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The darkness of the temple was all-encompassing. Their hololamps felt like comically weak attempts to fight back, as dim and small as they were. The huge, empty halls seemed to call out to them as they passed. More than once, Nathan thought he’d heard someone.
“What was that?” he’d asked Ozz, who stared at him with concern.
“Nothing, kid. Just like last time. Get a grip, would ya?”
Something glinted in Ozz’s light. He peered at it, trying to get a closer look.
Eefo, their guide, (and current victim of blackmail) led from the front.
“Come,” she said. “The deep archives are this way. If there are any records related to Balaam’s Heart, we will find them there.” Then she added, more bitterly, “We can only hope this excursion does not doom the known galaxy.”
Nathan frowned over at her. “Or maybe it’ll keep it safe. If we don’t find the Heart, Pyerce might. It’s worth the risk.”
“Woah, woah, woah!” Ozz exclaimed, and his excited cry echoed in the tunnel. He hurried over to what he’d found—a pile of artifacts, gleaming beneath the dust and sand. “These babies look valuable!”
Eefo and Nathan stood in the entrance of another hall, pausing to look back at him. Eefo couldn’t hide her disgust with his priorities.
“Artifacts for processing, not what you seek.”
“Yeah, not what we came here for,” Nathan said. “Come on, Ozz. Sooner we get out of here, the better.”
Of course, Nathan should never have said that, because that’s the exact kind of thing that leads to ironic catastrophe. And so it did.
The rumbling began quietly, but was deafening before they had a chance to react. The walls were trying to shake apart. The ground bucked underneath them. The tunnel was filled with the cacophony of shouting and the crashing of rock as they all dodged rubble dropping from overhead and dived for cover. What felt like forever was over in just a few seconds.
Nathan pushed himself off the ground and looked frantically for his friend.
“Ozz, Ozz!”
“Nerd?” came the weak reply, through a layer of fallen rock.
“Ozz!” Nathan shouted again, trying to pull away rubble. His efforts were in vain.
“I’m alright, kid! Just…in a different room. You got our bounty?”
Nathan felt a mixture of relief and annoyance surge through him, and he took several deep breaths. Eefo was getting to her feet nearby.
“You okay?” he asked. She replied with a thumbs up.
“Yeah, she’s okay,” he told Ozz. “Hey, we’re gonna make it out of this. Listen, try and go back the way we came, or find another path out. We’ll all join back up at the entrance, got it?”
“Sure, sure. Me, worried? About the dark? Nah. See ya in a bit, no problem.”
Nathan took a moment to rest after the stress of the cave-in. “He’ll be fine,” he told himself.
“Perhaps he will,” Eefo replied dryly. “Forgive me for my lack of concern.”
“Okay, Ozzie, okay. You’re gonna be okay,” Ozz whispered, casting his hololamp around the rubble to find a good path out. The way they’d come in was blocked, so he chose the next best doorway and started trudging along. “No worries, no worries. Think happy thoughts. You’ll get paid! Oh—“ he turned back and—at least something was going right—a few of the gleaming artifacts were strewn across the floor.
“Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo!” Ozz hooted in glee, scooping up a few golden discs to stuff into his jacket. “Come to Ozzie! Now we just gotta find a way outta this pit, and Papa Ozzie can find a nice fence to hock to you to!”
He was glad Nathan wasn’t here to see him talk to treasure.
Now weighed down with future fortunes, Ozz trudged ahead into the dark tunnels and empty halls of the temple, all by his lonesome. He hummed to himself to ward off any fears. He really needed to start carrying a blaster. Nothing like a blaster to make you feel safe.
“Your pockets are heavy, thief.”
Ozz spun around, looking for the source of the voice. “Whosaidthat!” he cried, brandishing one of the discs.
“A denizen of this sacred place,” said the voice from nowhere.
“Oh…oh great, now I’m really going crazy. Amazing. Just ignore it, Ozzie, keep walkin’…”
“Ignoring a thing does not make it go away. Your name is Ozzie?”
“What? No, it’s…Ozzamandes. Hey, I’m not talkin’ to you. You’re just a voice in my head. Guy might look crazy talkin’ to himself like that.”
“I am not a manifestation of insanity, but of the force.”
“Ha, the force! Good one, brain.”
Suddenly, a creature appeared before him, a woman who seemed both there and not there at the same time, who shone with a ghostly blue glow. Ozz froze in place and stared at her, stunned.
She spoke with power and grace, and her face was severe. “A faith is a necessity for a creature, Ozzamandes. Woe to them who believes nothing. Woe to you, for I sense this void...within you.”
Shocked, Ozz’s grip went limp. A disc fell to the floor with a ‘clang’.
“Follow me,” Eefo said. “I will find us a way out of the tunnels.”
Nathan stopped in his tracks. “Wait a second. I want to get out too, but not before we find what we came for.”
Eefo’s face twitched. “Don’t you want to find your friend?”
“Yeah, but he’ll be fine, and ticked off at me if we leave this place with nothing to show for it. Can we still get to the archives after the cave-in?”
Eefo had been caught trying to wiggle out of showing him the archives, and she looked accordingly hateful.
“…Yes,” she spat. “Come, do not lose the way.”
As they walked, Nathan questioned her.
“The Scriptist’s madness, or whatever…he mentioned spirits. That’s just you, right? You’re gaslighting your mentor?”
“The spirits are real. The sabotage is mine, but the drain on his mind…the spirits are real. Dark things.”
This was not exactly the answer Nathan had wanted to hear while spelunking in a pitch-black tunnel.
“Oh, I see,” he said, shining his light behind him and hurrying to catch up.
“So what was your life like around here, huh? See any good holos?”
“As a Jedi scholar, I forbade myself from material pleasures, if that is what you ask.”
“Sheesh, aren’t you a bucket of fun.”
Ozz now continued his journey through the tunnels with the ghost woman at his side.
"You scoff. There is moral grandeur in this, no? The renunciation, the sacrifice this station requires? The self-exile, the remembrance of mortality, the committing of one's spirit to mystery and thought rather than toil?"
"Hah, I'd love to see you tell that to my pops. He loved toil."
"You use the past-tense. Your father is one with the force?"
"He's dead, if that's what you're askin'. We didn't see eye-to-eye, so wouldn't make much of a difference if he wersen't."
“But now you have another family? One of your own?”
“Hah! A family, nah. Just this kid mooching off my ship.”
“You have a child?”
Ozz shook his head, muttering to himself before replying. “No, no. Human’s name is Nathan, we’ve been working together for a few weeks. Can’t stand the guy, honestly. Always going on about safety and stuff. Takes himself too seriously. Got me fired once! For something I didn’t do, I’ll have you know.”
The woman smiled softly. “I sense care in your voice.”
“Pah! You’re hearin’ things too, then.”
“Love finds us in unlikely places. When it crosses our path, we are often slow to embrace it. We deny ourselves the comforts of familial care in order to protect our vulnerable, fragile egos.”
Ozz raised an eyebrow up at her and grimaced. “Geez, you get personal, lady. Bet you were a weirdo as a kid.”
They were stopped by sounds up ahead, strange howls and whispers that seemed to slither by in a tunnel before them. The woman flew in front of Ozz, her expression stern.
“What the keff was that!” Ozz cried, covering his head and looking around for danger.
“Dark spirits. My counterparts. The other side.”
“Well geez, terrible roommates! You just all hang out in the temple together? Just a big spirit party, good and bad?”
“I do not wish it to be this way. Their presence is a desecration.”
“Okay, okay…why don’t you evict ‘em then? You’re all glowly, I bet you could get rid of ‘em.”
“It’s not a question of my power, but of my purpose. I pledged myself in life to study and knowledge, it is not my place to raise hands against evil, but to equip those who do. I put them out of mind, and avoid their distraction.”
“Hm, couldn’t you make, like, an exception?”
She rounded on him, her expression fierce, her eyes wide.
“Does my life sound like one of exceptions, Ozzamandes?”
Ozz shrunk back from the frightful display. “Well, no. No, that’s a good point. But…”
The look on her pale face told him not to continue, but he was never good at listening to warnings.
“Well, you don’t really have a life, anymore. You’re—sorry if I’m the first one to tell you this—but you’re dead, lady.”
“I know this. Don’t insult my intellect.”
“Well then, you did good! You held to your pledges! They were pledges for life, right?”
She looked thoughtful, her brow knit. She said nothing.
“Besides, weren’t you the one that told me…ignoring something doesn’t make it go away?”
The deep archives were once locked behind doors that required power to open, powers neither Nathan nor Eefo had. But time and war wears away all things, this time to Nathan’s benefit. The doors were long since destroyed, and their access unblocked.
It was a narrow hall. Rows and rows of old books, many of them destroyed, lined the shelves.
Eefo gestured forward. “Feast away, you fool.”
Nathan shot her a look. “Kind of unnecessary, but…thank you for bringing me here. Where do I start?”
“Balaam’s Heart? I recommend ‘B’.”
“Oh, it works like that? Huh, I expected something weirder,” he said, and he stepped forward to scan the massive stacks.
Eefo looked on the shelves—the sheer amount of terrible, dangerous knowledge—and at the young man now searching amongst the tomes. Fear clutched at her heart. Her mind went to the blaster under her robes.
“You speak sense. Most unexpected,” the ghostly woman said.
“Oh, nice,” Ozz grunted. “I’ll try not to be offended about how you said that.”
“My apologies. Perhaps, as a spirit, my purpose is something different than what I was bound to in life. Perhaps I must evolve, as my being has evolved. Perhaps I must oppose the dark things here, and purify this temple. Thank you, Ozzamandes, for speaking with me. It has been most enlightening.”
“Sure, sure, any time. Now, I gotta get outta here, any chance…?”
“We have been following that path for some time. I have been leading you to your friends while we talked. They are just ahead.”
Ozz blinked in surprise. “No kidding? You’re alright, lady.”
“Ozzamandes,” she said, and her voice became serious and heartfelt. “Do not deny your care for your friend. You would rob yourself of greater riches than those you carry in your coat.”
Ozz avoided her gaze, nodding vaguely. “Oh, uh, sure, sure. Yeah, thanks for the advice.”
“And Ozzamandes,” she said again.
“What?”
“Please leave behind the things you’ve pilfered from my temple, if you please.”
“Oh,” Ozz blushed, and he casually removed the golden discs from his pockets and dumped them on the floor as gently as he could. “Sure thing, of course.”
She smiled. “Thank you. Farewell, I hope we meet again.”
“Me too, ‘cept I got no plans to come back to this joint. But uh, I’ll see ya when I see ya.”
A fondly amused expression was the last thing on her face before she faded away, and he was left in the dark. A door stood in front of him.
Ozz smiled proudly. “’Most enlightening’…Old Ozzie, who woulda thought!”
Ozz entered the deep archives. The first thing he saw was Eefo, hand on her blaster, and an unaware Nathan. Something in his chest swelled up, and his eyebrows furrowed. She was gonna blast his partner? Not on her life.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” he shouted, and Eefo spun in alarm. She hastily drew her blaster. “Nate, look out!”
Ozz threw himself into the Rodian researcher, knocking both of them to the floor. The blaster went off harmlessly, a bright red bolt striking an ancient tome and completing its transition to nothing more than a pile of ashes.
Nathan ducked and swiveled. He stared at the prone Eefo. A few seconds and he would’ve been toast.
