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That's precisely how far these rolling hills of farmlands go on for. Last year, Tom & I visited Oregon, but before we did we visited the Palouse region of eastern Washington state. (That was part of the deal) :-)
This image was taken in the spring season from a vantage point on Steptoe Butte. I had been so motivated by other photographers who presented such phenomenal images of the fertile grounds ... with the ever-changing light, which "paints" the landscape with an ever-changing canvas. Like a kid in a candy store I was, not being able to shoot fast enough. If you haven't ever made a trip out there and are so inclined, I couldn't more highly recommend it. I doubt that it even matters the season ... ever-changing ... mile and miles.
I chose this image tonight because I will soon be heading out there. Can't wait to see what I can capture this time. :-) Also, tonight's blog post will present more images from the Palouse area. You know how it is when you psych yourself up for an upcoming trip. If you get a chance, feel free to check out the post.
Blog: www.tnwaphotography.wordpress.com
Website: www.tnwaphotography.com
© Debbie Tubridy / TNWA Photography
Married during the Europride.
A public wedding.
Precisely with the terrorist threat of IS very brave and special.
This is what Director Ruud Spee did with his beloved Victor.
They wanted to show the world that they will never bow to prejudice and violence.
Diligently they knelt before God to receive his blessing.
I was there, it was a fantastic
Le Pratoline e le Calendule in autunno qui non sono una novità, ma un intero prato così fitto e alto di calendule soprattutto, è tipicamente primaverile! Invece no, è proprio di questi giorni Natalizi, tiepidi e soleggiati. :-))
The Pratoline and the Calendule in the fall here are not new, but a whole meadow so thick and tall with marigolds above all, it is typically spring! But no, it is precisely these days Christmas, warm and sunny. :-))
On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet (~37 m) on its inaugural flight. The event, which occurred near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.
This photograph is one of the most iconic ever taken. It was shot at precisely 10:35 AM. It shows the Wright Flyer lifting off for the first time. Orville is at the controls with Wilbur running alongside.
The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet (~260 m) in 59 seconds.
Title
•[First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina]
Other Title
•First flight, December 17, 1903
Summary
•Photograph shows the first powered, controlled, sustained flight. Orville Wright at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright running alongside to balance the machine, has just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine. (Orville Wright preset the camera and had John T. Daniels squeeze the rubber bulb, tripping the shutter.)
Names
•Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912, photographer
•Wright, Orville, 1871-1948, photographer
•Daniels, John T., photographer
Created / Published
•[1903 Dec. 17]
For more information about this photo, please visit:
www.loc.gov/collections/wilbur-and-orville-wright-papers/...
For Orville Wright’s diary entry, please see here:
www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/Wright_Story/Inventi...
Also see:
Last year I spent two weeks in Mexico, and more precisely in Akumal, Yucatan..It was a great trip and I enjoyed it so much..I can perfectly remember the brilliant colours of plants and flowers and for the first time I was introduce to Maya's culture..so fascinating..
These earrings have been inspired by this journey..
Meters of copper wire in different gauges enriched with beautiful gemstones:2 labradorite faceted heart shaped briolettes - on the above part of them -, flashy blue fire gemmy AAA labradorite faceted teardrop riolettes - on both sides together with tiny freshwater pearls - , green moss agate A grade faceted long teardrop - in the very middle of them - flat labradorite round beads and finally two green moss agate, AA grade, faceted flat teardrops.
I heavily oxidised them for a more antique look!
They're are 2.36 inches long - earwires excluded.
I like this lovely planetary nebula. It locates near the north celestial pole, and autoguiding did not work precisely.
Here is a frame taken without filter December 2013:
www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/11990084845
equipment: AstroPhysics 130GTX "Granturismo," Field Flattener at f/6.7 focal length 873mm, 22.1mm Spacer, EOS Adapter, Kipon EOS-EOS R adapter, Optolong L-ultimate Dual 3nm Filter, and Canon EOS R-SP4II, modified by Seo-san on SkyWatcher CQ350 Pro Equatorial Mount without autoguiding
exposure: 15 times x 600 seconds, 6 x 240 sec, and 7 x 60 seconds at ISO 6,400 and f/6.8
site: 1,449m above sea level at lat. 35 24 30 North and long. 138 38 23 East near Mt.Fuji in Asagiri Shizuoka 静岡県朝霧高原. SQML was up to 20.93 after moonset at the night, though moon was in the sky during the session. Atmospheric turbulence was poor, and guiding error RMS was around 1,5". Wind was mild. Ambient temperature was around -1 degree Celsius or 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
The "full-moon" here is not precisely full, although our eyes will accept that it is so. The image was captured the night before a full-moon, when the moon rises only a few minutes after the sun has set. I always like to go out on both nights, if the weather and the clouds permit, which increases the possibility for something dramatic to happen.
I made this shot while standing alongside the now normally flowing Bitterroot River, shooting the bank on the other side,
a tiny riffling creek, a close and a distant tree line, and the multi-lavender Sapphire Mountains, behind which the moon had been napping.
The pink sky was unexpected, but a nice treat, which is why you go out both nights if you get the chance. If one of your friends, who is an amazing cook, invites you to dinner, you may just wait to go out on the second night only and capture and experience the fully-full moon. But a pink sky might have passed you by while dining. I know. It's sometimes a hard call. What is it he or she was serving?
photo rights reserved by Ben
The David Gareja Monastery complex is remote and isolated in the rugged, semi-desert landscape of eastern Georgia, close to the border with Azerbaijan. The area is characterized by dry hills, barren plains and steep cliffs, far from any town or village. It is precisely this remoteness that contributes to the spiritual atmosphere of the place — an ideal refuge for monks seeking refuge from the world. The silence, the arid landscape and the ancient caves make David Gareja a place of deep peace, contemplation and mysticism. Founded in the 6th century by the Syrian monk David Garejeli, the monastery is partly carved into the sandstone cliffs of a rugged, semi-desert landscape. Inside the monastery there is a sloping rock face with carved cells, chapels and caves that served as living and praying rooms for monks. Some are decorated with ancient frescoes. In this photo we see Kanitha at the entrance to a simple, carved cell in the monastery complex. The small round opening in the sandstone rocks gives access to one of the many caves that were once used by monks as living or prayer rooms. This cave cell is typical of the early architectural style of the monastery, everything here is sober and purposeful — no unnecessary decoration, just rock, silence and devotion. The shapes are rough and natural, as if the space had formed itself out of the mountainside. In addition to its historical and architectural value, the monastery is still a lively religious place today. Georgian Orthodox monks still live in the complex. They lead a secluded and sober life, dedicated to prayer, study and maintenance of the monastery. During our visit to David Gareja we were the only visitors. In silence we walked through the empty monastery, past rough rock walls and ancient cells. Kanitha paused for a moment at a small cave cell — simple, carved out of the rock — and you immediately felt how monks once lived here in solitude. Everything breathed peace and devotion. The view over the silent, empty plain was breathtaking. A place where time seems to stand still — and you stand still for a moment too.
While exploring the remote David Gareja Monastery, we were the only visitors. In complete silence, we wandered through ancient rock-cut cells and chapels. Kanitha paused at the entrance of a simple cave cell — a powerful reminder of the monks’ quiet, devoted lives. Surrounded by vast, empty desert views, it felt like time stood still.
Het David Gareja-kloostercomplex ligt afgelegen en geïsoleerd in het ruige, halfwoestijnachtige landschap van Oost-Georgië, vlak bij de grens met Azerbeidzjan. Deze omgeving wordt gekenmerkt door droge heuvels, kale vlaktes en steile rotspartijen, ver weg van dorpen of steden. Juist die verlaten ligging draagt bij aan de spirituele sfeer van de plek — een ideaal toevluchtsoord voor monniken die zich willen terugtrekken uit de wereld. De stilte, het dorre landschap en de eeuwenoude grotten maken David Gareja tot een plek van diepe rust, contemplatie en mystiek. Het klooster werd in de 6e eeuw gesticht door de Syrische monnik David Garejeli en is deels uitgehouwen in de zandsteenrotsen van een ruig, halfwoestijnachtig landschap. In het klooster is er schuin oplopende rotswand met uitgehouwen cellen, kapellen en grotten die dienden als woon- en gebedsruimten voor monniken. Sommige zijn versierd met eeuwenoude fresco’s. Op deze foto zien we Kanitha bij de ingang van een eenvoudige, uitgehouwen cel in het kloostercomplex. De kleine ronde opening in de zandstenen rotsen geeft toegang tot één van de vele grotten die ooit door monniken werden gebruikt als woon- of gebedsruimte. Deze grotcel is typisch voor de vroege bouwstijl van het klooster, alles is hier sober en doelgericht — geen overbodige versiering, enkel rots, stilte en toewijding. De vormen zijn ruw en natuurlijk, alsof de ruimte zich als vanzelf uit de bergwand heeft gevormd. Naast zijn historische en architectonische waarde is het klooster ook vandaag de dag nog een levendige religieuze plek. Er wonen namelijk nog altijd Georgisch-Orthodoxe monniken in het complex. Ze leiden een teruggetrokken en sober leven, gewijd aan gebed, studie en onderhoud van het klooster. Tijdens ons bezoek aan David Gareja waren we de enige bezoekers. In alle stilte liepen we door het lege klooster, langs ruwe rotswanden en eeuwenoude cellen. Kanitha stond even stil bij een kleine grotcel — eenvoudig, uitgehouwen in de rots — en je voelde direct hoe monniken hier ooit in afzondering leefden. Alles ademde rust en toewijding. Het uitzicht over de stille, lege vlakte was adembenemend. Een plek waar tijd lijkt stil te staan — en je zelf ook even stilstaat.
Taken at precisely 01:30 on a mild May morning, this is one of my very, very few shots that display the blue carriage lighting used on what at the time was termed "Nightrider" stock. Something I only troubled myself with a couple of times, the idea was that the soothing lighting and comfortable seats would aid in transporting one's self many miles overnight in peace and serenity. What the brochure didn't say was that it was usually full of tired and irritable children, plus a fairly healthy complement of 'happy' (alcohol induced) travellers making their way home/away. Not really the "ambience" the marketing people had in mind!
Photograph taken at an altitude of Eight metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:41am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, I am standing beside the wooden decked viewing platform, looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
These Canada Geese, along with many other small groups, fly across the lake from East to West every morning and back again every evening at Sunset, and I love to watch the classic Vee formations and listen to the honking as they pass me by. In flight, a group of Geese are called, a Skein.
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Nikon D800 70mm 1/1000s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Auto Active D-lighting.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.79s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.85s
ALTITUDE: 8.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 9.80MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Amazing and very bright little family ~
STORY PART is between the rows of asterisks.
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I had some time to kill between medical appointments; so I went to a shopping center that spreads out rather haphazardly. It has lots of pavement and roads, and parking lots, and angles and areas. It is in the northern part of Corvallis, Oregon, which sounds prettier if one says Willamette Valley. As frequently happens though, is that the prettier name doesn't pinpoint the place as precisely as the other. Oh, and for non-local people it is not Willamette with the accent on the last syllable and rhyming with "met." A more colloquial way to remember how to pronounce it correctly is with accent on second syllable and, "It's Willamette, damn it!"
So there I was at this place which I have just described with such superfluous verbosity, and not really needing to purchase anything, I went to the duck pond. It is not a pond with green grass borders like at a park. It has a chain-link fence around it and that is surrounded by asphalt. The water is disgusting looking. I sort of suspect it is some kind of sewage "thing" for the shopping center. I can't imagine how any duck could live in or near it, but they do. Most of my life I thought it was the proper thing to do to feed bread to ducks. The last decade or so, I have heard that is not at all proper, and in fact the bread is not good for the ducks. Anyway, people at the shopping center feed bread to the ducks and all manner of leftover fast food. Much of this just fouls the water.
I wasn't very enthused by what I saw and thought I would go turn around and exit the shopping center to go do something else. I drove down between a restaurant and a grocery store, and caught sight of a mother mallard and many babies following close behind her. I grabbed my camera and tried to get a shot. All I got was a blurry shot of the backside of all of them. I sped up a little bit, like maybe from 5 m.p.h. to 8 m.p.h. I put down the passenger window and tried to get a bit ahead of them, but they were walking at a pretty good clip, and I couldn't do. it. I got one sort of good shot with the babies, but the mom's head was cut off in my photo.
At the time, there was no one driving nor walking from either direction; so my photographic efforts weren't really hurting anyone. I was sending vibes to the mother duck, "Oh Mama, be careful! You are going the wrong way! There is no water down that direction." She was oblivious to my vibes, and resolute in her direction and intentions. The ducklings were adorable. Imagine the mother handling eleven offspring with no hands, and only two orange feet and a beak. Other drivers who probably had no idea what I was doing, were closing in behind me. I pulled as far to the side of the road as I could, and motioned for some to go by. Some did, and few also stopped to see what was going on. Those of us who were raised with the completely marvelous and classic children's story of "Make Way for Ducklings" were enthralled with this scene. We don't see a mother duck and that many ducklings waddling down a city type of sidewalk every day (albeit within a shopping center). I loved that story a long, long time ago, and still do. I read it to my daughter and to her daughter.
