View allAll Photos Tagged precisely
“Comets are like cats: they have tails, and they do precisely what they want,” wrote David H. Levy, an amateur astronomer who discovered 23 comets. These cosmic visitors can indeed be pretty capricious. We never know exactly how long a comet will be visible in the sky.
In January, the southern hemisphere had a captivating visitor in the form of the comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS). It looks magnificent in this Picture of the Week by Juan Beltrán, one of our engineers, who took it on 20 January at our Paranal Observatory in Chile. Just last year, another comet was also caught on camera visiting ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany. These so-called non-periodic comets only stick around in our skies for a few weeks. If you miss your photo opportunity, your next chance may be a few thousand years later…
As comets approach the Sun they warm up, and the ice in them sublimates, meaning it goes directly from solid ice to gas. Dust particles are also released, and the solar wind and radiation push this gas and dust away from the Sun, creating extended tails. Although astronomers can calculate and estimate how long a comet will be visible, sometimes they surprise us, either by disappearing sooner, or by actually surviving their trip near the Sun relatively intact, saving their typical tail of gas and dust.
For C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) that tail may fade quickly. The comet reached perihelion — the point where it is closest to the Sun — on 13 January 2025. At that point, it was only 13 million kilometers away from our star. But it is now moving away, and there are signs that the nucleus might have fragmented even though the tail is still visible. If you are in the southern hemisphere you can still try to catch it towards the west after sunset; otherwise check our webcams!
Credit: J. Beltrán/ESO
Simson was a German company which produced firearms, automobiles, bicycles and motorcycles, and mopeds. Under the Third Reich, the factory was taken from the Jewish Simson family, and was renamed several times under Nazi and later Communist control. The Simson name was reintroduced as a brand name for mopeds produced at the factory in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Simson mopeds were then produced in Suhl (Germany) until 2002.
In 1854 the brothers Löb and Moses Simson bought one third of a steelhammer works in Suhl (Germany). The production of carbon steel began and the firm Simson & Co. was founded in 1856. The factory produced guns and gun barrels in the years following.
In 1871 the first steam engine started its service and the enterprise established production of bicycles in 1896, which was followed by the start of automobile production in 1907. The Simson Supra racing car is famous.
In World War I, Simson produced Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles for the German Army. In the aftermath of the war and the Treaty of Versailles, the reorganized Reichswehr was allowed to buy new handguns from only one company, so as to limit the ability of the German arms industry to recover. Larger manufacturers such as DWM were passed over in favor of Simson precisely because of its lower production capacity, and as such Simson was the sole producer of military-contract Luger pistols from 1925 to 1934. Simson made about 12,000 Lugers in this period. Simson also was responsible for repairing and refurbishing existing firearms of the Reichswehr, though DWM was employed in the capacity as well, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to Lugers, Simson also repaired and refurbished Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b rifles, MG08 machine guns and MP18 submachine guns.
In the 1920s Simson also produced .25 ACP Westentaschenpistolen ("vest pocket pistols"), for commercial sale. Until 1989 this was Simson's only venture into commercial handgun production. These pistols were available in two almost identical models, the first known as Model 1 in German and Model 1922 in the United States, and the second as Model 2 in Germany and Model 1927 in the US.
Simson built cars from 1914 to 1915 and from 1919 until 1934. Its 1914 models had four-cylinder engines and were the 1.5 litre, 22 bhp model A and 2.6 litre, 28 bhp model C. In the First World War Simson stopped car production in 1915.
In 1919 Simson resumed car production with a new four-cylinder range: the 1.6 litre, 22 bhp model Bo, 1.6 litre; 40 bhp model Co and 3.5 litre, 45 bhp model D. Top speeds were 80 km/h (50 mph) for the Co and 90 km/h (56 mph) for the D. In 1923 Simson replaced the D with the 3.6 litre, 65 bhp model F, which was Simson's first 100 km/h (62 mph) production model.
In 1924 completely revised its range of cars and gave them the Simson-Supra name. The hand-built models starting at that time and designed by Paul Henze were particularly noteworthy.[6] The first Supra models were the S and the S Sport, which had a four-cylinder, two litre, long-stroke, DOHC engine. The S produced 50 bhp and had a 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed; the S Sport produced 60–80 bhp giving it a top speed of more than 140 km/h (87 mph). In 1925 a SOHC So version was introduced that produced 40 bhp and had a top speed of only 100 km/h (62 mph) The S and S Sport were discontinued in 1926; So production continued until 1929.
In 1925 Simson introduced its first six-cylinder car, the model J. Its SOHC, 3.1 litre engine produced 60 bhp, giving it a 95 km/h (59 mph) top speed. In 1926 this was succeeded by the model R, which produced similar performance with an OHV pushrod engine.
In 1931 the model J was succeeded by the model RJ, in which the six-cylinder engine had a larger bore giving it 3.3 litres displacement and 70 bhp. In the same year Simson introduced the first and only eight-cylinder Supra, the model A. Its engine shared the RJ's long-stroke dimensions of 79.5 x 115 mm, giving it 4.7 litres displacement. This produced 90 bhp and gave a 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed. Models RJ and A were produced until 1934.
Hitler's government forced the Jewish Simson family to flee the country in 1936. Under the dispossession of Jewish industrialists a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) was formed. In the same year the factory produced its first motorcycle, the BSW 98, which had a 98 cc engine and two-speed transmission. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW initials: Bis Simson Wiederkommt ("until Simson returns").
After the Simson brothers were exiled the factory increased weapons production. From 1939 the company was called Gustloff-Werke – Waffenwerk Suhl, named after assassinated Swiss Nazi Wilhelm Gustloff, and had subsidiaries such as the Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik ("Otto Eberhardt Cartridge Factory"). As well as the main works in Suhl, the Gustloff-Werke had branch factories at Greiz in Thuringia and at Łódź in Nazi-occupied Poland. Sachs-engined motorcycles from 47 cc to 123 cc were made within the Gustloff group from about 1934 until about 1940.
Gustloff-Werke products included 7.92 mm calibre Panzerbüchse 39 anti-tank rifles, 7.92 mm calibre MG 42 machine guns, gun carriages for 20 mm calibre Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns, and various calibres of small arms ammunition. The firm continued to build bicycles, weapons and cars until 1945.
In 1946, by order of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany the manufacturing plant was partially dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union (USSR) as part of the Soviet reparations programme for the damage inflicted on the USSR by Germany in the Second World War. In 1947 the factory was integrated into the Soviet Sowjetische Aktiensgesellschaft Awtowelo (SAG Awtowelo or "Soviet Avtovelo Company Limited"). Автовело or Avtovelo is a Russian portmanteau word derived from автомобиль (avtomobil = "car") and велосипед (velociped = "bicycle"). It was adopted because initially all production was for export to the USSR.
Later, the USSR handed control of the factory to the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and in 1952 it was renamed Volkseigener Betrieb Fahrzeug- und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl. Production of sporting guns, prams and bicycles slowly resumed, but the main focus was again on making motorcycles.
Between 1949 and 1962 the Suhl factory produced more than 209,000 four-stroke motorcycles. They were designated 425, derived from the fact that they had a four-stroke engine with 250 cc displacement. The 425 has overhead valves in a V-formation, has a four-speed transmission, shaft final drive and has a duplex cradle frame. It earned a high reputation in the Eastern Bloc countries. The motorcycles were branded AWO (an abbreviation of Awtowelo) from 1949 until 1955, when the Simson name was revived. Some had Stoye sidecars fitted, and a Stoye Campi luggage trailer could also be fitted.
The original 425 model had plunger rear suspension, a 6.7:1 compression ratio, produced 12 bhp and had a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). It had 19 in (480 mm) wheels with half-width drum brakes. The first 1,000 machines were built from July 1949 until December 1950, and all were exported to the USSR. The model was released to the DDR domestic market in 1951. The plunger-framed model was designated AWO 425 from 1949 until 1955 and Simson 425 T from 1955 until 1960. The "T" stands for "Touring", to distinguish it from the Simson 425 S (Sport) model introduced in 1955. The plunger model was made from 1949 until 1960 and a total of 124,000 were built.
The 425 S had a twin-shock swinging arm rear suspension and a top speed of 110 km/h (68 mph). It had 18 in (460 mm) wheels with 180 mm (7.1 in) full-width drum brakes to give it better acceleration and braking than the plunger model. Initially the 425 S had 7.2:1 compression and produced 14 bhp; in 1961 this was increased to 8.3:1 which increased power output to 15.5 bhp. Simson made the 425 S from 1955 until 1962 and a total of 85,000 were built.
