View allAll Photos Tagged objectivity
RAF C-130 Hercules performing their flypast of RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.
Three RAF Hercules toured the UK on 14th. June 2023 in a flypast to mark the iconic aircraft's retirement after over 56 years of service with the RAF. The farewell trip covered locations of significance to the Hercules service and 47 Squadron.
10.00 Depart Brize Norton
10:25 National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas
10:34 RAF Cosford
11:22 RAF Valley
11:48 FS Aldergrove
12:51 RAF Lossiemouth (with Typhoon escort)
14:08 RAF Leeming
14:10 RAF Topcliffe
14:23 Beverley
14:35 RAF Waddington
14:38 RAF College Cranwell
14:58 Cambridge Airport
15:04 RAF Mildenhall
15:15 Colchester Garrison
16:22 MOD Boscombe Down
16:25 Salisbury Plain (West Down Camp)
16:32 MOD Lyneham
16:36 Royal Wootton Bassett
16:39 Defence Academy of the UK, Shrivenham
16:43 Dalton Barracks, Abingdon
16:51 RAF Halton
16:55 RAF High Wycombe
17:05 RAF Brize Norton
The first Hercules arrived at aerospace company Marshall's of Cambridge in December 1966. Since entering RAF service, originally with 242 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Thorney Island, it has operated across the globe in support of UK military and humanitarian relief operations.
47 Squadron and the Hercules will continue to deliver on operations supporting UK defence objectives until 30th. June, when the 14 remaining aircraft will be retired and put up for sale and 47 Squadron will be disbanded.
Trying to be as objective as I can (with limited capabilities), the images in the collage are as follows:
Top - RAW (As Shot): NEF File Straight from a Nikon D7000 (No Post Production)
Middle - Nikon Camera Raw: Manual Process (No Photoshop Post Production)
Bottom - Lightroom CC: "Auto" (with some minor adjustments) and "Enhance" (No Photoshop Post Production, but scaled down to fit in the comparison collage)
A lovely couple met at the shelter of Grenairon (with their impressive dog not visible in this photo) . We will share a portion of the day, their destination being Le Buet and mine Le Cheval Blanc ..
Leur objectif
Un charmant couple de bivouaqueurs rencontré au refuge de Grenairon (avec leur impresionant chien alpiniste, non visible sur cette photo) . Nous partagerons une partie de la journée, leur destination étant Le Buet et le mien Le Cheval Blanc..
Tour du Ruan, Switzerland
Microscope lens setup. Effectively extension tubes and a extension tube to RMS cone adapter giving approx 160mm from focal plane to objective. A USB mini LED lamp fed from a rechargeable battery block (that goes in my pocket). The disc near then of the cone is actually a twin flash mount.
Parts. Sony A6000, Sony to EOS lens adapter, EOS to M42 adapter, M42 extension tubes, M42 to RMS cone, 4X 160mm microscope lens.
I already had these but obviously the adapters depend on the camera body in use but you need to get to M42 for the RMS adapter. The most common RMS adapter is a flat disc, if you use this you will need to use more M42 extension tubes.
Names have been withheld, really, I quite had to😉
This story is rather hard to peg.
It’s basic skeleton is loosely laid out like an Ocean’s Eleven movie plot, but with far fewer participants…
At it’s heart, it’s a rapscallions’ tale,
at it’s soul, it becomes something much deeper…
Have you ever been cajoled into doing a task that is totally out of your comfort zone and experience? But asked in such a way that your very being cannot resist the urges to carry it out?
That is what this tale is all about, well sort of…
Please Read on….
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 1
Recess is over
“Sigh Here goes it then, He probably is still sitting and drinking scotch at the bar!” ……
I said this myself as I stood alone in a side court of the brick building that had once been an eel tinning factory in the late 1800s.
I had lit my pipe to help ease the wait as the stage was being set up inside, and also to calm down the reluctance I was feeling for my upcoming task!
As I had sent circles of smoke swirling upwards, I busied myself by looking around at the odd shapes in the aged stained red bricks, surprisingly graffiti-free!
After the eel business failed, the building had seen many uses: a church, field hospital during the raids, a restaurant, and now a photography studio upstairs and fancy reception hall downstairs.
One of my customers had given me tickets to attend this fancy-dress affair, being held in the reception hall. The chance to dance, imbibe in a rather nice selection of liquor, and french appetizers. Along with an opportunity to be charitable to OX Fam.
I had come willingly enough, but my enjoyment of the festivities had been somewhat dampened by being requested to carry out an unexpected task about an hour ago.
A task really quite unrelated to my line of work!
Sort of like a Queen’s Guardsman being asked to do step out of line and do an Irish jig was the way I felt over it!
So, blimey then, why did I agree to be cajoled into it?
Well please read on, all things will be made clear in the end, providing I can pull the bloody stunt off!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So now I put out my pipe, knocking out the ashes against my patent leather shoe, brown, to go with my brown suit, brown silk tie and solid yellow starched shirt I was wearing out to that afternoons’ reception.
“I suppose, let’s find the Bugger!” I told myself with a slight hesitation, but with no whine in me voice ( for the record)!
I then promptly turned away and moved off, forcibly striding my way back inside…
I needed to see a man about a wager he was unaware that he was making as of yet!
……
Chapter 2
Enter the Lecturer
Ten minutes later I was back inside and had made my way through the chattering crowd.
I had said it the first time I had entered, and I repeated myself as I re-entered. I hadn’t seen so many attractively dressed ladies and refine, posh dressed males since the last BAFTA awards party I had been dragged too!
Not that I was complaining mind you, for I am just as much an appreciator of such a view as the next bloke. Especially in my line of business!
So I guess that is my excuse for not quite successfully keeping my focus on the task at hand that was inadvertently before to me...
But I finally managed an approach up to the long scarred oaken bar, after weaving my way amongst the countless numbers of mingling guests, all dolled up for the evening.
Once at my destination, I Ordered an old fashion (with rye ), and looked around.
He was still in his seat at the end of the bar, looking a bit more toshed, his hair and clothes a bit more hardscrabble.
Taking a long gulp of my drink, I carried it over and sat down on a stool next to him and said pleasantly.
” How is it going, Mate?”
He had been studying the dance floor, but with my greeting sighed and pulled himself away to look me up and down with a rather suspicious eye.
I met his gaze squarely, still smiling, avoiding the impulse to stare at the lit cigarette dangling from his lip. Being a pipe man meself , I was a wee bit opinioned when it came to sloppy cigarette smokers, especially those who left the bloody things dangle cheekily in their mouths at all times.
“Wotcher,” he said, a bit snidely I thought since I was just trying to be friendly.
“Do I know you then, Guv?” He quizzically added.
“ Sorry, Thought you looked like a bloke I knew up Manchester way,” I said apologetically.
“Not from there am I, guv !” He stated rather dismissively, as he then took his attention off of me and planted it back onto the dance floor.
I steadfastly plowed on…
“Well, one can’t always be right, can one?”
Then after no reaction, I finished my drink (easily downed, weak as it had been made )and placed the glass down, signaling the Keep.
“Just getting a drink, I see yours is out, whatcha be having then?” I asked as the bartender came up to us.
“Highball,” he said smartly, sneering at me, before turning back away. For some reason, I was not surprised at the bloke’s drink of choice.
If I had not had been given a job to do, and under different circumstances, I would have told the bartender to get him a ‘shirley temple’!
Instead, I placed the order, asking for an Irish whiskey, neat, for myself. I needed support!
I looked back at the man-boy sitting next to me.
He certainly was most interested in the goings-on the ballroom dance floor!
We were served our drinks.
He picked his up with taking his eyes off the dancers!
I took a long, gloriously settling, sip, letting the warmth settle right down to my stomach.
That’s better I thought, letting out a sigh, a bit too deeply probably, but my new acquaintance, with full attention still on the ballroom dance floor, paid my comments no heed.
He hadn’t asked me my name, which was fine by me, kept me from having to remember the one I would have had to make up.
Nor did I care to know this blokes name either, though I was harboring a pretty good guess that it would be a rather recognizable one, either mentioned from the telly or last weeks’ fish and chip wrappers.
But I could see I was losing the chap's attention!
I caught the Keeps eye and indicated a refill was in order for my new found ‘mate’.
“Pretty,” I said following his gaze as I pointed my glass out towards the dancers
“What ‘s pretty ?!” he stated sharply, still not diverting his eyes.
I noticed that they were a bit shifty, his eyes, like a sly, watchful fox, and that they moved with a rapid constancy. Think a young Trevor Howard with Peter Lorre’s eyes, and you have the chap to a T!
“The dancers, mate” I answered, “this lot is dressed rather elegantly tonight!”
He peeled his eyes off the dancers twirling and swishing about and turned slowly to me, a bit scornfully, “what did you expect guv, its full dress tonight, that’s why I have this bloody uncle’s monkey suit on, taint it?”
“Indeed sir” , I said agreeably with what I hoped was a winningly sincere voice.
Though down deep, to be honest, I felt this prig deserved anything but politeness.
Still, I carried on, trying to be friendly, remembering that if this was played right, the endgame would be a most satisfying one!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 3
School is in session
T'is time, It was my turn to look away from his smirking gaze.
I took a sip of my Irish and looked out over the dancefloor.
It looked like something out of the ballroom scene from Shaw's ‘Pygmalion’( Or My Fair Lady)
I was looking for some in particular, a certain lady actually!
I soon saw her, and after watching for a few wistful seconds, I raised my glass and pointed her out to my drinking mate.
“That lass in the green is pretty,” I remarked, nodding in a direction by the far corner of the floor to where a rather petite, jittery appearing, lady with black hair, prettily clad in a shiny bit of a green gown. She was wearing large black glasses that were owlishly perched on her nose. She also was flaunting a rather nice little set of shimmering emeralds!
The petite lass was dancing with a bird-like bloke wearing, of all things, a scarlet red vest.
“Whotcher looking at Guv?” he asked, interest peaking up as he began eagerly scanning the room to see what I was on about.!
“That lass in greens satin, dancing with robin redbreast by the mirrors!” I pointed out, the added…
“Personally, I like the way her emerald jewelry sets off against her gown!”
He caught sight of them as the danced by one of the big reflective mirrors that lined the dance floors’ west wall.
He took the view in, and I noticed he had nearly drained his highball in one gulp and had set it down without a kind word, like say, thank you for buying..!
He was on his way to a real bender if he kept up with that pace I thought, eyeing the two other, empty glasses, already collected at his elbow on the bar top!
Which is right where we needed him to be! I thought as I nodded again to the barkeep to bring another round…
I looked back at my drinking buddy, I could see his shifty eyes flitting about.
“Whas'at” he finally stated sourly, “You like that gangly four-eyed bird dancing with cock robin? He snorted at his own ‘witty’ remark.
Then looking at me for a long second, he continued on...
“Like her jewels do ya than mate?” He said not bothering to hide the snide meaning in his comment! “Meself, Guv, I notice more than a sweetie’s bloody jewels!”
He again chuckled dryly at his presumed wit, I did not choose to join in, just sat there smiling to myself before speaking again.
“Occupational hazard I guess, noticing Jewels, I mean.”
I admitted, choosing not to expound on my drinking partner’s opinion.
“I own a small jewelry shoppe on a village green.” “Nothing much, but it pays one’s rent.”
That opened him up, just a wee bit…
“I guess than a gent like you would prattle on about jewels” “Is that what brings you alone here this evening?” “I ain't seen you out dancing with anyone.”
There was definitely insinuation behind his voice and though I would for the world like to put this bugger in his place, my responses to him would continue treading along a delicate path. I had to mince words if I didn’t want my emerging scheme blowing up in my face.
Which is why I would not be giving any quick replies!
So, after the observation was spoken, I let him continue on in his dry, sniping tone that I was beginning to realize was his normal manner of speech! For the upper class education this twit had had, he certainly had not grasped the proper way of speaking. Professor Henry Higgins would have had a field day with this bloke!
Let this nitwit lead himself into the trap, I thought to myself, this may prove easier then we thought!
So, I just smiled in acknowledgment as he spoke further…
“So, you just want a bit of a peek at what you sell guv!” he snorted, elbowing me before continuing on…
“Myself, I just like looking at the whole bleeding curvy package, ‘iffin you get my drift ! Though your green bird wearing them shiny bits you like, is a bit underdeveloped in my opinion! ”
Giving me a weaselly little grin, he again nudged me with his elbow, editing a mirthless cackling laugh!
Then, taking the last long gulp of his drink, wiping his mouth on a tux sleeve, he turned his attention raptly back onto the thronging occupants of the dance floor.
He didn’t signal for another round, which was probably because he was too cheap to repay me in kind!
So I again caught the Barkeep’s eye, we were becoming rather acquainted with one another, he came back over, and I indicated a refill for my friend, indicating I was still good with mine.
I believed I had now spotted the opening I had been trying to lead him around to! I took a deep breath and delved into the breach.
For our ploy, it was now sink or swim time!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 4
History Lesson
When one is trying to do something for the first time, without prior practice, it is difficult not to make a mistake(s).
So, The Risk of what I was about to try was that I had just had the request sprung on me, without any forewarning or time to practice! If I made a single mistake or misspoke then my whole attempt would tumble down like a house of cards!
What I was trying to pull off was getting this smart-mouthed cockney git to make a wager with me, a rather unconventional one at that!
So, I just threw all caution to the wind, and began a buildup to reach my selling point!
I started with a question after he was served his fresh drink.
“So then, what do you do when you are not attending these rather posh affairs?”
I asked this, trying to keep a wedge in our conversation. Even though the answer was pretty obvious from the blighter’s manner of dress, and baby smooth manicured fingers!
“Nuttin” he said through gritted teeth, never diverting his gaze to me…
“Don’t hafta work like a regular blighter, gets a small allowance from me father don’t I! Not much though, old parental gents are too cheap by half if you ask me, livin in the stone age where an extra few quid is concerned!!”
He spat out the last few words.
So, this rich guys pup can always use a bit of cash I thought happily to myself!
“Shame” I sympathetically pretended to agree, “but still, cheers to being able to keep a roof over one’s head.” I raised my still ¼ full drink and clinked it against his glass.
We both drained our glasses in salute and I again ordered another round.
After we were served, my new ‘friend’ , out of the side of his mouth since his eyes were glued back on the ballroom dancers, stated wryly…
“You like’n them emeralds Guv? ”
I could see his eyes were again stuck on watching the girl with the unfortunately large eyeglasses, who was elegantly wearing,( in my own humble opinion), the green satin gown. The whole affair offset with her brite glittering emeralds.
He went on as if thinking aloud…
“Broad’s a bit too mousey for my taste, ole 4 eyes there, still, I wouldn’t say no to admire’ in what curves she has under that shiny dress!” And he let out another little guffaw at his crude witticism.
Crude, apparently being a trademark of all this Bloke’s remarks!
I choose to ignore his rather rude comment, and went on, trying to remain unruffled by my new friends' rather blunt outlook on the fairer sex!
As we both were watching her, I amiably made her the target of our small talk, gently leading him around to the query and wager I was leading up to…
“I admire any gemstones that I can sell my dear sir. But there are other things that I will also allow to command my interest!” I said casually, delicately, “
“ W’thats you on about then?” He asked, reluctantly taking his eyes from the dance floor and placing his attention fully back onto me, as he looked me over like he had just now noticed I was there!
I remembered thinking, yeah ya bleeding prig, three free drinks and not a thank you insight, ya haven’t even asked my name! Not that the one I would have given him would have been my own! Picked a winner here, I did!
But when I spoke, my words and manner of speech did not betray any of those thoughts!
“Well”, I admitted rather sheepishly, “In my line of work I come across many alerts from the constabulary about ladies who have had jewels come up missing, and am asked to keep an open eye out for them.”
He looked suspiciously at me.
“The bloody bobbies ask YOU about it?” he questioned.
“No” I admitted, “all jewelers receive the same circulars. But you see, the thing that piques my curiosity at these events is to try and catch one in action!”
“Catch one what guv ?” he asked quizzically.
“Thief!“ I announced in an ‘everyone one knows’ tone of voice’, pausing a few seconds before I continued on…
“You see lad, a good many circulars describe how ladies lose a bit of their jewelry at functions like these from time to time. It is assumed that the expensive pieces just had bad clasps, but me, I am not so sure that is the case, for it appears to happen far too frequently in these parts! Plus a lot of times they end up trying to be pawned at shoppes like mine, and the clasps looked fine. So are they just finding them lost on the floor, or is there something else going on!”
