfectly red house in the distance. The raw, impersonal beauty of the house's skeleton was suddenly ripped away for me as I now saw the broken interior with its hauntingly personal touches. The bathroom, the last remaining sign of the house's original gentle nature, was now exposed since the wall had been ruthlessly torn down. The identifiable appliances so brutally smashed were startlingly provoking and the peeling pink paint seemed to be a subtle surrender. Most notably disheartening was the tiny heart-shaped wreath hanging from the wall. It had pink roses attached which happily matched the shower tiles and the pink paint. This heart, a final testament of the house's domestication, now open to the elements, was now a bared symbol of resignation.
2013-JUN-04; Mark Bauer had an op-ed article published in the Star Telegram: Stories about redemption are both memorable and educational. The authors of the Bible knew this long ago. King David had his top general Uriah killed so he could marry Uriah?s wife. Jacob stole his brother?s inheritance. The Apostle Peter publicly denied knowing Jesus three times to save his own life..
The Bible is more than 2,000 years old, and it has been painstakingly studied and debated for generations. The rabbis, monks, popes, copyists and typesetters had plenty of opportunities to clean up these narratives and remove these bothersome storylines..
But they didn?t clean it up, and we are fortunate to have the full narrative because King David went on to lead Israel into its Golden Era; Jacob and Esau reconciled; and Peter went on to shepherd the early Christian church..
Those are great stories. And what better learning method is there than to hear about good people or a great nation making bad choices then picking themselves up to go on to do great things?.
But Texas legislators? actions that essentially brought an end to the public school curriculum called CSCOPE make it look like they don?t want real history taught..
CSCOPE is an educational curriculum plan created by the non-profit Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative. CSCOPE was created in Texas by Texas educators for our Texas schools..
It is optional, and not all school districts use it. Seventy percent of Texas? 1,265 districts, plus some charter schools, have been using CSCOPE, though Crowley is the only large district in Tarrant County..
But many school systems, especially smaller districts (including Castleberry, Cleburne, Lake Worth and White Settlement, plus Weatherford), chose to use CSCOPE because it had good lesson plans that tracked the state?s standardized tests and curriculum standards..
It allowed our teachers to teach without worrying if they were also covering the mandated material..
But then politicians got involved. Some of them found out that CSCOPE covered real history, warts and all. Among the topics that drew complaints: the Boston Tea Party was a morally legitimate but illegal act..
Another example often mentioned by critics: Students were asked to design a flag for a socialist country. Apparently learning about socialist countries was too much..
What?s next? Many of our history textbooks also cover difficult topics about America, including slavery in North America, the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the invasion of Iraq for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction..
James W. Loewen?s book Lies My Teacher Told Me details how our textbooks are dumbed down to avoid arguments of exactly this type. Publishers want to sell books ? not create the best history books possible and face the controversy that goes with it..
Loewen points out that few textbooks today will mention that Christopher Columbus initiated slavery in the Americas; our first six presidents owned slaves; and liberal President Woodrow Wilson sent troops into Russia, Mexico and the Caribbean without congressional authority..
In the classroom, do we hide our mistakes and hope the next generation doesn?t repeat them? Or do we teach our children that our leaders have not always done the right thing but we learn from our mistakes and are a better country for it?.
As a bill requiring the State Board of Education to give textbook-style review to curriculum plans developed by education service centers moved through the Legislature in May, the centers agreed to stop offering CSCOPE..
But how will districts pay for a replacement curriculum? When your legislator starts crowing about eliminating CSCOPE to preserve ?Texas values,? be sure to point out that we thought a Texas value was learning from our mistakes..
Mark Bauer of Colleyville has taught adult Sunday School for 20 years and has served as a substitute teacher for various North Texas school districts..
www.star-telegram.com/2013/06/03/4905939/texas-end-to-csc...
One really can never get enough of Benedict Cumberbatch... most of the planet is still waiting for Sherlock Season 5 to finally be filmed. But in the mean time, there's of course his biggest money maker, Dr. Strange.
Strange was most recently seen headlining the first half of the Avengers Infinity Saga - Infinity War, while coming back for the climactic battle with Thanos in Endgame. Hot Toys and Marvel Legends did their versions of this character a while ago, and now it was time for Figuarts and Mafex, with the latter being out of my price range... for now.
