View allAll Photos Tagged orchestration
You are a valuable instrument in the orchestration of your own world, and the overall harmony of the universe. Always be in command of your music. Only you can control and shape its tone. If life throws you a few bad notes or vibrations, don't let them interrupt or alter your song.
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
Kodachrome collection slide.
Airline : Avianca Colombia
Aircraft : Boeing 727-21
Registration : HK-1803
MSN/LN : 19035 / 272
Location : BOG / SKBO - Bogota El Dorado Int'l Airport
Photographer : Bob Garrard
Date : December 1977
Notes : Destroyed by a bomb detonated on board AV flight 203, on November 27th, 1989. It was orchestrated by the infamous Pablo Escobar, in attempt to assassinate presidential candidate Cesar Gaviria Trujillo. All 107 people on board were killed, along with 3 people on the ground.
Box 398
There are so few dark skies left in Spain, but we were fortunate to spend a week at one of them. Nestled in the Pyrenees mountains, Casa de San Martin is a 500-year-old church overlooking a spacious valley that has been converted into a luxurious bed & breakfast. During the day the song of birds is accompanied by a melody of cowbells orchestrated by the ever-present wandering herd. At night the world quiets, and one can sit and gaze at the enormity of the vast galaxy. We were blessed to be here during the new moon to capture images each night of the Milky Way. I shot this image on our final night as a gift to the owner of the B&B. I look forward to returning with interested photographers on a landscape and nightscape tour next year to see it hanging.
This image is from twenty, twenty-second exposures stacked using Starry Landscape Stacker. One exposure was light painted to illuminate the foreground.
The art of self-portraiture held a special fascination for MacLeod. Among her finest examples of the genre, this work is the most psychologically harrowing. A sense of tension is palpable as the artist orchestrates an extraordinary interplay of colour and line with Dynamic effect. The subject’s gaze is averted, but her expression conveys an almost demonic intensity, as the artist set up a call and response between her own features and the petals of the potted cyclamen plant extending toward us.
In response to a comment I received on yesterday's balloon image......Yes! Lift off is chaotic mayhem! But it is a well orchestrated mayhem! Each crew knows every move, from laying out the envelope on the ground, to lighting the burners and guiding the balloon to an upright position. There is a flurry of last minute preparation and then the balloon lifts off , peacefully floating above the activity below. It is such a thrill to be in the midst of the mayhem, as nearly 600 balloons take their turn to inflate and rise to meet their friends in the sky!
Cusworth Hall is an 18th-century Grade I listed country house in Cusworth, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire in the north of England. Set in the landscaped parklands of Cusworth Park, Cusworth Hall is a good example of a Georgian country house. It is now a country house museum.
The house is constructed of ashlar with slate roofs. The rectangular 6 x 5 bay plan main block is linked to 5 x 2 bay service wings.
The Wrightson family had held the lordship of Cusworth since 1669.
The present house was built in 1740–1745 by George Platt for William Wrightson to replace a previous house and was further altered in 1749–1753 by James Paine. On William's death in 1760 the property passed to his daughter Isabella, who had married John Battie, who took the additional name of Wrightson in 1766. He employed the landscape designer Richard Woods to remodel the park. Woods was one of a group of respected landscape designers working across the country during the 18th century and Cusworth was one of his most important commissions in South Yorkshire, another being at Cannon Hall. Woods created a park of 250 acres with a hanging and a serpentine river consisting of three lakes embellished with decorative features such as the Rock Arch and the Cascade.
The estate afterwards passed to John and Isabella's son, William Wrightson (1752–1827), who was the MP for Aylesbury from 1784 to 1790 and High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1819–1820. He was succeeded by his son William Battie-Wrightson (1789–1879), who at various times was MP for East Retford, Kingston upon Hull and Northallerton. He died childless and Cusworth Hall passed to his brother Richard Heber Wrightson, who died in 1891.
The property was then inherited by his nephew William Henry Thomas, who took the surname Battie-Wrightson by Royal Licence and died in 1903. He had married Lady Isabella Cecil, eldest daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Exeter. Between 1903 and 1909 Lady Isabella made further alterations to the house. She died in 1917, leaving an only son Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson (1888–1952). On his death in 1952, the estate descended to his sister, a nurse who had married a Major Oswald Parker but later was variously known as Miss Maureen Pearse-Brown and as Mrs Pearce. She was obliged to sell the contents of Cusworth Hall in October 1952 to meet the death duties levied at Robert Cecil's death. She subsequently sold the hall to Doncaster Council.
Cusworth Estate Cusworth was first mentioned as ‘Cuzeuuorde’ in the domesday survey of 1086 but there has been a settlement here for centuries dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period. Many different families had held the lands and manor but they did not always live at Cusworth.
‘Old Hall’ A large house is first mentioned in 1327. Robert Wrightson bought the lands and manor of Cusworth in 1669 from Sir Christopher Wray. The first surviving map of Cusworth is that of Joseph Dickinson's 1719 plan which shows the hall and gardens covered only 1 acre with the orchards a further 2 acres. What is most significant at this time was the ‘Parke’ of some 25 acres. The ‘Old Hall’ was next to the walled gardens in the centre of Cusworth village. In 1726 the ‘Old Hall’ was expanded including altering the gardens between 1726 and 1735. This expanded the kitchen garden into the size and form we know today with the Bowling Green and Pavilion.
In the period 1740–1745 William Wrightson employed George Platt, a mason architect from Rotherham, to build a new hall – the current Cusworth Hall – high on a scarp slope on the Magnesian Limestone removing the Hall, and the family, from the village of Cusworth. The ‘Old Hall’ was largely demolished in the process, many components from the old building re-used in the new.
Cusworth Hall Cusworth Hall itself and its outbuildings are at the centre of the park enjoying ‘prospect’ over the town of Doncaster. The Grade I-listed eighteenth century hall was designed by George Platt in the Palladian style. Cusworth Hall is handsome, well proportioned, with wings consisting of a stable block and great kitchen. Later additions by James Paine include a chapel and library. It has decorative outbuildings including a Brew House, Stable Block and Lodge. In addition it has a decorative garden called Lady Isabella's Garden on the west side adjacent to the chapel. On its eastern flank the stable block and gardeners' bothy. Attached to the bothy is a decorative iron enclosure known as the Peacock Pen.
Cusworth Park Cusworth Park is an historic designed landscape with a Grade II listing in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. It was designed and created by the nationally known landscape architect Richard Woods to ‘improve’ the park in the style made famous by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown now termed ‘The English Landscape Park’. Work started in 1761 laying out the ‘grounds and the serpentine river’.
The land forming the existing park is 60 acres (25 hectares) – 250,000m, and was part of the much larger parkland (250 acres) and estates (20,000 acres) of the Battie-Wrightson family who owned Cusworth Hall.
The walled garden The earliest description of the layout of the park and walled gardens is that shown on Joseph Dickinson's 1719 plan. In 1761 Richard Woods altered areas within the walled gardens. Together ‘woods’ Kitchen Garden and Green House Garden occupy the site of the orchard shown on Dickinson's plan.
The purchase of bricks from Epworth for the construction of the walled gardens is recorded in the New House Accounts.
The garden was a compartmentalised space, however with focus on domestic production in some sections, exotics in another, an orchard, and formal flower gardens in the rest.
The kitchen gardens included pine pits (pineapple house), later to become stove houses and mushroom houses.
The Entrance Terrace (Upper Terrace) Old plans show a narrow walled enclosure or ‘entrance terrace' running east–west. The walls of this enclosure may well have been of stone or stoned faced and still, in part survives. To the south are the main components of the walled garden. Access from the terrace down to the bowling green is via a flight of stone steps.
Bowling Green Described on Richard Woods plans of 1760. This is a roughly square, walled enclosure where the bowling green is surrounded by an earthed banked terraced walk. The enclosure is defined by a brick wall, which was lowered along its western side to give a view over to the Green House Garden.
Summerhouse / Bowling Pavilion Built 1726. The summerhouse is the main architectural feature of the walled garden. It is of two stories with the upper storey accessed from the Bowling Green. There is an impression of more carefully shaped quoins at the corners but it is probable that the walls were originally rendered and lime washed externally. There are windows giving views across the Bowling Green from the upper chamber and across the Flower Garden from the lower chamber.
During restoration in the 1990s the upper chamber was decorated with Trompe-l'œil. showing views of imagined walled gardens at Cusworth.
