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Highest Position on Flickr Explore: September 10, 2009 #399
Fažana, Croatia
Best view on black (a must):
Nikon D70 - f/4 - 1/20 sec.
Tamron 18-200mm F3.5-6.3
Don't use this image on any media without my permission.
© All rights reserved.
Ptttwing!
Laser blasts ricochet through the hallway. Diving behind a couple of storage cylinders, one brave soldier barely misses getting hit by a deadly ray. He quickly checks the charge on his guns, then reaches out and takes a couple of shots at his assailants. Suddenly one of the cylinders explodes in a flash of light, and the soldier pulls himself back behind cover.
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Another space scene, mostly an excuse to show off my space barrel design. ;)
Thanks for viewing! Criticism is greatly appreciated! :)
Soli Deo Gloria! :D
always nice to find some shade when the sun beats down on Edmonton 😎
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HIT THE 'L' KEY FOR A BETTER VIEW! Thanks for the favs and comments. Much Appreciated.
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All of my photographs are under copyright ©. None of these photographs may be reproduced and/or used in any way without my permission.
© VanveenJF Photography
MY 50th UPLOAD IN EXPLORE!!! Highest position: 362 on Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Yesterday I had some real fun while shooting long exposures!
I'm coming across one of the 400d limits: its high ISO performance.
I'm sure this will be one of the fields where the 5d2 will make the difference.
Even if it may appear fake, the road sign is real!! I just tilted the arrow to point towards the Milky Way (and of course changed its label).
The orange light inside of the car comes from the radio.
One small note: today I received a call from the shop where I ordered the IR filter: they don't know when it will be available (at least 4+ weeks), so I decided to cancel the order.
It's pretty difficult to find it here in Italy, so I think I will try IR Photography next year!
ISO 1600, f/3.5, 39sec, EF-S 10-22 @ 10mm
The shot
I found a really pretty location, I parked on one side of a road, in one hour just one car passed by!
You'll see more shots from there in the next days.
The Processing
Photoshop:
- Cleaned the foreground
- Used Free Transform to rotate the sing
- Wrote a new label in the sing (Text Tool)
- Brightened the sing a little
- Used the Color Balance tool to cool the sky
- Created a Hue/Sat layer to change the tints inside the car
- Applied some Noise Reduction with Noise Ninja
- Used the Unsharp Mask to improve microcontrast
- Blurred the clouds a little
- Resized
- Framing and signature.
Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :
Road to the Milky Way, on Black
@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!
I'm pretty satisfied on how it turned out. Getting more and more involved with night exposures!
Have the best week ever, my friends!
I am doing the 2011 strobist class on Flickr, and here is the assignment result for Strobist L102 1.1 Position: Angle.
Handy Manny and Philipe kindly dropped in to model for me here on white seamless (A3). Lit with a 580EXII triggered by Cactus v4s. Light positions as indicated on the diagram. Exposures were kept the same for each shot using a Sekonic light meter.
If you are reading this, and have no idea what Strobist is... Check out Strobist 102 lessons. This exercise is specifically for 1.1 Position: angle lesson which is all about observing how things look different when you get your flash off the camera and hitting your subject from different angles.
Which one makes Manny look best do you think?
Highest Explore Position # 365 on Wednesday, October 29, 2008
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taal_Volcano
Taal Volcano is an active strato volcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is situated between the towns of Talisay and San Nicolas in Batangas. It consists of an island in Lake Taal, which is situated within a caldera formed by an earlier, very powerful eruption. It is located about 50 km (31 Miles) from the capital, Manila. It also has the distinction of being home to the "Largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island". This is referring to Vulcan point, an island in crater lake.
The volcano has erupted violently several times, causing loss of life in the populated areas surrounding the lake, the current death toll standing at around 5,000 - 6,000. Because of its proximity to populated areas and eruptive history, the volcano has been designated a Decade Volcano worthy of close study to prevent future natural disasters. It was thought to be named as "a volcano inside a volcano" because many believed that the lake that circles the volcano was once a crater or mouth of a volcano.
The photo was taken from the ridge of Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.
Highest Explore position # 309 on Friday, November 7, 2008
Photo was taken last summer – a reflection of sunset from a mini swamp near a huge rice field in the town of Pantoc in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija (Northern part of the Philippines).
EXPLORE Highest Position# 246
This shot is dedicated Kaj Bjurman. His HDR works are highly regarded in Flickr HDR community. It is through him that I came to know about HDR, photomatix and post processing methods in photoshop. I must admit my HDR works are very much inspired by him (and also through many flickr friends off course!!). I highly recommend every one to visit his photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/bjurman/
and also his tutorial on HDR processing in photomatix and tutorial
1 exposure CR2 tonmapped in Photomatix. Added a curve to enhance constrast, adjusted the midtone brightness level, reduced noise and finally dramatized the whole image with Topaz Adjust photoshop plugin.
All comments and critiques are welcome.
Fiódor Mijáilovich Dostoyevski (en ruso: Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, romanización: Fëdor Mihajlovič Dostoevskij; Moscú, 11 de noviembre de 1821 – San Petersburgo, 9 de febrero de 1881) fue uno de los principales escritores de la Rusia zarista, cuya literatura explora la psicología humana en el complejo contexto político, social y espiritual de la sociedad rusa del siglo XIX.
Es considerado uno de los más grandes escritores de Occidente y de la literatura universal. De él dijo Friedrich Nietzsche: «Dostoyevski, el único psicólogo, por cierto, del cual se podía aprender algo, es uno de los accidentes más felices de mi vida». Y José Ortega y Gasset escribió: «En tanto que otros grandes declinan, arrastrados hacia el ocaso por la misteriosa resaca de los tiempos, Dostoyevski se ha instalado en lo más alto».
Si bien la madre de Fiódor Dostoyevski era rusa, su ascendencia paterna se remonta a un pueblo denominado Dostóyevo, ubicado en la gubérniya de Minsk (Bielorrusia). En sus orígenes, el acento del apellido, como el del pueblo, recaía en la segunda sílaba, pero cambió su posición a la tercera en el siglo XIX. De acuerdo con algunas versiones, los ancestros paternos de Dostoyevski eran nobles polonizados (szlachta) de origen ruteno que fueron a la guerra con el escudo de armas de Radwan.
Fue el segundo de los siete hijos del matrimonio formado por Mijaíl Andréievich Dostoievski y María Fiódorovna Necháyeva. Un padre autoritario, médico del hospital para pobres Mariinski en Moscú, y una madre vista por sus hijos como un refugio de amor y protección marcaron el ambiente familiar en la infancia de Dostoyevski. Cuando Fiódor tenía once años de edad, la familia se radicó en la aldea de Darovóye, en Tula, donde el padre había adquirido unas tierras.
En 1834 ingresó, junto con su hermano Mijaíl, en el pensionado de Chermak, donde cursarían los estudios secundarios. La temprana muerte de la madre por tuberculosis en 1837 sumió al padre en la depresión y el alcoholismo, por lo que Fiódor y su hermano Mijaíl fueron enviados a la Escuela de Ingenieros Militares de San Petersburgo, lugar en el que el joven Dostoievski comenzaría a interesarse por la literatura a través de las obras de Shakespeare, Pascal, Victor Hugo y E. T. A. Hoffmann.
En 1839, cuando tenía dieciocho años, le llegó la noticia de que su padre había fallecido. Los siervos mancomunados de Mijaíl Dostoyevski (hidalgo de Darovóye), enfurecidos tras uno de sus brutales arranques de violencia provocados por el alcohol, lo habían inmovilizado y obligado a beber vodka hasta que murió ahogado. Otra historia sugiere que Mijaíl murió por causas naturales, pero que un terrateniente vecino suyo inventó la historia de la rebelión para comprar la finca a un precio más reducido. En parte, Fiódor se culpó posteriormente de este hecho por haber deseado la muerte de su padre en muchas ocasiones. En su artículo de 1928, «Dostoyevski y el parricidio», Sigmund Freud señalaría este sentimiento de culpa como la causa de la intensificación de su epilepsia.
En 1841, Dostoyevski fue ascendido a alférez ingeniero de campo. Ese mismo año, influido por el poeta prerromántico alemán Friedrich Schiller, escribió dos obras teatrales románticas (María Estuardo y Borís Godunov) que no han sido conservadas. Dostoyevski se describía como un «soñador» en su juventud y en esa época admiraba a Schiller.
Durante toda su carrera literaria Dostoievski padeció una epilepsia que supo incorporar en su obra. Los personajes presentados con epilepsia son Murin y Ordínov (La patrona, 1847), Nelly (Humillados y ofendidos, 1861), Myshkin (El idiota, 1868), Kiríllov (Los demonios, 1872) y Smerdiakov (Los hermanos Karamázov, 1879-80). Dostoievski también supo utilizar la epilepsia para librarse de una condena vitalicia a servir en el ejército en Siberia. Aunque la epilepsia había comenzado durante sus años académicos como estudiante de ingeniería militar en San Petersburgo (1838-1843), el diagnóstico tardaría una década en llegar. En 1863 viajó al extranjero con intención de consultar a los especialistas Romberg y Trousseau. Stephenson e Isotoff apuntaron en 1935 la probable influencia Psique (1848), de Carus, en la construcción de sus personajes. Por contrapartida, la epilepsia de Dostoyevski ha inspirado a numerosos epileptólogos, incluyendo a Freud, Alajouanine y Gastaut. La de Dostoievski es la historia natural de una epilepsia que en terminología científica contemporánea se clasificaría como criptogénica focal de probable origen temporal. Sin embargo, más allá del interés que pueda despertar la historia clínica de un trastorno neurológico heterogéneo, bastante bien comprendido y correctamente diagnosticado en vida del escritor, el caso de Dostoievski muestra el buen uso de una enfermedad común por un genio literario que supo transformar la adversidad en oportunidad. Una de las ideas capitales en su obra (que un buen recuerdo puede colmar toda una vida de felicidad) guarda una estrecha relación con los momentos de éxtasis que alcanzaba el escritor durante algunos episodios de la enfermedad o en el momento (aura epiléptica) que anunciaba las crisis epilépticas más violentas, tal como fueron descritos en su obra literaria.
Dostoyevski terminó sus estudios de Ingeniería en 1843 y, después de adquirir el grado militar de subteniente, se incorporó a la Dirección General de Ingenieros en San Petersburgo.
En 1844, Honoré de Balzac visitó San Petersburgo. Dostoyevski decidió traducir Eugenia Grandet para saldar una deuda de 300 rublos con un usurero. Esta traducción despertaría su vocación y poco después de terminarla pidió la excedencia del ejército con la idea de dedicarse exclusivamente a la literatura. En 1845 dejó el ejército y empezó a escribir la novela epistolar Pobres gentes, obra que le proporcionaría sus primeros éxitos de crítica y, fundamentalmente, el reconocimiento del crítico literario Belinski. La obra, editada en forma de libro al año siguiente, convirtió a Dostoyevski en una celebridad literaria a los veinticuatro años. En esta misma época comenzó a contraer algunas deudas y a sufrir con más frecuencia ataques epilépticos. Las novelas siguientes —El doble (1846), Noches blancas (1848) y Niétochka Nezvánova (1849)— no tuvieron el éxito de la primera y recibieron críticas negativas, lo que sumió a Dostoyevski en la depresión. En esta época entró en contacto con ciertos grupos de ideas utópicas, llamados nihilistas, que buscaban la libertad del hombre.