“What else would it be guv?” He asked, his sluggish curiosity, finally, peaking!
“Well,” I said, leaning into him rather conspiratorially…
“ I have come to the conclusion that there are a fraction of thieves out there that can lift jewels being worn by ladies, like these being worn here tonight, without being caught in the act! And I attend functions like these on the off chance to see if my thesis is correct!”
“Thesis?” my rather cheeky friend asked, not getting the drift. “
I sighed inwardly, thinking entirely to myself that we will be here all evening if I have to explain everything to this. most likely privately schooled, but still uneducated Git! I decided to go easy on the verbiage with him going forward!
“Thesis means theory lad, a belief that, say, our lady yonder in the green frock could be parted from her emeralds by one of her dance partners, if the bloke was of the mindset to acquire them in that manner! If you get my drift.”
He didn’t, so I calmly went into more detail…
“What I am saying is that since she wouldn’t be suspecting it, a dance partner, say, may have an eye for her necklace, and slip the emeralds away from around her very throat. Without her even noticing, until he was long gone!”
“ You sayin guv?” “ that that swarmy cock robin bloke dancin with that skrawny 4 eyed chick, maybe after her necklace?”
“Rot!” he smirked, taking his eyes off of the couple and onto me, “nigh impossible to do such a thing!”
He snickered at the thought, then added…
“Besides, If someone was that interested in nicking her jewels, why not just follow her out and do a complete job of it !?”
“A lot more risk involved being caught doing it that way Mate, not to mention it is rather obvious that she is being robbed! No, to do it this way a thief could come away scot-free with the goods without any suspicions falling upon himself.”
I stated in a quite logical tone of voice.
With his eyes back on the dancing couple, he questioned my reasoning…
“But a bloke would have to be a rather quick-fingered one like a pickpocket wouldn’t he now?”.
And have someone to practice on, I thought to myself before answering in a reassuring tone…
“Not A ‘toll my good sir,” I assured, “I think it could be done by anyone with relative ease, I bet even non-thieves like you or I could do it with some success, especially if the lady in question has had a bit too much to drink, or is nearsightedly clumsy !”
“Or both!”
he stated without thinking…
Then catching himself, he snidely went on questioning me…
Blimey mate, your still half-cracked barmy for even thinking that way!”
He sneered, but I knew a seed had been planted…
For I saw him take a long, speculative look at the lady fetchingly clad in green satin, still being waltzed merrily along the dance floor.
I also found it vexing that she was completely unaware that her nicely shimmering emeralds had become such a rather unscrupulous topic of speculative supposition over them being lifted off from her!
A topic that needed to become more than mere speculation!
So In conspiracy, I commented under my breath…
“Ten quid lad!”
“Whots that then mate?” He perked up while addressing me quizzically, “Tenner for what?”
“Ten quid Says I could lift that particular lady’s emerald necklace straight away, and not be caught out in the process?
He thought about it for one long minute, finishing his drink in the meantime. “Don’t know guv, the local Bobbies may frown upon that!”
I countered, trying to set the hook in deep, figuring a bit of creative lying would be in good order to ease away from his concerns.
“Not if I don’t get caught lad, and that necklace is only a cheap imitation. She probably got it out of a crackerjack box, and being chintzy, she wouldn’t be surprised at the clasp breaking away and it falling as she danced! If she would happen to even notice my amateur attempt, would she now?”
I could see he was mulling something over as I spoke, as his limp cigarette was bobbing up and down still clamped in his pursed lips. It was certainly a long time coming together, this blokes’ imaginary skills!
He nodded towards the lady in green, as she was happily being swished around the dance floor in all of her innocence bliss. Those brilliant emeralds of hers making a nice show of it, sparkling on like they were, just crying out to be noticed and admired, which they were, and perhaps soon that sparkling cry would be hushed out by admiring fingers!
“Suppose that gangly 4 eyed bird looks gullible enough to try it out on. Probably too shy, so won’t make much fuss when she catches you trying!”
He looked at me cynically...
“And make no mistake guv, you will be caught… and then I wouldn’t know you from Adam!”
He held out a greedy hand, fingers beckoning as he chortled …
So, the, with that said, make it two for one guv, I’ll hold onto your twenty, and you are on a bet!” He chortled.
And like that, the hook was set! Though, blimey, I had seen carp from the ‘Myths’ finally taking the bait with less subtly!
“Capital!” I acknowledged, “I appreciate a good challenge!”
But my newly found ‘Mate’ did not answer, his eyes greedily studying the £20 in his grasp!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 5
Field Trip
I arose, straightening my jacket and tie, and looking over to where the lady wearing the green gown was blissfully dancing…. I commented under my breath, half encouraging to myself…
“You are on lad!”
And marched myself off to the dance floor without looking back, even when I clearly heard him smirkingly make a rude sound to my back!.
The current song was ending and I caught up with my quarry as she began nicely swishing her way off the dance floor with cock robin leading the way.
Gently laying fingers upon a scintillating satin clad shoulder, I touched her from behind.
She turned and fixed me with a rather fetchingly heart-tugging demure look of questioning upon her face from a pair of intriguingly hazel coloured eyes.
Said eyes were rather enticingly enlarged by being behind the thick-lensed black glasses she was wearing.
“Care to dance?” I asked, with some earnest, ( after all twenty quid is twenty quid)!
She smiled, laying upon me an aire of innocence that rather took me aback for an instance…, then said sweetly
“Sorry lad, I am a bit worn out just now !”
My heart dropped down to my feet at that!
Seeing my utter disappointment, then she continued with a perked smile, placing a gloved hand to her throat and playing with the very necklace, one which decidedly, despite my earlier comments, would not have come from a crackerjack box!
“I will be guess‘in that I can’t see what harm one more dance could do a girl, would it then ?”
She spoke with a rather soft sort of Irish brogue, that was the second generation at best, but had me hooked with its lyrical lilt!
She turned towards her waiting escort, who was casting daggers my way with his eyes!
She nodded to, raising her green gloved hand for him to take with a gentle dismissal, and then he begrudgingly left!
“Brilliant!”
I said with heartfelt meaning and led her back to the wooden dance floor as the orchestra was getting ready to start up playing music again.
A slow dance started up and I took her in my arms, keeping a discreet, friendly distance between us.
We made small talk, though I avoided talking anything about jewelry.
Trying to think like a thief would in this situation.
I was figuring in my mind that if the plan was to be carried out with success, I, and my victim, needed to stay well away off the subject of the jewels she was wearing!
I did, however, manage to steal several discreet glances at her necklace, a pretty thing.
It consisted of a thin gold chain, set with a single row of emeralds divided by small sparkly chips of diamonds. It had a loose lay around her neck, bouncing easily along with their perch, which was just nicely above the girl’s tightly satin clad chest!
All in all, a quite completely vexing show indeed!
Also, by how the necklace was moving loosely about, partially laying on the slick green satin of my partner’s gown, It appeared that one could slip the whole necklace off rather easily.
If I was to now be a quick, unaccustomed judge of such matters!
After a few random comments concerning the evening’s doings, I complimented her on her pretty hair.
Which it was, pretty I mean, strikingly black, falling softly down to her shoulders where its’ curled ends swayed with a most delighting motion.
Also, the long emerald earrings that kept peeking in and out as they swung merrily from her hair were putting on a rather playful show!
She blushed, turning her head down, earrings and necklace swaying out in a rhythmic beat!
By the purely innocent way, she bashfully responded to my compliment, I was encouraged to go ahead and proceed in winning my wager!
I removed my hand from around her waist and lifted a lock with my left hand in emphasis, taking the opened opportunity to study her necklaces clasp caught in the reflection of the mirror now conveniently behind her.
I re-set my hand upon her a rather sensuous feeling backside, gently laying it nonchalantly just upon her shoulder.
The way her eyes were closed in a basking manner, she appeared not to notice the change in my grasp.
She happily ate up my compliments, giggling with pleasure as she flicked her hair back, sending her pair of lovely, longish earrings sparkling alongside her enchanting face!
The whole effect was made even more lively with those eyeglass magnified, doe-like wide hazel coloured eyes smiling with pure pleasure!
She was quite a vexing, most charming thing, my dance partner, and the conversation flowed easily between us.
She appeared to be an absolutely sweetly trusting soul, and I, with some slight reservation, made the most of it!
My hand meanwhile was still rested upon her shoulder, and I slowly allowed it to travel closer to her necklace, watching for any sign of skittishness from my dance partner.
But she continued chatting away, accepting smiles from me as silent answers, which was just as well, for my mind was set on other things, and any conversation requiring me too think out an answer would have intruded on my concentration, hampering me on the way of acquiring her necklace, and winning of our wager!
But soon there were other emotions in play!
For her long green satin gown felt like heaven under my fingertips, and I was beginning to become pleasantly mesmerized by how the sleek material fluidly swished and fluttered around us as we danced.
Actually, I soon realized that so spellbinding was my partner, that I found myself almost convinced not to play any tricks and let the wager be lost!
But then I looked up and in the reflection of the mirror, saw the smug face of the git staring at me from the bar and decided I just could not let him win!
That cleared my mind, I will say, and rekindled my interest in seeing if I could do this!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was then I realized that the dance music was in its final chords...
I decided I had to go for it now!
So I forced out a comment about one of the blokes sitting at the bar ( far from my fellow conspirator!), her eyes sought and found the gent out, then she fetchingly giggled in agreement to my observation.
Meanwhile, my fingers had deftly reached up to the end of the gold chain hanging down from the clasp of her necklace.
Ever so slowly I pulled it down like one would a lampshade chain, and the whole affair obligingly came down!
The hinged clasp soon was captured in my grasping fingers.
At the same time, I was watching the necklace with its flickering emeralds and diamonds, from the front, as her head had been turned towards the bar.
I noticed how the necklace was moving up, smoothly slithering along with the sleek material of her pretty gown, praying it would not catch and draw her attention!
But the sparkling little beauty behaved, and gave its’ unaware mistress no fair warning!!
We twirled around and I led her to a far corner where a group of fake trees was clustered, giving me a bit of haven from the possibility of being seen making my final move!
The music started on its final chord, I probably only had a little over a minute to make good on my attempt!
I knew the type of her necklaces’ clasp, now wedged in my fingertips, and having worked on many like it, this one presented no problem.
So it was, with surprising ease given me nervousness, the diamond emerald necklace’s necklace’s clasp nicely popped open, leaving one end of the expensive necklace laying over her shoulder, resting like a shimmery snake in the green grass, as it laid out upon her sensuously shiny gown!
Then, in quick fashion, timing it perfectly as the song ended…
I bought her willingly into a friendly hug thanking her, whilst at the same moment whisked the necklace from around the neckline of her satin gown!
It came away, smooth as sliding a melting ice cube across the surface of a piping hot griddle!
It easily slipped off, then fell safely away and was securely stowed away into a tux pocket before we had fully broken apart.
Shamelessly I smiled into her eyes.
“Thank you luv, that was rather quite pleasant !”
I told her this in all sincerity as I removed my left hand from my pocket, and delicately took her green gloved one up to kiss adieu!
She looked down at our hands for one brief second, and I eyed the quite glaringly empty spot where her rather fine necklace of emeralds and diamonds had until so very recently had been dangling.
Could it really be that easy I thought curiously to myself!
Briefly wondering also what thoughts would be in a real thief’s mind upon successfully reaching this point!
She looked back up and smiled winningly at me as I innocently looked into her eyes
I could tell she was truly clueless as to what had just transpired!
She chirped back with her rich Irish brogue…
” Pleasure was all mine, to be sure, kind sir, thank ye for the quite lovely dance, but now it’s time for a restin of weary feet ya know.”
She slipped her hand, hesitantly I thought, from mine.
And with that, she turned and I watched for a rather few elongated seconds as she swished her way off, almost wishing to myself that at the last minute she would notice the necklaces’ absence.
And in my mind, I imagined being given a second dance as a reward for finding her lost necklace, or perhaps something even better may come of it … well worth losing twenty quid over!
But she didn’t notice and was gone, soon melting in with the crowd on the opposite fringe of the wooden dance floor.
And all my imaginings and desires evaporated with her…
I then finally noticed heart was pounding up a storm!
For there I was, standing there like a loon with a lady’s still warm necklace in my jackets’ pocket!
Some thief!
We hadn’t even exchanged names, which would have been a quite natural thing to do if one was trying not to appear doing anything out of the ordinary!
It’s a wonder she hadn’t noticed and start to wonder… Maybe she was? And I pictured how she had played with the necklace as I had asked her to dance. Blimey, I wasn’t out of the woods yet, was I!.
I forced myself to turn away, and head back before any undue attention was given to me,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 6
Social Studies
I made my way quickly to the grinning git at the bar, intending on collecting my winnings.
“That was easy!” I lied as I regained my seat and took a long sip of my drink, trying to appear complacent over the entire affair.
“Codswallop”
He said unhappily, not bothering to reach for his billfold!
“ Knew the twit was gullible, but not that stupid, she never caught on, did she now? So You were just lucky then that’s all !? ”
“I was a bit lucky” I admitted.
“But it does prove true what I was saying earlier, and if a rank armature like me could pull it off, then just think about what a regular thief could do, rather proved my point, don’t it now!”
He drained his glass and set it down sharply before responding…
“It's not Cricket guv.”
He singled to the Barkeep by fidgeting with his empty glass, ordering another. Just for himself, apparently buying others a drink was not in this Blokes mindset, as well as paying off his depts!
He looked at me…
“Ya know Guv, I was just remembering there was a telly show where these were ladies marooned on an island. They got all themselves’ gussied up one evening with one of them dancing with this bloke she knew was a thief. She knew, and he still was able to take her necklace while dancing with her, as you did with that four-eyed twit! I would not have bet you if I had remembered that sooner. If he could do it, then I should have known any bloke could do so!”
I smirked to myself, I had seen that show also once, though I knew it was not a reality show but had been scripted with the actress being quite aware her necklace was going to be lifted ahead of time. I wondered if this blighter knew the difference!?
By the way, he still was grasping my £20, I realized that not only was the weasel not going to pay me for winning, but he was also making it look like I had cheated him to keep it!
“Bye the bye, what do you do now with her necklace guv?”
He asked accusingly, looking down at his fresh drink.
“Or are you one of them telly thieves… Maybe I should call the bobbies!?”
As he said this, he nonchalantly pocketed away my money!
I inwardly sighed…
“No worries lad, I’m just a jeweler like I said, I’ll turn it over to security at the door, found it just laying here on the floor don’tcha know sir… !”
“Security will return it to the lady, no harm done!”
Then, with a co-conspirator’s smile, I lied again...
“As I said me, lad, it’s a cheap bit of rhinestones! Otherwise, I probably would have been too nervous to accomplish it!”
He hesitated before answering, his eyes with a faraway look in his eyes!
I found myself wondering if this prig was contemplating trying to get more of my money!
This thought prompted me to say something, and as luck would have it, it turned out to be the key to opening up the whole affair!
I said, “Look, Mate, your right, she hasn’t even caught on like that lady you mentioned seeing saw on that ‘telly’ show!”
We both looked over at the lady in green. She had reappeared, joining a group at the far end, and no one is actually aware of anything amiss, let alone her innocent self!
Though I had to admit that I found the necklace’s absence from around her throat quite a glaring concern… But I remained calm about it!
The longer she took to notice, the less likely she would connect its loss with our dance, I reasoned with myself, almost feeling into the part of a suave jewel thief one sees acting out in the movies!
Turning to my co-conspirator, I admitted…
“Perhaps you are right, I may have made that wager knowing it was easy!”
He looked at me suspiciously, but I continued…
“Look now, I tell you, lad, women think their jewels are safe whilst being worn. The last thought any of em would suspect is that someone can lift their jewels off and be away..! That’s my theory on how thieves with light fingers could operate on in my humble opinion, and not only just to win ten quid on a bet!”.
I could tell that something was churning about in my now, quite liquored, friend’s narrow mind.
He turned his eyes back to our black-haired, hazel-eyed victim wearing the shiny green gown!
“Okay guv, you got away with it this time!”
“Tell you what lad,” I said turning the heat up on the situation as I pulled my wallet from a breast pocket, and counted out pound notes...
“Let us make it up to you! One hundred quid says you can do the same as I did!”
He picked up his drink, taking thoughtful sips, still studying my face, as his mind continued churning things about, before finally asking…
“And if I lose?”
I smiled, knowing the hook had been set!
“If you lose, then I will pay you twenty quid. So you will win no matter what happens, laddie!”