Suddenly the mother turned left, not a subtle left, but an abrupt 90 degree angle left. She and her brood had left the moderate safety of the sidewalk and crossed the road which afforded no safety. I could no longer see her. She was under the front of my truck and at what distance I knew not. I was quite anxious. I could risk that they would get run over; or I could risk the ire of other drivers. Being sentimental and a photographer, guess which risk I took? I pointed to my camera and grinned sheepishly at other drivers. I am thrilled to say no one blasted me with their horn. The other drivers went on about their business and I could then see the duck family had successfully crossed the street and ducked (pun most certainly intended) under a fence. The fence was about an exact match for the fence at the aforementioned unpleasant pond. Lo and behold, there was a second pond of which I had never been aware. Mama duck knew exactly what she was doing, and where she was going. The water appeared to be substantially cleaner. I was so happy for her little family. I pulled into a gravel parking lot nearby, and parked this time, not blocking any traffic. I got a few pictures of them in the water.
I noticed the openings in the fence were plenty big enough to allow the babies to pass through, but not the mother. My curiosity got to me. Oh, doesn't it always? I walked over to the other side of the pond, to the point I remembered seeing them going under the fence. I wanted to see how the mother got through. Someone, and I doubt it was a duck, had pulled/pushed part of the fence upward from the ground. It was just big enough of an opening that the mother could lead her family through it. I had the distinct feeling she had been there before. I don't know who made the opening in the fence, but it worked great.
I was amazed at this little family. I will not again underestimate the intelligence of ducks in general nor of mother ducks in particular.
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(DSCN5225-mamaduck&11ducklingsinit) <- ---------- this is just my file name
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FOR ABCs and 123s (pool) this is number 11 - ELEVEN ducklings
This is my earliest daytime photo this year – or more precisely, a nighttime photo. It was taken shortly after midnight. The moon and the fog seemed to have agreed to make a brief appearance. After taking the photo, I quickly went to bed. In a few hours, the alarm clock would be pulling me into the next workday.
Das ist mein bisher frühestes Tagesbild in diesem Jahr – oder genauer: ein Nachtbild. Es ist kurz nach Mitternacht entstanden. Der Mond hat sich mit dem Nebel offenbar darauf geeinigt, sich für einen Moment zu zeigen. Nach dem Foto gehe ich schleunigst ins Bett. In ein paar Stunden holt mich der Wecker in den nächsten Arbeitstag.
Südafrika - Kleine Karoo
Red Stone Hills
Sunset - Sonnenuntergang
The Karoo (/kəˈruː/ kə-ROO; from a Khoikhoi word, possibly garo "desert") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. There is no exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo, and therefore its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate — above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
The Karoo is sharply divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain Range, which runs east-west, parallel to the southern coastline, but is separated from the sea by another east-west range called the Outeniqua –Langeberg Mountains. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range; the Little Karoo is to the south of it.
The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain range. Geographically, it is a 290 km long valley, only 40–60 km wide, formed by two parallel Cape Fold Mountain ranges, the Swartberg to the north, and the continuous Langeberg-Outeniqua range to the south. The northern strip of the valley, within 10–20 km from the foot of the Swartberg mountains is most un-karoo-like, in that it is a well watered area both from the rain, and the many streams that cascade down the mountain, or through narrow defiles in the Swartberg from the Great Karoo. The main towns of the region are situated along this northern strip of the Little Karoo: Montagu, Barrydale, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn and De Rust, as well as such well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein, and Dysselsdorp.
The southern 30–50 km wide strip, north of the Langeberg range is as arid as the western Lower Karoo, except in the east, where the Langeberg range (arbitrarily) starts to be called the Outeniqua Mountains.
The Little Karoo can only be accessed by road through the narrow defiles cut through the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains by ancient, but still flowing rivers. A few roads traverse the mountains over passes, the most famous and impressive of which is the Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo and Prince Albert on the other side of the Swartberg mountains in the Great Karoo. There is also the main road between Oudtshoorn and George, on the coastal plain, that crosses the mountains to the south via the Outeniqua Pass. The only exit from the Little Karoo that does not involve crossing a mountain range is through the 150 km long, narrow Langkloof valley between Uniondale and Humansdorp, near Plettenberg Bay.
(Wikipedia)
Die Karoo (auch Karroo, früher Karru; Khoisan für Halbwüste) ist eine Halbwüstenlandschaft in den Hochebenen des Landes Südafrika, nördlich der Großen Randstufe und im südlichen Namibia. Unterschieden werden Kleine Karoo, Große Karoo und Obere Karoo sowie Sukkulentenkaroo und Nama-Karoo. Mit einer Ausdehnung von 500.000 km² umfasst die Karoo fast ein Drittel des Territoriums Südafrikas. Die Sukkulentenkaroo gehört zu den Biodiversitäts-Hotspots der Erde und wird u. a. im Rahmen von BIOTA AFRICA systematisch kartiert.
Der Name Karoo kommt von kurú (trocken) aus der Sprache der San, die einst hier lebten und jagten. In Hinsicht auf die geographische Ausdehnung des Karoo-Begriffs sind die folgenden Teilaspekte zu beachten und voneinander zu unterscheiden.
Die Karoo als Landschaft im traditionellen Verständnis ist eine südafrikanische Trockenregion innerhalb der Provinzen Westkap, Ostkap und Nordkap sowie im Süden Namibias. Ihre spezifische kapländische Strauchvegetation weist sie als Halbwüste aus. Ursprünglich wird in zwei Regionen unterschieden: Große Karoo und Kleine Karoo.
Die Große Karoo besitzt eine West-Ost-Ausdehnung von über 750 Kilometern und eine Nord-Süd-Ausdehnung von etwa 110 Kilometern. Sie wird im Westen vom Massiv der Zederberge und im Osten durch die Winterberge begrenzt. Im Norden bilden die Bergketten vom Roggeveld-, Koms-, Nuweveldberge und Sneeuberg und im Süden die Höhenzüge der Witteberge, Groot Swartberge und die Groot Winterhoek die natürliche Begrenzung.
Südlich dieser Region schließt sich die Kleine Karoo an. Diese wird wiederum an ihrer südlichen Flanke von den küstennahen Langebergen und Outeniqua-Bergen begrenzt.
Anders als in dieser traditionellen Gliederung, wird die Karoo heute nach ökologischen Gesichtspunkten in einen östlichen Teil, die Nama-Karoo, und einen westlichen Teil, die Sukkulenten-Karoo, gegliedert, wobei auch die Gesamtausdehnung der Karoo nach diesem Konzept von jener der traditionellen Betrachtungsweise abweicht.
(Wikipedia)
Die Little Karoo (englisch, auf Afrikaans Klein Karoo) ist eine Region in der Western Cape Provinz in Südafrika.
Durch die Little Karoo zieht sich die Route 62.
Die Klein Karoo ist ein halbwüstenartiger Landstrich, der zwischen den Swartbergen im Norden und den Outeniqua-Bergen im Süden liegt. Die Gegend ist fruchtbar und nicht ganz so trocken wie die nördlich anschließende Große Karoo. Die Kleine Karoo ist bekannt für die Straußenzucht, allein in der Umgebung von Oudtshoorn gibt es angeblich über 400 Betriebe, landwirtschaftliche Nutztiere der Region sind auch Schafe und Angoraziegen.
Die Kleine Karoo ist das östlichste Weinbaugebiet Südafrikas. Muskatweine, Portweine und Desertweine gedeihen in dem recht trockenen Klima, ein Teil des Weines wird zu Brandy verarbeitet. Auch das hier angebaute Obst wird teilweise zu Schnaps verarbeitet, man bekommt aber auch überall recht preisgünstig getrocknete Früchte.
(wikivoyage.org)
These clouds formed before the thunderstorm was coming.
They are actually Asperatus clouds (rare)
However, "Asperatus" is not an official term, more precisely, these clouds are called altocumulus castellanus undulatus opacus
HDR picture
Masons of Tring, or more precisely Long Marston near Cheddington acquired a few Volvo Olympians from Redkite a while back. They have been operating in red kite livery but with the addition of a Masons fleetname. Most are now withdrawn after being replaced by ALX400/ DAFs from London. Some have gone for scrap, although one or two have escaped being sold locally to another operator.
I don't know the year precisely, but by my size I'd say I must have been 5 or 6, so it must be around 1980. Photo taken by my mother with her Lubitel camera.
This morning's sunrise (0811 precisely) at Portland Bill, Dorset, England.
First of the year, not the best I've seen the sky could have been better, but I'm not complaining because "it's not raining" ............... A great start to the year.
Better seen large or in my Flickeflu where the IQ is far better (just click the link below).
NO BANNERS PLEASE.
Thanks for looking.
Asoke (pronounced Ashoke) is a Malayalee friend
who warmly hosted us for Thanksgiving-
and travelled with us
up to Vancouver B.C.-to visit relatives there.
Südafrika - Kleine Karoo
Red Stone Hills - Window Rock
The Karoo (/kəˈruː/ kə-ROO; from a Khoikhoi word, possibly garo "desert") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. There is no exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo, and therefore its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate — above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
The Karoo is sharply divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain Range, which runs east-west, parallel to the southern coastline, but is separated from the sea by another east-west range called the Outeniqua –Langeberg Mountains. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range; the Little Karoo is to the south of it.
The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain range. Geographically, it is a 290 km long valley, only 40–60 km wide, formed by two parallel Cape Fold Mountain ranges, the Swartberg to the north, and the continuous Langeberg-Outeniqua range to the south. The northern strip of the valley, within 10–20 km from the foot of the Swartberg mountains is most un-karoo-like, in that it is a well watered area both from the rain, and the many streams that cascade down the mountain, or through narrow defiles in the Swartberg from the Great Karoo. The main towns of the region are situated along this northern strip of the Little Karoo: Montagu, Barrydale, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn and De Rust, as well as such well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein, and Dysselsdorp.
The southern 30–50 km wide strip, north of the Langeberg range is as arid as the western Lower Karoo, except in the east, where the Langeberg range (arbitrarily) starts to be called the Outeniqua Mountains.
The Little Karoo can only be accessed by road through the narrow defiles cut through the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains by ancient, but still flowing rivers. A few roads traverse the mountains over passes, the most famous and impressive of which is the Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo and Prince Albert on the other side of the Swartberg mountains in the Great Karoo. There is also the main road between Oudtshoorn and George, on the coastal plain, that crosses the mountains to the south via the Outeniqua Pass. The only exit from the Little Karoo that does not involve crossing a mountain range is through the 150 km long, narrow Langkloof valley between Uniondale and Humansdorp, near Plettenberg Bay.
(Wikipedia)
Die Karoo (auch Karroo, früher Karru; Khoisan für Halbwüste) ist eine Halbwüstenlandschaft in den Hochebenen des Landes Südafrika, nördlich der Großen Randstufe und im südlichen Namibia. Unterschieden werden Kleine Karoo, Große Karoo und Obere Karoo sowie Sukkulentenkaroo und Nama-Karoo. Mit einer Ausdehnung von 500.000 km² umfasst die Karoo fast ein Drittel des Territoriums Südafrikas. Die Sukkulentenkaroo gehört zu den Biodiversitäts-Hotspots der Erde und wird u. a. im Rahmen von BIOTA AFRICA systematisch kartiert.
Der Name Karoo kommt von kurú (trocken) aus der Sprache der San, die einst hier lebten und jagten. In Hinsicht auf die geographische Ausdehnung des Karoo-Begriffs sind die folgenden Teilaspekte zu beachten und voneinander zu unterscheiden.
Die Karoo als Landschaft im traditionellen Verständnis ist eine südafrikanische Trockenregion innerhalb der Provinzen Westkap, Ostkap und Nordkap sowie im Süden Namibias. Ihre spezifische kapländische Strauchvegetation weist sie als Halbwüste aus. Ursprünglich wird in zwei Regionen unterschieden: Große Karoo und Kleine Karoo.
Die Große Karoo besitzt eine West-Ost-Ausdehnung von über 750 Kilometern und eine Nord-Süd-Ausdehnung von etwa 110 Kilometern. Sie wird im Westen vom Massiv der Zederberge und im Osten durch die Winterberge begrenzt. Im Norden bilden die Bergketten vom Roggeveld-, Koms-, Nuweveldberge und Sneeuberg und im Süden die Höhenzüge der Witteberge, Groot Swartberge und die Groot Winterhoek die natürliche Begrenzung.
Südlich dieser Region schließt sich die Kleine Karoo an. Diese wird wiederum an ihrer südlichen Flanke von den küstennahen Langebergen und Outeniqua-Bergen begrenzt.
Anders als in dieser traditionellen Gliederung, wird die Karoo heute nach ökologischen Gesichtspunkten in einen östlichen Teil, die Nama-Karoo, und einen westlichen Teil, die Sukkulenten-Karoo, gegliedert, wobei auch die Gesamtausdehnung der Karoo nach diesem Konzept von jener der traditionellen Betrachtungsweise abweicht.
(Wikipedia)
Die Little Karoo (englisch, auf Afrikaans Klein Karoo) ist eine Region in der Western Cape Provinz in Südafrika.
Durch die Little Karoo zieht sich die Route 62.