I do get bored, after all.
As the fancy box indicates, this is Strange from the Battle on Titan, before he made that ultimate sacrifice and disappeared for a movie. It comes decently packed, though is missing two key items - the multi armed effect, and a FREAKING STAND TO LEVITATE HIM WITH.
Contents do, however, include the figure, an alternate eye closed sculpt, 14 posing hands, one additional Crimson Bands of Cytorek hand, two small and medium Time Stone hand effects coupled with one "large" effect, two small, medium, and large general orange effects, his mystic sword, interchangeable Eye of Agamoto and Time Stone chest effect, and finally, a giant ass portal effect.
Even from the prototype pictures, it's easy to see that Tamashii Nations improved the figure aesthetically. I say that because I only own components of the first figure. Two major areas of discussion, namely the sculpt and the cape.
The sculpt I'm pretty sure my photos speaks for itself. Like with most of the recent Avengers release.. again.. MOST, because their Loki is made of the stuff I laugh at. Tamashii Nations have done a damn fine job of capturing the essence of the actor. The first one really isn't that great., nailing maybe the hairstyle and general facial structure.
The cape isn't super fancy per se, but it IS a wired cloth cape, though sadly the section that drapes over the shoulder is rigid plastic. The work on the Mafex cape admittedly destroys this, as it really does look like a scaled down Hot Toys version. This cape, however, is far superior to the Wile E Coyote steam roller accident prop that came with the first one. It's truly a sight to behold, possibly being the worst toy cape I've ever seen on any toy, with the only redeeming value being that it's decently painted. Furthermore, this wired cape still allows for some pretty cool posing.
Having said that, we're now free to move on to this figure.
The outfit is multi layered, which does look nice. Unfortunately, those layers are made of some pliable, yet still pretty rigid plastic, which looks great but generally gets in the way of everything. There's even a warning about permanent deformation if you leave Strange in his crossed leg pose for too long.
The Eye of Agamoto is something you want to keep your eye on because there is a tendency for the piece to go flying should you move the figure too quickly. Also, the Eye is connected to two raised and painted lines that represent the necklace strap, rather than being on an actual strap.
The translucent plastics used for the effects are also somewhat concerning, given the fragility of them and all. Especially the sword, where you have to shove the handle into a fist. The larger mystic mandalas are printed on clear plastic, which are less fragile, but more susceptible to scratching. There's also lovely warnings in the manual about potential paint wear as you pose the figure and attach the various mystic effects.
From an articulation perspective, Strange is about the same as Bucky, except that Strange has pull down hips. Based on previous practices and general logic, I'm going to go ahead and guess that they probably reused the actual body. You get ankles, single jointed knees, hips with thigh twist, waist, mid torso, standard shoulders with butterfly joints for lateral movement, single jointed elbows, wrist, neck, and head.
I've mentioned the hips, so here's some other highlights. The ankle joints are terrible, probably due to the bulk of the boot. Basically they're nonexistent. The coattails predictably get in the way of leg movement, as does the solid shoulder piece on the cape. All-in-all, it's a functional body with decent posing options, but I can't help but feel it's an older body that they didn't want to spend money to bring up to Ant Man standards.
Paint is generally above average. Work on the head and body are very good. Even in the areas of finer detail you can make out the masking is pretty sharp. Things like the Eye of Agamoto I can give a pass on as it is hard to get the paint into every tiny crevice. Paint work appears smooth. But, it's the hands that knock it down a peg for me. For starters, paint application is a bit thick, but maybe that's a material thing.
What you might not be able to make out is that wrist at the wrist there's a very small layer of black to help it blend in with the wrist and sleeves. The masking here is horrible.. like, they didn't even try, and it's consistent across all the hands I looked at. I wish they hadn't bothered at all, and just kept them as all flesh coloured.
Build quality, however, is all good. The usual criteria of joints, materials used, QC, tolerances, finish - none of those register a true concern or complaint from me and are up to what I expect from a Figuarts release.