“Actually guv two Hundred if I win, that how sure you are I could do it? “
I whistled softly under my breath for emphasis, ”That’s about all I have !” I lied, appearing a bit hesitant.
“Com’ on Guv, a rich jeweler like yourself!” He nudged me again, and let out a snide cackle, a new cigarette dangling from a sneering lip.
“Anything but rich mate, but you are on!”
I pend my billfold and counted out the additional £100 in a pile, letting him eye up for a few seconds, the nicely thick pile of notes!
“All Yours,” I said,” if you dare try and are successful!”
I reached out my hand, he did not take it
“ And I pick the broad, right mate?” he stated.
“As long as it is not my lass in green” I answered.
He nodded in agreement, finally shaking my hand
And I shook his hand, watching a rather foxy grin spread all over his Weasley face, he openly drooled over the healthy pile of pound notes, his sodden cigarette bouncing up and down quite vigorously in his pursed lips.
Any idiot could see that he was up to something!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 7
The A Levels Test
Not a good poker player, are ye lad I thought to meself, keeping my face in an easy grin that no way betrayed what I was actually thinking!
^^^
Feigning Curiosity, though I knew the answer I asked him…
“Whom do you have in mind?” I asked looking around with a conspirator’s aire?”
Soon I spied a rather easy mark of a gangly young lass, admirably wearing a tawny coloured taffeta gown, her tightly worn frock appearing as slick an easy a material to slip away jewelry from as the green gown my victim was wearing so winningly!
And this lass was wearing a simple, longish string of polished faux pearls, fastened with an uncomplicated hook –in-eye clasp! An easy, light necklace just begging to be lifted!
Now actually curious as to his seeing what this blighter’s reaction would be to this, I nodded his attention over in her direction, drawing his eyes from the money pile!
“That fetching lass over there in brown, one with the pearls, looks to be an easy enough one, don’t you think? Would you be eye’ in that one then?”
Not surprisingly, He shook his head no…
“Nah, as I said, I’ll choose one to my liking!”!”
As he said this, I watched as his eyes sought out and then nodded in the direction of a particular lass I had suspected he would choose…
“There, that one in blue near to your pearl hanger!” he smirked, “the one dancing with the prat in white!”
I looked over and acted as if I had just noticed her, though it had been pretty obvious that she was the one my ‘friend’ had had a watchful eye on all evening.
She was a diminutive lass, rather provocatively wearing a short sky bright blue dress of sleek silk, tightly outlining her rather pleasingly curved figure!
She was also openly sporting a nice collection of diamonds!
Authentic diamonds consisting, of a rather eye-catching bib like, 3 tiered necklaces that blazingly rippled fiery sparkles from around her throat!
Matching tiered earrings and bracelets, all equally glittering and sparkling with priceless prickles of colourful fire as she moved about almost completed the show!
She also was wearing a vulgarly large friendship diamond on her pinky, but all her other fingers were bare!
Openly appearing somewhat doubtful he could pull it off, I also kept mum about the fact her jewels being risky real, I wished him good luck!
Because, for one, mine at least obligingly had her necklace laid entirely along the collar of her gown, but this one in blue had a ruffled scooped collar, her necklace laid out above totally on the bare skin of her throat!
Granted the skin glistened with a bit of sweat, which may make it a bit more doable!
The pearls would have been much easier for him!
This one, I wouldn’t have picked her for a first attempt! Not even a second or third attempt!
It would take a master thief ( if they actually existed) to lift away that necklace off from a girl dressed as such! And despite all my assurances to my drinking mate, he was no master at anything, even sober, the caddish prig...!
That money may be as good as mine if I could pry his hands from it!!
But, in the seconds that my mind played this out, he had quickly gotten up and beelined to her, cutting in abruptly and sending her Brad Pitt look-alike dance partner, the one wearing the unfortunate white tux, scuttling off.
Subtly was not a virtue of that lad! “Bull in a china shop that one!” I whispered unbelievingly under my breath as I ordered one last Irish whiskey neat…
I watched with wonder as they danced, the lit limp dangling cigarette blowing curling hazy smoke into her face, and she scrunched her nose unhappily each time it did.
He made her dance close and had wrapped one hand, snake-like, up and around her shoulder, his lips whispering close in her ears.
She looked rather like a skittish colt but surprisingly appeared accepting of her unfortunate fate of a dance partner.
But, by Jove, despite all his cheekiness, lack of sophistication and his victim’s unease, the twit actually started to pull it off!
His hand traveled up along her backside until it reached flesh and gruffly trying to pry open her necklaces jeweled clasp.
I really don’t know how she never felt it.
But she didn’t and before one could blink (or wince), he had the jeweled clasp worked opened and had pulled the glittering necklace of diamonds moving with a shimmer up and over her slick silk covered shoulder!
His backside was now to me, and I watched the necklace, like a shimmering waterfall, drip dangling down from his fist behind her! Its glittering diamonds back-dropped nicely by the blue coloured shiny material of her dress. Surprisingly, no one else saw it in the seconds before he managed to stow it roughly away in a side jacket pocket!
I watched him turn her around in his arms until he was able to make eye contact with me, and I saw him give me quite the ‘thumbs up’ look of triumph.
He then abruptly left her, the half-drunk twit not even bothering to finish the song even, that much was he in hast to collect his pile of £200 in winnings!
And in that haste to make it back to the money pile, pretty much plowed over the green gowned lass standing in his way! The same one whose purloined necklace was now residing in my pocket!
As I saw this happing, I reached into that pocket and reassuringly felt that necklace with me fingers as I was watching it all unfold...
Now, so abrupt was the encounter on the dance floor, that the poor lass’s heavy glasses were knocked off, and she stumbled against him as she bent down to retrieve them... He pushed her unsteady figure aside, as she looked up to him for unoffered assistance, causing her to fall onto her knees.
As others came to her rescue, he walked away without a backward glance, and came over to me, smirking widely with an arrogant, self-satisfied look upon his (rather punchable at that point ) smug face.
I felt sorry for the lass in green as she picked up her gasses and was helped up by none other than cock robin in the red vest!
But red-faced with embarrassment, she left him standing there, and rushed off to take refuge in the ladies’ loo. Holding her glasses, squinting her eyes she ran up against a few guests as she scurried away in humiliating retreat!
Pay it up lad he said with a rather churlish grin… and I uneasily picked up the thick pile of notes and handed it to him.
I felt like saying something about his rudeness to the green satin gowned lass, but since I had been a rude one myself when I took her necklace, I let that sleeping dog lay quiet like.
Instead, I freely lied …
“Nicely done, old chap “Don’t forget to turn it in, I am sure the lady will eventually be a missing that very pretty piece!”
He slapped me on the backside as he gleefully counted my £ 200 worth of pound notes, looking all the world like a crafty cat who had eaten the gilded canary!
“No worries guv, she’ll get it back in due course!”
He was so sure of himself during the whole endeavor that I suppose warning bells should have been going off like gangbusters, but I gave no outward sign, my demeanor remaining icy calm, not an easy trick I will say, especially at that place and time!
I Just causally rose, and shaking his greasy, sweaty palm ( the one not tightly holding me money), lied again by sayin…
“Smartly played mate!”
I turned on me heel, my back to the bloke and walked off not looking back, letting out a long sigh of relief.
I had actually pulled the bloody spur of the moment scheme off!
I looked out onto the dance floor, marveling in the richly adorned dancers who her swishing and swirling about!
However, gone from the scene was a diminutive lass in blue, and still missing was my dance partner in green with the thick glasses!
I knew that off the pair of loos there was a back exit leading the rear parking lot, and I suspected she may have fled the ballroom using that as an escape.
“Pity.”, I said to myself, would have liked to have had a final look over at her, and her fine green-clad figure, lit under those dance floor lights one last time…!
So, I just continued dispassionately on, making my way back to the far side of the enormous chamber…
Quickly losing meself back amongst the throngs of gaily dressed, well liquored, unknowing partiers who were circling around the rest of the chamber…
Almost home I murmured happily…!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 8
Grading on a Curve
I was meaning to leave the premises via a back exit, with its brick patio that led into the hedges surrounding the gardens.
As I went, I passed a non-caring security type on my way.
I did not wish to bother to shatter his bliss by stopping to hand over a lady’s emerald necklace, plus then having to take the time trying to explain how It happened to be in my possession!
So the lass would not be getting back her necklace in that fashion.
With a nod, I just walked casually by, a bloke with nothing to hide by all outward appearances.
That was me!
As I went outside, I felt the fresh breeze hit me face, and I breathed it deeply in, finally feeling free of all bother and worries.
I headed directly through the gated opening in the hedges, my final objective was reaching to the far side exit off of the lengthy garden that led off to the place where the red touring auto I drove was parked.
A bit of a walk, but amongst other things, It gave me time to marvel over how easily I was able to work through a situation that I was sure would Fail!
I made my way, slowing down a tad and admiring the flowers and rather ornate fountains that made up this hedged in proper little English garden.
I had one at home myself, behind the cottage, but nothing on this scale, just a brick path amongst some moss rose and lilies, with a rather ancient wrought iron bench overlooking a small stone-built pond in its centre.
I found myself automatically reaching for me pipe and pouch, figuring to contemplate with a long smoke as I walked. But immediately thought the better of it, time was, after all, still decidedly of the essence.
Soon enough, I reached my objective, then for the first time turned to look directly behind me, no one else was about!
I breathed a sigh of relief, it finally was over!
I turned and exited through the back gate…
I approached the curve that lined the parking lot when from another path off to the side I suddenly saw a shadow emerge, detaching itself from behind a tree.
^^^^^^
At the same instant, I was made aware of the sound of a quick swish of something silky, and before I could turn about, a very feminine set of fingers gently grasped my arm.
For the briefest part of a second, my mind pictured the young lass in sky blue, the one whose diamond necklace had been lifted as a result of my wager.
My ears met with a soft voice speaking in a lilting Irish accent, whispering cheerily behind me.
“Ta, my love, I’m here!”
I turned and looked again into those rapturing hazel eyes, prettily magnified by her heavy black glasses.
“Ta, here you are indeed !”
I enthusiastically agreed, and pulled her up against me, hugging into her sweet figure, my hands , openly this time, relishing in the splendid feel of her luxuriously soft, shimmery green satin gown, and the warm cuddling figure it encased!!
“Apparently, some turd stole me necklace while we danced !”
she whispered this playfully in my ear...
“ ‘ere now! By chance would ya know who the jester was laddie?!”
We broke apart, and as she stood there facing me with a rather smugly coy look about her, one hand on her chest, the other playing along her gown’s barren neckline. I gave her ravishing figure a quick once over before my eyes finally coming to rest once again on the empty neckline of her shiny green coloured gown.
“Indeed, I do “ I admitted, patting me tux outer pocket!
She gazed at me as I admitted my sin, a rather lusting look I knew, and melted for over oh so many times past!
Nice to know that feelings were still strong between us: after a five-year partnership before being married, and now a full 10 years vehemently lost in wedded bliss.
And what a lovely bride she had been… and still is for all that matters….!
I think her thoughts were going on about the same lines as mine, and may have led to us being rather a bit naughty right there an then under the witch elm tree that grew on the green lawn that separated the gardens from the parking lot!…. But!
But, shaking our heads clear in unison, we both turned back to peek into the still empty gardens…
Then we looked at each other directly in the eyes, and chuckling out loud together, proclaimed in sync…
“Let’s get going!”
We forthwith went to the auto, and I helped her slid onto the left side leather passenger inside our small, but quite fast, red coloured touring convertible.
Once she had slithered down, pulled in the loose ends of her long green gown, and nestled into the warm black leather of the seat, I closed her door.
I then promptly hopped in on the right, and fired up the engine into roaring life , and pulled off, leaving the place agreeably, as they say in the olde B.W. movies, in our dust...
About a mile down the road I looked up in the rear mirror, no one was following, but then, really why should they?
Though I was sure that by now there was some unsettling commotion going on back amongst several of the guests at the party we had both so recently left, there was really no way they could have logically connected me, or my wife, to any of it!
Suspicions, of course, maybe raised, but no one there knew enough about either of us to track down and ask!
With that thought in my head, I glanced over at my wife, saying rather with a cheeky tone of voice…
“Luv, we may actually have gotten away with this one!”
I saw my wife winningly smile as she pulled herself from what looked like deep thoughts, not breaking her gaze from the curving road ahead.
I stole another glance down at her clasped hands holding closed over an unseen object tightly within…
Catching my eye, she tenderly chided...
“Hush now dear husband, don’t go ‘an spoil this lucky find we worked so hard to acquire.”
At which point she opened her clasped hands so we could both have a look!
^^^^^^^^^^
I’ll end the chapter here for a bit of a mystery, though I am sure that anyone reading up to this point suspects all too well what we had come away from the party with 😉
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 9
Skipping Class, not for a smoke either!
My Wife’s green satin gloved hands, which had been clasped closed upon her gown’s shiny lap, were now opened a little and I peaked at the wild glistening of the 3 tiered bibbed necklace of quite genuine diamonds that lay nestled in her gloved palms.
Whistling, I asked…“I assume that those came from the gent’s tux pocket ?”
“ Quite she said, and a rather easy pick it twas , muggy bumping into me like he did!”, “ Rather a rude ‘un wasn’t he!”
She straightening her glasses in remembrance.
I chuckled in the memory of just how annoying the bloke had been, then said…
“Yes, most certainly was, rude, the self-centered wealthy young twit! Absolutely agree on that subject my love!!...plus the bugger smelled of something rude! ”
My eyes on the road, as I said this, I swerved to miss a clump of a cow’s by-product on the road, then continued on…
“It was a good plan! Played out just as you said it would! Sorry I doubted you!”
My wife, and partner in crime, smiled as I glanced over to her…
“Happy out!
When you first pointed out her diamonds, I knew that the spoiled missy’s necklace was the best take there by far of the other jewels stingingly being worn by any of the other ladies! And Bob’s me, uncle if those weren’t her maters anyways! “
I shook my head….
“Umm, possibly a bit too modern a setting for her mother, maybe a filthy rich admirer behind the curtains, so to speak...judging by the friendship ring she was flaunting about under everyone’s nose?”
My wife was still smiling, studying the brite necklace as it lay piled in her palm, a nice contrast, flickering diamonds on a green satin bed!…
Me pretty wife went on…
“Could be luv… but moer’ in likely ah disgustingly rich one than filthy he would be at that, judging by the quality of these diamonds she was wearing so flagrantly. One could see that without a jewelers' microscope!”
“But, of course, the fly in the ointment, was missey’s shadowing brother, watching her like a hawk from that barstool! The poor thing couldn’t enjoy herself properly, let alone wander off anywhere alone where a person like m’self could be expected to acquire a bit of them jewels in a proper fashion!!”
My eyes back on the road, I nodded in agreement, then with a sigh, I said…
“Yes and we both saw she wasn’t drinking and didn’t appear to be needing to use a powder room…”
“So we met up in that secluded side court to hold council, and agreed it was all up to me!”
She looked over at me, rather meekly...
“So, what better way than to have her brother take them, and obligingly deliver them to us?”
I sighed again, for dramatic reasons…
“ I know luv… at first, I was against the idea, especially since it placed me in the spotlight!”
Turning my eyes from the road, I gave both her, and the necklace she held, a brief, but warming, glance!
Then continued on…
”You, after all my lovely one, are the actress and pickpocket in the family!”
My wife laid a softly gloved hand upon my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze…
“ I was knowin you could do it luv, and the gambit was well worth its outcome if successful, which so far, it has!”
I chuckled…
“And it only cost us a mere £220!
I said this with triumph, for we both knew what the value of those diamonds would represent against a normal fortnight’s work to the year’s family income!”
My wife lowered her hand from my arm and laying it on my lap, squeezed my leg quite in a happy fashion.
As I, and the family jewels, both perked up at this, she snickered and commented….
“I think we are done for the weekend my luv, perhaps we should head on towards for home now, I think that I can ‘feel’ that you may be in agreement? “
Smiling outwardly at her words, I had to ask, half curious…
“What about the black-tie tomorrow night at the Regents’ castle then Luv?”
I was referring to the rest of our plans for the outing.
“Could collect a few gems other than diamonds to come home with on Monday?”
I was maybe a wee bit disappointed, which she knew by my next question…
“And I thought you still were a wanting the opportunity to play out the ‘Damsel in Distress’ routine we’ve been working on and had been originally planning on trying out today?”
I stole over a glance as I said this, half hoping I could change her mind and she would be game for it!
