I wasn't going to go to the bottom of Quilotoa -- but they were doing it in high heels so I had to!

Had a brief talk (as much as my nonexistent Spanish allowed) while they were setting up for their picnic but I had to start making my way back to the top.

self portrait.

I go to class 5 days a week and work 4 (including Saturday and Sundays). When I'm not in class or at work, I'm doing homework. Feels like I don't have any time to follow through with ideas, or when I do have the time, I don't have the people to do it.

I think I'm going to step away from photography for a little bit to focus on some other things. School. Work. My nonexistent personal life. As well as a couple other non-photo art projects I've been toying with, most significantly a series based on Jon Foreman's song My Love Goes Free (listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgwlYJ51ES4 ) that I really, really hope comes to fruition the way I see it. I'm so excited about it.

What does that have to do with this photo?

Not much. Other than the fact that its about me, and well...this is a self portrait.

Should I have posted it on my blog instead?

probably.

Will anyone read it?

Unlikely.

pssst. Speaking of blogs

kidwithabulletsoul.tumblr.com/

Its pretty much a combination of anything and everything. Graphics. Photography. Music. And mostly just things I like.

Another dead, broken down car.

--

the sky was nonexistent (blank blanket of nowhere nothing)

and the st.ars did not exist (they were hiding beneath cloudcover)

and we drove along the road (off.off.off we go)

no streetlights no city no bustling crowds

oh, lovely romAntIc(ism) - we were so CONTENT

in ourselves (and in eachother)

and then the brakes failed and the engine grunted and we both screamed (thinking, or so it seemed)

CraaaSH crA-cck

we fell down down down

Originally built between 1793 and 1797 during the Second Spanish Period, this Spanish Colonial and Neoclassical-style cathedral is the fourth church to occupy a prominent position at the heart of the city of St. Augustine. The original church, built of flammable materials, stood from 1565 until 1586, when it was burned during an attack by English Privateer Sir Francis Drake. Not even a year later, the church was rebuilt of palm logs, with a straw roof, which succumbed to fire in 1599. In 1605, thanks to a tithe from Spain, a timber church was constructed, which stood until a failed English attack on the city in 1702 by James Moore, then-governor of Carolina colony. There were attempts to rebuild the church during the First Spanish Period, starting in 1707, but these went nowhere, and the money intended for the church’s reconstruction were misallocated by corrupt officials. Instead, during the remainder of the First Spanish Period, mass was held in the St. Augustine Hospital. Following the transfer of governance of Florida to the British in 1763, the need for a new Catholic church was nonexistent, as the catholic population of the colony fled to other Spanish colonies. At the start of the Second Spanish Period in 1784, the need for a new church became more apparent, and work on the current cathedral’s Coquina stone walls began in 1793. The facade of the church features Neoclassical elements around the front doorway, with the Spanish Colonial style being employed on the roofline and limited fenestration on the front facade. The church stood in its original configuration until a fire in 1887 destroyed the timber roof structure and did major damage to the interior. Following the fire, Henry Flagler led the effort to have the cathedral rebuilt, with James Renwick, Jr. designing an expansion of the old building, giving it a rectangular cruciform layout, and adding the Spanish Renaissance-style bell tower and European-style transept to the building. The interior was rebuilt to feature exposed decorative timbers that supported the roof structure, and a decorative polychromatic tile floor. The building has since received a few more additions, which house a chapel, service areas, and offices, as well as a building to the rear of the cathedral along Treasury Street, built in the Mediterranean Revival style, which houses the offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Today, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark in the city, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District in 1970.

Biyadhoo Island Resort

The mattress is allmost nonexistent, asking the reception for a decent one is futile.