Dostoyevski fue arrestado y encarcelado el 23 de abril de 1849 por formar parte del grupo intelectual liberal Círculo Petrashevski bajo el cargo de conspirar contra el zar Nicolás I. Después de la revuelta decembrista en 1825 y las revoluciones de 1848 en Europa, Nicolás I se mostraba reacio a cualquier tipo de organización clandestina que pudiera poner en peligro su autocracia.
El 16 de noviembre, Dostoyevski y otros miembros del Círculo Petrashevski fueron llevados a la fortaleza de San Pedro y San Pablo y condenados a muerte por participar en actividades consideradas antigubernamentales. El 22 de diciembre, los prisioneros fueron llevados al patio para su fusilamiento; Dostoyevski tenía que situarse frente al pelotón e incluso escuchar los disparos con los ojos vendados, pero su pena fue conmutada en el último momento por cinco años de trabajos forzados en Omsk, Siberia. Durante esta época sus ataques epilépticos fueron en aumento. Años más tarde, Dostoyevski le relataría a su hermano los sufrimientos que atravesó durante los años que pasó «silenciado dentro de un ataúd». Describió el cuartel donde estuvo, que «debería haber sido demolido años atrás», con estas palabras:
En verano, encierro intolerable; en invierno, frío insoportable. Todos los pisos estaban podridos. La suciedad de los pavimentos tenía una pulgada de grosor; uno podía resbalar y caer... Nos apilaban como anillos de un barril... Ni siquiera había lugar para dar la vuelta. Era imposible no comportarse como cerdos, desde el amanecer hasta el atardecer. Pulgas, piojos, y escarabajos por celemín.
Fue liberado en 1854 y se reincorporó al ejército como soldado raso, lo que constituía la segunda parte de su condena. Durante los siguientes cinco formó parte del Séptimo Batallón de línea acuartelado en la fortaleza de Semipalátinsk en Kazajistán. Allí comenzó una relación con María Dmítrievna Isáyeva, esposa de un conocido suyo en Siberia. Se casaron en febrero de 1857 después de la muerte de su esposo. Ese mismo año, el zar Alejandro II decretó una amnistía que benefició a Dostoyevski, quien recuperó su título nobiliario y obtuvo permiso para continuar publicando sus obras.
Al final de su estadía en Kazajistán, Dostoyevski era ya un cristiano convencido. Se convirtió en un agudo crítico del nihilismo y del movimiento socialista de su época. Tiempo después, dedicó parte de sus libros Los endemoniados y Diario de un escritor a criticar las ideas socialistas. Estas críticas se fundamentaban en la creencia de que quienes las pregonaban no conocían al pueblo ruso y de que no era posible trasladar un sistema de ideas de origen europeo a la Rusia de entonces, de la misma forma que no era posible adoptar las doctrinas de una institución occidental como la Iglesia católica a un pueblo esencialmente cristiano-ortodoxo. Dostoyevski plasmaría estas convicciones en la descripción de Piotr Stepánovich para su novela Los endemoniados y en la redacción de las reflexiones del starets Zosima en «Un religioso ruso», de Los hermanos Karamázov.
Dostoievski fue acercándose progresivamente a una postura eslavófila moderada y a las ideas del ideólogo del paneslavismo Nikolái Danilevski, autor de Rusia y Europa. Su interpretación de esta filosofía rescataba el papel integrador y salvador de la religiosidad rusa y no consideraciones de superioridad racial eslava. Por otra parte, en su interpretación, la unión rusa y su supuesto servicio a la humanidad no implicaba desprecio alguno por la influencia europea, que Dostoyevski reconocía gratamente. Más tarde trabó amistad con el estadista conservador Konstantín Pobedonóstsev y abrazó algunos de los principios del Póchvennichestvo.
Con todo, posicionar políticamente a Dostoyevski no es del todo sencillo: como cristiano, rechazaba el ateísmo socialista; como tradicionalista, la destrucción de las instituciones y, como pacifista, cualquier método violento de cambio social, tanto progresista como reaccionario. A pesar de esto, dio claras muestras de simpatía por las reformas sociales producidas durante el reinado de Alejandro II, en particular por la que implicó la abolición de la servidumbre en el campo, dictada en 1861. Por otra parte, si bien en los primeros años de su regreso de Kazajistán era todavía escéptico respecto de los reclamos de las feministas, en 1870 escribió que «todavía podía esperar mucho de la mujer rusa» y cambió de parecer.
Su preocupación por la desigualdad social es notable en su obra y, desde un punto de vista cristiano ascético, creía —como luego reflejaría en su personaje Zosima— que «al considerar la libertad como el aumento de las necesidades y su pronta saturación, se altera su sentido, pues la consecuencia de ello es un aluvión de deseos insensatos, de ilusiones y costumbres absurdas», y quizás confiara, como dicho personaje, en que «el rico más depravado acabará por avergonzarse de su riqueza ante el pobre».
En febrero de 1854, Dostoyevski le pidió por carta a su hermano que le enviara diversos libros, especialmente Lecciones sobre la historia de la filosofía, de Hegel. Durante su destierro en Semipalátinsk, planeó también traducir junto a Alexander Vrangel obras del filósofo alemán, pero el proyecto nunca se concretó. Según Nikolái Strájov, Dostoyevski le ofreció la obra de Hegel enviada por Mijáil sin haberla leído.
En 1859, tras largas gestiones, Dostoyevski consiguió ser licenciado con la condición de residir en cualquier lugar excepto San Petersburgo y Moscú, por lo que se trasladó a Tver. Allí logró publicar El sueño del tío y Stepánchikovo y sus habitantes, que no obtuvieron la crítica que esperaba.
En diciembre de ese mismo año se le autorizó regresar a San Petersburgo, donde fundó, con su hermano Mijaíl, la revista Vremya («Tiempo»), en cuyo primer número apareció Humillados y ofendidos (1861), otra novela inspirada en su etapa siberiana. En ella se encuentran, además, varias alusiones autobiográficas, especialmente en lo referente a la primera etapa de Dostoyevski como escritor; se alude en ella, sobre todo, en su primera obra, Noches blancas, con varios guiños a situaciones o personajes específicos. Su siguiente obra, Recuerdos de la casa de los muertos (1861-1862), basada en sus experiencias como prisionero, fue publicada por capítulos en la revista El Mundo Ruso.
Durante 1862 y 1863 realizó diversos viajes por Europa que lo llevaron a Berlín, París, Londres, Ginebra, Turín, Florencia y Viena. Durante estos viajes comenzó una relación con Polina Súslova,27 una estudiante con ideas avanzadas, que lo abandonó poco después. Perdió mucho dinero jugando a la ruleta y, a finales de octubre de 1863, regresó a Moscú solo y sin dinero. Durante su ausencia, Vremya fue prohibida por haber publicado un artículo sobre el Levantamiento de Enero.
En 1864 Dostoyevski consiguió editar con su hermano una nueva revista llamada Epoja («Época»), en la que publicó Memorias del subsuelo. Su ánimo terminó de quebrarse tras la muerte de su esposa, María Dmítrievna Isáyeva, seguida poco después por la de su hermano. Dostoyevski debió hacerse cargo de la viuda y los cuatro hijos de Mijaíl y, además, de una deuda de 25 000 rublos que este había dejado. Se hundió en una profunda depresión y en el juego, lo que siguió generándole enormes deudas. Para escapar de todos sus problemas financieros, huyó al extranjero, donde perdió el dinero que le quedaba en los casinos. Allí se reencontró con Polina Súslova y le propuso matrimonio, pero fue rechazado.
En 1865, de nuevo en San Petersburgo, comenzó a escribir Crimen y castigo, una de sus obras capitales. La fue publicando, con gran éxito, en la revista El Mensajero Ruso. Sin embargo, sus deudas eran cada vez mayores por lo que, en 1866, se vio obligado a firmar un contrato con el editor Stellovski. Dicho contrato establecía que Dostoyevski recibiría tres mil rublos —que pasarían directamente a manos de sus acreedores— a cambio de los derechos de edición de todas sus obras, y el compromiso de entregar una nueva novela ese mismo año. Si ésta no era entregada en noviembre, recibiría una fuerte multa y, si en diciembre seguía sin estar lista, perdería todos los derechos patrimoniales sobre sus obras, que pasarían a manos de Stellovski. Dostoyevski entonces contrató a Anna Grigórievna Snítkina, una joven taquígrafa a quien dictó, en sólo veintiséis días, su novela El jugador, entregada en conformidad con los términos del contrato. El día de su entrega, sin embargo, el administrador de la editorial aseguró no haber recibido el aviso pertinente por parte de Stellovski, ante lo cual Dostoyevski se vio obligado a constatar la entrega —con acuse de recibo legal— en una comisaría.
Dostoyevski se casó con Snítkina el 15 de febrero de 1867 y, tras una breve estadía en Moscú, partieron hacia Europa. La debilidad de Dostoyevski por el juego volvió a manifestarse en Baden-Baden. En 1867, finalmente establecido en Ginebra, comenzó a preparar el esquema de su novela El idiota, que debía publicarse en los dos primeros fascículos de El Mensajero Ruso del año siguiente. Según Anna Grigórievna, Dostoyevski afirmaba sobre esta obra que «nunca había tenido una idea más poética y más rica, pero que no había logrado expresar ni siquiera la décima parte de lo que quería decir». En 1868 nació su primera hija, Sonia, pero murió tres meses después. El hecho fue devastador para la pareja, y Dostoyevski cayó en una profunda depresión. Decidieron alejarse de Ginebra y, luego de una estadía en Vevey, viajaron a Italia. Allí visitaron Milán, Florencia, Bolonia y Venecia. En 1869, partieron hacia Dresde, donde nació su segunda hija, Liubov. Su situación económica era, en palabras de Anna Grigórievna, de «relativa pobreza». Dostoyevski recibió el dinero convenido por El Mensajero Ruso y El idiota, y pudieron —a pesar de verse obligados a utilizar parte de este para pagar deudas— vivir con algo más de tranquilidad que en años anteriores.
En 1870 el autor se dedicó a escribir una nueva novela, El eterno marido, que fue publicada en la revista Zariá. Algunos pasajes de la obra son de carácter autobiográfico. Específicamente, en el capítulo «En casa de los Zajlebinin», Dostoyevski recuerda el verano de 1866 pasado en una casa de campo en Liublin, cerca de Moscú, junto con una de sus hermanas.