She slipped her arm in mine and drawing her sweet self-close to me murmuring, purposefully deepening her rich Irish brogue, purred…
”I think we have done a rather good bit of business for this trip laddie!”
As my wife, nestled up against me she looked up into my eyes before continuing …
I was smiling, for as she had moved, my ears caught the distinctly pleasant sound of rich thicke satin slithering along with fine leather! A rather richly provocative sound, to me, anyway!
Needless to say, my attention was now taken as my wife spoke on in her persuading fashion…
“Not often we have a big score this early! And its more ‘in enough, husband of mine, that we can afford to skip over the other things for now? New routines can wait, Don’t’cha agree wit me now m’ lad?”
She ended with a hopeful beckoning sort of look, a winning weapon that most wives are quite adept at using from their wily arsenal of emotional tugs….
I automatically smiled, never being one to resist that type of lure….
She saw that I was in agreement with my grinning face…
“That’s it then, I can see you agree! Darling, on Home to Badger’s Drift it is now!”
“And If you be want'in any more jewels stolen, you can continue to practice on me tonight!”
She had leaned up and over, as she whispered cheekily, her lustily breath tickling my ear while a long jeweled earring intentionally was allowed to hit me alongside a cheek.…the same cheek she than pecked a kiss upon!!!
Mission accomplished, She broke away and happily settled back into her seat as my voice finally found it’s tongue!
“ OK, Let’s not press our luck on, correct me, fine lass!”
I stated this in absolute agreement…and, feeling a familiar tingling start down between my legs, responded by letting my foot push the accelerator, causing the purring old engine to rev it up and add a bit of speed to our journey!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Up Last
Chapter 10
Homework Prep
The car jumped in acceleration, I heard my wife beside me exhale a long, deep breath while reaching up and pulling down the visor and glanced at herself into the mirror.
I then heard her murmur.
”Have a watch for passer-byes willa Luv?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw her gently lift the diamonded necklace and carefully fasten it around her throat, letting it dangle down, whilst both of us then admired the rather dazzling, quite eye-catching results.
In a far off, wistful voice she said…
“I guess I do now feel it’s a bit of a waste to have bothered being this dressed up for an evening and not stopping anywhere else?”
I felt a sudden rise as I anticipated where her thoughts may be leading upon at the moment “
“ Ya know my love, we are going to be passing that muggy little bar on the wharf, the one we had a stop in on our last excursion, and…”
She let her voice trail off, and I knew it was for me to continue.
“Care to stop in again for a final drink on our way home?”
“And you can minx the natives with your finery, plus I am feeling a bit peckish..?... Sounds like a plan me dearest!?”
I asked with a wholehearted voice of agreement
She answered whilst still watching the reflection of the diamonds in the newly acquired necklace she was now wearing. The buggers were certainly screaming out their flickering brilliance in the mirror...
“Indeed sir, stop in for a bit of sup, a nip, then you can have a pull at your pipe and tell me how pretty I look!”
I chuckled while adding to her statement…
“A Jewel in the rough indeed you will be in there amongst the sometimes rather dicey patrons at the Poet and the Peasant Pub!”
Brilliant she said, leaning into me, her head gently resting on my chest, giving me an eyeful to look down upon! My eyes took a quick journey along the front of her rather perked features, tightly outlined by the green satin gown, as she grasped my arm!
My eyes also took in the emblazoned diamonds dripping down from her throat, wincing at the brilliant fiery sparkles of the magnificent necklace!
From a distance, they had stood out exquisitely from around the lass in blue’s throat, but up this close, they were almost too bloody blinding of an affair!
I knew full well along what lines my wife was half fancifully conniving up deep in her desires… And wearing that squinty necklace out into that pub was at the center of them!!
^^^^^^^^^^^
I chuckled, knowing we both knew it would be a folly on, oh so many levels, to flaunt about any jewels we had managed to ‘acquire’ in such devious ways whilst out and about on our occasional jaunts we made into the public realm for such related purposes..!”
But I decided to make sure by saying…
“But you know luv, best not wear those diamonds around your throat into a waterfront pub, or anywhere else for that matter!
She was disappointed, but still said teasingly…
“Righto party pooper!”
Then added, lying through her pretty while teeth…!
“ I really wasn’t planning on wearin the pretty things, just joking really…!”
Breaking away she again slipped back into her seat, with a deep sigh of remembrance, before contemplating somberly with a shiver...
“Remember luv? That bloody party we went to for fun instead of working it over.
There we were, you in a tux, me in my best taffeta gown and real diamonds, enjoying ourselves for once… and in the course, letting our bloody guards down!
She took a long sigh, then continued, almost snarling out her words…
“Then go and ending that evening, while admittedly a bit tipsy, and certainly gullibly dressed up in my finest, only to meet that puppy sad-looking lass in the loo! Then while we were both in there, buying into her sob story!...
Then letting her lure me out alone by acting the good Samaritan to help her…!”
I could sense my wife gritting her teeth as she spits out the last bit…
“Then grabbed, waylaid and stripped of everything in a back alleyway by her thievin ruffian friends!!!” Well, I will agree, allowing that to happen once in me life was enough I’ll tell you that!”.
With a shudder, my now wretched-looking wife took in a deep breath after that outburst, then relaxing her expression, said in a more easy-going manner…
“Just say’n your quite right luv…! A second time may spoil the currant mood a bit anyhow, not to mention the loss of these pretties you worked so hard for, husband of mine!!”
(If anyone would like me to post the full separate story of how the back alley thievery event occurred, described briefly above, please let me know in the comments!)
Out of the corner of an eye, I had watched her unhappily undo the fiery necklace and place it back into her smooth lap, and then, as she still spoke, opening our car's glove case.
My wife reached in and popped open a small secret panel in the back. Pulling out a small, thin black velvet pouch, she carefully poured the sparkling necklace inside…
Then she pulled off her earrings, bracelet and rings…placing them inside also.
Then placed the now plump pouch back inside the hidden niche, and securely closed the secret panel. I heard her give a long sigh unhappily as she did so….. and knew her mind was heading into a darker corner of past experiences…
She patted my pocket which still held her necklace…
“Keep my emeralds safe then for me love!?”
Then she sighed…
“So tis agreed all around then! Stopping at the Poet and the Peasant pub for supper and a nipper, then it is off home to the Drift we go !“
Her mood shifting back, she exclaimed this part merrily!
Then she sighed happily while pulling off the owlish glasses she had been disguisedly wearing from their, perch and carelessly flipped them into the back-jump seat.
Then, reaching up into her hair, undid her matching twin emerald clips (placing them with a smirk into my jackets pocket), and pulled off her shoulder-length black wig, allowing her longish hair, the natural colour of sunset cerise, to freely cascade down from its long-held, tight bindings of a bun… The long black wig soon joined in the back with the discarded glasses.
She then nestled comfortably back into her seat, once again giving my ears a treat from the sounds of her gown slithering against leather, she exclaimed!
“Lead on, Macduff!”
^^^^^^^^^^^^
We sped off, soon putting many miles between us and the soon to be quite surprised, rather mangy cigarette slobbering, empty pocketed blighter!
The snarky brother to the now str
For the RogueOlympics on www.RogeuBricks.de I built a camera with only 101 parts, which you can find on my stream.
I liked this first 101 parts MOC so much, that I decided to build it again - but then without part limit.
The camera itself is only build with LEGO parts and, the Nintendo set tiles fitting perfectly for the screen on the backside. Also the objektive is brick build in this one.
Subjectively Objective #14.
An old pop up "Jayco J" camper. Lake Onalaska, Wisconsin, USA.
I'm very excited to show you a brand new conceptual series I've been shooting the past month! A nice change from my norm subject matter of travel, lifestyle, landscapes, models, and nature. Retro / old "gems" in simple environments. Subtle colors, angular uncluttered compositions.
I hope you enjoy...
#subjectivelyobjective #janesville #wisconsin #rockcounty #mattanderson #retro #fineart
Thanks for viewing. You can visit my website by clicking here: www.mattandersonphotography.com
Facebook | Instagram | Google+ | Twitter
Please E-mail me with any questions.
©2018 Matt Anderson All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without permission of the photographer. Hey, just E-mail me me if you have usage questions. Also, if you want to buy an awesome fine art print of this image.
U.S. Dog Agility Association® (USDAA®) Cynosport® Dog Agility World Games were held in Scottsdale, AZ last week.
The Cynosport Dog Agility World Games is a premiere annual event where competitors qualify during the year to attend. The canine athletes will race over obstacle courses against the clock while being navigated by their human partner, using only voice and hand signals. The objective is to score the fastest time with the least penalties. Dogs of all breeds and sizes compete in various classes where obstacles are set based on the height and experience of the dog.
Cynosport® — from “cyno,” the Latin derivative of the ancient Greek root “Keno,” meaning “of the dog” — and sport, meaning competitive physical activities.
Considering the speed of the dogs and handlers we did good.
A variety of modern traction for these young enthusiasts at Manchester Oxford Road, 67020 on the Arriva Trains Wales service to Llandudno being their main objective of the lens.
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
TENTATIVE
No Taxon ("Acalyptratae")
Superfamily Lauxanioidea
Family Lauxaniidae
December 13, 2020;Timberlane Ravine Nature Preserve, Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida
Canon M6 MII; Pentax 105mm/f2.8 as tube lens; 3.7x/0.11 n.a. microscope objective (L). Zerene Stacker.
201213_Diptera_Profile
Also known as the Black Corps, the ARA’s primary objective is artifackt recovery and acquisition. The ARA also serves as the answer to many of the other Star Nations and Empires’ elite groups. They are the best the IM has to offer outside of the Order of 6 and the Pendragons themselves.
Pictured are agents, the main force of the ARA. The agents received the most elite training in combat and tactics while boasting some of IM’s most advanced hard-suits, weapons, and tech including the Hartshorn-12 Tactical Rifle and the ARA Recon Pack (capable of generating a small energy shield, short-medium ranged teleportation, systems hacking capabilities, and a few more hidden secrets).
Objective to post an image that would cause the viewer to stop and really have to take a second look to try and figure out what they are looking at ..... just playing around with Photoshop :0)
Salt print.
Paper: Fabriano HP 300g aquarell paper
Size: 20 x 20 cm
Camera: Hasselblad 500 CM
Objective: Zeiss Planar 80mm f 2,8
Toner: Gold - Borax toner
The original negative was 6x6 Kodak Tmax 100
Best Bar None is a nationally recognised accreditation for licensed premises. Premises can submit an application which shows how they meet the licensing objectives and this is assessed to see that they can achieve the accreditation but then there are awards for the best bar, pub and nightclub and overall best premises. These are presented at an awards night dinner which is a great occasion in the city for the licensing trade. Prior to retirement I was heavily involved from a professional perspective but this year I was one of the volunteer assessors which was an great experience.
It gives me and Mary an opportunity to dress up a bit and Mary carries it off very well.
There are a number of things I desire to accomplish in my second set of 100 Strangers, and Stranger #103 represents one of those objectives. In my first set, I obtained only a small handful of portraits in which I ventured to capture anything below the waist. I like the intimacy of the standard head and shoulders shots, but I feel that I need to be able to include ½, ¾, and full body shots into my repertoire in order to be a well-rounded portrait photographer. That said, I personally find this to be a difficult feat to accomplish. Even with my last portrait of Stranger 102 Ashley, it was very challenging for me to back up enough to capture the primary focus of the image: her pregnant belly (and in hindsight I wish I had backed up one more step).
Let me start with a brief description of our encounter. It was Stranger #103’s red hair that initially caught my attention, but I doubted that she would have the time to pose for a portrait. She and her husband were on their way to the afternoon matinee performance at the Playhouse Theatre. I figured that they were running late because I’d been in the area for a while and I saw that foot traffic toward the theatre was starting to dwindle. I decided to take a chance, and I basically walked with them as l introduced myself and explained the project. Her name was Angela, and she was very sweet and showed interest in participating. She turned and asked her husband, and although he indicated that they were in a hurry, he was good enough to agree on the condition l could complete the portrait in short order.
Now that I had my model and I knew that I was on the clock, I took a quick glance around to determine my backdrop. The feature that most jumped out at me was the brick pavers underneath our feet. Although I had not initially approached Angela with the intention of doing a full body shot, I figured the pavers plus the fact that the sidewalk was now void of people might lend itself to such a portrait. I posed Angela and started backing up. This was so incredibly difficult for me, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I am accustomed to trying to capture details in the eyes and face, and to be that far away from my subject makes me feel entirely disconnected. Also, it is clearly a compositionally different kind of shot, and I think I struggle balancing all of the different aspects of the shot ….much like I struggled when I first began street portraiture. I ended up taking about a half dozen shots, and in most of those I cut off all or part of Angela’s boots. I even considered cropping this into a ½ body portrait. Fortunately I was able to capture at least one image with the full package.
So here is my first of what I hope to be several full body shots in my second set. I am not going to critique my work here, but I certainly see room for improvement with regard to pose and composition. However, I think this is a nice base line, and it will be interesting for me to see how I can develop this into my own style as I progress. Also, I hope that I can establish some sort of comfort level with the simple act of stepping backwards.
Check out the rest of the stranger street portraits in my project at Paco's 100 Strangers Project and find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.
camera: Linhof Technika III
objective: Schneider Symmar-S 210mm
light: 1 continuous light lamp with 50x70cm soft box
light meter: Gossen Spot-Master
film: 4x5 Kodak Tri-X 320 iso
film developing: Jobo CPE2 - Kodak D-23 1+1 - 24C° - 7 min
fixer: Ilford Rapid Fixier
scanner: Epson Perfection 4990 Photo
10x objective, focus stacked.
Brian Tomlinson photography:
Website: www.bt-photography.co.uk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bt_photo
“SATURN APOLLO 501 IN HIGH BAY 1, WITH WORK PLATFORMS RETRACTED. VAB HIGH BAY 1.
5-24-67”
Note access arm No. 8 “Service Module (inflight)” directly behind the CSM. Access arm No. 9 “Command Module (preflight)” is to the far right. Speaking of the CSM, note also the lack of RCS thrusters on the SM. Kind of clue as to vehicle identification.
And, unless something else surfaces, maybe on the verso of a “S-67-XXXXX” version of this photo - if such exists - the following lame, I’m sure contemporary pablum is apparently what’s meant to pass as the official description/caption:
“This photograph depicts the Saturn V vehicle (SA-501) for the Apollo 4 mission in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). After the completion of the assembly operation, the work platform was retracted and the vehicle was readied to rollout from the VAB to the launch pad. The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.”
Surprisingly, the above, with a bullshit, probably arbitrarily assigned “NASA ID” of 6754387 is actually available at:
images.nasa.gov/details-6754387
Unfortunately, as with many others, the description has been propagated everywhere. While I’ve read MUCH worse, it’s merely a copy/paste from some Apollo 4 document, which doesn’t address the context of the photograph…that is, what’s actually going on…the REASON the photograph was taken.
With that, the recognition/correct identification of the content of this photograph, along with the date, hence its pertinence to the problematic history of the SA-501 vehicle, has been…take your pick: lost, overlooked, unrecognized, omitted…something unacceptable.
For starters, the NASA photo ninjas, especially at the time of the photo’s processing, i.e., 1967, should’ve recognized that the CSM atop the vehicle was NOT the flight CSM (CSM-017). It ALSO should’ve been easily/readily identified as M-11, the Flight Verification Vehicle (FVV), it having been photographed a bazillion times during 1966 as part of SA-500F photo documentation.
As if that weren’t enough, within the multiple regurgitations of the trials & tribulations of making Apollo 4 happen, there’s not a mention of M-11, other than within the following, which although incomplete, with its own errors, at least references it…ONCE:
“The third stage (S-IVB) was the first major component of Apollo 4 to be delivered at KSC. It arrived from Sacramento aboard the Guppy aircraft on 14 August 1966 and went immediately into a low bay of the assembly building for inspection and checkout. The following week the spacer and instrument unit arrived. On 12 September, as Peter Conrad and Richard Gordon prepared to blast off in Gemini 11, the barge Poseidon sailed into the Banana River with the first stage. Boeing gave it a lengthy checkout in the transfer aisle of the high bay before erecting the booster on 27 October. During the following week, technicians stacked the remaining launch vehicle stages, using the spool for the absent S-II. There were a few problems - the checkout of the swing arms took an extra two days and a cooling unit for the instrument unit sprang a leak - but the launch team, still counting on the mid-November delivery date for the S-II, hoped to roll the complete vehicle out to pad A by 13 January 1967.
