Hommage à Doisneau
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ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
Detail of the roof from one of guard houses (the Dōshin-bansho, 同心番所, to be precise) which once guarded the old palace in Tokyo - then known as Edo.
Photography has clarity in the same way that language has. A word is precise, but its meaning can change based on the words around it: think tank, tank top :-)
Jason Fulford
the "lights" on all of the beachfront homes are not lights, but are reflections of the sun upon the windows
sunset, atlantic beach, north carolina
Small lake south of Primrose on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. A totally random beautiful place along the road from Anchorage to Seward - which has lots and lots of beautiful places. Geotag is perfectly precise, however.
perhaps ignorance, credulity—helps your enjoyment of these things, and of the sentiment of feather'd, wooded, river, or marine Nature generally :-)
Walt Whitman, "Birds—And a Caution," Specimen Days
HMM! HPPT! Truth Matters!
sasanqua camellia, 'Green 99-031', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
Morning glory at Banff's Two Jack Lake with the sun's early rays lighting up Mt. Rundle.
Located on the Minnewanka Loop. Two Jack Lake lies between Johnson Lake and the largest man made lake in the park, Minnewanka, It was named after Jack Stanley, who operated a boat concession on lake Minnewanka at one time, and Jack Watters, who worked for the mines in Bankhead, a town which flourished at the base of Cascade Mountain just after the turn of the century. While their precise relationship is uncertain, the pair must have frequented the shore of the waters which were named after them. In any given season, a drive along the loop past Johnson, Two Jack and Lake Minnewanka is sure to make a lasting impression.
Enjoy a wonderful Sunday evening and week ahead!
It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy :-)
Henri Cartier-Bresson
HBW! Justice Matters! No one is above the law!
prunus mume, japanese flowering apricot, 'Tama', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
To be precise : in 6 weeks I will be standing at exactly this place to watch the waves. Blavand, Jylland, Denmark
Because we're talking about holiday memories, I'll go right back to the beginning of my Slovenia tour, to Bled to be precise.
I don't think I've ever photographed a subject as often in such a short time as the island with the church in the middle of Lake Bled. I was only here for two days and still there are at least 5 versions of this picture. And since I'm only counting the versions that were made from the shore. The conditions were constantly changing and so every time I looked at the lake the sight was completely different and beautiful again. So, of course, I had to capture all of these different faces.
Here, it's easy to see that it's dusk and besides the fact that a light just came on here and there (that's why I'm here), I'm standing under an umbrella in the pouring rain and trying to operate the camera with one hand. As you can see, I did quite well.
Weil wir gerade bei Urlaubserinnerungen sind gehe ich gleich nochmal zurück zum Anfrang meiner Slowenien Tour, genauer gesagt nach Bled.
Ich glaube, ich hab noch nie ein Motiv in so kurzer Zeit so oft fotografiert wie die Insel mit der Kirche in der Mitte des Bleder Sees. Ich war nur zwei Tage hier und trotzdem gibt es mindestens 5 Versionen dieses Bildes. Und da zähle ich nur die Versionen, die vom Ufer aus gemacht wurden. Die Bedingungen waren ständig im Wandel und so war der Anblick, jedesmal wenn ich auf den See geblickt habe, völlig verändert und wieder anders schön. Also musste ich diese unterschiedlichen Gesichter natürlich alle festhalten.
Hier, das ist unschwer zu erkennen, ist gerade Abenddämmerung und neben der Tatsache, dass gerade hier und da ein Licht anging (darum bin ich hier) stehe ich gerade im strömenden Regen unter einem Schirm und versuche mit einer Hand die Kamera zu bedienen. Was mir, wie man sehen kann, ganz gut gelungen ist.
Explored October 18, 2022
"Berlin" Gold, to be precise – which is made of chromium-nickel steel. This is the famous "Berlin" sculpture on Berlin-Charlottenburg boulevard Tauentzien. It was created in 1987 by artist couple Martin Matschinsky and Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff, and erected for the "Skulpturenboulevard" (sculpture boulevard) exhibition, a temporary exhibition in public space (of Berlin-West) of seven large sculptures/installations on the occasion of Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987 and in connection with the Capital of Culture Year 1988. The intertwined, yet separated steel pipes of "Berlin" were meant to symbolize the situation of the city that, back in 1987, was still divided by the Berlin wall.