En 1871, terminó Los endemoniados, publicada en 1872. La novela refleja las inquietudes políticas de Dostoyevski en esa época. Al respecto, escribió a su amigo Strájov:
Espero mucho de lo que escribo ahora en El Mensajero Ruso, no sólo desde el punto de vista artístico, sino también en lo que respecta a la calidad del tema: desearía expresar algunos pensamientos, aunque por su causa debe sufrir el arte; pero estoy de tal modo fascinado por las ideas que se han acumulado en mi espíritu y en mi corazón, que debo expresarlas aunque sólo pueda lograr un opúsculo; es lo mismo, debo expresarme.
Poco antes de que Dostoyevski comenzara a escribir la novela, la pareja recibió la visita del hermano de Anna, que vivía en San Petersburgo. Este les habló del agitado clima político que se vivía en la ciudad y, especialmente, acerca de un asesinato que había tenido gran repercusión. Ivánov, un estudiante perteneciente al grupo extremista de Sergéi Necháyev, había sido asesinado en una gruta por orden de este, tras alejarse del grupo por rechazar sus métodos de acción. Dostoyevski decidió tomar como protagonista para su nueva novela a Ivánov bajo el nombre de Shátov y describió, siguiendo el relato del hermano de Anna, el parque de la Academia de Pedro y la gruta en la que fue asesinado Ivánov.
Hacia 1871, Dostoyevski y Anna Grigórievna habían cumplido cuatro años de residencia en el extranjero y estaban resueltos a volver a Rusia. Como Anna estaba embarazada, decidieron partir cuanto antes para no tener que viajar con un niño recién nacido. Luego de recibir la parte del pago de El Mensajero Ruso y la correspondiente a la publicación de El eterno marido, partieron hacia San Petersburgo haciendo escala en Berlín.
A los ocho días de su llegada a Rusia nació Fiódor. Dostoyevski hizo un viaje rápido a Moscú, donde cobró lo correspondiente a la parte publicada de Los demonios en El mensajero ruso. Con este dinero les fue posible alquilar una casa en San Petersburgo. Pronto se vio el autor nuevamente asediado por acreedores, especialmente algunos que reclamaban deudas de la época de Tiempo, que le correspondían por la muerte de su hermano. Los acreedores se presentaban algunas veces sin documento probatorio y Dostoyevski, ingenuo, les firmaba letras de cambio.
En 1872 partieron hacia Stáraya Rusa, donde permanecerían hasta 1875. Tras finalizar la novela Los demonios, Dostoyevski aceptó la propuesta de encargarse de la redacción del semanario El ciudadano. En 1873 editó la versión completa de Los demonios, publicada por la pequeña editorial que había fundado con medios propios, ayudado por Anna. El éxito de esta edición fue abrumador. Luego reeditó también varias de sus obras anteriores y comenzó a publicar la revista Diario de un escritor, en la que escribía solo, recopilando historias cortas, artículos políticos y crítica literaria. Esta publicación, aunque muy exitosa, se vio interrumpida en 1878, cuando Dostoyevski comenzó Los hermanos Karamázov, que aparecería en gran parte en la revista El Mensajero Ruso.
En 1874 Dostoyevski abandonó la redacción de El Ciudadano, tarea que no satisfizo sus aspiraciones, para dedicarse completamente a escribir una nueva novela. Luego de evaluar las ofertas editoriales de El Mensajero Ruso y Memorias de la Patria (del poeta Nikolái Nekrásov), decidió aceptar esta última. La novela sería titulada El adolescente y comenzaría a publicarse ese mismo año. Por aquella época, Dostoyevski tuvo fuertes crisis asmáticas, y estuvo un tiempo en Berlín y Ems tratando su afección.
En 1875 nació su cuarto hijo, Alekséi, y el matrimonio decidió volver a San Petersburgo. Durante esa época vivieron del dinero que obtenían por El adolescente. Mientras tanto, Dostoyevski continuaba reuniendo material para Diario de un escritor y frecuentaba con asiduidad reuniones literarias, donde se encontraba y debatía con viejos amigos y enemigos. En 1877, la publicación de Diario de un escritor tuvo gran éxito y, aunque el autor estaba muy satisfecho tanto con los resultados económicos como con la simpatía que el público manifestaba en su correspondencia, sentía gran necesidad de crear algo nuevo. Decidió entonces interrumpir por dos o tres años la publicación de la revista para ocuparse de una nueva novela.
Nekrásov, amigo de Dostoyevski —el primero en reconocer su talento con Pobres gentes y que más tarde editó El adolescente— se encontraba muy enfermo. Una de las veces que fue a verlo, el poeta le leyó una de sus últimas composiciones, «Los infelices», y le dijo: «La escribí para usted». El poeta murió a finales de 1877. Durante su funeral, Dostoyevski pronunció un emotivo discurso, que más tarde ampliaría e incluiría en el último número de Diario de un escritor de ese año, dividido en cuatro capítulos: «La muerte de Nekrásov», «Pushkin, Lérmontov y Nekrásov», «El poeta y el ciudadano: Nekrásov hombre» y «Un testigo a favor de Nekrásov». Al dolor de Dostoyevski por esta pérdida se le agregaría, al año siguiente, el causado por la muerte de su hijo Alekséi. El niño fue sepultado en el cementerio de Bolsháia Ojta.
Dostoyevski y su esposa, consternados, pensaron que no tenían más que hacer en San Petersburgo y regresaron con sus hijos a Stáraya Rusa. Dostoyevski acordó con El mensajero ruso la publicación de una nueva novela para 1879: se trataba de la futura Los hermanos Karamázov. De una bendición recibida por un sacerdote de la ermita de Óptina, tras contarle Dostoyevski lo sucedido con su hijo, surgiría la escena del capítulo Las mujeres creyentes, en la que el starets Zosima bendice a una madre tras la muerte de su hijo, también llamado Alekséi. Por otra parte, la figura del starets Zosima sería creada a partir de las figuras de este sacerdote y de otro a quien el autor admiraba, Tijon Zadonski.
Apenas comenzó a publicarse, Los hermanos Karamázov atrajo fuertemente la atención de lectores y críticos. Dostoyevski solía leer algunos fragmentos de ella en reuniones literarias con una excelente respuesta por parte del público. Muy pronto se la consideró una obra maestra de la literatura rusa y hasta logró que Dostoyevski se ganara el respeto de varios de sus enemigos literarios. El autor la consideró su magnum opus. A pesar de esto, la novela nunca se terminó. Originalmente, según los esquemas del autor, consistiría en dos partes, y los sucesos de la segunda ocurrirían trece años más tarde que los de la primera. Esta segunda parte nunca llegó a escribirse.
En 1880, Dostoyevski participó en la inauguración del monumento a Aleksandr Pushkin en Moscú, donde pronunció un discurso sobre el destino de Rusia en el mundo. El 8 de noviembre de ese mismo año, terminó Los hermanos Karamázov en San Petersburgo.
Dostoyevski murió en su casa de San Petersburgo, el 9 de febrero de 1881, de una hemorragia pulmonar asociada a un enfisema y a un ataque epiléptico. Fue enterrado en el cementerio Tijvin, dentro del Monasterio de Alejandro Nevski, en San Petersburgo. El vizconde E. M. de Vogüé, diplomático francés, describió el funeral como una especie de apoteosis. En su libro Le Roman russe, señala que entre los miles de jóvenes que seguían el cortejo, se podía distinguir incluso a los nihilistas, que se encontraban en las antípodas de las creencias del escritor. Anna Grigórievna señaló que «los diferentes partidos se reconciliaron en el dolor común y en el deseo de rendir el último homenaje al célebre escritor».
En su lápida sepulcral puede leerse el siguiente versículo de San Juan, que sirvió también como epígrafe de su última novela, Los hermanos Karamázov:
En verdad, en verdad os digo que si el grano de trigo que cae en la tierra no muere, queda solo; pero si muere produce mucho fruto. Evangelio de San Juan 12:24
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiódor_Dostoyevski
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Novelas_de_Fiódor_Dostoyevski
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. Dostoevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Dostoevsky's oeuvre consists of 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short stories, and numerous other works. Many literary critics rate him as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature.[3] His 1864 novella Notes from Underground is considered to be one of the first works of existentialist literature.
Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends, and through books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died in 1837 when he was 15, and around the same time, he left school to enter the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute. After graduating, he worked as an engineer and briefly enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, translating books to earn extra money. In the mid-1840s he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, which gained him entry into St. Petersburg's literary circles. Arrested in 1849 for belonging to a literary group that discussed banned books critical of Tsarist Russia, he was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted at the last moment. He spent four years in a Siberian prison camp, followed by six years of compulsory military service in exile. In the following years, Dostoevsky worked as a journalist, publishing and editing several magazines of his own and later A Writer's Diary, a collection of his writings. He began to travel around western Europe and developed a gambling addiction, which led to financial hardship. For a time, he had to beg for money, but he eventually became one of the most widely read and highly regarded Russian writers.
Dostoevsky was influenced by a wide variety of philosophers and authors including Pushkin, Gogol, Augustine, Shakespeare, Dickens, Balzac, Lermontov, Hugo, Poe, Plato, Cervantes, Herzen, Kant, Belinsky, Hegel, Schiller, Solovyov, Bakunin, Sand, Hoffmann, and Mickiewicz. His writings were widely read both within and beyond his native Russia and influenced an equally great number of later writers including Russians like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Anton Chekhov as well as philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. His books have been translated into more than 170 languages.
Dostoevsky's parents were part of a multi-ethnic and multi-denominational noble family, its branches including Russian Orthodox Christians, Polish Roman Catholics and Ukrainian Eastern Catholics. The family traced its roots back to a Tatar, Aslan Chelebi-Murza, who in 1389 defected from the Golden Horde and joined the forces of Dmitry Donskoy, the first prince of Muscovy to openly challenge the Mongol authority in the region, and whose descendant, Danilo Irtishch, was ennobled and given lands in the Pinsk region (for centuries part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, now in modern-day Belarus) in 1509 for his services under a local prince, his progeny then taking the name "Dostoevsky" based on a village there called Dostoïevo
Dostoevsky's immediate ancestors on his mother's side were merchants; the male line on his father's side were priests. His father, Mikhail Andreevich, was expected to join the clergy but instead ran away from home and broke with the family permanently.
In 1809, the 20-year-old Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky enrolled in Moscow's Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy. From there he was assigned to a Moscow hospital, where he served as military doctor, and in 1818, he was appointed a senior physician. In 1819 he married Maria Nechayeva. The following year, he took up a post at the Mariinsky Hospital for the poor. In 1828, when his two sons, Mikhail and Fyodor, were eight and seven respectively, he was promoted to collegiate assessor, a position which raised his legal status to that of the nobility and enabled him to acquire a small estate in Darovoye, a town about 150 km (100 miles) from Moscow, where the family usually spent the summers. Dostoevsky's parents subsequently had six more children: Varvara (1822–1892), Andrei (1825–1897), Lyubov (born and died 1829), Vera (1829–1896), Nikolai (1831–1883) and Aleksandra (1835–1889).