By late November the Apollo Program Office had moved the S-II's arrival back to January, and the launch back to April. Since spacecraft 017 would not arrive for another three weeks, KSC erected the facilities verification model of Apollo on 28 November.
[The first linked black & white photograph by Cliff Steenhoff below, depicts such.]
This allowed North American to check out some of its spacecraft support equipment. The first week in December the memory core in a digital events evaluator failed after intermittent troubles; cracked solder joints were blamed. A hurried repair put the computer back on line.
The command-service module arrived at KSC on Christmas Eve and was mated to the launch vehicle on 12 January 1967. That tardy prima donna, the S-II stage, finally appeared on 21 January. Tank inspection, insulation, and engine work were in progress by the 23rd. Test crews found damaged connectors on three recirculation pumps and set about investigating the extent of the rework that would be necessary. While inspecting the liquid hydrogen tank on the second stage, the North American team found 22 cracked gussets. These triangular metal braces, used to support the horizontal ribs of the stage framework, had to be replaced. Plans to move the second stage into a low bay checkout cell on the 29th were temporarily set aside because of a late shipment of the aft interstage (the cylindrical aluminum structure that formed the structural interface between the first and second stages). The interstage arrived on 31 January, and by the end of the next day the stage was in a low bay cell with work platforms around it.
Despite the delay with the S-II stage, KSC officials expected to meet the new launch date in May. The fire on 27 January placed all schedules in question. Although Apollo 4 was an unmanned mission, NASA officials wanted to give command-module 017 a close examination. On 14 February, a week before the S-II could be inserted into a fully assembled vehicle, the spacecraft was removed from the stack and taken to the operations and checkout building. When inspection disclosed a number of wiring errors, KSC's Operations Office cancelled the restacking of the spacecraft. By 1 March electrical engineers had discovered so many wiring discrepancies that the test team stopped their repair work, pending a thorough investigation of all spacecraft wiring. Within two weeks the North American and NASA quality control teams recorded 1,407 discrepancies. While North American repaired about half of these on the spot, modifications, repair work, and validations continued into June. During the break technicians performed pressure tests on service module systems at pad 16. It would be mid-June, with the wiring modifications for the command module finally completed, before North American could remate the spacecraft and take it back to the assembly building.
As the extent of the wiring problems was not immediately recognized, the launch vehicle team forged ahead to recoup the time lost on the S-II stage. In mid-February Boeing's airframe handling and ordnance group removed the instrument unit and spacer from the 501 stack and on the 23rd erected the S-II. The operation involved incredibly close tolerances. To qualify crane handlers, Stanley Smith, Bendix senior engineer of the crane and hoist group, stated, "We give them a technical examination and then check their reflexes and response to commands in training sessions." During a mating, an operator and an electrician boarded the crane and another man helped guide movements from the floor by communicating with the operator via a walkie-talkie. Smith set a high goal for his team: "We strive to train our men to the point where they could conceivably lower the crane hook on top of an egg without breaking the shell."
After a stage was properly aligned on the Saturn stack, a crew of one engineer, two quality control inspectors, one chief mechanic, and eight assistants took eight hours to complete the mating. Three 30-centimeter pins on the second stage fitted into brackets located 120 degrees apart on the periphery of the first stage. Then the mechanics inserted 216 one-centimeter, high-strength fasteners into matching holes around the perimeter where the two stages joined. The team torqued the fasteners in a staggered sequence to secure the bolts evenly and ensure a uniform distribution of stress. The mating of the second and third stages was conducted in much the same manner. The 501 was now set up except for the missing CSM.
[This is where something about the FVV (M-11) being reincorporated into the stack should’ve been referenced.]
The lengthy delays with the flight hardware aided the Site Activation Board in its efforts to get LC-39 ready for its first launch. The board's first flow [see chapter 15-1] included firing room 1, mobile launcher 1, high bay 1, and the other facilities required for the support of Apollo 4 - 1,280 activities altogether. During the first quarter of 1967, PERT charts showed less than 1% of these activities behind schedule. The decision in mid-April to modify the LOX system on launcher 1 and pad A put five weeks of negative slack into the site activation schedule. The modifications were made necessary by excessive pressure in the LOX system. KSC engineers added an automatic bleed system, relief valve supports, and a block valve that prevented purging through the drain line. As continued vehicle problems further delayed the rollout, the five weeks of negative slack disappeared.
On 24 May the S-II stage was in trouble again. NASA announced it would be dismantled for inspection, consequent on the discovery of hairline cracks in the propellant tank weld seams on another S-II at the factory in California.
[The photograph is dated 5-24-67. If correct, then the image was taken as part of documenting preparations for destacking M-11 & the S-IVB in order to remove the S-II stage.]
Additionally, thanks to the remarkable “CAPCOM ESPACE” website:
“For Apollo 4, the M11 was placed on launcher 501 on November 28, 1966 and removed at the end of 1966 following delays in stage S2. It will be put back in place on April 6, 1967 and removed on May 26.”]
Above, along with much more good stuff, at:
www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/apollo/vaisseaux/...
So, somewhere out there, there’s some documentation from which the above was gleaned. I probably don’t have it & certainly didn’t find it online.]
The additional checks were not expected to delay the flight of 501 "more than a week or so." By mid-June the inspection, which included extensive x-ray and dye penetrant tests, was completed and the stage returned to the stack. On 20 June, the command-service module was mechanically mated to the Saturn V, and 501 was - at last - a fully assembled space vehicle. A revised schedule on 21 July set rollout for mid-August. On 26 August 1967, the big rocket emerged from the high bay slightly more than a year after its first components had arrived at KSC, and a good six months after its originally scheduled launch date. It had been a year of delay and frustration, and the end was not yet.”
The above, other than the inserted (bracketed) astute comments, observations & additional useful links, at/from:
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch19-3.html
Inexcusable, incompetent, confounding at least, considering the importance/significance of this vehicle. But then again, for an organization that seems to have “officially/formally” misidentified the Command Module on display at Expo ’67 – to this day – the oversight, ignorance & tacit mis/non-identification of a lowly FVV is both literally & figuratively a no-brainer. The buffoonery continues. At least this shit is so far back in the rearview mirror that no one remembers, those that did are probably dead, and no one now cares, or will in the future. No harm, no foul, all good. 👍
The objective is create a character. This is an artist doll made of vinyl. I use my own image to play with and to have fun. 😊
In this game of life
The objective is not to knock down the king
The objective is to keep standing strong
Participating in this game of chess
Until it's time to go into the light
In this game of life
You are a winner just by playing the game
And letting others play it too
Knocking down others will get you closer to the end
Until it's time to go into the light
In this game of life
Some choose to go only in straight lines
Some move only in little steps
Some run shortcuts from one place to the next
Until it's time to go into the light
In this game of life
You make decisions and enter the doors you choose
Moving when it's your time to go
You are a loser only if you seek to win the game
Until it's time to go into the light
****
Taken in the Austrian Hospice, 3rd floor, 37 Via Dolorosa, Near Damascus Gate, Jerusalem, Israel
This large building, located in the Muslim Quarter between the Damascus and Lions' Gates, was built in 1857 and served as a hospital from 1948 to 1985.
In recent years it was restored to its original use as a hostel for pilgrims and visitors to Jerusalem. Beautifully managed and renovated, the Austrian Hospice's gardens, terraces, fabulous rooftop vistas of the Old City
As the clones around me argued over what had priority in the current situation I struggled with indecision. I wanted to go after the acolyte, but my instincts were telling me evacuation was the most tactical and morally correct choice. I knew what I had to do. Damn you, civilians. I made my way back into Garang and began to direct people away from the fighting, my unit pulling out of combat.
Fredrick ‘Mickey’ Hill said killed by masked policemen
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/McNeill--JFJ-call-for-invest...
A very sad but common story in Jamaica, about the killing of a young man name Sonnieko Williams by the Jamaican Police. The article was written by someone making a concern appeal for help on Facebook.
The last time we spoke, Sonnieko told me that he wanted to go down to Pulse and see if he could become a model. He asked me if i had a link.
He had been doing menial jobs to send himself to school since he was 9 years old. At 20, we were having our final conversation as we both walked off the hill. He had been heading to Heart Trust NTA to register for school which was to begin for him in January where he was to pursue his talent in the culinary arts.
The first few times i encountered Sonnieko, it was because he would hail me by name long before I knew his. "Wahgwaan (My Name)" he would say to me and i would acknowledge him, but i remember asking few people around me repeatedly' "Who is that youth; he always calls me by name and i dont even know him." Eventually i came to understand that he worked for a prominent family on the hill, doing odd jobs in the yard.
Other than his vibrant smile and his consistent hail, Sonnieko never had much to say. He was a great listener; a young man who was only a few steps from greatness. There is not one member of the community of Skyline Drive who did not love him; including those who did not know him well.
Skyline Drive is divided by a chasm which was created in heavy rains many years ago. As a result, through way traffic has come to a halt on this hill. The only vehicles that drive here belong to persons that live here or visitors of persons that live here.
A half hour before his death, his friends who were on my side of the chasm called him and told him to forward and linkup. He had told them he was stewing a pot; indulging in the one thing which would have freed him in life; his desire to feed people. His friends on his side of the chasm told me that he had then finished making breakfast, from which some of them had eaten.
There is a wanted man who lives in Jacks Hill. I will not disclose his alias. Apparently the police received intelligence that this particular wanted man had ventured out and was headed toward the chasm. Whomever called the police also stated that the wanted man had been dressed in a grey hoodie.
Hoodie's are commonplace dress on Skyline Drive. Not only because of threat of Tomas, but because the weather here on any normal day is a bit chilly. Sonnieko ventured out of his house to go meet up with his friends. He passed a crowd of people by the corner shop who he greeted cheerfully. He had a small comb in the front of his hair as he usually did, and was wearing a grey hoodie.
Having left the shop he continued down the road.
Maybe thirty seconds later persons at the shop saw one police van come hurtling around the corner skidding in the mud as they went. On the other side of the chasm, two police vans parked and officers dressed completely in blue with knee guards on scampered into Rita Marley's front garden, which is the only way to get to the other side.
Unawares, Sonnieko kept walking toward the chasm.
Sitting in my house, on my side of the chasm, I heard four gunshots. I wondered to myself who could possibly be shooting on the hill. As soon as that thought was completed i heard six more shots fired, and then another five, the last five sounding like that of a heavier firearm and the first ten sounding like those of smaller arms.
I called a friend of mine who lives across the chasm, and he told me that he had been further up the road, but that he had seen some police vehicles pass him. He said when they passed him they slowed beside him and he heard one of them say, " No anno him dat"
I put on my shoes and went next door to the music studio where I spoke with the producer who said he had heard nothing. Continuing outside i reached up onto the road to see a police van speeding down the road. The other was sitting at the edge of the chasm, still throttling, with no-one in it. A policeman shouted: "We kill one a dem, and we not makin the rest of them get weh!" A group of police then walked out of Rita's garden into their vehicles and drove away.
I walked through the garden.
The last time i saw Sonnieko, I was walking through the garden. My head was down as i was carefully observing the (treacherous when wet) terrain. Hearing footsteps i lifted my head to see Sonnieko walking toward me. He broke into a smile. With an outstretched hand he said' "Wah Gwaan (My Name)!" I replied, "Big up youself mi yout" He said, "Dont say a word" and continued along as i went on my way.
When i got to the other side of the garden, I walked around the first bend in the road and saw a group of people up ahead. They were gathering around a particular area. As i got closer, i saw a small pink comb with blood and brain marrow spattered across and around it. There were two feet of blue slippers as well with blood dribbled across them.
I got there just in time to see his mother come running out of her house and down the road from the other direction headed toward the crowd. She screamed at the crowd asking them: "Who see dem!" Who see!" "Nobody dont see mama", was the reply. She crumbled into a heaving heap, with a cry that cut the sky open.
The rain began to fall. The people wished Tomas had come. If Tomas had come, someone said; this would never happen.
The friend i called who had seen the police pass up the road was there, dressed also in a hoodie. His hoodie though was black.
After shooting the innocent 20 yr old whom they had mistaken for someone who did not even slightly fit his description, they scooped up his remains and drove hastily out of the community, pointing their guns in the direction of persons who stuck their heads out of their homes hoping to figure out what had just happened.
I gave my tv away one month before World Cup. I do not own a radio. Some persons wonder why and have asked me. Hopefully the following paragraph will tell why.
Four new police vehicles arrived on the scene of the crime, cordoned off the area and began to take pictures. They told the community members that they received a report that the team who had been there earlier were doing a patrol through the hill, came upon a group of men and came under heavy gunfire. Does this sound too familiar? When i found myself speaking to these new officers, their response to me was to ask me if it does not seem illogical that the highly trained police would just drive up and shoot an innocent man; i told them that was exactly the point of what took place. They told me not to swear his innocence. They told me that I am not with this young man every minute of the day and therefore can not state that he did not have a gun on him. I told them that in as much as they were asking me to be objective in my assesment, they should be objective enough in theirs to also accept the possibility that my friend, Sonnieko was killed in cold blood..
CVM arrived on the scene but not on the side of the chasm where the people were. The police had cordoned off the road and would not allow the media to cross the crime scene. I wonder what the news report on CVM will say tonight.
Even more so, i wonder if justice will come to this humble family of the hills who have done nothing but respect each other and their community, and occasionally wear grey hoodie's when going to look for a friend.
It could very well have been me, coming home from a trip to the corner shop. I too own a hoodie. But that day, maybe my life would have been saved as my hoodie is brown. But maybe if I had seen Sonnieko at the shop, as is typical I would have told him to wait on me, and together we would have been walking back around. And I am sure the story would have been that two cronies were killed. I almost wish I was among the dead, so persons could clearly see that someone they knew well had been killed as well. Someone who more persons of in positions of power could vouch for in a personal way. Some have been heard to be saying that my story is one side of the story. I know Sonnieko. Maybe if they killed me too, some of you would take another look at this case.
After a trip to Maddens Funeral Home, Sonnieko's mother found that he had recieved three shots. Two to his back, and one to his head. The shot that hit him in the head from the back pushed his forehead out of his body just above his eye.
The family needs a lawyer to represent their case. They CAN NOT afford one. If anyone in such capacity has read this letter and is moved to acting, whether through funding the process or giving legal aid pro-bono. Please. Contact me.
Let it not be said that this is a moving story. Let it be said that this was a spark, and that cumulatively we began a fire that forever changed the course of our nation’s history. Without that, this story would not have been moving, nor would it have moved anything or anyone into action.
I WRITE THESE NOTES FULLY COGNIZANT THAT MY ACTIONS COULD MAKE ME A TARGET. I HOWEVER AM WILLING TO STAND FOR CHANGE.
The bigger issue is that, by law, when the police shoot someone, they are supposed to carry them to hospital immediately. There was no crime scene cordoned off immediately with police left on scene. Due to this, considering the fact that when the investigating officers arrived on scene they told the community that they were informed that the unit had been fired upon, i surmise a gun will be produced. I also surmise that the gun will have Sonnieko's fingerprints on it, probably placed there on the journey from the hill to KPH, by putting his dead hands on to the gun.
Sonnieko died for a reason. He died because he has the right friends, in the right positions of power, and with the ability to make things happen. The bigger issue is that the system is designed to accomodate the possiblity of corruption in the JCF. This system is the (My Name)e system which has caused the unlawful deaths for numerous youths across the island, none of whom had the voice to speak for them after their passing.
Sonnieko's death was not just an isolated unlawful act. It is the product of a flawed system of justice, or might i say a perfected system of injustice, which allows officers of the (law) to cover their tracks when they make poor judgement and without accosting their victims, murder them from many metres away.
Sonnieko's death is a spark. We are the fire. We must be the change that will affect the history of our island going forward. I knew Sonnieko was destined for greatness. There could be no greater outcome than this, for Sonnieko's passing. Let us unite to achieve this end.
Join the group for updates at the following link:
”Seriously Lisa.. do you like EVER stop think about ANYONE else than yourself?
What do you mean?
”Its just like..” (You say, squinting to the pictures) when you dress like that TOTALLY slutty, you like clearly send signals that help surpress women like total sexobjects! And like.. just because you are cheap, doesn't necessarily mean that all girls like.. you know, want to have sex. Do you like EVER stop to think about that!?”.
Well come to think of it, not really, but...