Unlike the other sculptures, "Berlin" was bought by the Senate of Berlin after the end of the exhibition, and is permanently installed on Tauentzien's centre strip. There are several more chromium-nickel steel pipe sculptures created by Matschinsky-Denninghoff in Berlin (and other cities in Germany). The sculpture "Dreiheit" (Trinity), which I've photographed as well (and which I'll probably upload soon as well), can be found in front of the Berlinische Galerie in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
The building in the lower right corner is the Europa-Center, a building complex built between 1963 and 1965. Europa-Center's high-rise tower with the rotating Mercedes-Benz star on the roof was, for many years, West Berlin's highest building and also quickly became one of West Berlin's landmarks. Today, the entire building complex is heritage protected.
Berliner Gold
... Das, strengenommen, aus Chromnickelstahl in Gestalt der Skulptur "Berlin" besteht. Diese berühmte, aus ineinander verschlungenen, aber dennoch voneinander getrennten Röhren bestehende Skulptur, die die damals noch bestehende Berliner Teilung symbolisiert(e), wurde 1987 vom Künstlerehepaar Matschinsky-Denninghoff erschaffen. Die Erstausstellung erfolgte im Rahmen des "Skulpturenboulevards", einer Ausstellung mit sieben Groß-Skulpturen/-Installationen im öffentlichen Raum West-Berlins anlässlich Berlins 750. Geburtstag 1987 und der Kulturhauptstadt 1988. Anders als die anderen Skulpturen des Skulpturenboulevards wurde "Berlin" vom Berliner Senat erworben und ist permanent auf dem Mittelstreifen des Tauentziens in der City-West zu sehen.
Es gibt, nicht nur in Berlin, sondern auch in anderen deutschen Städten, noch weitere von Matschinsky-Denninghoff geschaffene Stahlskulpturen. Eine davon, die ich ebenfalls fotografiert habe (das Foto werde ich vermutlich demnächst auch hochladen), die Skulptur "Dreiheit", ist vor der Berlinischen Galerie in Berlin-Kreuzberg zu finden.
Das Gebäude rechts "unten" ist der Turm des Europa-Centers. Das Europa-Center besteht nicht nur aus dem Hochhaus, sondern auch aus einem Einkaufszentrum am Breitscheidplatz. Das Hochaus des Europa-Centers war lange Zeit West-Berlins höchstes Gebäude und avancierte, nicht zuletzt wegen des weithin sichtbaren, rotierenden Mercedes-Sterns auf dem Dach, schnell zu einem Wahrzeichen der geteilten Stadt. Der zwischen 1963 und *65 errichtete Gebäudekomplex steht heute unter Denkmalschutz.
"Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry."
- Gustave Flaubert
“The geometry of the things around us creates coincidences, intersections.”
- Erri De Luca
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Thanks to all for 12,000.000+ views and kind comments ... !
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
it’s precise, lightning-like, clean cut, brilliant, alert :-)
Beaumont Newhall
Ukraine Matters! PeaceNow!
oakleaf hydrangea, j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
Suite à une erreur de mise en ligne d'hier corrigée aujourd'hui,je remets les commentaires exacts.
🇫🇷Nous voici sur la terrasse de notre location pour cette 2° semaine de vacances en Corse, plus précisément Tiuccia qui est une station balnéaire de Corse-du-Sud, dépendant de la commune de Casaglione et située à une vingtaine de kilomètres d'Ajaccio, sur la route de Calvi (par la côte), au fond du golfe de Sagone.
Elle est bâtie au pied du rocher de Capraghja (Carpraja), où demeurent quelques vestiges des fondations du château des comtes de Cinarca, et d'où l'on domine la totalité du golfe, jusqu'à Cargèse.