Fyodor Dostoevsky, born on 11 November [O.S. 30 October] 1821, was the second child of Dr. Mikhail Dostoevsky and Maria Dostoevskaya (born Nechayeva). He was raised in the family home in the grounds of the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, which was in a lower class district on the edges of Moscow. Dostoevsky encountered the patients, who were at the lower end of the Russian social scale, when playing in the hospital gardens.
Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age. From the age of three, he was read heroic sagas, fairy tales and legends by his nanny, Alena Frolovna, an especially influential figure in his upbringing and love for fictional stories. When he was four his mother used the Bible to teach him to read and write. His parents introduced him to a wide range of literature, including Russian writers Karamzin, Pushkin and Derzhavin; Gothic fiction such as Ann Radcliffe; romantic works by Schiller and Goethe; heroic tales by Cervantes and Walter Scott; and Homer's epics. Although his father's approach to education has been described as strict and harsh, Dostoevsky himself reports that his imagination was brought alive by nightly readings by his parents.
Some of his childhood experiences found their way into his writings. When a nine-year-old girl had been raped by a drunk, he was asked to fetch his father to attend to her. The incident haunted him, and the theme of the desire of a mature man for a young girl appears in The Devils, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and other writings. An incident involving a family servant, or serf, in the estate in Darovoye, is described in "The Peasant Marey": when the young Dostoevsky imagines hearing a wolf in the forest, Marey, who is working nearby, comforts him.
Although Dostoevsky had a delicate physical constitution, his parents described him as hot-headed, stubborn and cheeky. In 1833, Dostoevsky's father, who was profoundly religious, sent him to a French boarding school and then to the Chermak boarding school. He was described as a pale, introverted dreamer and an over-excitable romantic. To pay the school fees, his father borrowed money and extended his private medical practice. Dostoevsky felt out of place among his aristocratic classmates at the Moscow school, and the experience was later reflected in some of his works, notably The Adolescent.
On 27 September 1837 Dostoevsky's mother died of tuberculosis. The previous May, his parents had sent Dostoevsky and his brother Mikhail to St Petersburg to attend the free Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute, forcing the brothers to abandon their academic studies for military careers. Dostoevsky entered the academy in January 1838, but only with the help of family members. Mikhail was refused admission on health grounds and was sent to the Academy in Reval, Estonia.
Dostoevsky disliked the academy, primarily because of his lack of interest in science, mathematics and military engineering and his preference for drawing and architecture. As his friend Konstantin Trutovsky once said, "There was no student in the entire institution with less of a military bearing than F.M. Dostoevsky. He moved clumsily and jerkily; his uniform hung awkwardly on him; and his knapsack, shako and rifle all looked like some sort of fetter he had been forced to wear for a time and which lay heavily on him." Dostoevsky's character and interests made him an outsider among his 120 classmates: he showed bravery and a strong sense of justice, protected newcomers, aligned himself with teachers, criticised corruption among officers and helped poor farmers. Although he was solitary and inhabited his own literary world, he was respected by his classmates. His reclusiveness and interest in religion earned him the nickname "Monk Photius".
Signs of Dostoevsky's epilepsy may have first appeared on learning of the death of his father on 16 June 1839, although the reports of a seizure originated from accounts written by his daughter (later expanded by Sigmund Freud.) which are now considered to be unreliable. His father's official cause of death was an apoplectic stroke, but a neighbour, Pavel Khotiaintsev, accused the father's serfs of murder. Had the serfs been found guilty and sent to Siberia, Khotiaintsev would have been in a position to buy the vacated land. The serfs were acquitted in a trial in Tula, but Dostoevsky's brother Andrei perpetuated the story. After his father's death, Dostoevsky continued his studies, passed his exams and obtained the rank of engineer cadet, entitling him to live away from the academy. He visited Mikhail in Reval, and frequently attended concerts, operas, plays and ballets. During this time, two of his friends introduced him to gambling.
On 12 August 1843 Dostoevsky took a job as a lieutenant engineer and lived with Adolph Totleben in an apartment owned by Dr. Rizenkampf, a friend of Mikhail. Rizenkampf characterised him as "no less good-natured and no less courteous than his brother, but when not in a good mood he often looked at everything through dark glasses, became vexed, forgot good manners, and sometimes was carried away to the point of abusiveness and loss of self-awareness". Dostoevsky's first completed literary work, a translation of Honoré de Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet, was published in June and July 1843 in the 6th and 7th volume of the journal Repertoire and Pantheon, followed by several other translations. None were successful, and his financial difficulties led him to write a novel.
Dostoevsky completed his first novel, Poor Folk, in May 1845. His friend Dmitry Grigorovich, with whom he was sharing an apartment at the time, took the manuscript to the poet Nikolay Nekrasov, who in turn showed it to the renowned and influential literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. Belinsky described it as Russia's first "social novel". Poor Folk was released on 15 January 1846 in the St Petersburg Collection almanac and became a commercial success.
Dostoevsky felt that his military career would endanger his now flourishing literary career, so he wrote a letter asking to resign his post. Shortly thereafter, he wrote his second novel, The Double, which appeared in the journal Notes of the Fatherland on 30 January 1846, before being published in February. Around the same time, Dostoevsky discovered socialism through the writings of French thinkers Fourier, Cabet, Proudhon and Saint-Simon. Through his relationship with Belinsky he expanded his knowledge of the philosophy of socialism. He was attracted to its logic, its sense of justice and its preoccupation with the destitute and the disadvantaged. However, his relationship with Belinsky became increasingly strained as Belinsky's atheism and dislike of religion clashed with Dostoevsky's Russian Orthodox beliefs. Dostoevsky eventually parted with him and his associates.
After The Double received negative reviews, Dostoevsky's health declined and he had more frequent seizures, but he continued writing. From 1846 to 1848 he released several short stories in the magazine Annals of the Fatherland, including "Mr. Prokharchin", "The Landlady", "A Weak Heart", and "White Nights". These stories were unsuccessful, leaving Dostoevsky once more in financial trouble, so he joined the utopian socialist Betekov circle, a tightly knit community which helped him to survive. When the circle dissolved, Dostoevsky befriended Apollon Maykov and his brother Valerian. In 1846, on the recommendation of the poet Aleksey Pleshcheyev,[41] he joined the Petrashevsky Circle, founded by Mikhail Petrashevsky, who had proposed social reforms in Russia. Mikhail Bakunin once wrote to Alexander Herzen that the group was "the most innocent and harmless company" and its members were "systematic opponents of all revolutionary goals and means". Dostoevsky used the circle's library on Saturdays and Sundays and occasionally participated in their discussions on freedom from censorship and the abolition of serfdom.[43][44]
In 1849, the first parts of Netochka Nezvanova, a novel Dostoevsky had been planning since 1846, were published in Annals of the Fatherland, but his banishment ended the project. Dostoevsky never attempted to complete it.
The members of the Petrashevsky Circle were denounced to Liprandi, an official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Dostoevsky was accused of reading works by Belinsky, including the banned Letter to Gogol,[46] and of circulating copies of these and other works. Antonelli, the government agent who had reported the group, wrote in his statement that at least one of the papers criticised Russian politics and religion. Dostoevsky responded to these charges by declaring that he had read the essays only "as a literary monument, neither more nor less"; he spoke of "personality and human egoism" rather than of politics. Even so, he and his fellow "conspirators" were arrested on 23 April 1849 at the request of Count A. Orlov and Tsar Nicolas I, who feared a revolution like the Decembrist revolt of 1825 in Russia and the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe. The members were held in the well-defended Peter and Paul Fortress, which housed the most dangerous convicts.
The case was discussed for four months by an investigative commission headed by the Tsar, with Adjutant General Ivan Nabokov, senator Prince Pavel Gagarin, Prince Vasili Dolgorukov, General Yakov Rostovtsev and General Leonty Dubelt, head of the secret police. They sentenced the members of the circle to death by firing squad, and the prisoners were taken to Semyonov Place in St Petersburg on 23 December 1849 where they were split into three-man groups. Dostoevsky was the third in the second row; next to him stood Pleshcheyev and Durov. The execution was stayed when a cart delivered a letter from the Tsar commuting the sentence.
Dostoevsky served four years of exile with hard labour at a katorga prison camp in Omsk, Siberia, followed by a term of compulsory military service. After a fourteen-day sleigh ride, the prisoners reached Tobolsk, a prisoner way station. Despite the circumstances, Dostoevsky consoled the other prisoners, such as the Petrashevist Ivan Yastrzhembsky, who was surprised by Dostoevsky's kindness and eventually abandoned his decision to commit suicide. In Tobolsk, the members received food and clothes from the Decembrist women, as well as several copies of the New Testament with a ten-ruble banknote inside each copy. Eleven days later, Dostoevsky reached Omsk together with just one other member of the Petrashevsky Circle, the poet Sergei Durov. Dostoevsky described his barracks:
In summer, intolerable closeness; in winter, unendurable cold. All the floors were rotten. Filth on the floors an inch thick; one could slip and fall ... We were packed like herrings in a barrel ... There was no room to turn around. From dusk to dawn it was impossible not to behave like pigs ... Fleas, lice, and black beetles by the bushel ...
Classified as "one of the most dangerous convicts", Dostoevsky had his hands and feet shackled until his release. He was only permitted to read his New Testament Bible. In addition to his seizures, he had haemorrhoids, lost weight and was "burned by some fever, trembling and feeling too hot or too cold every night". The smell of the privy pervaded the entire building, and the small bathroom had to suffice for more than 200 people. Dostoevsky was occasionally sent to the military hospital, where he read newspapers and Dickens novels. He was respected by most of the other prisoners, and despised by some because of his xenophobic statements.
After his release on 14 February 1854, Dostoevsky asked Mikhail to help him financially and to send him books by Vico, Guizot, Ranke, Hegel and Kant.[55] The House of the Dead, based on his experience in prison, was published in 1861 in the journal Vremya ("Time") – it was the first published novel about Russian prisons. Before moving in mid-March to Semipalatinsk, where he was forced to serve in the Siberian Army Corps of the Seventh Line Battalion, Dostoevsky met geographer Pyotr Semyonov and ethnographer Shokan Walikhanuli. Around November 1854, he met Baron Alexander Egorovich Wrangel, an admirer of his books, who had attended the aborted execution. They both rented houses in the Cossack Garden outside Semipalatinsk. Wrangel remarked that Dostoevsky "looked morose. His sickly, pale face was covered with freckles, and his blond hair was cut short. He was a little over average height and looked at me intensely with his sharp, grey-blue eyes. It was as if he were trying to look into my soul and discover what kind of man I was."