Several competition versions of the 425 were built. In 1953 a racing version of the plunger-framed model was produced as the AWO 425 R. It was not offered for sale to the public and only 15 examples were built. Power output from the race-tuned version of the pushrod overhead valve engine was 24 bhp . A version with chain-driven double overhead camshafts appeared in 1955 and produced about 28 bhp. By 1958 Simson's racing team found it necessary to switch from shaft drive to chain drive, which meant that it had to develop a new engine as well. For the 1958 season the Simson single had a telescopic front fork and swingarm rear suspension.
Alongside the fast and proven single cylinder engine, Simson also developed a 250 cc parallel twin. It had long-stroke dimensions of 50.5 mm x 56 mm and produced more than 30 bhp at 10,000 rpm. Like the single, the twin's valves were in a V-formation and it had a six-speed transmission and chain final drive. The twin made its first appearance in 1958 with chain driven double overhead camshafts, but for the following season the engine was revised with shaft-driven overhead cams. Simson developed a new motorcycle frame for racing, with a leading link front suspension and long swingarm rear suspension. The twin proved to be fast but was plagued with teething troubles.
In road racing in the 1950s MZ won numerous international victories, but Simson's wins were confined to domestic competition. Simson won the DDR-Meisterschaft ("GDR Championship") in 1953, 1954 and 1955,[24] but in 1958 the Allgemeiner Deutscher Motorsport Verband (ADMV, "General German Motorsport Federation") decided that in the 1959 season works riders would not be allowed to compete in the national championship. Simson therefore withdrew from road racing for 1959.
A Geländesport ("Enduro") version of the swinging-arm framed S model, the Simson 425 GS, was introduced in 1957. Production continued until 1959 and a total of about 80 examples were built. Simson developed a version of its single-cylinder engine enlarged to 350 cc for Enduro and Motocross competition. The enlarged GS engine produced such good performance that Simson decided to make it in larger numbers for competition machines to sell to club riders. In its first years of competition the GS suffered numerous competition defeats, but Simson systematically improved the reliability of its works competition machines. By the time Simson four-stroke production was ended at the end of 1961, the Simson works team had won competitions both in the DDR and abroad, and because of its competitiveness and reliability the GS model was used to equip the DDR's national Six Days Trial team.
The Simson Eskorte was a limited-production model built in 1957 for the DDR's Ministerium des Innern (MDI or "Ministry of the Interior") and for the Volkspolizei. The Eskorte looks identical to the 425 S but has a 350 cc engine based on that of the GS. It produced 23 bhp, which gave a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph). Only about 30 were built.
Production of the plunger-suspension 425 T model had ended in 1960, and in 1961 Simson planned a 20 bhp, 350 cc, swinging-arm model for the general market. The prototype had a partially enclosed rear wheel and two-tone paint scheme reminiscent of some Norton models of that time, and a handlebar cladding (a little like MZ models of the era) and a neat headlamp nacelle. It was equipped with integral indicators, which was a relatively advanced feature for European motorcycles in 1961. However, in the development phase of this model the DDR introduced a policy of Kapazitätsbündelung ("capacity concentration"), under which the production of larger motocycles would be concentrated at the MZ works at Zschopau and from January 1962 all new private cars and motorcycles would be two-strokes. The DDR's Volkswirtschaftsrat ("People's Economic Council") terminated Simson four-stroke manufacture on 31 December 1961.
In 1955, the year that the 425 S motorcycle was launched and the Simson brand name was restored, the factory also began making two-stroke mopeds. The first model was the SR 1, a 48 cc machine producing 1.5 bhp. This was succeeded by the SR 2 in 1957 and the SR 2E in 1959. In 1958 Simson launched the KR 50, which has integral legshields and a rear wheel enclosure like a motor scooter, but 16-inch (410 mm) wheels like a small motorcycle. The KR 50 had a 48cc motor like the SR-series, but with a higher compression ratio that increased power output to 2.1 bhp.
When four-stroke motorcycle production was terminated, the Simson factory was directed to concentrate on moped production. In 1963 it raised the KR 50's compression ratio to 8.5:1, which increased power to 2.3 bhp. In 1964 this model was succeeded by the KR 51 Schwalbe ("swallow"), in which the KR 50's 38 x 42mm long-stroke engine was revised with almost square dimensions of 39.5 x 40mm and 50cc displacement. Compression was raised again to 9.5:1, increasing power by almost 50% to 3.4 bhp. Moped production grew steadily in Suhl; up to 200,000 mopeds were built per year. In 1965 the Simson factory employed 4,000 workers.
In 1964 Simson launched the SR 4-1 Spatz ("sparrow") and SR 4-2 Star, each of which had motorcycle-style bodywork without the legshields and rear enclosure. The Spatz initially had the long-stroke 38 x 42mm engine and an 8.5:1 compression ratio and produced 2 bhp;[38] the Star had an "over-square" 40 x 39.5 mm engine with 9.5:1 compression and produced 3.4 bhp. In 1967 the Spatz was revised as the SR 4-1 SK, which shared the Star's 40 x 39.5 mm engine dimensions but had an 8.5:1 compression ratio and produced 2.3 bhp. Spatz production was ended in 1970 and Star production was ended in 1975.
In 1966 Simson introduced the SR 4-3 Sperber ("Sparrowhawk"), with the same 50 cc engine but with power increased to 4.6 bhp and more angular styling than the Spatz and Star. In 1971 Simson introduced the SR 4-4 Habicht ("hawk"), which was cosmetically the same as the Habicht but had the same 3.4 bhp power output as the Star. Sperber production was ended in 1972 and Habicht production continued until 1975.
In 1968 Simson was merged with VEB Ernst-Thälmann-Werk Suhl to form the VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann Suhl. The Schwalbe helped the company to worldwide fame, and in the DDR the scooter stood for the success of East German two-wheeler motor manufacturing.[citation needed] The Schwalbe was slowly developed over the years. In 1968 the KR 51/1 series was introduced with power increased to 3.6 bhp, followed in 1979 by the KR 51/2 series with 3.7 bhp. Schwalbe production was ended in 1986 in favour of more modern Simson 50cc moped models.
In 1970 Simson introduced a bicycle-style, pedal-start moped, the 50cc, 1.6 bhp SL 1 Mofa. Mofa is a contraction of Motor-Fahrrad, German for "moped". The model was revised as the SL 1S in 1971 but was discontinued in 1972. Simson revised its image with a new model, the S 50. This used the 40 x 39.5 cc version of the Simson engine, produced 3.6 bhp and was produced in various versions until 1980. Its successor was the S 51, in which Simson revised the styling again and returned to a long-stroke engine, this time with 38 x 44 mm dimensions and a 3.7 bhp output. The S 51 was built in various forms until production was ended in 1990.
In 1983 Simson introduced a 70 cc model, the S 70. This had the S 51's long-stroke engine bored out by 7 mm, giving over-square dimensions of 45 x 44 mm and producing 5.6 bhp. Like the S 51, the S 70 was produced in various forms until 1990.
In 1986 Simson introduced a new 50 cc scooter, the SR 50. It had legshields and unlike the KR 50 and KR 51 it had scooter-sized 12-inch (300 mm) wheels. However, it had a motorcycle-style rear mudguard instead of a scoter-style rear enclosure. In 1987 a 70 cc version, the SR 80 was added to the range. The SR 50 and SR 80 were made in various versions until 1990.
1990–2002
Following the take over of East Germany by West Germany in 1990, a number of attempts to modernise the assembly lines were made. This included commercial production of Makarov PM pistols, which the factory had previously made under the Ernst Thälmann name for DDR Nationale Volksarmee ("National People's Army") and police use. Fewer than 1,000 commercial Makarovs were made under the Simson name before production was discontinued.
In 1990 the S 51 and S 70 models were revised as the 50 cc S 53 and 70 cc S 83. These were offered in a range of road-going and off-road versions, but total production of all versions from 1990 until 1994 was only about 10,500 machines.
In 1992 Simson resumed tricycle production with a 50 cc, 3.3 bhp model, the SD 50 LT. It is based on the SR 50 scooter but has a single seat with a 360-litre cargo space behind it. From 1994 the model was named the Albatros. Production continued until 2002.
