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Oh my little précises baby …..So you had to find out the hard way…..Love hurts ….So very much…..And now look at you with your heart all broken……But now sweetheart, Mother is by your side ….Now Come ….. Let me wipe away you’re heartbroken tears …. And ease your mind Billie Jean…… I too have had my heart broken, and like you….I thought it would never heal …..But soon …pretty soon…You will start to feel better…..As I did……. And yes there will be other favourite toys that you will have……that heads don’t fall off when you are playing with them…..Now…. will look and see what Di has done ….Why she has darned teddy head right back on..<3 <3 <3 …..So let’s see the BJ smile again …..xxxx
Primavera, is a large panel painting in tempera paint by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli made in the late 1470s or early 1480s (datings vary). It has been described as "one of the most written about, and most controversial paintings in the world", and also "one of the most popular paintings in Western art".
The painting depicts a group of figures from classical mythology in a garden, but no story has been found that brings this particular group together. Most critics agree that the painting is an allegory based on the lush growth of Spring, but accounts of any precise meaning vary, though many involve the Renaissance Neoplatonism which then fascinated intellectual circles in Florence. The subject was first described as Primavera by the art historian Giorgio Vasari who saw it at Villa Castello, just outside Florence, by 1550.
Although the two are now known not to be a pair, the painting is inevitably discussed with Botticelli's other very large mythological painting, The Birth of Venus, also in the Uffizi. They are among the most famous paintings in the world, and icons of the Italian Renaissance; of the two, the Birth is even better known than the Primavera. As depictions of subjects from classical mythology on a very large scale, they were virtually unprecedented in Western art since classical antiquity.
The history of the painting is not certainly known; it may have been commissioned by one of the Medici family, but the certainty of its commission is unknown. It draws from a number of classical and Renaissance literary sources, including the works of the Ancient Roman poet Ovid and, less certainly, Lucretius, and may also allude to a poem by Poliziano, the Medici house poet who may have helped Botticelli devise the composition. Since 1919 the painting has been part of the collection of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
The painting features six female figures and two male, along with a cupid, in an orange grove. The movement of the composition is from right to left, so following that direction the standard identification of the figures is: at far right "Zephyrus, the biting wind of March, kidnaps and possesses the nymph Chloris, whom he later marries and transforms into a deity; she becomes the goddess of Spring, eternal bearer of life, and is scattering roses on the ground." Chloris the nymph overlaps Flora, the goddess she transforms into.
In the centre (but not exactly so) and somewhat set back from the other figures stands Venus, a red-draped woman in blue. Like the flower-gatherer, she returns the viewer's gaze. The trees behind her form a broken arch to draw the eye. In the air above her a blindfolded Cupid aims his bow to the left. On the left of the painting the Three Graces, a group of three females also in diaphanous white, join hands in a dance. At the extreme left Mercury, clothed in red with a sword and a helmet, raises his caduceus or wooden rod towards some wispy gray clouds.
The interactions between the figures are enigmatic. Zephyrus and Chloris are looking at each other. Flora and Venus look out at the viewer, the Cupid is blindfolded, and Mercury has turned his back on the others, and looks up at the clouds. The central Grace looks towards him, while the other two seem to look at each other. Flora's smile was very unusual in painting at this date.
The pastoral scenery is elaborate. There are 500 identified plant species depicted in the painting, with about 190 different flowers, of which at least 130 can be specifically identified. The overall appearance, and size, of the painting is similar to that of the millefleur ("thousand flower") Flemish tapestries that were popular decorations for palaces at the time.
These tapestries had not caught up by the 1480s with the artistic developments of the Italian Renaissance, and the composition of the painting has aspects that belong to this still Gothic style. The figures are spread in a rough line across the front of the picture space, "set side by side like pearls on a string". It is now known that in the setting for which the painting was designed the bottom was about at eye level, or slightly above it, partly explaining "the gently rising plane" on which the figures stand.
The feet of Venus are considerably higher than those of the others, showing she is behind them, but she is at the same scale, if not larger, than the other figures. Overlapping of other figures by Mercury's sword and Chloris' hands shows that they stand slightly in front of the left Grace and Flora respectively, which might not be obvious otherwise, for example from their feet. It has been argued that the flowers do not grow smaller to the rear of the picture space, certainly a feature of the millefleur tapestries.
The costumes of the figures are versions of the dress of contemporary Florence, though the sort of "quasi-theatrical costumes designed for masquerades of the sort that Vasari wrote were invented by Lorenzo de' Medici for civic festivals and tournaments." The lack of an obvious narrative may relate to the world of pageants and tableaux vivants as well as typically static Gothic allegories.
Various interpretations of the figures have been set forth, but it is generally agreed that at least at one level the painting is "an elaborate mythological allegory of the burgeoning fertility of the world." It is thought that Botticelli had help devising the composition of the painting and whatever meanings it was intended to contain, as it appears that the painting reflects a deep knowledge of classical literature and philosophy that Botticelli is unlikely to have possessed. Poliziano is usually thought to have been involved in this, though Marsilio Ficino, another member of Lorenzo de' Medici's circle and a key figure in Renaissance Neoplatonism, has also often been mentioned.
One aspect of the painting is a depiction of the progress of the season of spring, reading from right to left. The wind of early Spring blows on the land and brings forth growth and flowers, presided over by Venus, goddess of April, with at the left Mercury, the god of the month of May in an early Roman calendar, chasing away the last clouds before summer. As well as being part of a sequence over the season, Mercury in dispelling the clouds is acting as the guard of the garden, partly explaining his military dress and his facing out of the picture space. A passage in Virgil's Aeneid describes him clearing the skies with his caduceus. A more positive, Neoplatonist view of the clouds is that they are "the benificent veils through which the splendour of transcendent truth may reach the beholder without destroying him."
Venus presides over the garden – an orange grove (a Medici symbol). It is also the Garden of the Hesperides of classical myth, from which the golden apples used in the Judgement of Paris came; the Hellenistic Greeks had decided that these were citrus fruits, exotic to them. According to Claudian, no clouds were allowed there. Venus stands in front of the dark leaves of a myrtle bush. According to Hesiod, Venus had been born of the sea after the semen of Uranus had fallen upon the waters. Coming ashore in a shell she had clothed her nakedness in myrtle, and so the plant became sacred to her. Venus appears here in her character as a goddess of marriage, clothed and with her hair modestly covered, as married women were expected to appear in public.
The Three Graces are sisters, and traditionally accompany Venus. In classical art (but not literature) they are normally nude, and typically stand still as they hold hands, but the depiction here is very close to one adapting Seneca by Leon Battista Alberti in his De pictura (1435), which Botticelli certainly knew. From the left they are identified by Edgar Wind as Voluptas, Castitas, and Pulchritudo (Pleasure, Chastity and Beauty), though other names are found in mythology, and it is noticeable that many writers, including Lightbown and the Ettlingers, refrain from naming Botticelli's Graces at all.
Botticelli's Pallas and the Centaur (1482) has been proposed as the companion piece to Primavera.
Cupid's arrow is aimed at the middle Grace — Chastity, according to Wind — and the impact of love on chastity, leading to a marriage, features in many interpretations. Chastity looks towards Mercury, and some interpretations, especially those identifying the figures as modelled on actual individuals, see this couple as one to match Chloris and Zephyrus on the other side of the painting.
In a different interpretation the Earthy carnal love represented by Zephyrus to the right is renounced by the central figure of the Graces, who has turned her back to the scene, unconcerned by the threat represented to her by Cupid. Her focus is on Mercury, who himself gazes beyond the canvas at what many believe hung as the companion piece to Primavera: Pallas and the Centaur, in which "love oriented towards knowledge" (embodied by Pallas Athena) proves triumphant over lust (symbolized by the centaur).
The basic identification of the figures is now widely agreed,but in the past other names have sometimes been used for the females on the right, who are two stages of the same person in the usual interpretation. The woman in the flowered dress may be called Primavera (a personification of Spring), with Flora the figure pursued by Zephyrus. One scholar suggested in 2011 that the central figure is not Venus at all, but Persephone.
In addition to its overt meaning, the painting has been interpreted as an illustration of the ideal of Neoplatonic love popularized among the Medicis and their followers by Marsilio Ficino. The Neoplatonic philosophers saw Venus as ruling over both Earthly and divine love and argued that she was the classical equivalent of the Virgin Mary; this is alluded to by the way she is framed in an altar-like setting that is similar to contemporary images of the Virgin Mary. Venus' hand gesture of welcome, probably directed to the viewer, is the same as that used by Mary to the Archangel Gabriel in contemporary paintings of the Annunciation.
Punning allusions to Medici names probably include the golden balls of the oranges, recalling those on the Medici coat of arms, the laurel trees at right, for either Lorenzo, and the flames on the costume of both Mercury (for whom they are a regular attribute) and Venus, which are also an attribute of Saint Laurence (Lorenzo in Italian). Mercury was the god of medicine and "doctors", medici in Italian. Such puns for the Medici, and in Venus and Mars the Vespucci, run through all Botticelli's mythological paintings.
The origin of the painting is unclear. Botticelli was away in Rome for many months in 1481/82, painting in the Sistine Chapel, and suggested dates are in recent years mostly later than this, but still sometimes before. Thinking has been somewhat changed by the publication in 1975 of an inventory from 1499 of the collection of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici.
The 1499 inventory records it hanging in the city palace of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici and his brother Giovanni "Il Popolano". They were the cousins of Lorenzo de' Medici ("Lorenzo il Magnifico"), who was effectively the ruler of Florence, and after their father's early death had been his wards. It hung over a large lettuccio, an elaborate piece of furniture including a raised base, a seat and a backboard, probably topped with a cornice. The bottom of the painting was probably at about the viewer's eye-level, so rather higher than it is hung today.
In the same room was Botticelli's Pallas and the Centaur, and also a large tondo with the Virgin and Child. The tondo is now unidentified, but is a type of painting especially associated with Botticelli. This was given the highest value of the three paintings, at 180 lire. A further inventory of 1503 records that the Primavera had a large white frame.
In the first edition of his Life of Botticelli, published in 1550, Giorgio Vasari said that he had seen this painting, and the Birth of Venus, hanging in the Medici country Villa di Castello. Before the inventory was known it was usually believed that both paintings were made for the villa, probably soon after it was acquired in 1477, either commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco or perhaps given to him by his older cousin and guardian Lorenzo de' Medici. Rather oddly, Vasari says both paintings contained female nudes, which is not strictly the case here.
Most scholars now connect the painting to the marriage of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. Paintings and furniture were often given as presents celebrating weddings. The marriage was on 19 July 1482, but had been postponed after the death of the elder Lorenzo's mother on 25 March. It was originally planned for May. Recent datings tend to prefer the early 1480s, after Botticelli's return from Rome, suggesting it was directly commissioned in connection with this wedding, a view supported by many.
Another older theory, assuming an early date, suggests the older Lorenzo commissioned the portrait to celebrate the birth of his nephew Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (who later became Pope), but changed his mind after the assassination of Giulo's father, his brother Giuliano in 1478, having it instead completed as a wedding gift for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco.
