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One image from the Parallel Reconstruction series, all of which are generated by the same program. This uses a grid system to attach the ends of series of parallel bezier curves.
Prints of selected works are available at www.tylerlhobbs.com.
Now this install was hard... couldn't get the mouse, keyboard or video to work... spent alot of time in xorgconfig/kdmconfig playing around with the settings. After countless hours I was dissapointed by what looked like a Windows 3.1 interface. I was like hell no... no way Solaris is this lame. Turned out I was in the Unix Common Desktop Environment... which looked like this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Solaris8-cde.png
After almost vomiting myself to death at the shock of that extreme ugliness and horrid background. I attempted to change the background and found all my efforts were futile. I may as well have tried to get a degree in advance physics or something. Moments went by in complete astonishment contemplating what the mind of the person that created CDE was like... by some fortunate miracle I found out that I could change the desktop environment and so switched to JDS... Java Desktop System... and so was saved from certain death by the user interface from hell.
The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (known as the Malabar Coast) of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state. The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating low barrier islands across the mouths of the many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range.
The Kerala Backwaters are a network of interconnected canals, rivers, lakes and inlets, a labyrinthine system formed by more than 900 km of waterways, and sometimes compared to the American Bayou. In the midst of this landscape there are a number of towns and cities, which serve as the starting and end points of backwater cruises. National Waterway No. 3 from Kollam to Kottapuram, covers a distance of 205 km and runs almost parallel to the coast line of southern Kerala facilitating both cargo movement and backwater tourism.
The backwaters have a unique ecosystem - freshwater from the rivers meets the seawater from the Arabian Sea. In certain areas, such as the Vembanad Kayal, where a barrage has been built near Kumarakom, salt water from the sea is prevented from entering the deep inside, keeping the fresh water intact. Such fresh water is extensively used for irrigation purposes.
Many unique species of aquatic life including crabs, frogs and mudskippers, water birds such as terns, kingfishers, darters and cormorants, and animals such as otters and turtles live in and alongside the backwaters. Palm trees, pandanus shrubs, various leafy plants and bushes grow alongside the backwaters, providing a green hue to the surrounding landscape.
Vembanad Kayal is the largest of the lakes, covering an area of 200 km², and bordered by Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts. The port of Kochi (Cochin) is located at the lake's outlet to the Arabian Sea. Alleppey, "Venice of the East", has a large network of canals that meander through the town. Vembanad is India’s longest lake.
HOUSE BOATS
The kettuvallams (Kerala houseboats) in the backwaters are one of the prominent tourist attractions in Kerala. More than 2000 kettuvallams ply the backwaters, 120 of them in Alappuzha. Kerala government has classified the tourist houseboats as Platinum, Gold and silver.
The kettuvallams were traditionally used as grain barges, to transport the rice harvested in the fertile fields alongside the backwaters. Thatched roof covers over wooden hulls, 30 m in length, provided protection from the elements. At some point in time the boats were used as living quarters by the royalty. Converted to accommodate tourists, the houseboats have become floating cottages having a sleeping area, with western-style toilets, a dining area and a sit out on the deck. Most tourists spend the night on a house boat. Food is cooked on board by the accompanying staff – mostly having a flavour of Kerala. The houseboats are of various patterns and can be hired as per the size of the family or visiting group. The living-dining room is usually open on at least three sides providing a grand view of the surroundings, including other boats, throughout the day when it is on the move. It is brought to a standstill at times of taking food and at night. After sunset, the boat crew provide burning coils to drive away mosquitoes. Ketuvallams are motorised but generally proceed at a slow speed for smooth travel. All ketuvallams have a generator and most bedrooms are air-conditioned. At times, as per demand of customers, electricity is switched off and lanterns are provided to create a rural setting.
While many ketuvalloms take tourists from a particular point and bring them back to around the same point next morning there are some specific cruises mostly in the Alappuzha area, such as the one night cruise from Alappuzha to Thotapally via Punnamada Lake two nights cruise from Alappuzha to Alumkavadi, one night cruise from Alappuzha to Kidangara, and one night cruise from Alappuzha to Mankotta. There are numerous such cruises.