Overall, I'd say this Dr. Strange is pretty much what the WW 84 Figuarts was like, namely its what they should have done in the first place, though I guess I can say that at least WW was better than Dr. Strange. While from an overall perspective the Figuarts certainly looks more like Benedict Cumberbatch as compared to the Mafex photos, you are getting a better articulated body and an outfit that works with you as opposed to against you... and a 120 USD preorder price tag.
To me, it's fascinating that each of the two figures chose a different key moment to include accessories for. Maybe this was planned so they didn't compete with each other?
*Sigh* I guess I'll just have to eventually get the other one too.
My C1's modified windshield frame.I hope it's help a little bit to imagine the nonexistent windshield.:)
Oedipoda careulescens is a medium-sized grasshopper, between 15 and 21 mm for males and between 22 to 28 mm for females. The body coloration varies greatly depending on the substrate on which the animals have developed: reddish brown, gray, yellowish, or even completely dark or bright. The forewings are crossed most often by two or three pale bands, but the most striking characteristic, very visible when the insect flies away, is the bright coloration of the hind wings, a beautiful turquoise highlighted with a black marginal stripe. Furthermore, the posterior femora have a notch on their upper surface. At rest, confusion is possible with other Oedipoda species such as O. germanica.
Oedipoda caerulescens frequents dry areas with low and open vegetation: dunes, heathlands, grasslands on sand and sunlit limestone rocks. Many stations correspond to land recently used for human activities, such as coal spoil heaps, quarries and pits, the ballast of railway tracks, etc. It is exclusively a terrestrial insect, and its cryptic coloration often matches its substrate. The female lays her eggs in bare, dry soil. In this species, acoustic emissions are virtually nonexistent. The diet consists mainly of grasses.*
*Source: Wikipedia
This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!
I took these photos in December 2019.
Credit: Paul Morse / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
Credit: Barbara Kinney / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!
I took these photos in December 2019.
This ship is my favorite out of my physical collection. Its just the rights size for play while still having enough detail for display and has an interior. Said interior is based of the cross section book for the force awakens. There is a single bed and nothing else. I wish that the bed could be moved over though, as it is taking up quite a bit a space.
Problems:
the rear door is invisible
the rear wings are not all the way at the end of the ship
there are no front wings
the cockpit is nonexistent
Rome, Italy 1972
The Column of Marcus Aurelius was built between 180 AD and 193 AD as a gift by the Senate and the people of Rome to Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The column was erected near the emperor's own temple, the Temple of the Deified Marcus, nonexistent today. The monument - also known as the Aurelian Column commemorates Emperor Marcus Aurelius's military campaigns against Germanic tribes and the Sarmatians, nomadic tribes who lived near the Black Sea.
Miranda Sensorex
Auto Miranda 50mm f1.4
Kodak Ektachrome ASA100
Developed & Processed by Caribe Color Lab (1972)
Scanned on Canon 9000F Mark II
Edited in Photoshop CC
Credit: Barbara Kinney / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!
I took these photos in December 2019.
By believing passionately in something that does not exist yet, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.
Franz Kafka
Part of the Positively negative space project
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I have a feeling other folks may want to debate this claim, unless they were to modify it as the birthplace of Chinese beer culture...
Qingdao is China’s premier “beer” city, as the country’s most famous brew – Tsingtao – was founded and continues to be brewed here. (For those who do come to the city, Tsingtao makes a decent dark beer – Yuan Jiang – that is quite hard to get outside of the city.) I guess the easiest comparison I can make would be to say that Qingdao is the same to beer culture here as St. Louis and Milwaukee are in the United States; a town famous for a mass-produced beer.
The Tsingtao brewery and museum (slightly underwhelming, according to my Lonely Planet guidebook) is located on Dengzhou Lu a bit north of Zhongshan Park. Dengzhou Lu is also famously known as Pijiu Jie (Beer Street). During the day, it’s easy to see the nightlife potential. At night, almost every establishment along this stretch of Dengzhou Lu (probably about a half kilometer to a one kilometer long) is a restaurant that opens up with the focus on drinking beer – almost always Tsingtao. (Curiously, in coming by here at night, the taxi took me past Hongjiu Jie – Red Wine Street. It looked quite a bit less subdued as wine culture here is, well, nonexistent. I didn’t have a chance to get back and look around there. Having drunk Chinese wine before…I don’t think I’m missing too much.)
