View allAll Photos Tagged overworked
EXPLORED
The rivers of Bangladesh mark both the physiography of the nation and the life of the people. About 700 in number, one of the largest networks in the world, which have a total length of about 24,140 kilometers, these rivers generally, flow south. The water mass consists of tiny hilly streams, winding seasonal creeks, muddy canals, some truly magnificent rivers and their tributaries and distributaries.
The larger rivers serve as the main source of water for cultivation and as the principal arteries of commercial transportation. Rivers also provide fish, an important source of protein. Flooding of the rivers during the monsoon season causes enormous hardship and hinders development, but fresh deposits of rich silt replenish the fertile but overworked soil. The rivers also drain excess monsoon rainfall into the Bay of Bengal. Thus, the great river system is at the same time the country's principal resource and its greatest hazard.
2079. 7/12 "Currently Loving" DDC
This pool was the best thing for Dunkel. He LOVES it! He now simply lays in it. lol I feel better playing with him now knowing he can cool down. I still just play in the early morning and evenings, but I worry about his heart being overworked.
Introduction
Christian Testimonies | God’s Love Never Fails | Short Film "God Is My Reliance" | en.godfootsteps.org/videos/film-god-is-my-reliance-2.html
She was born into a Christian family. By God’s grace, her family loved each other and lived in harmony, and she felt very happy. However, in the year she turned 15, in order to escape being arrested and persecuted by the CCP government, her family was forced to scatter to different places and she stayed with their relatives. In 2002, through reading God’s word, she was certain that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus and accepted God’s end-time work. In 2008, she was arrested by the CCP government and was sentenced to two years in prison. Under the long time During the long period of overwork and being tortured and humiliated with different means in the women’s labor camp, she, unable to bear all this, tasted the selflessness and greatness of God’s love. God’s word made her weak heart become strong.…
You may also like: Spiritual Warfare
Image Source: The Church of Almighty God
Terms of Use: en.godfootsteps.org/disclaimer.html
Despite the limited space, the new police station is packed with all the necessary features for its daily operation. The Command Center for Operation and Response Team (CCORT) stands in the city under sand blue, black and grey major colors, getting rid of the usual bright blue palette.
Giving way to the vehicular entries, the reception is moved to the first floor led by a wide staircase which becomes a welcoming and prominent feature along the street. Above it are the detention section, interview rooms, and one record room.
Going further up will be the main office for the officers, accompanied with pantry and the female restroom. Half of the area is a double volume space to receive more daylight through the big window. There’s also a meeting room which can be used as a war room if needed.
Above them will be the laboratory and equipment room, where evidence can be analyzed and where weapons and tools are stored. There are also the male restroom and one meeting room. Speaking of the restrooms, both of them have shower in case the overworked officers need to take a break.
Finally you will reach the top floor where the director’s office and flight control room are located. One can also reach the rooftop which is an Orca pad. The parking receiver is usually closed, and extends out upon Orca landing. The charging equipment sits on the side. Seldom do we see an Orca here actually since it’s usually parked for charging and equipment check.
Now, VCPD (V City Police Department) has a solid base for daily operations, providing all the services and support to the citizens in the town!
Purely inspired by Karl Marx’s theories on alienation.
“The less you eat, drink and read books; the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save-the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will devour-your capital.
The less you are, the more you have; the less you express your own life, the greater is your alienated life-
the greater is the store of your estranged being.”
― Karl Marx
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Despite the limited space, the new police station is packed with all the necessary features for its daily operation. The Command Center for Operation and Response Team (CCORT) stands in the city under sand blue, black and grey major colors, getting rid of the usual bright blue palette.
Giving way to the vehicular entries, the reception is moved to the first floor led by a wide staircase which becomes a welcoming and prominent feature along the street. Above it are the detention section, interview rooms, and one record room.
Going further up will be the main office for the officers, accompanied with pantry and the female restroom. Half of the area is a double volume space to receive more daylight through the big window. There’s also a meeting room which can be used as a war room if needed.
Above them will be the laboratory and equipment room, where evidence can be analyzed and where weapons and tools are stored. There are also the male restroom and one meeting room. Speaking of the restrooms, both of them have shower in case the overworked officers need to take a break.
Finally you will reach the top floor where the director’s office and flight control room are located. One can also reach the rooftop which is an Orca pad. The parking receiver is usually closed, and extends out upon Orca landing. The charging equipment sits on the side. Seldom do we see an Orca here actually since it’s usually parked for charging and equipment check.
Now, VCPD (V City Police Department) has a solid base for daily operations, providing all the services and support to the citizens in the town!
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker who was prominent in the Impressionist group and widely celebrated for his images of Parisian life.
In this mysterious painting, Degas shows a client trying on a silk taffeta cream hat in front of a large mirror. Her reflected face appears as an abstract white oval. Degas began this painting in the early 1880's but reworked it in the late 1890's. He emphasized the customer's silhouette and created flat areas of luminous color. To the right in the picture is the cropped stylized hand of the saleswoman, offering a russet hat. Degas was fascinated by hand gestures and once remarked how he liked to see the "red hands of the little girl who holds the pins" during hat fittings. His comment may have referred to the inflammation of a saleswoman's hands as a result of overwork.
This original Degas painting was seen and photographed on display at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco in an exhibit entitled "Degas, Impressionism and the Paris Millinery Trade".
Monteau dress
Forever21 boots
thrifted cardigan
Lately I've been a bit tired and feeling overworked... I guess that's the life of a mother.
...read/see more here.
Sorry for the noisy picture, i was just trying out some software and probably overworked it... still getting into the HDR world
Two more reworked (and overworked) shots from the archives.