At Biyadhoo Island Resort it is like sleeping on the ground with a sheet as cover

Name: Laura Phipps

Year: Sophomore

quote: "My style is nonexistent, I don't like to stereotype my style"

Shoes: from Rugged Wear house (10$)

Jacket: Hand me down from mom

Pants: 10$ from JC penny

Scarf: 5$ sale at Belk

Choice: I chose Jordi Koaltic because he has some of the most imaginative and creative pictures I’ve come across. He typically uses many inanimate objects to help enhance his photos. Through these inanimate objects, he managed to create impossible angles, nonexistent depths. All in all, he was able to create photos from scratch.

Intention: I wanted to capture the playful essence in Koaltic’s photos by including floating objects.

Reference: “most of us can use a little more confidence and a little less fear as we take greater risks and create our work.”

Outcome: I chose paintbrushes because I love painting and they create an interesting dynamic

Edit: I had to heal the creases on the sheet in the background and remove the strings that held up the brushes. I also increased the saturation and vibrancy.

50mm with 55mm extension tube. Depth of field is nonexistent.

It may have taken 42 years, but the latest and, sadly, the last issue of DUCKWORK is out!

DUCKWORK was a short-lived newspaper “CREATED FOR THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF ART COMMUNITY” back in the early 1980s. It lasted a handful of issues until the school pulled the plug on the funding. It was more funny pages than news which was probably a factor in consigning the paper to its doom.

The recent, shocking collapse of The University of the Arts which used to be PCA prior to 1987 was the inspiration for this illustration. That event and my meager attempts at digging up the still mysterious reasons for the school’s failure has set me careening down memory lane revisiting times both good and bad. While I was ambivalent about attending PCA particularly my junior and senior years which were slogs, being part of DUCKWORK is among my fondest memories of that time. I remember seeing the cartoon ducks on the early issues of the paper and thought “those guys are ripping off Howard the Duck — they must like comics!”

I headed up to their tiny office on the 13th floor of what was Anderson Hall, and it was like finding my tribe — a group of comic book nerds and science fiction freaks who got one another. Unfortunately, it was not to last. The fun went out of art school when the axe fell on the paper and the Ducks dispersed for schoolwork and/or real life. Some of the main figures behind DUCKWORK dropped out of school or graduated to real life to make independent comics publishing history with Comico. I continued on with my education always hoping that the next semester would be better until finally I was awarded a degree.

In case you’re completely confused by the illustration, the unicorn kicking the anthropomorphic water fowl across Broad Street was the mascot of The University of the Arts. Yeah, they went with nonexistent, mythical creature favored by grade school girls as their mascot. Kind of fitting.

This Stromberg WA3-219 ("Mode

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling an

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling and production of such a low-volume carburetor. Was there a strike at Holley or Carter that reduced the supply of 1920s and BBSs...? One interesting tidbit: The WA3 has the largest venturi of any 1bbl used from the factory on a slant-6 engine.

I've tried a few of these over the years. Haven't made one run quite right. Kits and parts are almost nonexistent. But the casting and build qu

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling and production of such a low-volume carburetor. Was there a strike at Holley or Carter that reduced the supply of 1920s and BBSs...? One interesting tidbit: The WA3 has the largest venturi of any 1bbl used from the factory on a slant-6 engine.

I've tried a few of these over the years. Haven't made one run quite right. Kits and parts are almost nonexistent. But the casting and build quality are quite excellent, typical of Stromberg carburetors of the era.

A lovely place near Angamali in Kerala where 7 rivers came together. Sadly... most rivers are nonexistent now.

December 18, 2009

( "Don't you think it would be wonderful to get rid of everything and everybody and

just go some place where you don't know a soul?" )

I don't really know what to write about anymore.

Today, it started off unlike any other day. The morning was woken up to by nightmares of abandonment and loss, my eyes and cheeks wet from weeping throughout my duration of slumber. Out of character, I was frightened to even blink for the darkness crept inside the corners in means of haunting and threatening where my mind would travel if I were to even notion the idea of sleep. So instead, I rest my exhaustion alongside the hymns to several musical artists, in which heightened my spirits almost instantly and in continuance, kept my lids open and aware even on merely five hours of dream.