Le site est bordé au nord par le Monte Lazzu (100 m). Dans son prolongement en direction de la mer se trouvent également les ruines de deux anciennes fortifications génoises, la tour du Capigliolu (XVIe siècle) et un fortin (XVIIe siècle/XVIIIe siècle).
🇬🇧 Here we are on the terrace of our rental for this 2° week holiday in Corsica, more precisely Tiuccia which is a seaside resort of Corsica-du-Sud, dependent on the commune of Casaglione and located about twenty kilometers from Ajaccio, on the road to Calvi (by the coast), at the bottom of the Gulf of Sagone.
It is built at the foot of the rock of Capraghja (Carpraja), where remains of the foundations of the castle of the counts of Cinarca, and from where one dominates the entire gulf, up to Cargèse.
The site is bordered to the north by the Monte Lazzu (100 m). In its extension towards the sea are also the ruins of two ancient Genoese fortifications, the tower of Capigliolu (16th century) and a fortin (17th century/18th century).
Look at that precise balance! Wing goes right, part of tail feathers move left, perhaps without thought.
You know how when you think, oh, what the heck, I'll just try this, and it almost turns out to be identifiable? The hummingbird continued to examine me and didn't seem to mind the macro lens. I cropped this a tad.
Identification welcomed. Not trying for an award with these photos. Just having goose-bump interactions ;-)
Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) female/juvenile perhaps.
The Shrine of the Báb is a structure in Haifa, Israel where the remains of the Báb, founder of the Bábí Faith and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh in the Bahá'í Faith, have been buried; it is considered to be the second holiest place on Earth for Bahá'ís, after the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre. Its precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Bahá'u'lláh himself to his eldest son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, in 1891. `Abdu'l-Bahá planned the structure, which was designed and completed several years later by his grandson, Shoghi Effendi.
Crowning the design, as anticipated by `Abdu'l-Bahá, is a dome, which is set on an 18-windowed drum. That, in turn, is mounted on an octagon, a feature suggested by Shoghi Effendi. An arcade surrounds the stone edifice. A restoration project of the exterior and interior of the shrine started in 2008 and was completed in April 2011.
🇫🇷Nous voici sur la terrasse de notre location pour cette 2° semaine de vacances en Corse, plus précisément Tiuccia qui est une station balnéaire de Corse-du-Sud, dépendant de la commune de Casaglione et située à une vingtaine de kilomètres d'Ajaccio, sur la route de Calvi (par la côte), au fond du golfe de Sagone.
Elle est bâtie au pied du rocher de Capraghja (Carpraja), où demeurent quelques vestiges des fondations du château des comtes de Cinarca, et d'où l'on domine la totalité du golfe, jusqu'à Cargèse.
Le site est bordé au nord par le Monte Lazzu (100 m). Dans son prolongement en direction de la mer se trouvent également les ruines de deux anciennes fortifications génoises, la tour du Capigliolu (XVIe siècle) et un fortin (XVIIe siècle/XVIIIe siècle).
🇬🇧 Here we are on the terrace of our rental for this 2° week holiday in Corsica, more precisely Tiuccia which is a seaside resort of Corsica-du-Sud, dependent on the commune of Casaglione and located about twenty kilometers from Ajaccio, on the road to Calvi (by the coast), at the bottom of the Gulf of Sagone.
It is built at the foot of the rock of Capraghja (Carpraja), where remains of the foundations of the castle of the counts of Cinarca, and from where one dominates the entire gulf, up to Cargèse.
The site is bordered to the north by the Monte Lazzu (100 m). In its extension towards the sea are also the ruins of two ancient Genoese fortifications, the tower of Capigliolu (16th century) and a fortin (17th century/18th century).
Rachmaninoff :
Elegie Op. 3
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTUxrPJfpqk
Gluck-Sgambati, Melody
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XQ6tjxuJ6g
Gluck's Melody by Hambourg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8bXrgXlE0
Gluck's Melody by Felicja Blumental
www.youtube.com/watch?v=csp8yB21udA&list=RDcsp8yB21ud...
Gluck's Melody by Guiomar Novaes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=io-7CqUkuPI&list=RDcsp8yB21ud...