It is frequently suggested that Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco is the model for Mercury in the portrait, and his bride Semiramide represented as Flora (or Venus). In older theories, placing the painting in the 1470s, it was proposed that the model for Venus was Simonetta Vespucci, wife of Marco Vespucci and according to popular legend the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici (who is also sometimes said to have been the model for Mercury); these identifications largely depend on an early date, in the 1470s, as both were dead by 1478. Simonetta was the aunt of Lorenzo's bride Semiramide. Summarizing the many interpretations of the painting, Leopold Ettlinger includes "descending to the ludricous – a Wagnerian pantomime enacted in memory of the murdered Giuliano de' Medici and his beloved Simonetta Vespucci with the Germanic Norns disguised as the Mediterranean Graces."
Whenever this painting and the Birth of Venus were united at Castello, they have remained together ever since. They stayed in Castello until 1815, when they were transferred to the Uffizi. For some years until 1919 they were kept in the Galleria dell'Accademia, another government museum in Florence. Since 1919, it has hung in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. During the Italian campaign of World War Two, the picture was moved to Montegufoni Castle about ten miles south west of Florence to protect it from wartime bombing.
It was returned to the Uffizi Gallery where it remains to the present day. In 1978, the painting was restored.[66] The work has darkened considerably over the course of time
Ulak Tartysh is team riding horse game. It consist in a wrestle for possession of the headless carcass of a goat. The two teams of riders attempt to deliver it across the opposition s goal line, or into the opposition s goal, made with a big tub or a circle marked on the ground.
The goat is 35 kilogs, and the men on the horses carry it with 1 hand!
© Eric Lafforgue
Scan of a slide taken in November 1990; before precising the history of this vehicle, one of the odd traditions of the K&ESR's C&W Department was that Dave Dine cooked a Christmas Dinner for his fellow volunteers. I say odd, because this always seemed a slightly un-Dave thing to do but he made a fair stab at roast turkey with all the trimmings and I recall sometimes some of his work colleagues were invited too. Virtually all of us had to drive so it was a fairly abstemiousness affair (Gordon Young and Pete Carey never returned to 'work' if they had even as much as a half at lunchtime) and although memory plays tricks on me, I think the 1990 venue was this carriage. Also, if memory serves me right the interior was a bit odd, I recall Gordon describing it as a 'Formica Palace'. All would have seemed well in the world of C&W at that point; several Mark Ones were available for general services, the 'Wealden Pullman' wine and dine set had been maintained for yet another profitable season and progress was being made with the Maunsells and the vintage carriages..
This vehicle was built in 1931 at Eastleigh as a restriction '0' Corridor Composite for the restricted gauge Hasting line. It passed into Departmental Stock in 1962 as TDS70155 and arrived at Tenterden in 1990 becoming No. 91 in the K&ESR stock book. Presumably whilst we were scoffing our turkey we assumed this carriage would one day see service on the K&ESR (why else would Paul Ramsden have green lighted the purchase). However, it had move to Robertsbridge by 1995 and suffered fire damage at one end. It has since been reunited with Paul at Rampart Engineering and is most likely currently at Barrow Hill.
To be precise, under the awning covering the side of the bridge, looking at the rows of rivets, holding it together! Processed to deliberately emphasise the grungy textures of the hidden area.
Faith thought some beach images would make a perfect addition to her portfolio, so we cooked up the rather ambitious plan to do a sunrise shoot at the Tybee Island pier.
I used The Photographer's Ephemeris web app to calculate the precise time of sunrise so that I could be set up and ready to go well ahead of that time. With Faith running late we only had about 3 minutes to test my lighting setup before the sun peaked over the horizon. Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pictures until the sun was already a little ways up in the sky, but this was at least close.
The biggest problem with this shoot was the wind. I expected the wind to be constant but relatively gentle, which it was not. It was blowing about 15-20mph throughout the entire shoot. Had it been less windy, I would have had a much larger selection of modifiers at my disposal. However, my least sail-like modifier - the Mola Demi - became my only feasible option (aside from a bare flash).
strobist: 1 White Lightning x3200, camera left, diffused by a Mola Demi beauty dish with opal and PAD reflector gelled with a 1/4 CTS gel. 1 Canon 580EX, camera right, bare, 1/4 CTO gelled. Both monolight and flash triggered via Cybersyncs. Monolight powered via Vagabond II. Setup shot here.
First off, I'm glad this was accepted. And second off, I'm throwing this in as a scene from the future.
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Earth: Home of Peter Quill
Quill landed the ship.
"Ok Groot, Rocket. Time to get off."
"What the hell are we even doing here Quill?" asked Rocket.
"I am Groot?"
"We're here to deliver a message."
Quill took out a photo.
"To be precise, this message."
He handed the photo to Rocket.
"Is that you?"
"Yep. Before I started this whole thing. 5 years ago."
"Shit Quill. Why do you still have this?"
Quill looked at the house.
"That's a good question."
Quill hopped out of the Milano. He walked over to the door, and opened it.
"I am Groot."
"Yes we lock doors on Earth Groot. This one.. doesn't. He doesn't need to."
"And why's that Quill?" asked Rocket in a sarcastic voice.
"He's not a normal man...."
Quill dropped the photo on the ground.
"I am Groot?"
"I'm dropping it on the ground because it will remind him."
"I am Groot?"
"Of us. The Guardians. Remember a few years back when we stopped here? We pretended I was his friend Harry?"
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, great you remember."
"Ya know what else I remember?"
Quill looked at Rocket.
"I thought rodents couldn't remember. It's a disability they have... called, Not Human?"
"Why you......"
Rocket lunged at Quill, but Groot caught him mid air.
"I am Groot."
"Lemme at him! Come on one punch!"
"I... AM....GROOT."
"Yeah. Like the big guy said, no fighting."
"Ya know what I remember Quill?"
Groot put Rocket down.
"I remember you abandoning your crew. People died that day Quill. Don't forget that. The only reason I'm here... is to do good for NOVA Core."
Quill put his hand to his mouth, and then replied, "I know. I know what happened. I knew what was going to happen."
Rocket and Groot looked at each other.
"Then... why the hell did you leave? If you knew you could have helped...."
"Rocket. You don't understand. I can't tell you. If I did... many more would die."
"I am Groot."
"Yeah. We have the right to know." said Rocket.
Quill sat down.
"Alright... don't say I didn't warn you."
Nowhere: 5 years ago
Quill got into the ship. He walked to the front where he saw Cosmo waiting.
"Yo Quill. You ready?"
"Yeah. I'll go get the team."
He looked at a red, slimy object.
"Just... make sure that doesn't go anywhere."
Cosmo nodded, and went back to playing Tetris on the computer screen.
Quill hopped off the Milano. He was proud of his ride. It had gotten them through 204 missions together. Even stopping Thanos at one point. He walked to a door, and put a key card up to it.
"Quill, Peter. Enter."
Quill entered, and went to the training room. There he saw Drax, Vell, and Victory in there. They all were beating each other up.
He opened the door.
"Drax! Stop fighting with you're sister!"
"I'm sorry?" Drax said confused. "She is not related to me."
Vell just laughed.
"It was a joke."
"Ah... I see."
Major Victory got up and walked with Quill.
"They are learning. And well." Victory said.
"And how about yourself?"
"Fine. We're becoming a team.... just like you said we would."
"Alright. Well, we better go and head to the ship. We just got intell on..."
"Quill." Eric was calling his name.
Quill looked at Victory.
"Head to the ship. I'll be there soon."
Victory nodded, and told Drax and Vell to head to the ship. Quill walked towards Eric. Eric was smiling. For some unknown reason he was smiling. A major threat was coming to destroy Zandar, and he was smiling.
"Quill. I need to talk to you."
"Alright, but make it quick. We gotta go."
"I intend to make it quick."
They walked into the office that was once Eric's fathers. He had retired when Quill became the leader of the Guardians. He had said that he was never more proud.
Eric sat down at the desk.
"Quill, I'm going to make this quick."
"Good."
"But... you won't like it."
"Well I usually never do... if you're involved."
Eric straightened himself up.
"Have you ever heard of... blackmail?"
Quill laughed.
"Yeah. It's called credit card companies."
Eric did not laugh. He only smiled.
"Good. So you'll know what I'm about to do."
Quill ceased to laugh. He looked behind him to notice the door was locked, and the camera was off.
"Eric..."
"Listen Quill."
When Quill turned around he could see Eric holding a gun under his desk.
"I know you and I have had it rough. You're past... my future. It's all going to come into play here."
Quill knew he could take the gun from Eric two weeks ago. But now, since he had the full power of Nova... he could do nothing.
"The Guardians are a fantastic team... really they are. I like what you've done to the program. But... there's a bump in the road."
"What bump?"
"See.... you're the problem Quill. I don't like you. I never will. But you can do me a favor. I mean, you are the leader of the Guardians, and practically the Core."
Quill felt his palms getting sweaty.
"What you're going to do is... well, how to I say this." Eric said laughing.
"Just... just say it."
"You're going to kill your team."
Quill just took in those words. Kill you're team. Eric must have been crazy. Why would he want to do that?
"I'm sure you'll succeed. You were an excellent officer."
Quill wondered why. Why did he want him to do this?
"If I don't?"
"I'll make the officers of Nova Core kill every living thing on Zandar."
Eric could do that. With some convincing, he could command and army. He was the leader of the Core.
"Why do you want to me to kill them?"
"See, I don't like you Quill. And if you assembled you're team, they have to go. Good people, but I can't work with them."
"Why would you work with them?"
"Well, I would be the new leader of the Guardians obviously."
"Why?"
"Well, I would have everything. Power, fame, glory. Everything my father gave to you."
Quill was horrified with Eric. Why would he want this?
"I would assemble my team of Guardians. And then you would go to prison, and tortured to death. As you will kill them."
"No... I won't."
"Well then. Let me just announce that..."
"NO! Wait. I'll do it. I'll... do what you want."
"Excellent. Now when you go out to do your mission, just... kill them there."
Quill nodded. There was nothing he could do. He even thought of letting Eric kill him, but there was no point. Eric would have killed the team anyways. Quill could save them though. He was Star Lord after all.
He went back to the Milano. Everyone was on board. Quill climbed to the cockpit. There, Cosmo was waiting for him.
"Ready?"
"Yeah. I need you to help me with something though."
Quill told Cosmo everything. Cosmo demanded they storm into Eric's office and kill him themselves.
"No, that won't do. He would just get the Core Officers on us. I have an idea though. So just here me out."
Quill explained that he would get everyone off the ship before they reached their destinations. They would not be able to got to Zandar or Nowhere anymore. Quill would fly the Milano into the threat, hence destroying the ship, and killing him in the process. Cosmo tried to talk him out of it, but Quill was certain it was the only way. Eric had put a chip in Quill's suit and the Milano, which could view them doing the crime. Good thing it didn't have sound.
Cosmo finally agreed. He put the ship in drive, and started off. Quill was ready to die. He had to be.
When they got to the point of where Quill was going to tell everyone to get off, Cosmo stopped him.
"Lets take them out in groups.. so they won't be alone."
Quill nodded, as Cosmo set them into groups. Vell, Drax, and Victory all went together. Groot, Rocket, Venom and Cosmo were the other group. Cosmo didn't tell them what Eric had said. It was best left alone. Before anyone could do anything a mist started to appear. Adam Warlock had created it. He went up to Quill. The others in the back were almost asleep.
Adam Warlock approached Quill.
"I can read thoughts Peter."
"Well then. Great to know."
