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there is always loads of sunshine the week of Thanksgiving-slash-my birthday. and this always irritates me slightly.
by now, i'm more than ready for cooler weather. and usually we've had a taste of it in the weeks prior. colder nights, sweater weather during the day, sometimes a bit of rain.
so, when Thanksgiving rolls around, i'm always disappointed at the flip flops and t-shirt weather that accompanies this handful of days.
i don't know why it seems to happens so frequently, but i can count on one hand the number of times that this week has actually been properly cold in the past dozen or so years (well, properly cold for Los Angeles, anyway).
i'm so ready to swap out the flip flops for a pair of comfy flat boots that i can tuck my jeans into. and some rain. and some hot cocoa.
EDIT: i'm well aware that it's a bit silly to be complaining about the weather when i live in Southern California. i love love love our weather for the most part. and no, i wouldn't want to live somewhere that goes freezing and hurls snow at me.
but dammit! i just would love it if it was BELOW 70 degrees for Thanksgiving! :)
___________________
"3 x 5," by John Mayer
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
you should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
you'll be with me next time I go outside
no more 3x5's
Catch the 18 MOCs at GoH!
Day 7: Swineherding in Wadi Khinz'ir
Day 12: Mophet Blacksmith and Armory
El palacio fue proyectado por el arquitecto inglés Selden Wornun, en 1888, pero fue llevado a cabo por Benito Olasagasti, bajo la dirección del arquitecto José Goicoa. El palacio consta de sótano y tres plantas, las dos primeras eran las de uso privado y la última, abuhardillada, estaba reservada para la servidumbre.
San Sebastián se había convertido en la capital del turismo desde que a mediados del siglo XIX la familia real española comenzara a veranear en la ciudad. Esto dio lugar a que el Ayuntamiento empezara a barajar diferentes ubicaciones para edificar una residencia digna de los monarcas.
La Corporación Municipal finalmente optó por la ubicación actual tras desechar el adquirir el Palacio de Aiete, propiedad de la Duquesa de Bailén, y que, desde 1887, era utilizado por los Reyes como residencia de verano.
Sin embargo, la Reina María Cristina, "por no querer aceptar el sacrificio que supondría para el Ayuntamiento", compró, en 1888, la posesión que el Conde de Moviana tenía en Miraconcha
La primitiva finca ha ido ampliándose con diferentes adquisiciones, lo que le ha permitido crear un entorno envidiable de jardines y bosque.
La finca y Palacio de Miramar es, desde agosto de 1972, propiedad del Ayuntamiento de San Sebastián. Su situación sobre la Playa de La Concha y la Playa de Ondarreta hacen de él uno de los lugares más visitados por los donostiarras y por aquellos que visitan la ciudad.
Addetti al rifornimento carburante stazione OMV di viale della Repubblica, Treviso.
TREVISO. Domenica 28 febbraio in tutto il capoluogo (tangenziale esclusa) scatterà il blocco totale del traffico. Ci saranno pochissime deroghe, legate alle emergenze sanitarie. Tutti a piedi o in bicicletta contro lo smog, nei quartieri come in centro storico, con la biblioteca ex Bailo aperta e visite guidate con ingresso gratuito al museo di Santa Caterina. Auto ferme in garage, compresi i modelli più moderni e meno inquinanti, per lanciare un messaggio forte: i Comuni del nord devono allearsi contro le polveri sottili, strisciante peste nera del terzo millennio. E’ questo il piano d’azione che l’assessore all’Ambiente di Ca’ Sugana Vittorio Zanini porterà mercoledì prossimo in giunta forte del sostegno del sindaco Gobbo, che di fatto ha già informalmente dato il via libera - anche se con un certo scetticismo - alla partecipazione del Comune di Treviso al blocco del traffico che il 28 febbraio coinvolgerà un centinaio di capoluoghi della pianura padana. Ieri mattina Zanini, insieme al dirigente del settore Ambiente di Ca’ Sugana Paolo Pierobon, ha partecipato a Milano al grande summit anti-smog organizzato a palazzo Marino dai sindaci Letizia Moratti (Milano) e Sergio Chiamparino (Torino), artefici della proposta. L’allarme polveri sottili (Pm10) è ormai un’emergenza quotidiana: d’inverno gli sforamenti dei limiti di guardia non si contano, l’aria è irrespirabile, anziani e bambini sono a rischio bronchiti o peggio. Da qui la decisione di fare quadrato tra le amministrazioni locali del «catino» padano, area più inquinata d’Europa, tanto che Zanini - con il plauso della Moratti - ieri a Milano ha proposto addirittura di chiedere all’Unione europea lo stato di calamità naturale per la pianura padana. Una domenica a piedi (ne seguirà una seconda il 14 marzo, per la Treviso Marathon) non servirà certo a invertire la tendenza, ma per i Comuni è un primo passo importante. E infatti ieri a Milano è nato un coordinamento permanente dei sindaci della pianura padana che avrà il compito di stilare un protocollo da presentare al consiglio dei ministri affinché adotti provvedimenti per ridurre gli effetti dell’i nquinamento da traffico ma anche da riscaldamento privato e industriale, altra causa del boom delle Pm10.
I sindaci chiederanno al governo Berlusconi di incentivare tutto ciò che è ecologicamente sostenibile sul piano della mobilità (veicoli a gas, a metano, elettrici) ma anche il miglioramento delle condizioni energetiche degli edifici e il teleriscaldamento.
Altro obiettivo: nell’arco di tre anni, bisogna arrivare a sostituire con modelli ecologici tutto il parco dei mezzi pubblici per il trasporto di persone ma anche di merci e per la raccolta dei rifiuti.
Ma torniamo al blocco del traffico fissato per domenica 28 febbraio: la stragrande maggioranza dei capoluoghi di Provincia del Nord ha già aderito alla proposta lanciata da Moratti e Chiamparino - che è anche presidente dell’Anci - comprese le città di Padova, Venezia e Vicenza. «E Treviso non sarà da meno - assicura Zanini - Anche perché come capoluogo, da tempo, cerchiamo di fare il possibile nella lotta alle Pm10». Il 28 sarà una sorta di prova generale: il coordinamento permanente dei sindaci della pianura padana intende far scattare misure straordinarie, come il blocco del traffico, ogni volta si profileranno «condizioni di eccezionale persistenza di inquinanti in atmosfera». Altra idea emersa dal summit milanese di ieri: introdurre una piccola sovratassa sui grandi assi autostradali e sulle tangenziali, da spendere sempre per politiche di miglioramento del trasporto pubblico. Zanini rilancia: «Chiederò al coordinamento che una parte dell’accisa sulla benzina venga data ai Comuni per finanziare interventi sulla viabilità su rotaia».
This is the second Baz Luhrmann film that I'm quoting in this series.
Continuing on with my affinity for twisted love stories....Luhrman's 1996 film Romeo+Juliet is a modern interpretation of the classic Shakespeare, anachronistically juxtaposing Shakespeare's original language against a modern landscape of consumption and capitalism.
As with all of Luhrman's films, the visual style is rich and detailed, vibrantly coloured and surreal. He paints a rather sickening view of modern society, with petty vanities slathered upon the grotesque criminals of upper class society. In the midst of such ugliness, Romeo and Juliet emerge, as yet untouched by the poisonous world around them.
I've read criticism that claims Romeo and Juliet must die in order to keep their love untainted. This film takes that purity one step further: In the end Romeo and Juliet have no choice but to die, or to succumb to the grotesqueries that their parents have grown into.