Had a bit more fun with this one but liked the over processed feel of it.
The rivers of Bangladesh mark both the physiography of the nation and the life of the people. About 700 in number, one of the largest networks in the world, which have a total length of about 24,140 kilometers, these rivers generally, flow south. The water mass consists of tiny hilly streams, winding seasonal creeks, muddy canals, some truly magnificent rivers and their tributaries and distributaries.
The larger rivers serve as the main source of water for cultivation and as the principal arteries of commercial transportation. Rivers also provide fish, an important source of protein. Flooding of the rivers during the monsoon season causes enormous hardship and hinders development, but fresh deposits of rich silt replenish the fertile but overworked soil. The rivers also drain excess monsoon rainfall into the Bay of Bengal. Thus, the great river system is at the same time the country's principal resource and its greatest hazard.
I hope the young women who live in this house didn't mind. I overworked this...should have stopped about 10 minutes before I did...but I really enjoyed it. Did this while waiting for my son to finish making the pizza.
Not one of my best: it had been a difficult day and I was tired and shouldn't have drawn. But I was in the mood...and am determined to share whatever I do on here and treat it all as a developing, celebratory journey.Apologies for the poor quality image. Scanner still not sorted! Soft pencil, fine dip pen and ink, fine felt pens, coloured pencil, palette knife and brush. Lots of different media..which is probably why it ended up being overworked! J was discharged from the Hospice today and I brought him back home for a few weeks, prior to Radiotherapy. So much better :)
- Björk ♫ ♪ ♫
E.T. Phone home:
Having my mobile phone service recently flake out on me specifically during a time in which I very direly needed to call home, set me off on a self-portrait photoshoot tangent (pausing work on the costume I've been creating).
This light-hearted miniseries of portraits is actually a hint at a costume/character I've brainstormed; touching on how alienating and hollow technology dependence can be: how we are all connected but we are all so not connected and missing the essence of life that makes us humans and not robots. On another level, it's also mocking the tinfoil hat trope, and even mocking aspects of myself. I also just realized afterwards that the two green lights on the heat pump could look like cameras to the eyes of a mad tinfoil hatter - Big Brother is always watching!
Inscribed in purple foiled eyeshadow above the eyes are the ubiquitous WiFi symbol/soundwaves/vibrations/ the sonar "technology" that bats use for movement.
As in the children’s story book with Stellaluna the lost baby bat raised by a bird family who expect her to live like them: sleep at night, don’t hang upside down; this alien is urged to erase traits intrinsic to her nature, in order to assimilate.
So this empathicalist* extraT, let’s call her Astrid, has forged some armour to block hostile vibrations* because sometimes people try to say that living true to your own nature is bad attitude/bad behaviour just because you don't make a fool of yourself trying to be like them simply to make them feel validated when you know that your sonar senses are the thing that you can truly trust. “…if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
The fidget spinner kept handy on her wrist is to symbolize the anxiety epidemic resultant from an ambitious overworked world where people are too busy on the grind and not truly connected – stressed out beyond belief, taking it out on each other and causing rifts. Consistent uber-stress threatens the very fibre of our being to the point that we become who we are not, distorted caricatures of success and glamour. She’s kinda like this bizarre alien ninja with her Inspector Gadget-esque sometimes-weaponized fidget spinner. A protector, a lover, a renegade fighter against societally-institutionalized bad vibes. Good vibes only zone. Live love laugh, motherfucker. (but in a creepy gothic and scary kinda way)
When life gives me lemons I say "wtf i ordered lychees!" and I don’t stop ‘til I have those lychees, cuz lychees rule. In other words, I stop my crying and make a costume and tableaux vivant (living picture/visual narrative).
*Quote from Funny Face movie
Recovered image file from the 1990's, probably shot with that swivel Coolpix4500, then overworked in P'Shop
Here is a quick loose version of the pomegranite challenge ,with the main purpose of creating depth through luminosity & strong shadows. I used a Hard sized paper for this one so as to create a strong textured painting without overworking ! ( best viewed Large)
Sometimes one has to overwork a parking spot until they get it just right.
Kudos to the line striping company! Once the entire parking lot striping was completed, however, it is now so confusing and difficult to navigate for me I will no longer go back.
Serious violation of my KISS principle.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you wish to use this image, please, contact me through flickrmail or at vicenc.feliu@gmail.com. © All rights reserved...
The Grant Memorial, begun in 1902 as the largest ever commissioned by Congress at the time, was created by sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady and architect William Pearce Casey. Sculptor Edmund Amateis assisted Shrady as the monument neared completion in 1921. Shrady spent 20 years of his life working on the memorial and died, stressed and overworked, two weeks before its dedication in 1922. The platform for the monument, made of Vermont marble, is 252 feet (77 m) long and 71 feet (22 m) wide and is divided into three sections. The tall, middle section features a 10,700 pound, 17-foot-2-inch (5.2 m) high equestrian statue depicting Grant aboard his war horse Cincinnati on a 22 1/2-foot high marble pedestal. Grant is flanked, on either side, by fighting Union Artillery and Cavalry groups. Surrounding the main pedestal are four shorter pedestals, each supporting a bronze lion in repose guarding both the United States flag and the flags of the Army. The memorial was the largest bronze sculpture cast in the United States at that time.
The Cavalry Group depicts a color squad consisting of seven cavalrymen charging into battle. The horse on the right has fallen and the rider, modeled after Shrady himself, is moments from being trampled by the onrushing horses.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Bayern Films. Caption: Gotoma leaves his palace to become a beggar from the king's son. One of the many dramatic scenes from the new film of the Münchener Lichtspielkunst, The Light of Asia, which Franz Osten created as the first German large-scale film with the participation and support of the indigenous princes of the historical cities of India in several months of joint work by Indians and Europeans. An overwhelming picture of oriental splendour and exotic beauty.