“Woah, woah! Thanks Ozz!” He suddenly grasped that Ozz was here, and grinned widely. “Ozz! You made it!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ozz said, dusting himself off. Eefo looked trapped. “Had some help. I’ll tell ya about it later. Geez, once a spy, always a spy, huh!”
Eefo glared at him defiantly. “You’ll bring ruin to the galaxy!” she said, her voice trembling.
She stood on shaking legs, and occasionally her eyes darted towards the shelves, wide with fear. She was like an animal, and Nathan felt, most of all, pity. He understood what was driving her.
Nathan grabbed Ozz's arm and pulled him aside. He whispered, "Hey, I'm trying to honor what you said on Yavin, I'm telling you before I do something crazy."
Ozz looked at him warily. "...Kid, whatever you're thinking, you better not risk our profit, here. We're in a golden spot with this!"
"No, I'm not okay with how we've done this. Catching spies is one thing, but blackmailing, threatening deserters to get what we want?" He shook his head firmly. "That's not how I want us to do things."
Ozz looked between his eyes, searching for a way to convince him otherwise. There was no chance. He had no choice but to back down.
"That's...another payout lost, kid. I hope you know what you're doing: we need credits! Finding your girl is gonna take credits, you understand?"
"I know, we'll figure it out! I'm sure we can pick up a side job or something, but...I want to let Eefo go free. She's not even a spy anymore."
Ozz threw up his hands. "Have it your way. But you're the least lucrative partner I've ever had."
"This pays off in other ways, Ozz.” He turned back to the Rodian, approaching her cautiously.
“Hey, I’m not mad that you wanted to shoot me, alright? It’s…well, it’s not okay, Eefo. But I get it.” He stepped forward, and she flinched. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he told her. “We’re going to let you go free. You don’t have to worry about us leaking anything, or telling anyone where you are, okay?”
Eefo raised a brow skeptically. She waited for him to continue.
“Now, I know you think what we’re doing is wrong. But…I wish you could trust me. My intentions are nothing but good, I swear. You’re right that this is dangerous stuff. The Empire is looking for it, and I can’t leave whether they find it or not up to chance. Please, you don’t have to agree, but…don’t shoot me?”
She met his gaze, and gradually seemed to calm. Her eyebrow still twinged in frustration, but she sighed, and the fight had left her.
“Yes. Alright.”
“Great,” Nathan nodded. “Ozz, help me find this book!”
Ozz was already by the stacks, and held up an old pile of slates bound together with rope. “Was it ‘Balaam’?”
“Yeah, why—“
“Here ya go.”
He passed the slates to Nathan. Sure enough, Balaam’s name was on them.
“No way,” Nathan said, staring. “Ozz, thank you!”
“No problem,” he shrugged, unaware of his partners efforts to do what he’d just done in one glance.
“We’ve got what we needed. Let’s go see sunlight again, huh?”
Eefo led them back through the tunnels until they found the staircase they’d originally descended. They were cheered to see the light flooding through the open archways of the temple doors. Cold wind filled their ears as they crossed the old atrium floor and ventured out into the open air.
They gasped in horror when they saw the sky.
An Imperial Light Cruiser lay in the upper atmosphere. A small, white shape was gliding down towards them; a shuttle.
“Aw, hell,” Ozz grunted, slumping hopelessly.
“No!” Eefo screamed. “No! They’re coming for the temple!”
Nathan blanched, and held Balaam’s slates tightly under his arm. “We’ve got to get out of here. We can’t fight that thing.”
“The temple is bad enough, but we must not lead them to the Searchers! The unencrypted archives, the research, they cannot be allowed to have it!”
His jaw firmly set, Nathan made a decision. “Ride back to the outpost, I’ll hold them here.”
“Kid,” Ozz said weakly. “What the keff are you gonna do?”
A plan was formulating in his mind. Nathan approached the small conductor Eefo had planted in the ground when they’d arrived.
“Eefo, show me how to work this thing. Then you both go, get to safety!”
“Hey, kid,” Ozz said, his tone full of worry in a way Nathan had never heard.
“Yeah?”
“We’re gonna come back for you. Just hold out, okay? Trust in the…the force, or whatever. You better be alive when I get here.”
“I’ll do my best,” Nathan shrugged. “Chances aren’t great.”
A grin broke on Ozz’s face. “Oy, bring back the optimism. You’re downright depressing, you know that?”
“I’ll bring back the optimism when we make some money, how about that.”
“Oh, so never.”
“Well, never say never!”
“Ha! There it is,” Ozz grinned. He patted Nathan on the side. “Take care, kid. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Geez, what’s gotten into you?”
“Oh, shut up. I dunno, had some time to think while I was in those tunnels. Anyway, enough dwaddling! Let’s get this show on the road!”
“Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit, Ozz.”
A few minutes later, Ozz and Eefo sped back towards camp, Balaam’s slates in hand.
Alone at the entrance to the temple, Nathan waited for the shuttle to touch down.
HDR image processed from 5 exposures with Photomatix Pro.
Captured close to one of the main entrances of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing about a week ago ...
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Seasonal colours are at their best in Ballaglass Glen in this island. This was my last stop for this fall before I travel to North Western fells in the Lake district. Cascades of dark water on black slates with yellow leaves on the sides, a classic picture of autumn, cliched but enchanting as always!
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Shot taken with Canon 5D mkII, 17-40 L Canon@17mm, f/8, exposure-30seconds, ISO-200, B+W CPL.
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Gay & Lesbian Pride March 2010
It’s back in 2010, the event that stops traffic… On Sunday February 7th, the 15th annual Pride March takes over Fitzroy St, St Kilda in a blaze of colour, noise and movement!
Pride March 2010 is an open air celebration culminating in a Pride March down Fitzroy Street St Kilda and finishing with performances on the foreshore. Pride March is to express courage, solidarity, pride, diversity and a strong sense of community.
Gay & Lesbian Pride March
Down Fitzroy Street to Catani Gardens
Sunday 7 February 2010
Fitzroy St, St Kilda Victoria 3182 Australia.
Telephone: 03 9513 3054
Turning 30 in 2010, St Kilda Festival is one of Australia’s best known and Melbourne’s most loved events. It utilises St Kilda’s stunning foreshore and celebrates the cream of Australia’s musical talents.
Saturday 6 February is Yalukit Wilam Ngargee: People, Place Gathering, an outdoor Indigenous festival featuring music, dance, children’s activities and more that welcomes people to St Kilda for the week ahead, O’Donnell Gardens.
From 7-13 February experience Live N Local: St Kilda venues throw open their doors to host a variety of local bands, musicians, performers, artists and comedians in a series of one off and special events - everything you love about St Kilda and more.
Úbeda, Jaén (Spain).
ENGLISH
The main parish church of Santa María de los Reales Alcázares displays the most significant mixture of architectural styles, to be found in the city. The buildings historic and artistic patronage is complex and its solid external appearance is of a defensive fortification.
Built on an archaeological site where remains of bronze and Roman civilisations have been found, the Church rests of the foundations of the main mosque of Muslim Úbeda. According to tradition the Romans built a temple here dedicated to Diane. After the conquest of the town by Ferdinand II the Saint, in 1223, the Mosque was consecrated in the Catholic faith with the title High Parish Church of the Royal Alcazares and of Our Lady of the Ascension. In 1259 it achieved the rank of High Collegiate Church. In 1852 the Church's collegiate rank was withdrawn, reversing to the rank of High Parish Church. Being the principal temple of the city, it has preserved important archives and a multitude of treasures. The latter being donations and numerous priviledges bestowed by Popes, Kings and bishops.
Its external appearance blends Medieval and Classicist styles. Being built on to the ols walls of the fortress, Santa María church has been the main witness to the great changes and strife of Úbeda. Today it still offers a special attraction to the town which is due to its great historical character and the population's identification with its heritage.
Source: www.ubedainteresa.com/portal/
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CASTELLANO
Asentada sobre un subsuelo arqueológico de la Edad del Bronce, y con mínimas diferencias ocupando el emplazamiento dé la antigua mezquita mayor de la ciudad, la tradición dice que en el mismo sitio los romanos tuvieron un templo dedicado a Diana.
Tras la conquista de la ciudad en 1233 por el rey cristiano Fernando III el Santo, la entonces mezquita fue transformada al culto católico bajo la advocación de Iglesia Mayor Parroquial de los Reales Alcázares y de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. Desde 1259 fue titulada Iglesia Mayor Colegial y desde 1852 ostenta el título de Iglesia Mayor Parroquial.
Iglesia principal de la ciudad, durante siglos ha conservado un importante archivo y multitud de obras de arte y joyas, fruto de donaciones y de numerosos privilegios concedidos por reyes, papas y obispos.
Con una imagen exterior entre medieval y clasicista, adosada al primitivo muro del alcázar, Santa María ha sido la iglesia que históricamente más movimiento y ajetreo ha tenido de toda la ciudad, y aún hoy sigue ofreciendo para el ciudadano de Úbeda una atracción especial que le viene dada por su fuerte carácter histórico y el grado de identificación conseguido con la ciudad y sus habitantes, al albergar desde los meses de mayo a septiembre a la Stma. Virgen de Guadalupe, patrona de la ciudad.
Fuente: www.ubedainteresa.com/portal/
Lumbier, Navarra (Spain).
ENGLISH
The Foz de Lumbier is carved out of the limestone rock by the river Irati at the western end of the Leyre range of mountains, at the foot of the Navarrese Pyrenees. It is one of the most spectacular gorges in Navarre, a landscape created over millions of years by the waters of the river Irati, which have left their mark on this sanctuary of nature day by day. The gorge was declared a Nature Reserve in 1987.
Lumbier is a narrow and small gorge, just 1,300 metres long, but of spectacular beauty. Its vertical walls reach a maximum height of 150 metres and large birds of prey live in the cracks and ledges, with species such as griffon vultures whose flights will accompany you in your visit to the gorge. It is also a refuge for foxes, boar, badgers and owls, and is strewn with gall and kermes oaks and bushes such as thyme, lavender and gorse that hang from the cracks, vegetation that is transformed into woods of poplars, willows and ash trees at the entry and exit of the gorge.
In contrast to many other canyons, you can walk through Lumbier along an easy track that runs along the bottom of the cliffs for 2.6 kilometres. The route was created for the old Irati train (the first electric train in Spain) that linked Pamplona with Sangüesa between 1911 and 1955.
The signposted path runs along the river and crosses the rock through two tunnels (206 and 160 metres long) that do not have artificial light. Towards the end of the path the route goes around the rock and reaches the remains of the Puente del Diablo (Devil's Bridge), which was built in the 16th century with a raised arch 15 metres above the river. It was destroyed by the French in 1812 during the War of Independence, and owes its name to a legend that says that its builder asked the devil for help to finish it.
More info: www.visitnavarra.es/eng/organice-viaje/recurso/relacionad...
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CASTELLANO
La foz de Lumbier es un desfiladero excavado por el río Irati sobre la roca caliza en el extremo occidental de la sierra de Leire, al pie del Pirineo navarro. Es una de las gargantas más espectaculares de Navarra, un paisaje labrado a lo largo de millones de años por la acción del río Irati que, día a día, sigue marcando su huella en este santuario de la naturaleza, reserva natural desde 1987.