I’ve lived in China for almost three years now; about two years in Shanghai and one year in Tianjin. Shandong province is the province that’s on the sea between the two cities. (From Shanghai to Tianjin by train is around 5 hours; by plane, 2 hours.) Qingdao, probably the most well-known city in Shandong, is a charming city, to say the least. In my opinion, it’s exceptionally photogenic – with very nice beaches, great architecture, good geography/topography, and terrific food.
Qingdao also happens to be known for the most famous of Chinese beers (Tsingtao), which is actually a company started by the Germans. (For what it’s worth, Chinese beers are quite watery and Tsingtao is somewhat like the Budweiser of Chinese beers. That being said, I’m happy to drink an ice cold Tsingtao on a hot summer day whereas I wouldn’t say the same thing about a Budweiser.
So what to make of Qingdao then? Before colonial powers swept in and started chopping up China piecemeal, Qingdao was basically a sleepy fishing village. During the Ming dynasty, a battery was built here. In 1898, the Germans seized control of Qingdao when two missionaries were killed. (Personally, it seems alarming to me that a country could lose a city because two foreigners happened to be killed – and China sure lost a lot that way during the 19th century. I guess that’s the downside to outmoded military technology; the Europeans and Americans basically plundered China…) At any rate, Qingdao was ceded to the Germans for 99 years, but that didn’t last long, thanks to World War I.
During the 15-20 years that the Germans did have control of the town, they managed to build a handful of churches (still standing) and missionaries, in addition to the aforementioned Qingdao brewery. Because of that, a lot of the European architecture has a heavy German influence and there are still a few random signs of German heritage around town.
From the Germans, Qingdao didn’t land directly with the Chinese. It spent 8 years under Japanese control (1914-1922) before being returned to the Kuomintang (aka General Chiang Kai-Shek’s clan). The Japanese took control once again in 1938 (as they swept through northeast China and across half the country) before losing it for the last time in 1945 at the end of World War II. Since then, it’s been in Chinese hands. (Brief history courtesy of Lonely Planet.)
Contemporary Qingdao certainly makes its way as a tourist destination – and it’s a fine one at that. The population (per my LP from 2011) lists it at 1.73 million. The city has a few areas that are quite appealing to tourists: the Old Town (the heart of the city) off the beach and just east of the railway station downtown, Badaguan (which means “eight passes”) is a hilly area with a lot of nice residential architecture to the east of the Old Town. Other than that, there are a lot of parks, a beer street, churches, and a 40 km. scenic walk (which, obviously, most people do not cover from end to end) along the shore which goes by all of the beaches in the area.
All in all, Qingdao is the type of town that, if you get the chance to visit, I think you would find yourself thinking it would be great to return again and again.
Credit: Betty Liu / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
Credit: Betty Liu / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
Barn is located in Mendon Ponds Park, at the intersection of Clover St and Pond Rd, Mendon, NY (near Rochester)... next to the Nature Center. MC Sheriff Mounted Division was started in 1938.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
The picture above attempts to show a few of the weapons and armaments used by the Spaniards in their conquest of Mexico. According to Bernard Grunberg, who set out to trace the origins of the Conquistadores, Cortes landed in Mexico with, “508 soldiers, including 32 crossbowmen and 13 escopeteros (musketeers, gunmen), and 109 seamen on 11 ships.” He would later be joined by more Spaniards from another expedition, but the number remains striking; how could a force of men this size capture a city of about 200,000? What is even more amazing is the Grunberg found that “real soldiers were very few, and officers nonexistent.” The Spanish forces were made up of seaman, carpenters, and laborers. Many historians point to the weapons of the Spaniards as one of the major advantages Cortes exploited in the conquest of Mexico.
The most obvious weapon in use here is the horse, which was unknown in central Mexico, at least as a weapon of devastating cavalry charges. The cavalry of Western Europe was used mainly to outflank an enemy already engaged with ground troops, usually light infantry. The cavalry would charge from the side or behind if possible, causing mass confusion, injury and death. With most of the Siege of Tenochtitlan taking place on Lake Texcoco and in the streets of the city itself, the mass cavalry charge would be more difficult to employ.