Flower Garden The garden was designed to be viewed principally from the higher position of the bowling green. It was subdivided by cross-paths and furnished with four formal beds. Although one of the smallest compartments, the flower garden was the most highly ornamental and tightly designed. It would have created a formal, colourful architectural space contrasting with the simplicity of the bowling green
Hall Garden The function of the Hall Garden is not clear but appears to have been an extension of the decorative scheme of the flower garden. The Hall Garden has a perimeter walk and is then divided into two plots by a further, central path.
Peach House This whitewash wall indicates the position of the peach house.
Melon Pits Melon pits ran east–west along this area.
Orchard Through the 18th century the orchard was not enclosed and remained open until the late 19th century. It was double its current size extending back up to Cusworth Lane until the northern half was sold off for housing in the 1960s.
Kitchen Garden (No longer existing) The west, south and this east boundary wall(s) of the garden still exist but the plot of land was sold off for housing in the 1960s. There was an access gate between the Hall Garden and the kitchen garden (this can be seen bricked up in the northwest corner). This garden had a perimeter walk and was planted with trees arranged in parallel lines orchestrated around a small building at the northern end of the compartment.
Green House Garden (No longer existing) The kitchen garden represents the greater part of the area occupied by the original orchard shown on Dickinson's 1719 plan. The remaining area was described on Woods’ plan as the Green House Garden and was shown divided into two unequal parts. Both parts of the garden appear to have been planted with trees, probably fruit trees. A building abuts the bowling green in roughly the position as the one shown on the Dickinson plan but there is an additional building, roughly square in plan, to the northwest corner of the enclosure. This was probably the Dovecote for which Wrightson paid £9 15s 0d in 1736.
The west boundary wall still exists and this low (east) wall that runs along the length of the bowling green but the plot of land was sold off for housing in the 1960s.
In 1961 Doncaster Rural District Council purchased Cusworth Hall and the adjoining parkland from the Battie-Wrightson family. The Council undertook an initial restoration of the grounds and also recreated what is now the tearooms within the former stable block. The former reception rooms and spacious galleries now house the Museum of South Yorkshire life, officially opened on 30 September 1967.
Cusworth Hall and Park underwent an extensive £7.5 million renovation between 2002 and 2005, involving essential conservation repairs to the Hall and extensive restoration of the landscape gardens. Within the hall external repairs to the stonework and roof were undertaken to ensure that the exterior was watertight, whilst internal works upgraded internal services and enabled new displays to be installed.
The restoration of the designed landscape have been greatly influenced by a comprehensive analysis of available archive material, among which are the original written memoranda and sketches produced by Richard Woods for his site forman Thomas Coalie. An integrated archaeological programme also formed a key aspect of the restorations, recording in detail landscape features such as the Rock Arch, Cascade, and Bridge. This restoration has not 'recreated' the 18th century scheme, although elements are still incorporated within a 'living' amenity garden that is now thriving as a result of the recent work undertaken in partnership with the Friends of Cusworth Park.
The Hall reopened to the public on 23 May 2007 and the new displays document the history of South Yorkshire and it is a valued resource for local residents, students and school groups alike.
Cusworth Hall Museum and Park is the venue for a varied program of seasonal exhibitions, events and activities linked to the history of the area. including Country Fairs, vintage vehicle rallies, historic re-enactments, wildlife sessions and a range of seasonally themed events. A free, weekly, 5 km parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9 am in the grounds of Cusworth Hall. The first event was held on Saturday 5 October 2019 and was hosted by the staff at Cusworth in collaboration with the local community.
Additionally, Doncaster Museums' Education Service offers a range of learning sessions to schools and educational establishments. Specialist and experienced Education Officers deliver learning workshops to schools across a broad range of topics as well as out-of-school-hours activities for families and local communities.
Représentation de La France.
Thème : Le Cirque "dynamite"! / Dynamite Circus
Firme : JCO
JCO (Jacques Couturier Organisation) est spécialisée dans la création de spectacles pyromusicaux depuis 25 ans. Entre autres, la firme a remporté le premier prix à Da Nang au Vietnam en 2010 et la finale des vainqueurs à Monaco en 2009. Pour sa première participation à L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, JCO lance une invitation à un cirque artificiel époustouflant orchestré par un M. Loyal super énergie et mettant en scène une succession d’artistes imaginaires dans un spectacle teinté d’humour et de poésie. Pour cette soirée au cirque, JCO convie les spectateurs à une féérie circassienne sur des musiques d’inspiration internationale, de Stan Getz et John Williams en passant par Brigitte Fontaine et Édith Piaf, NoiZe et même la musique des Feux Follets! Divertissement, humour et émotions assurés!
JCO (Jacques Couturier Organization) has been renowned as a specialist in the creation of pyromusical displays for 25 years. The company has won several awards, including first prize in Da Nang in Vietnam in 2010 and at the Finale des vainqueurs in Monaco in 2009. For its first participation in L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, JCO is presenting a compelling artificial circus orchestrated by a super energetic Mr. Loyal and featuring a collection of imaginary artists in a display filled with humour and poetry. For this evening at the circus, JCO invites the public to a unique extravaganza on the soundtrack of international scope featuring Stan Getz and John Williams, Brigitte Fontaine and Édith Piaf, NoiZe and even the music of the Feux Follets! Entertaining, funny and highly emotional!
-Good evening Gotham! Our top story tonight: GCPD has its hands full as a mysterious vigilante has been dispensing hard justice on Gotham criminals. Could this be the work of the supposed Batman? Or is this another crimefighter at work? We bring you-
-In the wake of the Blackgate riots not one year ago, dozens of escaped inmates have become inspired by their rescuers, and have started donning masked personas of their own. Though the majority of inmates are now back in custody, and awaiting transfer to Stryker's Island, Metropolis, police are still searching for the mastermind the media has branded "The Bloody Butterfly-"
-Jeremy Seinfeld's trial concluded today. The 38 year old calling himself Zodiac Master was arrested four months ago when he orchestrated the hijacking on flight-
-John Comet marks the fifth child to have gone missing in the past two days. The three year old was snatched from his bed between 6 and 7 pm. Commissioner Gordon has assured the families that their children *will* be found safely, warning the kidnappers that-
-After much hushed tones, The Falcone Construction company is proud to announce that Arkham Asylum will open it's doors to the public once more. The newly established warden, Charles Cavendish, has declared no case or ailment is too small to be treated and no families shall be ignored. Of course, skepticism is high, with the involvement of Carmine Falcone, not all changes are expected to be well received-
I shouldn't be here. Five children have disappeared, more have probably gone unreported but *Uhn* here I am. Martin Cole was the third victim, admitted to Gotham General yesterday to receive treatment for his hemophilia. Doctors described "A Ragdoll" crawling through the window, and taking the toddler while he slept. When I returned there to pick up any clues, this... Thing attacked me. One of Falcone's men? Or does he work for the kidnappers?
"Who are you? What do you know about the missing children?"
He's clad in black. Metal, blood soaked horns adorn his head. He doesn't speak, only growls. That's fine by me, because I'm wasting enough time. Have to end this. Fast.
"Penny One, tell me you have something on this monster"
Alfred- One moment sir.
Over Comms, at the Batcave, there's movement on the newly named Batcomputer.
Alfred- I'm afraid reports are scarce, Master Bruce, all I can find is a news report dating five years ago. "The Metalhead Murderer," they called him. He killed the Blüdhaven police chief, two of his captains, and then... Nothing. Vanished.
So our mystery man has a name...
"Metalhead, then. Falcone hire you to bring me in?"
MH- Wrong, Bat. Falcone may've wanted you alive. But my employer? *He* wants you dead.
Batman- Then he's going to be disappointed.
===The Gotham Sewer Systems===
Maxie Lloyd. Age two. Male. Catch of the day.
His captor whistles through crooked teeth, and, emerging from the broken pipes, a trail of rodents follow them dutifully. The toddler cries, of course- he's only human, but the rat-man, this sewer king, continues on his way, his soul filled with nothing more than general apathy. The Ratcatcher approaches what appears to be a dead end, only for him to locate a series of bricks in the wall, and clap them sequentially with his lantern. As if by some form of magic, dark magic, the wall gives way to the Ratcatcher's lair. Horrified by what he sees, little Maxie Lloyd lets out a shriek, only for it to be muffled by the Ratcatcher's rubber glove around his mouth. He may've learned to block out the screaming, but his rats haven't.
"Quiet."