La de Lumbier es una hoz estrecha y pequeña, de 1.300 metros de longitud, y de una belleza espectacular. Sus paredes verticales alcanzan en su cota máxima 150 metros de altura, y en sus grietas, roturas y repisas viven grandes rapaces, entre los que abundan los buitres leonados, cuyo vuelo le acompañará en su visita al desfiladero. La foz, que también sirve de refugio para zorros, jabalíes, tejones y alimoches, está poblada de quejigos y coscojas, además de arbustos como tomillo, espliego y ollaga que se cuelan por las grietas, vegetación que se transforma en bosques de álamos, sauces y fresnos a la entrada y salida de la foz.
A diferencia de otras gargantas, la de Lumbier puede ser recorrida a través de un sencillo camino que discurre al pie de los acantilados, a lo largo de 2,6 kilómetros. El trazado fue realizado para el tren Irati, el primer tren eléctrico de España, que comunicó Pamplona con Sangüesa entre 1911 y 1955.
El camino está señalizado, discurre junto al río y atraviesa la roca a través de dos túneles, de 206 y 160 metros de longitud, que no poseen luz artificial. En la parte final del sendero, el camino bordea la roca y llega hasta los restos del Puente del Diablo, construido en el siglo XVI, con un arco elevado 15 metros sobre el río. Destruido por los franceses en 1812, durante la Guerra de la Independencia, debe su nombre a una leyenda según la cual su constructor pidió ayuda al diablo para levantar el puente.
Más info: www.visitnavarra.es/esp/organice-viaje/recurso.aspx?o=303...
Música: Ella y Él.
No mires hacia atrás, Pepa, disimula y sigue leyendo, pero creo que he visto a mi Ginés con otra mujer cinco filas más atrás de nosotras y le estaba haciendo toda clase de carantoñas.
Mira que me lo decía todo el mundo y no me lo quería creer, qué pedazo de sinvergüenza , me lleva diciendo toda la semana que el viaje a Madrid era para ver un aparato para el laboratorio.....pero no me dijo el capullo que el aparato que quería ver fuera un aparato reproductor femenino. Me estoy encendiendo Pepa!!!... Me esta hirviendo la sangre !!!Creo que me voy a levantar yy....!!!!....
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Bien podría estar basado en un hecho real....y es que historias de este tipo o de cualquier otro se repite en todas partes sin importar mucho el lugar dónde suceden ni la procedencia, ni el status social de las personas.
Y es que hay hombres -( y también mujeres ,claro está)- que son de naturaleza infiel y que no se conforman con una sola mujer....pero también hay otros que lo son por otros motivos y no por tener el acento inherente de D. Juan. Con ello no quiero excusar de ninguna manera la infidelidad pero se podía uno/a parar a pensar en las causas más frecuentes de estas infidelidades, a veces, es la falta de comunicación en la pareja, el no compartir aficiones o actividades conjuntas, la rutina, la falta de ilusión, la dejadez.....y muchísimas más cosas que de seguro much@s podrían tener en mente mientras leen estas líneas y son estas cosas las que permiten que se vaya llenando el vaso imaginario de la relación, con gotitas amargas de insatisfacción que vamos bebiendo día a día , siendo éstas un veneno para nuestra salud física y mental... y empieza el caos en la relación de pareja y es entonces cuando se busca , o sin querer se encuentra, otra bebida más dulce que te hace olvidar la amargura e infelicidad en la que crees que está abocada tu existencia.
Si pensáis que esto tiene moraleja que la aporte cualquier otro, yo voy a "abrocharme el cinturón", no vaya a ser que vengan baches por contar estas historias.
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Continuación de la Historia: la mujer de Ginés aguantó hasta que el avión tomó tierra y no le dijo nada a su marido hasta que volvió a casa.
Él , por supuesto, lo negó todo, y quiso incluso hacerle creer a su ,- hasta ese día-, ... ella creía ,...querida esposa que esa mujer era una loca que le perseguía, que se le había abalanzado ese día en el avión, que jamás había visto a esa mujer en su vida ni mucho menos había tenído relación íntima con ella....y sabéis qué? Ginés, por llamarle de alguna manera, había estado liado con esa mujer nada más y nada menos que cinco años.....pero le salió bien a Ginés y es que tiene una verborrea , un carisma, un don innato encantador ...y de contar historias y echar mentiras, ....que parece que haya nacido para el teatro...y no para estar metido en una oficina y mucho menos ser militar.
La tonta de ella le creyó. Eso sí, llevará cuernos mientras viva ,porque hay hombres que no cambiarán nunca ( que si, que si, y mujeres también!!)
María.-
For "Flickr island game 6:round 1"
I got home from work,did my 365 and hadnt even thought to
check and see if i had been selected to play in the new game.
then i saw that i had to have a shot up in about 14 hours.
Akkk. I started on what i thought was a cool idea,and
after setting up lights,changing clothes, and working out the bugs ...
i completely changed course and went with this idea.
had nothing at all to do with the original idea.
i guess my brain really wants to be in the Halloween mode,
and i keep distracting it with everything else.
*interesting tidbit. ok maybe not.
in my line of work,i break mirrors almost on a daily basis.
I have accumulated an insane amount of BAD LUCK years
that i am glad i wont be around to witness.
(weee... explored!)
costruito tra il 114 e il 117 d.C. è un arco trionfale dedicato all'imperatore Traiano in occasione dell'apertura della via Traiana, una variante della via Appia che accorciava il cammino tra Benevento e Brindisi.
Si tratta di un arco a un solo fornice, alto 15,60 m e largo 8,60 m. Su ogni facciata quattro semicolonne, disposte agli angoli dei piloni, sorreggono una trabeazione, che sporge al di sopra del fornice. Oltre le architravi si trova un attico, anch'esso più sporgente nella parte centrale, sopra il fornice, che presenta all'interno un vano coperto da una volta a botte.
È costruito in blocchi di pietra calcarea, rivestiti da opera quadrata in blocchi di marmo pario.
L'arco presenta una ricca decorazione scultorea sulle due facciate principali, con scene che si riferiscono alla pace e alle provvidenze verso i cittadini sul lato interno, rivolto verso la città, e alla guerra e alle provvidenze dell'imperatore verso le province sul lato esterno.
I lati interni del fornice presentano altri due ampi pannelli scolpiti, raffiguranti scene delle attività di Traiano nella città di Benevento.
Sono visibili rapporti abbastanza evidenti tra questi ultimi e il fregio traianeo dell'Arco di Costantino, per cui è stata avanzata l'ipotesi di un'attribuzione, almeno per questi due pannelli, all'officina romana del "Maestro delle Imprese di Traiano", autore della Colonna Traiana.
Esta foto es muy parecida a una que subí anteriormente, y que os la recordaré en el primer comentario, en dicha foto, es más que nada para usarla como fondo de escritorio, y esta que os pongo es un encuadre similar pero esta vez en vertical, y cada vez que hago más fotos verticales sobre el mar, las rocas. Etc., mejor es el resultado, muchas veces le pregunto a mis amigos, que porqué no hacen fotos verticales, y la respuesta es porque no se ve bien en el ordenador, con el tiempo me he dado cuenta que las fotos verticales para sacarlas en papel también quedad muy bien, después de esta reflexión os explicaré el procesado:
Nota: El procesado como siempre, un doble revelado a partir de un mismo RAW, una foto para el cielo y otra para el reflejo, siempre estoy hablando con objetos inteligentes, cuando más o menos he tenido el resultado a mi gusto, he seleccionado la parte del cielo, le he creado una, máscara de capa, he desenfocado las máscara con un desenfoque gaussiano con unos parámetros a gusto del consumidor para unir las dos fotos.
Una vez terminado con el cielo, me he ido al reflejo, aplicando unos ajustes muy similares a los del cielo para que parezca aún más real, después procesado por zonas en la parte del reflejo para obtener más textura aún si cabe, y aplicando sus respectivos desenfoques, cuando más o menos he tenido la foto a mi gusto, he acoplado todo en una foto, luego he duplicado otra vez, le he aplicado un desenfoque gaussiano con un valor de 8 pixeles, y me he ido a capas y le he cambiado el modo de fusión a luz suave, y le he bajado la opacidad a un 20% más o menos, para eliminar un poco la mini aparición de ruido por la parte más oscura.
Cámara: D40
Modo De Exposición: Manual + Trípode
ISO: 200
Velocidad: 0.3
Focal: 19.0 mm
F/ 22.0
Filtro: PL
Objetivo: 18.0-55.0 mm F/ 3.5 -5.6
Procesado: Light room 2
Camera Raw 4.3
Photoshop Cs 3
:::: BIGGER ....... is a MUST for your eyes and soul!
:::: Click here for a slideshow of my latest!
:::: Click here to view my Most Interesting according to Flickr!
:::: Have a coffee.... click here ....... and relax!
:::: Light Enlightment!!, Rosemère, Québec, Canada. Copyright © 2010 Gaëtan Bourque. All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.
To see the real detail of this image I recommend you click on the "All
Sizes" button above and view the original size image. As mentioned in the
previous image, the Monarch Butterflies are seen here clustering together in
a large group. They come to small coves where the trees grow near the coast
to stay warm during the winter months. If the temperature is below 60F
degrees you are likely to find clusters of over one thousand butterflies at
Santa Cruz's Bridges State Park. It's truly one of the most impressive and
beautiful events you will see in the insect world.
-Darv
© Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer
i took like 60 different shots for today. i love the way this turned out.
shannon is not here cause shes pet sitting. 7 dogs, 2 cats, 5 miniature horses and a llama. no i'm not kidding.
this week is gonna be all about reading the script for the show im designing at the begining of Sept. y'all gotta stay on me to get it done!
365 - 7.26.09
Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder.
the son of Odin, and Giantess Jord (the Earth).
Thor owns a short-handled hammer, Mjöllnir, which, when thrown at a target, returns magically to its owner. His Mjöllnir also has the power to throw lightning bolts. To wield Mjöllnir, Thor wears the belt Megingjord, which boosts the wearer's strength and a pair of special iron gloves,to lift the hammer. Mjöllnir is also his main weapon when fighting giants.
Thor gave his name to the Old English day Þunresdæg, meaning the day of Þunor, known in Modern English as Thursday. Þunor is also the source of the modern word "thunder".
last images for thE vEnTs "messy" and TOTW "mythology"
BRAGS :
Ate some amazing food with good friends
Ordered some exercise Stuff
Ordered some badass props
Please View On Black and/or View On White
Size: 1.25" - 2.0"
The Snowberry Clearwing Moth is a small hummingbird moth which more closely resembles a large bumblebee rather than a hummingbird.
Like other hummingbird moths, this one flies during daylight. A similar, but larger, sphinx moth is the (Hemaris thysbe) Hummingbird Clearwing Moth.
Adults mimic bumblebees and are quite variable, both geographically and seasonally. The wings are basically clear, with dark brown to brownish-orange veins, bases and edges. The thorax is golden-brown to dark greenish-brown. The abdomen tends to be dark (black) with 1-2 yellow segments just before the terminal end. These yellow segments are in much sharper contrast to the rest of the abdomen than in somewhat similar species. Also note the relatively narrow dark outer margin of the hindwing. Most fresh specimens also have some blue "fur" tufts highlighting the first black band on the abdomen.
This moth hovers over flowers in full sunlight, producing a buzzing sound with its wings, similar to that of a hummingbird.
There are usually two broods annually from March-September depending upon latitude. The moth is seen along forest edges, in meadows, gardens and brushy fields. Adults like to nectar at lantana, dwarf bush honeysuckle, snowberry, orange hawkweed, thistles, lilac and Canada violet.