”And also the whole like slim line anorexia model thing, COME ON! Like anyone REALLY look like that. You're one of those, who like.. help force women into having these like totally unrealistic ideals. Lisa, you SERIOUSLY need to dress down and.. like,, gain some weight if ANYONE is EVER going to believe you are a real T-girl and not some.. some.. like.. roadside commercial or something. Get real! ”
But I do think of others, actually that is why I made the videoclip. I thought that you would like it!
”Again Lisa you're just... just SO inconsiderate, like that video is something ANY female would want to see! You like really made sure of that walking in stilettos in such way you deliberately make others out to be like.. inferior or something, But I suppose you like thrive on making other people feel bad about themself, like you have this superiority thing going. That's just precisely the distinct symptoms of like a psychopath or something, who like get off on taking advantage of the female sex.”
But actually an old lady passed as I was shooting the pictures. She did look curiously I must admit, but she didn't seem at all to be either offended or provoked. But of course I couldn't be entirely sure that....
”And like,, what if that had been an old man Lisa? Ever think about THAT!?”
How.. What do you mean...?
”Like if it had been an old man and he like.. saw you, and immediately had a stroke, brain hemorrhage or a heart attack, then it would be like.. YOUR fault Lisa, killing a person because you are this ”natural born ego”. Calling yourself a communist. Ha!”
But, I was just taking a walk testing my new red stilettos, because it is better taking them for a test walk before REALLY going out in them, to sort of test them ”Live” so to speak and...
”That´s another thing Lisa. RED STILETTOS!?! Like just how often do you walk down the street seeing girls stroll around in RED stilettos!? And you know why Lisa? Because red is like a REALLY adult female colour and having red stilettos is the same thing as to say ”Look at me I am extremely feminine and I like just HAVE to point that out” Now how OMEGA self centered is that now Lisa!?”
But, I think they are pretty!
”Me me me... think Lisa, there is like MANY more females than you in this world and you should like just know that you are like reflecting a degrading, humiliating, cheap view upon women and like that is TOTALLY disgraceful and you should be ashamed Lisa... really like.. guilty of betraying like.. like.. the entire population of women on earth. Effectively destroying everything that women has worked for like.. the last 100 years. Like you are taliban or something? Is that what the hair is really all about?”
I believe you indeed speak on behalf of most women and I must say I am truly sorry you feel that way.
”As if Lisa! Cause if you were like REALLY sorry you would stop dressing like a prostitute.”
But I like looking like a prostitute!
”And what if like.. some guy saw you on the street and.. like.. got turned on, and then he turn a corner seeing an ordinary girl, but like because you fucked with his head he rapes the girl and then she like has to suffer mentally like for life, because you just don´t give shit do you Lisa? Like... I am a ninja so FUCK the world... and like fuck all that women has fought for the last century because.. I want to look sexy. * Wuhuuu * ”
But don´t you see it is really a question about personal freedom and.. well individuality, I guess?
”I can clearly see that talking sense to you Lisa is like talking to a door. It's like.. you have just set your mind to obstruct everything that just has a scent of value and tradition. Just mention the word consideration and you feel personally attacked going straight into the defensive refusing to communicate. But have it your way Lisa, I will waste no more time. If you absolutely MUST stand out a slut in full public view, you are only prevented doing so by the common laws of solicitation . Feel free, I´m just like.. saying!”
Transvestit København Danmark
I took a week off work to head up to my friend's farm for awhile, and have caught some great subjects to try out extreme macro. As the hurricane approaches, this may be one of my last posts of insects for now, so I hope you've enjoyed my new experiments with microscope objectives, lens-reversing rings, and probe lenses.
A few days ago I did a comparison of these two Nikon microscope objectives. I originally published the comarison on www.photomacrography.net/forum but decided to put a slightly modified version of it in my flickr stream as well. See below for the entire test!
Italien / Belluno - Tofane
Hike around the Tofana di Rozes
Wanderung um die Tofana di Rozes
Tofane is a mountain group in the Dolomites of northern Italy, west of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, Veneto. Most of the Tofane lies within Parco naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo, a nature park.
Peaks
The highest peaks of the Tofane group are Tofana di Mezzo (3,244 m (10,643 ft)), Tofana di Dentro (3,238 m (10,623 ft)), and Tofana di Rozes (3,225 m (10,581 ft)). Tofana di Mezzo is the third highest peak in the Dolomites, after Marmolada (3,343 m (10,968 ft)) and Antelao (3,262 m (10,702 ft)). All three peaks were first climbed by Paul Grohmann along with local mountain guides, in 1863 (Tofana di Mezzo - with Francesco Lacedelli), 1864 (Tofana di Rozes - with Francesco Lacedelli, Angelo Dimai and Santo Siorpaes) and 1865 (Tofana di Dentro - with Angelo Dimai).
Geology
The Dolomites were formed during the Cretaceous Period, approximately 60 million years ago, due to the collision of the African and European continents. The Tofane is largely formed from the Upper Triassic rock Dolomia principale. The strata are perceptibly folded, and the mountains are finally formed by wind, rain, glaciers and rivers.
Tourism
Access
A cable lift system (Freccia nel Cielo, "Arrow in the sky") goes from Cortina almost to the top of Tofane di Mezzo. There is only a short walk from the top cable car to the summit. Alternatively the via ferratas VF Punta Anna and VF Gianna Aglio can be used to reach Tofane di Mezzo.
Cabins (rifugi)
Some of the cabins in the Tofane are the Rifugio Angelo Dibona (2,083 m (6,834 ft)), the Rifugio Giussani (2,580 m (8,465 ft)), the Rifugio Duca d'Aosta (2,098 m (6,883 ft)), and the Rifugio Pomedes (2,303 m (7,556 ft)).
Via ferratas
The via ferratas of Tofane are VF Punta Anna and VF Gianna Aglio on Tofana di Mezzo, VF Lamon and VF Formenton on Tofana di Dentro, and VF Giovanni Lipella on Tofana di Rozes, where there also are tunnel systems from World War I.
History
During the First World War, the Tofane was a battlefield of the Italian Front for clashes between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces. The front lines went through the mountains.
At the 1956 Winter Olympics, Mount Tofane hosted five of the six alpine skiing events. It regularly hosts women's speed events on the World Cup circuit, and hosted the World Championships in 2021. The men's 1956 downhill and the current women's World Cup races are on the Olimpia delle Tofane ski race course (often referred to as “Tofana” for short); it is famous for the Tofana Schuss, where athletes can reach speeds over 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph).
(Wikipedia)
Tofana di Rozes (3,225 metres (10,581 ft)) is a mountain of the Dolomites in the Province of Belluno, Veneto, Italy. Located west of the resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the mountain's giant three-edged pyramid shape and its vertical south face, above the Falzarego Pass, makes it the most popular peak in the Tofane group, and one of the most popular in the Dolomites.
History
From May 1915 to July 1916, the mountain and its surroundings was the location of fierce fighting between Italian and German, later Austrio-Hungarian, troops, as part of the Italian front in World War I.
West of the main face, and separated from the mountain by a steep and rocky gully, is the Castelletto, a narrow, long rock 700 feet high. In 1915 it was occupied by a German platoon, which, armed with a machine gun and sniper rifles, wreaked havoc on the Italian troops in the valley. They were soon replaced by Austrian soldiers, and from their strategic position they prevented any Italian plans for a push north. For the Alpini, the Italian mountain infantry specialists, retaking the Castelletto became a prime objective. Two of their climbers, Ugo Vallepiana and Giuseppe Gaspard, climbed up the Tofana to a ledge a few hundred feet above the Castelletto, but their guns were not very successful. One summer night four Alpini climbed up the Castelletto but they were discovered and shot. An attack through the gully, taking advantage of the morning fog, was also unsuccessful (machine gunners shot the advancing soldiers when the fog thinned a little), as was a massive attack from three sides in the fall of 1915. So, in February 1916 the Italians, led by Lt. Luigi Malvezzi [it], started tunneling into the Castelletto, first with hammers and chisels and then, in March, with pneumatic drills, and with teams of over two dozen men, working four six-hour shifts, they tunneled up to 30 feet per day. The steep tunnel was 500 meters long, and 2,200 cubic meters of rubble were removed. Its adit was in a "sheltered position within a natural ravine", accessed by a long ladder and thus logistically very demanding. One part of the tunnel brought them under the Austrian position, where they filled a cavern, 16 by 16 feet and 7 feet high, with 77,000 pounds of gelignite. The other led to what was to be an attack position, to be opened with a smaller batch of explosives.
On July 11, at 3:30 AM, the gelignite was exploded, with King Victor Emmanuel III and the army's chief of staff, General Luigi Cadorna, looking on. The Austrian commander was Hans Schneeberger, an orphan from Brandberg, Tyrol, who at age 19 replaced a commander who had been killed by an Italian sniper. When the explosions happened, some two dozen Austrian soldiers were killed instantly, but Schneeberger and a few survivors had rifles and grenades, and were able to repel the Italians from the edge of the crater. The attack as a whole was a failure: soldiers were to lower themselves from the Tofana to attack the Castelletto, but the explosion destroyed their ropes. To make matters worse, the explosion used up so much oxygen that Malvezzi and his men, going through the attack tunnel, passed out because of toxic gases including carbon monoxide; some of the men died. Finally, the explosion damaged the rock face on the east, sending huge boulders down the gully and killing incoming Italian soldiers. The next day, Italians had hauled machine guns up the face of the Tofana; Schneeberger sent one of his men to ask for reinforcements, which arrived that night. A few hours later the Italians attacked the relief platoon, and the Austrians withdrew to the Castelletto's northern end, and pulled their troops away altogether after a few days.[2] Malvezzi received the Military Order of Savoy.
Climbing
Most climbs start from the north, where the mountain is a relatively easy hike, or the west face, where the summit can be reached by a via ferrata. The south face, however, is a much more difficult challenge, with many of the routes being either fifth or sixth graded climbs. The mountain was first climbed in 1864 by Paul Grohmann and local hunter Francesco Lacedelli. The south face was first climbed in 1901.
Via Ferrata
A via ferrata starts at the restored entrance to the mine tunnel at the Castelletto, and leads to the summit of the mountain; along the way one finds a memorial to Giovanni Lipella,[8] an Italian soldier who died on the mountain on 15 June 1918 and was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
Cave
The Grotta di Tofana is one of only a few natural caves in dolomite rather than regular limestone. It is accessible by way of a via ferrata that starts some 40 minutes from Rifugio Dibona. The cave is some 300 meters deep, and the roof is up to 10 meters high. The cave has been quite popular with tourists, and was listed by Baedeker as "a large cavern accessible by ladders" and as an interesting visit.
(Wikipedia)
Das Dreigestirn der Tofane (italienisch Tofane, deutsch auch Tofana) gehört zu den bekanntesten und markantesten Dolomitenmassiven. Die Tofane liegen westlich von Cortina d’Ampezzo und überragen das Valle del Boite (Boitetal). Eine gewisse Bekanntheit erlangte der Name durch die Skirennstrecke Olimpia delle Tofane, 1956 Austragungsort der olympischen Herrenabfahrt.
Lage und Umgebung
Das Tofane-Massiv liegt westlich von Cortina d’Ampezzo über dem oberen Valle del Boite und ist Teil des Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d’Ampezzo. Während die beiden höheren Gipfel Tofana di Mezzo und Tofana di Dentro ein kompaktes Massiv bilden, wirkt die südliche Tofana di Rozes einigermaßen eigenständig. Zwischen diesen Felsgiganten schneidet sich die Forcella Fontananegra (2561 m) ein. Im Westen und Norden trennt das Val Travenanzes das Gebirgsmassiv von der Fanesgruppe, im Osten das obere Valle del Boite vom Pomagnonzug (und der Cristallogruppe) und im Süden das Falzaregotal von der Nuvolaugruppe. Von Cortina gesehen ist den beiden höheren Tofane eine Wandstufe vorgelagert, die mit dem Südostgrat der mittleren Tofana eine Art „Felsenring“ bildet.
Gipfel
Das Massiv besteht im Wesentlichen aus den drei Dreitausender-Gipfeln, die allesamt beliebte Tourenziele darstellen. Alle drei rangieren unter den zehn höchsten Gipfeln der Dolomiten.
Die in der Mitte gelegene Tofana di Mezzo (auch Tofana II) ist mit einer Höhe von 3244 m s.l.m. die höchste der drei Tofane und zugleich nach der Marmolata (3343 m) und dem Antelao (3264 m) der dritthöchste Dolomitenberg.
Die Tofana di Dentro (hintere Tofana, auch Tofana III) hat eine Gipfelhöhe von 3238 m s.l.m. und bildet den nördlichsten der drei Felsriesen.
Die Tofana di Rozes (vordere Tofana, auch Tofana I) ist 3225 m s.l.m. hoch und vor allem für ihre imposante Südwand (Tofana Sud) bekannt.
Geologie
Bereits 1873 setzte sich Hermann Loretz geologisch mit dem Gebiet um die Tofane auseinander. Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár lieferte mit seiner Arbeit zu den Dolomit-Riffen (1879) weitere wichtige Aufschlüsse, die Leopold Kober 1908 vertiefte.
Die Tofane werden aus mächtigem triassischem Hauptdolomit (Dachsteindolomit) aufgebaut, der leicht Richtung Norden einfällt. In den Gipfelbereichen wird er von jurassischen Kalken (früher als Lias bezeichnet) überlagert. Der Grat zwischen Tofana II und III gewährt gute Einblicke in die Schichtfolge und lässt Neokom und Oberjura erkennen, während in den untersten Bereichen ältere Gesteine wie Sandsteine, Kalkmergel und Tuffe zu Tage treten, die ein auffälliges grünes Band formen. Der Komplex von Tofana II und III wird außerdem von einer nach Westen überschlagenen Falte geprägt, deren Mächtigkeit allerdings nur die obersten 200 Meter umfasst. Nach Süden hin setzt sich diese tektonische Störung fort. Am Südgrat der Tofana II befindet sich mit dem Bus de Tofana eines der größten Felsenfenster der Alpen.
Geschichte
Die Erstbegehungen der drei Gipfel erfolgten nacheinander in den Jahren 1863 bis 1865. Paul Grohmann bestieg mit verschiedenen Führern zuerst die Tofana di Mezzo (1863), dann die Tofana di Rozes (1864) und schließlich die Tofana di Fuori (1865), allesamt von Cortina aus. Alpinistisch war in der Folge vor allem die Südwand der Tofana di Rozes von Interesse, die 1901 durch Ilona und Rolanda von Eötvös mit Führern erstmals durchstiegen wurde.
Während des Ersten Weltkriegs bildeten die Tofane eines der Zentren der Ersten Dolomitenoffensive. Die italienischen Alpini besetzten im Juli 1915 die Gipfel von Tofana II und Tofana III und versuchten von dort aus die österreich-ungarische Sperre im Travenanzestal zu erobern. Die Tofana I wurde wiederum kurzzeitig von Jägern des Deutschen Alpenkorps eingenommen. Kriegsrelikte wie Stollen und verfallene Stellungen zeugen heute noch von den erbitterten Kämpfen.
Mit den Olympischen Winterspielen 1956 in Cortina d’Ampezzo hielt der Massentourismus erstmals Einzug in die Gegend. Während die Skigebiete mit der heute noch als Weltcupstrecke genutzten Olimpia delle Tofane am Osthang von Tofana di Mezzo/Dentro entstanden, blieb die Spitze bis zum Bau der Seilbahn Freccia nel cielo (deutsch: Himmelspfeil) 1971 verschont. Davor waren bereits mehrere Klettersteige angelegt worden, die sich heute großer Beliebtheit erfreuen, darunter die Via ferrata Giuseppe Olivieri auf die mittlere Tofana (1957), die Via ferrata Giovanni Lipella auf die Tofana di Rozes (1967) und die Via ferrata Formenton auf die Tofana di Dentro.
(Wikipedia)
Die Tofana di Rozes (auch Vordere Tofana oder Tofana I) ist ein 3225 m s.l.m. hoher Berg in den Dolomiten in der italienischen Provinz Belluno. Mit ihrer berühmten Südwand bildet sie die eindrucksvollste, wenn auch niedrigste Erhebung der dreigipfeligen Tofane westlich von Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Lage und Umgebung
Die Tofana di Rozes ist der südlichste der drei Tofana-Gipfel und von der Tofana di Mezzo durch die Forcella Fontananegra (2561 m) getrennt. In diesem Bereich liegen das Rifugio Giussani und das nicht mehr bewirtschaftete Rifugio Cantore. Im Westen trennt die Forcella Bois (2331 m) den Felskoloss vom Lagazuoistock, im Westen und Norden bildet das Val Travenanzes die Grenze zur Fanesgruppe. Von Norden gesehen erscheint der Berg als dreikantige Felspyramide, nach Süden zeigt er eine der imposantesten Wände der Dolomiten, die meist als Tofana Sud bezeichnet wird. Trotz der niedrigsten Gipfelhöhe ist der Berg gerade aufgrund dieser 800 Meter hohen Südwand das bekannteste Motiv der Tofane. Im unteren Wandabschnitt liegt mit der Grotta della Tofana eine mehrere Meter tiefe Höhle, die bereits von Paul Grohmann besucht wurde.