This film accomplishes the ideal that I believe all film adaptations of stage plays should strive toward: it brings the work of theatre to life in a manner unique to film, using the capabilities of the medium to inform a new, deeper understanding of the original work. The play is incredibly powerful on its own. Luhrmann has built upon Shakespeare's original work to create something contemporary, relevant, beautiful and impassioned. I am in awe of his work.
Big thanks to Happy_Peasant for sending me a bird image just so I could have my wings!
And again....textures by kittykatfish.
Thanks for your visit, hope you enjoyed, kindly leave your comment that will be very rewarding
To feel the holiness…, please View On Black
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If you intend to use any of my pictures, for any usage, you need to contact me first.
Thank you.
The Holy Man from India
I’m sure any one who has been to India and is camera lover can’t resist capturing India’s cultural aspects.
I was in Jaipur, and after visiting a Temple, I meet this Sadhu (also called Sanyasi or Holy man) out side the Temple. He saw me and greeted me with a smile….I asked him if I can take a picture of him, he had no issues…...
Now, something about Sadhu (Or Holy man). From the orange dress, you can tell that this is a Hindu Sadhu. The Turban has writings of mantras dedicated to Lord Shiva – “Oom Namah Shiva’ya”.
The brown garland is garland of Rudrakash . A Rudrakash bead is considered to be the most divine and powerful ornament for the human body. It was created by Lord Shiva and is believed to fulfill desires, expectations and ambitions and also free one from all sins and diseases. Rudraksha has been used by gods, saints, sages from ancient time for spiritual purposes and to gain good health.
According to Hindu Puranas, Rudraksha trees were created from the tears shed by Lord Shiva. Legend has it that Shiva was in deep meditation for thousands of years. And then one day he opened his eyes and all around him he saw human beings suffering out of ignorance. Overwhelmed by compassion, tears from his eyes dropped onto different places on earth and produced Rudraksha trees.
Rudrakshas are the seed from the fruits of the trees belonging to Elaecarpus Ganitrus Roxb variety (Rudraksha tree) in Himalayas and in South East Asia. Every Rudraksha has Mukhis or faces, which differ in number and it runs from one end of the Rudraksha to the other.
According to the Hindu Dharma, there are four stages in life also knows as four Ashramas :
1.Brahmacharya: The first 20 years of life , preceded by the Upanayanam ceremony during which a child is considered to be born again. Brahmacharya is pure contemplation of life's secrets under a Guru.
2.Grihastha : next 40 years (20-60) is the householder's stage. One married, will satisfy karma and artha within a married life and career.
3.Vanaprastha: Next 20 years (60-80) is the detachment from the material world and entering in contemplation and pilgrimage.
4.Sanyasa: conception of the mystic life to prepare the next life or moksha.
This person is on stage 3. Where he has taken detachment from the material world.
Enjoy the moment !!!!
The shot
Camera Canon 5D, Single shot hand held.
Photoshop post processing:
A bit of post processing in raw editor.
Noise reduction
Unsharp mask
a bit of croping and straightning
Border
I would highly appreciate, if constructive criticisms are given for improvement.
Note : My appologies for not being a regular at Flickr, I'm so much swamped at work. I will manage some time and visit your uploads.......
___________________________________
If you like this shot press F
And if you want, take a look to my photostream
or take a minute and check out a slideshow of my 40 favourite shots
Thanks ;-)
This picture was taken on the way down form the Cevedale peack (3769 mt) on the italian alps. An easy mountain to climb but with an amazing view on one of the larger glacier of Europe (at least it was in the past)
Questa foto l'ho scattata durante la discesa dal Cevesale (3769 mt) una montagna senza troppe difficoltà, ma che regala una vista incredibile.
"To take away a chapel from the sick, disadvantaged and downtrodden is one of the lowest acts this government could approve."
Today's Advertiser published a reader's letter about the closure of the chapel:
"MANY citizens are appalled at the closure of the chapel on the Glenside campus.
The chapel, a heritage building, is now owned by the Arts Department and a room has been set up in the Grove division of Glenside as a "contemplation room".
This new ownership was confirmed by staff at Glenside.
When I enquired about this room I was ushered down a corridor to a room with six chairs and an organ - this was the substitute:
A contemplation room and it was locked.
What a disgrace. We should be able to pride ourselves on religious freedom.
This would be one of the most disgusting and insensitive episodes on the Glenside campus.
To take away a chapel from the sick, disadvantaged and downtrodden is one of the lowest acts this government could approve.
The "old chapel" has been used for numerous funerals by the next of kin/relations and friends for deceased patients.
Many comments have been made by the loved ones on the serenity and beauty of this chapel during their times of bereavement and sadness.
Many of our forefathers came to this state to seek religious freedom and for this Government to accept and sanction this closure defies description.
Shame on you, Mr Rann, to allow this to happen."
JS, Burnside. From letter to The Advertiser.
After 139 years of being a mental health service facility, patients will no longer be able to sit here and watch the sunset. This has now become the playground for the South Australian Film Corporation as part of the new $43 million Adelaide Film and Screen Hub. The patients will have to wait another 5 years or more until the new hospital and associated non-denominational space are constructed.
Originally built as a combined chapel and dining room in 1880, it was used solely as a dining room until 1970 as well as for screening films for patient entertainment. After renovations were completed in 1970/1971, it became the hospital chapel.
As requested by Alex "Orion Pax" , pictures of my two revised GMC Sierra pickup trucks from the 80's TV show "The Fallguy".
Both MOCs were sittin' on my shelf for a few years now and collecting dust., because I wasn't satisfied with some details, so I never took pictures until now.
Some of you may remember my first 6-wide version:
www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=362971
This old version in the link was part of a dispute between me and Alex.
He was thinking I stole some of the ideas of his GMC Fallguy MOC:
www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3668277
While I wasn't even aware of his works at that point in time.
However, we were able to bury our dispute peacefully and today I'm happy to had become aware of his highly inspiring works due to that fact.
As you can see, the smaller version of my revised MOCs "borrows" even more ideas from his old GMC truck.
Hope he doesn't mind today...;)
Oh, and if you wonder what piece the antenna on the small truck is: It is a whisker from my cat - non LEGO at all...;)
Don't miss "Orion Pax" newest Fall Guy GMC in awesome dark brown and dark tan!
Explore, position 128
Felicia amelloides
For best results, please View On Black
Something different from me today. My first attempt at Bokeh!
Whether it is or isn't, I can't really say. Better photographic minds than my own might decide. But I do love the yellow at the centre of a canopy of blue petals, encircled by a ring of yellow beneath them.That thought gave me the idea for today's Mupic (Music and Picture combination), another favourite of mine. ~~ Mr Blue Sky, by the Electric Light Orchestra, also known as ELO.
Hope all this comes together, peeps. Have a great weekend, one and all.
Please right click on the following blue link and select "Open Link in New Tab."
♪ ♫ Mr Blue Sky ♪ ♫ ~~ by ELectric Light Orchestra.
Sun is shinin' in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin' ev'rybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day hey,hey
Runnin' down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mister blue sky is living here today hey, hey
Mister blue sky please tell us why
You had to hide away for so long
Where did we go wrong?
Hey you with the pretty face
Welcome to the human race
A celebration, mister blue sky's up there waitin'
And today is the day we've waited for
Hey there mister blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Ev'rybody smiles at you
Mister blue sky, mister blue sky
Mister blue sky
Mister blue, you did it right
But soon comes mister night creepin' over
Now his hand is on your shoulder
Never mind I'll remember you this
I'll remember you this way
Mister blue sky please tell us why
You had to hide away for so long
Where did we go wrong?
Hey there mister blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Ev'rybody smiles at you
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Model: Hania
strobist info:
-2 strobes and 1 led lamp-
sb800 in white umbrella camera left (around 90 deg.)
sb800 in softbox umbrella, camera right, 45 deg.
led on the background
triggered with YN602
--
just when i thought i found it, i lost it.
today love is the movement. :)
To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.