However, Bernaz del Castillo, one of Cortes’ own men, describes the effect that horseman did have during the battle. “When the people of the city saw that there were no horsemen with us they turned again on the Spaniards and drove them from the towers and courts… The Spaniards, unable to withstand the onset of the enemy, retreated in great danger and would have suffered great loss had it not pleased God that at that moment three horsemen should arrive… the horsemen killed some of them and we regained the courts and enclosure…. Five or six horsemen had now arrived… they killed over thirty of the enemy.” Even without the use of the mass charge tactics, the Spanish horsemen were able to kill roughly five or six enemy soldiers a piece. The psychological impact of seeing the horsemen inflict such losses is obvious.
Another weapon pictured is the light, but sharp sword used by the Spaniards. A descendant of the Roman gladius, the sword may account for many of the Spanish victories after bullets and powder, the traditionally viewed superior weaponry, had long run dry. As a further testament to its superiority, “the Aztecs quickly employed the precious few Castilian swords and lances the captured.”
The armor used by the Spaniards afforded them little protection against the bludgeoning weapons of the Aztecs. Most Spaniards were originally captured and killed later, but in the siege of Tenochtitlan, the clubs were able to kill a helmeted and armored Spaniard just as well. The main advantage arose in tactics.
Cortes had eighty crossbowmen and harquebusiers at his disposal during the battle. By placing his harquebusiers in formation behind armored swordsmen, and crossbowmen at the rear, Cortes was able to bring deadly fire down on the Aztecs any time they amassed into a large group. The strategy resulted in Aztec casualties growing horrifically high, as the Spaniards main enemy became exhaustion of both the swordsmen and the ammo supplies.
Bernard Grunberg, “The Origins of the Conquistadores of Mexico City,” The Hispanic American Historical Review 74 (1994): 259-283.
Victor Davis Hanson , Carnage and Culture (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 171-232
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, trans. A.P. Maudslay (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956) 408.
The Creative Assembly Limited, SEGA of America Inc, Weapons of the Conquistadores, Digital Photograph, 2007, Sugar Hill, GA.
For more information about the Arquebus, please visit:
We decided that hiking would be one of the methods for my wife and I to get healthier. Luckily there is a state park near us with some great trails. After working up to a five mile route we met a hiker who told us about the trails off the main trail, or ridge trails. They were a bit hard to find but once we got the hang of it locating the ridge trails was easy. They were more challenging and much more fun.
After reading many books on hiking the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail, the last book I read was from a Michigander who hiked the AP Trail, tried it as a through-hike but life got in the way and he had to go home a few times. I knew this was beyond our interest but we really enjoy the day hikes. The wife won’t go for the backpacking just yet; I keep working on her though.
In looking to try something new, I came across information on the North Country Trail on the internet and read about the Hike 100 Challenge. We thought it was a good idea and made it our goal. We also decided to attend the 2016 Celebration in Fargo, ND.
We started in April at the Birch River Schoolhouse Loop in MI. We picked the hottest and most humid day in May to hike the NCT in Shawnee State Forest, OH. Met a nice local family who camped out on the trail because they got a late start the night before. Ohio pushed me to the limit physically with the weather, it was either up or down and the trail markings were nonexistent. After that we decided we were cool weather hikers.
So we took a break until mid-September when we went to the Celebration in Fargo. I was a bit worried we would not achieve the challenge since we were only about a third of the way in mileage. However, Fargo got us back on track, we really enjoyed the prairie hiking which is much different than that of MI. We made a vacation out of the trip and took our time coming home by way of the Upper Peninsula. But first we had to stop and walk across the Montreal River that borders Wisconsin and Michigan. You see, after hiking in MI, OH, ND, MN, it only seemed logical to hike in WI since we were already there. Then we could make a vacation out of going to the PA/NY border, that way we would have hiked in all the states of the NCT. Oh yes, we had decided to hike all seven states when we were at the Celebration in Fargo!
We camped and hiked in the Porcupine Mountains, the “Grand Canyon” of Michigan, and Hemingway country in the Upper Peninsula. We found the NCT crossing the highway near Lowell on our frequent drives to see the kids at the University of Michigan and got more mileage in that way. It is also a nice stop to get out of the car and stretch the legs. We then traveled to Bradford, PA and hiked the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania and the Allegany State Park in New York. Oh, it’s not a typo, PA likes the “heny” and NY likes the “any”, I have the photos to prove it.