Alexander SILOTI was taught first by Scriabin's piano teacher, Nikolai Zverev, followed by Rubinstein, Taneyev ( counterpoint ) and Tchaikovsky ( harmony ) at the Moscow Conservatoire. He moved on to become one of Liszt's pupils from 1883 & the editor of Tchaikovsky's two piano concertos.
"In the turn of the century, it was Siloti ( who tutored his cousin Rachmaninoff ) who was a much more famous pianist, and a much more highly regarded one than Rachmaninoff: Rachmaninoff was considered precise and over perfect and Siloti had more charm and sentimentality. This distinction would align Siloti in style more with such players as Paderewski, de Pachmann et al; Rachmaninoff's more with the later Hofmann and Lhevinne." The Siloti student Bernardo Segall is quoted as saying, "he played from the heart--direct, with great simplicity and nobility and a beautiful singing tone."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6TCZH8uA0&list=RDiMzfRsHgHg...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQi3jE5qsSk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YNg99UuIFo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMTzhdtMn0A
Emil Von SAUER, Liszt's successor, noted for his aristocratic approach to music-making, with lashings of charm, elegance and style backed up by phenomenal technique.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdt04xPdm8g
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTC0kIodTrY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxThSO4ZNY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiXc81SP05Q
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJfnBY00JuM&list=RD4C4lOthOZb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C4lOthOZbI&list=RD4C4lOthOZb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxThSO4ZNY
Alexander Brailowsky
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhPAPLJTmYc
*
Martha on Horowitz
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXPkSeY_zVg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZm7OW3ufbc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ELwCdgGQLQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1FmDleuzk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz26IpXtIT4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ifupYBjRo
Segovia:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRz3AQx21y8
Narciso Yepes, Fernando Sor 24 Etudes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCLpbaaRRA
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; "Wiegenlied"; Richard Strauss
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0IWiRJ_44
Ferruccio Tagliavini:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ywUv0rs4k
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhFUpO6AFxc
Francis Planté
The same pair as in yesterday's shot but ten minutes later. 07.38 am to be precise. Their wings have warmed up by then but they are not particularly flighty and on the wing. The perfect time to get a shot on a warm day like this. Another great time is early evening as they settle and crawl down the long grasses which they also tend to do if its windy.
I was able to kneel and lean on one elbow to steady myself and get some of that beautiful blue sky in shot. I must say they are fairly acrobatic and got into many precarious looking positions to accomplish their driving force...The perpetuation of the species which in this particular area are thriving. Sadly the weather went downhill and the wind so bad we saw none for days afterwards...
“Each meeting occurs at the precise moment for which it was meant. Usually, when it will have the greatest impact on our lives.”
― Nadia Scrieva
Blog Post
…… The English Bridge in Shrewsbury to be precise - the Welsh Bridge is the other side of town! Had to go to town to pick up some more timber supplies and took the opportunity to have a quick whizz around town & grab my #308 picture of the day. Thought this made a change from shots from off the bridge which I’ve posted loads of times!! Water levels are up but not enough to give a full flow through this section of the bridge. Alan:-)
For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 133 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...
©Alan Foster.
©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……
Budva. Old Town, Montenegro
The oldest church with the precise date of constructing in Budva is crunch of St. Maria’s. It’s placed in the Old Town of Budva. This is a short Latin inscription in stone about the building of a church in 840.
Today it survives incorporated in the north wall of St. Maria’s, one of the oldest known, accurately dated, medieval inscriptions on the eastern Adriatic coast. It is believed that it refers to the church of St. Maria cited in later written sources. It is not known where the church was located; possibly it was even an adaptation of the diocesan basilica. The small town of Budva did not preserve many records of its appearance in the Middle Ages.
Material remains confirm continuity of habitation in the town. For this period there are the remains of ecclesiastical buildings, and something an be concluded on the basis of the medieval walls.
The precise location of this bird was posted back in December. Would he still be there?
He was.
He was a life bird for us.
I'm posting this months later....