Bee text me not long afterward and agreed to stop by, so I readied myself quickly into something to suit and she appeared soon. We settled our bodies out onto my hotel's balcony, indifferent over the spill of rain about the heavens, and I allowed her to exercise my hearing until our cigarettes formed into something nonexistent. She was angry, told me bluntly that she always is, her pupils full of fire. But I could not seem to sympathize her hate and grief and regret for anything in my life, a sort of force field of joyous emotion surrounding my every movement and protecting my light mind from anything negative. Still, I nodded my head and agreed over subjects and situations she was indeed right about, even shook my head when I knew I should have. And I think it was enough. At least, I hope it was.

She drove us to a place called Sam's Corner, famous for their delicious hot dogs and their preferred five cent cups of coffee by the two of us. Sitting inside one of the booths closest to the back door, we ordered what we desired and began speaking to one another like we had not seen each other in months and it really felt like such, although it has only been one week. Firstly, our topic of choice was less than important and having to do with our love interests at this moment being and then suddenly, my mouth half open readying the process of eating a cheese fry, her voice cracks as she brings Death into the conversation.

I wonder if we are all the same, whenever it really comes down to it and all else. When you're at the end of your rope, who are you? I mean, really. Who are you?

Camera test. I bought a Certo Six medium format folding camera, and this is from the test roll I ran through it. It's a rangefinder, but the rangefinder patch is nonexistent, so I had to scale focus. That is being fixed now.

I really liked the way the sun hit this stairway. Sometime during our search for the nonexistent breakfast and new york times.

We drove up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park (just over 6600 feet). It was totally socked in by fog, so the views were nonexistent, but climbing into the fog was still pretty cool.

For some reason, the mood here reminds me of some nonexistent scene in the Wizard of Oz.

Note: Don't really like posting "duplicate" images on my stream, but I just really like this one. ^_^

Originally built between 1793 and 1797 during the Second Spanish Period, this Spanish Colonial and Neoclassical-style cathedral is the fourth church to occupy a prominent position at the heart of the city of St. Augustine. The original church, built of flammable materials, stood from 1565 until 1586, when it was burned during an attack by English Privateer Sir Francis Drake. Not even a year later, the church was rebuilt of palm logs, with a straw roof, which succumbed to fire in 1599. In 1605, thanks to a tithe from Spain, a timber church was constructed, which stood until a failed English attack on the city in 1702 by James Moore, then-governor of Carolina colony. There were attempts to rebuild the church during the First Spanish Period, starting in 1707, but these went nowhere, and the money intended for the church’s reconstruction were misallocated by corrupt officials. Instead, during the remainder of the First Spanish Period, mass was held in the St. Augustine Hospital. Following the transfer of governance of Florida to the British in 1763, the need for a new Catholic church was nonexistent, as the catholic population of the colony fled to other Spanish colonies. At the start of the Second Spanish Period in 1784, the need for a new church became more apparent, and work on the current cathedral’s Coquina stone walls began in 1793. The facade of the church features Neoclassical elements around the front doorway, with the Spanish Colonial style being employed on the roofline and limited fenestration on the front facade. The church stood in its original configuration until a fire in 1887 destroyed the timber roof structure and did major damage to the interior. Following the fire, Henry Flagler led the effort to have the cathedral rebuilt, with James Renwick, Jr. designing an expansion of the old building, giving it a rectangular cruciform layout, and adding the Spanish Renaissance-style bell tower and European-style transept to the building. The interior was rebuilt to feature exposed decorative timbers that supported the roof structure, and a decorative polychromatic tile floor. The building has since received a few more additions, which house a chapel, service areas, and offices, as well as a building to the rear of the cathedral along Treasury Street, built in the Mediterranean Revival style, which houses the offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Today, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark in the city, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District in 1970.