We took two days off then headed back to our now favorite place, Bitely MI. We camped and did our final twenty miles on the trail over three days. As a present we had just purchased backpacks for both of us at REI in Ann Arbor (shout out), they worked out great.
A shout out to the Outpost in Holland, MI where we purchase most of our stuff. Thanks to all the folks volunteering and working for the NCT, what a wonderful concept. It is a great way to get out and rejuvenate.
Greg & Cathy Brock, Members at Large
Credit: Paul Morse / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
Credit: Paul Morse / Clinton Global Initiative
A Better Future for Girls and Women: Empowering the Next Generation - CGI U 2013
From women’s suffrage movements in the early 20th century to the Arab Spring, countless exceptional women have redefined their role in the world on their own terms. Yet the reality for many girls and women is still stark: over 60 million girls still do not have access to primary education, approximately 10 million women die each year due to nonexistent or low-quality healthcare, and three out of every four war fatalities are women or children. The education and empowerment of girls and women is not only a moral issue—it is also a critical economic issue. Ensuring access to education, financial capital, and political participation for women is among the most impactful strategies for advancing long-term sustainable development. From the creation of all-girls schools to women-run microcredit cooperatives, how can students and universities support the projects that are working to empower girls and women? This panel will bring together practitioners and pioneers who will explore the tangible ways in which young people can continue to build a better future for girls and women around the world.
Carlos Fresquez
A Fairy Tale, 2007
Screen print / Serigraph / Silkscreen
Edition of 50 (Serie XIV / 14)
Visit the artist's page on our website to purchase this print. For more information about other artists in the series, visit serieproject.org/shop.
The print A Fairy Tale, represents Denver native Carlos Fresquez’s vision of the future, a place where borders of all kinds will be nonexistent and a time where world peace will prevail. The subjects in this print, The Jetson’s, or "Los Supersonicos" as they are called in Spanish, represent a future in which humans will get along with one another regardless of language or cultural identity.
Indeed, just as all cartoons are dubbed to fit the language in the country they are aired in, George Jetson speaks to the audience in Spanish while he his wife marvels at the perfection of their world in English. However, as the title reveals, this idealic vision of humanity will never come into fruition; like Los Supersonicos speaking to us from the future, this vision will remain a mere fantasy as there are too many factors that will prevent this world from taking shape.
Fresquez’s use of Aztec and Chicano-related imagery in the background make his print resemble an Aztec codex except that this one, with its cartoon imagery, is a modern day codex which takes notice of the past while keeping a keen focus of the future. A future which Fresquez hopes will most closely resemble the fantasy world Los Supersonicos reside in.
Fresquez earned his Bachelor of Arts from the Metropolitan State College in Denver and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Currently, he teaches art at Metropolitan State College.
The kids were great - and I think they really understand the importance of the movement.
The children understand because it's their future that had been hocked by the greedy elite power structure between bankers, traders, agents, politicians and others who created the economic crisis then jumped out with millions of dollars in golden parachutes.
Check out this OccupyAugusta video by Jane Pietkivitch
She shot and edited video from the Occupy Augusta march on downtown on Saturday (10-15-11).
The OccupyAugusta movement is doing a fantastic job coordinating and the enthusiasm is no less that in New York
www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=302389719777944
OccupyAugusta did an impressive job on Sat., Oct. 15, 2011 as they marched on downtown Augusta protesting the evil greed that created the current economic crisis.
The bankers, Wall Street traders, insurance industry, politicians proved they cannot be trusted when left to their own devices when the Bush administration made oversight almost nonexistent.
And sure enough when the foxes were in charge of the hen-house it was a slaughter of American jobs, the evaporation of retirement funds, a flood of home foreclosures, sending the world economy into crisis.