In Semipalatinsk, Dostoevsky tutored several schoolchildren and came into contact with upper-class families, including that of Lieutenant-Colonel Belikhov, who used to invite him to read passages from newspapers and magazines. During a visit to Belikhov, Dostoevsky met the family of Alexander Ivanovich Isaev and Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva and fell in love with the latter. Alexander Isaev took a new post in Kuznetsk, where he died in August 1855. Maria and her son then moved with Dostoevsky to Barnaul. In 1856 Dostoevsky sent a letter through Wrangel to General Eduard Totleben, apologising for his activity in several utopian circles. As a result, he obtained the right to publish books and to marry, although he remained under police surveillance for the rest of his life. Maria married Dostoevsky in Semipalatinsk on 7 February 1857, even though she had initially refused his marriage proposal, stating that they were not meant for each other and that his poor financial situation precluded marriage. Their family life was unhappy and she found it difficult to cope with his seizures. Describing their relationship, he wrote: "Because of her strange, suspicious and fantastic character, we were definitely not happy together, but we could not stop loving each other; and the more unhappy we were, the more attached to each other we became". They mostly lived apart. In 1859 he was released from military service because of deteriorating health and was granted permission to return to Russia, first to Tver, where he met his brother for the first time in ten years, and then to St Petersburg.
"A Little Hero" (Dostoevsky's only work completed in prison) appeared in a journal, but "Uncle's Dream" and "The Village of Stepanchikovo" were not published until 1860. Notes from the House of the Dead was released in Russky Mir (Russian World) in September 1860. "The Insulted and the Injured" was published in the new Vremya magazine, which had been created with the help of funds from his brother's cigarette factory.
Dostoevsky travelled to western Europe for the first time on 7 June 1862, visiting Cologne, Berlin, Dresden, Wiesbaden, Belgium, and Paris. In London, he met Herzen and visited the Crystal Palace. He travelled with Nikolay Strakhov through Switzerland and several North Italian cities, including Turin, Livorno, and Florence. He recorded his impressions of those trips in Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, in which he criticised capitalism, social modernisation, materialism, Catholicism and Protestantism.
From August to October 1863, Dostoevsky made another trip to western Europe. He met his second love, Polina Suslova, in Paris and lost nearly all his money gambling in Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden. In 1864 his wife Maria and his brother Mikhail died, and Dostoevsky became the lone parent of his stepson Pasha and the sole supporter of his brother's family. The failure of Epoch, the magazine he had founded with Mikhail after the suppression of Vremya, worsened his financial situation, although the continued help of his relatives and friends averted bankruptcy.
The first two parts of Crime and Punishment were published in January and February 1866 in the periodical The Russian Messenger, attracting at least 500 new subscribers to the magazine.
Dostoevsky returned to Saint Petersburg in mid-September and promised his editor, Fyodor Stellovsky, that he would complete The Gambler, a short novel focused on gambling addiction, by November, although he had not yet begun writing it. One of Dostoevsky's friends, Milyukov, advised him to hire a secretary. Dostoevsky contacted stenographer Pavel Olkhin from Saint Petersburg, who recommended his pupil, the twenty-year-old Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina. Her shorthand helped Dostoevsky to complete The Gambler on 30 October, after 26 days' work. She remarked that Dostoevsky was of average height but always tried to carry himself erect. "He had light brown, slightly reddish hair, he used some hair conditioner, and he combed his hair in a diligent way ... his eyes, they were different: one was dark brown; in the other, the pupil was so big that you could not see its color, [this was caused by an injury]. The strangeness of his eyes gave Dostoyevsky some mysterious appearance. His face was pale, and it looked unhealthy."
On 15 February 1867 Dostoevsky married Snitkina in Trinity Cathedral, Saint Petersburg. The 7,000 rubles he had earned from Crime and Punishment did not cover their debts, forcing Anna to sell her valuables. On 14 April 1867, they began a delayed honeymoon in Germany with the money gained from the sale. They stayed in Berlin and visited the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, where he sought inspiration for his writing. They continued their trip through Germany, visiting Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. They spent five weeks in Baden-Baden, where Dostoevsky had a quarrel with Turgenev and again lost much money at the roulette table. The couple travelled on to Geneva.
In September 1867, Dostoevsky began work on The Idiot, and after a prolonged planning process that bore little resemblance to the published novel, he eventually managed to write the first 100 pages in only 23 days; the serialisation began in The Russian Messenger in January 1868.
Their first child, Sonya, had been conceived in Baden-Baden, and was born in Geneva on 5 March 1868. The baby died of pneumonia three months later, and Anna recalled how Dostoevsky "wept and sobbed like a woman in despair". The couple moved from Geneva to Vevey and then to Milan, before continuing to Florence. The Idiot was completed there in January 1869, the final part appearing in The Russian Messenger in February 1869. Anna gave birth to their second daughter, Lyubov, on 26 September 1869 in Dresden. In April 1871, Dostoevsky made a final visit to a gambling hall in Wiesbaden. Anna claimed that he stopped gambling after the birth of their second daughter, but this is a subject of debate.
After hearing news that the socialist revolutionary group "People's Vengeance" had murdered one of its own members, Ivan Ivanov, on 21 November 1869, Dostoevsky began writing Demons. In 1871, Dostoevsky and Anna travelled by train to Berlin. During the trip, he burnt several manuscripts, including those of The Idiot, because he was concerned about potential problems with customs. The family arrived in Saint Petersburg on 8 July, marking the end of a honeymoon (originally planned for three months) that had lasted over four years.
Back in Russia in July 1871, the family was again in financial trouble and had to sell their remaining possessions. Their son Fyodor was born on 16 July, and they moved to an apartment near the Institute of Technology soon after. They hoped to cancel their large debts by selling their rental house in Peski, but difficulties with the tenant resulted in a relatively low selling price, and disputes with their creditors continued. Anna proposed that they raise money on her husband's copyrights and negotiate with the creditors to pay off their debts in installments.
Dostoevsky revived his friendships with Maykov and Strakhov and made new acquaintances, including church politician Terty Filipov and the brothers Vsevolod and Vladimir Solovyov. Konstantin Pobedonostsev, future Imperial High Commissioner of the Most Holy Synod, influenced Dostoevsky's political progression to conservatism. Around early 1872 the family spent several months in Staraya Russa, a town known for its mineral spa. Dostoevsky's work was delayed when Anna's sister Maria Svatkovskaya died on 1 May 1872, either from typhus or malaria, and Anna developed an abscess on her throat.
The family returned to St Petersburg in September. Demons was finished on 26 November and released in January 1873 by the "Dostoevsky Publishing Company", which was founded by Dostoevsky and his wife. Although they only accepted cash payments and the bookshop was in their own apartment, the business was successful, and they sold around 3,000 copies of Demons. Anna managed the finances. Dostoevsky proposed that they establish a new periodical, which would be called A Writer's Diary and would include a collection of essays, but funds were lacking, and the Diary was published in Vladimir Meshchersky's The Citizen, beginning on 1 January, in return for a salary of 3,000 rubles per year. In the summer of 1873, Anna returned to Staraya Russa with the children, while Dostoevsky stayed in St Petersburg to continue with his Diary.
In March 1874, Dostoevsky left The Citizen because of the stressful work and interference from the Russian bureaucracy. In his fifteen months with The Citizen, he had been taken to court twice: on 11 June 1873 for citing the words of Prince Meshchersky without permission, and again on 23 March 1874. Dostoevsky offered to sell a new novel he had not yet begun to write to The Russian Messenger, but the magazine refused. Nikolay Nekrasov suggested that he publish A Writer's Diary in Notes of the Fatherland; he would receive 250 rubles for each printer's sheet – 100 more than the text's publication in The Russian Messenger would have earned. Dostoevsky accepted. As his health began to decline, he consulted several doctors in St Petersburg and was advised to take a cure outside Russia. Around July, he reached Ems and consulted a physician, who diagnosed him with acute catarrh. During his stay he began The Adolescent. He returned to Saint Petersburg in late July.
Anna proposed that they spend the winter in Staraya Russa to allow Dostoevsky to rest, although doctors had suggested a second visit to Ems because his health had previously improved there. On 10 August 1875 his son Alexey was born in Staraya Russa, and in mid-September the family returned to Saint Petersburg. Dostoevsky finished The Adolescent at the end of 1875, although passages of it had been serialised in Notes of the Fatherland since January. The Adolescent chronicles the life of Arkady Dolgoruky, the illegitimate child of the landowner Versilov and a peasant mother. It deals primarily with the relationship between father and son, which became a frequent theme in Dostoevsky's subsequent works.
In early 1876, Dostoevsky continued work on his Diary. The book includes numerous essays and a few short stories about society, religion, politics and ethics. The collection sold more than twice as many copies as his previous books. Dostoevsky received more letters from readers than ever before, and people of all ages and occupations visited him. With assistance from Anna's brother, the family bought a dacha in Staraya Russa. In the summer of 1876, Dostoevsky began experiencing shortness of breath again. He visited Ems for the third time and was told that he might live for another 15 years if he moved to a healthier climate. When he returned to Russia, Tsar Alexander II ordered Dostoevsky to visit his palace to present the Diary to him, and he asked him to educate his sons, Sergey and Paul. This visit further increased Dosteyevsky's circle of acquaintances. He was a frequent guest in several salons in Saint Petersburg and met many famous people, including Princess Sophia Tolstaya, Yakov Polonsky, Sergei Witte, Alexey Suvorin, Anton Rubinstein and Ilya Repin.
Dostoevsky's health declined further, and in March 1877 he had four epileptic seizures. Rather than returning to Ems, he visited Maly Prikol, a manor near Kursk. While returning to St Petersburg to finalise his Diary, he visited Darovoye, where he had spent much of his childhood. In December he attended Nekrasov's funeral and gave a speech. He was appointed an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, from which he received an honorary certificate in February 1879. He declined an invitation to an international congress on copyright in Paris after his son Alyosha had a severe epileptic seizure and died on 16 May. The family later moved to the apartment where Dostoevsky had written his first works. Around this time, he was elected to the board of directors of the Slavic Benevolent Society in Saint Petersburg. That summer, he was elected to the honorary committee of the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale, whose members included Victor Hugo, Ivan Turgenev, Paul Heyse, Alfred Tennyson, Anthony Trollope, Henry Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Leo Tolstoy. Dostoevsky made his fourth and final visit to Ems in early August 1879. He was diagnosed with early-stage pulmonary emphysema, which his doctor believed could be successfully managed, but not cured.
On 3 February 1880 Dostoevsky was elected vice-president of the Slavic Benevolent Society, and he was invited to speak at the unveiling of the Pushkin memorial in Moscow. On 8 June he delivered his speech, giving an impressive performance that had a significant emotional impact on his audience. His speech was met with thunderous applause, and even his long-time rival Turgenev embraced him. Konstantin Staniukovich praised the speech in his essay "The Pushkin Anniversary and Dostoevsky's Speech" in The Business, writing that "the language of Dostoevsky's [Pushkin Speech] really looks like a sermon. He speaks with the tone of a prophet. He makes a sermon like a pastor; it is very deep, sincere, and we understand that he wants to impress the emotions of his listeners." The speech was criticised later by liberal political scientist Alexander Gradovsky, who thought that Dostoevsky idolised "the people" and by conservative thinker Konstantin Leontiev, who, in his essay "On Universal Love", compared the speech to French utopian socialism. The attacks led to a further deterioration in his health.