To Write Love On Her Arms Day is a day where anyone can write the words love on their arms, to support those who are fighting against depression and those who are trying to recovering. On this day, just write love on your arms, and show it off, other people will ask why you have love written on your arms, and you tell them you are supporting to write love on her arms day, and how its benefiting a non profit organization helping stop depression, and make love the movement.
i had this on my hand all day today. it's only written on my hand because i wore long sleeves, okay? i thought this was one cool cause, and i know how it feels. i've been adddicted before. i've been so upset before too, my best friend thought i was seriously going to go in depression. believe me. i know how this feels, and this is why i decided to support this. and if any of you want to also for the rest of the day, pick up a marker/pen and go! write "love" on your arms! :)
ps. happy friday the 13th.
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Its a long time since I was updating ChaSiNg BiKeS set.
and I bet you have not seen that awesome gallery
You are still welcomed to vote again
Merci
8)
VOTE - Jumping Bride aka UFO
VOTE - Bird Eyes aka Crazy Bird
In return I can`t promise you much but a level up in your Karma
8)
and
Thank you
per me è un punto di riferimento...un mostro di bravura!! andate sul suo sito ;-)
La sua spiegazione per questa foto:
"By combining two exposures - one for the night sky and the other for the landscape at twilight, I was able to create this image. I consider it among my most unique images to date. What you are looking at is a remote backcountry in the Tetons and the milky way above. My exposure for the sky takes in more than five times as much light as is discernable to the naked eye, using an extremely high ISO (combined with noise reduction techniques), a big aperture of f/2.8 and keeping the shutter open for 45 seconds. The sky is totally natural in color despite being relatively invisible to us. The glow behind the peaks comes from the moon that set almost an hour before this capture. The bright spot at left is a planet. This shot is a culmination of technical advancements in photography and a great deal of diligence on my own part in the field, figuring out how to put it all together. I camped at this location three nights to achieve this result. " by Marc Adamus
please to be viewing big on black. must see the DETAILS!
* am not sure if i'm meant to note that this is my entry in the 64 challenge group
saturday night saw me at my third concert in one year of The Band Who Shall Not Be Named. our seats were off to the side and i was able to capture the near-exact moment that the delicate, rainbow colored, paper butterflies were shot out into the air to float down onto the roaring crowd, during "Love in Japan" it's a brilliant sight and everyone goes mental when they are released.
bonus: the Lead Singer Who Shall Not Be Named is doing his spastic, like-he's-just-been-shot, dance down the runway with his blue jacket flying up behind him.
and still, as i said prior to this:
shhhhhh. for they are my guilty pleasure.
hipsters (and loads of others!) will undoubtedly mock me for lack of "coolness". Coldplay is far too palatable for the mainstream audience to ever have an edge. and being cool and liking bands that are edgy is clearlythe way to go.
so, if you accuse me of liking Coldplay? i will deny it aloud vehemently. maybe.
or perhaps, after this weekend, i think i don't care that much anymore about being "cool". ;)
El lago verde de Lanzarote es uno de los lugares más impresionantes de la isla canaria, destacando entre sus espectaculares paisajes labrados por el fuego, el mar y el viento.
Su nombre verdadero es “La Laguna de los Clicos” y se sitúa en El Golfo, una especie de anfiteatro abierto al océano que se formó a raíz de las erupciones de 1730. En realidad, se trata de parte del cráter de un volcán, como podemos identificar si cerráramos el cono.
La situación en el litoral ha provocado que la erosión de viento y mar le dote de su forma actual. Se cuenta que antiguamente se le conocía como “Charco de los Clicos” por unos mariscos comestibles llamados clicos muy usuales en ese paraje y que se extinguieron porque alguien soltó dos tortugas en las aguas del golfo.
Al fondo del cono y a los pies del acantilado se ha formado una pequeña laguna cuyas aguas de filtran desde el mar. La laguna de varios metros de profundidad, tiene un color verde esmeralda que varía de tonalidad según el color del cielo. El color verde se debe al fitoplancton que habita bajo su superficie.
En cualquier caso, sea cual sea el tono y su origen, no me extraña la fama de este lugar, pues el contraste entre los paisajes de lava negros y el mar y el verde del lago es espectacular.
Aquí y en los alrededores se pueden encontrar las extrañas olivinas, piedras semipreciosas con las que los artesanos locales diseñan unas originales joyas y de las cuales guardo algunos ejemplares de mi visita.
Aunque no lo pude conocer, hacia el norte está el pequeño pueblo de El Golfo, famoso en toda la isla por el pescado fresco que allí se puede degustar.
Delante de la laguna verde se forma una peculiar playa de arena negra, de unos 300 metros de longitud, rematada en el lado sur por un roque de color amarillo con una plataforma vertical que entra en el agua.
Este lago es un espacio protegido, por lo que el baño está prohibido. Pero no os perdáis algunas de las fabulosas aguas que rodean Lanzarote en cualquier otro punto de la isla.
Toda esta costa es espectacular en sus paisajes a causa de la erosión que la ha dotado de una peculiar fisonomía, y tampoco hemos de dejar de ver Los Hervideros, una formación geológica que sorprende por su visión y su escucha en días de viento cuando el mar ruge…
Built for SW Factions on Eurobricks. Original Post: www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/180378-j...
Iridonia, the gateway to the Outer Rim.
The red sphere was a dry, harsh world, the home to the hardy Zabrak. The Zabrak had a centuries-long tradition of hyperspace trade, rivalries with the Duros, and a shareholder’s slice of the pie when it came to making decisions about hyperspace tariffs. Their homeworld’s placement provided leverage, leverage that the current regime was glad to exploit.
The House of Kesh had ruled Iridonia for decades. Lord Kesh had proven himself a violent, unstable, vain tyrant who murdered outsiders and made his own people slaves. The rest of the galaxy might have ignored this, but Kesh also made a habit of choking the Coruscant-Dantooine hyperlanes. Hitting people’s bottom lines was a good way to draw their attention.
For over a month, a growing team of CFS diplomats had been hunkered down on Iridonia to try to negotiate a deal with its government, working to arrive at some sort of agreement, both among themselves and the Iridonian leadership. Everyone in the room had different priorities: some represented the CFS Merchant Core and just wanted to relax tariffs, others had the plight of the people in mind. Some wanted to take Kesh before a trial, deal with things peacefully. Others at the table would rather see him dead.
A sandstorm of intrigue surrounded the diplomats since the moment they arrived. Spies hung on every corner and doorway: CFS spies and Iridonian spies, and spies working for individual diplomats, advancing causes unbeknownst to their colleagues. While the gears of diplomacy grinded on, some had initiated more direct action.
Forgun Bohani had been the third diplomat to arrive in the Iridonian court. He was a clever old man, always watching and listening, who found himself on the side of a peaceful transition of power. He had listened to the bickering in the court long enough to decide a fresh voice was needed. He knew exactly who to summon: a young diplomat who had negotiated terms at Kril’Dor after the Pyerce insurrection, a rising star named Lan Honn. Honn seemed intelligent, studious, and honorable, precisely what was needed here. Bohani sent a message asking for Honn’s help, offering himself as a sponsor.
When the message arrived, Lan Honn was struck speechless. Once he had composed himself, calmed his excited nerves, and closed his gaping jaw, he jumped at the opportunity with appropriate seriousness. He became a tireless student of the Iridonian situation as he traveled, pouring over not only the current stakes of the negotiation, but Iridonian culture, art, and history. Anything that might help him understand their point of view. He stared out the viewport of his transport at the grim, dust-red planet’s surface.