"I know you have no choice Peter."
"Yeah. So get in the back with the others and jump off."
"I have a better idea. You're a good man Quill. They'll understand. You need to stay alive."
"Look, Adam, someone has to die."
"Yes. The team."
Quill was shocked. Adam was with Eric. He was going to kill the team. Adam was the sense of right and wrong! And he thought this was right?
"Adam! What are you talking about! They don't have to die.."
"Quill. Please. Trust me."
With that Adam went to Victory. With one thrust, he drove a whole through his heart.
Quill ran to stop him, but it was no use. Adam pushed him out of the way. Quill still kept trying, and eventually got to the release button. He pressed it, and with that, all the members went flying into space. Adam shouted, and grabbed Vell, and Drax. Quill floated towards Adam, and managed to free Vell. He turned on his jetpack and tried to fly away, but Adam used his powers to return Vell to him. Quill stared in horror as Adam drove his fist through her also. He saw the blood come out of her mouth as he did so. Quill started to tear up. The one love of his life. Gone. Then Adam did the same to Drax. Quill dove at Adam, and pushed him back to the ship. He held off Adam, until he knew the other members could not have been harmed. Then, he kicked Adam through the front of the Milano. Quill flew off thinking of what would happen to Zandar.
Earth: Present Day
After Quill had finished explaining, Groot and Rocket were fired up. They were angry, sad, and horrified at the same time.
"I AM GROOT!"
"Yeah what he said!"
"Look, guys... Eric might still plan to do this. So just do what he says. Or the fate of Zandar might be altered."
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Very loooooooonng issue to start with. But I wanted to tell the story of what happened to the other members. So there you have it.
A CROSS marks the precise boundary between the town Kalampaka and the village Kastraki, Greece. The prominent lamdmark is located beneath the rock formation Bádovas in Meteora—one of UNESCO world heritage sites.
The Holy Symbol also defines a clear-cut boundary between Truth (pictorially represented by Clarity) and Propaganda (represented by Distortion):
In the fine art shot, the only clear part is the Cross and the Cross alone, because it represents truth, faith and heavens; the farther away from the Cross the surroundings are, the more distorted they get by a hell-like VORTEX of lies, deceit and sin.
Deceit, propaganda and lies lead to a Breakdown in communication. The latter is HELL (defined as the state of lack of communication or the state of being distanced); so, hell should be thought as a “state of being” rather than as a place. The Cross symbolizes sacrifice—the Almighty God’s power to “deliver us from evil.”
+ ✞
This clock is in Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. It stopped at 11:02, the precise time the bomb hit the city.
Details of the jaw of a crocodile (a Gharial to be precise), photographed in the Prague zoo (taken inside).
Prompt: Use Image 1 as the Base image. Perform a precise, natural-looking edit while preserving all unmentioned elements exactly as in the original, including the child’s identity and likeness, facial features, clothing colors and style, pose, environment, props, lighting mood, painterly illustration style, composition, camera angle, and background setting. Replace the existing puppy on the left with a realistic West Highland White Terrier puppy (small, fluffy white coat, dark nose and eyes), positioned naturally on the same spot with correct scale, grounding, and soft contact shadows matching the scene lighting. Add an additional salt-and-pepper Schnauzer puppy (gray and white wiry coat, distinct eyebrows and beard) near the girl, integrated as a second puppy without crowding, with believable posture and eye line. Modify the little girl’s hair so it is long blonde hair flowing down naturally, maintaining her age, facial likeness, and pouting mood; pouting facial expression. Ensure seamless blending: consistent lighting direction, color harmony, texture fidelity, and painterly finish with no halos or cutout artifacts at 200% zoom.
This digital fine art was created using OpenAI Sora AI and Photoshop
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the tallest of the bell towers ringing the Moscow Kremlin complex, with a total height of 81 meter. It was built for the Dormition, Archangel and Annunciation cathedrals, which do not have their own belfries, and is said to mark Moscow's precise geographic centre.
From 1329, Moscow's first stone bell tower stood on this site, affiliated with the Church of St. Ivan of the Ladder-under-the Bell, hence the name "Ivan" in the title.
Following the death of Ivan III (Ivan the Great) in 1505, his son Vasily III ordered new tower as a monument to honor his father. From 1505 to 1508, the new bell tower was erected next to the church on the foundation of the old tower, which gave it its name. At first, it had 2 belfries on different levels, but in 1600 on the orders of Boris Godunov it was raised to its present height. Until the building of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, it was the tallest building in old Moscow, and it was forbidden to put up any building in Moscow which was taller than the Bell Tower.
There's a popular yet disputable legend, that when Napoleon captured Moscow in 1812, he heard that the cross on the central dome of the Annunciation Cathedral had been cast in solid gold, and immediately gave orders that it should be taken down. But he confused the cathedral with the Ivan the Great Bell Tower which only had a gilded iron cross. This cross resisted all attempts of French equipment and engineers to remove it from the tower. It was only after a Russian peasant volunteered to climb up to the dome that the cross was lowered on a rope. When he went up to Napoleon seeking a reward, the latter had him shot out of hand as a traitor to his fatherland.
Ivan the Great Bell Tower adjoins the Assumption Belfry, which was built between 1523 and 1543 by the Italian immigrant architect Petrok Maly Fryazin (who converted to Orthodox Christianity and settled in Russia). It contains the Great Assumption Bell which was cast in the mid-19th century by Zavyalov, and it is the biggest of all the Kremlin bells. This ensemble contains 24 large bells.
HDR made from three handheld shots, AEB -2, 0 +2. Equipment: Canon EOS 500D and EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. Processed with Photomatix Pro 4.0, Photoshop Elements 7.0, Topaz Adjust 4 and Noise Ninja.
Please don't use my photos without my permission!
Oskar Schlemmer, (born September 4, 1888, Stuttgart, Germany—died April 13, 1943, Baden-Baden, Germany), German painter, sculptor, choreographer, and designer known for his abstract yet precise paintings of the human form as well as for his avant-garde ballet productions.
Schlemmer was exposed to design theory at a young age as an apprentice in a marquetry workshop. He took classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Stuttgart, and a scholarship allowed him to further his studies at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Art (1906–10). He spent a year in Berlin painting and familiarizing himself with new trends in art by artists associated with the Der Sturm Gallery. He then returned to Stuttgart in 1912 and became a master student of abstract artist Adolf Hölzel.
Schlemmer was wounded in action while serving in World War I and returned to Stuttgart in 1916. In 1919 he helped spearhead a movement to modernize the curriculum at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Art—which also involved a staunch effort to have Paul Klee appointed to the faculty there—and, more generally, to bring modern art exhibitions to Stuttgart. He was integral to organizing early exhibitions, which featured his own work as well as that of Klee, Willi Baumeister, and others.
In 1920 Schlemmer married Helena (“Tut”) Tutein, and that same year Walter Gropius invited him to the Bauhaus school in Weimar to teach. There he made significant contributions to numerous departments (sculpture, mural painting, metal work, and life drawing) but truly left his mark in the stage workshop. For that workshop he created his best-known work, Das triadisches Ballett (1922; “The Triadic Ballet”)—a ballet that he choreographed and for which he designed costumes. He named it “Triadic” to reflect the three acts, three dancers, and three colours (one for each act). The costumes he designed—based on cylinder, sphere, cone, and spiral shapes—were revolutionary. That ballet premiered in Stuttgart in 1922 and was then presented throughout the 1920s in cities such as Weimar, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, and Paris. Schlemmer served as head of the stage workshop at the Bauhaus from 1923 to 1929. His experience with dance influenced his paintings, which began to incorporate more depth and volume, as seen in The Dancer (1923). Schlemmer developed the Bauhaus theatre in Dessau—where the school had relocated in 1925—and was involved in the design process of many theatrical productions.
Throughout the 1920s Schlemmer was commissioned to paint several murals in both private residences, such as the home of architect Adolf Meyer (1924), and public spaces, such as the former Bauhaus in Weimar (1923), which the Nazis destroyed in 1930, and the Folkwang Museum in Essen (1928–30), which the Nazis vandalized, dismantled, and removed in 1933. Schlemmer left the Bauhaus in 1929.
From the Bauhaus, Schlemmer moved to Breslau, where he continued to work in theatre and teach (State Art Academy). He also continued to paint, and in 1932 he created his well-known work Bauhaus Stairway. Without warning the Nazi regime dismissed him from his teaching position in 1933. Schlemmer moved to Switzerland for a brief time with his wife and children and painted portraits and landscapes.
The last decade of Schlemmer’s life was marred by the Nazi dictatorship and defamation of his life’s work. In 1937 five of his works were included in the Nazi-organized “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich. He continued to exhibit his work when possible and participated in major exhibitions in London and New York City in 1938. Schlemmer was reunited with Baumeister and other artists in 1940 when he moved to Wuppertal, Germany, where he earned a living by working at a lacquer factory. He died of a heart attack three years later. Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet was revived on a number of occasions in the late 20th century and was performed with the original, restored costumes. Those costumes, however, were the only original elements remaining. The music and choreography associated with Schlemmer’s production were lost. A volume of his diaries and letters edited by his wife was published in 1972; an English translation by Krishna Winston was issued in 1990.
I have loaded this photograph for two resons: first it is Park's of Hamilton 40th anniversary and second, there are not that many photos on flickr showing the shorten Y series for 8-metre (to be precise 8.2-metre) bodywork. Now for the history lesson: Bedford was once one of the major players in the bus, coach and truck industry, producing vehicles at not only a rapid rate, but in guises to suit all applications. That's a bit of a corny line, agreed, but nevertheless true. The Bedford Y series mid-engined single-deck bus/coach chassis range was launched in September 1970, with the YRQ. At first the YRQ was powered by the Bedford 466 cu in engine mated to a Turner gearbox. In 1974, the Turner box was replaced with a Eaton box shared with the YRT. In the autumn of 1975 the Y series was up-graded with the new Bedford 500 engine, thus the YRQ became the YLQ and the YRT became the YMT. Towards the end of the seventies, Bedford offered a shorten version of the YLQ for 8-metre bodywork. This conversion was carried out by Tricentrol Chassis Developments of Dunstable, who was also a dealer and operator. During the latter part of 1980 Bedford launched the YNT, which was powered by the Blue Series turbocharged engine. The YLQ and YMT had the option of a de-rated version of the Blue Series engine, with a none-turbo version as standard, thus the YLQ, became the YMQ. Then in 1982, with the introduction of the VIN identification for vehicles, Bedford could no longer use the letter Q, thus the YMQ, became the YMP. A year later both the YMP and YMT both used the Blue Series engine as standard, rated at 175bhp. During 1985, Bedford built 20 shorten YMPs in-house, which replaced the Tricentrol conversions. During 1971, a 21 year old Scot, called Douglas Park, took over his Farther's coach company- Park's Thistle Coaches, which was founded in 1949. The new company was named Park's of Hamlton, with their famous black livery , which was carried over from Park's Thistle Coaches. The fleet was a mixture of Bedfords and Fords. Park's purchased their first Volvo B58 coaches in 1973. During the rst of the seventies, a mixture of heavyweight and lightweight coaches would be purchased each year: AEC, Bristol, Ford, Leyland and Volvo. During the early part of 1987, Park's purchased three Plaxton Paramount 3200 bodied shorten YMPs, these were the last Bedfords purchased by Park's of Hamilton. I understand that they were bought for use on the Irish tours under contract to Contiki. I caught up with two out of the three Park's short YMPs in April 1988. The location is Lowther Street in Carlisle, the Border City. These 8-metre midi-coaches (C35F) had 175bhp on tap, so would be very nippy to drive. These three Park's YMPs were part of the 20 shorten YMP chassis converted in-house by Bedford. I have just found a copy of Coaching Journal and Bus Review dated August 1974, which features a road-test of a Panorama Elite III YRQ. The vehicle was fitted with the option of a two speed rear axle at a extra cost of £147, the total cost of the coach was £10,275. At the end of the 108 mile test, the coach had returned 12.4mpg.