See the photos at these links!
occupyaugusta.org/occupy/wp-content/lg-gallery/October%20...
occupyaugusta.org/occupy/gallery?file=October%2015%202011/
Occupy Augusta, GA: Occupy Wall Street Pages:
Occupy Augusta, GA on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/OCCUPY-AUGUSTA/178325418914632
Occupy Augusta, GA on Twitter:
Occupy Augusta, GA on WordPress.org:
Occupy Augusta, GA on discussion page of WordPress.org (#OccupyAugusta ) in Solidarity with #OWS and #OccupyTogether:
occupyaugusta.org/discuss/index.php
Occupy Augusta, GA on MeetUp:
www.meetup.com/occupytogether/Augusta-GA/382952
Occupy Augusta, GA on Tumblr:
Occupy Wall Street Movement in other Georgia cities:
The last day of the season at Kings Island. Awesome time to go. The weather was cool, but wonderful. And the crowds were nonexistent. Definitely going again next year on the final day! We had a blast!
Inside a cloud. The views were nonexistent.
Looking toward Perkins Peak, which I wanted to climb. Turned back here though, because of low visibility and annoying sideways snow.
(This is 100% an Atlanta thing -- in MLB -- and you hear it often. The turning down the lights once a game to do it...apparently inspired by nearby University of Georgia football...and it's pretty cool to see in person, actually, so...here you go.)
Atlanta Braves baseball from 20 September 2019 (the night they clinched the division crown). The new park (opened in 2018) gets panned a little because it's usually pretty hot in Georgia and a heck of a lot of seats are in direct sun.
It's a relatively generic stadium (in the new mold of generic stadiums), but it's nice. The area outside the stadium (bars/restaurants) is actually a bit more interesting/unique than the stadium itself.
The biggest drawback is that the Atlanta Braves no longer play in Atlanta. (That and parking is almost nonexistent up there in Marietta near the stadium. We were scratching our heads looking for the actual parking lots.)
As for the game...it was a great game. First time in my life I actually got to see a division-clinching game. (They'd clinched a playoff spot a few days before.)
Full Tour:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrH4AOjN23Y&t=28s
PDF Instructions: www.luxurybrickstore.com/
This is the ultimate home on wheels for your minifigure family. Not only are there two levels on this motorhome, but four separate slide outs that allow for maximum floor space possible. There’s even room for atvs, motorcycles, bicycles, and the family car in the enclosed stacker trailer to bring along as well. The original inspiration for this build was a prototype design I randomly came across on the internet. Double decker motorhomes with slide outs are pretty much nonexistent, but I figured why not put one together with Lego.
These pics are of an ABS version of my LDD sliding door mech. Some people told me it would work in hard lego and it does. my first test that wasnt published was without doors but this is conclusive. It works comepletely. The yellow plates in that spacer do make it a bit to high and interfere with the opening a little bit. This can be corrected by moving them to the far top and bottim.
This year was a dry one in California. The rains came early, back in December, and then not a drop of rain fell in January or February. Consequently, the Spring flower blossoms were sparse, though not nonexistent. These Desert Globemallows were present here and there, and stood out against an otherwise monochrome landscape in Death Valley.
1298FN21
©Romano
Bangle Making
West Bengal, India
A 7-year-old boy works putting glass ornaments onto bangles sold as far away as the US and EU. Working in cramped conditions and exposed to the constant heat of a small forge at his side, his life is one of constant misery. His chances of ever receiving an education are almost nonexistent due in large part to bureaucratic hurdles, poor access, an incompetently run education system and the lack of official commitment to make education - not work - a priority for children.
This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!
I took these photos in December 2019.
One really can never get enough of Benedict Cumberbatch... most of the planet is still waiting for Sherlock Season 5 to finally be filmed. But in the mean time, there's of course his biggest money maker, Dr. Strange.
Strange was most recently seen headlining the first half of the Avengers Infinity Saga - Infinity War, while coming back for the climactic battle with Thanos in Endgame. Hot Toys and Marvel Legends did their versions of this character a while ago, and now it was time for Figuarts and Mafex, with the latter being out of my price range... for now.
I do get bored, after all.
As the fancy box indicates, this is Strange from the Battle on Titan, before he made that ultimate sacrifice and disappeared for a movie. It comes decently packed, though is missing two key items - the multi armed effect, and a FREAKING STAND TO LEVITATE HIM WITH.