Himansu Rai (1895-1940) was one of the stars of the early Indian cinema when India was still a part of the United Kingdom. He often worked with German director-producer Franz Osten. Later Rai became a producer.
he German-Indian production Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925) depicts the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the man who became the Buddha. Prem Sanyas is a fascinating hybrid between exoticism and authenticity. The film made stars of the two young leads, Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai. Actor/director Rai would become one of the pioneers of the Indian cinema. Prem Sanyas was the first Indian co-production and made with the cooperation of the Maharajah of Jaipur. The film contained a cast of thousands. The shooting took place in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, where the set decoration was created by Devika Rani, the wife of actor/director Himanshu Rai and a noted actress herself.
Actor/director Himansu Rai was born in 1895 into a wealthy Bengali family. While training as a lawyer in London in the early 1920s, he began to act in plays. In London, he met his later wife Devika Rani who designed film sets and would continue to work with him. In 1933, he joined forces with IBP of England and wholly produced Karma/Fate (J.L. Freer-Hunt, 1933), a bilingual film in English and Hindi. But the Nazi seizure of power in Germany caused Rai to abandon international co-productions and so he decided to concentrate on the domestic film market in India. In 1934, he formed Bombay Talkies Ltd. and built a studio. Under his painstaking supervision, it purchased the most modern equipment from Germany. Franz Osten and a handful of technicians came down from England and Germany to work with him. By 1935, a stream of Hindi productions had begun to emerge from the studio. The advent of World War II meant that the studio's German technicians as well as director Osten were interned by the British, which crippled the studio. Overwork and mental strain eventually took its toll on Rai, who suffered a nervous breakdown which he never recovered from. Himansu Rai died in 1940.
Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
So you want to be a rockstar - well my boy this is how it could all end up!
A marionette taking a well earned break from a wild gig on the hard streets of Vienna.
Woefully overworked attempt ~ sorry you 2 :) I do love the source photo
During the marathon talks surrounding the third Greek bailout, whenever an official came into the press room, journalists would rush round to hear what they were saying. 15 hours after starting, the main thing I took away from these briefings was that tired, hot and overworked journalists tend not to smell very nice.
ODC Theme: Spotted
Taken 28 Aug '11
Mikayla gets 1000points for the impromptu modeling session and helping post an ODC in under 15mins. She asked what the theme was and I said "spotted" and she squinted at me, knowing I knew that she knew that I knew she had a spotted dress PERFECT for the challenge. So I looked at the clock and told her that when the big hand is on the 3, I'll finish up. She gave me "that look" again and reminded me she hadn't used big hand time for the last decade but I had a deal. As she got changed I further reminded her that changing time wasn't included (she shouted out something about 'do I want help with the spots or not?' ...at which point I shut up) LOL .
This is taken outside on our front decking facing directly into the sun. I would have moved to a few locations but the big hand stops for noone. I was aiming for (a)sunflare and (b)rimlight and still be able to make out the spots. Pretty funny really because I'd just recently removed some annoying flare from a previous shot (no names, thanks Shantel). Sometimes it works...other times it's overworked. I didn't actually have time to worry about fill in flash, but I think it kinda works ok without it.
The decking is pine and reflected enough light up, it works pretty much the same as a flash (that's my story anyway). I took spot readings off her face and dress, switched to manual and shot around 20 shots varying the position of the sun. I processed it to make it similar to lomo-cam (retro in my mind at least), 30% curves and added a vignette and watermark.
It's a Flickr cliché of sorts but I don't do many like this so it was a bit of fun :)
...and now for something retro.
yep been working on more drawing of hair think thees came out better my self they don't look so overworked
Robert 1563-1612 1st Earl of Salisbury of Theobalds & Hatfield - Tomb designed by Maximilian Colt.
He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley 1520–1598 flic.kr/p/Avr7FC Secretary of State. and 2nd wife Mildred flic.kr/p/hFPSjs daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall Romford by Anne flic.kr/p/dtCW61 daughter of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Gains Park, Essex and Milton Northants (sister of Anne wife of Sir NIcholas Bacon)
Educated at Cambridge, he was groomed by his father at court to assist and eventually take over his role as trusted advisor of Elizabeth l, becoming Secretary of State in 1590, and leading minister on his death in 1598. Stunted in growth, Elizabeth called him her pygmy. For many years he was in contact with King James of Scotland facilitating the smooth transfer of the Stuarts to the english throne.
He m 1589 Elizabeth 1597 daughter of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham and 2nd wife Frances Newton www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/yn9346
Children
1. William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury 1591 –1668 a man of little mental aptitude "who never spoke of anything but hunting and hawking" m 1608 Catherine 1633 daughter of Admiral Thomas Howard 1st Earl of Suffolk 1626 by 2nd wife Katherine coheiress of Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton flic.kr/p/pLCUus and Widow of Richard son of Robert 2nd Baron Rich www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5mya6K younger brother of the Robert 1st Earl of Warwick flic.kr/p/dzqxKT
In poor health, and worn out by years of overwork Robert took the waters at Bath in 1612, starting on the journey home, he died at Malborough "in great pain and even greater wretchedness of mind"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cecil,_1st_Earl_of_Salisbury
Photo with thanks - copyright John Myers CCL
The colours of the timber framed and brick guildhall are a must for watercolour, though I think my choice of yellow is slightly different to the relatively bright hue of the building. The sketch is on the very last page of my 7th pocket-size Moleskine sketchbook, the back cover of which can be glimpsed under the watercolour set here. The waterbrush is not the easiest of tools to use for detail work, perhaps a good thing as I might well be tempted to overwork the drawing otherwise.