I was impressed with the results from a post processing program.
I wondered if I could spiff up my less than great photos of this exciting and rare birb.
I'll give you the link to David Steidensticker's owl photo.
flic.kr/p/2iPkSWq
Look at the change in the feather detail around the beak.
I'm doing the free trial.
So far the hardest thing has been finding the photo in my files after putting it through processing.
Stay strong, my flickr monkeys.
To be more precise this is Castle Augustusburg in Brühl (sometimes also called Augustusburg palace which sounds more like it looks like) - built as a weekend cottage by the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Clemens August of Bavaria of the Wittelsbach family in the 18th century. The castle is surrounded by extensive gardens and park grounds. From shortly after World War II until 1994, Augustusburg was used as a reception hall for guests of state by the German President, as it is not far from Bonn, which was the capital of Germany at that time.The castle is protected by the international “Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural heritage”. I shot this on a photo safari with my friend during the only hour of good light yesterday.
Sant'Antonio is a giant edifice without a precise architectural style. Over the centuries, it has grown under a variety of different influences as shown by the exterior details.
The new basilica was begun as a single-naved church, like that of St Francis of Assisi, with an apsidal chancel, broad transepts and two square nave bays roofed with hemispherical domes like that of San Marco, Venice. The exterior style is a mixing of mainly Romanesque and Byzantine elements, with some Gothic features.
Later in the 13th century, the aisles were added in a more Gothic style, the length of each nave bay being divided into two aisle bays with pointed arches and quadripartite vaults.
The eastern apse was also extended in the Gothic style, receiving a ribbed vault and nine radiating chapels in the French manner. Later also, the Treasury chapel was built in 1691 in the Baroque style by Filippo Parodi, a pupil of Bernini.
The domes, like the domes of St. Mark's Basilica, were raised in height externally, giving a Byzantine appearance to the building, while the multitude of small belfries which accompany the domes recall Turkish minarets. Externally, at the main roof line each section of the building is marked by a low gable decorated with blind arcading in brick. These gables combine with the domes, the broad buttresses and the little towers to create a massive sculptural form, both diverse and unified in its conglomeration of features. As a work of architecture the building is particularly effective when viewed from the north west,] an extra dimension being added to the facade by the huge plinth and dynamic equestrian monument of the Condottiero Gattamelata by Donatello.
The precise location of this bird was posted back in December. Would he still be there?
He was.
A few curious folks stopped to watch the spectacular bird drop to the ground and then pop back onto a perch.
A brief flash of bright red on a grey day in LA.
#MacroMonday
#unusualpatterns
Weather forecast on a knife blade. On a Damascus steel knife blade, to be precise. Not what I initially had in mind, but that so often is the case when it's one of the "MM themes of the 1000 possibilities". Usually, for such a wide theme, I only have a few vague ideas what I could do for it, and the end result is pretty much a random surprise of what looks, firstly, most interesting through the macro lens, and, secondly, best as a photo, of course. Also, what is easy when it's not asked for - such as finding interesting patterns - becomes nearly impossible when it's required: patterns positively seemed to escape me as I went looking for them around the apartment ;-) And when I saw the knife in the kitchen (I hadn't even considered it as a possibility) I just thought "OK, that's probably very boring, but I'll give it a try." As for the "macro lens surprise", that was that not only did the banding typical for Damascus steel looked like waves (often an intended effect, but I only learned about that when I did my research on Damascus steel for the description and the tags), but those scratches from sharpening the knife that you can see in the upper part of the image also looked like heavy rain. And here it was, unfolding before my eyes: the high seas tempest.
The setup for the photo was as simple as it gets: I simply propped the knife, sharp side of the blade up, against a jar of sugar (my photo studio also doubles as breakfast and dinner table), both of it sitting on top of a heavy book to give it the same height as my camera on its small table top tripod, positioned one LED lamp (warm light) at the side of the table and grabbed my LED torch (cold light) to illuminate the blade from above (which also added the ever so slight 3D effect on the upper part of the blade), enabled the in-camera focus-stacking function, and hit the shutter button. I shot three focus stacking sequences of different parts of the knife of which this looked best.