Got the diamond appliques made up and am working on the precise layout. How is it looking? Please say if you don't like it because they're probably going to get stitched down this evening!
ESA’s ultra-precise deep-space navigation technique – Delta-DOR – tells us where spacecraft are, accurate to within a few hundred metres, even at a distance of 100 000 000 km.
In order to navigate a spacecraft around our Solar System we have to know how far away it is, how fast it is travelling and in what direction. Each of these steps are explained in this new infographic, "How not to lose a spacecraft".
Credits: ESA
Toute aide pour une identification précise serait appréciée.
Any help for identification will be much appreciated.
Buddy seems to be a very German male red squirrel. It appears she is checking if that branch has grown vertically plumb and horizontal 😂 (Squirrels-2019-9155.jpg)
Don’t you just hate it when boneheaded drivers take their half down the middle? With as much sky as there is up there, how does such a thing as this happen? Practice, practice, practice. This is the Blue Angels doing what they do best at the Naval Air Station Oceana Air Show… being precise! Otherwise, this could result in a quantum consequence… two such objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
I’ve had a few folks who have asked me how I get shots like this. The answer: practice, practice, practice… sort of. Shooting at air shows is just fun, though it’s not like shooting a bucolic landscape from a tripod. “Bucolic.” Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall… then look up “Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall.” Confusing, isn’t it. Well, so was shooting images like this. After so many failed shots in terms of clarity, I had an epiphany. Apart from all the available modes to dial into a modern camera, they also have custom modes. My Canon has C1, C2, and C3. I have C1 set up in TV mode. That doesn’t mean television, but rather time value… shutter speed. I set it to 1/4000 of a second (C2 and C3 are set up for slower aircraft). The camera determines the ISO and f/stop to make that shutter speed work out to give me a crisp, sharp image. While that may make some images ‘noisy’ in the digital realm, DxO PureRAW 3, Adobe Camera RAW, On1, and Topaz are available to clean it up and bring out the detail. There is one last issue: set the camera to shoot at high-speed continuous. Here’s where practice comes in handy: tracking your subject with a heavy lens. I tracked the F/A-18E Super Hornet moving left to right. Here’s where practice doesn’t do one bit of good: before the aircraft close near, push the shutter release, continue to track, and hope for the best. This is about as best as best can get. And, yes, I’m happy about it.
Bessacarr meeting venue and confirm precise address details, use the interactive map on the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church UK “Our Locations” page.
Typical Weekly Service Times
Gospel preaching – Sunday at 17:15
Bible meeting – Tuesday at 19:15
The PBCC is a global Christian community of just over 55,000 members, founded around 200 years ago by John Nelson Darby. Members live in ordinary homes across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean, running businesses, volunteering locally, and contributing to their neighbourhood economies
This is the corner gas station in Atlin British Columbia. To be more precise, it's really the only gas station in Atlin proper. There is a commercial station just outside of town but for everyday drivers, this is largely it. For years this place was called "Pine Tree Services." Now I think it's "The Mountain Shack and Grizzly Gas Station." It is also the site of one of the town's telephone boxes. Thankfully, Atlin is a place that refuses to be dragged into the world of wireless. There are no cell towers within a hundred kilometres of this village, and Internet speeds, for those who have a connection, aren't exactly stellar. Here, life is lived amongst the trees, on the streets, and in the corner café, rather than in some virtual approximation of all that. People still stop and chat. They wave to you when they pass in their cars, and everyone talks to everyone about everything face to face. It's refreshing and reassuring for a guy who is approaching his sixtieth year to know that there are still places like Atlin in the world.
The building featured here is also a little restaurant. It's where people go for a coffee after Church on Sunday, or where they meet up on a weekday morning. Finally, if you need a tire changed, there is an automotive repair shop here too. Of course for me, one of its best features is the colourful and cheery paintjob. It sure makes a nice subject when the sun is coming up in the morning."
This photo was taken on a Sunday Morning with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro. Post processing and raw conversion was performed in DxO PhotoLab 5.5.x.
Drago had to rescue mr. Duck from imminent drowning... And of course this required a precise jump with a belly flop and lots of splashing
No worries everyone survived this ordeal... Drago is a professional superhero by night, so he's had plenty of practice
Just one artery, to be precise. This image is inspired by the incredible work of my friend @DanielKHC, who is well known as the ultimate master of breathtaking cityscapes (including Dubai). Even this title is shamelessly borrowed form him.
Of course, I can come nowhere near his image quality (this was taken by an older small-sensor camera, whereas he uses the ultimate full-frames), neither his editing precision - I impatiently 'paint with a broad brush' while he takes time to meticulously blend multiple shots into a single and perfect masterpiece. Neither do I talk security guards into letting me to the very top of the tallest towers - this was from my hotel balcony...
Yet I picked a Dubai photo from the archives after I saw his last transportation-themed piece, in an attempt to emulate the evening colours and feel, if not detail and precision. Next time I promise to take my phone with me and do better than this :)
View larger on black - press 'L' or click the image.
The Lord Nelson bar to be precise, although, as a young school leaver, I harboured aspirations to enter the legal profession, either that or journalism.
Alas, a lack of O Levels and the equal lack of inclination to re-sit exams, ensured those two avenues were closed off forever.
A quick glance at today’s weary condition of those two professions fills me with relief that things turned out the way they did.
Print has kept me gainfully employed for all but 6 months of my working life and although it wasn’t the road to riches it proved sufficient for me to raise four kids and pay my way without resort to ‘benefits’.
None of which bears any relevance to the pic...apart from the fact my modest income allows for a weekly, relaxing tour of a couple of city bars.
Many mysteries continue to surround the pleasure palace of Jal Mahal. It is known to be about 300 years old, but its precise date of construction remains undiscovered. Eminent historians Vibhuti Sachdev and Giles Tillotson write in Building Jaipur: The making of an Indian City, ‘Though sometimes dated as late as 1775, it is likely that this was constructed by Sawai Jai Singh II, around 1734.’ . But little else is known about this palace with no chambers ─ just a pavilion with a terrace garden, built in the Rajasthani tradition of ‘island resorts’ or ‘water palaces’ where royal families would seek their ‘pleasure’.
Was this where the queen regent and her entourage lingered on lavish royal picnics? Or where generations of princes hosted duck-hunting parties? Did its corridors echo with music and dance, and the sky light up with elaborate fireworks? What other pleasures partaken at Jal Mahal have escaped recording by chroniclers of the times? Today, as Jal Mahal rediscovers its magic, it transforms into a pavilion of pleasure once again.
The Jal Mahal Jaipur is famous for it's unique architecture and palatial comfort. The tourist density visiting the monument remains high throughout the year but the rainy season of the year suits the best for a visit here. The lake gets the maximum water level during the rains and it further adds to the view which is simply mesmerizing. Jal Mahal gets you feel the luxury enjoyed by the kings.
Face Book Page - WBK Photography - © Kannan Muthuraman - 2015
Out of tens of thousands of photos this shot is one of my very favorites. What you see before you is the absolute precise moment these two lovebirds called an end to the romance, well at least the precise moment this 500-600 lb boar called an end to the romance!
She was crowding him, he had started to eat again, boars stop eating during the mating month, and I knew that once he had started to eat again the end was not far off.
So she crowded him once to often and what you have before you is the precise moment he let out a deafening roar(just as loud as any African lion)and just like that the affair was ended, you can almost see the shock in her gaze.......
RM 1217 at Seven Sisters on 27 December 1980. The precise location is the Broad Lane crew changeover point for westbound 41`s and it looks to be an unattended bus awaiting a crew.
A location I knew well from my time as a conductor on the 41`s a few years before this picture was taken. Around 5pm there was a shift change at the huge Gestetner factory nearby. The exodus from which could fill a bus at the previous stop and many of the workers knew to avoid a certain running number around that time as it would be a crew change bus. The next bus was scheduled so close behind that they knew it would almost certainly overtake the previous one!
The milk float was once such a familiar sight all over the UK but they seemed to just disappear in a way that nobody noticed so catching one on film recalls a bit of social history. Improbable really that they hung on well into the supermarket age offering just a few products that could be so easily picked up along with other shopping. Their demise was inevitable.
On April 30, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed Comet ISON again. The comet is in the upper middle, showing the long tail. Various galaxies and stars appear behind it.
In this image, Hubble trained its telescope on the stars instead of following the comet. The result is that the comet appears fuzzier, but the stars and galaxies are more detailed and precise. These dimmer features don't pop out if the camera is moving, following along with ISON. To see them, you really need to dwell in one place until they emerge from the noise.
Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA
--------
More details on Comet ISON:
Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.
Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago.
NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed.
The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether.
This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact.
The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.
ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Chapter 7
The Daring Kind
She must have been able to read the discomfort in his eyes, assuming her actions had left her lover speechless.
She appeared happy to accept that for an answer and backed away, still smiling smugly, towards the staircase.
The diamond dangling from the coronet was still flashing its Morse code-like flickers, tapping the message to him that signalled, come get me!
Happily, she tapped his cheek, then turned and disappeared back around the corner with a swish of her gown, trilled affectionately to ‘Gaston” as she did…
“A most welcome home darling Gaston!”
He then heard her say merrily from her hiding spot...
“You have till the count of 25 luv , so get a move on”.
He stood there, jaw opened wide beneath his mask, his eyes had watched as her gown had wispily whipped around the corner behind her, whilst listening as she was giggling quite excitedly to herself at her cleverness!
He just didn't know what to think.
So of course, He obediently followed her directions.
“Bloody “ell” he muttered, thinking, had he just had fallen into a cat thief’s wildest dream!
He opened the door to the green satin wrapped damsel’s bedroom, and pulling out his torch, lit its pencil-thin beam.
Wishing only now that only the real Gaston didn’t decide to show his mug and spoil all the fun!
Once Inside, the torchlight quickly found her oak jewel case on the mantel of an old stained oaken dresser.
The high case matched the dresser and drawers below it perfectly, and it appeared that it was all uniquely Chippendale!
It sat across from a matching four-poster, with a sea blue satin coverlet and matching silken sheets.
“Nice of her to point out where her jewels are kept!” He thanked the clueless girl!
He swiftly went over and began opening the many drawers of the jewellery case, or jewellery coffin as some would churlishly call it!
The thin light of his torch lit up a sinfully copious display of jewels, note quite as valuable as the ones discovered in the master bedroom, but it was a damn close race all the same!
He happily began pulling out the drawers and sliding the prettily flickering contents into an already bulging case.
Rudely discarding the empty drawers unceremoniously upon the floor.