Well here's an old photo that could use some more sharpness and clarity but it was such an interesting discussion that perhaps I can use words to bring it into focus.
The setting was the San Francisco Civic Center on Labor Day weekend of 2008. The 60,000 people gathering that was billed as the “Woodstock of Food” where a Victory Garden was celebrated at City Hall and Fort Mason was transformed into a tasting pavilion. “Come to the Table” was the motto of Slow Food Nation and in this case it was come to the theater to understand food politics.
Standing left to right during the standing ovation at the end of the discussion are Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva, Eric Schlosser, Wendell Berry, Corby Kummer, Alice Waters, Carlo Petrini and a lady whose name I can’t recall.
As with any discussion of politics where someone other than corporations, the elected, or the stenographers of both in the media are doing the talking, the theme was mostly about the people who can afford huge campaign donations soaking up all of the gravy and the masses getting the shaft. I was not totally unaware of the food issues facing this nation but some of the things I heard just blew me away.
It was quite some time ago and I can’t remember what everyone said exactly but I’ll try to do the discussion some justice. All of the speakers discussed how much unnecessary pollution and global warming is being caused by industrial agriculture, the heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fossil fuels, the pollution and depletion of our water supply, placing an unacceptable burden on the Earth’s resources. The fact that the oil industry profits greatly from out food supply.
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivores Dilemma and several other books, probably the calmest revolutionary of all time was the only person I’ve heard speak more than once on this panel. He most likely articulated how the government provides subsidies to the manufacture of unhealthy, processed foods while maintaining high prices for healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Cheap corn and further subsided beef for McDonalds vs. expensive vegetables for us causing obesity, diabetes and many other health issues. The fact that industrial agriculture and their partners in government has brought us to the point where it take ten calories of extremely underpaid labor to bring one calorie to the table.
Vandana Shiva, who Bill Moyers recently called a “rock star in the worldwide battle against genetically modified seeds” was a very strong speaker against Monsanto and abusive political authority. Not so much Monsanto at the level of Frankenvegetable but how the corporation was using genetically modified crops to enslave the farmers of India. She explained how subsidies from the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the United States government, and even Bill and Melinda Gates was forcing a sort of “food totalitarianism” on the world. Called free trade “forced trade,” as western farm values, oil industry monoculture was forcing the removal of the conventional practices of crop rotation and diversity. It was presented as a threat to cultural diversity, America transforming the rest of the world’s food supply in the interest of corporate profits. She also discussed how the slightly higher profit for poor third world farmers, while indenturing them to patented seeds and chemicals, was also causing great pollution as the Monsanto chemicals washed into the world’s waterways.
Eric Schlosser, who at the time was in the limelight for recently forcing himself to live exclusively on McDonalds and almost dying from it talked about “the people who don’t have a seat at the table.” From how migrant workers can’t even afford the fruit they pick to small family farms being forced into bankruptcy so the big cats can take over. There were horror stories of undocumented workers employed as factory butchers, making minimum wage and being turned into Immigration when they injure themselves, which apparently is quite often when you are cutting meat, chicken and pork twelve hours a day. But the central point is that neither the workers nor the consumers have any say in the way food get to our table and that they are far to overworked to participate in the slow food movement.
Wendell Berry seemed like the real star of the show. He opened the show with some poetry and stories about his walking the walk of organic and sustainable farming since the 1960’s. Wendell Berry’s book The Unsettling of America, more than any other, inspired the current assault on the fast food mentality, telling us that “eating is an agricultural act.” His prose and poetry were addressing the same issues being discussed that day but long before most of the speakers were born. The person I was with was a big fan of his and I got to meet him afterward. I was very impressed and promised myself to read some of his work but I never got around to it.
Corby Kummer is a food writer. I didn’t know much about him then and I don’t know much about him now.
Alice Waters deserves most of the credit for the formation of Slow Food Nation. Along with them mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsome they organized the event. Along with Van Jones she vastly improved the local school lunch programs and I recall her describing America's school lunch programs as "training children to become model citizens in a Fast Food Nation." She explained food as an environmental issue; that food is, for the most of us, our only relationship with the environment, food is when we are eating the environment. Alice Waters also owns one of the most famous restaurants in the nation, Chez Panisse and after her success with the Victory Garden at San Francisco’s City Hall she was instrumental in getting Michelle Obama to start an organic garden on the White House lawn.
Carlo Petrini was another historic figure. Eric Schlosser explained his participation here “Carlo Petrini, a brilliant and charismatic journalist, became the leading spokesman for the notion that there is nothing contradictory about championing pleasure and working for change. After staging a protest at a new McDonald’s near Rome’s Spanish Steps, Petrini and his allies issued a Slow Food Manifesto in 1987. “We are enslaved by speed,” it declared, “and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life.” Two years later, the manifesto was endorsed by delegates from fifteen countries, as the destructiveness of a mechanized, industrialized food system became increasingly clear. Today, Slow Food International has about 85,000 members in more than 100 countries.”
In conclusion, I was in way over my head when I attended this discussion. They each claimed that food can be provided for the planet’s population without the participation of the oil industry, that we can learn to live on food that is grown closer to home instead of New Yorkers eating strawberries flown in from New Zeeland. That with increased human resources, more farm jobs and less chemicals the carbon footprint of our food could be a positive, sequestering carbon. Instead of the negative we have, burning as much fossil fuel as humanly possible.