Processing steps: The cold / warm light effect is something I get quite often when I use different light sources as above mentioned. It even works with one artificial light source (provided it gives warm light) and daylight from the window. Here I liked the split tone effect very much because I think it adds more depth to image. I wish I could have achieved the vivid colours you see here entirely by the use of light and the use of a colour filter (warm-cold or a combination of a cooling and a warming filter), but I've only recently considered to buy a few photo filters to improve my landscape photography, and since a good filter is expensive, I think I will buy one or two more versatile filters first before checking out the more exotic colour filters. So the colour enhancement here was done in Lightroom, where I tweaked the saturation and luminance of the blue, yellow and orange tones, and then in Nik's Color Efex, where, as final touch, I applied a Bi-color filter. I hope that these processing steps are deemed OK according to the new MM rules regarding the editing of an MM shot. I also did some sharpening and de-noising in Topaz Sharpen AI ("Focus" yielded the best result).
HMM, Everyone, and have a beautiful and safe week ahead!
Seen up close, the flower reveals a precise geometry where color, texture, and form meet in balance. Soft gradients of pink and coral draw the eye inward toward the quiet architecture of the stamens.
at the moment when he, the photographer, meets the reality he wishes to capture.
Brassai
HGGT! Ukraine Matters!
opuntia, spineless prickly pear cactus, 'Ellisiana' j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
To be more precise this is a tulip votive candle holder but that doesn’t fit in the title well… grin
Looking Close on Friday
ANSH scavenger20 my vice
(Used to love spending much time post processing pictures- I found it calming and rewarding! )
Here is another view of the beautiful Zhangjiajie National Park. This one was taken from the Cable Car at the north of the Wulingyuan entrance on the second day of our visit. The frustrating thing is that the level of mist was just perfect at this precise altitude. I am very happy to have taken this shot, because at the Cablecar station and all arround the pathways, everything was just ... white.
So we wandered for hours under the heavy rain (you can notice it if you zoom : the noise is vertical) , and the only worthy photo was this one ...
* Another landscape from the Lofoten Islands in Arctic Norway . I cannot be precise exactly where this was taken . We were basically driving around the Islands on almost deserted roads for three days . Every time that we said Wow which was quite often I stopped the car got out and took a shot or two .
Its certainly the most unspoilt area I have ever visited I don’t think we saw anything that wasn’t beautiful for the three days .
I remember listening to a radio programme many years before I went to Norway. They were interviewing Sandi Toksvig on her travel experiences . I remember the final question was if you could only visit one more place in your life where would it be she replied the Lofoten Islands . I guess it sowed a seed in my brain as Ms Toksvig seemed to have travelled throughout the world
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
©dragonflydreams88
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, a black rabbit to be precise, and rabbit's are a sign of longevity, peace, and prosperity so this is looking like it will be a year of hope and fruitfulness
Effective Seal: The precise, flat, and circular surface of the rim provides a consistent "sealing surface" or "land" that the bottle cap can crimp onto securely, ensuring an airtight and liquid-tight seal. This is especially crucial for carbonated beverages, as the seal must contain the high internal pressure (which can reach up to 90 psi in some sparkling beverages) and prevent the gas from escaping.
Structural Integrity: A round shape is inherently strong and efficient at distributing pressure evenly. Sharp corners or alternative shapes (like square) create stress points that are prone to breaking under pressure or impact. The rounded rim and neck design help manage forces encountered during bottling, shipping, and handling.
From super-simple prokaryote cells to faster-than-light travel across the universe, there lies a series of steps. It begins with the creation of the Solar System. The precise kind of stable star, the placing of gas giants in exactly the right spot, the abundance of warmth and organics and water. These are the settings for life, and they've played out in the same way for billions of other Earth-like planets in our galaxy alone.
So why are there no signs of intelligent life strewed across and buzzing between these fertile lands?