Contents do, however, include the figure, an alternate eye closed sculpt, 14 posing hands, one additional Crimson Bands of Cytorek hand, two small and medium Time Stone hand effects coupled with one "large" effect, two small, medium, and large general orange effects, his mystic sword, interchangeable Eye of Agamoto and Time Stone chest effect, and finally, a giant ass portal effect.
Even from the prototype pictures, it's easy to see that Tamashii Nations improved the figure aesthetically. I say that because I only own components of the first figure. Two major areas of discussion, namely the sculpt and the cape.
The sculpt I'm pretty sure my photos speaks for itself. Like with most of the recent Avengers release.. again.. MOST, because their Loki is made of the stuff I laugh at. Tamashii Nations have done a damn fine job of capturing the essence of the actor. The first one really isn't that great., nailing maybe the hairstyle and general facial structure.
The cape isn't super fancy per se, but it IS a wired cloth cape, though sadly the section that drapes over the shoulder is rigid plastic. The work on the Mafex cape admittedly destroys this, as it really does look like a scaled down Hot Toys version. This cape, however, is far superior to the Wile E Coyote steam roller accident prop that came with the first one. It's truly a sight to behold, possibly being the worst toy cape I've ever seen on any toy, with the only redeeming value being that it's decently painted. Furthermore, this wired cape still allows for some pretty cool posing.
Having said that, we're now free to move on to this figure.
The outfit is multi layered, which does look nice. Unfortunately, those layers are made of some pliable, yet still pretty rigid plastic, which looks great but generally gets in the way of everything. There's even a warning about permanent deformation if you leave Strange in his crossed leg pose for too long.
The Eye of Agamoto is something you want to keep your eye on because there is a tendency for the piece to go flying should you move the figure too quickly. Also, the Eye is connected to two raised and painted lines that represent the necklace strap, rather than being on an actual strap.
The translucent plastics used for the effects are also somewhat concerning, given the fragility of them and all. Especially the sword, where you have to shove the handle into a fist. The larger mystic mandalas are printed on clear plastic, which are less fragile, but more susceptible to scratching. There's also lovely warnings in the manual about potential paint wear as you pose the figure and attach the various mystic effects.
From an articulation perspective, Strange is about the same as Bucky, except that Strange has pull down hips. Based on previous practices and general logic, I'm going to go ahead and guess that they probably reused the actual body. You get ankles, single jointed knees, hips with thigh twist, waist, mid torso, standard shoulders with butterfly joints for lateral movement, single jointed elbows, wrist, neck, and head.
I've mentioned the hips, so here's some other highlights. The ankle joints are terrible, probably due to the bulk of the boot. Basically they're nonexistent. The coattails predictably get in the way of leg movement, as does the solid shoulder piece on the cape. All-in-all, it's a functional body with decent posing options, but I can't help but feel it's an older body that they didn't want to spend money to bring up to Ant Man standards.
Paint is generally above average. Work on the head and body are very good. Even in the areas of finer detail you can make out the masking is pretty sharp. Things like the Eye of Agamoto I can give a pass on as it is hard to get the paint into every tiny crevice. Paint work appears smooth. But, it's the hands that knock it down a peg for me. For starters, paint application is a bit thick, but maybe that's a material thing.
What you might not be able to make out is that wrist at the wrist there's a very small layer of black to help it blend in with the wrist and sleeves. The masking here is horrible.. like, they didn't even try, and it's consistent across all the hands I looked at. I wish they hadn't bothered at all, and just kept them as all flesh coloured.
Build quality, however, is all good. The usual criteria of joints, materials used, QC, tolerances, finish - none of those register a true concern or complaint from me and are up to what I expect from a Figuarts release.
Overall, I'd say this Dr. Strange is pretty much what the WW 84 Figuarts was like, namely its what they should have done in the first place, though I guess I can say that at least WW was better than Dr. Strange. While from an overall perspective the Figuarts certainly looks more like Benedict Cumberbatch as compared to the Mafex photos, you are getting a better articulated body and an outfit that works with you as opposed to against you... and a 120 USD preorder price tag.
To me, it's fascinating that each of the two figures chose a different key moment to include accessories for. Maybe this was planned so they didn't compete with each other?
*Sigh* I guess I'll just have to eventually get the other one too.