In 1993 the Suhl factory began making the Hotzenblitz electric car under contract for Hotzenblitz Mobile GmbH & Co. KG of Ibach in Baden-Württemberg. Hotzenblitz is a portmanteau word derived from the Hotzenwald region of the Southern Black Forest around Ibach and blitz, German for "lightning". The car had two seats and weighed 780 kg (1,720 lb). It produced only 16 bhp and had a range of only 100 km (62 mi) to 150 km (93 mi). The car was a very limited success, and only 140 examples were built by the time production ended in 1996.
In 1993 the SR 50 and SR 80 scooters were revived.[60] By 1997 revived production of the SR series totalled 3,100 examples, and production continued until 2002.[60]In 1994 the S 53 and S 83 were revised with two versions each: the road-going alpha and off-road beta.[61] These were made until 1996 but production figures are unavailable.[61] In 1996 Simson revived the Star model name for a new 50 cc scooter that had more curvaceous, fully enclosed bodywork.
Production of this model continued until 2001.
In 1996 Simson renamed the alpha and beta range by reviving the Habicht model name. In 1997 it introduced a 5.1 bhp version of the 50 cc machine, for which it revived the model Sperber name. In 1999 new 50 cc models were introduced: the Sperber Sport with a sports full fairing and a new Spatz with a space frame. Further 50 cc models were the semi-off-road Fighter in 2000 and the SC and TS series in 2002.
In 1998 Simson introduced a 125cc model, the Shikra (shikra is a type of goshawk). The machine has a space frame and is powered by a Honda four-stroke 15 bhp engine built under licence in Taiwan. In 2000 the Shikra name was discontinued, power output was reduced to 13.6 bhp and the model became simply the Simson 125.
Several investors tried to keep production going and to bring new developments to market, but production ceased in autumn 2002. On 1 February 2003, bankruptcy proceedings were held, in the wake of which the remaining 90 employees were made redundant without any compensation.
The Schwalbe has since gained cult status in western Germany. (Wikipedia).
THE STORY.
The frozen gales and salty air blasted against Sir Angus's face as he sailed over the rolling, foamy swells in the seemingly never-ending, icy ocean.
He stared forward, motionless, with his mind racing far away, focused on the horrible tidings he had heard. Not two days ago, on his furlough in the far South of Garheim,
He had been accosted with account after account of tales that war was hot upon the land, spreading like wildfire in the provinces of Loreos and the counties of Lenfald.
When he returned, he knew precisely what to do. He and his faithful bagpiper set out from the harbor of Rothburg into the restless, misty expanse of endless sea.
Fear was encroaching on his own mind, and concern was beginning to creep in that his own beloved nation of Garheim would be pulled in... or, heaven forbid, swallowed... in this contention.
His train of thought was dashed to pieces as they descended the great swell. A spear of craggy rock was suddenly exposed as the wave receded.
Awakened from his reverie, Angus quickly brought his attention back to the task at hand - survival!
"Hard to starboard, Jack!" He cried as the little boat was wrenched hard sideways. They just grazed the menacing boulders.
Then Sir Angus gasped as more rocks rose up. "Hard port, hard port!"
"Aye, Milord!" The sturdy wee bagpiper answered.
The boat swerved again, nearly throwing Angus off-balance.
The waves began to calm as they neared their target. Then, out of the mist, high above the water, a fiery red beacon gleamed over the sea.
"Land Ho, Jack!"
"Thank goodness, Milord!!"
As they approached, a voice called down from above. "Who be down there!?" A crusty old voice inquired.
"Yalmar, It is I! Sir Angus."
"What be this month's password, my friend?"
"Behold, the Doose have horns!"
A chuckle. "That be correct. Welcome, Sire!"
A rope was tossed down after this greeting, allowing them to tie up their small craft. Soon the two highlanders were up on the high plateau.
"Glad to see you, Angus! Come, let's be gettin' ourselves inside before we freeze."
As they approached the great lighthouse, Sir Angus got straight to the point at hand. "I'll take both birds this time, express."
"I can do that. Where to?"
"From the fishing village of Greng to Port o' Grandhaven."
Yalmar's eyebrows rose. "Why such a great journey, milord, if I may ask? Surely not another crusade! They called one not a fortnight ago!"
"Hostilities this time, my old friend."
"Loreos and the Outlaws AGAIN?!!"
"Nay, but Loreos and Lenfald... and potentially Garheim."
"Ooh, that is news."
By the time Angus was finished informing Yalmar of what was afoot, they had ascended the staircase and were atop the lighthouse's balcony.
The high railings did and excellent job keeping out the frosty gusts, and the three men could work comfortably in the great blaze of the beacon fire.
Yalmar hobbled over to a small cage in the corner of the tower, put on some heavy gloves, and unlatched the cage door. The men beheld two majestic gray-and-black spotted
falcons!
"Great Scott! Falcons?" Jack gaped at the graceful birds of prey.
"I'll explain later lad, we have work to do." Sir Angus seated himself at a small wooden table and began to write the missive.
MESSAGE: WARNING! LOREOS - LENFALD HOSTILITIES GROWING! NO WAR YET, BE PREPARED.
Thirty copies were written. Ten for the northern-bound falcon, and twenty for the southern-bound, who had a larger territory to cover.
"They'll deliver a message in each village on this side of the continent in less than nine hours. Are we all set?" Asked Yalmar, with the great beasts of the air in each hand.
"Ready! Let them fly!" replied Angus, his heart thrilling at the sight.
Yalmar loosed the birds with a gentle thrust, and they took wing, rocketing into the sky with the wind at their backs, vanishing into the misty heavens.
All three men watched silently for several minutes. Then Yalmar turned with with a grin on his wrinkled visage, and inquired "So... what should next month's password be, then?"
THE TOWER:
This firm lighthouse is conveniently situated on a island, fifteen miles from the harbor of Rothburg. Surrounding it is a large maze of razor-sharp rocks, making it impossible for large boats to approach. And even if they could, the only way up is by rope ladder, making this fortress incredibly defendable. And with the carrier falcon express line, if the city of Rothburg was ever attacked, in a matter of hours, the entire east half of Garheim would know of the attack.
THE CLIFF FALCONS:
Highly unusual birds of prey, these intelligent, majestic birds build small nests on the sides of gigantic cliffs, which can be found very easily with a built-in homing device twice as strong as the common carrier pigeon. Besides, that, they are much less vulnerable than the smaller pigeons.
HISTORY:
Legend has it that during the first colonization of Garheim, a clever knight discovered the falcons had this homing instict and used them to his great advantage against a clan of horrible outlaws. Thus, he made his symbol from these majestic animals - and today, we have the sign of the Falcon as one of Garheim's primary standards.
Brother Steven, C&C welcome!
this picture was uploaded a yr ago without the fortune: www.flickr.com/photos/velamints262/4934458539/in/photostream
now i added the fortune
Soryu: No, more precisely it creates an affinity. So, we call it a lure. Silva has Ash's precise biometrics and so we will use this to track him and, once we've found the strongest point, we activate his own signature on this end and that should get us something.
Princess Jun: 'Something?'
Soryu: Well, this is running our fishing line along the slipstream and then dipping back in, so it's not going to be exact. What we usually end up with is a time/place where he was recently present and the lure can pull someone out of that time/place that had strong interaction with him. At least, a bio-entity. It may not be helpful, like a dog that bit him, or it may even be dangerous, like a creature he fought. So we should be ready.
Princess Jun: Oh...
Soryu: Don't worry, the three of us should be able to handle most things that might get pulled through. If not, we're in the Queen's Castle. There are enough Defenders 30 seconds away to put a quick- OH! We've hooked an affinity Silva!
Bio Hunter Silver: Confirmed. Progress with pull.
Soryu: Reeling it in! Let's see who or what we hooked!
Hey there stranger, if you like this post than please support me on LEGO ideas!
ideas.lego.com/projects/7a39ba64-f626-489b-b306-af92fbf8af07
HE-RE 454 spend manny years on the planet terra extra. A planet that’s full of forests and seas much like terra bricka which is precisely what he was looking for. The distance between the two planets is enormous, and so far no form of communication came threw. He was send to terra extra to research if it is possible for minifigures to live on this planet. The planet where they lived terra bricka was getting crowded. HE-RE 454 never understood why they send a heavy unit. After a mysterious event shut him down the vegetation around his body grew on and through him, and by a stroke of luck released enough power on his circuit board to reboot him with no data after his landing to tell him what happened. As he awoke a quick analysis of the photosynthetic power made him realize that he could use the forest and its biomass as a source of energy.