Die Klein Karoo ist ein halbwüstenartiger Landstrich, der zwischen den Swartbergen im Norden und den Outeniqua-Bergen im Süden liegt. Die Gegend ist fruchtbar und nicht ganz so trocken wie die nördlich anschließende Große Karoo. Die Kleine Karoo ist bekannt für die Straußenzucht, allein in der Umgebung von Oudtshoorn gibt es angeblich über 400 Betriebe, landwirtschaftliche Nutztiere der Region sind auch Schafe und Angoraziegen.
Die Kleine Karoo ist das östlichste Weinbaugebiet Südafrikas. Muskatweine, Portweine und Desertweine gedeihen in dem recht trockenen Klima, ein Teil des Weines wird zu Brandy verarbeitet. Auch das hier angebaute Obst wird teilweise zu Schnaps verarbeitet, man bekommt aber auch überall recht preisgünstig getrocknete Früchte.
(wikivoyage.org)
Not precisely sure on age of this one, but it was certainly a surprise to see something this ancient still (presumably) in service. The old school looking livery was even better, and they have no website by the looks of things.
I tried to see if I could clock the owner but there was no sign of anyone down this road.
Südafrika - Kleine Karoo
Red Stone Hills
The Karoo (/kəˈruː/ kə-ROO; from a Khoikhoi word, possibly garo "desert") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. There is no exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo, and therefore its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate — above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
The Karoo is sharply divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain Range, which runs east-west, parallel to the southern coastline, but is separated from the sea by another east-west range called the Outeniqua –Langeberg Mountains. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range; the Little Karoo is to the south of it.
The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain range. Geographically, it is a 290 km long valley, only 40–60 km wide, formed by two parallel Cape Fold Mountain ranges, the Swartberg to the north, and the continuous Langeberg-Outeniqua range to the south. The northern strip of the valley, within 10–20 km from the foot of the Swartberg mountains is most un-karoo-like, in that it is a well watered area both from the rain, and the many streams that cascade down the mountain, or through narrow defiles in the Swartberg from the Great Karoo. The main towns of the region are situated along this northern strip of the Little Karoo: Montagu, Barrydale, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn and De Rust, as well as such well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein, and Dysselsdorp.
The southern 30–50 km wide strip, north of the Langeberg range is as arid as the western Lower Karoo, except in the east, where the Langeberg range (arbitrarily) starts to be called the Outeniqua Mountains.
The Little Karoo can only be accessed by road through the narrow defiles cut through the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains by ancient, but still flowing rivers. A few roads traverse the mountains over passes, the most famous and impressive of which is the Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo and Prince Albert on the other side of the Swartberg mountains in the Great Karoo. There is also the main road between Oudtshoorn and George, on the coastal plain, that crosses the mountains to the south via the Outeniqua Pass. The only exit from the Little Karoo that does not involve crossing a mountain range is through the 150 km long, narrow Langkloof valley between Uniondale and Humansdorp, near Plettenberg Bay.
(Wikipedia)
Die Karoo (auch Karroo, früher Karru; Khoisan für Halbwüste) ist eine Halbwüstenlandschaft in den Hochebenen des Landes Südafrika, nördlich der Großen Randstufe und im südlichen Namibia. Unterschieden werden Kleine Karoo, Große Karoo und Obere Karoo sowie Sukkulentenkaroo und Nama-Karoo. Mit einer Ausdehnung von 500.000 km² umfasst die Karoo fast ein Drittel des Territoriums Südafrikas. Die Sukkulentenkaroo gehört zu den Biodiversitäts-Hotspots der Erde und wird u. a. im Rahmen von BIOTA AFRICA systematisch kartiert.
Der Name Karoo kommt von kurú (trocken) aus der Sprache der San, die einst hier lebten und jagten. In Hinsicht auf die geographische Ausdehnung des Karoo-Begriffs sind die folgenden Teilaspekte zu beachten und voneinander zu unterscheiden.
Die Karoo als Landschaft im traditionellen Verständnis ist eine südafrikanische Trockenregion innerhalb der Provinzen Westkap, Ostkap und Nordkap sowie im Süden Namibias. Ihre spezifische kapländische Strauchvegetation weist sie als Halbwüste aus. Ursprünglich wird in zwei Regionen unterschieden: Große Karoo und Kleine Karoo.
Die Große Karoo besitzt eine West-Ost-Ausdehnung von über 750 Kilometern und eine Nord-Süd-Ausdehnung von etwa 110 Kilometern. Sie wird im Westen vom Massiv der Zederberge und im Osten durch die Winterberge begrenzt. Im Norden bilden die Bergketten vom Roggeveld-, Koms-, Nuweveldberge und Sneeuberg und im Süden die Höhenzüge der Witteberge, Groot Swartberge und die Groot Winterhoek die natürliche Begrenzung.
Südlich dieser Region schließt sich die Kleine Karoo an. Diese wird wiederum an ihrer südlichen Flanke von den küstennahen Langebergen und Outeniqua-Bergen begrenzt.
Anders als in dieser traditionellen Gliederung, wird die Karoo heute nach ökologischen Gesichtspunkten in einen östlichen Teil, die Nama-Karoo, und einen westlichen Teil, die Sukkulenten-Karoo, gegliedert, wobei auch die Gesamtausdehnung der Karoo nach diesem Konzept von jener der traditionellen Betrachtungsweise abweicht.
(Wikipedia)
Die Little Karoo (englisch, auf Afrikaans Klein Karoo) ist eine Region in der Western Cape Provinz in Südafrika.
Durch die Little Karoo zieht sich die Route 62.
Die Klein Karoo ist ein halbwüstenartiger Landstrich, der zwischen den Swartbergen im Norden und den Outeniqua-Bergen im Süden liegt. Die Gegend ist fruchtbar und nicht ganz so trocken wie die nördlich anschließende Große Karoo. Die Kleine Karoo ist bekannt für die Straußenzucht, allein in der Umgebung von Oudtshoorn gibt es angeblich über 400 Betriebe, landwirtschaftliche Nutztiere der Region sind auch Schafe und Angoraziegen.
Die Kleine Karoo ist das östlichste Weinbaugebiet Südafrikas. Muskatweine, Portweine und Desertweine gedeihen in dem recht trockenen Klima, ein Teil des Weines wird zu Brandy verarbeitet. Auch das hier angebaute Obst wird teilweise zu Schnaps verarbeitet, man bekommt aber auch überall recht preisgünstig getrocknete Früchte.
(wikivoyage.org)
Poet and essayist Azad Ashim Sharma reading to protesters gathered in solidarity with Alaa, who is over 200 days into his hunger strike in prison in Egypt. This photo was taken on the pavement directly opposite Britain's Foreign Office in King Charles Street. Alaa is one of Egypt's leading democracy activists and holds Egyptian-British citizenship.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt. He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
When this photo was taken Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, were staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention began to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022
Starting from Sunday 6 November, Alaa escalated his hunger strike, and stopped taking water. His sister Sanaa Seif took a flight the same weekend to attend the COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh in a last-minute effort to save Alaa's life.
For the latest on Alaa's situation listen to his sister's Sanaa Seif's speech to journalists attending the conference on Tuesday 8 November - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Shayenne (Stranger 25)
In the dark train station hall, a beam of light fell precisely on the spot where Shayenne was waiting for her boyfriend. I was there at the perfect moment, right on time. Shayenne's colored hair was beautifully lit, and I shouldn't have been much later; her boyfriend could arrive any minute. Everything seemed to be perfect—the color of her hair, the color of her glasses, even the background. And of course, Shayenne herself, who immediately cooperated and was willing to pose. Thanks so much!
This is already the 25th photo of the 5th round of the 100stangers project.
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the group 100 Strangers | Flickr: www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
Alaa is a British-Egyptian political prisoner in Egypt. This photo was taken during the ongoing encampment protest by Alaa's two sisters - Sanaa (top left) and Mona (second from the right) Seif - outside Britain's Foreign Office.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere for his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt. He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
When this photo was taken Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, were staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention began to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022
Starting from Sunday 6 November, Alaa escalated his hunger strike, and stopped taking water. His sister Sanaa Seif took a flight the same weekend to attend the COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh in a last-minute effort to save Alaa's life.
For the latest on Alaa's situation listen to his sister's Sanaa Seif's speech to journalists attending the conference on Tuesday 8 November - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Scientific name: Leptobelus sp
Family : Membracidae
Treehoppers more precisely typical treehoppers to distinguish them from the Aetalionidae and thorn bugs are members of the family Membracidae, a group of insects related to the cicadas and the leafhoppers.
About 3,200 species of treehoppers in over 400 genera are known.
Treehoppers are small bugs that are very good at hiding with their sharp, pointed spine on their back, which makes them look like a thorn on a plant. They also called as thorn bugs due to their shape.
Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark III
M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f2.8
Raynox DCR- 250
Malaysia
Created with ChatGPT
The Book of Katarina by Adrian Keeley (Feat Kat Verde-Dillingham)
THE DAUGHTER OF ROME 1841–1860
For nearly six years after leaving the Archive, Marius kept his promise.
He spoke of Katarina Verde to no one.
Not to Armand.
Not to Maharet.
Not even to Pandora.
There were moments when the name rose almost naturally to his lips. While discussing lost Roman manuscripts. While arguing over forgotten philosophers. While listening to Pandora lament another library consumed by war, neglect, or stupidity.
Always the thought returned.
Always he remained silent.
A promise, once given, possessed weight.
Especially among immortals.
Pandora, however, had lived too long to mistake silence for emptiness.
She noticed the change in Marius almost immediately.
Not in manner.
Not in speech.
Marius had always been careful.
The change lay elsewhere.
He remembered differently.
That was the only way she could describe it.
He quoted sources he had not possessed before. He corrected dates he had once admitted were uncertain. He referred to obscure provincial governors whose names had vanished from accepted histories. Most curious of all, he occasionally stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence.
Not because he had forgotten.
Because he had remembered too precisely.
Someone had restored pieces of his own past.
Pandora knew that look.
Memory returning is not the same as memory continuing.
She did not question him.
Not directly.
Direct questions were useful only with simple men.
Marius was not simple.
Instead, Pandora began to follow the evidence.
The trail began in Rome.
It always did, with Pandora.
A bookseller near the Piazza Navona remembered a blonde woman who had paid too much for a worm-damaged bundle of Latin correspondence.
A Dominican librarian recalled a foreign scholar who had identified a miscatalogued Byzantine fragment without opening the index.
A retired collector in Florence spoke of a woman with pale hair and storm-coloured eyes who had purchased three worthless notebooks later discovered to contain copied references to vanished Roman court records.
Pandora listened.
She travelled.
She compared.
Venice.
Prague.
Vienna.
Ravenna.
Again and again the same shape emerged.
A remarkably educated blonde woman.
Perfectly mannered.
Exceptionally difficult to follow.
Always appearing near endangered manuscripts.
Always leaving before gratitude became conversation.
The name changed.
The description did not.
Once, in a Bavarian inventory, Pandora found it written plainly:
Katarina Verde.
She sat with that name for a long time.
Then she remembered.
Florence.
Decades earlier.
A cold evening.
A small shop near a courtyard full of rainwater.
A blonde woman had stood before a shelf of neglected Latin texts, holding a volume everyone else had dismissed as devotional debris.
Pandora had glanced at her only briefly.
The woman had looked up.
Their eyes had met.
Not long.
Only a moment.
Long enough for two immortals to recognize one another and choose silence.
Pandora had forgotten the encounter.
Or rather, she had stored it in the great unlabelled chamber where immortals placed moments without immediate meaning.
Now the memory returned with perfect clarity.
The woman had not been browsing.
She had been rescuing.
Only after reconstructing the pattern herself did Pandora go to Marius.
She found him in Venice.
He was reading beside an open window while canal water lapped softly below.
Pandora placed eight copied documents upon the table.
Marius looked at them.
Then at her.
He recognized every page.
Of course he did.
Pandora smiled.
"I know you didn't tell me."
Silence.
"I found her."
Another silence.
Then Marius smiled for the first time that evening.
"No."
He gently rested his hand upon the papers.
"You found her shadow."
"Is she real?"
Marius considered the question with the seriousness it deserved.
Finally he answered.
"Yes."
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
He had broken no promise.
Pandora had earned the truth herself.
The invitation Pandora sent required no elegance.
Only accuracy.
She wrote:
I found your shadow before I found your name. Rome remembers you owe her a conversation.
Katarina received the message three weeks later.
Lucien read it over her shoulder.
"Pandora," he said.
Not a question.
Katarina folded the paper.
"You know everyone."
"No."
His eyes remained on the message.
"Only the dangerous ones."
They met in Rome.
Where else?
Rome was less a city than an argument with death.
Every empire believed itself eternal.
Rome had at least possessed the decency to leave ruins proving the arrogance.
Pandora waited inside the Library of Santa Maria sopra Minerva after the human scholars had gone.
Candles illuminated long tables.
Shelves vanished into darkness.
The silence possessed dignity.
Katarina entered alone.
Pandora stood beside a table covered with manuscripts, her dark hair framing a face shaped more by intelligence than vanity. Her eyes were amber and unsentimental. They missed nothing.