Residents stretch their hands to receive clothes in Cabaret, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008. Four tropical storms in less than a month have caused floods throughout Haiti, killing at least 300 people. Shipments of food and pledges of more poured in from around the world, but distribution of the emergency supplies was hampered by the impoverished country's chronic insecurity and the poor and often nonexistent network of roads and other infrastructure. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa).

As you can see, this goose egg is fresh and has not begun to develop visibly. However, even at this stage the germinal disc begins to divide, as soon as the incubation process begins. The air cell is literally nonexistent.

The development of Hanne's character also implied the study of the structure of the human body. His complexion was different to the others I had done, as he is stout and fat. I had to balance both features and decide which one prevailed over the other, opting for fatness as his main character trait. This is shown, aside from his belly, by his fallen shoulders, his nonexistent neck and his parted legs, to gain more stability. In regards to his face, his nose was simplified and became just a line: its previous design was unpractical and complicated. His moustache became more stereotypical and pointy, and the size of his eyebrows was modified to fit his head.

His clothing is also simple: a pair of trousers with suspenders and a dress shirt. As Cael's, his clothes are easy to draw and provide insights into Hanne`s personality.

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

This dead branch, which has been precariously perched in the tree in my back yard, wasn't even moved. Despite the intense roar above my house as it passed over, the wind was almost nonexistent.

A friend owns a converted industrial loft space along the damage path. One of her tenants is a fantastic restaurant, which lost power in the blackout. They stayed open, working by battery emergency lights and candles. Without an exhaust fan, the kitchen got hot enough to blow the sprinkler system. As the pressurized air rushed out of the pipes, the cooks thought it was a gas leak and ran out, screaming for everyone to evacuate instantly. As everyone stood on the edge of the parking lot, waiting for the building to possibly blow up, they realized that behind them was a huge funnel with debris spinning around inside it, clearly visible.

Talk about a Hobson's choice....

I love his nonexistent profile!

A nonexistent herald from earlier times.

There's a fractal in there somewhere. Not much left of it.

Lefort Cemetery (sinking into the water)

Leeville, Louisiana

on Bayou LaFourche

LaFourche Parish

Some of the greatest fishing is right here.

Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.

Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.

Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.

In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.

There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.

from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM

ucmmuseum.com/leesville.htm

Project 365 Day 127. A very foggy day at Bolsa Grande. When I had arrive at school that morning, the fog was nonexistent. By 9am, however, it had swamped the school.

This Stromberg WA3-219 ("Model W") 1bbl carburetor was original equipment as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920 on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B-body (only) cars with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other year or model. I don't know why this was done, nor does it make any sense for Chrysler to have spent what must have been an enormous sum in tooling for such a low-volume carburetor. Was there some kind of a strike at Carter and/or Holley that reduced the available volume of carburetors? It is worth noting that this carb has the largest venturi of any 1bbl used as factory equipment on a slant-6. I've tried a few of these over the years, but have never gotten one to run quite right. Kits and parts are almost nonexistent.

So I did the unthinkable and walked into Zindra simply to fug hunt. I was that bored.

Found this ...thing. Didn't take too many tranquilizer darts to get her, what with that concentration camp physique. Not even sure it's really female with the face and nonexistent boobs.... but it was born in 2008 and outfitted in freebie looking clothes.

The 300 stand their ground upon the fountain-hill of Dupont.

See the rest of the event's photos here!

Image used with permission from thisisbossi. The original photo can be viewed here.

Internet to upload the photo was provided courtesy of Busboys & Poets, since internet at our current base of operations is nonexistent pending repairs.

MG Raymond V. Mason, commander of Joint Logistic Over The Shore 2008, talks with Rear Adm. Mark D. Harnitchek, director, stragegy, policy, programs and logistics directorate, USTRANSCOM during a JLOTS operational tour at Camp Pendleton, Calif. July 25. JLOTS is an exercise that increases the Army's and Navy's ability to build improvised ports for transporting equipment from ship to shore when a harbor or pier has been damaged or is nonexistent. Nearly 1,500 pieces of rolling equipment and shipping containers will be moved from ships with a series of lighterage systems (floating roadways) and smaller boats to improvised piers on the shore. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Proctor, JLOTS Public Affairs)

I got her these Lego Mosaic sets and she made this car. Awesome toy, I wish I had more than 13 patterns since my creativity is nonexistent.