As he progresses to perfecting the skill of “gardening” he meets Wu, a very energetic monkey who likes HE-RE 454 for its ability to grow banana trees. HE-RE 454 has a large broken nuclear reactor which he now uses to power his body for day to day life with the tree as a solar screen. Wu likes to join HE-RE 454 on adventures ,so he decided to live In the tree.
One day he wakes up...
BOOTING: Heavy Reconnaissance Unit 454
CODENAME: HE-RE 454
MISSION: Terra extra
STATUS: Pending..
ROTATIONS: 9855
ENERGY LEVEL: Sufficient
“You know what Wu, dying here wasn’t bad.''
Monkey noises
''I wish i knew too buddy, but there is simply no data of what happened after my landing. The forest tells me it must have been quiet an event. When the minifigures send me here to see if this terra extra is habitable, i never tought i would stay so long.
A stroke of pure luck that photosynthesis gave my circuit board enough power to reboot. Trust me wu, it is better to be a soldier in garden, than a gardener in a war.''
Monkey noises
''No im not gonna create a new musa forerst here, we talked about this. Biodiversity is very important for maintaining a rich enviroment, my energy levels depend on it. Did i not turn sector 93 into a musa forest for you.
Muffled monkey noises
''Besides the forest is telling me there is non organic material in a unkown sector.
I have to find it, there might be more information about my shutdown there.
You joining me for an adventure buddy?''
Enthusiastic monkey noises
''Thats the spirit!''
As they approach what appears to be another unit send from terra bricka, HE-RE 454 recognizes the markings. It’s an old mineral probe that can easily be revived. He quickly gathers energy from the fauna around him and reboots the probe. Other than HE-RE 454 the probe has lots of information on his shutdown. This probe was send to find minerals, but instead it found life. It quickly reported a message. But the message was intercepted by a large group of investors (the collectors). They wanted to keep the planet to themselves, so they shut down any robot send here from terra bricka. HE-RE 454 feels the urge to get back to terra bricka, and complete his mission. His quest is to harness the power of the planet, and return to the minifigures and save them from the collectors.
The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis or precisely, the remains of it in its modern appearance.
Built between 447-438 BC (decoration extended until 432) and dedicated to Athene, also Pallas Athene and/or Athene Parthenos, as thanks to the goddess for the Hellenic victory over the Persian Invaders.
The Parthenon was commissioned by the Athenian politician Pericles as a part of a wider building program on the Acropolis to resemble the power and ambitions of Athens within the Delian League and Greece as a whole.
It is considered the most important surviving building of Classical Greece and as the zenith of the Doric order. The Parthenon was further richly ornate with highly detailed Metopes and Pediments as well as the famous Frieze.
Since 1975 the Greek government initiated the restoration of the over 2.500 years old monument. The efforts to restore and conserve this site are a continuing process to the present day.
____________________________________________________
Learn more about Public BRICKstory on our website!
Follow Public BRICKstory on Instagram & Twitter
Subscribe to History’s Bricks and Public BRICKstory’s monthly Newsletter to get the latest news on everything history & LEGO©. Will be send out on the last day of the month!
This photograph was taken at an altitude of Thirty metres, in the height of a misty and ethereal golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:29am on Tuesday 20th June 2017, off Rectory Lane in the grounds of Foots Cray Meadows, over the River Cray in Bexley, Kent, England.
.
.
Nikon D7200 18mm 1/8s f/4.2 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Size L (6000x4000). Auto focus AF-C with 3D-tracking enabled. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.Auto Active D-lighting. Colour space sRGB. Auto distortion control enabled.
Nikkor AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED. Phot-R 77mm UV filter.Nikon MB-D15 Battery grip pack. Nikon EN-EL battery (2). Manfrotto 055Xprob Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections. Manfrotto 327RC2 Magnesium Ball Head. Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Hoodman H-EYEN22S soft rubber eyecup. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 32GB Class 10 SDHC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Expert Shield screen protector for D7200. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 22.62s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 16.05s
ALTITUDE: 30.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 69.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 21.95MB
.
.
PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D7200 Firmware versions A 1.10 C 1.02 (9/3/17) L 2.015 (Lens distortion control version 2)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. 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 ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.4 24/11/2016). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
The yellow-billed teal (Anas flavirostris) is a South American species of duck. Like other teals, it belongs to the diverse genus Anas; more precisely it is one of the "true" teals of subgenus Nettion. It occurs in Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Brazil. It has also established itself in South Georgia, where it was first recorded breeding in 1971, and has been recorded as far east as Tristan da Cunha. It inhabits freshwater wetlands, preferring palustrine habitat to rivers. Considering its wide range and local abundance, it is not considered threatened by the IUCN.
Description
The namesake bill is bright yellow with a black tip and a black band along the ridge of the culmen. The species is somewhat similar to the larger yellow-billed pintail, but has a darker head, shorter neck and plain grayish sides.
Taxonomy
Mitochondrial DNA sequence data is most similar to that of the very different-looking green-winged teal. Apart from the mystifying relationship with the red-and-green-headed teals, it altogether most resembles the Indian Ocean radiation of teals. However, the yellow-billed teal's unicolored underside and namesake bill are unique, as is to be expected from a species that evolved half a world apart from Bernier's or the grey teal.
This species is also unique among its relatives in some aspects of its post-copulation behavior: After dismounting, the drakes stretch themselves up high and swim around and alongside the females.
Traditionally, there are 2 subspecies:
Sharp-winged teal, Anas flavirostris oxyptera (Meyen, 1834) – highlands of central Peru to northern Chile and Argentina.
Chilean teal, Anas flavirostris flavirostris (Vieillot, 1816) – southern South America as far north as southern Brazil and northern Argentina. Also in the Falkland Islands.
Previously, this species and the Andean teal formed the superspecies speckled teal, but increasingly taxonomists consider the two species distinct.
Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:25am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
Just to the far right you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.
.
.
Nikon D800 165mm 1/30s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.Auto white balance.
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.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 51.87s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.88s
ALTITUDE: 50.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 9.77MB
.
.
Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 07:39am), at an altitude of Five metres, at 07:26am on Thursday January 28th 2016 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
I set off at 05:00am on a clear morning, the moon and the stars out to dazzle in temperatures around five degrees, on a pleasant hour and half long journey to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
.
.
Nikon D800 24mm 1/25s f/3.5 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Hand held Nikon back focus button enabled. AF-C Continuous point focus with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 18.31s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 15.98s
ALTITUDE: 5.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 12.02MB
.
.
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
Seymour Joseph Guy (American, born England, 1824-1910)
Oil on canvas
Portland Art Museum
I photographed this painting precisely because it is the sort of sentimental Victoriana I would ordinarily avoid. I took a picture of the piece because I wanted to confront it and myself to help shed my prejudices.
I got more than I bargained for.
Out of curiosity, and with few expectations of learning anything, I googled the subject's name. To my surprise, I found an article about Adèle, her family and her husband written by one Diana Bailey Harris. Diana, as it happens, is both the donor who gave the painting to the Portland Art Museum and a relative of Adèle's.
What follows is a version of Diana's article that I edited for the sake of brevity. I recommend following the link to the original publication because there you will find vintage photos of Adèle, her parents and her future husband.
All About Adèle
A large portrait painted in 1861 by noted New York artist Seymour Joseph Guy of Adèle de la Lanceu came to Portlander Diana Bailey Harris from her mother in 1992, but the girl’s story had been lost for decades.
Diana and her sister learned that Adèle had married Thomas Newton Murphy, a veteran of the Civil War. Their eldest son, Charles Frederick Murphy, an attorney and New York state senator, was Diana’s grandfather’s cousin. Charles’ wife Jeanette – who had given Diana’s mother the painting – was active in civic affairs.
Adèle’s father transformed his French name, Juste Le Breton dit La Lancet, into Wright Lance. Born in 1817, he was well-educated and taught school in Canada before moving to New York, where he “engaged in the construction of saw mills.” His September, 1897, obituary stated: Mr. Lance…erected and operated the first steam sawmill in Chateaugay about half a century ago, and…engaged in the lumber business in the Saranac valleys…leaves a widow, Adeline, and nine living children: Julia (b. 1844), Mary Adeline (b. 1845), Harriet Elmira (b. 1847), Edward (b. 1850), Adèle (b. 1854), Abram (b. 1856), Frank (b. 1859), William (b. 1861), and Emma Marguerite (b. 1864).