Caterpillars pass through five instars and are pale green on the back and darker green on the sides, with numerous white flecks in the final instar. The anal horn is bright yellow at base and blue-black at the tip. There are longitudinal brown stripes on the underside. The legs are almost white and barred with dark brown. There is a double row of yellow granules on the first segment which projects over head. The spiracles along side of body are very evident, being ringed in pale blue.
Larval host plants include Snowberry (Symphoricarpos), honeysuckle (Lonicera), Coralberry, viburnums, Blue Dogbane (Apocynum) and dwarf bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera).
Pupation is in a very flimsy cocoon at ground surface. The inch long pupa is brown.In the fall, when larvae are ready to pupate, they take on an orange to burgundy hue.
TAXONOMY:
Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839
Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878
Genus: Hemaris (Dalman, 1816) ...........
Species: diffinis (Boisduval, 1836)
xeno-canto.org/asia/species.php?species_nr2=9480.00
A male bird of paradise
The Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Paradisaea raggiana also known as Count Raggi's Bird of Paradise is a large bird in the bird of paradise family Paradisaeidae.
It is distributed widely in southern and north eastern New Guinea, where its name is kumul.
It is 34cm-long, maroon-brown with greyish-blue bill, yellow iris and greyish-brown feet. The male has a yellow crown, dark emerald-green throat and yellow collar between the throat and its blackish upper breast feathers. It is adorned with a pair of long black tail wires and large flank plumes. The female is a comparatively drab maroonish-brown-colored bird. The ornamental flank plumes vary from red to orange in color, depending on subspecies. The nominate subspecies, P. r. raggiana has the deepest red plumes, while subspecies P. r. augustavictoriae also known as the Empress of Germany's Bird of Paradise of northeast New Guinea has apricot-orange plumes.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raggiana_Bird_of_Paradise
De paradijsvogel heeft vele kunstenaars geïnspireerd. Het is een zeer bijzondere vogel door zijn opvallend kleurrijk verenkleed. Hier lees je veel interessante feiten over deze prachtige verschijning in het oerwoud van Nieuw Guinea.
De paradijsvogel behoort zonder meer tot de mooiste vogels ter wereld. Van de 43 soorten komen er 38 voor in Nieuw Guinea. De paradijsvogel is de nationale vogel van Papua Nieuw-Guinea(PNG). Paradijsvogels hebben een uitzonderlijk lange staart. Ook groeien er lange gekleurde draden uit hun verenkleed. Sommige paradijsvogels hebben een eigenaardige verenkroon op hun hoofd.
uit:
dier-en-natuur.infonu.nl/vogels/5776-paradijsvogel-de-moo...
174.129.90.252/groups/paradisaeidae/pool/interesting/
belasaves.3vd.com.br/index.php/component/content/article/...
This is one of the cars showcased at a car show this past Saturday sponsored by Holman Howe Funeral Homes. There were lots of great old cars and trucks from the area. I got there a bit too late to see all of them, a brief shower prompted many to pack up a bit early. The president of the Funeral Home owns several vintage vehicles, some of which he uses in his business. One special car in the collection is a Harry S Truman Limousine.
© All Rights Reserved
No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without the Written Consent of Serena Livingston
This Timber Wolf was trying to ensure that he got a piece of the beaver meat. The Alpha Male of the pack had already tossed this poor fellow into the snow more than once......claiming the good meat of his choice..........leaving only leftovers to be picked through by the rest of the pack.
I did tone down the blood in the photo using Lightroom 2.......was a little too bright and gorey. So if your a little squeamish about blood....sorry about that. But it was a great look at Nature at it's wildest.
Barcelona (Catalonia) - View large on black!
The Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It was built in Barcelona, Catalonia, between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural and political independence movement that came to be known as the Renaixença (Catalan Rebirth). It was inaugurated February 9 1908.
In 1997, the Palau de la Música Catalana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Hospital de Sant Pau. Today, more than half a million people a year attend musical performances in the Palau that range from symphonic and chamber music to jazz and Cançó (Catalan song). [Text adapted from Wikipedia]
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Copyright © Marcel Germain.
COMMERCIAL USE. Any commercial use of this image is prohibited without my prior, explicit permission. Please contact me by Flickrmail if you are interested in licencing one of my pictures for commercial purposes.
NON-COMMERCIAL USE. You can use this photo for non-profit, non-commercial purposes as long as (1) you credit me as the photographer and (2) where possible, you provide a link to my Flickr photostream. Please contact me if you have any questions.
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Large on black or at BEST 1280 x 850 pixels.
New group: Overschie!
I started a new group - couldn't believe it didn't exist yet - about Overschie, Rotterdam!
Overschie is a neighbourhood in the north of Rotterdam, with +15.000 inhabitants. It has a lot of beautiful spots, but also the A13 running through it and the Kleinpolderplein traffic junction (another group I started, btw). Feel free to throw all your Overschie shots in this new group. Ta!
About the picture
Trying to slipstream the Dutch Masters... ;-)
With the sun coming up behind my back I suddenly noticed this atmospheric view of 'vintage' Overschie, a rootsy Rotterdam neighbourhood - all this while I was reporting the demolition of a modern appartment at the other side of this bridge.
This is HDR, but I processed it in a different way, I was trying to make it look like an old Dutch painting, or something. :-)
Hope you enjoy it. Ta!
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View Large [press L] and/or use the arrows on your keyboard to Flick through my images. Ta!
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Date: Taken on January 24, 2012 at 8.51 am CET
Exif data
Camera Nikon D700
Exposure 3x (1/125) for HDR
Aperture f/2.8 / f/5.6 / f/8
Focal Length 50 mm (Nikon 50mm f/1.4)
ISO Speed 200
3 shots into Photomatix Pro into Photoshop CS5 for further processing.
Estábamos en una zona de Osona que conocíamos poco. Los pueblos de los alrededores del pantano de Sau son pequeños y coquetos. Algunos se componen unicamente de una masía grande, una iglesia, su estafeta y el ayuntamiento. Una calle Mayor con casas bajas donde se agrupan la panadería y un bar, pequeño y cuidado, en donde disfrutar de un buen bocadillo de productos del lugar es lo mas apropiado.
Estábamos saboreando del aroma de las piedras centenarias de la iglesia de Vilanova de Sau, y disfrutando del silencio de su cementerio, pequeño y muy cuidado, cuando un estruendo nos trajo de nuevo a este mundo. No supimos discernir si el maremágnum de pitos, bocinas y griterío vario era una manifa de agricultores, o una repentina y no deseada aglomeración de coches con intenciones de aparcar junto a la iglesia, situación que me hubiera sacado de mis casillas, pudiendo ser el inicio de un altercado entre domingueros jubilados y yo mismo, algo siempre muy embarazoso, ya que por la experiencia tenida, esas embestidas siempre dan en fracaso y bochorno, saliendo del lugar con mala leche y sin hacer agua clara.
No fue el caso... la algarabía que se oía en la Calle Mayor era, no una mani de gente en desacuerdo con alguna autoridad, o jubileo, si no una bonita quedada como hoy se dice, de moteros con sus respectivas monturas, todo salido así como de una película de los años 40, tales eran las trazas de las motocicletas y sidecares, así como los cascos y gafas de los dueños de ellas. Ibamos a por piedras añejas y terminamos fotografiando Sanglas y Ducatis de época, algo que no teníamos previsto, pero que nos lleno de gozo.
my power animal is the orca : )
The Orca is found in all seas from the Arctic to the Antarctic. The familiar black and white coloring of the Orca is significant. From a spiritual point of view it represents lessons of a soul nature regarding polarity. Orcas assist us in acquiring balance within a world of opposites.
From a physical point of view it is a strategy of camouflage. Seen from above their dark back blends in with the darker water below them, while from below, their whiter bellies blend in with the sunlit waters above. This symbolizes the ability to move through life seen or unseen depending on the situation. Learning the art of camouflage is advantageous for those with this medicine. Proper action and reaction, observation and expression are all linked to this art.
The orca swims in formation either in a line or in rows. This indicates good organizational skills and the ability to work cooperatively with others.
Each pod has its own distinctive dialect which allow members of the same pod to recognize one another even if they get separated. Those with this medicine are able to instantly identify members of their original soul group. Although personalities may differ a strong sense of family is known. Life lessons as well as spiritual aspirations are similar. Reuniting with members of the same soul group can trigger a sense of great joy or it can awaken heart felt grief as memories surface about a previous loss. Those with this totem should remember that once a reunion has been established, emotional support for one another will always be available.
Orca medicine people are very creative although they can have a tendency to keep their creativity hidden or allow their creativity to rule their lives. Those with this totem should pay attention to the way in which the orca appears to them. If it is seen breaching out of the water it is asking you to surface from the depths of your inner reflection and express yourself outwardly in a grounded and creative way.
If seen injured or beached it could indicate a need to take care of your health. Orcas often get parasites, bacterial and fungal infections. Hodgkin's disease has been recorded in killer whales. From an emotional perspective this disease is linked to low self esteem and the fear of being accepted. The orca holds the teachings of fearlessness, beauty, power and balance. It can awaken these same qualities within you. All you need to do is ask."
I'm having another spring clean...
Check out my eBay listings for a whole lot of photography stuff for sale
shop.ebay.co.uk/junketz/m.html
And don't forget to check my other items... you could get a bargain!
Pentax 67
45mm f/4
Fuji Reala 100
Pushed to ISO 200.
Crete, Greece.
2009.
8-28-10:
CollegeMonthlyOct.1974-JoeCardiello-Illo
www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=918258&id=1652840888&a...
Special thanks to Kenneth R Anderson
Joe Ciardiello
1990s
Directory tear sheet, 8.375" x 11"
I saw Joe's work for the first time Sept. 1974 when he did a caricature for Doug G. and Noë G's fledgling mag. Joe hadn't fully developed his own style yet, and his illustration struck me as a so-so Alan Cober or Jack Unruh knock-off. Boy, was I wrong, or boy, has he developed. This sample comes from about 20 years later, with a very NYC subject for Joe. His style is now instantly recognizable, and he does regular spots for The New York Times Sunday Book Review. He's terrific.
But within weeks, College Monthly folded, Joe's November issue art never ran, and he (and we) didn't get paid. Perhaps this belated appreciation will serve as minor recompense.
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Add a caption
Joe Ciardiello 1990s Directory tear sheet, 8.375" x 11" I saw Joe's work for the first time Sept. 1974 when he did a caricature for Doug G. and Noë G's fledgling mag. Joe hadn't fully developed his own style yet, and his illustration struck me as a so-so Alan Cober or Jack Unruh knock-off. Boy, was I wrong, or boy, has he developed. This sample comes from about 20 years later, with a very NYC subject for Joe. His style is now instantly recognizable, and he does regular spots for The New York Times Sunday Book Review. He's terrific. But within weeks, College Monthly folded, Joe's November issue art never ran, and he (and we) didn't get paid. Perhaps this belated appreciation will serve as minor recompense. === www.joeciardiello.com ===
In this photo: Doug Garr (photos), Noe Gold (photos | remove tag), Joe Ciardiello
Added July 25 · Comment · LikeUnlike
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Joe Ciardiello Thanks Kenneth. Better late than never.
6 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading... ·
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Patrick Jb Flynn Whom among us isn’t influenced by our predecessors? It’s a little thing called history, a subject that most Americans fail miserably. I always saw Joe’s art as an amalgam of the best illustrators of that time, Milton Glazer, fused with Cober, Unruh, and the inimitable James Spanfeller.