Though he would soon join the CFS entourage, he chose to mask his arrival by docking at a swoop slum far from the city center. He traveled in plainclothes accompanied only by his bodyguard, the dangerous Esno Bo’Barbi.
The landing pad was deserted. The only people in sight were offworlders who looked more than worse-for-wear. As Honn and Bo’Barbi walked down the gangplank, a fat, bearded Lannik approached.
Honn turned to his companion. “Here comes Dak Sirah, a rogue if ever there was one, true and merry-faced though he be.”
“Aye,” replied the gruff Bo’Barbi. “Untiring after his own interest. Though if his and ours overlap, he becomes a useful fellow.”
Honn smiled at Sirah. “Dak! It’s good to see you. Live you on borrowed credits, or your own?”
“Lan Honn!” cried the bearded man. “Prince among men! Don’t you look…discrete. For once, I’m the handsomer of us two! For a diplomat, you make a lousy first impression, y’know. Don’t jest about my finances, I try to do my best.”
Honn grinned. “You’ve never once succeeded, though you’re not without other merit.”
Sirah peered at him. “Honest for a diplomat, too. Let’s put aside the squabbling, eh? I’m here on Bohani’s behalf, he got your message and sent me to lead you to the courts. I’d say welcome, but there’s nothing welcoming about Iridonia at present. What do you know about the situation, Honn?”
“I’ve read up on my way.”
“Ah! Of course you have. I should’ve known.”
“But pretend I haven’t. I want to hear it from your perspective.”
Dak sighed. “It’s a port of wolves, Honn. The Iridonians waste no pity or kindness on their own people, much less the Duros or offworlders. Both sides watch each other, constant with their spies. Yours truly, in fact, does some work on the side for Lord Bohani! Though, come to think of it, I wasn’t meant to let on to that.”
“I would think Bohani would bring on tighter-lipped spies. Though he’d be hard-pressed to find one more likable.”
“Ahhh, that’s my trick, there. No one suspects a guy like me to do anything more subtle than a public one-man-show! Keeps ‘em off the scent. It’s a good thing you’re here, Honn. It’s all been infighting and circling so far. Every day new proposals, new amendments, but nothin’ seems to stick. They’ve needed some fresh ideas, I think you’re just the one for it.”
“Thank you, Dak. I mean to be of service.”
Sirah scoffed. “You seem nervous. You kidding me? You’ll do great, you’re a bright guy. A lot brighter than some of the statues they’ve got at the table right now. Scaft, I nearly forgot to greet your bodyguard. Mister Bo’Barbi, the most dangerous man in the galaxy, enemy to nere’do’wells! A title I hope I don’t merit.”
Bo’Barbi raised an eyebrow. “An enemy to flatterers, too, mister Sirah.”
“Ah . . . Point taken. Lovely to make your acquaintance, sir! Ol’ Dak means no harm, no harm at all.” Sirah crinkled his jolly face. “Not unless you’re a bottle of Mantelli Scotch, anyway.”
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:::: Spring Signature!, Rosemère, Québec, Canada. Copyright © 2010 Gaëtan Bourque. All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.
ISO 400 300mm f/32 1/200s. 1 SB-800 @ 24mm 1/8th power snooted left and underneath the subject.
I first tried this shot with the flash on the sand in it's lowest postion, but the light looked flat and lack insperation. Then had the idea to lay the flash and stand on the groung very close to the flower. The end of the 12" snoot was 4 inches from the flower. The quality of the light then changed dramatically, giving me a level of texture and detail that I didn't get from a flash directly above.
until tomorrow,
enjoy
As much as I love my outtake tonight, I really wanted an emotive pose that would really convey how I'm feeling.
Which is a big fucking ow ow oww.
I have a pretty high pain tolerance. When I was 17 I had a spinal tap - supposedly it's one of the most painful medical procedures you can have - they stick a very long needle directly into the base of your spine. I was so stoic during the procedure that nurses and doctors were coming to meet me all week.
Brendan used to get confused....I'd have a headache for hours on end, and it would never occur to me to take any pain killers.
When I had my first appointment with my chiropractor after the fall, he had to tell me how much it hurt. I would give him answers like "it's kind of sore" and he would palpate the muscle or bone and go "um, I'm going to rank your pain here a 9."
The other day, Kristin texted me something about tylenol, and I had a sudden, outright fantasy about tylenol. Until that moment, I hadn't recognized that I was feeling pain.
All of that to say, it's oddly gratifying to be working with a doctor who will recognize and address pain that I'm so accustomed to accommodating that I've forgotten it's there. The flip side of that attention though, is that I'm actually focusing on the way that my body is feeling.
And it sucks to be aware.
I could hardly make it through the work day today, my back was hurting so badly. As I understand it, after this fall, one of my legs is seemingly shorter than the other, causing me to do weird walking where I roll my foot onto the nerve. I have some major nerve damage in my left shoulder, which leads to this weird muscle exhaustion that makes me feel like my arm is out of the socket. My hips are misaligned. My one shoulder is way high, and my neck is literally a solid object on the left. It's an active effort to keep my head aligned over my shoulders. I'm going to be in physical therapy twice a week for quite a while.
I'm lucky I didn't break my neck. It really was an eye opener. And I'm lucky to be in a position to receive treatment. And I'm lucky to have a doctor who understands my body better than I do. But in some ways, addressing the problem seems to be making it bigger.
INVISIBLE - Aurélie Pedron - Montréal Danse / Recto-Verso / Maison pour la danse de Québec
lilithetcie.com
lilithetcie.com/index.php/fr/compagnie
Présenté en collaboration avec la Maison pour la danse
Pendant 3 nuits et 4 jours consécutifs, la spirale sera le moteur du mouvement de 7 danseurs en situation de performance ininterrompue. Les corps, suspendus entre les mouvements circulaires des infinis (du cosmos aux électrons), incarneront un continuum temporel.
L’expérienceur/spectateur/participant est convié à ponctuer ce continuum temporel en faisant jouer dans l’espace une source sonore qui est importante pour lui. Cette source sonore, dont le contenu peut être très divers, devient une brèche temporelle, un retour à un autre temps, personnel ou collectif. Les sources sonores possibles : votre téléphone (accès à internet possible) ou des vinyles.
Cet espace de recherche est à la fois sacré et ludique, c’est, en quelque sorte, un « jeu de société poétique ». Une occasion d’être ensemble, observateur de notre interdépendance.
Arriver et partir sans horaire précis. Revenir. Dormir. Poser des actions, prendre position. Être en retrait, observer. Rêver. Lire.
Beaucoup de possibles, ensemble.
Durée : en continu
Création : Aurélie Pedron
Performance : Ariane Boulet, Rachel Harris, Ève Rousseau Cyr, Georges-Nicolas Tremblay, Zoe Vos, Arielle Warnke
Assistance : Kathy Casey
L’équipe tient à remercier le Haricot Magique.
Biographie
Loin des sentiers battus, Aurélie Pedron s’affranchit des conventions associées au spectacle pour nous inviter à appréhender le réel autrement. À la lisière de l’installation, de la chorégraphie et de la performance, les œuvres hors-normes qu’elle présente dans des lieux atypiques invitent le spectateur-participant à perdre ses repères pour s’abandonner à l’expérience transformatrice qui lui est offerte. Son travail lui a valu le Prix de la danse de Montréal, catégorie DÉCOUVERTE, en 2015. Appuyée par plusieurs partenaires de choix, sa compagnie, Lilith & Cie, a récemment présenté LA LOBA (Danse Cité 2016) ANTICHAMBRE (Agora de la Danse 2019).