On 25 January 1881, while searching for members of the terrorist organisation Narodnaya Volya ("The People's Will") who would soon assassinate Tsar Alexander II, the Tsar's secret police executed a search warrant in the apartment of one of Dostoevsky's neighbours. On the following day, Dostoevsky suffered a pulmonary haemorrhage. Anna denied that the search had caused it, saying that the haemorrhage had occurred after her husband had been looking for a dropped pen holder. After another haemorrhage, Anna called the doctors, who gave a poor prognosis. A third haemorrhage followed shortly afterwards. While seeing his children before dying, Dostoevsky requested that the parable of the Prodigal Son be read to his children. The profound meaning of this request is pointed out by Frank:
It was this parable of transgression, repentance, and forgiveness that he wished to leave as a last heritage to his children, and it may well be seen as his own ultimate understanding of the meaning of his life and the message of his work.
Among Dostoevsky's last words was his quotation of Matthew 3:14–15: "But John forbad him, saying, I have a need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness", and he finished with "Hear now—permit it. Do not restrain me!" When he died, his body was placed on a table, following Russian custom. He was interred in the Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Convent, near his favourite poets, Nikolay Karamzin and Vasily Zhukovsky. It is unclear how many attended his funeral. According to one reporter, more than 100,000 mourners were present, while others describe attendance between 40,000 and 50,000. His tombstone is inscribed with lines from the New Testament:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit. — John 12:24
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Fyodor_Dostoevsky%27s_wri...
Intern Position Available
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We are saddened to report that #InternLogan (aka. KRUSAH) will be leaving us to head back to the mountains of Montana. It seems like only last week it was Logan's third day on the job he was in Kodiak, AK on the job with us and our creepy white van in the midst of it all! He jumped right into the fast paced environment (along with my large amount of energy) and was also super motivated to help us out on a daily basis here in the office. #InternLogan kept things running smoothy with production, editing photos, and being a social media wiz so we could go out and catch a waves at the end of the day! We wish him good luck as he sets off on his constant search of deep snow and endless turns on whatever board he can get his hands on. We now look forward to finding and welcoming a new round of interns for another #InternChallenge. Please see below for more info...
We are looking to fill a Photo Intern Position at Justin Bastien Productions office in Ventura, California starting August 1st. If you or anyone you know is interested in the minimum, 6 month position please contact me at justin@justinbastien.com. We are looking for someone with a strong work ethic, who is professional, well organized, with good communication skills and has at least mid level skills in Adobe Lightroom. Additional skills that would be helpful include: Research, Social Media, Website Design, Printing and Video Editing. This is a position at our office in Ventura, not a location photo assisting position.
For more information on Justin Bastien Productions visit our website at:
Thanks,
Justin
Another mid-sponsored racer Ryder...although after his self-designed engines failed to start at a few races, he earned the nickname "Inert." It is also said he put as much money into his hair product as his engines.
While the over-sized and powerful engines are great in space, they create a great problem in the gravity of atmospheric flight. Switch back wings were added to create breaking-lift in atmosphere because of the extra weight.
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See my previous post for details on the racing league. And check out Inthert for the inspiration for the build. As with all of my builds, I try to get the digital instructions up on my Brickshelf page (LDraw format). So check it out.
Traffic holds their position at the intersection of Lego Lane and Brickplace Pass as a police car is in pursuit of a car that exceeded the speed limit and also disregarded a red light on the traffic signal.
August 5th Is International Traffic Light Day
By 1914, there were more automobiles on the road than ever, and they were still sharing the streets with streetcars, horse carriages, merchant carts, and more. There was a need for regulations to make sure traffic moved smoothly and that accidents would decrease. At the time, traffic was controlled by the police. But traffic lights were about to come along and make road navigation easier, safer, and more efficient.
On August 5, 1914, what is considered to be the first electric traffic light was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. It had four pairs of red and green lights, one for each side of the intersection, and a warning buzzer that indicated when the light was about to change. It had to be operated manually by someone in a nearby booth. It was based on a design by James Hoge, who had previously applied for a patent for a "Municipal Traffic Control System." His patent—#1,251,666—was approved in 1918. The Cleveland Automobile Club thought that their new traffic light might revolutionize the handling of traffic in crowded cities.
There were other early traffic signals and traffic lights, both before and after Cleveland's and James Hoge's lights. In 1868, a gas-lit and manually-operated traffic sign was installed in London. It had two arms: one said "stop" and the other said "caution." Tragically, less than a month after its installation, it exploded and the policeman who was operating it was injured.
In 1910, the first automated traffic control system was created. It didn't light up, but it did display "stop" and "proceed." In Salt Lake City in 1912, a traffic light of red and green lights was installed in a wooden box on a pole. William Potts, a police officer from Detroit, Michigan, invented the three-color traffic light to be used at four-way stops in 1920. In 1923, Garrett Morgan invented a traffic signal with a T-shaped design; he patented it and later sold it to General Electric. Traffic lights have continued to improve over time. Lights first had to be changed manually, then they could change automatically, and then in the 1950s computers began being used to control them. Computers allowed detection plates, or loops of wire embedded into the pavement, to be installed as well, which could sense when cars were present. Traffic lights also expanded beyond the basic red, yellow, and green lights, and began including other lights such as turn arrows, and walk and don't walk lights.
Traffic lights control the flow of traffic and are placed at locations such as road intersections and pedestrian crossings. They go by many other names, which are sometimes dependent on where in the world they are. Some common names include traffic signals, traffic lamps, signal lights, or “Stop-and-Go Lights”. They are made of lamps or LEDs, and their standard colors are red, yellow (amber), and green. A solid red light means that a driver should not proceed, while a flashing red light is to be treated like a stop sign. A yellow light indicates that a red light will soon appear. In some areas, it may require a driver to stop if they can, but in other areas, drivers may be allowed to pass through it if it is safe. If a yellow light is flashing, it means it is a warning signal. A green light means that a driver may proceed if it is safe and if there is room on the other side of the intersection.
Traffic lights may be set to flash at times when traffic is sparse, such as late at night. Sometimes a flashing yellow is set to a main road, while a flashing red is set to the side road. Sometimes there is flashing red in all directions, which is treated as a four-way stop. Whether lights are green, yellow, or red, or whether they are solid or flashing, we celebrate them today, on the anniversary of when the first electric traffic light was installed.
How to Observe
Today is for stopping and thinking about the importance of traffic lights in road safety. The best way to celebrate the day is probably to use as many traffic lights as possible when driving. If you are up for a long drive, you could drive to the intersection in Cleveland where the first electric traffic light was installed. You could also drive to Ohio's Small Town Museum, where what is believed to be the world's oldest traffic light is kept.
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++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA +++
Taiwan (/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ (About this sound listen)), officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia. Its neighbors include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is the most populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations.
The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, was inhabited by aborigines before the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonies opened the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. The Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROC's loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. Although the ROC continued to claim to be the legitimate government of China, its effective jurisdiction has, since the loss of Hainan in 1950, been limited to Taiwan and its surrounding islands, with the main island making up 99% of its de facto territory. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, when the PRC assumed China's seat, causing the ROC to lose its UN membership.
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with a semi-presidential system. Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, healthcare,[15] public education, economic freedom, and human development.[d][13][16] The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[17][18]
The PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refuses diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today, 20 countries maintain official ties with the ROC but many other states maintain unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor. Internally, the major division in politics is between the aspirations of eventual Chinese unification or Taiwanese independence, though both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. The PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible.[19]
Etymology
See also: Chinese Taipei, Formosa, and Names of China
Taiwan
Taiwan (Chinese characters).svg
"Taiwan" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
ROC (Chinese characters).svg
"Republic of China" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 臺灣 or 台灣
Simplified Chinese 台湾
[show]Transcriptions
China
Traditional Chinese 中國
Simplified Chinese 中国
Literal meaning Middle or Central State[20]
[show]Transcriptions
Republic of China
Traditional Chinese 中華民國
Simplified Chinese 中华民国
Postal Chunghwa Minkuo
[show]Transcriptions
Japanese name
Kanji 台湾
Kana たいわん
Kyūjitai 臺灣
[show]Transcriptions
There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, derived from explorers or rulers by each particular period. The former name Formosa (福爾摩沙) dates from 1542,[verification needed] when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means "beautiful island".[21] The name "Formosa" eventually "replaced all others in European literature"[22] and was in common use in English in the early 20th century.[23]
In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a commercial post at Fort Zeelandia (modern-day Anping, Tainan) on a coastal sandbar called "Tayouan",[24] after their ethnonym for a nearby Taiwanese aboriginal tribe, written by the Dutch and Portuguese variously as Taiouwang, Tayowan, Teijoan, etc.[25] This name was also adopted into the Chinese vernacular (in particular, Hokkien, as Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tāi-oân/Tâi-oân) as the name of the sandbar and nearby area (Tainan). The modern word "Taiwan" is derived from this usage, which is seen in various forms (大員, 大圓, 大灣, 臺員, 臺圓 and 臺窩灣) in Chinese historical records. The area of modern-day Tainan was the first permanent settlement by Western colonists and Chinese immigrants, grew to be the most important trading centre, and served as the capital of the island until 1887. Use of the current Chinese name (臺灣) was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture. Through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as "Taiwan".[26][27][28][29]
In his Daoyi Zhilüe (1349), Wang Dayuan used "Liuqiu" as a name for the island of Taiwan, or the part of it near to Penghu.[30] Elsewhere, the name was used for the Ryukyu Islands in general or Okinawa, the largest of them; indeed the name Ryūkyū is the Japanese form of Liúqiú. The name also appears in the Book of Sui (636) and other early works, but scholars cannot agree on whether these references are to the Ryukyus, Taiwan or even Luzon.[31]
The official name of the state is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various names throughout its existence. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Chinese mainland, the government used the short form "China" Zhōngguó (中國), to refer to itself, which derives from zhōng ("central" or "middle") and guó ("state, nation-state"), [e] A term which also developed under the Zhou Dynasty in reference to its royal demesne[f] and the name was then applied to the area around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and then to China's Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qingera .[33] During the 1950s and 1960s, after the government had fled to Taiwan due to losing the Chinese Civil War, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "Free China") to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "Red China").[35] It was a member of the United Nations representing "China" until 1971, when it lost its seat to the People's Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the island that comprises 99% of the territory under its control. In some contexts, especially official ones from the ROC government, the name is written as "Republic of China (Taiwan)", "Republic of China/Taiwan", or sometimes "Taiwan (ROC)."[36] The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "Chinese Taipei" due to diplomatic pressure from the People's Republic of China. For instance, it is the name under which it has competed at the Olympic Games since 1984, and its name as an observer at the World Health Organization.[37]
History
Main articles: History of Taiwan and History of the Republic of China
See the History of China article for historical information in the Chinese Mainland before 1949.