Above them, are ten children, chained up along the walls. Puncture marks in their right arms denote where a needle has freshly pierced their skin. Along the walls are jars of spiders, snakes, snails, preserved in greenish liquids. The floors are littered with Ratcatcher's pets, feasting on victims from long ago. From his laboratory, a dark figure watches them, little more than unholy mass of rags and bones. Noticing him, The Ratcatcher mutters "Fresh meat" and hoists the child up for his inspection.
It's crying, the figure thinks. Why is it crying? Half the fun was finding out why. Hematophobia, fear of blood? Misophobia, fear of rats? Agoraphobia, fear of social embarrassment? Or... Yes, perhaps. Nick nack paddy wack, give the dog a bone.
"Yes, Mr Flannegan, this one will do nicely."
The figure leans over, locking eyes with his new patient. His eyes are red, red with a splash of yellow. His pupils are dilated, but he is unblinking. And he gives his diagnosis.
"Phobophobia. The fear, of fears. Oh, don't worry, child, it's only natural."
He leans over to the Ratcatcher, the man he called Flannegan, and whispers in his ear.
"I want him ready for the trials. Prepare test 01.11"
The screaming child is carried off, and the figure grins, a single candle illuminates his horrific visage, a visage that gives even Flannegan nightmares, let alone the children he's kidnapped. And with good reason, the figure laughed, after all, Formidophobia is remarkably common. The fear, of Scarecrows.
The heart and soul of the CDN is its members; the hardworking pilots, soldiers, crewmen, and engineers who fight the fight against the enemies of justice.
The highest ranking military commander in the CDN is CMDR Declan Shaw. Shaw has served in the military since the days it was called the Capitol Defense Fleet (CDF) and commanded battalions of troops. It was Shaw who served as first officer aboard the CLC Defiance when CMDR Sweigart broke away from the CDF and founded the Colonial Liberation Corps. During the battle of Daedalus Alpha III, Shaw commanded fleets of Thunderbird Gunships, famously re-taking grid C11 from enemy hands. Later in the war, he helped orchestrate the wide-spread evacuation of the planet and one year later, accepted the reigns of leaderships in the wake of CMDR Sweigart's mysterious disappearance. With Sweigart's whereabouts unknown and the CLC Defiance lost, Shaw reorganized the CLC into the Colonial Defense Navy and continues to lead in the endeavor to rebuild the colonies and her interests.
"May Contain Fish" by Maya Paris at „Moving Islands"
This picture is based on a part of the collaboration project „Moving Islands“ orchestrated by Eupalinos Ugain on LEA20
The Sim shows a "Cosmogony of Rafts and other improbable floating beings". All is spectacular, all is moving. Absolutely worth a visit
See more at the LEA-Blog
_________________________________________________________________
Moving Islands
Participating Artists:
● Alpha Auer - www.flickr.com/photos/alpha_auer/
● Artistide Despres - artist-id.blogspot.com/
● Aston Leisen - www.flickr.com/photos/aston_leisen/
● CapCat Ragu - www.flickr.com/photos/capcatragu/
● Cica Ghost - www.flickr.com/photos/64860898@N05/
● Cutea Benelli - www.flickr.com/photos/grimbros/
● Derek Michelson
● Eupalinos Ugajin - eupalinosugajin.wordpress.com/
● Haveit Neox - accalpha.blogspot.com/
● Kake Broek - www.flickr.com/photos/13539895@N06/
● Kikas Babenco - www.flickr.com/photos/kikas_babenco/
● Livio Korobase - www.flickr.com/photos/liviokorobase/
● Maclane Mills - www.flickr.com/photos/absence/
● Marmaduke Arado - www.flickr.com/photos/28090997@N03/
● Maya Paris
● Meilo Minotaur - www.flickr.com/photos/meilominotaur/
● Merlino Mayo - www.flickr.com/photos/merlinomayo/
● Oberon Onmura - www.flickr.com/photos/oberon_onmura/
● Ole Etzel - www.flickr.com/photos/boned/
● Pallina60 Loon - www.flickr.com/photos/pallina60loon/
● Scottius Polke - srolfe.com/
● Simotron Aquila - www.flickr.com/photos/simotron/
● Takio Ra
●Uan Ceriaptrix - www.flickr.com/photos/uanguz/
_________________________________________________________________
(More information about the LEA project on the LEA-Website - follow this link)
_________________________________________________________________
The "Somewhere in sl" picture series (or "The Adventures of WuWai in Second Life") is my guide and bookmark folder to wonderful, artful, curious or in other way remarkably sims of second life with travel guide WuWai Chun.
(More pictures of WuWai's adventures: Follow this link)
You can find some of the pictures in world at my homeland
_________________________________________________________________
Members from the Fleet Reconnaissance & Operations Group (FROG) conducted fast rope training at their dedicated facility.
The Fleet Reconnaissance and Operations Group (FROG) is the Royal Victorian Navy’s Special Operations Capable Unit. It includes the Royal Victorian Navy’s Maritime Action Teams and the Royal Victorian Marines’ Commando Raider Company. In addition to reconnaissance, the unit specialize in direct action with a maritime component. Examples are the seizures and occupation of gas/oil platforms (GOPLAT) and the Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) of ships during Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), as well as orchestrating close air support, a vital skill exercised in DA missions. Commando Raiders forward observe from static positions and spider holes for artillery and naval gunfire support, or ordnance and payload delivery.
Note: The story, all names, characters, and incidents are fictitious.
Don't use this image on websites,blogs or other media, without my explicit permission. View On Black
_____________________________________________________________________________
♪♫♪♫ Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No.3 (Orchestrated by Debussy) ♪♫♪♫
"Now very often events are set up for photographers... The weddings are orchestrated about the photographers taking the picture, because if it hasn't been photographed it doesn't really exist." -Elliott Erwitt
Heavenly Cloud Reflection
#clouds #reflection #sunset #nature #lake #dramatic #golden #mirror #serene #landscape #stunning #wilderness
A breathtaking lakeside scene captures nature's perfect symmetry as dramatic clouds create a celestial masterpiece above pristine waters. Powerful sunbeams pierce through towering cumulus formations, casting golden light across the sky in radial patterns. The lake's mirror-like surface creates a flawless reflection, doubling the visual impact of the spectacular cloud formations. Dense evergreen forests form dark silhouettes along both shorelines, framing this natural theater. The interplay between light and shadow transforms ordinary clouds into sculptural elements, with brilliant white highlights contrasting against deep blue atmospheric depths. This moment represents the magical transition between day and evening, when nature orchestrates its most dramatic displays. The composition demonstrates perfect balance - earth, water, and sky harmoniously united in a single frame that speaks to the sublime beauty of untouched wilderness landscapes.
the hours after school are the most challenging for me.... snacks, homework, dinner... orchestration of all these times three. a chance to practice patience every day. (this is what my psychologist husband tells me.)
reflections: literally.
Snowshoe hares dashing through the awakening forest, birds orchestrating a symphony (make sure your volume is up), and the snowfall are all signs of Springtime in Alaska. The snow, while persistent, carries a unique beauty, a tranquil heaviness that blankets the land. We hold onto the hope that by morning, it will be a memory, and we can welcome the weather that truly embodies springtime, a season of anticipation and optimism.
These glamorous girls look like they shop at Tiffany's
Orchestrated shot .
Myer Christmas parade
Brisbane
“You are a valuable instrument in the orchestration of your own world, and the overall harmony of the universe. Always be in command of your music. Only you can control and shape its tone. If life throws you a few bad notes or vibrations, don't let them interrupt or alter your song.”
― Suzy Kassem
I love music, music has always played a big part in my life. I get tingles of inspiration when I think about performing and the magic music holds. More often than not, I begin to tear up when listening to beautiful melodies when I'm on the bus and try to hold them back to avoid a scene taking place in public. I think its so universal and connects us in both its and our truest forms.
The folds in the bride's dress at Beijing's Temple of Heaven reminded me of a matador's cape. Out of the frame are the couple's friends who were orchestrating the shoot, something that didn't seem to overly impress the young lady's somewhat wooden partner :)
Ned Mansour - Beautifoto Model
The story below has it threads from a daydream I had on our way home to wales, two days after our family attended a formal do in Scotland.
My twin brother and I were just 16.
Mum had me dressed up in a brown satin gown that mimicked her green one.
I was wearing rhinestone jewellery.
Mum was wearing her expensive diamond earrings, which I alone felt received far too much attention from strangers. Or was I just jealous?