Others say differently, that we can’t feed the planet without the current system in place. I'm not sure who is right and who is wrong but I later learned that on the island of Cuba where American corporations have been forbidden from doing business, old world practices go on to this day and without polluting the world they do manage to eat. I hear they eat well there and in spite of all the poverty, Cuba has a slightly longer life expectancy than the US.
Wishing all my friends the very best for 2020.
I haven't abandoned you,, I'm just overworked and worn down a bit.
Despite the limited space, the new police station is packed with all the necessary features for its daily operation. The Command Center for Operation and Response Team (CCORT) stands in the city under sand blue, black and grey major colors, getting rid of the usual bright blue palette.
Giving way to the vehicular entries, the reception is moved to the first floor led by a wide staircase which becomes a welcoming and prominent feature along the street. Above it are the detention section, interview rooms, and one record room.
Going further up will be the main office for the officers, accompanied with pantry and the female restroom. Half of the area is a double volume space to receive more daylight through the big window. There’s also a meeting room which can be used as a war room if needed.
Above them will be the laboratory and equipment room, where evidence can be analyzed and where weapons and tools are stored. There are also the male restroom and one meeting room. Speaking of the restrooms, both of them have shower in case the overworked officers need to take a break.
Finally you will reach the top floor where the director’s office and flight control room are located. One can also reach the rooftop which is an Orca pad. The parking receiver is usually closed, and extends out upon Orca landing. The charging equipment sits on the side. Seldom do we see an Orca here actually since it’s usually parked for charging and equipment check.
Now, VCPD (V City Police Department) has a solid base for daily operations, providing all the services and support to the citizens in the town!
This is the view from my loft. In the last three days, I've literally watched three people take their last breaths outside my window. I was writing an artist statement at my window on Sunday and heard the beginning of a crash on Dead Man's Curve and looked out the window just in time to see a man fly off his motorcycle and get cut in half by that light post. As you can see (#1), they didn't bother to even pick up the sheet where he died. Kiley and I woke up last night to about 15 gun shots that killed two men (#2 and #3). We watched the two murderers run down the street towards our window. They ditched the gun in the back of a pickup truck literally parked just below our window. At the moment of the shooting, there were two cop cars parked on the highway down there investigating that motorcycle accident scene. So two people were shot about 200 feet away from two cops. The cops had no idea. I was told there were 8 murders in Baltimore yesterday -- not including these two because these officially happened after midnight. They didn't even bother to clean up after their deaths. I guess there's no time for that. They're sadly too overworked.
The weird thing about all of this is that Kiley, Noah, and I were out to dinner on Saturday night and a conversation came up about how none of us has ever seen someone die out on the street. I've watched probably a hundred people die in my life, but never one out on the street. It's much different. So sad.
It's a picture of one of Arriva's finest. So that must mean it's Welsh franchise talk time...
Well, we're half way through May, and still no word from Cardiff Bay on the winner, due to take over in a mere 5 months. The announcement is due in May and, with the poor overworked luvvies in the Senedd having the bank holiday week off (having last had a week off oooh, 5 weeks ago), it's either this week or next.
Don't expect any more than the winning bidder's name, the devil may well be in the detail, but Comrades Carwyn and Ken (Carwyn Jones, Labour First Minister and Ken Skates, Labour Environment, Transport and some other irrelevant stuff Minister) don't want you to know the detail. Hush. Big secret.
But I think that yesterday might just have been the day that Carwyn and Ken show realised just how much shit the Welsh franchise is in.
Up pops Carwyn...
'The performance of Arriva Trains Wales has not been good enough.'
Well duh! It's took you nearly a decade and half to reach that conclusion? You were being told that years ago Carwyn. Years and years.
But you did stuff all about it.
Interviewed yesterday on what I'm guessing is an IEP running on diesel, he finally admitted what everyone else with even the slightest railway knowledge has know for a long time.
'It's going to take time to procure new trains...', yes Carwyn, go on... 'to put infrastructure in place for electrification, we're looking at the Valley lines...'.
Liar. You're WANTING to turn the Valley lines into your vanity tram project, wasting a shit ton of money on something no-one except yourselves want, and wasting the other shit ton of money that Network Rail have bunged at the Cardiff area resignalling scheme to enhance Valley line capacity.
'If you were to ask me...', no-one did, but go on, '... you'd be looking at the beginning of the 2020's, three to four years before you see any real improvement...'
Well for starters, the beginning of the 2020's is in 19 months Carwyn, not three to four years. So, which is it? It can't be both.
And what will those improvements be, exactly?
'........'
If you mean the improvement of years of disruption caused by turning a rail network that would perform perfectly well if it had enough rolling stock into an untried tram network that might be 'transformative' and 'world class'. Or might be a crock of shit...
If you mean the improvement of hourly Holyhead to Cardiff trains that literally no-one wants whilst forcing North Wales to Birmingham traffic on a 45 extra minutes detour via Shrewsbury...
If you mean the improvement of taking the step of locking train toilets out of use because they no longer comply with regulations...
Wales probably neither wants, nor needs, your improvements.
Oh, and one other thing Carwyn. Your memory is a little short. The under-performing Arriva franchise? The one you've done stuff all about? It was awarded on a 'no growth' basis by Alastair Darling in 2003, Transport Secretary of the then Labour government, headed by another serial liar, Tony Blair.
I'd 100% agree that the Tories are no friends of the railway, that moronic Dr. Beeching look alike Chris Failing Grayling tells you all you need to know. But to suggest that the other lot are any better is disingenuous at best. And, as the Carwyn and Ken show continues to prove, is simply not true.