Alpinismus
Die Erstbesteigung gelang am 29. August 1864 Paul Grohmann mit den Einheimischen Francesco Lacedelli, Angelo Dimai und Santo Siorpaes. Grohmann und Lacedelli hatten im Jahr zuvor bereits die Tofana di Mezzo erstbestiegen. Ähnlich wie bei deren Erschließung wählten sie den Anstieg aus der Forcella Fontananegra über die Nordostflanke, den heutigen Normalweg. Grohmann äußerte sich begeistert über die Aussicht vom Gipfel:
„Ich bin kein Freund davon zur Schilderung einer Aussicht zahllose Bergspitzen herzuzählen, und unterlasse dieses auch hier, unvergesslich aber bleibt mir ein Detailbild der Rundsicht: die furchtbaren Schrofen der beiden anderen Tofanaspitzen in nächster Nähe, und zwischen diesen blickt weiter hinten der Gaisl vor, die Croda rossa der Ampezzaner; nur der oberste Theil, aber dieser blutroth, ein seltsamer Contrast gegen die grauen Kalkwände der Tofana!“
Im August 1901 meisterten Ilona und Rolanda von Eötvös mit Antonio Dimai, Giovanni Siorpaes und Agostino Verzi erstmals die kolossale Südwand. Die Via Eötvös-Dimai (IV) gilt heute als eine der klassischen Routen in den Dolomiten. Die durch wuchtige Pfeiler auffällig gegliederte Wand wurde im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts auf fast 30 verschiedenen Routen durchstiegen. Zu den bedeutendsten gehören etwa der zweite Pfeiler (Secondo Pilastro, VI), der 1946 von Ettore Constantini und Luigi Ghedina erstmals bewältigt wurde, oder die 1952 durch Walter Bonatti und P. Contini erschlossene Via delle Tridentina (ebenfalls VI). Weitere wichtige Erstbegehungen gelangen Angelo Dibona, Walter Stößer und Attilio Tissi.
Im Ersten Weltkrieg galt die Tofana di Rozes als besonders umkämpfter Berg. Am 22. Juli 1915 nahm eine Patrouille des dritten Jäger-Regiments im Deutschen Alpenkorps im Zuge der Ersten Dolomitenoffensive den bis dahin unbesetzten Gipfel ein. Man konnte die Tofana I bis zum 18. September gegen die Italiener verteidigen.
Aufstieg
Trotz der imposanten Erscheinung ist die Tofana di Rozes – sieht man von der Seilbahn-Erschließung der Tofana di Mezzo ab – von den drei Tofana-Gipfeln am leichtesten zu ersteigen. Dem Nicht-Kletterer bieten sich für den Aufstieg zur Tofana di Rozes zwei Möglichkeiten.
Der Normalweg führt vom Rifugio Giussani (2580 m) unschwierig über geröllbedeckten Fels zum Nordwestgrat und über diesen schließlich zum Gipfel. Firnreste sind im oberen Bereich keine Seltenheit.
Eine zweite Variante bietet die 1967 eröffnete Via ferrata Giovanni Lipella (Schwierigkeit C/D). Diese wird zumeist vom Rifugio Angelo Dibona (2083 m) aus in Angriff genommen. Der Weg führt zunächst unter der mächtigen Südwand entlang zum Einstieg, wo gleich ein steiler Stollen durchquert werden muss. Danach verläuft der Steig an der Westseite des Berges Richtung Norden zu den Tre Dita (2694 m) und macht schließlich einen Knick nach Süden. Nach dem Ausstieg erreicht man den Normalweg und über diesen den Gipfel.
(Wikipedia)
camera: Hasselblad 500 CM
objective: Zeiss Planar 80mm
light: natural light
light meter: Sekonic L-308B
film: Fomapan 100/64 iso
developing: Home made D-23 stock - Jobo CPE2 - 24C° - 6 minute
fixer: Ilford Rapid Fixier
scanner: Epson Perfection 4990 Photo
camera: Hasselblad 500 CM
objective: Zeiss Planar 80mm
light: natural light
light meter: Gossen Spot-Master
film: Fomapan 100
film developing: Jobo CPE2 - Pyrocat-HDC 2+2+100 - 24C° - 6 minute
fixer: Ilford Rapid Fixer
scanner: Epson Perfection 4990 Photo
”Seriously Lisa.. do you like EVER stop think about ANYONE else than yourself?
What do you mean?
”Its just like..” (You say, squinting to the pictures) when you dress like that TOTALLY slutty, you like clearly send signals that help surpress women like total sexobjects! And like.. just because you are cheap, doesn't necessarily mean that all girls like.. you know, want to have sex. Do you like EVER stop to think about that!?”.
Well come to think of it, not really, but...
”And also the whole like slim line anorexia model thing, COME ON! Like anyone REALLY look like that. You're one of those, who like.. help force women into having these like totally unrealistic ideals. Lisa, you SERIOUSLY need to dress down and.. like,, gain some weight if ANYONE is EVER going to believe you are a real T-girl and not some.. some.. like.. roadside commercial or something. Get real! ”
But I do think of others, actually that is why I made the videoclip. I thought that you would like it!
”Again Lisa you're just... just SO inconsiderate, like that video is something ANY female would want to see! You like really made sure of that walking in stilettos in such way you deliberately make others out to be like.. inferior or something, But I suppose you like thrive on making other people feel bad about themself, like you have this superiority thing going. That's just precisely the distinct symptoms of like a psychopath or something, who like get off on taking advantage of the female sex.”
But actually an old lady passed as I was shooting the pictures. She did look curiously I must admit, but she didn't seem at all to be either offended or provoked. But of course I couldn't be entirely sure that....
”And like,, what if that had been an old man Lisa? Ever think about THAT!?”
How.. What do you mean...?
”Like if it had been an old man and he like.. saw you, and immediately had a stroke, brain hemorrhage or a heart attack, then it would be like.. YOUR fault Lisa, killing a person because you are this ”natural born ego”. Calling yourself a communist. Ha!”
But, I was just taking a walk testing my new red stilettos, because it is better taking them for a test walk before REALLY going out in them, to sort of test them ”Live” so to speak and...
”That´s another thing Lisa. RED STILETTOS!?! Like just how often do you walk down the street seeing girls stroll around in RED stilettos!? And you know why Lisa? Because red is like a REALLY adult female colour and having red stilettos is the same thing as to say ”Look at me I am extremely feminine and I like just HAVE to point that out” Now how OMEGA self centered is that now Lisa!?”
But, I think they are pretty!
”Me me me... think Lisa, there is like MANY more females than you in this world and you should like just know that you are like reflecting a degrading, humiliating, cheap view upon women and like that is TOTALLY disgraceful and you should be ashamed Lisa... really like.. guilty of betraying like.. like.. the entire population of women on earth. Effectively destroying everything that women has worked for like.. the last 100 years. Like you are taliban or something? Is that what the hair is really all about?”
I believe you indeed speak on behalf of most women and I must say I am truly sorry you feel that way.
”As if Lisa! Cause if you were like REALLY sorry you would stop dressing like a prostitute.”
But I like looking like a prostitute!
”And what if like.. some guy saw you on the street and.. like.. got turned on, and then he turn a corner seeing an ordinary girl, but like because you fucked with his head he rapes the girl and then she like has to suffer mentally like for life, because you just don´t give shit do you Lisa? Like... I am a ninja so FUCK the world... and like fuck all that women has fought for the last century because.. I want to look sexy. * Wuhuuu * ”
But don´t you see it is really a question about personal freedom and.. well individuality, I guess?
”I can clearly see that talking sense to you Lisa is like talking to a door. It's like.. you have just set your mind to obstruct everything that just has a scent of value and tradition. Just mention the word consideration and you feel personally attacked going straight into the defensive refusing to communicate. But have it your way Lisa, I will waste no more time. If you absolutely MUST stand out a slut in full public view, you are only prevented doing so by the common laws of solicitation . Feel free, I´m just like.. saying!”
Transvestit København Danmark
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks.
Caesars Palace was founded in 1966 by Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin, who sought to create an opulent facility that gave guests a sense of life during the Roman Empire. It contains many statues, columns and iconography typical of Hollywood Roman period productions including a 20-foot (6.1 m) statue of Augustus Caesar near the entrance. Caesars Palace is now owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment. As of July 2016, the hotel has 3,960 rooms and suites in six towers and a convention facility of over 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2).
The hotel has a large range of restaurants. Among them are several which serve authentic Chinese cuisine to cater to wealthy East Asian gamblers. From the outset, Caesars Palace has been oriented towards attracting high rollers. The modern casino facilities include table games such as blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, Spanish 21, mini-baccarat, Pai Gow and Pai Gow poker. The casino also features a 4,500-square-foot (420 m2) 24-hour poker room; and many slot machines and video poker machines.
The hotel has operated as a host venue for live music and sports entertainment. In addition to holding boxing matches since the late 1970s, Caesars also hosted the Caesars Palace Grand Prix from 1981 to 1982. Notable entertainers who have performed at Caesars Palace include Frank Sinatra, Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Teresa Teng, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks, The Moody Blues, Celine Dion, Ike & Tina Turner, Shania Twain, Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John, Liberace, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Julio Iglesias, Ann-Margret, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Matt Goss and Deana Martin.
The main performance venue is The Colosseum. The theatre seats 4,296 people and contains a 22,450-square-foot (2,086 m2) stage. The stage was a special construction for Celine Dion's show, A New Day..., in 2003. After departing in 2007, Dion returned to the Colosseum with her new show entitled "Celine" on March 15, 2011, which was under contract through June 9, 2018 for 65 shows per year.
History
Early history
In 1962, cabana motel owners Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin applied for a $10.6 million loan from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. He began plans to build a hotel on land owned by Kirk Kerkorian. Sarno would later act as designer of the hotel he planned to construct. His vision was to emulate life under the Roman Empire. The objective of the palace was to ensure an atmosphere in which everybody staying at the hotel would feel like a Caesar; this is why the name "Caesars Palace" lacks an apostrophe, making "Caesars" a plural instead of possessive noun. Caesars Palace was instrumental in beginning a new era of lavish casinos from the late 1960s onward. Architectural writer, Alan Hess, stated: "Caesars Palace needed only a sumptuous array of Classical statuary and a host of marble-white columns to establish its theme. The visitor's imagination, in league with well-placed publicity, filled in the opulence". Jefferson Graham wrote that the result was "the gaudiest, weirdest, most elaborate, and most talked about resort Vegas had ever seen. [Its] emblem was a chesty female dipping grapes into the waiting mouth of a recumbent Roman, fitted out in toga, laurel wreath, and phallic dagger".
The inauguration ceremony was held on August 5, 1966. Sarno and his partner, Nate Jacobsen, spent one million dollars on the event. The cost included "the largest order of Ukrainian caviar ever placed by a private organization", two tons of filet mignon, 300 pounds (140 kg) of Maryland crabmeat and 50,000 glasses of champagne. Cocktail waitresses in Greco-Roman wigs would greet guests and say "Welcome to Caesars Palace, I am your slave". Among the performers at the opening were Andy Williams and Phil Richards. According to author Ovid Demaris, Caesars Palace was "a mob-controlled casino from the day it opened its doors". By the time it opened, the significant publicity of the new hotel had generated $42 million in advanced bookings.
On December 31, 1967, stunt performer Evel Knievel arrived at the hotel to watch a boxing match and convinced Sarno that he could jump over the distance of 140 feet (43 m) over the fountains. ABC came in to film the jump, in which Knievel hit the top of the safety ramp after the jump and flew over his handlebars into the parking lot of neighbouring Dunes. Fracturing his pelvis, several bones and suffering a concussion, he lay in a hospital unconscious for 29 days in a coma before recovering. On April 14, 1989, Knievel's son Robbie successfully completed the jump.
The first casino at the hotel was named Circus Circus. It was intended to be the world's liveliest and most expensive casino, attracting elite gamblers from around the world. In 1969, a Federal Organized Crime Task Force accused the casino's financial manager, Jerome Zarowitz, of having ties with organized-crime figures in New York and New England. Although Zarowitz was never tried, the task force pressured Sarno and his other investors to sell the casino, which led to it being acquired by Lum's restaurant chain owners Stuart and Clifford S. Perlman for $60 million. The company soon shed its restaurant operations and changed its name to Caesars World. On July 15 of that year, executives lay ground on an expansion area of the hotel, and they buried a time capsule in the area.
Frank Sinatra began performing at Caesars Palace in 1967, after a fallout with Howard Hughes and Carl Cohen at The Sands. He signed a three-year contract. In the early morning hours of September 6, 1970, Sinatra was playing a high stakes baccarat at the casino, where he was performing at the time. Normal limits for the game are US$2,000 per hand; Sinatra had been playing for US$8,000 and wanted the stakes to be raised to US$16,000. When Sinatra began shouting after his request was denied, hotel executive Sanford Waterman came to talk with him. Witnesses to the incident said the two men both made threats, with Waterman producing a gun and pointing it at Sinatra. Sinatra walked out of the casino and returned to his Palm Springs home without fulfilling the rest of his three-week engagement there. Waterman was booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, but was released without bail. The local district attorney's office declined to file charges against Waterman for pulling the gun, stating that Sinatra had refused to make a statement regarding the incident. Despite swearing to never perform at Caesars again, Sinatra returned after his retirement in January 1974, and became a frequent performer at Caesars Palace throughout the decade. He was performing at Caesars when his mother Dolly died in a plane crash in January 1977, and in 1979 he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award in a party at the hotel, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday. When Sinatra was given back his gaming license by the Nevada Gaming Commission in 1981, he became an entertainment-public relations consultant at the casino for $20,000 a week.
In 1971, some 1,500 African American rights activists stormed the hotel in a protest. The National Welfare Rights Organization was involved with a "coalition of welfare mothers, Legal Services lawyers, radical priests and nuns, civil rights leaders, movie stars and housewives". Five years later in the spring of 1976, hundreds of African American workers went on strike at the hotel in the first major strike in Las Vegas history. The entrances to the hotel and casino were blocked, and the hotel lost several million dollars from the strike, including one cancellation worth $500,000. In 1973, the Del Webb corporation was contracted to build a $8 million 16-story building adjacent to the Palace.
In 1981, a fire broke out at the hotel, hospitalizing 16 people. The Perlmans sold their shares in Caesars World that year after trying to get a gaming license for a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission accused the brothers of doing business with people who had organized-crime connections.
Later history
In 1986, the annual Teamsters convention was held at Caesars with a $650,000 party. The lavish feast included caviar, crab claws, roast beef and a range of 15 different desserts. In 1991, Sheila King won a $250,000 jackpot in the casino at Caesars Palace on a $500 machine and won $50,000 twice soon afterward. Over three years she won $200 million on the machines but kept pumping the money back into the machines. Despite her luck, in 1994 her winnings fell to $500,000, and she spent much of her time over the next four years in the law courts claiming that the casino operators had tampered with her machines and deceived her to keep her winning.
In the 1990s, the hotel's management sought to create more elaborate features to compete with the other modern Las Vegas developments. The Forum Shops at Caesars opened in 1992; it was one of the first venues in the city where shopping, particularly at high-end fashion house stores, was an attraction in itself. A new redevelopment opened on October 22, 2004.
In June 2005, Harrah's Entertainment acquired Caesars Entertainment, Inc. and became the owner of Caesars Palace. Harrah's changed its own name to Caesars Entertainment in 2010, to capitalize on the prestige of the Caesars brand.
In 2010, Caesars Palace was fined $250,000 by the Nevada Gaming Commission for permitting a high-limit baccarat player to dance on the card table while the game was underway. In September 2015, Caesars Palace agreed to pay the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network an $8 million civil money penalty for violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
In October 2017, ownership of Caesars Palace was transferred to Vici Properties as part of a corporate spin-off; Vici leased the property back to Caesars Entertainment at an initial annual rent of $165 million.