Then I had the unsettling experience of my fancy rhinestone bracelet vanishing from my wrist under, what I alone had felt, were suspicious circumstances.
But thoughts like that are what goes with the territory of the pickpocketing games my twin brother and I like to role-play at home.
Though my bracelet was found and returned the next day, the events at the posh dance in Scotland, added with the vivid circumstances of what I dreamed that evening the night I lost it, along with my speculation over what caused my bracelet’s loss, remained firmly entrenched in my imagination.
And yes, at the dance, there was one sly-eyed lady who attached herself to our family. A far too slick talking stranger who I felt uneasy around and did not trust from the getgo.
So, with all that said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dirty Rotten Scoundrel
(I preyed till the end)
A female pickpockets perspective
I do love a good, ultra-posh gathering, especially when I’m not invited and have to crash it.
This evening I was able to slip in with a group of chirpy young ladies.
Easily entering the establishment and orchestrating an even easier bumping lift of a fat leather wallet from the dangling purse carried by one of the taffeta-gowned ladies in my surrogate group.
It all give me a tingly feeling of good things to come as I went to the lady’s washroom just off a hall by the main exit.
There, in a stall, I emptied the wallet of notes, £200, and discarded it under a linen-covered table piled high with small towels on my way out.
I left the powder room, now hungrily on the prowl as I explored my new patch.
I meandered around. Admiring, to myself, the glamorous gowns, dresses, and delicious jewels the ladies were wearing.
Gleamingly smooth pearls, glittery diamonds, and stunning pieces set with every colour of gemstones imaginable.
All are displayed in abundance along mouth-wateringly well-fitted velvet, satin, taffeta, and other sleek backdrops of an expensive ladies' attire.
My eyes also eagerly took in the plump bulges of pockets holding thicke wallets and shiny gold and silver watches being worn by the regulation-required tuxedo-clad males who accompanied some of the ladies.
Myself? I was dressed in a tight-fitted, soft velvet frock, perfect for squirming in close and also carrying a shoulder purse. Not too large, I needed to fit in with the primarily clutch purse-carrying ladies. Which, aside from wearing only 1/4 carat stud diamonds in my ears, I somewhat did.
It was a most titillating experience, moving in and out of the crowded main room, casually looking over the well-dressed guests. Hunting for an opportunity.
Which I soon found, an early twenties male, succulent in a black tux and hand-tied bow tie sporting a gold watch chain around his waist. Along with the noticeable bulge( no not that kind) of a thicke note-filled wallet in his jacket pocket.
I walked by, gathering his attention. His eyes followed and I stopped and pulled a cigarette and round lighter from my purse.
I carry two lighters a square one I use privately, and a round one that has no fuel.
I unsuccessfully tried to light my cigarette.
Soon a hand was extended with a lighter. It was my mark. He lit it, and as I bent over my hand went to his chest, reached in, and nimbly lifted out his long fat wallet, deposited it in my purse, along with my lighter.
Successful pickpocketing is all based on how well one pulls off distracting your mark. The move I just pulled off by drawing away attention using an empty lighter is one I use a lot in crowded pubs. Successfully I might add, on both men and women.
I was chatting with him a bit before making an excuse and pulling away. Far too many other opportunities around to waste time chatting with a pickpocketed mark.
I again went to the powder room and inside a stall, extracted £850 from the wallet.
I heard someone come in but did not enter a stall.
After a few minutes of fumbling noises, I heard the water running and splashing.
A female voice was talking.
On silent feet, I carefully opened the stall door and slipped out. Around the corner where the sinks were located, a voluptuous lady in lavender velvet was washing her face.
She was talking to herself, thinking she was alone. She appeared to be having issues with contact lenses by the way she was damning them.
I looked around her figure. A pricey necklace glittered reflecting in the mirror.
On the side of the sink, facing me, we’re long matching lavender satin gloves.
On top of which was a shiny pile of jewels, rings, gold bracelets, and a Rolex ladies watch with diamonds circling the face.
With her eyes closed, she had turned away towards the linen-covered table and was reaching blindly for a towel.
I threw the empty wallet under the table.
As she was distracted by the noise, I reached over with my other hand and picked up the jeweled timepiece. Then I slipped out the door before she turned back to face the mirror.
I headed back out the hallway, finally letting out my breath, with the intention of getting a drink and taking a well-earned break as I decided what to do next. This patch was a gold mine, but have I had my run?
That would be a big No, to my run of luck being over….
For, as I walked out the door, I fell in step behind a pair of exceptionally well-dressed middle-aged teenagers maybe 16-year-olds, brother and sister, so possibly twins?
Both had soft red hair and adorably large hazel eyes.
The sister’s soft hair flowed silkily down back in a thin downy feathery fall to just below her shoulders. And just as her hair had an almost fluid spill, so did the ultra-soft expensive gown she wore. As I walked behind them, my mark ran her hand, ring and bracelet rippling with rich sparkles, along her hair, pulling it forward over her shoulder so it was hanging down in front, exposing her neck to me.
She was deliciously sumptuous in a long flimsy thin silk gown of dark chocolate with rhinestone trimmings. The slinking gown was a wide shoulder halter top, with a slight flare at the bottom, sweeping over the top of silver sandals. I was admiring how the dress fell, gently affirming with tight lines, her youthfully graceful figure.
The tuxedo-wearing brother appears to be overly protective of his sister.
And of no surprises why…
They reached a table and he actually seated her like a real adult male.
I circled for a better look, my eyes not believing what they had glimpsed.
She was indeed wearing some pretty valuable jewellery for one of her age.
A silver, wide chocker-style necklace filled with precious diamonds blazingly encircled her neck. It was something one expected a royal to wear.
A pair of amazing chandelier-style earrings twinkled down from her ears.
A wide diamond bracelet lay elegantly around one of her heavy cream-coloured satin glove-clad wrists.
A mouthwatering ring with a large centre diamond graced her right pinkie.
She also had a brilliant eye-catching broach, small, but set with obscenely valuable diamonds, dangling provokingly between small firm breasts, set in the v of her sleek gown’s neckline.
As I had been following I was able to observe the simple clasps of both necklace and bracelet. My fingers itching the whole time.
I sat myself down at a nearby side bench along a side walkway leading to the hallway down which were the washrooms.
From my perch, I watched them, while pretending to watch the dancers on the ballroom floor across to the far side of the room. I was close enough to catch snippets of their conversation. I had a side view of the brother, a delightfully frontal view of his deliciously pretty twin sister.
I marveled over how I hadn’t been here 30 minutes and aside from already making several nice lifts, had stumbled across a wealthy young chick wearing real diamonds, playing peekaboo along her delightful figure. The whole display just cried out to a thief:
“Here I am,naïvely displaying jewels ripe for the plucking!”
I had my eye on her dazzling necklace as my preferred target. I began making a full study of it. As she was innocently sitting there chatting with her brother, I wondered if it had ever entered into her wildest dreams that the jewels she was wearing were ever at such a risk of being stolen.
Probably not, and all I had to do was watch and wait for opportunities, with which I had several methods to deal with.
One of which I made ready by reaching down and undoing my right open-toed shoe strap, then, trap set, sat back and waited, watching my chosen mark.
Oh, The right shoe strap because I am
left-handed. Now just needed my red-haired mark to use the lady’s loo.
I soon found that where I sat was indeed in a good location.
Lots of potential prospects were passing me by. But none yet had on targetable jewellery as the diamonds the sumptuously chocolate-gowned red head fetchingly wore, especially around her throat.
I kept refocussing my attention on her.
The brother was bored.
He was trying to get his sister to join in on some type of adventure. But she told him they were both too dressed up to play.
I thought to myself:
“Listen to your brother luv, It would be delicious to stumble across you pair outside, alone, looking for adventures.”
I then took my eyes off the savory diamonds around the young girl’s throat, because an older red-headed version of the girl had joined them.
Their mum I correctly surmised. Watching her son help seat her. Wish it was me seating her as I would use that opportunity to lift valuables from her fine figure.
The mother was elegantly dressed in a shiny green satin number. It had a knee-length skirt with quarter-length sleeves and a playfully low scooped neckline.
The dress, like her daughter’s gown, showed off every bump and curve of her still youthful figure.
And she, like her daughter, was also expensively wearing diamonds. But my lord, what a decadent collection of jewels.
A set of sparking ‘ice’ that included stunningly long diamond earrings, diamond bib style necklace, and a flashy diamond-filled bracelet. She also wore two gemmed cocktail rings on the bare fingers of her right hand. A wedding band and diamonds on her left’s ring finger. Flashing out from the V on her shiny dress was a large emerald broach, the same green color as her eyes.