The lady he hoped, would appreciate the dedicated “realism “that this’ Gaston’ of her’s was going to put into her play, and he was just the person to make it realistic!
He reckoned this with a rather nefarious smile spreading upon the bearded face, covered by its thin black mask.
At that precise moment, he heard the door creak slowly open….
She was coming in quietly, and soon the lady proved her mettle to be quite the actress!
He heard her gasp behind him as he continued on his work!
“ No, not my jewels, Do anything to me but don’t take my family jewels!”
He turned around to face the damsel, holding the pearl filled final drawer in his thin black-gloved hand.
She stood there with her left hand to her mouth, while her right ringed gloved fingers played with her necklace. The diamonds flickered quite as she held it up!
She then teased, delighted at his captured attention! …
“You want these, do you not Mister Burglar, I can see it in your eyes!”
Looking upon her, he tipped the drawer full of pearls into the black bag, then dropping it empty onto the pile strewn about at his feet.
Then he eagerly, purposefully, moved towards her, lustfully eyeing the pretty victim’s savoury jewels.
She shivered as if she read his mind, that he would take her jewels and flee into the night with them.
But she was not ready to have him do that, so she commanded him in a softly brisk tone…
“Not yet!”
Putting up a nicely ringed finger to indicate he should come no further!
Surprisingly to himself, for he had no real reason to listen, he obediently stopped in his tracks to await her next command.
As it turned out, he was soon very glad he had done so!
Then he eagerly, purposefully, moved towards her, lustfully eyeing the pretty victim’s savoury jewels.
She shivered as if she read his mind, that he would take her jewels and flee into the night with them.
But she was not ready to have him do that, so she commanded him in a softly brisk tone…
“Not yet!”
Putting up a nicely ringed finger to indicate he should come no further!
Surprisingly to himself, for he had no real reason to listen, he obediently stopped in his tracks to await her next command.
As it turned out, he was soon very glad he had done so!
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 8
One must be Methodical
Dropping her hand, she questioned him…
“What have you forgotten to do, my dear thief?”
He stood still, hoping she would just obligingly tell him what to do next.
She happily did so...
“My closet! Gaston your always forgetting any good burglar worth his salt checks a damsel’s closet for brooches and such left on by ladies far too lazy to remove them from one's party frocks. I swear Gaston You would make a horrible burglar in real life. You would positively starve if it were not for being directed by someone like me!”
She chortled at her wit.
He just smiled, thanking her inwardly for being ever so much a big help to her poor Darling ‘Gaston’!
He turned to his right and headed straight to the closet, curious as to what he was expected to find inside?
Opening the door, a long floor length mirror was revealed, allowing one to see into the interior of the bedroom behind him.
Including the reflection of his most helpful victim as she stood there in all her jewelled and tight-fitting emerald satin attired glory!
She keenly watching his progress with an eager interest, as he stole a look at her reflection, muttering happily to himself…
“Best get this over with quickly, then attend to the lady and her finery!”
He turned to look back inside, and was met with a designer like an assortment of colourful dresses, gowns, and other fancy attire!
A quite nice, if not downright beguiling, display of soft velvets, slinky silks, sleek satins, frilled lace, and shiny leather.
He quickly began his task at hand, letting his thinly gloved fingers feel through the wonderfully sleek fabrics for anything hard and metallic.
On one velvet number he felt something like a necklace around its top, he pulled it out, but disappointedly it was a rhinestone collared frock.
He tossed it onto the bed and resumed his search as she could be heard softly giggling behind him...
“Nope, nothing on that one, but don’t quit just yet!
He stole a glance at her from the mirror, then he turned back into working the closet.
The glance revealed that his ‘mentor’ was watching him eagerly, her whole being quivering in anticipation head down to spiky heeled foot!
He fingered a satiny white ruffled blouse, he decided he had better keep tabs on this one, still not sure what exactly her game was all on about?
He muttered to himself…
“They were her jewels after all, weren’t they? Indeed, rather valuable for mere playthings!”
There had to be something inside here!
He thought as he let drop the satin blouse and plunged his gloved hands inside again and felt around.
This time he was rewarded by feeling a slight prick of something solid and sharp.
He pulled out a luxuriously long black satin number and saw it had two ruby clips attached to its bodice.
He held it up to the mirror so she could see.
she clapped gleefully, watching him pull free the ruby clips from the evening gown and casually flipped them into his bag on the floor.
“Well done Gaston!”
He looked up at her, as the slinky black gown was indifferently added to the growing pile on her bed.
He could see by her reflection that she was excitedly eating it up.
Then she suddenly resumed back into her character of being the hapless victim.
And began to miserably plead…
“Please mister burglar don't take everything of mine! I am sure there is nothing more inside!”
He smiled, wondering how she would react when she eventually found out that indeed, she was a hapless victim of her game!?
Turning his attention once again to her closet he moved aside the hangers, revealing a set of shelves set in the back that contained a nice selection of sensible shoes, wedged pumps, glossy spiked heels and designer style purses.
One purse caught his ever-appraising eyes, a small gold clutch with what looked like (and probably was) a diamonded clasp!
He pulled it out and tossed the expensive bugger into the bag.
“Oui , Good eye Gaston! It's almost like you were a real thief.”
She gurgled this, shivering in delight, as her earrings and necklace flickered along with her figure, like uncontrollable wildfires.
He watched the enticing show from her reflection in the handy door length mirror.
Then he turned back to the closet.
For, as he was moving the dresses over to look into the shelves, his eye had caught sight of a black leather jacket with a belt studded by what must have been a thousand rhinestones.
He now pulled it out and searched its pockets, mainly to tease her a bit further, for he imagined that “Gaston” would do such a thing!
So, he was utterly surprised when his gloved fingertips felt something cold and a bit weighty in a side pocket!
He slipped it out and found he was holding a solid gold cigarette case, which he added to the ever-growing collection in his bag!
His “Mentor” trilled as he did so, exclaiming with happy surprise...
“I had wondered where that had gotten off to luv! The matching lighter should be there too!”
He reached back in, and there it was, as well as a small ivory and ebony gold ringed cigarette holder.
Both of which quickly joined their companion in the now bulging bag.
He then pulled off the shimmery belt.
Even with rhinestones, it was worth a pretty penny he reasoned.
As started to pitch it into the case, he heard the Lady helpfully exclaim in the background, a good idea she said excitedly.
“Save that for when you tie me up to take my jewels!”
Shaking his head, why not? he tossed the belt to the helpful lass’s feet…
Thinking he was quite finished with the closet as he held the leather jacket, he for no rhyme or reason, took the time to hang it back up rather than adding it to the pile on the bed.
But It was as he did so that something, a most decidedly not rhinestone something, flashed in the dim lights in the gap that had been made where the leather jacket had hung!
He eagerly reached in and pulled out a lovely long brown, silky soft, liquidly appearing gown.
Holding it up triumphantly, he looked down at the dazzling sparkles of a magnificent gem-encrusted brooch that was suspended from the gown’s wide centre waistline.
“Good show Gaston!”
She exclaimed in the background.
His eyes left the brooch and looked into the mirror at her.
She was clapping, rings and bracelets, earrings and Coronet, the whole lot, erupting into a million pinpricks of fire as she did so!
He felt his manhood rising precariously as he looked her over, feeling the effect, even from this distance, her primitively carnal arousal!
She eagerly continued, spilling her emotions into her words!
“Mon Mari, I was going to tease you later if you were to ‘ave missed that one, and I was sure you were going to!”
“Tsk!” he said to himself. wonder what the teasing part would have entailed!
At the same time his mind was picturing this, he automatically, without taking his eyes off the mirror, pulled off the brooch and nonchalantly pocketing the breathtakingly pretty jewel before throwing the scintillatingly downy soft feeling soft gown onto the shiny pile already laying strewn about the bed.
It flashed through his mind that the fancy dresses strewn about could have been the striplings from that many jewel encrusted maidens, like this one, and what a delightful haul that would have been to carry out!
Savouring those thoughts, he turned once again to focus his attention, on the rather all too helpful Miss, his eyes traveling unabashedly up and down her figure.
Time was a-wasting!
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Chapter 9
Wasting Time?
He eagerly started to move towards her...
“Almost!”
She said with a giggle, her flashily ringed finger raised again, stopping him as he had started to move towards her as she admonished him…
“Not quite yet! You forgot the most important part of burgling a lady’s chamber! “
Again, he stood staring, not quite knowing what the devil this peculiarly eager to be robbed damsel in distress was going on about now!?
But quite recent experience told him it should be to his thieving benefit to take more precious time and hear her out!
So, he stood questioningly waited to hear what the most important part was?
Which she then, quite helpfully, spelled it all out to him…
“You didn't check the lingerie drawer, Gaston! Any real burglar would have done so!”
He observed her winking at him …
“Come along Gaston l, get into your role my darling…!”
He looked at her, smirking to himself…
“Indeed, lady, I will!”
Curiously He turned and looked down upon the drawer in the stand next to her bed.
“No silly, still in the drawer beneath my now pilfered jewel case!”
She was looking down mischievously at the Drawers set in the ancient oak antique Chippendale dresser.
He turned, hesitating…
Should dear Gaston know which one it was?
He decided to just start at the top and began opening them one by one and pray he did not invoke her to start having any doubts as to his true nature!
He went over and started to pull open the top drawer.
She could be heard giggling in the background…
“Moved it on you didn’t I from the last time!? “
Her most welcomed words relived a bit of his anxiety, the gig was still not up, she still hadn’t guessed that he was the real thing, and not some love lost Beau sadly burdened with the moniker of Gaston, of all things!
“Ahh, there you go my darling!”
She said as he opened the next…
The drawer was found to contain, as promised, piles of wispy thin satin and silks, in all colours of a shimmering rainbow! Curious as to what further riches he was meant to find, he greedily swirled the expensive lingerie about, soon finding a pile of glistening silver all carefully laid out on one side.
A silver brush comb and matching mirror, all studded with jewelled handles, and a pair of silver handcuffs!
He lifted the jewelled vanity pieces...
He had once drooled over a similar set discovered in a museum's case!
“Oops, she giggled, forgot those were there, just leave ‘em luv!”
But he continued to place them into the case at his feet and was surprised when she did not protest.
Instead, she said reasonably…
“But of course, they are jewelled, just be careful with ‘em please my darling?”
Buy then he was already curiously looking inside, lifting the handcuffs…
He heard his victim give out a hoarse moan behind him!
The handcuffs and keys he lifted and threw on the satin comforter of the bed, wondering how many times she and her Gaston had put them to use?
He picked up the now quite hefty leather pouch and looked over at his smirking victim.
“Come mister thief!”
She instructed lustfully …
“Finally time to do your worst!”
“With pleasure” he murmured to himself, studying most hypnotic swaying of her long jewelled earrings…
“To all my just gratification, Madam!”
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Chapter 10
Lusting Gratification
He came over from the fancy oak dresser and finally stood before her.
The lady’s head came up to his chin, her pretty face looking up with innocence, into his.
She was smiling most provocatively, one hand still holding the clasp of her cloak, the other resting upon the shimmery brooch pinned onto the cloak over her right breast.
He, for no real reason, found himself wondering if the broach’s placement meant she was left-handed.
“Okay mister burglar, take me broach, I see your eye’ in it!”
For the first time, but not the last, he almost felt sorry for the show that poor Gaston was missing out on, but glad deep down that he, on the other hand, was not!