INVISIBLE is a work exploring the dissolution of the ego and questioning the boundaries of the body. How can bodies become bodies? What is the choreography and the space that lets our identities and personalities unspool and become ties, relationships and vectors? This project seeks to make the visible invisible.
Aurélie Pedron started her career by giving birth to two children and 11 video art pieces, which have been shown in more than 17 countries. She went on to focus on space and the living body in several solo pieces and two staged works, CHAIR (French for “ flesh,” her 2011 Master’s project), and CORPS CAVERNEUX(Danse-CIté, 2013). After founding the company Lilith & Cie in 2013, she fine-tuned her work as a choreographer with installation-based works presented in public spaces. ENTRE(at Tangente in 2014) earned her the prestigious Découverte prize from the Prix de la Danse de Montréal in 2016. With the support of Danse-Cité, she presented LA LOBA in 2016.
A concern for social ethics and inclusion led her to develop projects with and for youth who are marginalized or who self-identify as such: RÛEand MARGE(Dare-Dare, 2014-2015) and INDEEP(2016).
FÔVE Diffusion - Diagramme Gestion culturelle - Montréal Danse - RQD - Regroupement québécois de la danse - CCOV - La danse sur les routes du Québec
Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada - Conseil des arts de Montréal - Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
#bringingtheartstolife #lartaucoeurdenosvies #ReimagineTheArts
Photo Credit: David Wong - Vanessa Fortin Photographie
===
A couple of stories about today! This might be a long description, but please read! I love conversing with all of you! :)
SOOO...last night I went to my best friends house for the night. I was driving home this morning, going down this road that no one EVER goes down, and the speed limit is forty for some reason. So I'm just cruising at around 55-60. So, I come around a corner, and there's a lovely little Sheriff doing his duty. Of course I KNEW he was going to pull me over, even if I slowed down, he would've pulled me over because I still would've been way over. So that completely ruined my day it seemed. I have a lovely little yellow ticket now, a court date, I can already see two or three hundred bucks coming out of my paycheck, AND my insurance going up. OH JOY. I'm not going to court though, you can call a number on the back and just pay it :)
So, I get home, and I was all stressed so of course when I show it to my parents I start crying cause I was so mad. I'm such a child...oh well.
THEN, I GO to work, and find out my shift was cut. Which kinda sucked.
So I go back home, and prepare for our HUGE yard sale. We are going through our three room attic and all the rest of our house and selling as MUCH as we can from 10 cents and up. My step niece Katelyn, (she's 7), comes over and really cheers me up. She helped me put price stickers on everything, and was SO helpful. She really looks up to me, and she's so sweet. It's funny how children can really cheer you up.
Speaking of the yard sale, if you happen to live near me, hit me up with a message and you can come! :)
The yard sale is next weekend and my parents picked the PERFECT time to have it. The (5th?) Annual Classic Car Show in Senoia Georgia. :D
It's literally right next to my house. SO many cars come...and I'm a SUCKER for classic cars. So sleek, fashionable, and unique. People always park in our yard, >:O , so they can park this time and come and see our yard sale. We'll get lots of business that way.
So of course, every year, I take my camera down to the car show and go crazy. There are so many cars to take pictures of, and so many interesting things going on. I'm SO excited. Plus, I get boiled peanuts...my favorite.
The camera above was found today in our attic. I was ECSTATIC. It's a Canon AE-1. It has a 50mm 1.4 lens on it. It also has a wide angle lens as well. Not only that, but it's in MINT condition. Right now the film isn't developed and the battery is dead, so we're going to get all that fixed and see what lies in the film! I can't wait to learn a thing or two with this film camera! :D
I hope everyone is doing well! :)
A FEW QUESTIONS:
What was your most expensive speeding ticket, and how fast were you going over?
Classical cars, or modern and futuristic cars?
Digital or Film photography?
Happy Veterans Day 2020! And speaking of veterans, here's an old veteran that's a little worse for wear. So what are we looking at here?
This 3-engine KC-135R, 63-8886, was involved in a ground collision on 26 Sep 06 at Manas Air Base (Manas International Airport) in Kyrgyzstan after returning from a combat mission over Afghanistan. In short, a Tupolev TU-154 that was cleared for takeoff prior to the KC-135 clearing the runway ran into the stopped tanker, damaging both planes. Fortunately (and miraculously), there were no fatalities. Details of the incident can be found here:
aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20060926-1
So how did I come upon this photo opportunity less than a week later, especially since I never deployed to Manas AB, which was typically staffed with Fairchild AFB crews and planes. McConnell crews and tails were at Al Dhafra in the UAE, while Grand Forks crews (like me) and tails were out of Al Udeid in Qatar. For some reason, and my memory is growing foggy with the passage of time, but some Al Udeid crews had to forward-deploy to Manas. I can't remember if it was because Fairchild crews were hung up deploying or if they needed to ramp up tails at Manas. Either way, one of our crews had forward-deployed and was operating out of Manas when, for some reason, the aircraft commander lost track of time or something and was unable to make it back out of Afghanistan in time to meet the daily runway closure curfew at Manas and ended up having to divert to Al Dhafra. Well, military leadership doesn't like it when one of their assets doesn't return like it's supposed to and is now somewhere else in the Area Of Responsibility, The crew flew their tanker back to Manas the next day, but the hammer dropped and that crew was then grounded. That's where I come into the picture. I was tasked with flying a combat mission over Afghanistan, and instead of coming back "home" to Al Udeid, I was to continue on to Manas to pick up the grounded crew and their belongings and fly them back the next day.
Operating out of Al Udeid, 95% of my missions were north over Iraq. The 5% that went to Afghanistan were much different, mostly because you had to deal with Pakistani controllers and the communication with the command and control was spotty at best. I had not been to Manas AB before, but here I was going in there, in the mountains, at night. No big deal, honestly, but it was weird in a couple of different ways. First, everything was in meters over there. All my previous flying time had been in feet, so this was something different...I had to figure out how to make the altimeters read meters rather than feet. Second, tower control was staffed by some Kyrgy guy who typically spoke only in Russian but sputtered out English-sounding words when he was speaking to an American plane that was inbound. Because of that, there was an English-speaking liaison in the tower you had to listen to on a different radio who basically interpreted for you. And that setup is why that TU-154 and KC-135 ran into each other less than a week before.
Because I hadn't been to Manas before, I brought my Canon Digital Rebel XT along to document the scene. It just so happened that as we were being driven off the flight line to our rooms, we were passing by the doomed-to-the-scrap-yard KC-135. I whipped out my camera, opened the sliding door on the bread truck, and snapped a series of photos, paparazzi-style, as we drove by. Highly not allowed, but this shot is seeing daylight for the first time here. I figure the statutes of limitations have long since expired, so here's a rare look at a 3-engine KC-135...still far more amazing than the tri-jet, tanker wanna-be KC-10!
Anyway, I basically spent one night in my entire USAF career in Manas, and it was noteworthy beyond just the weird metric altitudes on approach, the controller with needed-interpreter, and the 3-engine KC-135. For one, Manas AB was the first base in the AOR (I believe) to implement mandatory USAF PT Gear for USAF personnel when not in uniform. At Al Udeid, we were still wearing civilian workout clothes, so this was my first opportunity to wear the USAF's overly-complicated, over-designed, no-thought-to-practicality polyester-plastic PT Gear. And, as you'd expect from a government acquisition process, the PT shirt could not be washed with the PT shorts as one required hot water while the other required cold water.