It turned out that Diana’s great-grandmother, Marguerite de Lance Gregory was Adèle’s baby sister.
Wright and Adeline Lance were not wealthy; his occupation is listed as “sawyer,” “files saws at mill” and “boss filer” in Census Reports. The teenage daughters at home are noted as “tailoress,” “seamstress” and “milliner.” Their mother Adeline must have taught them and made the intricately pleated, eyelet-embroidered dress in the painting.
The artist probably visited Plattsburgh, where the Lances lived, but Adèle would not have posed for the portrait. Like many artists of the time, Guy photographed his subjects and their surroundings, then created the painting in his studio.
The Lance family home was a couple of blocks from Lake Champlain; Guy embellished it with a forest background. Adèle and her Newfoundland likely played and waded along the shore. In the painting, the Newfie eagerly waits for her to throw the red ball far out into Lake Champlain. Adèle was eager, too; she didn’t even change clothes after church. The ring on her finger and exquisite dress tell us that she has made First Communion.
Twelve years later, 19-year-old Adèle married the 28-year-old lawyer Thomas Newton Murphy. Diana found that “At…sixteen…Murphy enlisted…in the Union army…participated in Sherman’s March to the Sea …lost his left arm in the battle of Pine Knob, Georgia…admitted to the bar in 1870…began practicing law in Plattsburgh…married Adèle in 1873.”
He took Adèle 80 miles northwest from a bustling town of several thousand to live in a small village near where he grew up. They had seven children over the next 18 years.
Their house had a separate side entrance for his ground-floor office and a second side entrance to the back stairs. As was customary, Adèle’s bedroom and sitting room were at the top of these stairs. Thomas also bought a farm outside town and brought in a tenant to manage it. An itinerant lawyer who went from town to town about the county, Thomas spent less and less time at home.
He filed for divorce on June 20, 1898, claiming Adèle had committed adultery with four men “at diverse times” and was “a prostitute for pay.” He demanded sole custody of the three youngest children.
Adèle’s great-great-granddaughter Jo Ann sent Diana her typed transcript of handwritten court records. Testimony given by Thomas and the farm tenant must have been have been humiliating, yet Adèle refuted the accusations in court and countered that Thomas was the adulterer.
However, the judge awarded custody to Thomas and decreed that he could marry again, but Adèle could not. Thomas took the children to Michigan, where his mother lived, and married Addie Crandall, the “other woman.” That marriage lasted a year.
He returned to New York with the children. Then, it seems, everyone but Thomas and Adèle tried to disguise the fact of the divorce. Adèle died in 1917 and Thomas in 1929. Their eldest son Charles, who arranged both burials in Plattsburgh, N.Y., ensured they shared the same headstone.
Wright Lance gave the portrait to Adèle; she gave it to Charles and Jeanette; Jeanette gave it to Diana's mother in 1960.
Source:http://www.antiquetrader.com/articles/building-family-stories-data-conjecture/
=====================
About the Artist
"Seymour Joseph Guy established a reputation in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century as one of the finest genre painters of children. His primarily cabinet-sized pictures were esteemed by his fellow artists and leading collectors of American art.
He was widely respected for his technical ability and knowledge of the science of painting, but with the emergence of a younger generation of European-trained artists in the 1880s, Guy’s meticulous and smoothly polished scenes of childhood began to fall out of fashion. In recent decades his art and talent have been reappraised by museums, scholars, and collectors of early American art, but up to now almost nothing has been published about his life and career."
If you want to learn more about Guy, follow this link and you'll find a detailed account of his life and his works.
Rancabuaya located in the south of Garut district, precisely in the District Caringin (102 km from Garut downtown), has the atmosphere that are still beautiful, with the fishing activities, beautiful panoramas, maintenance swallow, and marine biota.
Specific part of the Coast Rancabuaya is, in the dry season (June to September) on this beach was cold. This condition is possible because of the winds of winter in Australia which makes Rancabuaya feels colder than other areas in Indonesia. Rancabuaya has a hilly terrain coastal area, there is no distance between the hill to the beach that makes a great view if it is above the hill and looked toward the beach.
Rancabuaya can be achieved through three directions, namely, from Subdistrict Cidaun, Cianjur regency, Pangalengan (Bandung), and through the Garut City. The three roads are roads that are not too large and seldom traveled because there are few who know the location of this region. If you travel from Cidaun more fun by renting a boat from local fishermen.
Rancabuaya coast, according to the characteristics of the South Coast of Java, is very rocky, and has big waves. In certain seasons, according to locals, the waves and reach tens of meters and hit the harbor as well as their home.
Norwegen / Buskerud - Hallingskarvet-Nationalpark
Prestholtskarvet (1859 m)
The 'summit'.
Der "Gipfel".
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)
Hey Everyone, sorry for not being active on flickr for a little while! I thought that I'd just let you all know that I have not been inactive taking photos, far from it in fact! I have been travelling around Australia collecting and photographing native bees in order to hopefully make a book on the topic. If you'd like to see what I have been up to or what I will be up to, as well as some photos from where I have been and will be, feel free to have a look at the blog that I am keeping for friends, family and whoever else is interested: beelogblog.wordpress.com
Châteauvieux (literally, “Old Castle”) is a very small village –a hamlet, really– incorporated since 1658 in the not much larger village of Yzeron, a few kilometers west of the city of Lyon. From that city, and more precisely from the venerable abbey of Ainay, came the Benedictine monks who built a small chapel in Châteauvieux, around Year 1000. It seems that it was never meant to be a priory, just a parochial church gifted by the abbey to a growing local Christian community.
I had heard a few years back about the chapel, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and which had only been listed on the secondary list of Historic Landmarks in 1979. Considering the very old age of the monument, this late listing (and not even on the main list) seemed a bit strange, and I went to see it in 2020. It stood in a walled enclosure and all I could do was take a photograph over the wall where it was the lowest, and in a somewhat precarious position (I will post that old photo under the #1 picture in this series).
I returned to Châteauvieux in April 2025 in my capacity as pro bono photographer for the Fondation du Patrimoine, as the chapel needs restoration works largely exceeding the financial means of the village of Yzeron. Thus, the Fondation will launch a fundraising campaign and possibly also use some of its own resources to cover all or part of the cost. To document the monument in its “before” condition, I was granted full access and could see the inside for the first time.
The floor plan is very simply basilical, with a narrower, flat apse protruding at the eastern end. The flat apse, as well as the apparel, are indicative of early 11th century, perhaps even older. Inside, the ever-present long and thin arch stones also point in the same direction. The relieving arches along the side walls rest on massive square pillars of medium to large apparel, and many of them slant visibly —the camera was of course perfectly leveled, as always, before the photos were taken. Many parts of the walls (most notably in the apse, which is probably the oldest part) and all of the rib-vaulted ceilings are plastered or cemented over, which prevent us from reading the history of the monument in the stones.
This photo shows a bit of the sort of “false transept” before the triumphal arch. Notice the complex system of staggered relieving arches used in the vaulting instead of squinches or pendentives. Both latter techniques existed when this chapel was built but were obviously ignored by the builders.
This may have been a factor contributing to the slant exhibited by several of the large pillars in the nave, especially those that have to support the weight of the bell tower on top of that of the vault. Poorly distributed thrust caused the pillars to lean, in spite of their robustness.
After toweling off, Barbie checks the scale. Oh, good...still precisely 110 lbs!
I made this scale as a copy of Barbie's vintage scale. This is how I did it:
1. I printed a copy of her scale from a photo found on line and cut it out to use as a pattern
2. Cut a piece of foam core and a piece of pink scrapbook paper to size
3. Cut a strip of card stock (a little longer than the distance around the scale and just a little wider than the foam core) and glued it to the edge of the foam core
4. Spray painted foam core scale with attached edge silver
5. Attached the pink scrapbook paper to the top with glue
6. Attached the 110 oval with glue
Done!! It cost me $0 because I had everything already!
This photograph was taken on the banks of the River Cray at an altitude of Twenty five metres at 06:12am on Sunday 22nd April 2018, in the golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 05:50am),off Rectory Lane in the grounds of Foots Cray Meadows, over the River Cray in Bexley, Kent, England.
.
.