The Navy Elevated Causeway System is one of many pieces of equipment that will serve as part of the improvised port during Joint Logistics Over The Shore 2008. The crane on the ELCAS lifts the vehicles and containers from the lighterage and smaller ships and provides a conduit to the shore. JLOTS is an annual exercise that increases the Army's and Navy's ability to build improvised ports for transporting equipment from ship to shore when a harbor or pier has been damaged or is nonexistent. Nearly 1,500 pieces of rolling equipment and shipping containers will be moved from ships with a series of lighterage systems (floating roadways) and smaller boats to improvised piers on the shore. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Proctor, JLOTS Public Affairs)

This photo was taken in Gerber Park on the corner of Cherry and Martin Luther King Way. On this 0.16 acre plot of land lies 4 monoliths. Each monolith houses two mosaics each and are all topped with, metal, three-sided windmills. The mosaics are colorful creations made from small colored stones and pebbles. The reds and yellows of the trees and the greens of the grass add to the vibrant color that this park expresses in the fall. The blue of the sky dominates the photo much like the real sky does on a chilly clear day. And although this picture is a good representation of the beauty of fall, not even this is perfect. The rundown building behind the tree represents the current state of much of the neighborhood. The paint chips off when the wind blows and the floor squeaks, but things tend to get better as they age, and if you look closely, you may find a few hidden gems disguised only in a thin layer of, nonexistent, paint.

Brie H.

be jealous.

Thank God for Goodwill, otherwise half my wardrobe would be nonexistent right now.

And I would not be in possession of this TIGHT ASS jacket!!!

This is my first attempt at HDR.

It was a sunny day so I decided to visit The British Museum. Unfortunately by the time I got there, it became cloudy and the dramatic deep blue sky I had hoped to capture with sun light streaming through the curved glass roof and casting shadows were nonexistent. :-( Instead the sky turned a whitish grey and inside the museum everything looked dull and colourless. So HDR to the rescue!

All the shots were taken handheld (who says you need a tripod) 3 bracketed exposures set at continuous firing.

After a few hours at the museum as the weather was poor I decided to visit Westminster Cathedral. I had to struggle to get there and find parking. Once inside I found out that photography wasn’t allowed during a service so I had to wait around an hour until it finished. I think I captured some good shots for HDR but unbelievably, when I got back home and started to download the photos, half way through the download the memory card got somehow got jammed and I couldn’t download the photos from the church. What a nightmare! A wasted afternoon:-( By the way, this was a new 32GB Kingston elite pro card. The shop recommended it to me as they didn’t have the Lexar in stock that I wanted. So I won’t be buyer Kingston cards again.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos.

As it’s my first attempt at HDR I would be grateful for your comments, criticisms etc.

1/24/15

ID thanks to Ken Childs

St. Louis MO

Our backyard and front porch

Ken wrote: "It's denticulata. The third 'tooth' in from the costa would be missing or at least almost nonexistent if it were strigataria."

getting ready to go to a party on my birthday. i rarely wear this much makeup. but i put it on for the (nonexistent) halloween party. but that's a whole other story!

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This Stromberg WA3-219 ("Mode

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling an

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling and production of such a low-volume carburetor. Was there a strike at Holley or Carter that reduced the supply of 1920s and BBSs...? One interesting tidbit: The WA3 has the largest venturi of any 1bbl used from the factory on a slant-6 engine.