"You are younger than I expected," Pandora said.
"I've been told the opposite."
Pandora laughed softly.
"Good. I dislike reverence."
"So do I."
"No," Pandora said. "You distrust it."
Katarina paused.
Then smiled.
"Better."
Unlike Marius, Pandora did not test her.
She questioned her.
There was a difference.
A test seeks weakness.
A question seeks truth.
For three nights they walked Rome.
Not the Rome of tourists, priests, or politicians.
The buried Rome.
The Rome beneath churches.
Beneath palaces.
Beneath pride.
Pandora knew courtyards where fragments of imperial columns had become doorsteps. She knew crypts where pagan stones were hidden behind Christian altars. She knew houses where widows guarded letters no scholar had ever read.
"So much survives," Katarina whispered on the second night.
Pandora touched a worn marble inscription half-swallowed by a wall.
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
"So much has already vanished."
On the fourth evening, Pandora produced a small leather notebook.
Its binding had been repaired many times.
She handed it to Katarina without ceremony.
Katarina opened it carefully.
The handwriting was younger than Pandora's face.
Impatient.
Elegant.
Occasionally furious.
The entries described statues, scrolls, household shrines, family records, copied poems, minor genealogies, debts, recipes, prayers, names.
Many entries bore one notation.
Lost.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Katarina closed the volume gently.
"You were already building an archive."
Pandora looked away.
"I failed."
"No."
Katarina's answer was immediate.
"You began."
The silence that followed was not empty.
It was recognition.
Weeks became months.
Pandora and Katarina travelled through Italy, Greece, and southern France.
Neither dominated the other.
Neither became disciple.
Neither became teacher.
They argued instead.
Endlessly.
About Rome.
About art.
About memory.
About whether civilisation revealed itself more truthfully through monuments or domestic records.
"Kings commission monuments," Katarina said one night in Florence.
"Yes," Pandora replied. "And monuments outlive lies."
"A baker's diary reveals more."
"About bread."
"About hunger."
Pandora smiled.
"You are insufferable."
"Accurate."
"Also insufferable."
The argument continued across three countries.
Neither surrendered.
Both enjoyed it.
During the summer of 1851, Pandora accompanied Katarina north.
Katarina did not reveal the greatest repository.
Nor the oldest.
Not yet.
Trust, like history, required structure.
She chose the Rhine Repository.
The same one Marius had seen.
When the hidden door opened, Pandora showed no theatrical astonishment.
That was not her way.
She simply walked inside and became silent.
Her silence lasted a long time.
That was enough.
Rows of manuscripts stretched beneath the stone vaults. Lamps burned in niches. Catalogues lay open upon tables. Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian, and forgotten regional hands lived beside one another in disciplined order.
Pandora moved from shelf to shelf.
Reading.
Not touching until invited.
At last she reached the Roman collection.
Her fingers rested near the labels.
"You corrected three accepted chronologies."
"They were wrong."
"Historians dislike that."
"They'll survive."
Pandora glanced at her.
"History usually does."
"No," Katarina said. "History survives only when someone inconveniences its murderers."
Pandora laughed then.
Not loudly.
But with pleasure.
For nearly a month they worked together.
Not as guest and host.
As colleagues.
Together they reorganized the Roman materials.
Eyewitness accounts apart from later commentary.
Domestic records cross-indexed with political documents.
Private grief placed beside public catastrophe.
For the first time, one entire section of the Archive became more than preservation.
It became argument.
Every document questioned another.
Every contradiction became evidence.
Every silence became meaningful.
Lucien watched from a distance with quiet satisfaction.
Late one evening Pandora asked the question she had withheld.
"How many repositories exist?"
Lucien answered before Katarina could.
"Enough."
Pandora smiled.
"I expected that."
"You expected correctly."
She never asked again.
That mattered.
Before departing, Pandora entered one final chamber.
It contained nothing splendid.
No imperial correspondence.
No illuminated manuscripts.
No famous hands.
Only ordinary journals.
Farmers.
Midwives.
Teachers.
Stone masons.
Pilgrims.
Children.
Widows.
Thousands of anonymous lives.
Pandora frowned.
"I don't understand."
Katarina removed one volume.
"A miller's daughter."
She opened another.
"A shepherd."
Another.
"A widow who witnessed plague."
"They changed nothing," Pandora said softly.
Katarina looked at her.
"They changed everything."
Pandora was silent.
Then slowly she understood.
History had always preserved rulers.
The Archive preserved humanity.
Without these voices, kings ruled empty worlds.
Without ordinary lives, empires became maps instead of civilisations.
Pandora closed the journal.
"I was wrong."
"About what?"
"I thought your Archive preserved vampire history."
She looked around the chamber.
"It preserves theirs."
Then she smiled.
"No."
Her hand touched the nearest shelf.
"It preserves everyone's."
On the last night they stood outside the monastery beneath a sky crowded with stars.
Pandora prepared to leave before dawn.
She removed three wax-sealed scroll cases from her travelling chest.
Katarina understood their value before Pandora spoke.
"My journals," Pandora said.
Katarina did not take them.
"They're originals."
"I know."
"I don't require originals."
"I know that too."
Pandora placed them gently in Katarina's hands.
"Copies preserve words."
Her voice softened.
"Originals preserve souls."
Katarina looked down at the cases.
The stains.
The corrections.
The pressure of the original hand.
Perhaps even grains of Roman dust still trapped between pages.
These things could never be copied.
She accepted them with both hands.
"I'll protect them."
Pandora nodded.
"I know."
After Pandora vanished into the dark, Lucien joined Katarina beneath the monastery gates.
He watched the stars for a long time.
"What happened tonight?" he asked.
"A friend trusted me."
"No."
Katarina looked at him.
Lucien's gaze rested on the hidden entrance below.
"The Archive became larger than us."
For once Katarina had no reply.
Far beneath them, behind stone and iron, rested the memories of emperors and shepherds, philosophers and millers, immortals and children.
The Archive no longer belonged to Lucien.
Nor to Katarina.
Nor to vampires.
It belonged to history.
And history had begun entrusting itself to her freely.
The responsibility was terrifying.
She accepted it anyway.
Because memory, once abandoned, rarely found its way home again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image Prompt - Ultra-photorealistic IMAX cinematic photograph, 16:9. Night beside the illuminated Colosseum in Rome during the late 1840s. Katarina Verde walks gracefully alongside Pandora through quiet rain-darkened cobblestone streets, both appearing effortlessly youthful yet carrying centuries of quiet wisdom. Katarina has long, voluminous golden-blonde curls, a heart-shaped face, luminous warm complexion, blue-gray eyes and wears an elegant lavender-and-black silk Victorian walking gown with fitted bodice, full skirt, black lace sleeves, matching gloves, bonnet and short velvet mantle appropriate to 1841–1860. Pandora is book-accurate: strikingly beautiful with dark chestnut-brown hair arranged in a refined Victorian chignon with soft curls, luminous pale olive complexion, expressive dark eyes, refined classical Roman features, slender graceful figure, wearing a deep burgundy and black silk walking dress with fitted jacket, lace collar, gloves and bonnet, understated jewellery reflecting ancient wealth rather than fashion. They stroll in quiet conversation beneath warm gas lamps. The Colosseum glows behind them, its arches dramatically illuminated against the night sky. Wet paving stones mirror the golden light. Sparse pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages remain distant. Romantic Gothic atmosphere, museum-quality historical accuracy, cinematic realism, razor-sharp detail, natural skin textures, no modern objects, no watermark.
Pic, Prompt and Story by Adrian
Norwegen / Buskerud - Hallingskarvet-Nationalpark
On the way back from Prestholtskarvet.
Auf dem Weg zurück vom Prestholtskarvet.
Hallingskarvet National Park (Norwegian: Hallingskarvet nasjonalpark) is a national park in central Norway that was established by the government on 22 December 2006. The park is located in the municipalities of Hol (Buskerud county), Ulvik and Aurland (both in Vestland county). More precisely, the park comprises the Hallingskarv plateau and the high mountain areas to the west of it. It includes the Vargebreen glacier as well as the valleys of Såtedalen, Lengjedalen, Ynglesdalen, and parts of Raggsteindalen.
The national park covers 450 square kilometres (170 sq mi) of the Hallingskarvet mountain range and hosts large stocks of wild reindeer, an important factor in the establishment of the park. The highest point in the national park is Folarskardnuten which reaches an elevation of 1,933 metres (6,342 ft) above sea level.
The landscape of Hallingskarvet was shaped by multiple ice ages. The park shows the geological history and the connection between this history and the variation in the species living there. It includes areas of special value and which are home to threatened or vulnerable species such as Draba cacuminum (whitlow-grass) and Botrychium lanceolatum (lance-leaf grapefern).
The Bergen Line runs along the southern boundary of the park. There is no road access to the southern side of the park, so Finse Station, a stop on the railway line, is one of the few ways that people can access this part of the park. The Norwegian County Road 50 runs near the northern boundary of the park.
Protection and use
The main objective of this national park is to preserve a large, unique, and largely untouched area in order to protect the landscape and the biome with its ecosystem, species and populations of, amongst others, the wild reindeer. The protection is designed to safeguard a characteristic element needed to understand the geological history of the Norwegian landscape. It is also designed to protect valuable elements of the cultural heritage.
The park is open to the traditional forms of outdoor activities which require little or no technical means.
Name
The first element is halling (inhabitant of the Hallingdal valley) and the last is the finite form of skarv (mountain or mountainous area without vegetation).
(Wikipedia)
Der Hallingskarvet-Nationalpark (norwegisch Hallingskarvet nasjonalpark) ist ein südnorwegischer Nationalpark. Er umfasst das Hallingskarvet-Hochplateau und erstreckt sich über das Gebiet der Gemeinden Hol (Provinz Buskerud), Ulvik und Aurland (Provinz Vestland) gehört.
Gegründet wurde der Park am 22. Dezember 2006, um die dortige große, unverwechselbare und nahezu unberührte Bergregion, die Artenvielfalt von Flora und Fauna und die dort heimischen Bergrentiere zu schützen. Der Park grenzt an das Naturschutzgebiet Skaupsjøen/Hardangerjøkulen und das Biotop Finse.
Im Süden des Parkes führen sowohl die Bergenbahn als auch die Reichsstraße 7 vorbei.
Geologie, Landschaft und Geografie
Der Nationalpark umfasst größtenteils das Hallingskarvethochplateau, welches aufgrund der Kaledonischen Orogenese entstand. Das vorherrschende Gesteinsmaterial der Bergkette ist präkambrisches Pluton.
Der höchste Berg ist der Folarskardnuten mit 1.933 m. Im Hallingskarvet befindet sich auch Norwegens höchster See, der Flakavatnet, welcher auf 1.453 m Höhe liegt.
Flora
Die Pflanzenwelt gestaltet sich mit über 300 verschiedenen Arten sehr vielfältig. Die am weitesten verbreiteten Pflanzen sind der Weiße Silberwurz, Knöllchen-Knöterich und Herbst-Löwenzahn. In den höheren Lagen kommen vor allem Dreiblatt-Binsen, Polarsimsen, Moosheide und Gletscher-Hahnenfuß vor.
Fauna
Im Park gibt es an größeren Säugetieren Bergrentiere, Elche, Rehe, Polarfüchse und Schneehasen. Nördlich des Parks leben zudem Vielfraße.
Die größten Greifvögel sind Steinadler, Gerfalke, Turmfalke und Raufußbussard. Der Kolkrabe ist im Hallingskarvet ebenfalls heimisch.
Kulturerbe
Im Nationalpark wurden verschiedene Jagdutensilien gefunden, die auf eine prähistorische/historische Nutzung der Berge als Jagd- und/oder Siedlungsgebiet schließen lassen.
Im 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert lag der Park entlang einer wichtigen Handelsroute. Einfache Übernachtungshütten, sog. lægre, zeugen noch heute davon. Im Jahre 1880 ließ der englische Graf Lord Garvagh eine steinerne Jagdhütte, die Lordehytta, errichten, um in der näheren Umgebung auf Rentierjagd zu gehen.
Verwaltung und Tourismus
Der Norwegische Wanderverein unterhält im Park die Hütten Finsehytta im Süden und Geiterygghytta im Norden. Private Unterkünfte gibt es im Raggsteindalen und bei Haugastøl. Zwischen den Hütten gibt es markierte Wanderwege.
Zwischen Finse und Ustaoset verläuft ein Stück des Skarverennet durch den Park. Im Süden des Parks verläuft zudem der Rallarvegen.
(Wikipedia)
Upper: Boat Train Finale - The 5Z93 empty stock movement leaving Carlisle Kingmoor depot precisely at 14:00 to Crewe on Sunday 16th December 2012, hauled by Class 47/4. No. 47810, marking the end of the short-lived Direct Rail Services 'Cruise Saver Express Boat Train' diagrams. DRS Driver Michael Wylie enters into the spirit of the poignant occasion, with a 'Condor' headboard fitted to the veteran loco, and powers away from the DRS depot, emerging from beneath Etterby Bridge, Kingmoor, with the empty stock from the previous day's final Southampton-Edinburgh 'Boat Train' service. Appropriately, this was the same Brush Type 4 which hauled the final up 'Bournemouth Belle' on 9th July 1967.