Nikon D850 Focal length 32mm Shutter speed 1/50s (Electronic front curtain) Aperture f/9.0 iso64 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.High ISO On normal.
Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Manfrotto 055Xprob Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections. Manfrotto 327RC2 Magnesium Ball Head. Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 29.80s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 31.70s
ALTITUDE: 25.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB (NEF 89.6mb)
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 41.00MB
.
.
PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB DATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
I am most definitely not Superman. Yet, in many ways I feel like I have to be.
At least marginally, my chosen profession obliges me to uphold Truth, Justice and the American Way. But more precisely, my clients have come to expect that, when needed, I'll save the day. By careful propaganda and canny business sense my clients have come to believe that I can leap tall buildings in a single bound or, at the very least, pull a rabbit out of a hat. If you hear this enough the danger is that you begin to believe it. Down that road you will only find defeat and disappointment.
In the past, I have felt like I had to be Superman. That I had to be a paragon of virtue, morality, ability, knowledge and skill. That I had to be a better man than I was, than I could possibly be.
But unlike Superman, I am only human. I am not bulletproof. And Superman, were he real, would probably use his heat vision to nuke a microwave burrito and (probably as Clark Kent) take a surreptitious peek at the breasts of a woman passing by on the sidewalk.
Yet, in small ways, I cannot help but occasionally feeling heroic. I give my all for my clients and the betterment of my profession. I have, albeit rarely, made a difference in a client's life. I have in some way participated in the wedding of every male friend I have. If renting 14 different tuxedos is not heroic I don't know what is. I never say no when someone needs help moving. And the other night, on the eve of my friend taking a cruise to Alaska, I happily sacrificed my night to do her a favor and, in a small way, began to repay her for all the kindnesses she has shown me in the history of our friendship.
Lastly though, like Superman, I never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy (or from odious insurance cheats for that matter).
Credit where credit is due, this photo was inspired by this shot by =Tom=, who was in turn originally inspired by this shot by Stephen Poff. Thank you gentlemen for your fine work.
And on a technical note, yes, I did shave off all my facial hair just for this shot.
Better large and on black.
Or here.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin
Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is on the east coast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and is bordered on the south by the Wicklow Mountains. It has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin), as of 2016, was 1,347,359, and the population of the Greater Dublin area was 1,904,806.
There is archaeological debate regarding precisely where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Later expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.
Dublin is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha −", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Guinness
Arthur Guinness (24 September 1725 – 23 January 1803) was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
At 27, in 1752, Guinness's godfather Arthur Price, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel, bequeathed him £100 in his will. Guinness invested the money and in 1755 had a brewery at Leixlip, just 17 km from Dublin. In 1759, Guinness went to the city and set up his own business. He took a 9,000-year lease on the 4-acre (16,000 m2) brewery at St. James's Gate from the descendants of Sir Mark Rainsford for an annual rent of £45.
Guinness's flowery red signature is still copied on every label of bottled Guinness.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Storehouse
Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors.
The Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness. The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission, which was €18.50 on 15 October 2018 with discounts depending on dates and times, described as "overpriced" by Condé Nast Traveler. In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present-day brewing process.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery (Irish: Grúdlann Gheata Naomh Séamuis) is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a British company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Guinness Draught.
Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at IR£45 (Irish pounds) per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.
There is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness
Guinness is a dark Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850 million litres (220,000,000 US gal). It is popular with the Irish, both in Ireland and abroad. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is still the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth annually.
Guinness' burnt flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.[6]
The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932. In 1997, Guinness Plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based out of London.
Photograph taken at an altitude of Sixty three metres, in the first vestiges of dawn light prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:38am), at 02:28am on Thursday 12th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane and Eagle Heights overlooking the field adjacent to Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
.
.
Nikon D800 38mm 20 Second exposure f/3.2 iso100 RAW (14 bit) . AF-S Single point focus. Aperture Priority mode. Matrix metering.
Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. 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.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 4.50s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 51.73s
ALTITUDE: 63.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 10.07MB
.
.
Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
When I saw the image revealing itself to me at the moment, I knew it will be a great shoot. I only had likely 2 seconds for preparing capturing the quickly elusive moment, but it turns out all great in terms of composition and exposure.
The shutter speed is 1/60 so the spinning motion blur of the little girl is so beautifully and precisely rendered jaxtaposing the supportting foot sharply in focus.
Definitely one of my favourite recently. Oh, I love Rolleiflex photography!
@K11 mall, Shanghai, 2016
Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty two metres, amidst the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:23am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
Just to the far right you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.
.
.
Nikon D800 175mm 1/25s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
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.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 51.88s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.97s
ALTITUDE: 52.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 10.71MB
.
.
Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
**Almost an entire laughter-filled minute later**
Yuri: *leans weakly against the counter* “I do believe that is precisely what I needed.”
Kumi: *wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands* “Yeah, me, too. I’m sorry I was such a bitch earlier, Ri-Ri. I just couldn’t face more waiting, so I convinced myself my plan was brilliantly infallible.”
Yuri: “I am sorry, too. When you explained, I was shorter than necessary with you. Truly, a part of me wanted to go along with it. I wanted to feel as if I was doing something of consequence, and, selfishly, did not care if it would actually make things worse.”
Kumi (bluntly): “Do you think he’s dead?”
Yuri: *stops herself from replying immediately and mulls over the question* “No…I do not.”
Kumi: *nods* “Me, either. I feel it in my gut that he’s still alive, and after the phone call, doing all he can to get back to Mags. He’s a tough son-of-a-b!tch.”
Magpie: *walks in and delivers two ice cream cones to the twins* “He is. He’s the most considerate, loving man I’ve ever known, but he’s also cold, calculating, and brutal when he deems it necessary.”
Yuri (hesitantly): “Does it ever worry you? That he may one day…”
Magpie: “Turn that violence on me? On our children? *shakes head* No. Ru is not a naturally combative person. He sees violence as a tool, nothing more. He uses it when there is no other option available to him, and then discards it once the job is done. He doesn’t enjoy it. It’s just a means to an end. It is how he survived growing up in that *face twists, as if she smells something distasteful* family.”
Kumi: “But, even so…*licks her ice cream* doing bad deeds has to leave a mark behind on your soul, right? Even if you’re doing it for ‘the greater good’, it’s still gonna haunt you in the quiet of the night.”
Magpie: *raises an eyebrow* “What a thoughtful—highly unexpected—observation, Kumi.”
Kumi: *shrugs* “Hey, my regrets may not be in the same category as wasting a guy with an Uzi, but I still have them.”
Yuri (pensively): “When it comes to Satoru, I cannot help but be grateful we are on his side. I shudder to think what it is like to have him coming at you with retribution in his eyes.”
Kumi: *winces* “I’d need a change of undies. That’s for damn sure.”
Magpie: “Admitting fear, Kumi? My, my, you are full of surprises today, aren’t you?”
Fashion Credits
**Any doll enhancements (i.e. freckles, piercings, eye color changes) were done by me unless otherwise stated.**
Yuri
Bikini and Caftan: Mattel – The Barbie Look Collection – Poolside Barbie Fashion
Belt: Mattel – Top Model Nikki
Headscarf: Unknown
Shoes: IT – Fashion Royalty – Exotic Fire Veronique
Earrings: IT – Fashion Royalty – Foreign Affair Veronique
Bracelets: Me
Doll is a Nu.Fantasy Little Red Riding Hood Yuri transplanted to a NuFace body.
Kumi
Bikini: Sekiguchi – Momoko – Beach Rodeo
Cover-up: Mattel – Barbie Collector – Beach Baby Marissa
Belt: Mattel – BFMC – Dawn to Dusk Barbie
Earrings: IT – Fashion Royalty – Exotic Fire Veronique
Sunglasses: IT – Fashion Royalty – Going Public Eugenia
Shoes: IT – NuFace – Great Pretender Lilith
Doll is a Nu.Fantasy Wild Wolf Kumi transplanted to a NuFace body.
Magpie
Bikini: Mattel – My Scene Barbie
Sweater: I believe it’s by Karen Kolkman, but I’m not 100% certain.
Sandals: IT – Fashion Royalty – Capricious Natalia
Earrings: Me
Necklace: Origin unknown
Doll is a Wild at Heart Lilith re-rooted by the brilliant valmaxi(!!!).