Anyway, after we got to our rooms and settled, we donned our polyester and plastic PT Gear and headed for the chow hall. Enroute, we passed by a Marine Corps Lt Col who stopped us and asked, "Don't you salute in the USAF?" Forgetting that we were in an actual, designated military uniform, I apologized and we rendered a proper salute. BTW, the food was basically truck-stop sandwiches and granola bars. Shockingly, the food at Al Udeid was better (which isn't saying much). The rooms were much nicer at Manas though.
Then, when we left the next day with the grounded crew, we couldn't just fly straight back to Al Udeid; they wanted us to refuel a B-1B over Afghanistan on the way. No problem, but because of the runway closure at Manas, we had to take off much earlier than we would have to meet the bomber, so we ended up burning holes in the sky for a couple hours waiting for the B-1B's refueling time. Once he was on the boom, the crew informed us that they were dealing with a Troops in Contact situation and were doing shows of force. To translate, that meant the enemy was engaged with our ground troops and the B-1B was buzzing the bad guys on the ground. If you've never been around or had a B-1B fly over at low altitude in full afterburner, you're missing out...and apparently it would scare the hell out of the people messing with our troops. Anyway, the B-1B crew asked for additional gas beyond what they were frag'd for, so, since they were actually involved in combat stuff protecting our ground forces and the command and control communication was so poor over there and would take time to get approved, I made the command decision on the fly to offload what they needed (just make sure we had enough gas left to get to Al Udeid afterwards).
Once the offload was complete, we radioed the command and control guy and gave him the code phrase requesting our departure from the country and he came back saying we were assigned to refuel a pair of A-10s an hour later. "Oh sh*t!" I thought. Nobody told us that beforehand; we didn't have the fuel to do that since we offloaded extra to the B-1B! As we were working with the command and control guy (who was relaying, ironically, back to higher command and control at Al Udeid), I heard another tanker check in over Afghanistan. I asked if he had enough fuel to cover those two A-10s that were assigned to us and fortunately he did. We relayed that down to the command and control guy, and we were given the green light to head "home". During the rest of the flight back, I was writing down notes on all that had happened and why I made the decisions I did based on the information I had at hand because I assumed a couple of days later when the rolling ball of feces from not refueling those A-10s finally got far enough down the hill to my Director of Operations, he'd need answers to give those higher up the hill as to why we were unable to refuel those A-10s. But the call to his office demanding explanations never came and my backside never got bubblegum'd.
So there's the story of my one and only time in Kyrgyzstan along with a 3-engine KC-135R! I figure experiences like that justify the free $5 lunch my work provides us veterans on Veterans Day!
consigliato View On Black
Castell'arquato (Vi),domenica 01\08\2010
Tra scoscese stradine e scivolosi ciottoli arsi dal sole si saziano i miei occhi ma digiuna il mio stomaco.
Tacchi alti e abito lungo non è un'armatura adeguata, eppure poco prima ha conquistato l'ameno campo delle rotoballe.I trofei , però, ben presto iniziano a pesare : la terra pizzica nelle scarpe ed i graffietti alle gambe bruciano sempre più. Devo riparare al parco.
Il fresco verde cela il panorama , ma svela scenette di dolci coccole e silenzioso relax. La frenesia del mio animo si sente così fuori posto che quasi arrossisce; ma ben presto regala l'ennesimo spettacolo di sè.
Qualcosa in faccia , in testa ... Oddio, un pipistrello in pieno giorno! No,una cavalletta, forse un uccello...MI plana contro più volte come a volermi colpire e così velocemene che quasi non riesco a schivarlo ed ancor meno a vedere e capire cosa sia!
Poco dopo le grida diventano risa e il dimenarsi un dolce dondolare: è una bella, simpatica e bizzarra farfallona.
Dimentica del pubblico, cedo ai vezzosi inviti e s'apre il folle monologo -" Un'altro bacio... vieni, un altro ancora.Sei bellissima, dolcissima, resta un secondo in più, fatti abbracciare! No, non sul cespuglio, su di me!!!"
Il suo tragitto regolare e ripetitivo mi suggerisce lo scatto._ " Forza, ricomponiamo le idee... il programma, i valori, eccoti...sul cespuglio. Scatto, no ... ho l'obiettivo sbagliato ! "
Con goffa furia monto l'altro obiettivo , le prolunghe macro; ma niente, non trovo il fuoco ! Mentre la farfalla continua il suo valzer, monto e rismonto più volte l'attrezzatura.
" Ora sono pronta! Eccoti di nuovo ferma sul cespuglio...t'ho messo a fuoco...stai ferma.... Fatto! immortalata!"
Giusto in tempo. Ancora un ultimo giro ed arriva quello che forse irrequieta cercava finora: un'altra fantastica, identica farfalla.Volano insieme verso l'alto scomparendo nel bagliore del cielo.
Che strano, il mio sogno di stanotte ha avuto il medesimo epilogo, mancavano solo le ali variopinte.
E' proprio vero: a volte i sogni diventano realtà ! E la realtà sembra un sogno, aggiungerei!
A quel rispettoso ed incantato pubblico chiedo scusa , non volevo profanare il vostro idillio; ma a volte sogno a voce alta !
Sento che mi sto risognando sotto... scappo!
Chiedo scusa anche a voi: l'incontinenza dell'anima è proprio un male incontrollabile ! ;-)
Rossana, sempre la stessa di mai - (Un diario non ancora nato)
L'assetto architettonico dell'attuale abitato si manifestò solo nel medioevo quando, alla fine del Trecento, i Visconti edificarono il poderoso castello dal tipico impianto quadrilatero, con fossato, cortile interno e quattro torri angolari.
Il Castello di Sartirana Lomellina nella calda luce di un tramonto primaverileSotto gli Sforza il castello fu assegnato a Cicco Simonetta, potente ministro ducale in seguito accusato di tradimento e decapitato, che avviò importanti opere di trasformazione. Alla redazione del progetto partecipò l'architetto Bartolomeo Fioravanti, il noto architetto militare che di lì a poco venne chiamato a Mosca dallo zar Ivan II per concorrere alla realizzazione delle difese del Cremlino. Il maniero fu interamente sovralzato e la grande torre rotonda, ora simbolo del paese, rafforzata alla base con una struttura poliedrica.
Il castello ospita oggi il Centro Studi della Lomellina, che realizza interessanti eventi culturali, e la Fondazione Sartirana Arte con le sue collezioni di argenti contemporanei, gioielli d'artista, grafica d'arte, oggetti di cultura contadina, e importanti mostre con rilievo internazionale.
Nel caratteristico abitato sorto attorno al castello sono degni di nota alcuni interessanti edifici come la parrocchiale dedicata all'Assunta (XV secolo) e la chiesa barocca di San Rocco (adiacente al castello), un palazzetto visconteo con belle finestre e decorazioni in cotto ed il camposanto dall'aspetto neo-gotico.
Cultura [modifica]
© Brian Callahan 2011 All rights reserved.
A red van, parked in a neighbors driveway, made an interesting background for this asiatic lily.
Shot it at Gangasagar Fair.Gangasagar Mela is the largest fair celebrated in West Bengal (INDIA). This fair is held where the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal form a nexus. Hence the name Gangasagar Mela. This festival is celebrated during January every year and is a major attraction for millions of pilgrims from all over India.
The pilgrims come for a holy dip on Makar Sankranti (last day of the Bengali Month) Negha -Mid January. They take dips in the Ganges and offer water to the Sun God. The dip, as they say, purifies their 'self' and according to them, 'punya' can be obtained thus. When they are done with the ritual obligations, they head towards the Kapilmuni Temple situated nearby, to worship the deity as a mark of respect......
For more photos,click MY SITE subirbasak.orgfree.com.....