Colwyn Bay, 9 December 2017.
Brick version of the iconic late seventies German ARFF made by Faun (chassis) and Metz (coachwork, water pump). Many German boys owned the famous die-cast model made by Siku. Main features are the tilted windscreen, the working suspension and the use of some technic parts. The MOC has been slightly overworked in December 2011 (no stickers as mudguards any more).
‘BLACK HOLES’--British scientists Saturday reported the first evidence backing up the theory there are collapsed, invisible stars, called “black holes” in space. University of California astronomers, using telescoped at the Lick Observatory, arrived at the same conclusions separately. The “black holes” would be so dense and have such a strong gravitational pull that even light can’t escape from them. The “black hole” star, right, about 6 quadrillion miles from earth, is thought to be gobbling up extremely hot clouds of gas given off by a larger star, left. Picture is reconstructed from X-rays taken from Copernicus satellite.”
A huge win, albeit indirectly (appropriately enough). The artwork depicted is “adopted” from that created by Lois Green Cohen, I believe as “PLATE 2” of “SECRETS OF THE HOARY DEEP: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF MODERN ASTRONOMY”, by Riccardo Giacconi.
I assume “adopted” translates to copied, with minor alterations. Right? If so, the “adopter” in this instance does still remain unknown, other than possibly being an underpaid, unappreciated, overworked NASA cog…working at the GSFC?
Fortunately, there are multiple references to Ms. Cohen’s contributions. Most, if not all, are likely based on the following citation/source, which I would think to be authoritative:
“Lois Green Cohen Biography
Lois Green Cohen (Born 1919) Born: Chicago, Ill; Studied: Carnegie technical (Pittsburg), Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles), University of California (Los Angeles). Primarily a watercolorist, Lois Green is especially known for her paintings for projection at Griffith Observatory. She was born in Chicago and studied at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh and with Samuel Rosenberg. She worked in Pittsburgh as a fashion illustrator before moving to Los Angeles in 1938 and then studied at the Chouinard School and at UCLA. She worked as a motion picture illustrator and painted in her spare time. In 1945, she married Eugene Cohen and in 1973, began the Griffith Observatory project.
Her subject matter includes figures, landscapes, animals, and urban scenes. She was a member of the California Watercolor Society.
In '99 she was included in an exhibition called "This Side of Eden: Images of Steinbeck's California" by the Steinbeck Center.
Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
California Watercolors 1850-1970,
©2002 Hillcrest Press, Inc.
California Watercolor”
Above per/at:
www.californiawatercolor.com/pages/lois-green-cohen-biogr...
Credit: ‘California Watercolor’ website
This piece was the result of my attendance at a workshop with Brooke Shaden and Miss Aniela in Los Angeles, CA. It was a mystical, magical and eye opening experience to see a glimpse into their world and the way they think. I feel truly lucky to have been able to attend and also to have met the other artists working with me! What a great group in total!
Well, no time for excuses... here is my play featuring the very talented Katie Johnson and fabulous warehouse location.
Cheers!
© 2011 Katherine Kelly Fotografie. Please do not use any of these photos without asking or giving credit. Thanks!
oil pastel on paper
I drew these rather spontaneous sketches for "The Lucien Freud Tribute Group" here on Flickr, I rather left them as they came out as I did not wish to overwork them, I based each portrait on a number of his own self portraits and some photographs.
A great artist who proved that figurative art and oil painting is far from dead in the late C20 and early C21. His consistent application and devotion to his craft and his vision will not be forgotten, long after Mr Hirst et al have long been consigned to the lower basement of Tate Modern. His was an austere and penetrating look at the corporeal universe and how men and women in their naked and vulnerable state are still the prime concern and focus of the activity we call art. I admire Freud for his toil and his devotion to his art to the very end, he did indeed get better as the years advanced. The late paintings heavily crusted surfaces are drenched with that insight and understanding that only the years can bring. I hope many artists will look at his work in total over the coming years, take note and learn. He was a heroic figure, and there are so few left now who can be counted alongside the greats of British art's hall of fame, for me he is a worthy equal to Reynolds, Constable, Sickert, Milliais and Lawrence.
I read in one of Aberdeen's local newspaper that a new plaque celebrating Bram Stokers first writings of Dracula on his visit to Cruden Bay while he stayed at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel in the village is now on display, I decided to visit today myself to capture the plaque and archive here on my Flickr account, posting a few of the shots I captured today Sunday 10th Feb 2019.
News Paper item 8th February 2019.
A plaque has been installed at the north-east hotel where Bram Stoker began writing his most famous work.
The Dracula author arrived in Cruden Bay on a walking holiday in 1893 and a year later he checked into the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel.
Mr Stoker wrote a message in the guestbook. It read: “Second visit to Port Erroll. Delighted with everything & everybody & hope to come again to the Kilmarnock Arms.”
In 1896 he went back to the inn and began writing the early chapters of his novel on the mysterious Transylvanian aristocrat.
Nearby Slains Castle provided the inspiration for many of the scenes that ended up in the book.
Mike Shepherd from the Port Errol Heritage Group nominated the Bridge Street hotel for a plaque to help highlight the role it played in the early days of one of the greatest horror tales of all time.
The commemorative plate was placed on the hotel yesterday and Mr Shepherd was there to see it.
He said: “What’s great about is it is that first commemoration for Bram Stoker’s visit to Cruden Bay.
“There were quite a lot of people who didn’t realise there was a connection between Bram Stoker and the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel.”
Martin Taylor, owner and manager at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel, said having the plaque on the side of the building makes their links with Mr Stoker “official”.