4 hours ago · LikeUnlike ·
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Kenneth R Anderson @JC - I'm honored by your attention to my fb gallery.
@PJF - indeed. What I relate to now isn't even a style thing, per se. JC seems to draw naturally from his heart, a soulful quality I always admired in James McMullen's work.
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personPatrick Jb Flynn likes this. ·
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Noe Gold
@PJF, Spanfeller also graced the pages of this magazine due no doubt to the involvement of his AC accolytes. Kudos to you Ken for enshrining this.
www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/4360653626/in/set-721576...
This is a parody ...published by College Monthly October 1974.
© 2010 noemedia.
© 1974. All rights reserved under international conventions. No material may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.
Cover photo by Basil Pao
With retouching by Rainbow Graphics, body by Doug, hand by Noë of New York. T-shirt by Harry Gross; photo by UPI, lighting by Chris Callis, and body English by Tom King.
And check out this blog entry at ...
doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/catcher-in-bourbon-pa...
A better view - View On Black
When the winter started to finally go away this year, I had to buy a new set of summer wheels and tires for the MINI. I wasn’t too excited to drain my bank account but having a dedicated summer and winter wheel/tire set is the safest way to handle the roads, especially when driving “spiritedly”. Of course, I added a few other suspension components as well ;-)
I’m really bummed about not having a working flash transmitter & receiver lately. It really has been limiting my creativity. I guess that’s what one can expect when they buy cheapo Cactus triggers instead of something like Cybersyncs or Pocket Wizards. Luckily, the Mt. Clemens General Hospital parking garage just happens to have some very good lighting. I parked myself on the fourth floor and hoped no one would run me over as I set up my tripod. A couple of minutes into rearranging the car and composition and WHAMMO, I got this great shot of the MINI!
Featured in Flickr Explore June 2, 2010
Wat is straô?
Straô is een jaarlijks terugkerend evenement op een aantal zaterdagen in het voorjaar, waarbij de voeten van de paarden in de zee worden 'gewassen'. De dorpen aan de westkant van Schouwen-Duiveland hebben allemaal hun eigen straô-viering.
Straô-rieen is een historisch feest en gaat ver terug in de tijd. In vroegere tijden stonden de werkpaarden de gehele winter op stal. Zodra de winter tegen het einde liep, ging men met de paarden de zee in om de voeten te wassen. Hoewel de werkpaarden van vandaag nog uitsluitend als hobby worden gehouden en zeker niet meer een hele winter op stal staan, wordt de gewoonte nog steeds in stand gehouden.
what is Straô
Straô is an annual event on a number of Saturdays in the spring, where the feet of the horses in the sea 'washed'. The villages on the west side of Schouwen-Duiveland have their own straô celebration.
Straô is a historic celebration and goes far back in time. In ancient times were the workhorses throughout the winter in the barn. Once the winter by the end went, they went with the horses to the sea in order to wash there feet. Although the workhorses of today be held solely as a hobby and certainly not a whole winter on stable, the habit still maintained.
Thanks for your visit and comments, I appreciate that very much!
Don't use this image without my explicit permission. © all rights reserved.
Regards, Bram (BraCom)
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bighugelabs.com/scout.php?mode=history&id=3234012812
[...] Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love [...]
-- Quote by Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968), December 11, 1964
Nikon D70, Tokina 28-70 f/2.8, 44mm - f/8 - 1/3200s - Flash Metz CT-3 in manual
Rome, Italy (August, 2008)
Aperture occupies virtually whole of interior face (left hand image).
1: recurved pointed umbo (rostrum) overhanging concave interior.
2: asymmetrical “ears” to either side of rostrum resemble scallop.
3: outer layer (periostracum) forms broad border beyond inner layer.
4: fractured calcareous inner-layer held in place by periostracum.
5: close-set concentric striae and a few indistinct radiating lines.
6: embayment on right side of shell.
Full SPECIES DESCRIPTION BELOW
PDF available at www.researchgate.net/publication/353918067_Aplysia_puncta...
Sets of OTHER SPECIES: www.flickr.com/photos/56388191@N08/collections/
Aplysia punctata (Cuvier, 1803) Account revised August 2021
Current taxonomy: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138758
Synonyms: Aplysia rosea Rathke, 1799; Aplysia hybrida J. Sowerby, 1806.
Meaning of name: Aplysia = that which cannot be washed; punctata = spotted.
Vernacular of just this species: Spotted sea hare (English); Môrwlithen glustiog (Welsh); Aplysie ponctuée (French); gemeiner Seehase (German); Pikasti morski zajček (Slovenian); Liebre de mar manchada (Spanish);
Vernacular of any Aplysia species: Sea hare (English); Lièvre de mer (French); zeehaas (Dutch); søhare (Danish); sjöhare (Swedish); Lepre marina (Italian);
GLOSSARY below.
Shell description
A. punctata has a rudimentary vestigial shell. Its height (longest dimension) is up to 40 mm, occasionally more; about 30% of the animal’s length. It is saucer-shape with a recurved, pointed umbo (rostrum) overhanging the concave interior, and there is an embayment on the right. It somewhat resembles a pectinid with asymmetrical “ears” either side of the rostrum.
The adult shell retains no trace of the spiral coiling of the veliger stage. It consists of two layers of conchiolin. The outer layer is the periostracum. The inner layer is transparent, imperceptibly calcified and limp on young specimens (fig. 1 flic.kr/p/DJpXbt ), and on older specimens is a translucent, thin, fragile, semi-calcareous layer, often fractured into pieces held in place by the periostracum (fig. 2 flic.kr/p/DSES2X ). The periostracum layer extends to form a broad flexible border beyond the inner layer. The exterior is amber-coloured with a sculpture of growth lines, close-set concentric striae and a few indistinct radiating lines. The aperture occupies virtually the whole of the ventral/interior face. On a living animal, the shell is concealed by the mantle (fig. 23 flic.kr/p/2oJVAzt ), except within a round foramen (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX ). There is no operculum.
Body description
The full-grown body length is about 70 mm and the usual maximum is 120 mm, exceptionally 200 mm (fig. 14 flic.kr/p/DQm3GL & fig. 15 flic.kr/p/Dqyc3s ). It has a large head and neck (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/DjbKoD ). The snout has a centrally divided oral veil which is usually loosely rolled into forward-orientated oral tentacles and curled flaps in front of the mouth (fig. 5 flic.kr/p/CVh2bn ). The appearance varies with the degree of rolling; sometimes flaps hang down from the oral tentacles (fig. 6 flic.kr/p/DJpNXK ). The snout is separated ventrally from the foot by a gutter (ffig. 5 flic.kr/p/CVh2bn ). The cephalic tentacles are also enrolled, but the edges are fused on the basal half; they resemble a hare's ears (fig. 5 flic.kr/p/CVh2bn ). Anterolaterally of each cephalic tentacle base there is a blue-black eye on a slightly raised mound of translucent unpigmented epithelium resembling a whitish iris (fig. 5 flic.kr/p/CVh2bn ).
Two large parapodia arise from the approximate mid-point of the body and extend to about 25% body length from the posterior where they unite (fig. 7 flic.kr/p/DJpNgz ). An external seminal groove runs from a common genital aperture, close to the anterior of the right parapodium, along the neck to the opening to the penial sheath near the base of the right oral tentacle (fig. 8 flic.kr/p/DJpM2a ). Raised walls along the sides of the seminal groove meet firmly at their edges, but do not fuse, to form a tube lined with cilia that propel the contents. The penis is spatulate with curled up edges and has an external seminal groove. It is engorged and extended from the everted penial sheath during copulation (fig. 9 flic.kr/p/DSEGJ8 & fig. 10 flic.kr/p/CVacmN ).
The parapodia can be held erect (fig. 11 flic.kr/p/DJpGJc ), semi-prone revealing enclosed anatomical features (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX & fig. 21 flic.kr/p/2nBEfgq ), or folded down to conceal features (fig. 12 flic.kr/p/DSEC4X ).
Colours and patterns on the external surfaces of body vary greatly between individuals www.nudibranch.org/Scottish %20Nudibranchs/aplysia-punctata.html (J. Anderson) , but usually there is a general progression in ground colour during growth from rose-red when small and feeding on red algae such as Delesseria, through brown or blackish-brown when on Laminaria to olive-brown when large and on Fucus (Eales, 1921). Many have fine spots of a darker shade of the ground colour arranged in elongate blotches, varying in prominence, which often form a reticulated pattern. In addition, some have white blotches. The edge of the parapodium often has a thin white rim, sometimes accompanied by black and/or reddish bands (fig. 13 flic.kr/p/DjbzG4 ), and the tips of the tentacles and edges of foot may have similar colours. The dorsal face of the parapodium, usually held concealed against the body, is unpigmented greyish white, apart from its border.
The mantle, enclosed by the parapodia, covers the shell apart from a large round foramen, and, at the posterior-right, forms an erect funnel with the anus near its base (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX ). The shell covers the viscera and the anal funnel fits against the embayment on its right-posterior edge (fig. 1). The anal funnel often protrudes when the parapodia are closed, but it is able to withdraw. The gill (fig. 21 flic.kr/p/2nBEfgq & fig. 22 flic.kr/p/2nBGFnR ) is a thick set, plume-like structure of loose connective tissue and muscle fibre covered by a partly ciliated epithelium (Eales, 1921, plate I). It has thickened lobes in place of the thin filaments of typical ctenidia. It is located in the narrow mantle-cavity on the right of the parapodial enclosure (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX ). It is affixed at its anterior end close to a yellow osphradium. The gill is usually concealed under the shell but may be erected above it if the oxygen level is sensed by the osphradium to be low. An unpigmented opaline gland is in the floor of the mantle cavity near the anterior-right of the parapodial enclosure and just to the posterior of the common genital opening (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/DjbKoD & fig. 21 flic.kr/p/2nBEfgq ). The anterior of the foot is almost rectangular and sometimes expands into a circular outline (fig. 13 flic.kr/p/DjbzG4 ). The posterior of the foot is bluntly pointed. The pale, unpigmented, narrow sole (fig. 5 flic.kr/p/CVh2bn ) is sometimes hidden by the edges curling together (fig. 11 flic.kr/p/DJpGJc ) and it may form into a rounded sucker at the anterior (fig. 13 flic.kr/p/DjbzG4 ), but rarely at the posterior (Thompson, 1976). There is no discernible subdivision of sole into regions (Eales, 1921).
Key identification features
Aplysia punctata
1. Parapodia unite at their posterior, c. 25% body length from posterior of body; see fig.3 in Grigg (1949) (fig. 7 flic.kr/p/DJpNgz ). It swims rarely, if at all, and clumsily if it does.
2. Foramen (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX ), a round hole in the mantle that exposes the shell, is larger, relative to the animal's size, than the foramen on A. depilans or A. fasciata.
3. Full-grown length about 70 mm, usual maximum 120 mm.
4. Foot occasionally expands into rounded sucker (fig. 13 flic.kr/p/DjbzG4 ) at anterior but rarely, if ever, at posterior. The sole is whitish.
5. Occurs all round Britain except parts of southern North Sea and north east Irish Sea.
Similar species
Aplysia depilans Gmelin, 1791
1. Parapodia unite at their posterior close to the posterior of the animal (fig.3 in Grigg, 1949) (fig. 16 flic.kr/p/DSEwU8 ). It is unlikely that it ever swims.