Entropy describes the degradation of energy to perform work. What is energy? On the high school level, we simply defined energy as the capacity to do work. However, the real question is, What factor, precisely, is doing this work? Why does energy have the capacity to perform work? The HOWs in life are easy, the WHYs are the tough ones. Two important thermodynamic quantities are temperature and entropy. Temperature we all know from our fevers, weather reports and ovens. Entropy however is foreign to everyday life for most people.
Suppose we have a box filled with gas of some type of molecule called M. The temperature of that gas in that box tells us the average kinetic energy of those vibrating molecules of gas. Each molecule as a quantum particle has quantized energy states, and if we understand the quantum theory of those molecules, theorists can count up the available quantum microstates of those molecules and get some number. The entropy is the logarithm of that number.
When it was discovered that black holes can decay by quantum processes, it was also discovered that black holes seem to have the thermodynamic properties of temperature and entropy. The temperature of the black hole is inversely proportional to its mass, so the black hole gets hotter and hotter as it decays.
The entropy of a black hole is one fourth of the area of the event horizon, so the entropy gets smaller and smaller as the black hole decays and the event horizon area becomes smaller and smaller.
But until string theory there was not a clear relation between quantum microstates of a quantum theory and this supposed black hole entropy.
Black holes and branes in string theory
A black hole is an object that is described by a spacetime geometry that is a solution to the Einstein equation. In string theory at large distance scales, solutions to the Einstein equation are only modified by very small corrections. But it has been discovered through string duality relations that spacetime geometry is not a fundamental concept in string theory, and at small distance scales or when the forces are very strong, there is an alternate description of the same physical system that appears to be very different.
A special type of black hole that is very important in string theory is called a BPS black hole. A BPS black hole has both charge (electric and/or magnetic) and mass, and the mass and the charges satisfy an equality that leads to unbroken supersymmetry in the spacetime near the black hole. This supersymmetry is very important because it results in the disappearance of messy quantum corrections, so that precise answers about the physics near the black hole horizon can be found by simple calculations.
In the previous section we learned that string theories contain objects called p-branes and D-branes. Since a point can be thought of as a zero-brane, a natural generalization of a black hole is a black p-brane. And there are also BPS black p-branes.
But there's also a relationship between black p-branes and D-branes. At large values of the charge, spacetime geometry is a good description of of a black p-brane system. But when the charge is small, the system can be described by a bunch of weakly interacting D-branes.
In this weakly coupled D-brane limit, with the BPS condition satisfied, it is possible to calculate the number of available quantum states. This answer depends on the charges of the D-branes in the system.
When we go back to the geometrical limit of the equivalent black hole of p-brane system with the same charges and masses, we find that the entropy of the D-brane system matches the entropy as calculated from the black hole or p-brane event horizon area.
This was a fantastic result for string theory. But can we now say that D-branes provide the fundamental quantum microstates of a black hole that underlie black hole thermodynamics? The D-brane calculation is only easily performed for the supersymmetric BPS black objects. Most black holes in the Universe probably have very little if any electric or magnetic charge, and are very far from being BPS objects. It's still a challenge to compute the black hole entropy for such an object using D-branes. This is an expanded version of a talk given at \IInd Recontre du Vietnam" held at Ho Chi Minh City in October, 1995. We discuss several aspects of black hole entropy in string theory. We rst explain why the geometric entropy in two dimensional noncritical string theory is nonperturbatively nite. We then explain the philosophy of regarding massive string states as black branes and how the BeckensteinHawking entropy for extremal BPS black holes may be understood as coming from degeneracy of string states. This is then discussed in the context of D-strings in Type IIB superstrings. We then describe
non-BPS excitations of D-strings and their entropy and explore the possibility that their decay describes Hawking radiation. For these D-strings and other D-branes the entropy and temperature are consequences of the physical motion of stuck open strings along the D-brane and this leads to a simple space-time interpretation. Finally we speculate that the horizon may be itself regarded as a D-brane. In this contribution I will discuss some aspects of black hole entropy and how string theory has helped us to understand this rather mysterious quantity. This is based on a talk given at IInd Recontre du Vietnam. However I have added some developments which took place very recently to make the article meaningful at this time. Even before the phenomenon of black hole radiation was discovered, Beckenstein noticed a profound analogy between black holes in classical general relativity and the laws of thermodynamics. In particular he found that the surface gravity at the horizon of a black hole can be regarded as a temperature and the area of the horizon as an entropy. Hawking showed that black holes radiate due to quantum eects with a temperature which is indeed proportional to the surface gravity and this gave a precise formula for the \Beckenstein- Hawking entropy"We now turn to the question of Beckenstein-Hawking entropy. It is an old idea that very massive elementary particles behave as black holes in strong coupling. Recently this idea has proved
to be very fruitful in understanding the Hawking-Beckenstein entropy in string theory. The idea is as follows. It is well known that in string theory there are very massive states and there
are large number of states of a given mass. Could it be that this degeneracy of states is the origin of the Beckenstein-Hawking entropy ?
However at the face of it, the idea seems to run into trouble for usual Schwarzschild black holes. Here the entropy S for mass M is S M2 whereas it is known that in string theory
the degeneracy of states grows as eM . It was argued in , that quantum effects might renormalize the mass suitably. Luckily there are states in string theory whose masses are not renormalized - these are the BPS staurated states. The above idea may be tested for such states which are to be identied
with extremal black holes . Indeed such states do behave like extremal black holes in scattering processes . However, most of these extremal holes have zero horizon area and should lead to a zero entropy ! In it was, however, proposed that the area of the streched horizon rather than the event horizon should be identied with the entropy. Indeed for a class of such BPS saturated extremal holes in heterotic string theory compactied on T 6 it was found that the dependence of the streched horizon area on the parameters sepcifying the solution agrees with the dependence of the degeneracy of string states on these parameters (which are generically charges) Recently this connection has been better understood owing to the realization that a certain
class of solitons in superstring theories can be described in terms of ob jects called D-branes Consider a theory of closed strings, e.g. the Type IIB superstring theory. Now add to this
some open strings whose ends are restricted to move only in p of the spatial dimensions. This means we have imposed Dirichelt boundary conditions on (9p) coordinates. The values ofthese (9p) coordinates then dene a p- dimensional ob ject moving in time - a p-brane. This p brane is a soliton in the closed string theory. The collective coordinates which describe the low energy excitations of this soliton are precisely the lowest mass modes of the open strings
whose ends are stuck on the brane. Closed superstring theories have generally two types of gauge elds coming from the NSNS and R-R sectors on the world sheet. Consider for example the Type IIB theory. The It has also been argued using thermodynamic arguments that the entropy of an extremal black hole could be proportional to the mass ten dimensional gauge elds of this theory consist of (1) NS-NS sector : dilaton , metricgAB and antisymmetric tensor eld B(1)
AB (2) R-R sector : an axion eld , antisymmetric tensor B(2)
AB and a rank four gauge eld with self dual eld strength CABCD. The ob ject which carries charges under the NS-NS gauge eld B(AB is in fact the elementary string itself. At low
energies the elementary string is described by a classical solution of the eective eld theory- the macroscopic string [25]. However there are no states in the perturbative spectrum of the elementary string theory which carry charges of the R-R gauge eld B(2) AB. Remarkably, these missing states carrying R-R charges are D-branes [26]. The eld content shows that these D-branes describe p-branes with odd p for Type IIB and even p for Type IIA. The Type-IIB theory is conjectured to be self-dual under an SL(2; Z) symmetry which transform (; ) and (B(1) AB; B(1)AB) into each other. In fact there are an innite number of classical string solutions labelled by (m; n) where m denotes a quantized NS-NS charge and n a quantized R-R charge . These solutions are in fact low energy descriptions of bound
states of D-branes and elementary strings . In particular the string with (0; 1) charge has a nonzero B(2) (plus metric and dilaton) but zero B(1) - we will call this the D-string. The
duality conjecture then implies that the states of the D-string behave exactly like the states of the elementary string with the coupling replaced by the inverse coupling. Evidence for this has accumulated over the past few months
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
Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, are currently 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 begins to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
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...
This was taken on August 7, 1961 at precisely 12:05 PM and it shows us all a seldom photographed view of the railroad tunnel that passed just beneath the convergence of West Michigan and West Superior Streets in Duluth, Minnesota. We're looking into the heart of the Soo Line's Duluth passenger depot. The six depot tracks were numbered from 1 to 6, left to right. The tunnel was carved out of the Point of Rocks area between 8th Avenue West and 12th Avenue West. Passenger service was completely discontinued here in 1964 and the depot itself that sat on 6th Avenue West and Superior Street was demolished in 1972. Please be sure to click on the image to enlarge it. There's much more to see here in a larger format. I hope that you like it.