Lower: Flashback to 1966 - Stanier 'Black Five' 4-6-0 No. 44855 of Stockport Edgeley MPD (9B) emerges from Etterby Bridge, Kingmoor, and crosses the Eden river bridge heading a down mixed freight from Kingmoor New Yard for the north west on a misty morning in late summer 1966.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
Nauru island has been destroyed – do you know Nauru? one of the smallest island in the world. And once the richest and wealthiest countries in the world. maybe you are wondering where the country is located, is close to the country australia.
Nauru lay on the land area of 8000 hectares in the western Pacific ocean. The extent of only about one tenth of the oil palm plantation Astra, Eka Cipta Wijaya, Prabowo, Cargill, DL Sitorus, and tycoons Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Sumatra there. Only about a quarter of its 50 spacious logged forests conglomerates concessionaires in Borneo there. Precisely, the area of the Republic of Nauru is almost equivalent to the Lake Toba.
21km square berarea country for 30 years been listed as one of the richest countries in the world. Income per capita in 1981 reached 17,000 dollars, compared with Indonesia, which is only 530 dollars per capita in the same year. With such a high income and a population of only 13 thousand inhabitants (still more spectators Indonesian league opponents Saudi Arabia the other day, which reached 90,000) Nauru transformed into a very rich country. They build tall buildings. Buy cars and luxury commercial aircraft. There are no poor people in there, let alone bum. State subsidizes the lives of all citizens. More than 80% of the workforce was appointed as civil servants. These employees are not tied to office hours. They may come and go as they pleased. The unemployed also subsidized by the state. In short, was so rich Nauru, without any of the working population can live in luxury. People are not taxed. Education and free health care, subsidized food, who want to study abroad were given scholarships. Even so spoiled, so reluctant to Nauru population of mobile workers. His government was forced to import labor from Australia, China, Kiribati and Tuvalu.
What makes Nauru be all that rich? not because of bird droppings. More than 70% of the land consists of sediment Nauru Guano bird droppings that had accumulated over hundreds and even thousands of years ago. This is because once Nauru is a place for large colonies of birds Guano. This bird droppings into phosphate, which serves as fertilizer for crops.
Phosphate was found in 1899 and began to be explored in 1907. At that Nauru is still a part of the country Australia. Once granted independence on January 31, 1968, phosphate mining areas controlled by men. Estimated that the number of high-quality phosphate across Nauru 41 million tons. This huge amount. Compare with Indonesia, which consists of thousands of islands, the total number of phospatnya estimated at only 2.5 million tonnes. Because it is only natural that the country would fall into the list of the world’s smallest country touted as the country’s phosphate, and targeted by many countries.
After the massive phosphate exploration for decades, Nauru is now reaping the consequences. According to Greenpeace’s investigation, 90% of Nauru was severely damaged and need to be rehabilitated. That means that only about 2 square km area Nauru only habitable. Greenpeace also found spreading poison of its mining activities in three places. Toxic substances that the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, Polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC) and metal.
Tremendous damage this requires a very long rehabilitation period and cost prohibitive. Nauru should import fertilizer, humus, and other essential nutrients to rebuild the ecosystem. It costs about 200 million dollars, and the process took 30 years. The most crucial thing to do is reclaiming back the area of agriculture, clean water sources, livestock and plantasi trees. If this step is not performed, then the entire population of Nauru have to migrate to other areas. When kept in Nauru they will suffer from various diseases due to mining, hunger and lack of water. Migration area selection is empty islands in the Pacific Islands region.
Nauru government intends reclaiming back its territory. For the year 1989, they filed a lawsuit against Australia in the International Court. Nauru demanded Australia to pay compensation for the environmental damage done mining company. The company itself is actually a consortium of three countries, namely Australia, England and New Zealand. Australia circumvent these demands and accused Nauru as a party that should be responsible. Because the country gained independence from Australia in 1968. And since then, phosphate mining Nauru managed native son, no longer by the consortium companies.
In 1992, the International Court of Justice in favor of Nauru. According to them Australia and two other countries (the United Kingdom and New Zealand) must take responsibility for environmental damage Nauru, as they participate explore this mine before.
In 1993 the three countries were required to pay compensation. Australia have to pay compensation of 107 million Australian dollars, while the United Kingdom and New Zealand, respectively 12 million dollars.
So how? Are you curious about this country? if you want to visit to see it? it’s up to you. I hope what happened to Nauru could be a lesson to us all that exploit something excessively without any action about the future it will be bad. so do not get used to always live with a tasty and versatile plush yes, learn to appreciate life and learn to start thinking about the future.
by New Hotel Travel in ift.tt/1XHPf3p
Ratu Boko Palace located on the hilltop with a height of about 196 meters or more precisely 195,97 meters above sea level, occupies an area of 250,000 m2. Ratu Boko Palace is located on the Boko plateu, about 19 kilometers east of Yogyakarta city (toward Wonosari), and 2 km south of the Prambanan Temple.
From its location, Ratu Boko complex has a unique and special attraction, because of the complex which are located on hills can enjoy beautiful natural scenery and charming. On a hillside plateau, overlooking Prambanan temple complex and with a view to Mount Merapi behind Prambanan Temple complex. with a village atmosphere with green rice fields around it. In addition, the south, when the weather is sunny, in the distance, faintly visible to the South Coast.
Site Ratu Boko is the single largest classical period settlement site found in Java, especially Java middle section. This feature makes Ratu Boko as a specific site, a lot of mystery as well as a variety of interesting phenomena to be traced and revealed.
HISTORY
Historical background Keraton Ratu Boko can not be known for certain, but to be able to reveal not only used non-textual data (buildings, statues, ceramics, artifacts, etc.) are also used textual data due to findings of the inscriptions.
From inscriptions that can be concluded that the region is a region Ratu Boko heritage character of Hinduism and Buddhism, which was built around VIII - IX sentury. Ratu Boko complex was originally a monastery complex, which is a dormitory for the residence of the monks in the Buddhist religion.
In the year 856 AD, Ratu Boko complex functions turn into the residence of a ruler called the Rakai Wilang Pu Khumbayoni the adoption of Hinduism. It is therefore not surprising that elements of Hinduism and Buddhism looks at this building complex.
Elements of Hinduism can be shown through the yoni, three miniature temples, statues of Ganesh and Durga as well as gold and silver plate that read Hindu religious incantation, while the Buddhist elements visible from the discovery of Buddha statues, ruins of stupas and stupika.
This is precisely one of those moments when Tartuffe wishes he was an only child ;P!
No dog or human was harmed in the making of this shot!! At least, not physically, the mental trauma is another question ;). Hope you won't have any bad dreams...
This wasn't precisely the shot I intended of this train as I had planned to catch it off Old Oak Common Lane overbridge behind me, but to my utter surprise it overtook the Bristol - Felixstowe liner I was waiting at this spot for, at Acton. That means I have to go back to do it again!
The date of the church’s construction was not precisely known until 1969, particularly as the pisanie (inscription) is partly deteriorated.
That year, the parish priest discovered a petition from the Christians of the Broșteni district to the Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia.
Authored by Manul "Cavaful", head of the shoemakers’ (cavafi) guild, the document asks permission for building a church on the land of the late Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, in accordance with his will.
It is dated July 1815, and construction probably started on August 15, a date mentioned on the inscription.
The structure was probably erected by summer 1816, and was completely finished by November 1817, as attested by a document of that date.
Repairs were carried out in 1868, 1891 and 1906, while the painting was redone in 1929.
Thorough repairs took place in 1949–1950 and 1957.
Repainting was done under Patriarch Justinian, whose portrait appears among the ktetors.
The 1930 parish house was demolished in 1985 to make way for the surrounding apartment blocks.
The church has two spires, one above the nave, the other, the bell tower, above the narthex.
The iconostasis is carved in wood and gilt.
The facades are simple, with a classical cornice and pediment on the western side, painted with three panels of saints’ icons.
Saint Haralambie, whose relics are here, awaits them every day.
The church, in the shape of a cross, was built between 1815 and 1817 on the land left by Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, by Maria and Manea Cavafu, the latter being the elder of the tanners in the Broşteni slum.
Over time, the church was repaired several times.
Among the objects of historical or documentary value, the very old icons stand out (the oldest is from the 17th century), but also the iconostasis, which is carved in wood and gilded.
The current painting dates from 1986, made by a certain Gheorghe.
OK, so I know that some of you on here are pretty savvy about enbs and I really have been at my wits end with them and need to figure out precisely WHY this happens. I could go onto the enbdev forums, and i probably will, but wondered if it might be better to ask here since I know a lot of enb veterans.
Everytime I install an enb (or any enb, after I tried to install others for testing), I have had trouble loading my save, even in an interior. Even after using the qasmoke loading trick, and get the game to run and play, my game will crash within the next 5 to 10 minutes. This is a problem I've been having off and on since the .264 binaries, and I literally tried every setting in enblocal.ini to try to figure out the issue, and for some enbs have had temporary success, but as soon as I go looking for a better preset, it happens all over again.
I know that you have to make sure the enblocal settings are appropriate for each enb, and I am painstakingly anal about doing so and keeping my settings while still retaining whats necessary for the new enb, but regardless of my caution, BAM! Constant CTDs. I've looked thoroughly at the step guide, but no matter what I tweak or change anymore it doesn't seem to matter. I'm at my wits end. Does anyone know what specific parameters cause this 5-10 minute crash issue? I'm sure it could be multiple things, but I wondered if anyone else who'd experienced the same figured out what worked best for them. I'll post my enblocal up here just in case anyone can point something out to me, but removed the proxy since I know that differs between enbs. I use the .279 binary on this setup.
Gtx 760 4GB Vram
Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E31270 @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz
Cooler Master GXII 750W
16GB RAM
I only have a smattering of 2k textures on my skyrim and i have very few scripted mods, and I thoroughly clean and upkeep my mods using wryebash and tes5edit. Without enb I easily get 80fps.
Thanks you guys!!
[GLOBAL]
UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=false
UseDefferedRendering=true
IgnoreCreationKit=true
ForceFakeVideocard=false
[PERFORMANCE]
SpeedHack=true
EnableOcclusionCulling=true
EnableZPrepass=false
[MULTIHEAD]
ForceVideoAdapterIndex=false
VideoAdapterIndex=0
[MEMORY]
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false
ReservedMemorySizeMb=512
VideoMemorySizeMb=4000
EnableCompression=true
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=true
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false
[WINDOW]
ForceBorderless=false
ForceBorderlessFullscreen=false
[ENGINE]
ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true
MaxAnisotropy=16
ForceLodBias=false
LodBias=0.1
AddDisplaySuperSamplingResolutions=false
EnableVSync=true
VSyncSkipNumFrames=0
[LIMITER]
WaitBusyRenderer=false
EnableFPSLimit=false
FPSLimit=60.0
[INPUT]
//printscreen
KeyCombination=44
//home
KeyUseEffect=36
//num
KeyFPSLimit=106
//f12 / 106
KeyShowFPS=123
//insert
KeyScreenshot=45
//enter
KeyEditor=13
//f4
KeyFreeVRAM=115
[ADAPTIVEQUALITY]
Enable=true
Quality=0
DesiredFPS=20.0
[ANTIALIASING]
EnableEdgeAA=false
EnableSubPixelAA=false
EnableTemporalAA=false
EnableTransparencyAA=false
[FIX]
FixGameBugs=false
FixParallaxBugs=true
FixParallaxTerrain=true
FixAliasedTextures=true
IgnoreInventory=true
FixSsaoHairTransparency=false
FixTintGamma=false
RemoveBlur=false
FixSubSurfaceScattering=true
FixSkyReflection=true
FixCursorVisibility=true
FixLag=true
[LONGEXPOSURE]
EnableLongExposureMode=false
Time=1.0
BlendMax=0.0
"I'm always chasing the light because the darkness reminds me of myself, my own enemy."
another one for my words with photographs series!
I probably shouldn't be uploading this so late (my time) but ah well. I kept procrastinating uploading this because I didn't want to haha. I'm not going to lie, I haven't picked up my camera in a while and I know precisely why. I'm not going to get into it right now, but mostly because I kind of just lost faith in my work. I lost the ability to look at my photos and find something I'm proud of. I actually hate them all right now
BUT I'm doing what I always do, I push myself to get over it because sitting around wondering if I'm ever going to achieve what I want so bad won't do anything. I just have to learn to suck it up and keep going.
but man I've never felt this discouraged. It feels like time is running out and being what I want to be is so far beyond my reach. But yeah, suck it up and keep going.
Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can"
Can't wait to get to the sea again, this year, somewhere, just to get lost in its beautiful vastity and contemplate my beloved clouds playing above it.
Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851
"Chiamatemi Ismaele. Alcuni anni fa – non importa quanti esattamente – avendo pochi o punti denari in tasca e nulla di particolare che m'interessasse a terra, pensai di darmi alla navigazione e vedere la parte acquea del mondo. È un modo che ho io di cacciare la malinconia e di regolare la circolazione. Ogni volta che m'accorgo di atteggiare le labbra al torvo, ogni volta che nell'anima mi scende come un novembre umido e piovigginoso, ogni volta che mi accorgo di fermarmi involontariamente dinanzi alle agenzie di pompe funebri e di andar dietro a tutti i funerali che incontro, e specialmente ogni volta che il malumore si fa tanto forte in me che mi occorre un robusto principio morale per impedirmi di scendere risoluto in istrada e gettare metodicamente per terra il cappello alla gente, allora decido che è tempo di mettermi in mare al più presto."