And to literally top it all off, perched on her head like a crown, was set an actual dainty diamond-encrusted tiara!
Perhaps they were (very) minor royals after all?
I would have loved to see her daughter wearing a tiara also. Not sure how I would have gotten it off her head without notice. But I would have been game for a try.
The mother appeared to be alone. No husband for whatever reason seemed to be with them, judging by body language. A language I have become an expert in deciphering.
So the 16-year-old male was apparently the only security that lay between me and lifting some precious diamonds from either the females at the table with him. Though I still favored lifting jewels from the more susceptible sister sitting there dressed like a princess.
So this young watchman could probably easily be led astray long enough for me to plan out an approach.
This made things quite interesting. As I pondered over how to accomplish luring him off, I listened in some more, soon learning:
The father was not with them, I was right about that.
With the father gone their fetchingly attractive, well-dressed, very wealthy mother was open game to many interested males asking her to dance.
Hence her two kids were bored and tired of being alone so much, the fact of which appeared to go over their mum’s diamond shimmering head.
I licked my lips, it would seem that opportunity was going to be knocking at my door if only the mother would leave her children alone again so they could hopefully become open targets.
I was hell-bent on acquiring the daughter’s appealing necklace once the mum, then her brother, were both finally out of the picture.
But it was then that a lady walked by, holding her young toddler. She swished her way right past where I was sitting. Too aloof apparently to notice me. And I had to do a double take on what she wore around her throat.
She was expensively dressed in satin, with a double row of smooth, valuably matched, pearls around her throat. Her long hair is conveniently up. I watched with salivating interest as she made her way past me to the powder room, a child clinging to her shoulder.
When that Lass disappeared, my eyes went back to the table with its diamond-wearing Lass.
The lad was still trying to talk his balking sister into doing something, anything.
She was engagingly adjusting an earring, listening to him with an enchanting smile.
Their mum was idly smoking a cigarette, her eyes on the dance floor, her mind a million miles away.
Then the young mum wearing the pearls came out from the powder room hallway, and my attention was once again drawn away by an opportunity I simply could not allow myself to pass up.
Out of the corner of my, I saw her approach my bench, her gown flicking pleasingly along her figure.
I reached down and fumbled with my loose strap.
As I heard her approach, I look up and ask her if she could help me fasten my heel strap.
Her pearl necklace was magnificent.
She chirped politely, “Pleased to help you miss…”
Not sounding aloof in the least as she sat her toddler down. The child was adorably dressed in white satin and looked at me with wide-eyed wonder.
As her mum scrunched down I look around. Coast was clear for lift off…
Dipping my left hands' fingers in and locating her now dangling necklace of pearls’ clasp, I easily undo it, then in one motion lift them up and out from around her neck.
Her swinging ropes of pearls are in my purse before she finishes redoing my loose strap and stands up.
I hear the child giggling and I stroke her satiny attire as the mother stood straightening her dress.
She politely twittered “There you go, so happy I could help .”
I smiled back:
“So was I, beautiful child.”
Happily housing up her child, she left, not noticing she was a few pricy kilograms lighter around her throat.
I watched her move safely off, still admiring the way her gown moved. Mulling over in my mind if I could have lifted a diamond tiara that easily?
With those succulent imaginings I eagerly look back over at the table I had been keeping an eye on.
It was empty…!
My potential mark was gone, that quickly. Had the young twins gone out? We’re they with their mum? I was cursing myself. The pearls were a nice haul. But had I let real diamonds slip from my fingers!
I sighed, rising, straightening my dress, and began to move off, thinking to grab a smoke outside to settle my now overly excited nerves.
Then I spotted a young lady attired all in black satin, consisting of a long dress and bolero jacket.
She was sitting alone three tables away from the one where the twins had sat. Two empty cocktail glasses were at her elbow, a half-full one in front of her.
She was smoking the last vestiges of a cigarette. A thin necklace valuably set with a single row of diamonds flickered up around her throat as she blew a wispy stream of smoke. With one hand she brushed back her long wavy hair, exposing an expensive diamond tennis bracelet that blazed up from her wrist as she did.
“She’s trying to attract attention.” I thought, wondering if she had a clue as to whose attention she had just attracted.
I quickly moved in and took the seat next to her.
“Mind if I sit here a few minutes to catch my breath?”
She obviously did mind, but nodded politely, saying nothing, but started looking around.
I could tell she was on the prowl, and by noticing her ring finger was bare, she was available.
I began the conversation.
“Cannot believe how crowded this party is, and the number of men here.”
She nodded, opening her purse and pulling out another cigarette, and holding it up, like a beacon. She smiled at me weakly. Her face had the same sharp moody features of the sultry actress Jean Harlow.
“Yeah, it’s been alright, but a lot of ladies also. Been a struggle finding anyone to dance with. But that’s what I get for coming alone.”
I smiled, pulling out a cigarette myself, along with my round lighter. I reach over with it and say:
“Here allow me.”
I could see in her eyes, that she was disappointed that no male had spotted her and offered to light it. But as my lighter failed to light I saw relief in her eyes and she looked around for a male hero.
It was at this point my free hand reached down to her wrist and neatly flicked open the clasp of her diamond-studded bracelet hanging down loosely from her wrist. Slipping it off her wrist and in my purse before she could blink her long eyelashes twice at a suitable male for which she was desperately searching.
She gave up her vigil, and turned to me saying :
“That’s ok, You need a lighter that works.”
As the girl with the long eyelashes and bare wrists giggled, I replied :
“Oh, it works, sometimes.”
With a sigh, she finally pulled her own lighter out and lit both hers and my, cigarettes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my tux boy come back, with his sister, slinky gown swirling, in tow. Both giggling over something. It was twinging as it struck me how fetchingly pretty his sister was when she was happy.
And I was equally happy to see her come back.
Instantly my mind turned toward her brother.
If I could just lure him away for a bit. With him out of the way, I should have an open shot at lifting the bloody beautiful necklace his sister was wearing.
I had no real plan yet but figured once the young watchman was out of the picture, I could come up with something on the fly.
My table mate sighed.
“You know, I may just as well blow this joint. Waste of my time getting dressed up tonight.”
I looked away from the lad, back at her, puffing away on her cigarette. An epiphany popped up in my head.
Smashing out my half-smoked cigarette, I opened my purse and from the wad of cash I had taken from my first mark, I peeled off £100 in notes of the realm.
“See that lad over there? Well before you leave it would be worth this…”
I laid the notes on the table
“For you to have a couple of dances with. Him.”
She looked at the pile of cash, speaking.
“Why would you want to pay me this for taking him dancing?”
Her eyes went from the cash on the table to face me with a questioning look, I answered:
“It’s just that his sister, the redhead next to him, had a rather personal question to ask me. And is unable to do so with her brother hovering around.”
I could tell she knew I was lying, her eyes looked over the girl head to toe, then dropped to the designer clutch purse at her elbow.
“Nice purse that.”
She figured that it was her purse I was after. Worth about £400 at a pawn. but she didn’t seem to really care, as neither did I.
Scooping up the notes she put them in her purse, a knock-off designer number.
Smashing out her cigarette, she rose and bid me an uncaring farewell.
I watched as she went up to the table, placed a hand on the lad's shoulder, and said something I was too far away to catch. But he got right up as the lady nodded to his sister, I saw her eyes traveling up and down again, closely drooling over her sumptuous attire.
She then led the lad off.
As I again found myself becoming mesmerized by the shimmering necklace that lay around his sister’s throat, as she was watching her brother being led off.
I shake my head clear, looking away to rationally think.
As I did, my elbow hit something, looking down, I found myself staring at the 1/4 full cocktail glass.
Speaking of plans on the fly.
I picked up the glass and quickly circling, came up from behind to reach my red-headed mark, sitting there with all innocence.
As I passed I said:
“Watch it..”
Then let the drink slip from my hand and land in the silken lap of her gorgeous dark chocolate gown.
She jumped up immediately, and I was ready with my handkerchief.
As I apologized profusely. I Placed one hand on her shoulder and with the other reached down and began sopping up the wet area of her luxurious gown(making sure my fingers reached titillatingly well down along inside her pantyliner to maximize the distraction.
All the while the darling girl was confused, becoming aroused, and apologetic all at the same time.
“It’s ok miss, my fault I’m sure, must have startled you, didn’t I!”