He reached down and pried her fingers from the brooch, and as he unpinned the precious jewel, she pushed against him so his fingers brushed against a rather perked, notably heaving breast.
Obligingly he allowed his fingers free reign to fondle her tits!
With a deep sigh, she listlessly allowed both her hands to fall to her sides as she leaned into him, her eyes turned upward gazing lustfully at him with her imploring hazel green eyes.
Huskily she murmured…
“That’s it, not too quickly now…”
He unsteadily managed to unfasten the broach, his fingers a bit encumbered by the game she was playing with her body as she leaned in against him.
Pulling it off, his fingers brushing her soft figure, he let the broach plop into the pouch at his feet…
He then reached up and undid the jewelled clasp of her long green satin cape, exposing is silvery lining… and finally revealing the playful lady’s gown as it lay in full glory down along her enticingly Horney diminutive figure!
As well as revealing her remaining ornaments, in all their exquisite glimmering glory!
Tongue-tied in awe; he watched the cape slither down from her arms.
She looked up into his face, lustful eyes sparkling with delight at his unbridled rapture at seeing her...
Though not for a second realizing quite what it was about her that had captured his total drooling interest!
“Cat ‘ave your tongue there laddie?”
She purred, her hazel eyes opening doe wide, offering no quarter as to their needful meaning.
He just let his eyes travel up and down the now fully exposed figure, quickly taking it all in.
He thought with satisfaction …
“The only thing that had more shine than those doe-like eyes were the diamonds that fell ever so dripping, ever so invitingly, from alluring points along down her scintillating figure!”
Her green satin gown was fitted to show off every delightful curve of her figure.
The bodice was not decorated by rhinestones or anything else that would have taken away one’s eyes from the jewels the wearer was sporting.
Those jewels consisted of a brooch equally as magnificent as the one he had plucked from the brown satin gown found hanging in her closet.
Besides, now could be viewed her long wide necklace dripping down to just above her visibly heaving breasts. The fine piece was set with blazing diamonds, smaller round ones surrounding a steady stream of larger egg-shaped ones that matched the one that hung from her forehead.
She smiled at his amazement.
“Gaston, you almost act as you have never seen these before!”
She scolded, while playfully lifted the necklace, letting it flow charmingly through her emerald green satin gloved fingers.
“Or are you really getting into robbing me, you naughty man!”
She let her other hand playfully pat the side of his mask.
For a second, he thought she was going to pull it up to kiss him, thus spoiling the game.
So, he quickly grabbed her by the wrists under the pretense of studying her rings and bracelets, thus successfully diverting her mind away from the thought.
“Ahh mister burglar, you want my pretties, I can tell, do you desire them more them Moi? One can imagine that you do! Quickly now, put yonder chair to use and ensure sure your victim cannot slip away whilst you wrestle the jewels from her very body!”
Liking this game more and more, he quickly fetched over the chair she was indicating.
Happy to oblige, it would make things far easier at the end he thought to himself with a dash of relief!
The chair was another sturdy Chippendale, Victorian-era straight-backed. Its' position, reflection in the closet door he had left open, would allow them both to watch from all angles. Dear Romeo ‘Gaston’ could not have planned it better!
He sat it down behind her and she started to sit.
He grabbed her by the wrists, keeping her upright. He looked into her wide-open eyes, yet she was the one smirking like the cat eyeing the canary in its cage!
“Good Lord he thought wryly. What did you get yourself into mate?”
she asked him sweetly, honey dripping with each syllable.
“What do you have in mind for your victim?”
He briskly turned her around and began to unzip her gown, feeling its slick material, quite luscious even under the thin gloves he wore.
“Good show Gaston!
she chirped in approval…
“Make your victim feel vulnerable!”
She kicked off the gown and it fell in a pile on the carpet, with the brooch on top, sparkling like a lighthouse on top of an Irish island of shimmering green. She was looking up at him, clad only in a scant mint coloured silken slip that hung delightfully tight against her now quite overly perked figure.
She stooped down giving him a purposely good view of her ‘fin arrière’, tightly outlined by her silken thin slip. She reached down and retrieved her cape, covering the cold oak back of the high-backed chair with it and slipped onto it, too fast for him to react.
“Damn! He had planned to nick that pretty cape with its expensively wrought clasp as well!”
“But he reasoned, all is fair in love, games, and theft!”
He went over and undid the satin sash of her green gown, eyeing the brooch, but not taking it...
“Not yet my pretty!”
He said to himself with promise, as he slipped the sash off.
He turned back around, again she was still smirking like the cat that had now caught the canary, though this time it looked like she had bloody thing in her mouth. He looked down at her gloved hands, the bracelets were there, but judging by her now bare fingers, it was not a canary she had sucked into her mouth.
Without letting on to her mischievous game, he went behind her and she quite helpfully placed her gloved hands behind the chair, her fingers beckoning, trying to get him to notice her missing rings. But he had other ideas for that part of her game…
And it did not involve Gaston snogging ‘er to get at em!
He employed the sash by tying her waist to the chair.
He could feel her shiver deliciously from her head to toe, squirming playfully in the chair.
Then in her throes of passion, she almost slipped off the chair, made slicker by the cape upon which she perched, sitting in an equally slippery slip, and he had to catch her and pull her back, feeling her shiver pleasurably as he held her.
Her dangling earrings were flickering like mad throughout the show, beckoning quite invitingly in his face as he was kneeling, causing him to shiver in much the same manner as her.
He then rose and going to the bed picked up the set of the handcuffs. Going back, he held her eyes steady with his, as she tried to come across as if she was imploring him not to do it, the rings hidden in her mouth preventing her to speak out!
As he approached, she kicked off both of her emerald rhinestones covered spiked heels, playfully missing him.
He smiled at her mischievously, going around and handcuffing her wrists together as she squirmed!
Then he came back around, and bent down in front of her, his hand reaching back and snatching up the rhinestone belt from her leather jacket.
He reached down, and taking an ankle in turn, strapped them both securely together!
She was not going anywhere without dragging the chair with her!
He had kept the keys on the bed, she could reach there to undo herself, but he was planning to be long gone before she would manage to accomplished that feat!
She was now ready, bound up the way she was, to be mercilessly stripped of the rest of her jewels!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 11
The Subtle Touch
He went down behind her and she arched back in an attempt to watch what he was up to!
He looked over at their figures image in the mirror, her coronet, necklace, and earrings vividly sparkling in the reflection, like fire on a distant mountain he thought drooling with anticipation…….
He methodically decided to start with her Bracelets….
Holding her left wrist with his left hand, he let his right-hand travel up her squirming figure till he reaches her breast. Cupping it he began to with a slipping motion, massage it through her thin satiny slip.
She curled her figure against her bindings, closed her eyes, and began to whimper and moan lustily, opening her mouth just enough to keep her rings hidden inside!
As his right hand subtly pleaded her breasts, his left hand travelled down to a cuffed diamond bracelet. He began rubbing it up and down her gloved wrist in sync with his right hand, eventually worked it open and slipped it off from around her wrist, tossing it neatly into his pouch.
He repeated the performance on her right wrist as she continued moaning in total satisfaction.
If she noticed her twin bracelets were being removed in the process of having her breasts massaged, she did not appear to care.
Then, playing along with the lady’s game, he fruitlessly felt for her rings, hearing her muffled giggles above him as she squirmed.
“Mmmm,” she said, through gritted teeth not being able to open her mouth due to her rings.
He could see that what she was unable to voice, it was readable in her expression, reflected from the handy mirror!
Then he moved his hands, grasping her by the silken sides of her slip, and began to tickle her mercilessly, she started to uncontrollably giggle, then stated to sputter, finally letting loose with a gasping laugh!
This sent the three sparkling rings she had been holding inside her mouth, spinning out and plopping onto the green silk of her lap, where they slithered down between her knees!
“Dirty Play, Gaston!”
She admonished, snapping her legs closed to hide the rings, tears in her eyes as she laughed out her words…
“That wasn’t how… !
He hushed up her words by quickly plunging his gloved fingers down inside her slip, grasping and kneading her breasts in unison
Her whole being tingling with the exquisite pleasure, made her forget entirely how she had wanted him to play the game with her rings!
But he was now entirely in control of the situation, and she felt her whole figure limply wilt under his command!
He left his right hand inserted down her slip to carry on with the task, subtly extracting his left to then run fingers through her long blonde, luxurious feeling hair, pulling it back behind her head, where it hung down in a gold coloured silken mass!
Figuring if he did, she would lean right back to look up at him!
Which is exactly what she did, playing right into his trick!
Her eyes, though, were still tightly shut, as her focus went off to some erotic location, as she was reeling in the vivid pleasures of her game.
Her green satin gloved fingers tried to adjust her bonds so she could reach back out behind her, and he knew for what and responded appropriately by rising so she could reach her objective.
Then it became his turn to be the one moaning softly through gritted teeth…
He silently thought, while groaning inwardly…
“Easy on the family jewels there, missy!”
“Oh, My Darling Gaston!”
she responded, apparently, hopefully, waiting for a response.
He gave her one, though not verbally…
He leaned against the backside of the chair, getting as close to her as he could!
She began to grope quite furiously and he thought of a monkey he had seen once in the city zoo doing one such number on a banana.
He was also finding it increasingly difficult to keep his mind on the task at hand.
So, he pulled away from her grasp a little, allowing her fingers the barest of touch!
He then gently pulled back her blonde hair, and quickly started caressing her now sweating earlobes, taking advantage of where this lady’s reeling mind was otherwise occupied!
Slowly, carefully stroking up and off, he pulled out the gold hooks attached to her sparkling earrings from each pierced ear.
Freeing both of her lovely long earrings in turn and letting them drop, glimmering into his leather pouch!
He kept on caressing, deeply thrusting his right hand in and along her breasts for several minutes taking precious time with the task as to keep her mind away from what he was accomplishing from behind her trussed up back.
Meanwhile, his left hand moved up into a new position.
Her entire being was squirming, so enraptured and enthralled, that she never even felt him picking up the ends of the thin coronet: lifting oh so carefully, each end of shiny gold braided ends that were woven into her hair, and began gently lifting out each one free!
As he pulled it delicately away, she did not even miss the egg-shaped diamond as it stopped brushing against her sweat glistened brow!
Once he had freed the shimmering piece, he eagerly lifted to admire it!
She broke his trance by purring, opening her eyes as he quickly hid the jewelled coronet!
“Well, my Gaston! I can feel you desire me again, my darling! It has been quite a long time for you also!”
But though she may have felt that something growing between her captor’s legs, she had no inkling that he had been busy lifting her pricey jewelled headpiece!
Nor did she now hear it being dropped in the pouch at her foot!
So, oblivious that her earrings and coronet were gone, the bound, satin slip clad lady, quite seductively began murmuring these words as her fingers continued their gentle free play between his legs.
“You want me don’t you luv!”
She asked this seductively, wistfully as her eyes opened wide and looking up into his, catching him hovering over her, his eyes from the slits in his hood, looking down upon her.
He had stopped fondling her breasts with his right hand and placing that hand on her shoulder was looking down upon her with lust-filled eyes!
But she was entirely misreading the object of his also lustful gaze…
She again closed her eyes with a heavy sigh!
As his eyes went to what he now really wanted from her!