Non vedo l'ora, quest'anno, di ritornare sul mare a perdermi da qualche parte nella sua affascinante immensità e contemplare le mie nuvole adorate mentre vi giocano sopra.
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.As the Antichrist
While for nearly nineteen centuries Christians had thought that the first horseman was a positive figure representing either Christ or the Gospel, a completely different interpretation of this character emerged in 1866[ when C.F. Wimpel defended the first hypothesis that he was the Antichrist
(and more precisely according to him Napoleon Bonaparte).
It was taken over from the next generation in the United States by R. F. Franklin in 1898 and W. C. Stevens in 1928 and was then very successful in evangelical circles until today, for example with Pastor Billy Graham, for whom it was the Antichrist or false prophets in general.
— Revelation 6:1–2 New American Standard Bible
White horses have a special significance in the mythologies of cultures around the world. They are often associated with the sun chariot,[1] with warrior-heroes, with fertility (in both mare and stallion manifestations), or with an end-of-time saviour, but other interpretations exist as well. Both truly white horses and the more common grey horses, with completely white hair coats, were identified as "white" by various religious and cultural traditions.
Contents
1Portrayal in myth
2Mythologies and traditions
2.1European
2.1.1Celtic
2.1.2Greek
2.1.3Norse
2.1.4Slavic
2.1.5Hungarian
2.2Iranian
2.3Hindu
2.4Buddhist
2.5Abrahamic
2.5.1Jewish
2.5.2Christian
2.5.3Islamic
2.6Far East
2.6.1Korean
2.6.2Philippines
2.6.3Vietnamese
2.7Native American
3Literature and art
4See also
5References
6External links
Portrayal in myth
The Hindu world saviour Kalki with his white Horse. Punjab Hills, Guler, c. 1765.
From earliest times, white horses have been mythologised as possessing exceptional properties, transcending the normal world by having wings (e.g. Pegasus from Greek mythology), or having horns (the unicorn). As part of its legendary dimension, the white horse in myth may be depicted with seven heads (Uchaishravas) or eight feet (Sleipnir), sometimes in groups or singly. There are also white horses which are divinatory, who prophesy or warn of danger.
As a rare or distinguished symbol, a white horse typically bears the hero- or god-figure in ceremonial roles or in triumph over negative forces. Herodotus reported that white horses were held as sacred animals in the Achaemenid court of Xerxes the Great (ruled 486–465 BC),[2] while in other traditions the reverse happens when it was sacrificed to the gods.
In more than one tradition, the white horse carries patron saints or the world saviour in the end times (as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), is associated with the sun or sun chariot (Ossetia) or bursts into existence in a fantastic way, emerging from the sea or a lightning bolt.
Though some mythologies are stories from earliest beliefs, other tales, though visionary or metaphorical, are found in liturgical sources as part of preserved, on-going traditions (see, for example, "Iranian tradition" below).
Mythologies and traditions
European
Celtic
In Celtic mythology, Rhiannon, a mythic figure in the Mabinogion collection of legends, rides a "pale-white" horse.[3] Because of this, she has been linked to the Romano-Celtic fertility horse goddess Epona and other instances of the veneration of horses in early Indo-European culture.[4] In Irish Myth Donn "god of the dead" portrayed as a phantom horseman riding a white horse, is considered an aspect of The Dagda "the great God" also known as "the horseman" and is the origin of the Irish "Loch nEachach" for Loch Neagh. In Irish myth horses are said to be symbols of sovereignty and the sovereignty goddess Macha is associated with them. One of Cúchulainn's chariot-horses was called Liath Macha or "Macha's Grey"[citation needed]
Bellerophon riding Pegasus
The La Tène style hill figure in England, the Uffington White Horse dates back to the Bronze Age and is similar to some Celtic coin horse designs.
In Scottish folklore, the kelpie or each uisge, a deadly supernatural water demon in the shape of a horse, is sometimes described as white, though other stories say it is black.
Greek
In Greek mythology, the white winged horse Pegasus was the son of Poseidon and the gorgon Medusa. Poseidon was also the creator of horses, creating them out of the breaking waves when challenged to make a beautiful land animal.
A secondary pair of twins fathered by Zeus, Amphion and Zethus, the legendary founders of Thebes, are called "Dioskouroi, riders of white horses" (λευκόπωλος) by Euripedes in his play The Phoenician Women (the same epithet is used in Heracles and in the lost play Antiope).[5][6][7]
Norse
The Tjängvide image stone is thought to show Odin entering Valhalla riding on Sleipnir.
In Norse mythology, Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir, "the best horse among gods and men", is described as grey.[8] Sleipnir is also the ancestor of another grey horse, Grani, who is owned by the hero Sigurd.[9]
Slavic
In Slavic mythology, the war and fertility deity Svantovit owned an oracular white horse; the historian Saxo Grammaticus, in descriptions similar to those of Tacitus centuries before, says the priests divined the future by leading the white stallion between a series of fences and watching which leg, right or left, stepped first in each row.[10]
Hungarian
One of the titles of God in Hungarian mythology was Hadúr, who, according to an unconfirmed source, wears pure copper and is a metalsmith. The Hungarian name for God was, and remains "Isten" and they followed Steppe Tengriism.[citation needed] The ancient Magyars sacrificed white stallions to him before a battle.[11] Additionally, there is a story (mentioned for example in Gesta Hungarorum) that the Magyars paid a white horse to Moravian chieftain Svatopluk I (in other forms of the story, it is instead the Bulgarian chieftain Salan) for a part of the land that later became the Kingdom of Hungary.[citation needed] Actual historical background of the story is dubious because Svatopluk I was already dead when the first Hungarian tribes arrived. On the other hand, even Herodotus mentions in his Histories an Eastern custom, where sending a white horse as payment in exchange for land means casus belli. This custom roots in the ancient Eastern belief that stolen land would lose its fertility.[citation needed]
Iranian
In Zoroastrianism, one of the three representations of Tishtrya, the hypostasis of the star Sirius, is that of a white stallion (the other two are as a young man, and as a bull). The divinity takes this form during the last 10 days of every month of the Zoroastrian calendar, and also in a cosmogonical battle for control of rain. In this latter tale (Yasht 8.21–29), which appears in the Avesta's hymns dedicated to Tishtrya, the divinity is opposed by Apaosha, the demon of drought, which appears as a black stallion.[12]
White horses are also said to draw divine chariots, such as that of Aredvi Sura Anahita, who is the Avesta's divinity of the waters. Representing various forms of water, her four horses are named "wind", "rain", "clouds" and "sleet" (Yasht 5.120).
Hindu
White horses appear many times in Hindu mythology and stand for the sun.[13] The Vedic horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha was a fertility and kingship ritual involving the sacrifice of a sacred grey or white stallion.[14] Similar rituals may have taken place among Roman, Celtic and Norse people, but the descriptions are not so complete.
Uchchaihshravas
In the Puranas, one of the precious objects that emerged while the devas and demons were churning the milky ocean was Uchaishravas, a snow-white horse with seven heads.[14] Turaga was another divine white horse that emerged out of the ocean and taken by the sun god Surya.[15][16] Uchaishravas was at times ridden by Indra, lord of the devas. Indra is depicted as having a liking for white horses in several legends – he often steals the sacrificial horse to the consternation of all involved, such as in the story of Sagara,[17] or the story of King Prithu.[18]
The chariot of the solar deity Surya is drawn by seven horses, alternately described as all white, or as the colours of the rainbow.
Hayagriva the Avatar of Vishnu is worshipped as the God of knowledge and wisdom, with a human body and a horse's head, brilliant white in colour, with white garments and seated on a white lotus. Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu and final world saviour, is predicted to appear riding a white horse, or in the form of a white horse.[14]
Buddhist
Kanthaka was a white horse that was a royal servant and favourite horse of Prince Siddhartha, who later became Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha used Kanthaka in all major events described in Buddhist texts prior to his renunciation of the world. Following the departure of Siddhartha, it was said that Kanthaka died of a broken heart.[19]
Abrahamic
Jewish
The Book of Zechariah twice mentions coloured horses; in the first passage there are three colours (red, dappled, and white), and in the second there are four teams of horses (red, black, white, and finally dappled) pulling chariots. The second set of horses are referred to as "the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world." They are described as patrolling the earth and keeping it peaceful.
Christian
A 15th-century icon of St. George from Novgorod.
In the New Testament, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse include one seated on a white horse[20] and one on a pale horse – the "white" horse carried the rider Conquest (traditionally, Pestilence) while the "pale" horse carried the rider Death.[21] However, the Greek word chloros, translated as pale, is often interpreted as sickly green or ashen grey rather than white. Later in the Book of Revelation, Christ rides a white horse out of heaven at the head of the armies of heaven to judge and make war upon the earth.[22]
Two Christian saints are associated with white steeds: Saint James, as patron saint of Spain, rides a white horse in his martial aspect.[23][24][25] Saint George, the patron saint of horsemen[26] among other things, also rides a white horse.[27] In Ossetia, the deity Uastyrdzhi, who embodied both the warrior and sun motifs often associated with white horses, became identified with the figure of St. George after the region adopted Christianity.[28]
Gesta Francorum contains a description of the First Crusade, where soldiers fighting at Antioch claimed to have been heartened by a vision of St. George and white horses during the battle: There came out from the mountains, also, countless armies with white horses, whose standards were all white. And so, when our leaders saw this army, they ... recognised the aid of Christ, whose leaders were St. George, Mercurius, and Demetrius.[29]
Islamic
Islamic culture tells of a white creature named Al-Buraq who brought Muhammad to Jerusalem during the Night Journey. Al-Buraq was also said to transport Abraham (Ibrâhîm) when he visited his wife Hagar (Hājar) and son Ishmael (Ismâ'îl). According to tradition, Abraham lived with one wife (Sarah) in Syria, but Al-Buraq would transport him in the morning to Makkah to see his family there, and then take him back to his Syrian wife in the evening. Al-Burāq (Arabic: البُراق al-Burāq "lightning") isn't mentioned in the Quran but in some hadith ("tradition") literature.[30]
Twelver Shī'a Islamic traditions envisage that the Mahdi will appear riding a white horse.[31]
Far East
Korean
A huge white horse appears in Korean mythology in the story of the kingdom of Silla. When the people gathered to pray for a king, the horse emerged from a bolt of lightning, bowing to a shining egg. After the horse flew back to heaven, the egg opened and the boy Park Hyeokgeose emerged. When he grew up, he united six warring states.
Philippines
The city of Pangantucan has as its symbol a white stallion who saved an ancient tribe from massacre by uprooting a bamboo and thus warning them of the enemy's approach.
Vietnamese
The city of Hanoi honours a white horse as its patron saint with a temple dedicated to this revered spirit, the White Horse or Bach Ma Temple ( "bach" means white and "ma" is horse). The 11th-century king, Lý Công Uẩn (also known as King Lý Thái Tổ) had a vision of a white horse representing a river spirit which showed him where to build his citadel.[32]
Native American
In Blackfoot mythology, the snow deity Aisoyimstan is a white-coloured man in white clothing who rides a white horse.
Literature and art
The statue of the "fine lady upon a white horse" at Banbury Cross.
The mythological symbolism of white horses has been picked up as a trope in literature, film, and other storytelling. For example, the heroic prince or white knight of fairy tales often rides a white horse. Unicorns are (generally white) horse-like creatures with a single horn. And the English nursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross" refers to a lady on a white horse who may be associated with the Celtic goddess Rhiannon.[33]
A "white palfrey" appears in the fairy tale "Virgilius the Sorcerer" by Andrew Lang. It appears in The Violet Fairy Book and attributes more than usual magical powers to the ancient Roman poet Virgil (see also Virgil#Mysticism and hidden meanings).
The British author G. K. Chesterton wrote an epic poem titled Ballad of the White Horse. In Book I, "The Vision of the King," he writes of earliest England, invoking the white horse hill figure and the gods:
Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass.[34]
The white horse is a recurring motif in Ibsen's play Rosmersholm, making use of the common Norse folklore that its appearance was a portent of death. The basis for the superstition may have been that the horse was a form of Church Grim, buried alive at the original consecration of the church building (the doomed protagonist in the play was a pastor), or that it was a materialisation of the fylgje, an individual's or family's guardian spirit.[35]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_horses_in_mythology
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (often referred to as the Four Horsemen) are figures in Christian mythology, appearing in the New Testament's final book, Revelation, an apocalypse written by John of Patmos, as well as in the Old Testament's prophetic Book of Zechariah, and in the Book of Ezekiel, where they are named as punishments from God.
Revelation 6 tells of a book/scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. To Zechariah, they are described as "the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth" causing it to rest quietly. Ezekiel lists them as "sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague."