As she spoke, she looked down watching my hand wiping her, long red hair falling into her face, my hand left her quivering shoulder, and locating the clasp of her necklace, flicked it open. Then I pulled it off from around her neck and dropped it neatly into my open purse on the floor.
She pulled her hair up to see, and I grasped her wrist with my now free hand, easily unsnapping her diamond bracelet, where it soon joined its purloined mate inside my purse.
“Do you have a handkerchief luv?”
She nodded her head no. Chandelier Earrings swing out, wickedly flashing their many tiers of pricy diamonds.
“Let’s get you to the washroom and clean you up a bit.”
As she lifted the hem of her wet gown I took her by the scintillating silk gowns covered waist and led her off.
As she was preoccupied with holding and studying her soiled gown, my fingers holding her waist worked over and unhooking her exceptionally valuable diamond brooch, easily lifting it off. Then I curled my fist around it into a ball.
I open the door to the washroom, then as she went in, deposited her brooch in my purse.
I handed her a towel, which she took and began wiping off her slippery wet gown
As she was bending over to clean down her front, her hair kept again falling down over her face.
Here luv, I said taking her soft hair and pulling it back. I laid my fingers cupping her ears. As she was busy wiping off wet spots, I was busy wiping off her ears with a stroking motion. Pulling out her handsomely jeweled earrings in the process.
I stood back, dropping the sparklers inside my purse as I watched her bending over to clean up, her slinky thin gown tightly outlining her figure
As she finished and stood up, I apologized:
“I am so sorry.”
Smiling weakly, she hugged me, saying with her head pressed to my shoulder:
“That’s s ok accidents happen.”
She twittered it pleasantly enough, and I hugged her back.
Pulling away I looked her over.
“Look you missed a spot.”
I lifted her hand and laid it upon the wet area just below her breasts, my fingers tickling. Giggling, she put one hand on my waist for support, and as the other began to wipe her wet spot, I myself wiped off the ring from her slick glove-clad finger.
She was now pretty much cleaned up, and thoroughly cleaned out.
If only she had been wearing that diamond tiara!
I walked back through the exit door as she stayed behind to take care of her business. The excitement, mixed with anguish, made her have to use a stall.
I head off down the hall intending on turning towards the exit once I reach it.
From what had become a habit, I looked towards the red-headed damsel in distress’s table. Brother is not back yet… but…
The wealthy mother, whose glittery diamonds would put a Tiffany’s display case to shame, is back at the table. Gullibly alone. Tiara is glittery like a bloody bright beacon. She is holding an unlit cigarette, a lighter on the table by her purse. She is watching her son on the dance floor.
I said thoughtfully to myself knowing the song was almost through and the lady would be dropping him like a hot potato when it was done:
“In for a penny…”
Licking my lips with expectations, I pull out my round lighter as I walk up to the twin’s richly attired mother…
“May I? “
I lean over as she turned to me, and placed the cigarette in between her red lipstick-covered mouth. Up close, her earrings and tiara flashed into such provoking life it made me blink.
As I clumsily knock her overly expensive purse to the floor with my elbow, I tell her:
“Can never get these bloody things to work.”
Fini
I’m not really wicked, just written that way
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Postscript:
The dance venue in Scotland had a washroom with a linen-covered table stacked with towels.
It was underneath where cleanup found my rhinestone bracelet.
Yes, I had used the wash.
But what if it had gone like this:
An observers viewpoint:
The mum is wearing real diamonds in her earrings. Therefore reasonable to assume her daughter’s bracelet must be real diamonds also, and a young lady is usually the easier pick.
Bracelet is acquired, discovered not to be real, not wishing to be caught with a nicked bracelet of just rhinestone, the evidence is tossed.
I mean really, it could have happened that way?
“Le chat mangerait du poisson, mais ne se mouillerait pas les pieds”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
the cat would eat fish, but would not wet her feet
Le chat mangerait du poisson, mais ne se mouillerait pas les pieds
My gig of 2015, Joanna Newsome. Sings like a dreamy mediaeval Bjork and plays a mesmerising harp, shadowed by subtle Van Dyke Parks orchestrations. Am in a blissful state whenever I play her albums late nights.
A view of the stages of the eclipse from the Diamond Ring at Contact 2 up to Diamond Ring at Contact 3. Taken from Fireside Campsite Jackson Hole Wyoming. FS60CB at 600mm and Canon 5D Mk3 on a Star Adventurer with Eclipse Orchestrator automating the image capture
Acte 8 Footfalls (and the obligatory Epilogue)
Subtitle (striking the irons)
It had indeed been a trying day for The Mistress, as had the whole affair actually, and she was just too tired to continue putting up with it.
Exhausted after being run through an entire gauntlet of emotions, some of which had been entirely new to her and which she had found to be quite distasteful to someone of her carefully orchestrated upbringing, The mistress took some heavy sleep sedatives and had one of the downstairs servants( Maggie being shunned to the barn) put her to bed.
Later that evening as Edmund and her ladyship lay fast asleep in the separate rooms that extend out on either side of the large, shared sitting room, a most rude intrusion is made upon their chambres.
A pair of dark figures, moving silently as cats, walk up the stairs from the first floor, where they have spent some time lifting various pieces of silver, but now it was time for their main objectives:
They enter Edmunds room first, spending about twenty minutes as they expertly locate and removed his lordships valuables from their various hiding spots, some of which had been unlocked from a ring of keys in the possession of one of the thieves.
The pair then enters her Ladyships bedchamber, spending twice as much time inside as they had in Edmund’s chamber. They take great pains to make sure all of her hiding spots are located and relived of the valuables contained within; trying all the remaining keys out from the chain they have in their possession. Their torches touch upon many cases which when opened, contain a dazzling collection of colourful jewels, brite gold and pearls,( white black and coral.) Having been given a sleeping draught, The Mistress is blissfully unaware that all of her expensive jewelry and knickknacks are being collected and placed in a large black carpet bag. And since the Mistress liked to keep are of her most expensive possessions close at hand in her Boudoir, it was quite a large and extremely valuable collection that was being stolen from right under her pointed, upturned nose.
They lastly work around the large canopy bed where her ladyship is sleeping peacefully.
One of the dark shadowy men peel back the blue satin coverlet, exposing the mistress in her long black nightgown. Thin, dark fingers feel carefully along her satin clad figure checking for anything of value er the Mistress may have worn to bed. A jeweled ruby ring is located, one she always wears to bed feeling that it is the safest place for it, and is ever so gently pulled off her finger.
Her silver rhinestone sleeping masque is then lifted off, as are the pair of tortis shell clips holding up her long hair. As they are pulled away, she turns in her bed, saying a name( her lawyers as it so happens) exposing a black string protruding from the bottom of her pillow. The string is pulled, and out comes a black silk pouch. ( later that pouch is found to contain a letter for a certain solicitor along with a healthy wad of fivers!)
A long thin knife is pulled out, and for the second time that evening, the thin straps of her negligee are slit, and the negligee is slowly pulled coff of her figure.
The two shadowy figures leave with their loot, and make their way back outside. They almost get away undetected, but for one female servant, who had watched the pair from the servants quarters. And said servant, instead of sounding an alarm, may have chuckled a bit as she hobbled back to her bed and soon had fallen peacefully, innocently, back to sleep….
The Obligatory Epilogue :
All’s well that ends well, one can suppose:
Edmund and The Mistress, the robbery effectively relieving them of the last of their savings, and facing the loss of their estates, attempted to get back the money they had paid the crooked magistrate. He immediately had the pair charged and arrested for intimidation of a judge. Unable to pay the fines, they both were sent to debtors prison, where Edmund expired of a heart attack 8 months later, giving Errol the opportunity to inherit the family title.
The Dowager Aunt paid the debts of the Estate ( but not those of Edmund and The Mistress), acquiring Staghurst in the process. She set up Errol and his wife in the great estate as overseers; eventually Errol was bequeathed the estate upon the Dowagers passing some 6 years later. The Dowager was buried at Staghurst, and her mausoleum, even though overgrown and buried by vines, can still, not easily, be found..
Now it is known that The Mistress was quite inconsolable at Edmund’s funeral, so one would like to think there were some embers of love giving minute bits of heat to an otherwise seemingly soulless heart.