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Chapter 12
The Fondling Theft
He smiled as he looked down upon her throat, watching the diamond and emerald necklace moving up and down in conjunction with her heavy breathing!
For the small fortune in diamonds, dribbling nicely down as her throat was arching back in her ecstasy, was sending a rippling cascading fire of colour from its’ gemstones!
This was, for the most part, the blame for a stiffly obvious condition of his John Thomas!
“Kiss me, Gaston!”
The enraptured miss cried out yearningly at that point.
In her bliss, his victim moved open her knees ever so slightly, uncovering several small glittering objects!
The rings! He had almost forgotten all about them!
Seizing the moment, his hand had delved down, then up in between her legs!
He pried open wider her legs, finding no resistance atoll.
He then obliged her sweet fantasy
As her thoughts of being kissed vanished into the aire in a fit of convulsive ecstasy.
She screeched, her whole figure thrashing against her bindings as the intensity of sparking feeling erupted from the sensitive area he had invaded!
He reached into her lap, his fingers plunging in against her silken slip, scooping the rings inside, inserting two fingers, pushing inside a portion of her slip with the bundle of 3 rings, deep up within her vagina!
Her whole being exploded into enveloping, exquisitely painful jolts of pleasure as her long waiting orgasm took full effect.
He had ardently moved against her and he felt her fingers curling around his manhood, he pulled away quickly before she could cause him some pain from a reflecting grasp!
“Gaston,!” she screamed her eyes closed shut tight in pulsating ecstasy!
He had begun groping about inside her vagina, searching inside the slip he had pushed up for the rings that were laying somewhere there, unseen!
He soon found and scooped out each glittery ring one by one, pushing them deeply up and into her pulsating “Labia Majora”, before pulling them from the now damp silk and tossing them each neatly into his bag.
As he pulled out the last ring, along with her now wet portion of slip, she said, her voice hoarse with expectations,
“Sure you found everything mister burglar Gaston?”
He reached down and randomly pulled up her hairpiece from the top of the glistening pile in his pouch and dropped it down between her legs.
She opened her eyes, looking down
“When did that fall off?”
Forgetting her hands were bound, she had tried to feel up for her hair…
Like she had done with her rings, she firmly clamped her legs tightly over the jewel, extinguishing its flicker as it laid there shimmering brightly!
“Not part of the game, luv… I borrowed that from Lilly, silly! “
She giggles at her rhyme, light-headed from the lingering effects of her prickling arousal and orgasm!
He smirked, thinking!
Hmmm, where is this Lilly, and is she another one wondering about, wearing the good ‘ice’ this evening? But, back to the job at hand!
He bent down and tried to open her knees…
She resisted, struggling against her bindings as she tried to work her hands-free to stop him!
He hoped she was still playing her game, and not having second thoughts about it.
It could make things rather unpleasant!
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Chapter 13
Pleasant Reflections
But apparently, the gig was not up yet!
For an old memory had been invoked back to her conscious mind.
With this thought, she said lustily, her dry throat cracking her words…
“Ah yes, you are right my dear Gaston! Recreating that time in the film we were watching, when a thief lifted some jewels from those ladies at a party, after promising them he was reformed!”
“Yes Gaston, you remembered that game..!”
she said with a sultry gasp, before uttering one last word.
“Except …”
He froze not sure if he should follow-through, not wishing to upset any apple carts of fantasy she was expecting.
Then she went on….
“I should have told you that the Tiara was out of bounds, of course, you wouldn’t ‘ave known it was mine, being absent for so many years…!”
He looked down at her and saw that she was again watching him with some queries.
Was she having some doubts as to what game was being played?
he was curiously wondering?
He removed his hands from her leg!
She sighed happily!
“Thank you, you are a gentleman as well as a thief! Dear sir!”
He then reached up and lifted her necklace, fingering its beckoning lure.
She said nothing...
So apparently, this beauty was still in play!
it was time for the coupe de grace!
He eagerly contemplated as he eyed the magnificent necklace, the last and best piece of his victim's worn jewels.
He again grasped her breasts, fondling them through the silken slip with his right hand.
Whilst his left travelled up her slick backside, reaching the back of her throat, and her necklaces’ jewelled clasp!
Using two gloved fingers, he neatly popped open the clasp and watched as the two ends fell open and hung down over her shoulders.
Curious as to what reaction she would give,
She did not disappoint
She quivered and moaned, then, began choking out the words in quite in a seductive, huskily hoarse-voiced manner.
“Gaston, Mon Mari!”
Her eyes were glazed over, reflected in the mirror, wide open with crazed excitement!
Suddenly an epiphany of an idea enters his head
letting one ned of the necklace noticeably drag up and over her shoulder, he released his hold, with a cascading fiery slither, it fell inside between her heaving breasts.
His right hand still fondling those breasts, he felt the necklace and worked it past so it slipped further down, landing in her lap!
Her diamonded necklace had joined its jewelled mate, the forbidden fruit, the jewelled coronet!
He then did the job properly, feeling along with the outside first, then reaching inside and giving great attention to all of her sweet spots.
Finally reaching the bottom, he again located her clit and began to manipulate it!
“Oh good, lord !”
she exclaimed, pleasurably leaning forward as much as her bindings would allow
As he fondled and groped, going all out to give her already intensely aroused figure as much over stimulation as possible!
Said figure, which had been ratcheting impulsively during the entire performance, now shot straight rigid as his fingers began once again searching the area between her legs!
She let out a piercing squeal as he hit home several times.
And as she closed her eyes tightly with each plunge of his right hands’ fingers finding their mark contorting her figure into exquisite convulsions, he took the opportunity to reach in with his free left hand and grabbed the now unprotected jewels from her lap!
As he pulled her jewels free, she slumped back into the chair, her whole being exhausted from her ecstatic struggles!
He slipped the shimmering strings of diamonds, necklace, and coronet, down on top of their pilfered, glittering mates…
Quite a haul he thought as He looked at her body, eyes clamped shut, still grasping to control her pinnacle reached desires!
She never even noticed that her borrowed headpiece had also been scooped up along with her necklace as he had quickly, unobtrusively also taken it to be deposited inside his bag
He went over to the piled green gown laying on the floor.
Lifting it he carried it over to his victim.
Holding it up he watches as the dazzling brooch was reflected in her, now open, slightly glazed over, doe wide eyes.
He slipped off the jewel, mindlessly pocketing it with the other, as he laid the gown reverently out over her lap.
Her only reaction was to close her eyes and groan happily.
“Okay Gaston you win, she murmured huskily, now untie me!”
“This Gaston did win!
He thought smirking to himself as claimed the now weighty pouch from the floor!
He began to stroll briskly towards the bedroom door exit, preparing himself for when she would realize the truth and start her desperate pleading.
It didn’t take long he heard her exclaim from behind his back before reaching the door…
“Hey, Gaston ! Where do you think you are going, lad?!”
“I said game over, no didn’t I ?!
She must have been looking down, for she began to bleat on like an annoying lost lamb…
“And you give me back that Tiara, it is not supposed to have been part of the game!”
He spoke aloud for the first time, lecturing…
“It is more of a Coronet than a Tiara my sweet!”
The burglar boldly closed the door behind him, distinguishing any further comment from the now indignantly squealing young, distressed Damsel.
He retraced his steps out to the second-floor sitting room’s balcony.
Then made his exiting the way he had come.
Climbing from the ancient wrought iron fire stairs conveniently located down off the second-floor balcony!
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Amber Rix designed brass dice machined by Cybernetic Research Labs. Machined metal is wonderful to see up close, and these dice are precise with their sharp edges and brushed metal facades.
Malte de nuit - ou plus précisément les îles habitées. Les plus petites ne sont pas éclairées puisque personne n'y habite, et elles sont complètement invisibles dans l'obscurité de la Méditerranée. Au sud, le port de Marsaxlokk, brille de mille feux, j’imagine qu’il n’y a pas d’heure pour transborder les conteneurs ?
Malta by night, or at least the inhabited islands. The smaller uninhabited islands have no city lights and so blend in with the Mediterranean at night- except when the moon is full and reflects on the sea, yes I feel poetic tonight. The freeport on the south of the island lights up brightly.
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
532C0405
San Lorenzo Maggiore is a church in Naples, Italy. It is located at the precise geographic center of the historic center of the ancient Greek-Roman city, at the intersection of via San Gregorio Armeno and via dei Tribunali. The name "San Lorenzo" may also refer to the new museum now opened on the premises, as well as to the ancient Roman market beneath the church itself, the Macellum of Naples.
The church's origins derive from the presence of the Franciscan order in Naples during the lifetime of St Francis of Assisi, himself. The site of the present church was to compensate the order for the loss of their earlier church on the grounds where Charles I of Anjou decided to build his new fortress, the Maschio Angioino in the late 13th century.
San Lorenzo actually is a church plus monastery. The new museum takes up the three floors above the courtyard and is given over to the entire history of the area that centers on San Lorenzo, beginning with classical archaeology and progressing to a chart display of historical shipping routes from Naples throughout Magna Grecia and the Roman Empire. The museum provides a detailed account of the local "city hall" that was demolished in order to put up the church in the 13th century and continues up past the Angevin period and into more recent history.
Beneath San Lorenzo, about half of an original Roman market has been excavated.The site has been open since 1992, the result of 25 years of painstaking excavation. The market place is the only large-scale Greek-Roman site excavated in the downtown area.
In this church Boccaccio met his beloved Fiammetta (1338) (Wikipedia)
This sculpture is on top of the Granada City Hall.
The equestrian statue of the precise moment was placed on the middle of the roof. This beautiful sculptural group of polished patina-finished bronze sitting atop the main façade of City Hall was entrusted to Guillermo Pérez Villalta to commemorate the fifth centenary of the Municipal Government of Granada. The piece depicts a horse in motion with three of its legs on golden spheres and a nude rider mounted on the horse’s hind-quarters, wearing a blindfold and holding a fourth sphere in his right hand.
The piece was conceived as a symbol of happiness, representing the achievement of a moment of triumph, of perfect, yet fleeting, balance. A moment you are only aware of when it has already gone by and the blindfold covering our eyes falls. The material execution of the piece was done by sculptor Ramiro Mejías. [From a tour company website]
Le Chrysler Building est un gratte-ciel situé à New York, aux États-Unis, et plus précisément à l’intersection de la Lexington Avenue et de la 42e rue, dans le quartier de Midtown dans l'arrondissement de Manhattan. D'une hauteur de 319 mètres jusqu'à la pointe de sa flèche, il fut la plus haute structure du monde, après la tour Eiffel (324m), en 1930 et 1931, jusqu'à la construction de l'Empire State Building.
En 2005, un sondage du Skyscraper Museum auprès de personnes dont le métier est lié à l'architecture a fait ressortir le Chrysler Building comme étant leur gratte-ciel favori de New York.
La construction du Chrysler Building, supervisée par l'architecte américain William Van Alen, s’est étalée entre 1928 et 1930, l'inauguration ayant eu lieu le 27 mai 1930. Il a été déclaré National Historic Landmark le 8 décembre 1976. Le Chrysler Building a été rénové en 1978, avec la construction d'un hall, composé essentiellement de marbre, d'acier et de granite, semblable à celui de l’Empire State Building. En outre, la flèche a été rénovée en 1995, car l’acier inoxydable avait perdu de son éclat avec le temps. Le bâtiment appartient aujourd’hui à Abu Dhabi Investment Council (75 %) et à Tishman Speyer Properties (25 %).