The plaque is part of a Historic Environment Scotland scheme celebrating the lives of significant people by erecting plaques on the buildings where they lived or worked.
Stoker’s plaque is the 57th announced under the initiative since it began in 2012.
Caroline Clark, head of grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “This commemorative plaque highlights Bram Stocker’s connection to Scotland’s heritage.
“We hope that this will encourage fans of Bram Stoker to visit Cruden Bay and the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel – the hotel he stayed in while creating his most famous novel, Dracula.”
Historic Scotland Info
Aberdeenshire inn Bram Stoker stayed at while writing famous novel will house new plaque commemorating the author’s visits
The Scottish hotel that accommodated renowned Irish author Bram Stoker while he created Dracula will be recognised under Historic Environment Scotland’s 2018 Commemorative Plaque Scheme.
The annual scheme celebrates the lives of significant people by erecting plaques on the buildings where they lived or worked. Stoker’s plaque is the 57th announced under the scheme since it began in 2012. The plaque will be unveiled in the near future at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel.
Born near Dublin in 1847, Bram Stoker was a part-time writer for most of his life. Later in his career, for 11 months out of every year, he worked as the business manager at the Lyceum Theatre in London and as the personal manager for the famous English stage actor, Henry Irving. After 1894, he spent the other month on holiday in Cruden Bay - then known as Port Erroll - where he wrote his books.
He first discovered Cruden Bay on a walking holiday to Aberdeenshire in 1893, writing: "When first I saw the place I fell in love with it." He returned in 1894, booking into the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel and writing in the guest book: "Second visit to Port Erroll. Delighted with everything & everybody & hope to come again to the Kilmarnock Arms."
He checked-in again in 1895 with the aim of writing the early chapters of his definitive work, Dracula. The Transylvanian vampire, Count Dracula, rose from the page in the hotel known locally as 'the Killie'. Stoker returned to Aberdeenshire in 1896 to complete the later chapters.
New Slains Castle, with its dramatic cliff-top setting nearby, is believed to have acted as the visual palette to prompt the dramatic scenes set in the fictional 'Castle Dracula'. The castle contains a room that has a look-alike in the novel - the octagonal hall used as a reception room for visitors - with the following observation from the novel's protagonist, Jonathan Harker, containing a clue: "The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing the room, opened another door which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort."
Mike Shepherd, a member of the Port Erroll Heritage Group who nominated Stoker for a plaque to bring attention to the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel's role in the early days of the novel's creation, said:
"When the journalist Gordon Casely visited Cruden Bay in the 1960s to interview those who knew Bram Stoker, they told him they were immensely proud that the famous author had picked their village to write his books.
"Bram's special place is our special place. The new plaque is the first-ever celebration of the link between Bram Stoker and Cruden Bay. As such, it will provide a focus for that pride."
The remaining 13 successful plaque nominations under the 2018 Commemorative Plaque Scheme will be announced over the coming months.
Wikipedia -
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.
Early life
Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland.
His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876) from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), who was raised in County Sligo.
Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Bt..
Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there, and Abraham was a senior civil servant.
Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was educated in a private school run by the Rev. William Woods.
After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete (he was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports) at Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a BA in 1870, and purchased his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics," this appears to have been a mistake.
He was auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist) and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society.
Early career
Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the Irish Civil Service, he became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, an author of Gothic tales.
Theatre critics were held in low esteem, but he attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying, and they became friends.
Stoker also wrote stories, and "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock. In 1876 while a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (published 1879) which remained a standard work.
Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art, and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879.
Lyceum Theatre
Bram Stoker's former home, Kildare Street, Dublin
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde.
Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of the university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and after Wilde's fall visited him on the Continent.
The Stokers moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, London, a post he held for 27 years. On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker.
The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker a notable if busy man.
He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London Stoker also met Hall Caine, who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated Dracula to him.
In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular.
With Irving he was invited twice to the White House, and knew William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Stoker set two of his novels there, using Americans as characters, the most notable being Quincey Morris. He also met one of his literary idols, Walt Whitman.
Stoker visited the English coastal town of Whitby in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for Dracula.
He began writing novels while working as manager for Henry Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with The Snake's Pass in 1890 and Dracula in 1897.
During this period, Stoker was part of the literary staff of The Daily Telegraph in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels The Lady of the Shroud (1909) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911).
He published his Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful] and managed productions at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Before writing Dracula, Stoker met Ármin Vámbéry, a Hungarian writer and traveller. Dracula likely emerged from Vámbéry's dark stories of the Carpathian mountains.
Stoker then spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories of vampires.
The 1972 book In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally claimed that the Count in Stoker's novel was based on Vlad III Dracula.[12] At most however, Stoker borrowed only the name and "scraps of miscellaneous information" about Romanian history, according to one expert, Elizabeth Miller; further, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes.
Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added a level of detailed realism to the story, a skill which Stoker had developed as a newspaper writer
At the time of its publication, Dracula was considered a "straightforward horror novel" based on imaginary creations of supernatural life. "It gave form to a universal fantasy . . . and became a part of popular culture."
Stoker was a deeply private man, but his almost sexless marriage, intense adoration of Walt Whitman, Henry Irving and Hall Caine, and shared interests with Oscar Wilde, as well as the homoerotic aspects of Dracula have led to scholarly speculation that he was a repressed homosexual who used his fiction as an outlet for his sexual frustrations.[16] In 1912, he demanded imprisonment of all homosexual authors in Britain: it has been suggested that this was due to self-loathing and to disguise his own vulnerability.