Lady Elisa apparently took pity on the poor creature, and convinced His Lordship Errol to forgive the Mistress’s debts. He apparently took money from his own household and finally got her release from debtor’s prison a year after Edmund’s passing. The Dowager Aunt allowed her to rent out one of the estates small cottages. Elisa sent Fanny to teach the Mistress how to be a seamstress so she could earn her keep. It was recorded in the family chronicles that her first order of business was taking some of her own stunning gowns that the Mistress had left behind at Staghurst and altering them to fit Elisa and Maggie to be worn by the ladies at various functions.
Sadly, Maggie’s scratches on her cheeks became infected and left her with some rather nasty scarring. Elisa brought the poor creature into Staghurst to be her companion. It is not chronicled whom Maggie eventually wed, but it was recorded in the Staghurst manor’s archives that one of Maggie’s daughters married a younger son of Lord Errol’s. A bloodline that carried the title of the house of Staghurst into modern times.
As for Staghurst itself, the great house still looms, standing in commanding atonement! But times have changed, and like so many great estates of the day, the majority of the manor has been re-envisioned into a rather upscale overnight, run by the current Lord and his family, direct descendants of Errol and Elisa.
As for the Assault and Robbery, no one was ever caught and punished. But one can imagine, without naming names, that those who had a hand in obtaining the small fortune acquired, soon found their positions in life elevated, and one can always hope that some good came of it…
The pub mentiond, The Poet and the Peasant, is the name of an actual welsh pub, and the 400 year old building it is located in has been the site of many drinking establishments over the years. Although its part in this story is fictional, one who has been there can well imagine that if its darkened and smoky walls and chambers could talk, therein would lay many tales, both rude and glorious.
Yesterday took place at the castle the medieval festival
a fantastic day orchestrated by talented Djs, Dj Bettina, Dj Lully and Dj Marie Louise, all revisited on the theme of medieval music and costumes
My unlit magnifying lamp with the lit Christmas stars behind. I usually plump for colour, but there was very little to start with in this shot, and it was mostly dull yellow from the stars. It's fun orchestrating a photoshoot with the things you have, especially when you are late for the assignment!
Eight strangers stand at a nondescript railway platform on an unremarkable weekday afternoon. As their train is delayed further, they put down their crumpled Metros, pocket their bleeping smartphones – and begin to share their secrets, hopes and fears. A musical snapshot of modern Britain by Cameron Mackintosh award-winning duo, Joe Bunce and Matthew Malone. Commendation for Musicianship (NSDF). 'Astonishingly inventive … Witty and evocative' (Sunday Times). 'Departures shines like a jewel' (BroadwayBaby.com). 'Well-realised and beautifully orchestrated' ★★★★★ (KettleMag.co.uk). ★★★★★ (BoxDust.com). 'This is what the Edinburgh Fringe is all about' ★★★★★ (EdinburghGuide.com).
Deep inside a secret mountain in Sweden lies the old gunpowder factory in complete darkness. It has big halls, offices, laboratory, tanks and machines slowly rusting apart. The factory secretly produced gunpowder used in ammunition for the Swedish military from 1940 to 1945.
Epic urbex weekend with OlavXO and Juha H.
My homepage || blog || twitter || youtube || vimeo || tumblr || 500px || 1x.com || Facebook || Book
LEBANON, OHIO—Apollo 11 mission commander and famed astronaut Neil Armstrong shocked reporters at a press conference 8/31/2009, announcing he had been convinced that his historic first step on the moon was part of an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the United States government.
Read more!!
www.theonion.com/conspiracy-theorist-convinces-neil-armst...
”We’re Here!”: today visiting The LUNARtics
My moon shot courtesy of NASA, the originators of the greatest fake news of all time!
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/images/apollo_imag...
SUNRISE - Public Beach - Atlantic Ocean Inlet
Saint Augustine, Florida U.S.A. - July 4th, 2024
----------Independence Day 2024----------U.S.A.!
A few weeks before the Olympics in France - Human Interest
(a local was beautifully orchestrating a 6:30 AM photo shoot)
Vilano Beach - Atlantic Ocean - First Light - pinkish - 7/4/24
Choppy Sea - Sunrise Drama at the Inlet - Summer 2024
4th of July Holiday - Northern Florida - The Treasure Coast
*[left-double-click for a closer-look - a very cool beach-studio!]
*[Patriotic! - two models - dramatic-dawn - lights - flags - boots!]
*[inlet jetty - dramatic dawn light - jetty rocks - pools reflections]
*[Atlantic Ocean - warm-morning-light - very active ocean-inlet]
*[Start of the Day - Gorgeous Day - Independance Day 2024]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine_Light
factoidz.com/beautiful-lighthouses-in-florida-are-great-t...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Lions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bascule_bridge
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._augustine_florida
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanzas_River
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos
MuCEM + Fort Saint-Jean, Marseille, France - 2013 -Architects: Rudy Ricciotti and C+T architecture
Views, sea, sun, a mineral quality, which all must be orchestrated by a program that will become federal and cognitive. First of all a perfect square of 72 m per side, it is a classic plan, Latin, under the control of Pythagoras. Within this square, another of 52 m per side, comprising the exhibition and conference halls identified as the heart of the museum.
Around, above and below are the service areas. But between these areas and the heart, openings entirely bypass the central square and form interconnected spaces. More interested by the views of the fort, the sea or the port, the culturally overwhelmed visitor will choose this route. Along two interlacing ramps, he will then plunge into the imaginary of the tower of Babel or of a ziggurat in order to climb up to the rooftop and on to Fort Saint- Jean. This peripheral loop will be a free breathe, enveloped by the smells of the sea from the proximity to the moats, a pause to dispel any lingering doubts about the use of the history of our civilizations. The MuCEM will be a vertical Casbah.
The tectonic choice of an exceptional concrete coming from the latest research by French industry, reducing the dimensions to little more than skin and bones, will affirm a mineral script under the high ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean. This sole material in the colour of dust, matt, crushed by the light, distant from the brilliance and technological consumerism, will commend the dense and the delicate. The MuCEM sees itself evanescent in a landscape of stone and Orientalist through its fanning shadows.
Twenty-five brand new Enviro 400 MMC vehicles will enter traffic at Folkestone and Hastings on the Wave group of routes on Monday 5th December prompting a carefully orchestrated cascade the same weekend will allow the withdrawal of all non-DDA fleet members meaning the end of the use of the former Manchester Magicbus Tridents.
Pictured here in its last few weeks in service and wearing slightly more of its former "Magic bus" logos than other members transferred south, Stagecoach South East 17656 V156 DFT is seen parked up at Dover Pencester Road shortly before working route 89 to Canterbury. Saturday 19th November 2016.
Dennis Trident - Alexander ALX400 (Ex-Stagecoach Manchester - Magicbus)
Pig factory
In a world cloaked in shadows, humanity danced unwittingly to a macabre tune, treated as livestock in a grand, nefarious spectacle. Raised and fattened like cattle, the masses were unwitting participants in a twisted drama, their destinies entwined with a dark purpose.
The puppeteers, hidden in the recesses of power, treated the people as mere commodities, exploiting them like poor pigs in a relentless cycle of exploitation. The masses moved through life in an orchestrated rhythm, oblivious to the grand theater that played out behind the scenes.
The stage was set for a grand feast, and humanity, the unwitting performers, played their roles without understanding the looming fate that awaited them. Each life, a fleeting moment, was a link in a chain of consumption, a resource to be exploited.
In the shadows, the puppeteers reveled in the feast of control, manipulating the destinies of the unsuspecting, orchestrating their lives towards an inevitable climax. The grim truth hung in the air like a heavy fog, a sinister revelation of humanity treated like cattle, raised for sacrifice and consumption in the theater of the unseen.
by me
Ink, charcoal, graphite pencils and gouache on mulberry paper 30x30cm.
Twenty-five brand new Enviro 400 MMC vehicles will enter traffic at Folkestone and Hastings on the Wave group of routes on Monday 5th December prompting a carefully orchestrated cascade the same weekend will allow the withdrawal of all non-DDA fleet members meaning the end of the use of the former Manchester Magicbus Tridents.
Pictured here in its last few weeks in service and wearing slightly more of its former "Magic bus" logos than other members transferred south, Stagecoach South East 17656 V156 DFT is seen turning out of St Johns Road and into Milner Road, Elvington whilst working route 89. Saturday 19th November 2016.
Dennis Trident - Alexander ALX400 (Ex-Stagecoach Manchester - Magicbus)
Great to down to these quarry caves again. Set up this shot with Phill orchestrating the lighting with the laser and some good old backlight and a smoke pellet. All rounded off with Phill on the LACE backlight Scanner. Actually all I did was stand there Oh and set my camera up, but Phill pushed the shutter. hahaa twas a great night topped of with a cuppa or two.