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building
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The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. At 1,046 feet (319 m), the structure was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is still the tallest brick building in the world, albeit with an internal steel skeleton. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 1,200-foot (365.8 m) Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position. In addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height. Both buildings were then pushed into 4th position, when the under construction One World Trade Center surpassed their height.
The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.
The precise construction date of the first Kaunas Castle is unknown. Archeological data suggests that a stone castle was built on the site during the middle of the 14th century. Situated on an elevated bank near the river junction about 100 kilometers (62 mi) from the capital city of Vilnius, it served as a strategic outpost and guarded nearby cities as well as trade routes.
A written account states that in 1361, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Winrich von Kniprode issued an order to gather information about the castle, specifically the thickness of its walls, as preparation for an assault on the castle. During 1362, Kaunas Castle underwent a siege by the Teutonic Order. The siege of the castle lasted three weeks. During this attack, the Teutonic Knights constructed a siege tower and erected wall-penetration machinery; primitive fire arms might have been used, since gunpowder technology was emerging in Europe. At that time, the castle walls were over 11 meters (36 feet) high, when its firing galleries are factored in. According to Wigand of Marburg, the castle's garrison consisted of about 400 Lithuanian soldiers, commanded by Kęstutis's son Vaidotas. After three weeks, the Knights managed to breach the castle’s walls, and soon afterwards the castle was taken. On Easter Sunday in 1362, the knights conducted a Mass at the castle to commemorate their victory.
Apparently, of the castle's defense force of 400, only 36 survived. Questions remain with regard to the castle's defenders' lack of support from outside during the siege. In any event, Kęstutis soon regained and rebuilt Kaunas Castle, but it remained a point of contention between Lithuanians and Teutonic Knights for many years. In 1384 Kaunas Castle was re-captured by the Teutonic Knights. At this time Grand Master Konrad Zöllner von Rotenstein began reconstruction of Kaunas Castle and renamed it Marienwerder. The presence of the Knights in Kaunas meant that the entire defensive system of castles along the Nemunas was threatened. Confronting this situation, the Lithuanians launched an attack on the castle later the same year.
It seems likely that the Lithuanians mustered an army near Vilnius as a strategic maneuver, since Lithuanians could use the downstream flow of the Neris River to transport artillery and military provisions from Vilnius; the Knights were forced to use overland or upstream transport. During the 1384 assault, the Lithuanians deployed cannons and trebuchets; the besieged Teutonic Knights had also installed cannons in the castle, which apparently destroyed the Lithuanians' trebuchet. Nevertheless, the castle was retaken by the Lithuanians.
After 1398, the Teutonic Knights were no longer able to reconquer the castle. After the Battle of Grunwald, Kaunas Castle lost its strategic military importance and was used as a residence. The castle served administrative purposes after the death of Vytautas the Great. Sigismund Augustus gave this castle to his wife Barbara Radziwill in 1549. During the 16th century, the castle was strengthened and adapted to new defensive purposes by the construction of an artillery bastion near the round tower. The diameter of the bastion was about 40 meters (130 feet) and the height of the bastion's walls was about 12 meters (39 feet); the wall worked in conjunction with a defensive trench. At the bottom of the bastion a firing gallery was installed, which was linked with the tower.
In 1601, Kaunas Castle housed courts and an archive. At some time in 1611, part of the castle was flooded by the Neris River. Due to its convenient location, it was used by the Swedish military during its war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, after which its military functions ceased. In the mid-17th century, large portions of the castle were again flooded. The castle was used as a prison in the 18th century; later the Russian administration granted permission for houses to be built in the castle's territory, which resulted in significant damage to the castle itself.
For many years afterwards, Kaunas Castle stood abandoned. In the 1960s the round tower was opened as a museum, but due to the tower's structural deterioration, the museum was transferred elsewhere.
Photo taken by Herwart Schneider, slide kindly provided for scanning by Theo Kastner from his collection.
München-Riem
June 1988
PH-SFA
Fokker F27-400 Friendship
10294
NLM CityHopper (leased from Schreiner Airways)
PH-SFA was reported at Riem on 25 June 1988, likely the precise date for this shot.
This was the day of the European Football Championship 1988 final match between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union (the Netherlands won 2:0).
A number of football charters from the Netherlands were observed:
KLM A310s PH-AGH and PH-AGI, NLM F28s PH-KFD and PH-SFA, NLM F28s PH-CHB and PH-CHD, Martinair A310 PH-MCB, Royal Netherlands Air Force F27 C-3. (Information from Klaus Mohr’s notes for 1988.)
Information from flickr - thanks to Guido Allieri:
PH-SFA (Fokker F-27-400 c/n 10294) was delivered in February 1966 to ARAMCO as N710A. In September 1986 it was sold to Schreiner Airways as PH-SFA and in May 1987 leased to NLM City Hopper. In February 1992 it was leased to United European Airways as OY-UEZ. In September 1993 the plane was leased in Africa as 5Y-BIP to Regional Air Kenya to be operated on behalf of the UN Organisaton. In March 1994 it returned as PH-SFA to Schreiner Airways and in June 1994 it was sold to Myanma Airways as XY-AEQ. The plane was eventually retired in January 2012 and stored in RGN.
Registration details for this airframe:
www.scramble.nl/database/civil/details/F27_403
This airframe as N710A with ARAMCO at SNN in May 1982:
www.flickr.com/photos/shanair/15778024314
PH-SFA with Schreiner Airways at HAJ in April 1987:
www.flickr.com/photos/digro/46595887054
This airframe as OY-UEZ with United European at MST in May 1992:
PH-SFA with Schreiner Airways at MST in January 1993 (later colours):
www.airhistory.net/photo/152787/PH-SFA
This airframe as 5Y-BIP returned from lease to Air Kenya at MST in March 1994:
www.airhistory.net/photo/177368/5Y-BIP
This airframe as XY-AEQ with Myanma Airways at Yangon-Mingaladon, Myanmar, in December 2005:
cdn.jetphotos.com/full/1/45909_1135879127.jpg
XY-AEQ at Fire Brigade Academy Yangon in October 2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/aeroprints/49836976963
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
Sam Harris has always been a man of precise words and razor-sharp thoughts, his voice carrying the clipped cadence of someone who has spent a lifetime considering each syllable before speaking it aloud. When I photographed him in March of 2016 at Dove Mountain, Arizona, I was struck by his stillness. He has the presence of someone who is not merely thinking, but thinking about thinking, plumbing the depths of consciousness with the same intensity a mountaineer might study a precipice before making the ascent.
Born in 1967, Harris is best known as a neuroscientist, philosopher, and writer who has spent decades interrogating the human condition. He first gained widespread attention with his book The End of Faith (2004), a fierce and unflinching examination of religious belief that won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction. In it, Harris argued against the dangers of dogma with the kind of cool, analytical detachment usually reserved for lab reports, making the case that faith—unchecked and unquestioned—was one of civilization’s great existential threats. The book, written in the wake of September 11th, made him both a hero and a heretic, a role he seemed to accept with the quiet assurance of a man who expected no less.
His intellectual journey has been one of relentless inquiry, unafraid to step into the fray of controversy. Whether tackling free will, artificial intelligence, or the moral implications of neuroscience, Harris approaches each subject with the rigor of a scientist and the tenacity of a trial attorney. His book Free Will (2012) presents a case against the very idea of human volition, arguing that our actions and thoughts are dictated by prior causes beyond our control—a notion as unsettling as it is liberating. He moves easily between philosophy and empirical science, grounding his arguments in the latest research on the brain while never losing sight of their broader implications.
Yet, for all his cerebral intensity, Harris is not without a deep fascination with the subjective, with the inner world of experience. His book Waking Up (2014) is a testament to this—an attempt to reconcile the apparent contradiction between rigorous rationality and the profound states of consciousness explored in meditation. Having spent time in silent retreats, studying under Buddhist teachers, and experimenting with psychedelics, Harris has sought to strip spirituality of its supernatural trappings and ground it in something more defensible: the raw, unfiltered reality of direct experience.
This tension—between the rational and the experiential, the cold precision of science and the warmth of personal insight—is what makes Harris such a compelling figure. His Making Sense podcast, launched in 2013, serves as an intellectual salon of sorts, a place where he engages with scientists, philosophers, writers, and thinkers across disciplines, from artificial intelligence experts to moral philosophers. He is never afraid to challenge his guests, nor does he shy away from re-examining his own positions. In conversation, as in his writing, Harris wields clarity like a scalpel—his arguments honed to their sharpest edge, his questions cutting straight to the heart of a matter.
The man I met at Dove Mountain was much as I expected: deliberate, measured, and strikingly present. He had a way of looking at you that made it clear he was not just waiting for his turn to speak but genuinely absorbing what you said, weighing it against the vast architecture of ideas he carried within him. There was an intensity in his silence, the sense that his mind was constantly at work, peeling back layers of assumption to examine the bare scaffolding underneath.
Harris is, above all, a seeker—a man who has spent his life charting the contours of belief, knowledge, and consciousness with the precision of a cartographer mapping an undiscovered world. He does not offer easy answers, nor does he indulge in comforting illusions. Instead, he asks us to look unflinchingly at the reality before us, to question, to examine, to think. And in doing so, he invites us into the great, unfinished conversation that is the pursuit of truth.
Thanks to those of you who made suggestions, I have reprocessed this to incorporate them. It uses 5 MAP points, a more precise RGB toe-point, a slight histogram stretch to brighten it and intensify the color (white point only), a very skinny S-curve applied to gamma, and a small unsharp mask in Photoshop.
Comparison shot (original) is here: static.flickr.com/120/302084017_e8c943ffdd.jpg
The scope was the historic Otto Struve 82" Telescope at The University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, Ft. Davis, Texas.
This was Astronomy Magazine's online Photo of the Day on November 28, 2006:
www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ga&id=99&aid...
Wow. Now NASA/JPL has it online!
JPL has since used it in a press release and another online composite for their Saturn Observation Campaign 2007.
Blogged by C|Net, alongside two NASA photos (from Hubble and Spitzer orbiting telescopes!):
news.com.com/2300-11397_3-6159390-3.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
PhysOrg.com lists it here: www.physorg.com/multimedia/pix478/
It accompanies a very nice Cassini spacecraft mission article with audio commentary on Scientific Frontline, here:
www.sflorg.com/control_room/cassini.html
NASA/JPL used it again (April 2007) in a PodCast at:
www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/whatsup/whatsup20070405/
Blogged here, as a click-through link to Phil Plaitt's amazing video on Saturn from the Denver Museum:
It was used by NPR today on the occasion of the telescope's 75th Anniversary:
marfapublicradio.org/blog/mcdonald-observatory-75th-anniv...
First of my photos to hit 800 views (February 14, 2007) -- 1,000 views (March 26, 2007) -- 1,200 views (May 12, 2007) -- 1,500 views (July 21, 2007) -- 1,750 (August 12, 2007) -- 2,000 views (Oct. 2007) -- 4,000 views (Apr. 2008) -- 5,000 views (July 29, 2008) -- 10,000 views (Mar. 2010).
If you use this photo, please credit: Jeff Barton and Josh Walawender