In John's revelation, the first horseman is on a white horse, carrying a bow, and given a crown, riding forward as a figure of Conquest,[1] perhaps invoking Pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist. The second carries a sword and rides a red horse and is the creator of War.[2] The third is a food merchant riding upon a black horse, symbolizing Famine. He carries The Scales. [3] The fourth and final horse is pale green, and upon it rides Death accompanied by Hades.[4] "They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth."[5]
The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the Four Horsemen are to set a divine end time upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.[1][6]
Contents
1White Horse
1.1As Christ, the Gospel, or the Holy Spirit
1.2As the Antichrist
1.3As Roman Empire prosperity
1.4As war
1.5As infectious disease
2Red Horse
2.1As empire division
3Black Horse
3.1As imperial oppression
4Pale Horse
4.1Destroying an empire
5Interpretations
5.1Christological interpretation
5.2Prophetic interpretation
5.3Historicist interpretation
5.4Preterist interpretation
5.5LDS interpretation
5.6Other interpretations
6Other Biblical references
6.1Zechariah
6.2Ezekiel
7See also
8References
9External links
White Horse
See also: White horse (mythology)
For other uses of the term "White Rider", see White rider.
The first Horseman, Conquest on the White Horse as depicted in the Bamberg Apocalypse (1000–1020). The first "living creature" (with halo) is seen in the upper right.
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
— Revelation 6:1–2 New American Standard Bible [7]
Based on the above passage, a common translation into English is the rider of the White Horse (sometimes referred to as the White Rider). He is thought to carry a bow (Greek τόξο, toxo) and wear a victor's crown (Greek stephanos).
As Christ, the Gospel, or the Holy Spirit
Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513
Irenaeus, an influential Christian theologian of the 2nd century, was among the first to interpret this Horseman as Christ himself, his white horse representing the successful spread of the gospel.[3] Various scholars have since supported this notion,[8] citing the later appearance, in Revelation 19, of Christ mounted on a white horse, appearing as The Word of God. Furthermore, earlier in the New Testament, the Book of Mark indicates that the advance of the gospel may indeed precede and foretell the apocalypse.[3][9] The color white also tends to represent righteousness in the Bible, and Christ is in other instances portrayed as a conqueror.[3][9]
Besides Christ, the Horseman could represent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was understood to have come upon the Apostles at Pentecost after Jesus' departure from Earth. The appearance of the Lion in Revelation 5 shows the triumphant arrival of Jesus in Heaven, and the first Horseman could represent the sending of the Holy Spirit by Jesus and the advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.[10]
As the Antichrist
While for nearly nineteen centuries Christians had thought that the first horseman was a positive figure representing either Christ or the Gospel, a completely different interpretation of this character emerged in 1866[11] when C.F. Wimpel defended the first hypothesis that he was the Antichrist (and more precisely according to him Napoleon Bonaparte).[12] It was taken over from the next generation in the United States by R. F. Franklin in 1898[13] and W. C. Stevens in 1928[14] and was then very successful in evangelical circles until today, for example with Pastor Billy Graham, for whom it was the Antichrist or false prophets in general.[15]
As Roman Empire prosperity
Four horsemen, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860
According to Edward Bishop Elliott's interpretation, that the Four Horsemen represent a prophecy of the subsequent history of the Roman Empire, the white color of this horse signifies triumph, prosperity and health in the political Roman body. For the next 80 or 90 years succeeding the banishment of the prophet John to Patmos covering the successive reigns of the emperors Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian and the two Antonines (Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius), a golden age of prosperity, union, civil liberty and good government unstained with civil blood unfolded. The agents of this prosperity personified by the rider of the white horse are these five emperors wearing crowns that reigned with absolute authority and power under the guidance of virtue and wisdom, the armies being restrained by their firm and gentle hands.[16]
This interpretation points out that the bow was preeminently a weapon of the inhabitants of the island of Crete and not of the Roman Empire in general. The Cretans were renowned for their archery skills. The significance of the rider of the white horse holding a bow indicates the place of origin of the line of emperors ruling during this time. This group of emperors can be classed together under one and the same head and family whose origins were from Crete.[17]
According to this interpretation, this period in Roman history, remarkable, both at its commencement and at its close, illustrated the glory of the empire where its limits were extended, though not without occasional wars, which were always uniformly triumphant and successful on the frontiers. The triumphs of the Emperor Trajan, a Roman Alexander, added to the empire Dacia, Armenia, Mesopotamia and other provinces during the course of the first 20 years of the period, which deepened the impression on the minds of the barbarians of the invincibility of the Roman Empire. Roman war progressed triumphantly into the invader's own territory, and the Parthian war was successfully ended by the total overthrow of those people. Roman conquest is demonstrated even in the most mighty of these wars, the Marcomannic succession of victories under the second Antonine unleashed on the German barbarians, driven into their forests and reduced to Roman submission.[18]
As war
In some commentaries to Bibles, the white Horseman is said to symbolize (ordinary) War, which may possibly be exercised on righteous grounds in decent manner, hence the white color, but still is devastating. The red Horseman (see below) then rather more specifically symbolizes civil war.[19]
As infectious disease
Under another interpretation, the first Horseman is called Pestilence, and is associated with infectious disease and plague. It appears at least as early as 1906, when it is mentioned in the Jewish Encyclopedia.[20] This particular interpretation is common in popular culture references to the Four Horsemen.[21]
The origin of this interpretation is unclear. Some translations of the Bible mention "plague" (e.g. the New International Version[citation needed]) or "pestilence" (e.g. the Revised Standard Version[citation needed]) in connection with the riders in the passage following the introduction of the fourth rider; cf. "They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." in the NASB.[22] However, it is a matter of debate as to whether this passage refers to the fourth rider only, or to the four riders as a whole.[1]
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, in his 1916 novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (filmed in 1921 and in 1962), provides an early example of this interpretation, writing "The horseman on the white horse was clad in a showy and barbarous attire. ... While his horse continued galloping, he was bending his bow in order to spread pestilence abroad. At his back swung the brass quiver filled with poisoned arrows, containing the germs of all diseases."[23]
Red Horse
The second Horseman, War on the Red Horse as depicted in a thirteenth-century Apocalypse manuscript.
When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from Earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
— Revelation 6:3–4NASB[24]
The rider of the second horse is often taken to represent War[2] (he is often pictured holding a sword upwards as though ready for battle[25]) or mass slaughter.[1][6][26] His horse's color is red (πυρρός, pyrrhos from πῦρ, fire); and in some translations, the color is specifically a "fiery" red. The color red, as well as the rider's possession of a great sword (μάχαιρα, machaira), suggests blood that is to be spilled.[3] The sword held upward by the second Horseman may represent war or a declaration of war, as seen in heraldry. In military symbolism, swords held upward, especially crossed swords held upward, signify war and entering into battle.[27] (See for example the historical and modern images, as well as the coat of arms, of Joan of Arc.)
The second Horseman may represent civil war as opposed to the war of conquest that the first Horseman is sometimes said to bring.[3][28] Other commentators have suggested that it might also represent the persecution of Christians.[9][29][full citation needed]
As empire division
Death on the Pale Horse, Benjamin West, 1817
According to Edward Bishop Elliott's interpretation of the Four Horsemen as symbolic prophecy of the history of the Roman Empire, the second seal is opened and the Roman nation that experienced joy, prosperity and triumph is made subject to the red horse which depicts war and bloodshed—civil war. Peace left the Roman Earth resulting in the killing of one another as insurrection crept into and permeated the Empire beginning shortly into the reign of the Emperor Commodus.[30]
Elliott points out that Commodus, who had nothing to wish and everything to enjoy, that beloved son of Marcus Aurelius who ascended the throne with neither competitor to remove nor enemies to punish, became the slave of his attendants who gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty degenerated into habit and became the ruling passion of his soul.[31]
Elliott further recites that, after the death of Commodus, a most turbulent period lasting 92 years unfolded during which time 32 emperors and 27 pretenders to the Empire hurled each other from the throne by incessant civil warfare. The sword was a natural, universal badge among the Romans, of the military profession. The apocalyptic figure indicated by the great sword indicated an undue authority and unnatural use of it. Military men in power, whose vocation was war and weapon the sword, rose by it and also fell. The unrestrained military, no longer subject to the Senate, transformed the Empire into a system of pure military despotism.[32]
Black Horse
The third Horseman, Famine on the Black Horse as depicted in the Angers Apocalypse Tapestry (1372–82)
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not damage the oil and the wine."
— Revelation 6:5–6 NASB[33]
The third Horseman rides a black horse and is popularly understood to be Famine as the Horseman carries a pair of balances or weighing scales (Greek ζυγὸν, zygon), indicating the way that bread would have been weighed during a famine.[3][28] Other authors interpret the third Horseman as the "Lord as a Law-Giver" holding Scales of Justice.[34] In the passage, it is read that the indicated price of grain is about ten times normal (thus the famine interpretation popularity), with an entire day's wages (a denarius) buying enough wheat for only one person (one choenix, about 1.1 litres), or enough of the less nutritious barley for three, so that workers would struggle to feed their families.[3]
Of the Four Horsemen, the black horse and its rider are the only ones whose appearance is accompanied by a vocalization. John hears a voice, unidentified but coming from among the four living creatures, that speaks of the prices of wheat and barley, also saying "and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine". This suggests that the black horse's famine is to drive up the price of grain but leave oil and wine supplies unaffected (though out of reach of the ordinary worker). One explanation for this is that grain crops would have been more naturally susceptible to famine years or locust plagues than olive trees and grapevines, which root more deeply.[3][28]
The statement might also suggest a continuing abundance of luxuries for the wealthy while staples, such as bread, are scarce, though not totally depleted;[28] such selective scarcity may result from injustice and the deliberate production of luxury crops for the wealthy over grain, as would have happened during the time Revelation was written.[2][8] Alternatively, the preservation of oil and wine could symbolize the preservation of the Christian faithful, who use oil and wine in their sacraments.[35]
As imperial oppression
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According to Edward Bishop Elliott's interpretation, through this third seal, the black horse is unleashed—aggravated distress and mourning. The balance in the rider's hand is not associated with a man's weighing out bits of bread in scanty measure for his family's eating but in association with the buying and selling of corn and other grains. The balance during the time of the apostle John's exile in Patmos was commonly a symbol of justice since it was used to weigh out the grains for a set price. The balance of justice held in the hand of the rider of the black horse signified the aggravation of the other previous evil, the bloodstained red of the Roman aspect into the darker blackness of distress.[36]The black horse rider is instructed not to harm the oil and the wine which signifies that this scarcity should not fall upon the superfluities, such as oil and wine, which men can live without, but upon the necessities of life—bread.[37]
In history, the Roman Empire suffered as a result of excessive taxation of its citizens. During the reign of Emperor Caracalla, whose sentiments were very different from the Antonines being inattentive, or rather averse, to the welfare of the people, he found himself under the necessity of gratifying the greed and excessive lifestyle which he had excited in the Army. During his reign, he crushed every part of the empire under the weight of his iron scepter. Old as well as new taxes were at the same time levied in the provinces. In the course of this history, the land tax, the taxes for services and the heavy contributions of corn, wine, oil and meat were exacted from the provinces for the use of the court, army and capital. "This noxious weed not totally eradicated again sprang up with the most luxurious growth and going forward darkened the Roman world with its deadly shade".[38]
In reality, the rise to power of the Emperor Maximin, whose cruelty was derived from a different source being raised as a barbarian from the district of Thrace, expanded the distress on the empire beyond the confines of the illustrious senators or bold adventurers who in the court or army exposed themselves to the whims of fortune. This tyrant, "stimulated by the insatiable desires of the soldiers, attacked the public property at length". Every city of the empire was destined to purchase corn for the multitudes as well as supply expenses for the games. By the Emperor's authority, the whole mass of wealth was confiscated for use by the Imperial treasury—temples "stripped of their most valuable offerings of gold, silver [and statues] which were melted down and coined into money."[39]
Pale Horse
The fourth Horseman, Death on the Pale Horse.
Engraving by Gustave Doré (1865).
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
— Revelation 6:7–8 (New American Standard Bible)[40]
The fourth and final Horseman is named Death. Known as Θάνατος (Thanatos),[41] of all the riders, he is the only one to whom the text itself explicitly gives a name. Unlike the other three, he is not described carrying a weapon or other object, instead he is followed by Hades (the resting place of the dead). However, illustrations commonly depict him carrying a scythe (like the Grim Reaper), sword,[42] or other implement.
The color of Death's horse is written as khlōros (χλωρός) in the original Koine Greek,[43] which can mean either green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid.[44] The color is often translated as "pale", though "ashen", "pale green", and "yellowish green"[28] are other possible interpretations (the Greek word is the root of "chlorophyll" and "chlorine"). Based on uses of the word in ancient Greek medical literature, several scholars suggest that the color reflects the sickly pallor of a corpse.[3][45] In some modern artistic depictions, the horse is distinctly green.[46][47][48]
The verse beginning "they were given power over a fourth of the earth" is generally taken as referring to Death and Hades,[28][49] although some commentators see it as applying to all four horsemen.[1]
Destroying an empire
See also: Crisis of the Third Century
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (by Arnaldo dell'Ira, neo-roman project of mosaic, 1939–1940.