_PDS7845
SUNRISE - Public Beach - Atlantic Ocean Inlet
Saint Augustine, Florida U.S.A. - July 4th, 2024
Saint Augustine Lighthouse - Summer 2024
----------Independence Day 2024----------U.S.A.!
A few weeks before the Olympics in France - Human Interest
(a local was beautifully orchestrating a 6:30 AM photo shoot)
Vilano Beach - Atlantic Ocean - First Light - pinkish - 7/4/24
Choppy Sea - Sunrise Drama at the Inlet - Summer 2024
4th of July Holiday - Northern Florida - The Treasure Coast
*[left-double-click for a closer-look - a very cool beach-studio!]
*[Patriotic! - two models - dramatic-dawn - lights - flags - boots!]
*[inlet jetty - dramatic dawn light - jetty rocks - pools reflections]
*[Atlantic Ocean - warm-morning-light - very active ocean-inlet]
*[Start of the Day - Gorgeous Day - Independance Day 2024]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine_Light
factoidz.com/beautiful-lighthouses-in-florida-are-great-t...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Lions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bascule_bridge
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._augustine_florida
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanzas_River
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos
Took a stroll through the Buddha Tooth Temple near my office where a very large ceremony was taking place. Snapped a few discreet shots of the monk who was orchestrating the ceremony. I find myself easily mesmerized by the beautiful and mysterious music performed in the various temples and shrines throughout the city.
On Sunday 23 July, members of the Tamil diaspora community gathered opposite 10 Downing Street, London, to commemorate the beginning of the anti-Tamil pogroms in Sri Lanka forty years ago in 1983. During the course of a single week, as many as 5,000 Sri Lankan Tamils were killed and 150,000 more ethnically cleansed.
After independence in 1948, Tamils, who constituted around 25% of the Sri Lankan population were increasingly subjected to restrictions on the Tamil language and increasingly discriminated against in access to university education and employment. As demands for an independent homeland in Tamil majority areas grew, on 23 July the Tamil rebel group, "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," ambushed a Sri Lankan army unit, killing 13 soldiers.
In response, the governing United National Party orchestrated a pogrom starting the same day using electoral roll information to locate vulnerable Tamil families. According to a display at Sunday's meeting, attacks that day were targeted on Tamil properties and Tamils in Vehicles who "were stopped to be beaten or killed," while other Tamils faced extrajudicial executions by soldiers and Tamil detainees in prisons were brutally murdered.
Quickly the violence escalated, with the government doing nothing to prevent Sinhalese rioters taking the law into their own hands. During the following week mobs attacked, burned and looted Tamil communities, killing as many as 5,000 and making 150,000 homeless. The Economist reported that "for days the soldiers and policemen were not overwhelmed; they were unengaged or, in some cases, apparently abetting the attackers. Numerous eyewitnesses attest that soldiers and policemen stood by while Colombo burned."
However, the violence against Sri Lanka's population did not end with the Black July pogroms. Between 1983 and 2009, the country was plunged into a devastating civil war, with the United Nations documenting wide-scale war crimes committed by government forces, who continued to receive arms from the British government while British SAS officers, "under the auspices of the private firm of Keeny Meeny Services (KMS) were instrumental in training Sri Lankan troops in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency techniques'', according to Global Security. [1]
Similarly, according to a report in Asia Times, "British pilots were (allegedly) seen flying helicopter gunships and airplanes to bombard and attack innocent Tamil civilians in the Northern Province, especially on the Jaffna peninsula. These British mercenaries were paid a monthly salary of around 2,500 British pounds per person and other fringe benefits...." [2]
An estimated 40,000 Sri Lankans were killed during the 1980s by British armed and trained Sri Lankan security forces, the latter often being a polite technical term for death squads.[3] The supply of weapons however continued, even under Tony Blair's Labour Government.
In 2001, according to the Foreign Office's own report, the British government exported £15.5 million worth of military equipment to Sri Lanka, including "components for sniper rifles... equipment for the use of weapon night sights, flash suppressors, grenade launchers, gun mountings, illuminators, laser range finders, military aero engines... small arms ammunition, sniper rifles... (and) stun grenades."
A recent report by the UN High Commissioner on human rights for Sri Lanka on 25 February 2022, "documents discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities and security forces' targeting of civil society groups, while accountability for past abuses has been blocked." According to Human Rights Watch it shows "the rights situation (in Sri Lanka) in alarming decline and contradicts government claims of improvement."
www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/03/sri-lanka-un-report-describes...
[If anyone kindly uploads this photo to Wikimedia Commons, please attribute and please also use your own description or caption. Thanks.]
Footnotes
1. Global Security cited in T. J. Coles, "Britain's Secret Wars," Clairview Books, 2016, p. 97
2. K. T. Rajasingham, "Sri Lanka: The Untold Story," Asia Times, 26 October 2001.
3. T. J. Coles, Op. Cit, p 98.
A Great Egret (Ardea alba) takes to flight as if orchestrating a choir. These birds are large, white, patient and graceful. Fish are their mainstay diet, but often will dine on amphibians, reptiles and even mice. In the 19th century, due to plume hunters satisfying the fashion trade, their population plummeted by over 90 percent. Today, they represent conservation and their numbers are increasing. The Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society. If you study this print closely, you can see a few water droplets falling from the tips of the feathers. Hope you enjoy. Comments welcome.
This is not cropped.
Location: Lake Conway, Conway, Arkansas. January, 2015.
Photo # KS6_7204bw2.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography.
The deer kept surprising me with beautifully orchestrated motion...this was one of my favourites. This is at Lynde Shores Conservation Area close to Whitby, ON.
This view is from the rooms above the tavern looking at city hall. The City Tavern in Alexandria, Virginia is now called Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant is where multiple early American presidents stayed, ate and networked starting with George Washington. Those presidents were George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. I have read that Madison more or less set up an office here and orchestrated the Constitutional Convention, inviting delegates and taking notes. While Alexander Hamilton is often credited with much of the writing of the Constitution, Madison was very much the organizer, secretary and diarist/ record keeper who instigated the convention. I guess you could say we visited “the room where it (the planning) happened.
Orchids and Everything Since
Perfection. And a field
a photo resonates
in passing. As orchids
numerate, [square land]
setting stems writhe
into lyrics,
moving pictures.
Abstraction undermines
an eye’s permission
to clash detail
branching
vegetation, harmonial
inheritance.
A petalfuses the fringed
purple breaths,
symmetrical hearts,
shapes that escape
breeze.
Silvering electricity,
orchids and lilies
pair to orchestrate
seduction,
vivid as remains
catch and trill
spring, lengthening
lawns.
A blaze sings
the waving brushwood,
the flavor of one full note.
Copyright by Jessica Schneider
www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/hymn-how-god-rules-over-a...
Introduction
Best Gospel Song | How Great Is Our God | "How God Rules Over All Things"
From the moment you come crying into this world,
you begin to perform your duty.
In the plan and ordination of God, you assume your role,
and begin the journey of life.
Whatever your background or the journey ahead of you,
none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has in store,
and none are in control of their destiny,
for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work.
Since the day man came into existence,
God has been steady in His work,
managing this universe and directing the change and movement of all things.
Like all things, man quietly and unknowingly
receives
the nourishment of the sweetness and rain and dew from God.
Like all things, man unknowingly lives under the orchestration of God’s hand.
The heart and spirit of man are held in the hand of God,
and all the life of man is beheld in the eyes of God.
Regardless of whether or not you believe this,
any and all things, living or dead,
will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts.
This is how God rules over all things.
from The Word Appears in the Flesh
Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.
Terms of Use： en.godfootsteps.org/disclaimer.html
Line. Lock. Switch set. Ruby light string. One orb illuminates emerald green. And a second. High green on main 1. Repeat. Main 2. Iron steeds tiptoe in the background, carload after sooty carload, pellet by pellet, dollar by carbon clad dollar drops into the coffers of another aluminum drop bottom. Power grid. Infrastructure. Vital link. Two rail giants collide head to head. Buckets in. Buckets out. Rinse, repeat. Like a puppeteer, softly nugging, coaxing, tensing strings; a three way meet is executed with the streamlined precision and abject concentration of a chamber orchestra falling in line under the guiding hands of a seasoned conductor. Powder. River. Basin. Black Gold. Lifeline.