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The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
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THE DOORS- Riders on the storm
hechizo para para vencer una tormenta, para hacer desaparecer los rayos, truenos y fuertes vientos
El, Señor de los Elementos,
Angel de la Mañana,
Señor de la Aurora Dorada,
Oye mi pedido!
Barre esas grises
nubes de la tristeza
que caen desde el cielo sobre mi.
Asi como esta lucesita
Brilla aqui abajo,
Haz con que el Sol brille
Allá arriba,
Bendiciendo toda criatura viva
con sus rayos de Luz e de Gloria.
Aleja la tempestad de viento,
El exceso de agua,
la lluvia de piedra,
los rayos, y la tormenta eléctrica
para lejos de los hombres,
de sus ciudades, de sus posesiones
y de sus animales.
Lleva la tormenta para lejos,
Donde no pueda perjudicar
A nadie.
Copyright© Firdaus Mahadi 2010 | View Large!
Location : Lata Berkoh, Taman Negara Kuala Tahan, Jerantut, Pahang, Malaysia
"Lata Berkoh is a spectacular cascades that marks the limit of easy navigability on the river. There are deep pool below the cascades, delightful for swimming but hazardous for swimmers! and a rocky area overlooking the rapids offers an ideal site for photographers to capture the beauty of nature.
The boats stop about 700M below the cascades, and an easy walking path leads along the river bank, past a visitor lodge.
When coming back downstream, it is well worth asking your boatmen to drift with the current, so you can enjoy the sounds of forest and have a better chance to see kingfishers, fish-eagles, straw-headed bulbuls (pycnonotus zeylanicus), and monitor lizards (varanus salvator)."
Taken during 2 days photo outing organized by Luarbiasa Photography Group.
Tech details: Vertorama of 3 digital blended exposures for each sky & foreground. No tonemapped HDR.
Related image:
Please don't post here any awards, glitter text, images, and group invite
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-:- ( 1 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 2X5 ) - ( 6 ) - ( 7 ) - ( 8 ) - ( 9 ) - (2X10) -:-
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With some Haiku Notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other dimensions
providing information,
just don't look; but see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Take aim and you'll see
truth behind reality
in both yin and yang
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's all in your mind
concentrate and be mindful
sense reality
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. Right View
Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
2. Right Intention
While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
3. Right Speech
Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
4. Right Action
The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.
5. Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
7. Right Mindfulness
Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualisation in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.
8. Right Concentration
The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.
An Additional Haiku Note:
=============================
Take time be aware
we are no-thing but our thoughts
so said the Buddha
=============================
Personal Thoughts from August 07, 1976
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy is one.
Individuals are parts of that one.
Individuals through a source such as Love
(or other emotion or virtue) are one.
Thoughts are a source of energy.
Energy is neither created or destroyed.
Thoughts are neither created or destroyed.
Individuals are tuned-in to thoughts.
We do not think; we experience thought.
Our level of development is how we use
these thoughts to experience other
thoughts.
We are actually experiencing energies.
Our level of development is how we can
tune-in to these energies.
Our true purpose is to think and develop;
think and develop; become the source of energy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBkXfsTWXXw
JASMINUM NUDIFLORUM
Gelsomino d'inverno o di San Giuseppe
Generalità: questa specie di gelsomino è originaria della Cina, ed è un arbusto a foglie caduche, resistente al freddo. Si presenta come un ciuffo, più o meno denso, di sottili rami verde scuro, dritti e rigidi; le foglie sono lucide, leggermente cuoiose, verde scuro anch'esse, e sono costituite da tre piccole foglioline. Questo arbusto verso la fine dell'inverno ci regala una splendida fioritura di piccoli fiorellini gialli, che sbocciano a partire dalla base dei rami, prima della comparsa delle foglie. Il gelsomino spesso tende a crescere abbondantemente, raggiungendo anche i 2-3 metri di altezza, per ottenere una forma compatta è consigliabile potarlo appena dopo la fioritura; ogni 3-4 anni è possibile procedere ad un rinnovo totale dei rami, potando il gelsomino a 10-15 cm dalla base. Il portamento parzialmente strisciante rende la pianta adatta anche come tappezzante, oppure come rampicante, ma solo se collocata a ridosso di apposite strutture su cui farla crescere.
The first day of the new year in a Canadian winter and a line up of enthused, scantily clad people ready to jump into a river. Sounds fun to me!
This is the 17th image in a street photography / street portraiture series called "1000 Faces Of Canada". Feel free to add me as a contact, I will be uploading one image every day toward this project.
Click Here to start viewing from the first photo in this series
Explore, position 235
Lavatera.
For best results, please View On Black
As I was darkening down the beautiful heart of this flower in editing, today's Mupic (Music and Picture combination) came to mind, a favourite of mine. ~~ Total Eclipse Of The Heart, by Bonnie Tyler. Hope you approve .... Have a great Thursday everyone. I've got hospital but will be back later to catch-up.
Please right click on the following blue link and select "Open Link in New Tab."
♪ ♫ Total Eclipse of The Heart ♪ ♫ ~~ Bonnie Tyler.
Turnaround, every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Tengo muchos contactos que dominan el B/N, pero escribirconlacabeza los borda
y nunca le he agradecido públicamente su apoyo en casi todas mis fotos ¡Va por ti, Paco! ;-)
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Molino de viento para la extracción de agua. Otros MOLINOS - windmills de Mallorca.
Webs:
www.conselldemallorca.net/mediambient/molins
Información muy interesante sobre los molinos mallorquines (en calalán) lticlientes.net/ceducativa/backnet3/pdf/082ElmoliGarletae...
La catedral de Cuernavaca (Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción) se encuentra ubicada en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de Cuernavaca.
En 1525, cuatro años después de la conquista, llegaron a las costas de México varios grupos de misioneros, siendo los primeros en establecerse en el Valle de Morelos los 12 primeros frailes franciscanos; procedían a edificar la capilla abierta para colaborar en convertir a la fe cristiana a los indígenas. En 1529 se ratificó la fundación formal del monasterio. En 1891 fue elevado a la categoría de Catedral por Leon XIII.
De la primera etapa constructiva sólo sobreviven el casco de la iglesia y las arcadas de la planta baja del convento.
La Catedral de Cuernavaca esta formada por un conjunto de tres templos: Dolores, del Carmen y de la Tercera Orden, una capilla abierta de San José, el atrio, la Iglesia de La Asunción y el propio convento.
El Arde Lucus es la segunda fiesta más importante de la ciudad de Lugo.
La fiesta consiste en un representación de la ciudad del siglo III en la que los romanos eran los que mandaban en nuestra bella ciudad amurallada patrimonio de la humanidad. Para ello todo el mundo se viste de época con las características togas, sandalias y capas de estos antiguos ciudadanos romanos. La fiesta es muy popular y la población se mete mucho en el papel, por lo que lo raro será ver gente vestida normal, y abundaran los niños y mayores caracterizados de esta manera. Como en toda fiesta medieval que se realiza por nuestras tierras la ciudad se viste de colores y se llena de mercados medievales, exposiciones, conciertos, desfiles y demás diversiones.
Tienen un especial atractivo la lucha de gladiadores, los juegos romanos en los que caballeros pelearan montados a caballos y harán varias pruebas de habilidad, y la carrera de cuadrigas.