This fourth, pale horse, was the personification of Death with Hades following him jaws open receiving the victims slain by Death. Its commission was to kill upon the Roman Earth with all of the four judgements of God—with sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts. The deadly pale and livid appearance displays a hue symptomatic of approaching empire dissolution. According to Edward Bishop Elliott, an era in Roman history commencing within about 15 years after the death of Severus Alexander (in 235 AD[50]) strongly marks every point of this terrible emblem.[51]
Edward Gibbon speaks of a period from the celebration of the great secular games by the Emperor Philip to the death of Gallienus (in 268 AD[52]) as the 20 years of shame and misfortune, of confusion and calamity, as a time when the ruined empire approached the last and fatal moment of its dissolution. Every instant of time in every province of the Roman world was afflicted by military tyrants and barbarous invaders—the sword from within and without.[53][54]
According to Elliott, famine, the inevitable consequence of carnage and oppression, which demolished the produce of the present as well as the hope of future harvests, produced the environment for an epidemic of diseases, the effects of scanty and unwholesome food. That furious plague (the Plague of Cyprian), which raged from the year 250 to the year 265, continued without interruption in every province, city and almost every family in the empire. During a portion of this time, 5000 people died daily in Rome; and many towns that escaped the attacks of barbarians were entirely depopulated.[55]
For a time in the late 260s, the strength of Aurelian crushed the enemies of Rome, yet after his assassination certain of them revived.[56] While the Goths had been destroyed for almost a century and the Empire reunited, the Sassanid Persians were uncowed in the East and during the following year hosts of central Asian Alani spread themselves over Pontus, Cappadocia, Cilicia and Galatia, etching their course by the flames of cities and villages they pillaged.[57]
As for the wild beasts of the earth, according to Elliott, it is a well-known law of nature that they quickly occupy the scenes of waste and depopulation—where the reign of man fails and the reign of beasts begins. After the reign of Gallienus and 20 or 30 years had passed, the multiplication of the animals had risen to such an extent in parts of the empire that they made it a crying evil.[58]
One notable point of apparent difference between the prophecy and history might seem to be expressly limited to the fourth part of the Roman Earth, but in the history of the period the devastations of the pale horse extended over all. The fourth seal prophecy seems to mark the malignant climax of the evils of the two preceding seals to which no such limitation is attached. Turning to that remarkable reading in Jerome's Latin Vulgate which reads "over the four parts of the earth,"[59][60] it requires that the Roman empire should have some kind of quadripartition. Dividing from the central or Italian fourth, three great divisions of the Empire separated into the West, East and Illyricum under Posthumus, Aureolus and Zenobia respectively—divisions that were later legitimized by Diocletian.[61]
Diocletian ended this long period of anarchy, but the succession of civil wars and invasions caused much suffering, disorder and crime which brought the empire into a state of moral lethargy from which it never recovered.[62] After the plague had abated, the empire suffered from general distress, and its condition was very much like that which followed after the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Talent and art had become extinct in proportion to the desolation of the world.[63]
Interpretations
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The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in a woodcut by Albrecht Dürer (ca. 1497–98), ride forth as a group, with an angel heralding them, to bring Death, Famine, War, and Conquest unto man.[64]
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Saint-Sever Beatus, 11th century.
Christological interpretation
Before the Reformation and the woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, the usual and more influential commentaries of the Book of Revelation thought there was only one horseman riding successively these four horses, who was the Christ himself. So did some medieval illuminations, and after that some modern commentators: Oecumenius, a Greek exegete writing in the sixth-century, Berengaudus a French Benedictine monk of Ferrières Abbey at the same period, Luis del Alcázar a Spanish Jesuit in 1612, Benito Arias Montano, a Spanish Orientalist, in 1622, Jacques de Bordes, a French capuchin in 1639, Emanuel Swedenborg a Swedish theologian in 1766[65]
Prophetic interpretation
Some Christians interpret the Horsemen as a prophecy of a future Tribulation,[8] during which many on Earth will die as a result of multiple catastrophes. The Four Horsemen are the first in a series of "Seal" judgements. This is when God will judge the Earth, and is giving the World a chance to repent before they die, and His new beautiful earth is created for all the people who are faithful to Him and accept him as their Savior.[citation needed]
John Walvoord, a premillennialist, believes the Seals will be opened during the Great Tribulation and coincides with the arrival of the Antichrist as the first horseman, a global war as the second horseman, an economic collapse as the third horseman, and the general die off of 1/4 of the World's population as the fourth horseman, which is followed by a global dictatorship under the Antichrist and the rest of the plagues.[66]
Historicist interpretation
According to E.B. Elliott, the first seal, as revealed to John by the angel, was to signify what was to happen soon after John seeing the visions in Patmos and that the second, third and fourth seals in like manner were to have commencing dates each in chronological sequence following the preceding seal. Its general subject is the decline and fall, after a previous prosperous era, of the Empire of Heathen Rome. The first four seals of Revelation, represented by four horses and horsemen, are fixed to events, or changes, within the Roman Earth.[67]
Preterist interpretation
Some modern scholars interpret Revelation from a preterist point of view, arguing that its prophecy and imagery apply only to the events of the first century of Christian history.[28] In this school of thought, Conquest, the white horse's rider, is sometimes identified as a symbol of Parthian forces: Conquest carries a bow, and the Parthian Empire was at that time known for its mounted warriors and their skill with bow and arrow.[3][28] Parthians were also particularly associated with white horses.[3] Some scholars specifically point to Vologases I, a Parthian shah who clashed with the Roman Empire and won one significant battle in 62 AD.[3][28]
Revelation's historical context may also influence the depiction of the black horse and its rider, Famine. In 92 AD, the Roman emperor Domitian attempted to curb excessive growth of grapevines and encourage grain cultivation instead, but there was major popular backlash against this effort, and it was abandoned. Famine's mission to make wheat and barley scarce but "hurt not the oil and the wine" could be an allusion to this episode.[28][45] The red horse and its rider, who take peace from the earth, might represent the prevalence of civil strife at the time Revelation was written; internecine conflict ran rampant in the Roman Empire during and just prior to the 1st century AD.[3][28]
LDS interpretation
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe their first prophet, Joseph Smith, revealed that the book described by John "contains the revealed will, mysteries, and the works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its temporal existence" and that the seals describe these things for the seven thousand years of the Earth's temporal existence, each seal representing 1,000 years.[68]
About the first seal and the white horse, LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught, "The most transcendent happenings involved Enoch and his ministry. And it is interesting to note that what John saw was not the establishment of Zion and its removal to heavenly spheres, but the unparalleled wars in which Enoch, as a general over the armies of the saints, 'went forth conquering and to conquer' Revelation 6:2; see also Moses 7:13–18"[69] The second seal and the red horse represent the period from approximately 3,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C. including the wickedness and violence leading to the Great Flood.[70]
The third seal and black horse describe the period of ancient Joseph, son of Israel, who was sold into Egypt, and the famines that swept that period (see Genesis 41–42; Abraham 1:29–30; 2:1, 17, 21). The fourth seal and the pale horse are interpreted to represent the thousand years leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ, both the physical death brought about by great warring empires and the spiritual death through apostasy among the Lord's chosen people.[70]
Other interpretations
Artwork which shows the Horsemen as a group, such as the famous woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, suggests an interpretation where all four horsemen represent different aspects of the same tribulation.[71]
American Protestant Evangelical interpreters regularly see ways in which the horsemen, and Revelation in general, speak to contemporary events. Some who believe Revelation applies to modern times can interpret the horses based on various ways their colors are used.[72] Red, for example, often represents Communism, the white horse and rider with a crown representing Catholicism, Black has been used as a symbol of Capitalism, while Green represents the rise of Islam. Pastor Irvin Baxter Jr. of Endtime Ministries espouses such a belief.[73]
Some equate the Four Horsemen with the angels of the four winds.[74] (See Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, angels often associated with four cardinal directions).
Some speculate that when the imagery of the Six Seals is compared to other eschatological descriptions throughout the Bible, the themes of the horsemen draw remarkable similarity to the events of the Olivet Discourse. The signs of the approaching end of the world are likened to birth pains, indicating that they would occur more frequently and with greater intensity the nearer the event of Christ's return. With this perspective the horsemen represent the rise of false religions, false prophets and false messiahs; the increase of wars and rumours of wars; the escalation of natural disasters and famines; and the growth of persecution, martyrdom, betrayal and loss of faith.
According to Anatoly Fomenko, the Book of Revelation is largely astrological in nature. The 'Four Horsemen' represent the planets Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.[75]
Other Biblical references
Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah twice mentions colored horses; in the first passage there are three colors (red, speckled/brown, and white),[76] and in the second there are four teams of horses (red, black, white, and finally dappled/"grisled and bay") pulling chariots.[77] The second set of horses are referred to as "the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world."[77] They are described as patrolling the earth, and keeping it peaceful. It may be assumed by some Christian interpretation that when the tribulation begins, the peace is taken away, so their job is to terrify the places in which they patrol.[3]
Ezekiel
The four living creatures of Revelation 4:6-8 are written very similarly to the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:5–12. In Revelation each of the living creatures summons a horseman, where in Ezekiel the living creatures follow wherever the spirit leads, without turning.
In Ezekiel 14:21, the Lord enumerates His "four disastrous acts of judgment" (ESV), sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, against the idolatrous elders of Israel. A symbolic interpretation of the Four Horsemen links the riders to these judgments, or the similar judgments in 6:11–12.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#Whi...
The inspiration for Sacré-Cœur's construction originated on 4 September 1870, the day of the proclamation of the Third Republic, with a speech by Bishop Fournier. He considered the defeat of French troops during the Franco-Prussian War as a divine punishment following "a century of moral decline" since the French Revolution.
In the decades following the Revolution, a division in French society arose, between devout Catholics and legitimist royalists on one side, opposed to democrats, secularists, socialists and radicals on the other.[citation needed] In 1870, a French military garrison, which had been protecting the Vatican in Rome, was withdrawn and sent to the front of the Franco-Prussian War by Napoleon III.[4] This was followed by the secular uprising of the Paris Commune of 1870–1871, and the subsequent 1871 defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War.
Though today the basilica is asserted[when?] to be dedicated in honor of the 58,000 who lost their lives during the war, the decree of the Assemblée nationale 24 July 1873, responding to a request by the archbishop of Paris and voting its construction, specifies that it is to "expiate the crimes of the Commune."[5]
Montmartre was the site of the Commune's first insurrection, and the Communards executed Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, who became a martyr for the resurgent Catholic Church. His successor Guibert, climbing the Butte Montmartre in October 1872, was reported to have had a vision as clouds dispersed over the panorama: "It is here, it is here where the martyrs are,[6] it is here that the Sacred Heart must reign so that it can beckon all to come."[7]
King Saint Louis
Saint Joan of Arc
Following the resignation of the government of Adolphe Thiers, 24 May 1873, François Pie, bishop of Poitiers, expressed the national yearning for spiritual renewal— "the hour of the Church has come".[8] This would be expressed through the "Government of Moral Order" of the Third Republic, which linked Catholic institutions with secular ones, in "a project of religious and national renewal, the main features of which were the restoration of monarchy and the defense of Rome within a cultural framework of official piety,"[9] of which Sacré-Cœur was the chief lasting, triumphalist[10] monument.
The 24 July decree voting its construction as a "matter of public utility"[11] followed close on Thiers' resignation. The project was expressed by the Church as a National Vow (Vœu national) and financial support came from parishes throughout France. The dedicatory inscription records the basilica as the accomplishment of a vow by Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury, ratified by Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert, Archbishop of Paris. The project took many years to complete.
I'm not very good at identifying shore birds...we don't see many. I believe this is a Spotted Sandpiper, but would welcome other thoughts.
On a tech note...I sometimes refer to the rule of thirds for composing images. There are always lots of cropping choices. When I consider alternatives, I include the thirds rule in the decision. In this photo, the Sandpiper's eye is precisely at the thirds intersection point, horizontally and vertically.
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Nikon D7100. Nikkor 80-400mm + 1.5x TC. 550mm. 1/800th @ f/10. ISO 500. EV = -2/3. Hand held.
Green snake
Macro .(pls take note this shot was taken by Tamron USD 70-300mm VC lens not precisely describe below as i was too afraid of been attack or bitten by such snake species with mere 50mm lens). I immediately terminate my search for insect n flew home instantly with such threatening encounter at Woodlands Admiralty Park not once but twice . The last time was a king cobra that measure at least 1.7m. No joke!
In Macro photography, nothing is too small to escape with an additional extensive magnification even any smallest creatures beside a size of near un-visible tiny droplet like this mini grasshopper shall be spare.
My recent Macromania workfun hands on with a Non Macro combination,a cheap Canon $125 bucks 50mm F1.8II lens +Raynox+Hoya +4 close up filter .
After all, I think the result still quite acceptable but fun.
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Technical Details:
Non HDR, single exposure process by CS5 software.
Basic Standard Gears I rely for Landscape
Canon EOS 5D Mark2 (a full frame ideal for interpolating landscape image).
Tokina 16-28mm F2.8 wide angle lens .
Tripod for landscape only (keep possible sharpness n ability to focus for most idealistic desire composition)
Release cable (reduce hand contact n fully manage desire exposure timing)
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