2. Foramen is smaller, relative to animal's size, than foramen on A. punctata
3. Length frequently 120 mm or more, up to 300 mm.
4. Foot frequently expands at posterior into rounded sucker attached to substrate. Sole brown.
5. In Britain (2015), confined to south west England; breeds in Cornwall.
Aplysia fasciata Poiret, 1789
1. Parapodia do not unite at their posterior. See fig. 3, as A. limacina, in Grigg (1949); frequently swims gracefully, see flic.kr/p/da9ojG (R. Fernandez); www.youtube.com/watch?v=x051Lw6LMBw#t=26 (M. Pontes).
2. Tiny foramen, pore-like on raised papilla (Grigg, 1949), is far smaller, relative to animal's size, than foramen on A. punctata; often difficult to discern.
3. Length frequently about 200 mm, with weight nearly 2kg, but up to 400 mm (largest British gastropod).
4. Foot pointed at posterior.
5. Reliably recorded from Dorset, South Devon, Cornwall and Channel Islands; rare.
Aplysia parvula Mörch, 1863
This species was recorded for Britain (Bebbington & Brown, 1975) on the basis of morphological features of small A. punctata specimens. Eales (1921) reported that small red specimens grew and changed colour to typical A. punctata when fed on non-red algae in captivity, so she dismissed their identification as a distinct species. Recent DNA studies (Golestani et al. 2019) found that A. parvula is confined to the tropical western Atlantic, and no DNA evidence for it was found in specimens examined from the north eastern Atlantic or Mediterranean.
Habits and ecology
A. punctata lives in shallow unpolluted water and occasionally on shores at LWS where its algal food grows; including red algae, Ulva (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/DjbKoD ) and Fucus.
Respiration: There is no obvious inhalent siphon; Jeffreys (1869) suggested that inflow was via the foramen, but this seems unlikely. Water is probably taken in between the body and anterior of the parapodia to the narrow mantle cavity on the right containing the gill (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/CVh5eX ). The water passes over the osphradium near the anterior attached-end of the gill. The current is created by cilia on the gill and, probably, on other surfaces. The osphradium tests the water-quality; if it is oxygen deficient, the gill may erect itself clear of the overhanging shell for better access to oxygenated water (Eales, 1921). The exhalent current leaves the animal via the anal funnel, taking faeces with it (fig. 17 flic.kr/p/DJpAiX ).
Defence : A. punctata is usually well camouflaged because its colour is often similar to alga it is feeding on. When irritated, the opaline gland (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/DjbKoD ) can release via the anal funnel (fig. 17 flic.kr/p/DJpAiX ) an acrid, white, viscous secretion, mixed with purple dye from the ink gland, to repel and confuse attackers. There are a few uncertain reports of predation on adults, but crustacea eat the spawn.
Reproduction: Breeding is recorded in February-November in Britain, but is most usual in spring. A. punctata is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, but distant spacing and positioning of the male and female orifices (fig. 9 flic.kr/p/DSEGJ8 ) prevent mutual interchange of gametes between a side-to-side pair in the manner of nudibranchs. One, acting as male, climbs astride another from behind and with the anterior of its foot firmly grips the mantle and shell (through the foramen) of the lower acting female. The penis of the acting male, engorged by blood and extruded by eversion of the internal penis sheath, is inserted into the vaginal part of the other's common genital aperture (fig. 9 flic.kr/p/DSEGJ8 ). Semen from the acting-male passes from its common genital aperture, through the external seminal groove on its neck and head, edge of the penial sheath and penis into the acting-female (fig. 10 flic.kr/p/CVacmN ). Often a chain of mating individuals forms, enabling all, except those at each end of the chain, to act as male and female simultaneously (fig. 9 flic.kr/p/DSEGJ8 ).
A. punctata often extrude spawn during coupling, and it often passes from the common genital opening along the seminal groove, escaping through a wrinkle part-way along it or continuing to emerge (confusingly) at the penial aperture. The spawn is a long string of spherical egg-capsules (fig.18 flic.kr/p/DSEwrV & fig. 20 flic.kr/p/DGfnSL ). There are about 500 capsules in each cm of spawn-string (fig. 19 flic.kr/p/DjbsiX ), and each capsule contains 3 or 4 ova. Copulation/ovipositing lasts several hours or even days, and the string is extruded intermittently in sections, each of which curls and tangles with the others (Eales, 1921). Its colour changes with time, so sections of string issued at different times by a single individual may have different shades from each other with abrupt colour changes corresponding to pauses in laying (fig. 20 flic.kr/p/DGfnSL ). The final colour is brown before veliger larvae emerge into the plankton. A mating/ovipositing chain of individuals results in a tangled mass of spawn strings. A sample mass from the River Yealm, Devon, had an estimated 135 000 ova (Thompson, 1976). Veliger larvae metamorphose after 20-22 days in the plankton at 15ºC into rose-red crawlers, about 5 mm long, feeding on red algae in shallow water (Thompson, 1976).
Distribution and status
A. punctata occurs from northern Norway to the Mediterranean, but is scarce or absent from the continental coast of the southern North Sea and extends into the Baltic no further than the Kattegat, GBIF map www.gbif.org/species/5191252 . It is found in unpolluted water all round Britain and Ireland, except in the north-east Irish Sea. the North Sea from Flamborough Head to Kent and much of the east coast of Scotland where it is absent or scarce. U.K. map NBN species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000173903
Acknowledgements
This account would not have been possible without the assistance of Jim Anderson, Heather Buttivant, Charlotte Cumming, Jonathan Campbell, David Fenwick, Andy Horton, David Kipling, Paula Lightfoot, Penny Martin, Simon Taylor and the photographers whose images have been linked to the account; their names are given next to the links. I gratefully thank them all.
References and links
Bebbington, A. 1992. British Aplysia species. Porcupine Newsletter Vol.5 no 6: 131 – 133. pmnhs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/046-PNV5N6DEC92.pd...
Bebbington A, & Brown, GH. 1975. Aplysia parvula Guilding in Morch, an opisthobranch new to the British fauna. Journal of Conchology 28: 329–333.
Eales, N.B. 1921. Memoir 24 Aplysia. Proceedings and transactions of the Liverpool biological society. 35: 183 – 280.
archive.org/stream/proceedingstr35192021live#page/182/mod...
Forbes, E. & Hanley S. 1849-53. A history of the British mollusca and their shells. vol. 3 (1853), London, van Voorst. (As Aplysia hybrida); pp. 554-556. archive.org/stream/ahistorybritish05forbgoog#page/n568/mo...
Garstang, W. 1890. A complete list of the opisthobranchiate mollusca found at Plymouth; with further observations on their morphology, colours and natural history. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 1(4): 399-457. plymsea.ac.uk/50/ .
Golestani, H., Crocetta, F., Padula, V., Camacho-garcía, Y., Langeneck, J., Poursanidis, D., Pola, M., Baki yokeş, M., Cervera, J.L., Jung, D., Gosliner, T.M., Araya J.F., Hooker, Y, Schrödl, M. and Valdés, Á. 2019. The little Aplysia coming of age: from one species to a complex of species complexes in Aplysia parvula (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 20, 1–52
www.researchgate.net/publication/353918067_Aplysia_puncta...
Grigg, U.M. 1949. The occurence of British Aplysia. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 28(3): 795-805. plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/1391/ [has A. fasciata as A. limacina]
Høisæter, T. 2009. Distribution of marine, benthic, shell bearing gastropods along the Norwegian coast. Fauna norvegica 28: 5-106. www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/fauna_norvegica/article/view/563
Jeffreys, J.G. 1862-69. British conchology. vol. 5 (1869). London, van Voorst. pp.1-8 archive.org/stream/britishconcholog05jeff#page/n9/mode/2up .
McKay, D. & Smith, S.M. 1979. Marine mollusca of East Scotland. Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
Thompson, T.E. 1976. Biology of opisthobranch molluscs vol.1. London, Ray Society.
Current taxonomy: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138758
Glossary
aperture = mouth of gastropod shell; outlet for head and foot.
anterolateral = situated in front and to the side of.
cephalic = (adj.) of or on the head.
cilia = (sing. cilium) microscopic linear extensions of membrane that move in rhythmic waves to create locomotion, or that move particles and liquids e.g. inhalent water currents. (Scanning electron microscope image at flic.kr/p/qQB5zj )
ciliated = (adj.) coated with cilia.
conchiolin = horny flexible protein that forms the periostracum and a matrix for the deposition of calcium carbonate to create other shell-layers.
ctenidium = comb-like molluscan gill; usually an axis with a row of filaments or lamellae on one or two sides.
ELWS = extreme low water spring tide (usually near March and September equinoxes).
epithelium = tissue forming outer layer of body surface and lining the alimentary canal and other hollow structures
everted = turned inside out and, like a sock.
foramen = natural, non-accidental, opening.
lobate = having or resembling lobes.
LWS = low water spring tide.
mantle = sheet of tissue that secretes the shell and forms a cavity for the gill in most marine molluscs. Confined to the shell-interior of most British shelled-gastropods, but also covers exterior on Aplysia.
opaline = acrid, white, viscous secretion used with purple ink by Aplysia to repel attackers.
operculum = plate of horny conchiolin, rarely calcareous, used to close shell aperture. Absent from Aplysia.
osphradium = organ for testing water quality, usually near the gill.
parapodia = (sing, parapodium) flap-like, lateral outgrowths of foot, usually held up against the sides of some sea slugs.
pectinid = member of the family Pectinidae (scallops).
periostracum = thin horny layer of chitinous material often coating shells.
plankton = animals and plants that drift in pelagic zone (main body of water).
plicate = corrugated so ridges and grooves alternate with each other on either side of axis.
rostrum = beak-like process on shell.
semen = fluid containing sperm.
seminal = relating to or containing semen.
striae = (sing. stria) usually parallel, slight, fine or narrow furrows, ridges, stripes, or streaks.
umbo = (pl. umbones) earliest part of the shell of a bivalve and some bivalve-like gastropod shells, such as in Aplysia punctata. It terminates in a beak which is best seen on an interior view.
veliger = shelled larva of marine gastropod or bivalve mollusc which swims by beating cilia of a velum (bilobed flap).
The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps project has been a neighborhood effort to create a beautiful mosaic running up the risers of the 163 steps located at 16th and Moraga in San Francisco.
Artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher led the creation of the 163 mosaic panels that were applied to the step risers, over 300 neighbors joined us in making them, and over 220 neighbors sponsored handmade animal, bird and fish name tiles imbedded within the mosaic. The City permitting process was completed on August 18, 2004. KZ Tile, a major San Francisco tile setting company, generously agreed to set the mosaic panels into the risers and tile the step treads with rough, nonslip tile.
Arriba: Puente grúa sobre las columnas del pórtico lindero a la futura estación Echeverría correspondiente a la prolongación de la línea B, una de las tantas obras de subte desfinanciada por el macrismo. Al frente del mismo (a la der), el viejo teatro 25 de Mayo remodelado y reinaugurado.
LAS PROMESAS DE MACRI Y LAS OBRAS
Dos megaobras mantienen este año un ritmo sostenido: Arroyo Maldonado y Teatro Colón. Pero la ampliación del subte camina a paso de hombre y son varios los proyectos que quedaron en compás de espera. El Gobierno porteño asegura que no se paralizó ninguna obra, aunque reconoce la existencia de demoras y dificultades. Hasta qué punto Macri cumplió sus promesas. Opinan los candidatos.