No dudéis en ver también la representación de las bodas celtas, conciertos de música tradicional y moderna, la narración de leyendas por cuenta cuentos, tambores de fuego, talleres de panadería, Gincanas celtas, espectáculos de magia realizados por los druidas celtas, demostraciones de soplado de vidrio, preparación de caballos para Roma, Venta de esclavos, conciertos de arpas o incluso la representación de alguna batalla
EXPLORE Dec. 25 2009
Leven onder de as van de vulkaan, dag in, dag uit... alle hotels zijn leeg en verwoest. De stad lijkt heel hallucinant. Ook de huizen zitten onder de as. Nog één hotel blijft met staats-steun open voor de enkele verdwaalde toeristen. De lokale bevolking is erg uitgedund. Alleen heel arme mensen zijn genoodzaakt om te blijven wonen. Aan ons hotel is er elke dag een ploeg paraat om de as weg te scheppen, een heel ongezond werk. De as is heel zacht en voelt aan als losse zachte poeder. Er valt voortdurend as uit de lucht en na enkele uren zit je onder het stof. Veel mensen lopen voortdurend met een masker voor de mond, om de longen te beschermen. De rode tong en tanden bij veel mensen wordt veroorzaakt door het kauwen van 'betelnut'. Een mengsel van mosterdzaadjes, kalk en beetlenoot.
De Tavurvur is een actieve stratovulkaan nabij de Papoea-Nieuw-Guineaanse stad Rabaul op de noordoostelijke punt van het eiland Nieuw-Brittannië. Het vormt het meest actieve onderdeel de Rabaulcaldera (8 bij 14 km), waarbinnen het gelegen is aan de oostelijke rand. De vulkaan is binnen de stad Rabaul berucht om de vele verwoestende uitbarstingen.
Lees nog meer over de verwoestingen:
nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavurvur
Tavurvur is an active stratovolcano near Rabaul in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature. The volcano is most well known for its devastating eruptions over Rabaul.
The volcano is the most active feature of the Rabaul caldera, and has erupted as recently as January 2009
uit:
Jose V. Blanco, the folk muralist whose richly colorful and celebratory works of the Tagalog pastorale have been likened to another Angono muralist, the late National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco
Born on March 19, 1932, Blanco belonged to a fishing family who thrived on the rich resources of the Laguna de Bay.
But although a folk artist, Blanco was academically trained. He entered the School of Fine Arts of the University of Santo Tomas in 1951. Its faculty included the top firebrand modernists of Philippine art history -- National Artists Victorio Edades, Vicente Manansala and Francisco, as well as Galo Ocampo, Antonio Llamas, Galo Ocampo and Diosdado Lorenzo.
Blanco never abandoned his roots. Even while he was studying, he was still regularly doing his fishing rounds in order to earn enough money for his tuition.
Graduating in 1955 and winning the best thesis award of his batch, Blanco worked for several years as an advertising director.
In 1971, Blanco abandoned advertising in order to paint full-time. It was also the year he held his first one-man show at the Manila Hilton.
Almost instantly, Blanco became known for his murals of Angono life. The Rockefeller Foundation of New York obtained his "Pag-ahon ng Pagoda," a depiction of the fluvial parade in connection with the San Clemente fiesta, in the 1970's.
Art critic Allice Guillermo called Blanco's style "folk realism." Notable is the graphic perspicacity of the work as well as the lushness of its earthy colors.
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Quiero dejar todas las palomas
en el cedro de tu alma y todo el beso en tus pies
que dejes de mirarme burlón
sé que te estoy dando poco y mucho te pediré
Se la nube sola en mi pradera
seré tu querido verde y serás sombra en mi mitad
y si ves que mi verde se quema
llueve tu llorosa pena y el verde nuevo se hará
Y que no te vayas un Febrero
detrás de aquella bandada azabache hacia el pinar
quiero ser también dueña del cielo y un pinar
pero es preciso que me enseñes a volar
Hazte sol cercano en la distancia
hazte en el recuerdo un leño y quémate en mi interior
no quiero tener más noches frías
ni poder tan sólo en sueños despertarme junto a vos ♪♫
Que tengamos alrededor nuestro
quien berree nuestros nombres y mucha sombra por dar
y cuando lleguemos a la tierra
únete conmigo en savia y así haremos sombra igual
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Villa Elisa - Entre Ríos - Argentina
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No usar esta imagen en páginas web, blogs u otros soportes sin mi autorización, © Todos los derechos reservados.
Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
“Y estos derechos... a respetarlos, ¿eh? ¡No vaya a pasar como con los diez mandamientos!” (Mafalda)
View On Black & LARGE - Mira el meu blog QuimG - Somnis
Thanks for the visit, comments, awards, invitations and favorites.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media
without my explicit permission.
QuimG Freelance Photographer
© All rights reserved
Contact: quimgranell@cmail.cat
ENG:
The Dervishes Of Cairo which presents the Sufi dance, which called the Tannoura (Skirt) dance, is the one of the most successful artistic achievements of EL Nour Company for art Production and Distribution. On March 2001, Mr. Ahmed Nour, chairman of the company, asked a group of these dancers to present their peculiar art form on the stage. Most of the dancers and singers of the group have learned this art from their fathers and grandfathers. The group started with 15 members but now it has more than 40 between dancers, musicians and singers, so now it is considered one of the biggest groups, which performs this kind of dance, all over the world. The group participated and awarded in many national and internationals festivals inside and outside the country.
It's a show of Sufi dance, but on the Egyptian way which is different from the Turkish. In Egypt, the dancer wears a skirt called "Tannura". It is so heavy and weights more than 11k, but in Turkey the dancer uses a wide jellabah, which weights nothing.
The skirt of the dancer "Tannura" has many colors which represents the Egyptian joy and happiness, not like the Turkish dancer's dress, which only has black & white.
Although the TANNOURA DANCE is based on its circular movements and its intrinsic Islamic "Sufi" feelings, it contains all the elements of a joyful & popular dance due to the following:
1- Its fast tempo.
2- Its departure from the ritualistic concentration on performance and skilful movements.
3- Its richness of its artistic value. All of these make it a unique art–form.
ESP:
El grupo Los derviches de El Cairo que presenta la danza Sufí, la que se llama la danza Tannoura (que es también el nombre de la falda que llevan), es uno de los logros artísticos más acertados de la empresa El Nour producciones. En Marzo de 2001, Sr. Ahmed Nour, presidente de la empresa, pidió que un grupo de estos artistas presentara su forma de arte peculiar en el escenario. La mayoría de los componentes del grupo han aprendido este arte de sus padres y abuelos. El grupo empezó con 15 componentes, pero ahora tiene más de 40 entre bailarines, músicos y cantantes, ahora él se considera uno de los grupos más grandes, que realiza esta clase de danza, de todo el mundo. El grupo participó y concedió en muchos festivales nacionales e internacionales dentro y fuera del país.
Es un espectáculo de danza Sufi pero con un aspecto del folklore egipcio, con un ligero aroma envolvente, a la forma egipcia de este tipo de danza, denominada «Altanura». Este nombre proviene de la falda del bailarín, que pesa casi 11 kilos y está llena de colorido y que representa la alegría egipcia. Por ello es mucho más difícil y distinta a la danza turca, que se baila con chilabas, sólo de color blanco y negro.
La Danza Sufí consiste esencialmente en girar sobre el propio eje facilitando estados alterados de conciencia y de éxtasis místico. “Miréis donde miréis el rostro de Dios existe”, dice El Corán.
Girar para vencer la muerte y la oscuridad, girar para elevarse, girar para ponerse en contacto con los principios de la propia vida y las leyes universales subyacentes, girar para soñar que son soles, planetas y astros errantes que giran buscando a Dios.
Es un acto decididamente lúdico y pleno de alegría.
Los danzantes proclaman que durante sus giros el alma deja el cuerpo y viaja desprendiéndose de sus ataduras terrenales y accediendo al infinito hogar del altísimo.
This photo is available in Hight Resolution for sale in: Getty Images
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media
without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
Youtube: Dream Factory
Photograph by Yusuf Alioglu