I've tried a few of these over the years. Haven't made one run quite right. Kits and parts are almost nonexistent. But the casting and build qu

This Stromberg WA3-219 (Model W) carburetor was original equipment, as a production option to the Carter BBS and Holley 1920, on 1963 (only) Dodge and Plymouth B- and C-body cars (only) with 225 engine and automatic transmission (only). No variant of this carb was used on any other model or year. I have no idea why Chrysler would've spent what had to be a real whackload of money for tooling and production of such a low-volume carburetor. Was there a strike at Holley or Carter that reduced the supply of 1920s and BBSs...? One interesting tidbit: The WA3 has the largest venturi of any 1bbl used from the factory on a slant-6 engine.

I've tried a few of these over the years. Haven't made one run quite right. Kits and parts are almost nonexistent. But the casting and build quality are quite excellent, typical of Stromberg carburetors of the era.

RBMN 3068 illuminates the North Side Portal of White Haven Tunnel on the southbound descent down the grade, been wanting to capture the detail in the ancient stonework with some decent light. During daytime hours light is practically nonexistent in this area so I figured why not wait for the train.

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

Back to Hawaii stuff. Waikiki was very different from our trip last June, because the boogie-boarding scene around Kapahulu Pier was almost nonexistent. (Maybe because school was still in session.) So I stayed farther down the beach and got some shots of surfers and beach boys. Everything was less crowded in general than in June, but a lot of the surfers were from Japan -- not surprising, as it turned out that it was Golden Week, a big vacation time there.

As Allied forces began closing in on Japan by mid-1945, the Japanese found themselves in increasingly desperate straits; the kamikaze was the most visible sign of this desperation. With the American landings on Okinawa and the sinking of the Navy’s flagship Yamato, the Imperial Japanese Army realized that the Home Islands were next. Along with the Imperial Japanese Navy, they intended to unleash a horde of kamikaze attacks that would unnerve the Americans enough that some ceasefire or negotiated settlement would result. Part of this plan included the use of the Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi ("Sabre" or "Sword") in Japanese. The Imperial Japanese Navy named this aircraft Tōka or ("Wisteria Blossom").

By 1945, Japan was virtually out of experienced pilots and was increasingly forced to use roughly untrained men—mostly college students—who were high on patriotic fervor but short on skill. The Japanese were also running out of aircraft, many of which had already been expended in kamikaze attacks in the Philippines and Okinawa. The Ki-115 was designed solely for kamikaze missions. It was intended to be built quickly and with what little materials the Japanese had left: mostly wood and steel.

The landing gear was only used for taxiing and takeoff; it would be dropped after leaving the ground, as there would be no return trip. A universal engine mount was incorporated into the design so that the Tsurugi could use whatever engines were still available—American B-29 bombing raids had utterly devastated the Japanese aviation industry by this time. No defensive armament was included: the Tsurugi was intended solely to be flown into an enemy target, and the only weapon was a single bomb that was carried underneath the aircraft.

The Ki-115 prototype first flew in March of 1945, and Japanese test pilots were not happy with it: even as an aircraft for suicidal purposes, it was poor stuff. Visibility from the cockpit was virtually nonexistent, especially over the long nose. Even taking off was problematic. In the hands of anything aside from one of the few experienced pilots the Japanese had left, the Tsurugi would be more likely to kill its pilot long before the pilot even had the chance to kill themselves. The service understood that most of the projected 8,000 Ki-115s would never reach their targets, but even if only 10% made it, they would cause catastrophic damage to the American landing forces.

Production on the Ki-115s began with the promise that upgraded versions with better handling would be produced, but the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had ended the war before any Tsurugis were used in combat. Only 105 of these aircraft were built between May and August of 1945, but none were used operationally, and all of them fell into the hands of the Americans after the Japanese surrender. Nearly all of them were scrapped, as there was no interest in an aircraft intended for suicidal purposes and only two examples are known to survive today. In order to further improve the aircraft’s performance and reduce cost, an upgraded version, the Ki-115B, was proposed. This included replacing the all-metal wings with ones built of wood. These new wings were larger and had to be equipped with flaps. In order to provide the pilot with a better view, the cockpit was moved to the front. Since it was the end of the war, nothing ever came of this proposal.