Foto: Propia (cualquier copia o reproducción requiere del previo permiso y/o consulta al autor).
Si querés la foto, primero consultame por correo a nicofoxfiles@hotmail.com
Texto: Por Enrique Colombano y Laura Di Marco para Noticias Urbanas.
Mauricio Macri ganó las elecciones porteñas prometiendo una avalancha de inversiones públicas, eficiencia y velocidad a una ciudad harta de la ineficiencia, la lentitud y la desinversión crónica. Se vendió a sí mismo, más que como un político, como un empresario eficaz, un ingeniero carente de las viejas mañas de la corporación política. Se vendió como alguien que venía de "afuera". Lo nuevo frente a lo viejo; los hechos frente a las palabras, sobre todo frente a las palabras de los "progres", que lo habían precedido en la gestión.
En pleno frenesí de su campaña llegó a prometer que construiría 10 kilómetros de subte por año, en una ciudad tan colapsada por el tránsito que cualquier paro de subtes la convierte en un tsunami en cuestión de minutos. Sin embargo, a un año y medio de gestión PRO, ¿cuántas de todas aquellas promesas esperanzadoras pudo concretar? ¿Cuál es realmente la obra pública de Macri y la inversión en infraestructura que está llevando adelante? ¿Cuánta plata dijo que iba a destinar a su gesta urbana, y cuánta destinó realmente? En una palabra, ¿cuánto de aquella eficiencia prometida ante las cámaras pudo llevar verdaderamente a la práctica? Como es lógico en estos casos, las percepciones varían, y sólo los números suelen darnos pistas más certeras.
Mientras el oficialismo jura que los 3.300 millones de pesos previstos para la obra pública de 2009 es el mayor porcentaje invertido en el rubro de los últimos años, y que PRO ha hecho más en un año y medio de gestión que los "progres" en muchas administraciones, la oposición responde, lapidaria, que Macri no ha hecho, directamente, obra pública, si por ella se entiende una inversión destinada a infraestructura de alto impacto. Por ejemplo, más subtes. Los legisladores del arco opositor le achacan al macrismo concentrarse en hacer cosas visibles –tales como el bacheo o la refacción de veredas–, pero no las que son más necesarias a largo plazo. Sospechan de transferencias de fondos estatales a las constructoras privadas y de conexiones non sanctas entre el oficialismo y las empresas vinculadas al grupo Macri. Le facturan que sólo inauguraron una escuela, en la Villa 21, y que, encima, es un predio que había sido previamente recuperado por los vecinos de la zona. Lanzan que del hospital prometido en Villa Lugano sólo hay una salita de primeros auxilios. Le cuestionan que este año los chicos porteños volverán a pasar frío en las escuelas por una impericia de gestión. Desde el Acuerdo Cívico y Social, el segundo candidato a legislador de Lilita, Juan pablo Arenaza, lo explica: "La Legislatura votó el año pasado una norma que le permitía a Macri destinar dinero a la mejora de la infraestructura en las escuelas, y de ese porcentaje sólo ejecutó un 40 por ciento; no queremos subtes, pero al menos que ponga gas en los colegios".
Finalmente, lanzan, de los 10 kilómetros de subte prometidos no pudo hacer ni uno solo. Macri –es sabido– acusa al Gobierno nacional y, de paso, a la escasa colaboración de Daniel Scioli en el fracaso de llevar adelante políticas con mirada metropolitana. Más aún, Gabriela Michetti, que lidera las encuestas porteñas, justificó su renuncia a la vicejefatura para pasar a la "pelea nacional" con el único objetivo de cambiar esas "injustas" reglas del juego, según los macristas.
Cristian Ritondo (PRO), presidente de la Comisión de Obras Públicas de la Legislatura, explica la situación con números en mano: "Nosotros esperábamos contar con 2.500 millones de dólares de financiamiento: 1.500 millones los iba a aportar el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), 500 millones la Ciudad y 500 millones la Nación, porque se había hablado con el ex jefe de Gabinete, Alberto Fernández, sobre la posibilidad de trabajar juntos para el Bicentenario". La historia que sigue es conocida: el Gobierno nacional jamás consideró avalar el pedido de toma de deuda, la economía mundial entró en crisis y, por último, Fernández se fue mal del Gobierno. La realidad es que hoy las obras del subte "sobreviven" a paso de hormiga con el presupuesto asignado (116 millones de pesos), además de un 5 por ciento de lo que recauda Autopistas Urbanas S.A. (AUSA), que se destina a Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (Sbase) y que son apenas 12 millones de pesos más. Esto alcanza para mantener en funcionamiento las obras civiles, pero no para tender la red.
Este mes se debería haber inaugurado la estación de Corrientes y Pueyrredón de la línea H. No ocurrió. El Gobierno porteño sólo alcanzó a poner en funcionamiento las estaciones Puán y Carabobo de la línea A, que, encima, ya estaban terminadas desde fines de 2007.
Desde la oposición, el segundo candidato de Diálogo por la Ciudad, el ibarrista Mario Gygli, sale a cruzar a PRO: "Yo puedo demostrar, con números, que Macri miente cuando se victimiza. Él puede avanzar perfectamente con las obras de los subtes con presupuesto propio, sin pedirle plata a nadie, como lo hicimos nosotros en plena crisis de 2001, cuando construimos 11 kilómetros".
Desde el Frente para la Victoria, Francisco Tito Nenna va en la línea de Gygli cuando destaca que Buenos Aires tiene uno de los presupuestos más vigorosos del país. Y avanza: "Lo que hay es una transferencia de los recursos del Estado a empresas de construcción privadas, amigas del macrismo, que son las que se dedican a arreglar veredas y baches".
Para las obras de ampliación de la red de subtes, el macrismo había asignado inicialmente 447,5 millones de pesos, pero más adelante tuvo que recortar a 116 millones. Ya sea porque los demás fueron peores, porque lo actual no es tan malo como dice la oposición o porque la estrategia de la "acupuntura urbana" –y visible– da resultado, lo cierto es que, según las encuestas, los porteños, aunque no están del todo conformes, no le soltaron la mano a Macri. Más aún, los politólogos suelen decir que la estrategia de victimización "paga" en el caso de Macri: la gente, en general, le cree cuando culpa al Gobierno nacional. Una cosa es verdad: además del aval para el financiamiento de subtes, la Nación "cajoneó" el Fondo de Infraestructura Social (Foiso), una toma de deuda por 1.600 millones que Macri pensaba destinar a la obra social, como refacción de escuelas y hospitales.
REALIDADES Y PROMESAS
De todas las megaobras prometidas, lo cierto es que sólo dos marchan a ritmo este año: las refacciones del Teatro Colón, que terminarían en 2010 según promete el Gobierno porteño, y la del canal aliviador del Arroyo Maldonado, que permitirá evitar inundaciones en vastas zonas de la Ciudad.
Después, sí, se incluyeron obras de envergadura intermedia. Veamos: intervenciones en la Red Pluvial II –son 25 y el Gobierno porteño promete terminar la mitad este año– o las obras de la 9 de Julio Sur, a cargo de AUSA. Y finalmente, tenemos bacheo, lo más visible, la ampliación de calles, construcción de placitas, adoquinados, desadoquinados, peatonalización, muchos obreros vestidos de amarillo con la leyenda "Haciendo Buenos Aires", más bacheo, antenimiento. La famosa "acupuntura urbana". La megaobra del Teatro Colón es un tema aparte; le destinarán 106,5 millones, pero desde el Frente para la Victoria sugieren que en las demoras hay algo turbio. Nenna dirá concretamente: "Hay que estar atento porque pueden llevarnos a un proceso de privatización".
Cuando en noviembre del año pasado el ministro de Desarrollo Urbano, Daniel Chaín, fue a la Legislatura, a las reuniones previas a la aprobación del Presupuesto 2009, reconoció que este año el Gobierno porteño iba a tener que suspender obras previstas por 472 millones de pesos.
Desde el macrismo, el vocero del Ministerio de Desarrollo Urbano, Sergio Levit, es enfático cuando niega que se hayan parado obras y, en cambio, destaca los avances en la obra del Maldonado: "Es la obra más importante que se hace en Latinoamérica y la que tiene la más mayor tecnología". En verdad, lo que la administración PRO tiene para decir es que hacen lo que pueden con el dinero que tienen. Y hay muchas obras que se dejaron de lado, entre ellas la anunciada construcción de nuevos neuropsiquiátricos, el aliviador de la Cuenca Medrano-White y la megalicitación Oasis Urbanos, una construcción de espacios verdes en lugares estratégicos de la Ciudad, que fue reemplazada por un programa de licitaciones progresivas.
Desde la oposición dicen, en cambio, que Macri tiene serios problemas para encarar licitaciones de largo aliento. "No tiene cuadros capaces de llevar adelante y concluir un proceso licitatorio", dicen, palabras más o menos, desde Proyecto Sur, el FPV, el socialismo, el ibarrismo y el lilismo porteño. Precisamente, desde Proyecto Sur, el médico del hospital Argerich, Jorge Selzer, segundo candidato a legislador porteño detrás de Fabio Basteiro, lanza un último dardo al ingeniero PRO: "Debería planificarse el crecimiento
urbano y poner topes en la Ciudad, de lo contrario la polución y el consumo de energía van a ser insostenibles". El año pasado la Legislatura sancionó, luego de varios años de demora, el Plan Urbano Ambiental (PUA). La norma, ordenada
por la Constitución de la Ciudad, es la ley marco que garantiza los derechos urbanos de los porteños. De allí se desprende cómo se debe planear la Ciudad a partir de ejes como el transporte, los espacios públicos, la vivienda, la producción o el empleo. El PUA sugiere la discusión de una política interconectada y, también, la reformulación urgente del Código Urbanístico, que dice qué se puede construir y en dónde. Hoy el Código que se usa es del 77 y no responde al modelo de ciudad que propone el nuevo plan urbano. También redactar nuevos códigos de Habilitaciones y Espacio Púbico. Finalmente, ampliar la mirada a escala metropolitana, en lugar de centrarse sólo en la Ciudad, es otro de los desafíos.
A estas alturas, Macri ya debe haberse dado cuenta de que para achicar la distancia que media entre la campaña y el poder real deberá apelar sí o sí a la política. Porque con la ingeniería sola no le va alcanzar.
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I went out scouting for shooting locations with Sandy today for our food bank photos (we are going to have a seriously dark and twisted shot going up in the next month or so). While we were out Sandy taught me a new photography technique. It's called "Through the Viewfinder" (or TTV). You take a high quality dSLR with a macro lens and shoot through the viewfinder of an old camera. It gives a very cool effect. Kind of a soft, noisy, vintage sort of feel.
This is my first attempt at this kind of photography. I think it has potential though. Now I just need to get a good MACRO lens...
Thoughts?
If you've got some time, here is Sandy's stream:
www.flickr.com/photos/sandyphimester/
It's excellent! Sandy's been kind enough to teach me lighting and all sorts of other stuff.