Beypore, located 10 km south of Kozhikode at the mouth of the Chaliyar River, is a famous fishing harbour, port and boat building centre. Beypore has a 1,500 year-tradition of boatbuilding. The skill of the local shipwrights and boat builders are widely sought after. There is a houseboat-building yard at Alumkadavu, in Ashtamudi Kayal near Kollam.
FERRY SERVICES
Regular ferry services connect most locations on both banks of the backwaters. The Kerala State Water Transport Department operates ferries for passengers as well as tourists. It is the cheapest mode of transport through the backwaters.
ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
Connected by artificial canals, the backwaters form an economical means of transport, and a large local trade is carried on by inland navigation. Fishing, along with fish curing is an important industry.
Kerala backwaters have been used for centuries by the local people for transportation, fishing and agriculture. It has supported the efforts of the local people to earn a livelihood. In more recent times, agricultural efforts have been strengthened with reclamation of some backwater lands for rice growing, particularly in the Kuttanad area. Boat making has been a traditional craft, so has been the coir industry.
Kuttanad is crisscrossed with waterways that run alongside extensive paddy fields, as well as fields of cassava, banana and yam. A unique feature of Kuttanad is that many of these fields are below sea level and are surrounded by earthen embankments. The crops are grown on the low-lying ground and irrigated with fresh water from canal and waterways connected to Vembanad lake. The area is similar to the dikes of the Netherlands where land has been reclaimed from the sea and crops are grown.
WIKIPEDIA
Hmmm. It seems walking around with your camera is the 2nd best way to spend a beautiful afternoon. Ok, maybe third. :D
Captioned "at border W.A & N.T Taken by M. P. Durack his Ford in bgrnd- c.1929" - REAR
Although captioned as 1929 recent research into Governor Campion's visit finds this took place in 1927, soon after completion of the Kimberley Obelisk by the WA Survey crew, which is backed up by the new un-weathered look of the concrete. This new date is confirmed by the content of the article below and a diary entry from MP Durack's diary.
GOVERNOR IN NORTH. (1927, July 2). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879-1954), p. 13. Retrieved July 9, 2011, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32037103
Patsy Millett has also provided us an entry from her grandfather, MP Durack's diary for this day, which gives us an exact date of June 26th 1927.
26/6/27 – "Out at 9am to border pillar with Governor (Campion), Major Nicholls, Patsy (PM Durack) and self. Took a number of photos."
Patsy has added, "The photo of the two men having a drink at the pillar will be Campion and Major Nicholls. ( I presume Nicholls in the Campion party which included his chauffer shipped up with the official car – though MP’s car used on this occasion."
[Major-General Major Kenneth Nicholl was A.D.C. to Governor Campion - “A.D.C.” = Aide-de-camp, a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank - KHS]
In 1921 the WA and SA government astronomers determined the WA/NT border on the ground using radio time signals. In 1927 the Kimberley Obelisk was erected using the earlier determinations, by the WA Lands and Surveys Department, on the northern 129 degree border of Rosewood and Argyle stations. A copper plug in the top of this obelisk marks the WA/NT (hence this part of the Rosewood/Argyle) border on the ground. A line is run south to the 26th parallel and a line run north through a similar obelisk at Deakin near the Trans-Continental Railway line. Due to early days inaccuracies, where they meet at the 26th parallel, was marked and in 1968 an agreement made to establish "Surveyor General's Corner," where there is now a section of the WA/NT border that runs east-west for about 125 metres. So the WA border is not as straight as it looks!
Read more about the
WA/NT Border and these events on the KHS Web Site.
Elizabeth Durack personal photographic collection courtesy of the Clancy and Durack families.
KHS Archive Number: KHS-2011-11-PD-12
Digitised and documented by KHS Volunteers and with a grant from the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley in 2011.
For further information about Elizabeth Durack's life and her art see www.elizabethdurack.com/
Hello Kitty! Desperately trying to get done with these France photos so I can get to the ones I took in October! Happy weekend!
Avenue Kléber - Paris, France