Assuming that there is only one Ki-115 remaining, this is it, S/N 1002. It was found by American forces at the Nakajima factory at Iwate and shipped back to the United States, but it was never flown. It was stored at the Smithsonian's Silver Hill storage facility for eventual display at the Udvar Hazy National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. The NASM decided that it was unlikely that the aircraft would ever be restored or that the Smithsonian would ever have room to display it, so it was loaned to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 2012. Very little information is known about the test program or the planned deployment of these aircraft today because Nakajima had destroyed most records before American forces could intervene.

Because of the Tsurugi's wooden and light steel construction, Pima decided to not attempt to restore it for fear that it would simply fall apart; it is displayed in unrestored form. Faint hints of IJAAF markings can still be seen beside the Hinomaru national emblem: the yellow wing leading edges were a hallmark of all IJAAF aircraft. At some point during the journey from Japan to the U.S., the engine mount was severely damaged; as a result, the engine was not attached to the aircraft.

One of the curators I talked to claimed that this is the same Ki-115 that was displayed as a gate guard in front of Yokota Air Base, Japan, during the 1950s. I believe this to be true, as Pima's guidebook mentions that this Ki-115 was owned by the Smithsonian and brought back at war's end. The fate of the Ki-115 at Yokota AB remains unknown, but it is thought to be owned by a Japanese museum. Seeing one of these was a huge surprise to me because I thought none of them survived to the present day.

They introduced the starting Defense individually, but the Offense came out as a unit.

The Defense was on the field most of the night (NYG has the ball 40 of 62 minutes). The Offense couldn't move the ball when it mattered. The running game (28 yards) was almost nonexistent. A passing game alone just didn't cut it.

Best viewed @ large size

Onagraceae - California and adjacent areas of Mexico; Baja California Norte, Mexico origin of plant above

California-fuchsia, Hummingbird Flower, Hummingbird Trumpet, Zauschneria

Shown: Branch displaying flower buds, flowers and foliage

"Zauschneria (Epilobium canum) is a species of willowherb, native to dry slopes and in chaparral of western North America. It is a perennial plant, notable for the profusion of bright scarlet flowers in late summer and autumn.

"The name reflects that in the past it used to be treated in a distinct genus Zauschneria, but modern studies have shown that it is best placed within the genus Epilobium. Other common names include California-fuchsia (from the resemblance of the flowers to those of Fuchsias), Hummingbird Flower, and Hummingbird Trumpet (the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds).

"It is a subshrub growing to 60 cm tall. Native populations of these plants exhibit considerable variation in appearance and habit. The small leaves may be opposite or alternate, lance-shaped or ovate, with short to nonexistent stalks, and range in color from green to nearly white. Overall shape may be matting or mounding, the plants commonly spreading via rhizomes. The racemes of tubular or funnel-shaped flowers are terminal, and colors are mostly reddish, ranging from fuchsia to pink to red-orange." (Wikipedia)

Additional view:

farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3908579650_5a84ea139d_b.jpg

Photographed in U.C. Botanical Garden at Berkeley - Berkeley, California

Bookmobile supporting Meredosia, Bad Catman, The Flips, and Looming at Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield, IL on January 17, 2014.

Words cannot describe how good it felt to be shooting another show at Black Sheep after so long. It doesn't have the greatest lighting and the photo pit is nonexistent, but I just feel so at home there because that community of people is just incredible. They all support each other so much and it's amazing to be a part of that and to get to photograph it every so often. And then getting to be the guest photographer for Harm House's "Record of the Night" was absolutely awesome. Honestly, when I look back, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to the Black Sheep venue and community for everything they've done for me. This was my training ground when I was really getting started, and these are the people who took me in and accepted me without question and without reservation. That, and they put on some kick-ass shows =)