Prehistoric Taiwan
Main article: Prehistory of Taiwan
A young Tsou man
Taiwan was joined to the mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found on the island, as well as later artefacts of a Paleolithic culture.[38][39][40]
Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers, most likely from mainland China.[41] They are believed to be the ancestors of today's Taiwanese aborigines, whose languages belong to the Austronesian language family, but show much greater diversity than the rest of the family, which spans a huge area from Maritime Southeast Asia west to Madagascar and east as far as New Zealand, Hawaii and Easter Island. This has led linguists to propose Taiwan as the urheimat of the family, from which seafaring peoples dispersed across Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[42][43]
Han Chinese fishermen began settling in the Penghu islands in the 13th century.[44] Hostile tribes, and a lack of valuable trade products, meant that few outsiders visited the main island until the 16th century.[44] By the 1700's visits to the coast by fishermen from Fujian, as well as Chinese and Japanese pirates, became more frequent.[44]
Opening in the 17th century
Main articles: Dutch Formosa, Spanish Formosa, and Kingdom of Tungning
Fort Zeelandia, the Governor's residence in Dutch Formosa
The Dutch East India Company attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but were militarily defeated and driven off by the Ming authorities.[45]
In 1624, the company established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at Anping, Tainan.[29] David Wright, a Scottish agent of the company who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11 chiefdoms ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control, while others remained independent.[29][46] The Company began to import labourers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores), many of whom settled.[45]
In 1626, the Spanish Empire landed on and occupied northern Taiwan, at the ports of Keelung and Tamsui, as a base to extend their trading. This colonial period lasted 16 years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces.
Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a self-styled Ming loyalist, arrived on the island and captured Fort Zeelandia in 1662, expelling the Dutch Empire and military from the island. Koxinga established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683), with his capital at Tainan. He and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662 to 1682, and Zheng Keshuang, who ruled less than a year, continued to launch raids on the southeast coast of mainland China well into the Qing dynasty era.[45]
Qing rule
In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of southern Fujian, the Qing dynasty formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing imperial government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines becoming sinicized while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between groups of Han Chinese from different regions of southern Fujian, particularly between those from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, and between southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.
Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of subsidiary campaigns in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung on 1 October 1884, but were repulsed from Tamsui a few days later. The French won some tactical victories but were unable to exploit them, and the Keelung Campaign ended in stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign, beginning on 31 March 1885, was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago after the end of the war.
In 1887, the Qing upgraded the island's administration from Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian to Fujian-Taiwan-Province (福建臺灣省), the twentieth in the empire, with its capital at Taipei. This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building China's first railroad.[47]
Japanese rule
Main articles: Taiwan under Japanese rule and Republic of Formosa
Japanese colonial soldiers march Taiwanese captured after the Tapani Incident from the Tainan jail to court, 1915.
As the Qing dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Taiwan, along with Penghu and Liaodong Peninsula, were ceded in full sovereignty to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Inhabitants on Taiwan and Penghu wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.[48] On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895.[49] Guerrilla fighting continued periodically until about 1902 and ultimately took the lives of 14,000 Taiwanese, or 0.5% of the population.[50] Several subsequent rebellions against the Japanese (the Beipu uprising of 1907, the Tapani incident of 1915, and the Musha incident of 1930) were all unsuccessful but demonstrated opposition to Japanese colonial rule.
Japanese colonial rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system, and establishing a formal education system.[51] Japanese rule ended the practice of headhunting.[52] During this period the human and natural resources of Taiwan were used to aid the development of Japan and the production of cash crops such as rice and sugar greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.[53] Still, the Taiwanese and aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. After suppressing Chinese guerrillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorities engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the mountain aboriginals, culminating in the Musha Incident of 1930.[54] Intellectuals and laborers who participated in left-wing movements within Taiwan were also arrested and massacred (e.g. Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) and Masanosuke Watanabe (渡辺政之輔)).[55]
Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese under the Kominka Movement, during which time Taiwanese culture and religion were outlawed and the citizens were encouraged to adopt Japanese surnames.[56] The "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. During World War II, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military.[57] For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and was killed in action in the Philippines in February 1945. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwanese ports. In October 1944, the Formosa Air Battle was fought between American carriers and Japanese forces based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centres throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombings.[58] Also during this time, over 2,000 women were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial
On 25 October 1945, the US Navy ferried ROC troops to Taiwan in order to accept the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei on behalf of the Allied Powers, as part of General Order No. 1 for temporary military occupation. General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the receipt and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the ROC military to complete the official turnover. Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Taiwan Retrocession Day", but the Allies considered Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to be under military occupation and still under Japanese sovereignty until 1952, when the Treaty of San Francisco took effect.[62][63] Although the 1943 Cairo Declaration had envisaged returning these territories to China, in the Treaty of San Francisco and Treaty of Taipei Japan has renounced all claim to them without specifying to what country they were to be surrendered. This introduced the problem of the legal status of Taiwan.
The ROC administration of Taiwan under Chen Yi was strained by increasing tensions between Taiwanese-born people and newly arrived mainlanders, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Furthermore, cultural and linguistic conflicts between the two groups quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government, while the mass movement led by the working committee of the Communist Party also aimed to bring down the Kuomintang government.[64][65] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the February 28 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000. Those killed were mainly members of the Taiwanese elite.[66][67]
The Nationalists' retreat to Taipei: after the Nationalists lost Nanjing (Nanking) they next moved to Guangzhou (Canton), then to Chongqing (Chungking), Chengdu (Chengtu) and Xichang (Sichang) before arriving in Taipei.
After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong. Throughout the months of 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the capture of its capital Nanjing on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalist army on the mainland, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.[68]
After losing most of the mainland, the Kuomintang held remaining control of Tibet, the portions of Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Yunnan provinces along with the Hainan Island until 1951 before the Communists subsequently captured both territories. From this point onwards, the Kuomintang's territory was reduced to Taiwan, Penghu, the portions of the Fujian province (Kinmen and Matsu Islands), and two major islands of Dongsha Islands and Nansha Islands. The Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all "China", which it defined to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. On mainland China, the victorious Communists claimed they ruled the sole and only China (which they claimed included Taiwan) and that the Republic of China no longer existed.[73]
A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.
Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang from 1925 until his death in 1975
Chinese Nationalist one-party rule
Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,[74] continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was not repealed until 1987,[74] and was used as a way to suppress the political opposition in the intervening years.[75] During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.[76] Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived link to the Communists. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated. In 1998 law was passed to create the "Compensation Foundation for Improper Verdicts" which oversaw compensation to White Terror victims and families. President Ma Ying-jeou made an official apology in 2008, expressing hope that there will never be a tragedy similar to White Terror.[77]
Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the US Navy's 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.[78] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.[79] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.
With President Chiang Kai-shek, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to crowds during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, KMT veterans built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the China coastal islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.
Up until the 1970s, the government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.[83][84][85][86][87] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.[88]
Democratization
Main articles: Democratic reforms of Taiwan and Elections in Taiwan
Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the president, began to liberalize the political system in the mid-1980s. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, a Taiwanese-born, US-educated technocrat, to be his vice-president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in the ROC to counter the KMT. A year later, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan (martial law was lifted on Penghu in 1979, Matsu island in 1992 and Kinmen island in 1993). With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan gradually resurfaced as a controversial issue where, previously, the discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo.
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him as president. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the Taiwan Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly(a former supreme legislative body defunct in 2005）,[89] elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.[citation needed]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Taiwan's special envoy to the APEC summit, Lien Chan, November 2011
Democratic reforms continued in the 1990s, with Lee Teng-hui re-elected in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC.[90] During the later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced. In 1997,"To meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification",[91] the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China was passed and then the former "constitution of five powers" turns to be more tripartite. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the first non-Kuomintang (KMT) President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favouring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favouring an eventual and official declaration of Taiwanese independence.[92][clarification needed] In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian remarked: “The National Unification Council will cease to function. No budget will be ear-marked for it and its personnel must return to their original posts...The National Unification Guidelines will cease to apply."[93]
The ruling DPP has traditionally leaned in favour of Taiwan independence and rejects the "One-China policy".
On 30 September 2007, the ruling DPP approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.[94] The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defence and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.[95] The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.[96][97]
The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual nondenial".[95] Ma took office on 20 May 2008, the same day that President Chen Shui-bian stepped down and was notified by prosecutors of possible corruption charges. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stems from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the World Trade Organization. However, some analysts say that despite the election of Ma Ying-jeou, the diplomatic and military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced.[98]
On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that current marriage laws are unconstitutional and that same-sex couples in the Taiwanese LGBT community should have the right to marry. The court has given the Legislative Yuan two years to adequately amend Taiwanese marriage laws. According to the court ruling, if amendments are not passed within two years, same-sex marriages will automatically become legal in Taiwan.[99]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Taiwan
Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, with gently sloping plains in the west. The Penghu Islands are west of the main island.
The total area of the current jurisdiction of the Republic of China is 36,193 km2 (13,974 sq mi),[8] making it the world's 137th-largest country/dependency, smaller than Switzerland and larger than Belgium.
The island of Taiwan has an area of 35,883 km2 (13,855 sq mi), and lies some 180 kilometres (110 mi) from the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait.[8] The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait directly to the south, and the South China Sea to the southwest. Its shape is similar to a sweet potato, giving rise to the name sweet potato used by Taiwanese Hokkien speakers for people of Taiwanese descent.[100]
The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan (Jade Mountain) at 3,952 metres (12,966 ft),[101] making Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island.
The Penghu Islands, 50 km (31.1 mi) west of the main island, have an area of 126.9 km2 (49.0 sq mi). More distant islands controlled by the Republic of China are the Kinmen, Wuchiu and Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian, with a total area of 180.5 km2 (69.7 sq mi), and the Pratas Islands and Taiping Island in the South China Sea, with a total area of 2.9 km2 (1.1 sq mi) and no permanent inhabitants.[8] The ROC government also claims the Senkaku Islands to the northeast, which are controlled by Japan.
Climate
Taiwan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its general climate is marine tropical.[7] The northern and central regions are subtropical, whereas the south is tropical and the mountainous regions are temperate.[102] The average rainfall is 2,600 millimetres (100 inches) per year for the island proper; the rainy season is concurrent with the onset of the summer East Asian Monsoon in May and June.[103] The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. Typhoons are most common in July, August and September.[103] During the winter (November to March), the northeast experiences steady rain, while the central and southern parts of the island are mostly sunny.