The wife and I got out and i got a little shooting in. Started out driving along the front range and before I new it I was driving up hwy 34 to Estes Park. It was mid afternoon so we grab some lunch and headed into Rocky Mountain National Park. The sun was still high but casting some deep shadows and the snow, well it was just brilliant white. I used a minus 2/3EV to get the details of the white and did a bit of fill in shadows in processing then I burned back shadows deeper where I wanted them. I was also using the polarizing filter and dialed in just the amount of light I wanted in the stream. Moraine Park is a gorgeous area to shoot and we also came across some elk laying in the shadows of the trees. That shot will come another day.
By the way it was T-shirt weather today and even in the mountains. Maybe now we will have a spring.
54/365 - Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs
Today was another really tough day of hard work.
It started badly with the viewing of our work on the "Tea or Coffee" weekly theme with our studio teacher, and the work we did was not what he was thinking about.
We were too late at noon to grab the equipment we needed for the work of the afternoon so we had to eat something as quickly as possible and get back to the studio to finally take away a Mamiya RB67, a studio flash and a 120 Superia 400 ISO film.
We had less then 3 hours to go to town and shoot the film in order to make portraits on location of people working.
I was with Loic, Hugo and Florent with only 1 medium format camera for all of us... 4 different places to go to, including time to meet the guys, set up, find the good light, the good settings, to shoot, and to pack all things again... And be on time at school for the economic course, the "finish to kill" last course of the day until 7.15PM...
Luckily we met Simon who's already done his job and he lend to Loic and I his own RB67.
Loic had a appointment at Corezone shop but first we went to Hurley shop to shoot my film.
I've been there several times to take some testing portrait for shool, and the guys over there are really too nice and cool ! A huge thanks to them !
So this was a testing shot we did with the 7D to test the light before shooting with the Mamiya. Can't wait to see the analog results, this was a test for our studio course and my teacher will judge me on this work.
Also Loic did some cool shot with the Corezone shop's crew who are awesome !
Today I've chosen to quote lyrics from a Jack White's band The Raconteurs because it's a huge song and it's also on the original soundtrack of an awesome surf movie with Rob Machado.
I'm a huge fan of The Raconteurs and Jack White's music in fact.
Rob Machado is the guy on the picture behind Loic, it's an awesome surfer sponsored by Hurley that you should watch surfing !
Link to the trailer of the movie "The Drifter" with Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs music on the OST.
Light :
- 1 flash Elinchrom D-Lite4 with Portalite softbox at min power on the left of the sofa, fired with PC synch cable
Canon EOS 7D - Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG macro EX
Sébastien Huruguen
Best to: View Large and On Black
These tiny soft pink beauties are dedicated to Taty's friend Flemming - fmc.nikon.d40 - www.flickr.com/photos/fmc550uz/
Most of you know about the good news, and if you haven't read it as yet, see yesterday's photo: www.flickr.com/photos/tatyveli/2619772149/
Other photos dedicated to friends of Taty will follow at random, and without knowing any of you, so please don't be upset about the order I am placing your photo online, and be patient until you'll see yours, Thank you - Wishing you all a very nice week ahead
And if you wish to see her on a few photos - see my stream. - Willem
Proyecto Final de Fotografía Artística (Junio 2010) :))))))))))))).
DESAFÍO A LA VEJEZ
Cuando yo llegue a vieja
si es que llego
y me mire al espejo
y me cuente las arrugas
como una delicada orografía
de distendida piel.
Cuando pueda contar las marcas
que han dejado las lágrimas
y las preocupaciones,
y ya mi cuerpo responda despacio
a mis deseos,
cuando vea mi vida envuelta
en venas azules,
en profundas ojeras,
y suelte blanca mi cabellera
para dormirme temprano
como corresponde
cuando vengan mis nietos
a sentarse sobre mis rodillas
enmohecidas por el paso de muchos inviernos,
sé que todavía mi corazón estará
-rebelde- tictaqueando
y las dudas y los anchos horizontes
también saludarán mis mañanas.
Gioconda Belli
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission - All Rights Reserved ©.
Canon Eos 450D 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. IS
ISO 200, F10 , 1/250sec, 18mm
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«La più piccola parola è circondata da acri ed acri di silenzio, e perfino quando riesco a fissare quella parola sulla pagina mi sembra della stessa natura di un miraggio, un granello di dubbio che scintilla nella sabbia.»
Paul Auster
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Sagi Rei
...every day and every night
i always dream that you are by my side
oh, baby,
every day and every night
well i said every
thing's gonna be alright..
ie.youtube.com/watch?v=ihw_4wy1nWY&feature=related
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La spiaggia del Principe è una delle spiagge più belle della Costa Smeralda, lungo la costa nord orientale della Sardegna.
Il suo nome è legato ad una presunta preferenza del principe Aga Khan per questo angolo di mare. E' un grande arco di sabbia finissima delimitato da rocce e circondato dalla macchia mediterranea. Il colore e la limpidezza di questo mare si devono al particolare fondale in sabbia e granito. E' divisa in due parti da un gruppo di scogli che emerge sulla battigia.
Come arrivare: da Olbia seguire le indicazioni per la Costa Smeralda. Preso il bivio per Cala di Volpe, subito dopo l'omonimo Hotel, si gira a destro verso la località Romazzino. Dopo circa un km e mezzo si lascia l'auto e si procede a piedi per qualche centinaio di metri.
The Classic Team Lotus Festival.
Snetterton Sunday the 20th of June, 2010.
We went along primarily to see the Heritage Touring cars, not really knowing what to expect from the Lotus contingent. We found every model F1 car Lotus has made, and on track they let them live for a while.
Another iconic Lotus, The Gold Leaf Lotus Grand prix car. This, the type 49 is the car that won the 1968 F1 title. This is also the car that started corporate sponsorship actually on the car….Just not the done thing, old boy!
Since the liquid was so prominent in this photo, I figured it would be perfect for macro Monday in 7 DOS. Thanks to all who have commented so far :-) This was the 1st of the 5 photos that I felt were good enough to post. I just love her dainty little feet as she comes in for a landing to drink that wonderfully sweet liquid in the feeder.
The series is my first (ever) attempt at shooting such a small and fast bird. I was really pleased with all 5, but this is by far my favorite. I believe this is a female of the Magnificent species.
This link is just in Dutch unfortunately. Here is a brief translation I just cooked up:
In early times only the Steenweg ‘Rock road’, could be found here. An old road paved with cobblestones which connected the ‘Grootbrug’, or ‘Large Bridge’ and the present day Steenweg, part of an important route from Bavay in the North of present day France to Utrecht in the Netherlands. A canal was dug in the 13th century along the Steenweg which connected the river Dijle and the Koolvliet. On the Eastern bank of this canal a Vismarkt (fishmarket) was built.
In 1532 this canal was put underground and the Vismarkt moved to where it nowadays. The last part of the canal on the Ijzeren Leen was filled up in 1675.
The name Ijzeren Leen dates from the 17th century, and stems from the iron railings (ijzeren leuningen), which were put along the canal in the century before. They were probably manufactured between 1531 and 1534 and restored between 1783 and 1927.
(source: Bouwen door de eeuwen heen in Vlaanderen)
Nowadays the Ijzeren Leen called the Champs Elysees of Mechelen. It contains the ‘Schepenhuis’, which is the former town hall. This houses a small museum with 16th and 17th century art.
View Llao Rock from Wizard Island on Black
View Llao Rock from Wizard Island Map/EXIF
Nikon D7100 + 24-70 mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm - 1/100 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100
Manual mode @ 0 EV E.C - Pattern metering - no flash
Subject Distance: unknown
This great mass of dacite (a sluggish lava) was produced from a vent on the upper slopes of Mazama and hardened after moving only a mile or two. The dacite filled in a former explosion crater. This rock rises nearly 2,000 feet above the water- -the highest vertical precipice on the rim- -and was formed by the most massive single flow apparent in the caldera wall, with a maximum thickness of 1,200 feet.
42°56'21" N 122°8'48" W, 6922.6 ft
Wizard Island, Crater Lake
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, United States
Taken on 09.04.2013, uploaded on 01.14.2014.
©2013 Adam James Steenwyk. Please contact me at ajamess [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to use this photo. Blog: www.f128.info
Artizen HDR Lock06
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Founded in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, the V&A has since grown to now cover some 12.5 acres[2] and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, Japan, China, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, alongside the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the largest in the world.
Alongside other neighbouring institutions, including the Natural History Museum and Science Museum, the V&A is located in what is termed London's "Albertopolis", an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance. Since 2001, the Museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation program[3] which has seen a major overhaul of the departments including the introduction of newer galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities. Following in similar vein to other national UK museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001.
from wikipedia
fonte: www.diggita.it/v.php?id=1570295 Come preparare una frittata light? Al forno! via ---> www.diggita.it/v.php?id=1570295
Man how I loathe doing HDR work. My eyes and brain know it's not natural, and my tendency is to edit them into oblivion and make them look non HDR. I had to force myself away from it this time.
This image would be impossible to expose without HDR. I didn't actually meter the difference between outside light and what it was inside the cave, but I'm betting it was about 7 - 9 stops difference at the brightest to darkest.
I hate trying to get colors balanced and what not.
Anyway. This is a stitch of 13 HDR images (from a total of 39 RAWs), shot in 3 rows of 4 (plus one straggler somewhere).
I can't wait to get a panoramic head for my tripod. That'll make these things so much better. Autopano was having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to stitch it. It still has some defects. Oh well. It just gives me an excuse to go back :)
The focal point of the City Center project is the 61-story ARIA Resort & Casino with 4,000-rooms,. The resort was designed by world renowned architect Cesar Pelli. There is plenty of glitz in the form of light shows projected against building facades. A new Cirque du Soleil show, called Elvis, premiered at the Aria Resort on opening day. The Aria is home to 14 upscale restaurants.
© Lawrence Goldman 2010, All Rights Reserved
This work may not be copied, reproduced, republished, edited, downloaded, displayed, modified, transmitted, licensed, transferred, sold, distributed or uploaded in any way without my prior written permission.
Best viewed LARGE on Black: bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5841453977&size=large&...
Inside the Walled Garden and a view of the tower of the 12th Century Church.
I've finished this set, arranged it in roughly chronological order following the route I took around the garden that morning, and have added a scan of the brochure and map/plan of the garden at the end of the set. If you have time, you can run the SLIDESHOW in FullScreen Mode and get an idea what the place was like in mid May.
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When Monty Don produced his television series for the BBC, Around the World in 80 Gardens, a few years ago, he chose only two English Gardens - Sissinghurst and Rousham. I had visited Sissinghurst on two of my earlier visits, but I decided I needed to see Rousham on this trip, so I took the 30 minute train trip from crowded, bustling Oxford one cloudy morning and then the easy 15 minute walk from the Heyford station, and was at the entrance to the gardens by 9:45.
It was like entering a different world. I got my 5 Pound ticket from a vending machine in the courtyard, and had been wandering around the green landscape for almost an hour before I encountered even one other visitor.
According to the Wikipedia entry: "Rousham House is still the home of the Cottrell-Dormer family, who keep the garden and estate so uncommercialised that no book exists to guide the unwitting tourist, and no shop sells postcards or souvenirs. A visit to Rousham today is very similar to one enjoyed by a visitor in the 18th century. The gardens and buildings are superbly maintained but not manicured. The visitor is not made afraid to tread on the grass or to pause for thought on a rustic bench. In such a state a spirit of the 18th century survives at Rousham."
For a very well written history of the garden, begun by Charles Bridgman, and refined and completed by William Kent by 1741, here is a link to the entire entry:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousham_House
Here is the official link:
....