According to the Great Filter theory - they've all come, had a go and failed. The idea bids a filter is some inevitable challenge baked into the cosmos, so great that it prevents life from ever advancing to the point that it can interact across or explore the universe. If the theory is right, and this mysterious phenomenon does indeed lie somewhere ahead of us, as it did for our little green fallen brethren, humanities long-run prospects look kinda bleak. But what if we've already faced and conquered this so-called filter? The first few billion years of life on Earth wasn't exactly easy going.
Ok sure, space does seem a little light on traffic at the moment, but who's to say out there in all that serenity, other intergalactic civilisations aren't at a similar point on the timeline as us? Perhaps they're even before us, still chasing their sabre-toothed tigers with spears and no GPS, and us humble earthlings are indeed the most advanced species of the lot. Or they are ahead of us, and maybe, just maybe, there is no great impassable filter, just a really big universe that's simply too enormous for us, or E.T., to ever stop by for a visit.
Lagoon Nebula (also known as M8 or NGC 6523), is around 4,077 light-years from Earth. What do you think? Beyond the filter or just too far away from this point forth, and for the rest of time?
Re-imaged with an additional five hours of data added to the previous attempt.
•Light frames: 144 x 180sec (captured over three nights)
•Flats frames: x65
•Dark frames: 60 x 180sec
•Bias frames: x75
An accurate astronomical observatory.
Like other platforms on the island, including the lone moai of the Ahu Huri a Urenga, the Ahu Akivi was built following a precise astronomical orientation. In this way they controlled the change of seasons and the most appropriate times for agricultural tasks.
In Akivi the axis of the platform was oriented from north to south, getting the faces of the moai look exactly at the point where the sun sets during the equinox of the austral spring (September 21st) and their backs face the sun of the dawn during the autumn equinox (March 21st).
***
The best time to visit and take pictures is at sunset, which is when the setting sun illuminates the seven statues and highlights their features.
***
The legend of the seven explorers:
In the recent literature on Akivi, the seven statues of the platform are related with the seven young people who were sent to explore the island before its first colonization by King Hotu Matu’a.
A legend says that Hau Maka, the priest of Hotu Matu’a had a dream in which his soul flew across the ocean when he sighted the island. Next, he sent seven explorers sailing through the sea to locate the island, study its conditions and the best area to disembark.
Although the idea that the legend was remembered in stone is attractive, it seems that it can not be true. The moai statues belong to a quite late sculptural period, after the year 1440 AD and historians consider the hypothesis that the first settlers arrived on the island towards the fifth century, so they rule out a possible relationship between both facts.
The restoration that boosted Rapa Nui:
Ahu Akivi was the first ahu to be restored after a small group of islanders, at the request of Thor Heyerdahl, erected the statue of the Ahu Ature Huki on the beach of Anakena in 1956. As a member of that Norwegian expedition was the American anthropologist William Mulloy, who from then on would devote a large part of his life to studying the mysteries of Easter Island.
The reconstruction work in Ahu Akivi began in March 1960 and continued until October of that year. William Mulloy and his Chilean colleague Gonzalo Figueroa worked with an archeologic team of 25 Rapanui people in various phases of excavation and reconstruction. This was the first serious archaeological excavation and the first complete restoration of a ceremonial site in Rapa Nui.
The works were done with hardly any material means, they only used wooden poles, stones and a pair of oxen. But with perseverance, ingenuity and effort they achieved their goal. To raise and place the first moai, they used a stone ramp and two large wooden levers. This operation took a month. However, after perfecting the technique and with the experience gained, it took less than a week to raise the seventh statue.
When the work was finished, Father Sebastian Englert himself gave the blessing at a very emotional opening ceremony. After 150 years the islanders could observe again several moai standing on an ahu.
The restoration of Ahu Akivi is considered a turning point in Rapa Nui. From that moment, other works of restoration of more platforms began. The Ahu Akivi was followed by the ahu of Hanga Kio’e, Tahai, Anakena and Tongariki. The ancient platforms regained their former glory and the small and remote Easter Island attracted the attention of other researchers and travelers. And what is more important, it unleashed a true cultural renaissance, an economic development and a renewed sense of pride in being Rapanui.