Geology
Main article: Geology of Taiwan
Dabajian Mountain
The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.[104]
The major seismic faults in Taiwan correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On 21 September 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" killed more than 2,400 people. The seismic hazard map for Taiwan by the USGS shows 9/10 of the island as the highest rating (most hazardous).[106]
Political and legal status
Main article: Political status of Taiwan
See also: List of states with limited recognition and Foreign relations of China § International territorial disputes
The political and legal statuses of Taiwan are contentious issues. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that the Republic of China government is illegitimate, referring to it as the "Taiwan Authority" even though current ROC territories have never been controlled by the PRC.[107][108] The ROC has its own constitution, independently elected president and armed forces. It has not formally renounced its claim to the mainland, but ROC government publications have increasingly downplayed it.[109]
Internationally, there is controversy on whether the ROC still exists as a state or a defunct state per international law due to the lack of wide diplomatic recognition. In a poll of Taiwanese aged 20 and older taken by TVBS in March 2009, a majority of 64% opted for the "status quo", while 19% favoured "independence" and 5% favoured "unification".[110]
Relations with the PRC
After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, most countries, notably the countries in the Western Bloc, continued to maintain relations with the ROC. Due to diplomatic pressure, recognition gradually eroded and many countries switched recognition to the PRC in the 1970s. UN Resolution 2758 (25 October 1971) recognized the People's Republic of China as China's sole representative in the United Nations.[122]
The PRC refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes the ROC, and requires all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to make a statement recognizing its claims to Taiwan.[123] As a result, only 19 UN member states and the Holy See maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. The ROC maintains unofficial relations with most countries via de facto embassies and consulates called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO), with branch offices called "Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices" (TECO). Both TECRO and TECO are "unofficial commercial entities" of the ROC in charge of maintaining diplomatic relations, providing consular services (i.e. visa applications), and serving the national interests of the ROC in other countries.[124]
On 16 December 2015, the Obama administration announced a deal to sell $1.83 billion worth of arms to the armed forces of the ROC.[128][129] China's foreign ministry had expressed its disapproval for the sales and issued the US a "stern warning", saying it would hurt China–US relations.[130]
Participation in international events and organizations
See also: Foreign relations of Taiwan § Relation with International organizations
The ROC was a founding member of the United Nations, and held the seat of China on the Security Council and other UN bodies until 1971, when it was expelled by Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. Each year since 1992, the ROC has petitioned the UN for entry, but its applications have not made it past committee.[131]
A white symbol in shape of a five petal flower ringed by a blue and a red line. In its centre stands a circular symbol depicting a white sun on a blue background. The five Olympic circles (blue, yellow, black, green and red) stand below it.
The flag used by Taiwan at the Olympic Games, where it competes as "Chinese Taipei" (中華台北).
Due to its limited international recognition, the Republic of China is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, represented by a government-funded organization, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) under the name "Taiwan".[132][133]
Also due to its One China policy, the PRC only participates in international organizations where the ROC is not recognized as a sovereign country. Most member states, including the United States, do not wish to discuss the issue of the ROC's political status for fear of souring diplomatic ties with the PRC.[134] However, both the US and Japan publicly support the ROC's bid for membership in the World Health Organization as an observer.[135] However, though the ROC sought to participate in the WHO since 1997,[136][137] their efforts were blocked by the PRC until 2010, when they were invited as observers to attend the World Health Assembly, under the name "Chinese Taipei".[138]
Due to PRC pressure, the ROC is forced to use the name "Chinese Taipei" in international events, such as the Olympic Games, where the PRC is also a party.[139] The ROC is typically barred from using its national anthem and national flag in international events due to PRC pressure; ROC spectators attending events such as the Olympics are often barred from bringing ROC flags into venues.[140] Taiwan also participates in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (since 1991) and the World Trade Organization (since 2002) under the name "Chinese Taipei". The ROC is able to participate as "China" in organizations that the PRC does not participate in, such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Opinions within Taiwan
See also: Taiwan independence and Chinese Unification
The Democratic Progressive Party, the largest Pan-Green party, officially seeks independence, but in practice also supports the status quo because its members and the public would not accept the risk of provoking the PRC.[143][144]
On 27 September 2017, Taiwanese premier William Lai said that he was a “political worker who advocates Taiwan independence”, but that as Taiwan was an independent country called the Republic of China, it had no need to declare independence.[146] The relationship with the PRC and the related issues of Taiwanese independence and Chinese unification continue to dominate politics.[147]
Government and politics
Main articles: Government of the Republic of China and Politics of the Republic of China
See also: Elections in Taiwan and Human rights in Taiwan
蔡英文官方元首肖像照.png 賴清德市長.jpg
Tsai Ing-wen
President William Lai Premier
The first line of defence against invasion by the PRC is the ROC's own armed forces. Current ROC military doctrine is to hold out against an invasion or blockade until the US military responds.[195] There is, however, no guarantee in the Taiwan Relations Act or any other treaty that the United States will defend Taiwan, even in the event of invasion.[196] The joint declaration on security between the US and Japan signed in 1996 may imply that Japan would be involved in any response. However, Japan has refused to stipulate whether the "area surrounding Japan" mentioned in the pact includes Taiwan, and the precise purpose of the pact is unclear.[197] The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) may mean that other US allies, such as Australia, could theoretically be involved.[198] In practice, the risk of losing economic ties with China may prevent Australia from taking action.[199] The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Chile, and Peru conduct maritime exercises in the Pacific Ocean every two years called RIMPAC. They are conducted to promote stability and to be able to respond in case of an armed conflict in the region – that includes an invasion of Taiwan by China.[200]
Administrative divisions
Since 1949, the government has made some changes in the area under its control. Taipei became a special municipality in 1967 and Kaohsiung in 1979. The two provincial governments were "streamlined", with their functions transferred to the central government (Fujian in 1956 and Taiwan in 1998).[204] In 2010, New Taipei, Taichung and Tainan were upgraded to special municipalities. And in 2014, Taoyuan County was also upgraded to Taoyuan special municipality. This brought the top-level divisions to their current state:[205]
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Division
type Special municipality
(直轄市 zhíxiáshì) (6) Mountain Indigenous District
(原住民區 yuánzhùmín qū) (6) Urban Village
(里 lǐ) Neighborhood
(鄰 lín)
District
(區 qū) (164)
Province
(省 shěng) (2)
(Streamlined) City
(市 shì) (3)
County
(縣 xiàn) (13) County-controlled city
(縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) (14)
Urban Township
(鎮 zhèn) (38)
Rural Township
(鄉 xiāng) (122) Rural Village
(村 cūn)
Mountain Indigenous Township
(山地鄉 shāndì xiāng) (24)
Total 22 368 7,851 147,785
Fiery Skippers ( Hylephila phyleus) in mating position, amongst Clasping Heliotrope (Heliotropium amplexicaule), 8/4/2024, The Landings Sparrow Field, Skidaway Island, Savannah, Ga.
Female is atop!
Back when position-light signals still stood along the NS Pittsburgh Line, a westbound coal train with the Valley Girl fourth out passes through Summerhill on a beautiful spring afternoon.
I played around with positioning of the sun with several shots, wanting to make good use of flare and light streaming. I thought I was going to like the shots with the sun in the upper left corner, but I actually like this one best, with just the light streaming in from the left.
Highest Explore Position #307 ~ On September Thirteenth 2008.
Prairie Dog - Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent, England - Sunday August 10th 2008.
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This lil guy is dedicated to my two great flickr chums Cherish ~ www.flickr.com/photos/cherishlovespink/ ~ and Robert ~ www.flickr.com/photos/robert_hoge/ ~ , who are currently having job worries.....Chin up guys...as it's says above every cloud has a silver lining, I am sure you will both go on to bigger and better things....good luck with the future my flickr chums...sending you both {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}
Explored :: position 316 on Thursday, Jan 26, 2012
♥ o ♥ o ♥ Huge thanks to all of you wonderful friends for your comments and favs! ♥ o ♥ o ♥
♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ Thank you all so much for your kind visits and comments! Apologies if I cannot always reciprocate ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥
When I don’t have enough time to prepare a fancy dessert, this is one of my favourite choices! An Asian meal requires lots of prep (lots of ingredients which need chopping, roasting, portioning in small bowls, etc). Making meringue for dessert is ideal since you can get on with other things both while making and baking it. Then, before you start cooking the main meal, just trim some fresh fruit, steep with spirits, whip some cream with and flavour with the same spirits, then layer. Decorate with sprigs of fresh herbs such as mint for an impressive-looking but easy dessert! ( visit my gourmet webzine to find out how to make Perfect Meringues)
I had some exceptionally sweet strawberries for this time of year, so I used Cointreau, a French orange liqueur. Along with the liqueur, I also added a little brown sugar to the whipped cream. It was the perfect finale to my Asian meal of Pot Sticker Dumplings to start, followed by Vietnamese-style Lemongrass Chicken , Chinese Curried Prawn Noodles, and steamed Chinese vegetables.
Highest Position in Explore #321 on June 27, 2009. Thank You!
West Point Lighthouse marks the north end of Elliot Bay which leads into Seattle. I was at this location back in March when the sun was setting further south. This is when I met my Flickr friend Jason (surrealize). We were both shooting pictures, Jason with his nice DSLR and I with my "Point and Click." He introduced me to HDR photography. When he posted his capture of the lighthouse, I was blown away and "INSTANTLY" outgrew my "Point and Click" camera!
So now the sun is setting as far north on it's path through the sky, hence not as interesting a shot to the south. There were about 30 other photogs positioning themselves for the sunset which was spectacular. Supposedly even more spectacular, 20 minutes earlier, as I was informed by a fellow photog. I was happy to see that there will be major restoration being performed to the exterior and interior of this lighthouse. The exterior should be completed by November. Point No Point Lighthouse is a twin of this one and is located north of Kingston on the Kitsap peninsula.
Pennsy position light signals still guard East Crest, the end of double-track on NS's Fort Wayne Line, the former PRR main to Chicago.
We spent a couple hours in Crestline this day, but unfortunately never got to see a train split the signals. My understanding is traffic is way down on the line these days.
Crestline, OH
January 14th, 2022
APRA HARBOR, Guam (Sept. 24, 2015) The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) maneuvers into position to moor alongside the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) to complete repair maintenance actions. Emory S. Land is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender on an extended deployment conducting coordinated tended moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zachary A. Kreitzer/Released)
Oklahoma Brown Tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi) reared up into its defnesive position. They detect vibrations of things that might be close and in this case it was me that bent down to photograph this spider straight on. Image taken in the Comanche National Grassland of Colorado.
Lesson 39, part 1. Drawn from a reference. The bottom left one took about 1hr 12min. I didn't record how long the other ones took. These are old drawings I finally finished.
[ E x p l o r e d ] [ Best Position #292 ] on 27 Sep, 2010.
Place : Dhaka Cantonment.
Camera : D90.
Date : 09 Jun, 2010.
Please don't use this image anywhere without my permission.
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