Architecture
Jeff Campbell of Lonely Planet refers to the hotel as "quintessentially Las Vegas", a "Greco-Roman fantasyland featuring marble reproductions of classical statuary". The art deco style fused with clear influences from Hollywood epic productions dominate. Construction of the 14-story Caesars Palace hotel on the 34-acre (14 ha) site began in 1962, and it opened in 1966. It lay next to Dunes Hotel and opposite the Desert Inn. The original hotel featured lanes of cypresses and marble columns as part of a 900 feet (270 m) frontage, with the hotel set back 475 feet (145 m) . The car park could accommodate up to 1300 cars.
Water is heavily used for at least 18 fountains throughout—the casino resort uses over 240 million gallons a year. A 20 feet (6.1 m) high statue of Julius Caesar hailing a taxi lies in the driveway leading to the entrance, and there are replicas of Rape of the Sabine Women and statues of Venus and David which greet guests as they arrive. Near the entrance is a four-faced, eight-handed Brahma shrine which weighs four tons. It was made in Bangkok, Thailand, with a casting ceremony on November 25, 1983, according to the inscription on it. A multimillion-dollar renovation of the main entrance began in July 2021, and was finished seven months later. It includes a domed ceiling and a 15-foot statue of Augustus.
Exterior
A $75 million renovation of the hotel's original Roman Tower, built in 1966 and extended in 1974, was completed in January 2016. The 14-story Tower, last renovated in 2001, will have 20 rooms added for a total of 587 rooms and suites, and will be renamed the Julius Tower. Entertainment Close-Up wrote that the Julius Tower is the "latest piece of a $1 billion investment to cement Caesars Palace as the premier resort at the center of the Las Vegas Strip". Nobu Tower (formerly Centurion Tower) is a 14-story tower that was completed in 1970 at a cost of $4.2 million. In 2011 it was announced that the tower would be renovated and be renamed to Nobu, and to operate as the first Nobu Hotel with a restaurant. A remodeling of the Nobu Hotel took place during 2021.
Rooms in the Forum Tower opened in 1979. The Palace Tower opened in 1998 and mirrors the Greco-Roman theme of the hotel with fluted columns and Corinthian columns and pediments on its facade and fountains and statues scattered around its interior space.
Plans for the Augustus Tower began in 2003 and were consolidated in 2004 with the architects Bergman Walls Associates. The expansion at a cost of $289 million US included a 26-story, 345-foot-tall tower, as well as an addition of new convention and meeting facilities at the resort. The Augustus opened in 2005 with 949 rooms, which were designed for more upscale luxury and service than the other parts of the resort. The Octavius Tower opened in January 2012. The 668-room tower was added as part of a $860-million expansion. The tower shares a lobby with the Augustus Tower. The pools at Caesars Palace are modeled after the Roman baths.
Entertainment
Many international performers have performed at the hotel, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Cher, Bette Midler, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, George Burns, Pat Cooper, Diana Ross, Teresa Teng, Paul Anka, Julio Iglesias, Judy Garland, David Copperfield, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan, Phyllis Diller, Luis Miguel, Ike & Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Shania Twain, Jerry Seinfeld, Harry Belafonte, Louie Anderson, Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Deana Martin, B.B. King, The Moody Blues, Pilita Corrales and Matt Goss. In mid-1996, a new venue known as "Caesars Magical Empire" was created on the property, showcasing magicians such as Michael Ammar, Jon Armstrong, Lee Asher, Whit Haydn, Jeff "Magnus" McBride, and Alain Nu. The "Empire" was closed on November 30, 2002, after which the structure was razed to make room for a large concert hall created for singer Celine Dion. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a 4,296-seat entertainment venue with a 22,450 square feet (2,086 m2) stage, which was originally built at a cost of $95-million for Celine Dion's show, A New Day..., in 2003. A success, the Colosseum show earned almost $175,000 on average per night and grossed $500 million in four years. The venue has since hosted performances by numerous other artists. Gloria Estefan performed a special seven-day concert in October 2003 for the launch of her album Unwrapped, titled Live & Unwrapped. In May 2007, Bette Midler was announced as Dion's formal replacement, performing 100 shows a year, with Elton John continuing to perform his popular Red Piano show 50 nights a year while Midler was on hiatus. After taking a three-year hiatus, Cher, following her Farewell Tour, returned to Caesars Palace with a three-year contract, performing 200 shows beginning May 6, 2008.
On May 26, 2009, U.S President Barack Obama performed in the Colosseum in the one-night show A Good Fight alongside Sheryl Crow, Bette Midler and Rita Rudner to fundraise for Nevada's senator Harry Reid re-election campaign. Several streets were closed and the Augustus tower was blocked as security precautions by the Secret Service during the visit. In March 2011, Celine Dion returned to The Colosseum with her new show entitled "Celine", which is under contract for 70 shows per year, through 2017. In 2015, Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn began a concert residency at the Colosseum titled Together in Vegas. Absinthe is a live show that premiered on April 1, 2011, on the forecourt of the hotel. The show is hosted by The Gazillionaire, played by actor and former Cirque du Soleil clown Voki Kalfayan and his assistant, Penny Pibbets, portrayed by actress Anais Thomassian. The show is performed outside in a Spiegeltent on a 9 feet (2.7 m) diameter stage. The tent accommodates 600 persons who are seated on folding chairs circled around the stage.
The Pussycat Dolls Lounge, an adjunct of the Pure Nightclub, opened at Caesars Palace in 2005. The lounge was patterned after a vintage strip club. The club's center was a stage where dancers called the Pussycat Girls clad in fishnet hose and corsets, began a new dance show every half hour. Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera occasionally danced as "guest pussycats". In 2007, Caesars Palace opened a Pussycat Dolls Casino directly across from the Pussycat Dolls Lounge. It had an oval pit at the casino's center, where two go-go dancers in cages performed in response to the music. At the end of February 2010, the Pussycat Dolls left the Pure nightclub for a new lounge at the Chateau nightclub, which is part of Paris Las Vegas.
The Omnia (Latin for "[the sum of] all things") nightclub, opened in March 2015, replacing the Pure nightclub which operated there for over a decade. The $107 million expansion and redesign incorporates both the 34,000 square feet (3,200 m2) Pure facility and the adjacent World of Poker tournament room to create a 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) space that can accommodate 3,500 people. Designed by the Rockwell Group, the club is outfitted with theatrical lighting, sound, and climate-control systems, along with rigging and catwalks for aerial performers. It is operated by the Hakkasan Group.
The replica of Cleopatra's Barge houses a bar and lounge that opened at Caesars Palace in 1970. Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin often visited the Barge, with Sinatra occasionally singing there after his own shows.
Sports
The New Yorker writes that Caesars Palace was "dubbed the Home of Champions after hosting decades of events like boxing matches, auto races, and volleyball tournaments". The Caesars Palace Grand Prix car race (a Formula One World Championship event) was held at the car park of Caesars Palace in 1981 and 1982. The new race proved to be a financial disaster, and was not popular among the drivers, primarily because of the desert heat and its counter-clockwise direction, which put a tremendous strain on the drivers' necks. When Nelson Piquet clinched his first World Championship by finishing fifth in 1981, it took him fifteen minutes to recover from heat exhaustion. The 1982 race was won by Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell, but the race was not renewed for the following season due to poor attendance. The following two years a CART (IndyCar) event was run, with Mario Andretti and Tom Sneva winning, before the open-wheel event was permanently dropped. In 2013 it hosted a round of the Stadium Super Trucks.
Many boxing matches have been held in Caesars Outdoor Arena and at its since demolished Sports Pavilion (an indoor sports arena) since the late 1970s. The hotel has hosted fights between George Foreman and Ron Lyle in January 1976, Roberto Durán and Esteban de Jesús in January 1978, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali in October 1980, Holmes and Gerry Cooney in June 1982 as well as Wilfredo Gómez versus Juan Antonio Lopez at the same date; Gómez's bout with Salvador Sánchez on August 21, 1981, Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán and a world championship fight between Shane Mosley and Shannan Taylor. In April 1987, the 15,356-seat arena at Caesars Palace hosted "The Super Fight" boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. Two bouts between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were contested here, including Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe in November 1992, and a revenge match a year later in which Holyfield took the title, and he fought with Michael Moorer at Caesars Palace, including Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer in April 1994 for the WBA, IBF and Lineal Heavyweight Championships. In 2004 boxing returned to the Palace, when Wladimir Klitschko and former Olympian Jeff Lacy headlined a card televised on Showtime at the Palace's new outdoor amphitheatre.
Caesars Palace has played host to a number of professional wrestling events throughout the 1990s, the most notable of which is WWE's WrestleMania IX in April 1993 which capitalized on the Roman theme of the venue. Billed as the "Worlds Largest Toga Party" it remains to this day the only WrestleMania with a particular theme. World Championship Wrestling also held a series of events at Caesars Palace, including Clash of the Champions XXX in January 1995 as well as Clash of the Champions XXXII and an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, each in January 1996.
On September 27, 1991, a National Hockey League preseason game between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers was held on an outdoor rink built in the Caesars Palace parking lot. Behind a goal from Wayne Gretzky, the Kings came back from a 2–0 deficit to win 5–2. The game served as a prelude to "Frozen Fury", an annual series of preseason games in Las Vegas played primarily against the Colorado Avalanche at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and eventually the establishment of an expansion team in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights, for the 2017–18 NHL season.
In popular culture
Caesars Palace has been a location in numerous films. It has appeared in films such as Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), Where It's At (1969),[196] The Only Game in Town (1970), The Electric Horseman (1979), Rocky III (1982), Oh, God! You Devil (1984), You Ruined My Life (1987), Rain Man (1988), Hearts Are Wild (1992), Fools Rush In (1997), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Dreamgirls (2006), Iron Man (2008), The Hangover (2009), 2012 (2009), The Hangover Part III (2013) and Step Up: All In (2014).
In television it has appeared in series such as The Partridge Family, the "Viva Ned Flanders" episode of The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Friends, The Strip (1999), and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. It also appeared in the season 12 premiere of America's Next Top Model. The short-lived 1990s game show Caesars Challenge taped in the casino's theatre and pulled contestants from the audience; losing players were given tickets to Caesars shows and dinner as a consolation prize, while an audience game played at the end offered audience members the chance to get casino chips and chocolate coins.
(Wikipedia)
Das Caesars Palace ist ein Hotel in Paradise im Großraum Las Vegas im US-Bundesstaat Nevada. Es ist im Stil eines antiken römischen Palastes errichtet; der Name leitet sich von Gaius Iulius Caesar her, dem Herrscher des antiken Rom, und soll dessen Pracht widerspiegeln.
Das Hotel am Las Vegas Boulevard besitzt 3.960 Gästezimmer und Suiten in sechs Zimmertürmen. Säulen, Statuen und Wasser-Fontänen prägen das Erscheinungsbild der Anlage. Das im Hotel integrierte Spielkasino belegt eine Fläche von etwa 15.000 Quadratmetern. Die Forum Shops, ein großes Einkaufszentrum mit exklusiven Geschäften sowie ein weitläufiger Pool- und Gartenbereich gehören ebenso zu dem Komplex.
Geschichte
1962 erhielt Jay Sarno einen Kredit über 10,6 Mio. US$ aus dem Central States Pension Fund der Teamsters und errichtete von 1962 bis 1965 ein Hotel mit angeschlossenem Kasino. Es wurde am 5. August 1966 eröffnet. Ein Jahr nach der Eröffnung des Hotels erlangte das Hotel durch den Motorradstuntman Evel Knievel großes Aufsehen, als dieser sich schwer verletzte, nachdem er im Beisein zahlreicher Zuschauer über die Brunnenanlage entlang der Vorfahrt des Caesars Palace gesprungen war, jedoch bei der Landung stürzte.
1962 begann der Bau des Roman Towers, dem ersten Hotelturm der Anlage mit 680 Zimmern in 14 Geschossen. Das halbkreisförmige Gebäude wurde zentriert hinter dem Haupteingang und der von Springbrunnen gesäumten Vorfahrt angelegt. 1970 wurde das Hotel durch den rechteckigen, erneut 14-stöckigen, Centurion Tower mit 222 Zimmern erweitert. Der abgerundete Roman Tower wurde später um eine entgegengesetzt-gekrümmte Kurve verlängert. Der Forum Tower mit 22 Geschossen kam 1979 hinzu. Am 17. Oktober 1981 und am 25. September 1982 fand auf dem Parkplatzgelände der Große Preis von Las Vegas statt. Sieger der Formel-1-Rennen waren Alan Jones (1981) sowie Michele Alboreto (1982). Da die Rennstrecke auf den Parkplätzen des Caesars Palace sehr uneben war, fand der Grand Prix nur zweimal im Großraum Las Vegas statt.
Das Caesars Palace war in den 1980er Jahren Austragungsort vieler berühmter Box-Kämpfe, bevor es in den 1990er Jahren von einem reinen Casino-Hotel zu einem familienfreundlichen Unterhaltungskomplex umgebaut wurde. Diese Änderung haben alle großen Hotels im Großraum Las Vegas vollzogen. Auch heute finden allerdings noch Boxkämpfe statt, vor allem in der Außenanlage „Thomas and Mack Arena“. 1987 wurden Szenen des 1988 erschienenen oscarprämierten Kinofilms Rain Man mit Tom Cruise und Dustin Hoffman in den Hauptrollen im Caesars Palace gedreht.
1997 wurde der Palace Tower errichtet. Erstmals wurde dessen Fassade im römisch inspirierten Stil gestaltet. Die bis dahin errichteten Hoteltürme kamen ohne ebensolchen aus. Im selben Jahr wurden auch die 1992 eröffneten Forum Shops, wie auch die Casino- und Konferenzflächen erweitert und die ebenso römisch gestaltete Pool- und Gartenanlage errichtet. Im Jahr 2000 wurden nun an allen früher errichteten Bauteilen antike Stilelemente nachgerüstet um sie den neu gebauten Hotelteilen anzugleichen.
2003 wurde das Colosseum eröffnet, ein modernes Theatergebäude mit über 4000 Sitzplätzen, das äußerlich dem antiken Kolosseum in Rom nachempfunden ist. Viele Künstler haben im Laufe der Jahre im Caesars Palace gastiert, beispielsweise Frank Sinatra, Liberace und David Copperfield. Seit März 2003 stehen abwechselnd unter anderen Cher, Céline Dion, Elton John und Shania Twain auf der Bühne des Colosseum. Für die Pussycat Dolls wurde darüber hinaus die „Pussycat Dolls Lounge“ eröffnet, in der sie auch auftraten.
Im Jahr 2004 wurden die Forum Shops mit einer dem Strip zugewandten dreistöckigen Ausbaustufe auf die heutige Größe ausgebaut. In diesem Gebäudeteil befinden sich auch die bekannten spiralförmigen Rolltreppen. Im Jahr 2005 wurden der Augustus Tower (35 Geschosse, 949 Zimmer) und die neue Hotellobby ihrer Bestimmung übergeben. Im selben Jahr hat der französische 3-Sterne-Koch Guy Savoy ein Restaurant im Caesars Palace eröffnet.
2008 diente das Casino als Filmset für den Kinohit Hangover. In diesem fragt Alan (Zach Galifianakis) die Rezeptionistin, ob Caesar wirklich im Caesars Palace gelebt habe. 2013 wurde das Hotel erneut als Filmset in Hangover 3 genutzt.
Der bisher letzte Neubau des Hotels ist der Octavius Tower und wurde 2011 eröffnet. Das Caesars ist damit eines der wenigen Hotels im Großraum Las Vegas, das seit seiner Eröffnung keine Gebäudeteile abgerissen bzw. (wie dort üblich) gesprengt hat, sondern stattdessen immer wieder erweitert und umgebaut wurde.
Seit 2013 befindet sich im ehemaligen Centurion Tower des Caesars das eigenständig betriebene Boutique-Hotel Nobu Hotel.
Besitzverhältnisse
Nach mehreren Besitzerwechseln gehört das Caesars Palace seit 2005 zur Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. Die Harrah’s Gruppe hat Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (bis 2003 Park Place Entertainment Corporation), einem Konzern mit 55.000 Mitarbeitern, der knapp 30 Hotel-Kasinos weltweit unterhält, übernommen. Seit 2010 tritt nun das gesamte Unternehmen wieder als Caesars Entertainment auf.
In Las Vegas gehören unter anderem die Hotels Bally’s, Flamingo und Paris zur Gruppe. Es gibt weitere Caesars Hotels in den Vereinigten Staaten, beispielsweise in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
(Wikipedia)