Possibly fearful, and inspired by the monstrous image and threat of otherness that the press coverage of his friend Oscar's trials generated, Stoker began writing Dracula only weeks after Wilde's conviction.
According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, Stoker's stories are today included in the categories of "horror fiction", "romanticized Gothic" stories, and "melodrama."
They are classified alongside other "works of popular fiction" such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,394 which also used the "myth-making" and story-telling method of having multiple narrators telling the same tale from different perspectives, according to historian Jules Zanger. "'They can't all be lying,' thinks the reader."
The original 541-page typescript of Dracula was believed to have been lost until it was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s It consisted of typed sheets with many emendations and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD."
The author's name was shown at the bottom as Bram Stoker. Author Robert Latham remarked: "the most famous horror novel ever published, its title changed at the last minute.[
The typescript was purchased by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, a visit to the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin, and the novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Stoker's original research notes for the novel are kept by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia
A facsimile edition of the notes was created by Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen-Bisang in 1998.
Death
After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 St George's Square, London on 20 April 1912.
Some biographers attribute the cause of death to tertiary syphilis, others to overwork.
He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium in north London. The ashes of Irving Noel Stoker, the author's son, were added to his father's urn following his death in 1961. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death, her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest.
Beliefs and philosophy
Stoker was raised a Protestant in the Church of Ireland. He was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and took a keen interest in Irish affairs.
As a "philosophical home ruler," he supported Home Rule for Ireland brought about by peaceful means.
He remained an ardent monarchist who believed that Ireland should remain within the British Empire, an entity that he saw as a force for good. He was an admirer of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, whom he knew personally, and supported his plans for Ireland.
Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some Stoker novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as The Lady of the Shroud (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably mesmerism, but despised fraud and believed in the superiority of the scientific method over superstition. Stoker counted among his friends J. W. Brodie-Innis, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and hired member Pamela Colman Smith as an artist for the Lyceum Theatre, but no evidence suggests that Stoker ever joined the Order himself.
Made a pit stop on the way home to grab a piece of fruit for a snack, and the market happened to have fresh, ripe figs, so I grabbed a few pints. Turned them into this for dessert tonight: a tart with a layer of frangipane, and figs glazed with honey and balsamic vinegar with a touch of rosemary.
Nikon D750 w/NIkkor 28-300 @ 48mm, 1/25s @ ƒ/8, ISO250. Light was just from the overcast skies in the yard.
Ingredients
For the tart dough
6 oz. flour
2 tbl. sugar
pinch salt
4 oz. cold butter, cut into cubes
1 oz. water
1 oz. vodka
1 egg
For the frangipane
2 tbl. softened butter
1 egg
heaping 1/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. almond flour
pinch salt
For the fruit
2 pints fresh figs, cleaned and halved (I used Black Mission and Kudota figs)
1/3 c. honey
2 tbl. good balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. finely ground dried rosemary
pinch salt
Directions
In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Pulse until you get a mixture the texture of rough cornmeal. Turn out into a cold bowl. Whisk water, vodka, and egg together. Add to flour mixture in small additions, stirring to combine. Do not overwork. Shape into a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and allow to rest in a refrigerator for at least an hour.
Preheat your over to 400°F.
Roll out the dough into a disc large enough to line a 12" fluted tart pan. Transfer to tart pan, press into corners, then trim off any excess by folding it over the lip of the pan and rolling over the lip with the rolling pin.
Make the frangipane by whisking together the sugar, butter, salt, and egg until lightened in color. Fold in the almond flour. Spread mixture evenly in tart crust.
Combine the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Arrange fig halves in the crust. Reserve any of the remaining honey/vinegar glaze.
Bake at 400°F for 45-50 minutes, until tart crust is set well and figs are starting to caramelize. Remove from oven, brush with reserved glaze, and allow to cool to room temperature before serving.
Vintage French postcard. Nos artistes dans leur loge, 320. Comoedia.
French theatre actress Marguerite Moussy (?-?) is only known for one film, the lost comedy À la gare (Robert Saidreau, 1923). in which she had the female lead opposite Armand Bernard. During the early 1920s she had already performed in the operettas Phi-Phi, Dédé (over 400 performances) and Là-Haut with Maurice Chevalier. According to the site www.alostfilm.com, "shortly after finishing filming, she fell seriously ill, canceled her participation in an operetta and had an operation. She recovered, returned to the stage, [Moussy would continue with such operettas as La dame du pesage (1924), Pépète (1925), and La Nuit passionnée (1925).] but in December 1925, it was announced that she passed out during a premiere due to overwork and she vanishes after 1927. "
Sources: www.alostfilm.com/2021/01/at-station-robert-saidreau-chap..., www.ecmf.fr/cm/index5c48.html
Two images from the garden today. Apart from adding some punch in RAW and a light crop these are SOOC. I didn't want to overwork them in Photoshop.
During the Civil War and for many years after, this bottonland was farmed and served as range for cattle. After the expansion of the Washington, DC metro area put pressure on landowners of farmland in eastern VA to sell to developers, property such as this was allowed to recover naturally due to it's value for wildlife refugia, storm water flood attenuation, and suburban recreation space. On this day, I rode my mountain bike through the area at sunset to see what there was to see; a quiet place away from the mega-shopping malls and freeways of northern Virginia where squirrels, deer, owls, fox, an occasional coyote, and of course, racoons and skunks survive amidst an ever growing mass of urban sprawl. With that urban sprawl and it's associated hard surfaces, runoff from rain events is concentrated and forced into areas such as this. The effect is obvious; the degradation of stream channels like this one become unnaturally scoured and gutted raceways for flood waters that rage after modest summer storms.