A car which was specifically designed for a female clientele, the Nash Metropolitan was widely advertised in women’s magazines. With its chromed grille, two-tone paintwork and spare wheel at the rear it was a smaller version of mainstream American cars. And that was precisely what George W. Mason, president of the Nash car company, had in mind. The Metropolitan was positioned as a small car perfectly suitable for shopping or daily commuting.
However, Nash did not have the production capacity to manufacture such small cars (!) and sought a joint venture with European manufacturers. An agreement was reached with Austin in 1952 to have the car built there, using primarily Austin components including the 1.2 litre A-Series engine. It was the first time that an American car intended for the North American market was produced in Europe. From 1956 onwards the car was also sold in Europe under the Austin name.
Its attractive appearance soon gave the Nash Metropolitan a certain cult status. Famous Metropolitan owners included HRH Princess Margaret of Great Britain, singers Phil Collins and Elvis Presley, American TV presenter Jay Leno, actor Paul Newman and American businessman Steve Jobs, proving that the car was not only of interest to women.
Source: www.louwmanmuseum.nl
34th Ghent Collection Cars
Flanders Expo, Ghent, Belgium.
Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty two metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:29am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
Just to the far right you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.
.
.
Nikon D800 78mm 1/2s f/18.0 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AG-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.Auto white balance.
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.
.
.
LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 52.16s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.64s
ALTITUDE: 52.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 7.94MB
.
.
Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
The officer said: FIRE
The soldier at far right fired precisely at the same time I pulled the trigger on my camera....
All others soldiers were 1/4 second too late on the order...
This soldier far right is the only one to obey orders.... :):):)
But he might be punished for shooting too fast.
Because he is the only one, the group should be right....
NO ! It's not because we are more that we are right.
It's all the others who are rong, but he's the one who shall be punished. :):):)
Look carefully at the soldier to the right of the first soldier firing. It is noted that this second soldier had already pulled the trigger, but the blow is not yet set. Flame is clearly seen near his hand.
If you look closely to the officer, his mouth clearly express the last syllable of the word FIRE.
________________________
L'officier a crié: FEU
Le soldat à droite a tiré au même moment que moi je prenais la photo. Les autres soldats ont tirés 1/4 de seconde plus tard. Ce soldat à droite est le seul qui a obéi à l'ordre de son officier à l'instant même. :):):)
Mais il risque d'être réprimandé pour avoir tiré trop vite.
Puisqu'il est le seul, le plus grand nombre doit avoir raison.
Mais non..... ce n'est pas parce qu'on est plus qu'on a raison.
Ce sont tous les autres qui sont en retard mais c'est lui qui écopera. :):):)
Regardez attentivement le soldat à la droite du premier soldat qui tire. On constate que ce deuxième soldat a déjà pressé la gachette, mais le coup n'est pas encore partit. On voit clairement la flamme de l'amorce près de sa main.
Si vous regardez bien la bouche de l'officier, elle exprime clairement la dernière syllable du mot FIRE.
Concrete barriers are arranged to assist drivers trying to,get through a congested Interstate 69 construction site near Houston, Texas.
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)
The flowers in the Lord's garden are not all precisely alike
(J.C. Ryle)
"She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Luke 10:39-40
Let us observe how different the characters and personalities of true Christians may be! The two sisters of whom we read in this passage were faithful disciples. Both had believed. Both had been converted. Both had honored Christ, when few gave Him honor. Both loved Jesus — and Jesus loved both of them. Yet they were evidently women of very different turn of mind.
Martha was active, stirring, and impulsive, feeling strongly, and speaking out all she felt.
Mary was quiet, still, and contemplative, feeling deeply, but saying less than she felt.
Martha, when Jesus came to her house, busied herself with preparing a suitable refreshment.
Mary's first thought was to sit at His feet and hear His word.
Grace reigned in both hearts, but each showed the effects of grace at different times, and in different ways.
We shall find it very useful to remember this lesson.
We must not expect all believers in Christ to be exactly like one another! We must not set down others as having no grace, because their experience does not entirely tally with our own.
The sheep in the Lord's flock have each their own peculiarities.
The flowers in the Lord's garden are not all precisely alike.
All true Christians agree in the principal things of religion.
All feel their sins.
All trust in Christ.
All repent.
All are led by one Spirit.
All are holy.
But in minor matters, they often differ widely. Let not one despise another on this account. There will be Marthas and there will be Marys in the Church until the Lord comes again!
More precisely, it's......
"Two Skinks a-sunning".
Guaranteed they are not two straight males for they would be ferociously and aggressively attacking each other and defending their territory to the death. Like tiny Dinosaurs they are and I have seen the aftermath of such.
So, perhaps they are a married couple or at least engaged.
Or.... Maybe two gay guys or two lesbians.
The answer is irrelevant.
And in this case this bunch of friendly chaps arrived precisely at the right time for Lily to make a rather unexpected but oh so funny encounter !
I shall say that, 2nd from the right, is no less but THE one and only official Wizard of New Zealand : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_New_Zealand
1. For Dali, the egg is precisely The Christian symbol of the resurrection of Christ and the emblem of purity and perfection. The appearance and minerality of the egg evokes a symbolism dear to Dalí and his colleagues, that of previous life, intrauterine and re-birth.
2. Considered and reconsidered by artists and writers alike, the lobster has been a surrealist mascot, a fashion accessory, and is now entering a new phase as an emblem of right wing ideology. An enduring but mutable symbol, it has stood for extravagance, maritime nostalgia and sexual innuendo. There is, however, an unavoidable violence to the lobster: “He is the old hunting dog of the sea”, writes Anne Sexton in her poem Lobster. Hefty claws and an armoured body hint at the creature’s aggressive tendencies, but, of course, violence is folded into how we cook them, too. Sexton observes that we “take his perfect green body / and paint it red”, a reminder that the scarlet shell we so often see in the visual arts is the result of violent human intervention: it’s only after boiling (them alive) that a lobster changes colour.
Châteauvieux (literally, “Old Castle”) is a very small village –a hamlet, really– incorporated since 1658 in the not much larger village of Yzeron, a few kilometers west of the city of Lyon. From that city, and more precisely from the venerable abbey of Ainay, came the Benedictine monks who built a small chapel in Châteauvieux, around Year 1000. It seems that it was never meant to be a priory, just a parochial church gifted by the abbey to a growing local Christian community.
I had heard a few years back about the chapel, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and which had only been listed on the secondary list of Historic Landmarks in 1979. Considering the very old age of the monument, this late listing (and not even on the main list) seemed a bit strange, and I went to see it in 2020. It stood in a walled enclosure and all I could do was take a photograph over the wall where it was the lowest, and in a somewhat precarious position (I will post that old photo under the #1 picture in this series).
I returned to Châteauvieux in April 2025 in my capacity as pro bono photographer for the Fondation du Patrimoine, as the chapel needs restoration works largely exceeding the financial means of the village of Yzeron. Thus, the Fondation will launch a fundraising campaign and possibly also use some of its own resources to cover all or part of the cost. To document the monument in its “before” condition, I was granted full access and could see the inside for the first time.
The floor plan is very simply basilical, with a narrower, flat apse protruding at the eastern end. The flat apse, as well as the apparel, are indicative of early 11th century, perhaps even older. Inside, the ever-present long and thin arch stones also point in the same direction. The relieving arches along the side walls rest on massive square pillars of medium to large apparel, and many of them slant visibly —the camera was of course perfectly leveled, as always, before the photos were taken. Many parts of the walls (most notably in the apse, which is probably the oldest part) and all of the rib-vaulted ceilings are plastered or cemented over, which prevent us from reading the history of the monument in the stones.
The first row of the nave, looking to the South. To the very left of the frame is the false transept. Notice how the first square pillar leans to the right, in addition to leaning outwards (as shown in the previously uploaded lengthwise photo of the nave): that is obviously because of the added weight of the bell tower, larger and heavier than the original one. The pillar was not designed to withstand the additional thrust and has given a little.
I used a handheld Godox AD200 Pro II studio strobe, equipped with a round H200R head and a half-spherical diffuser, to provide additional lighting for this shot. The flash was set and triggered via a Godox X Pro II radio transmitter mounted on the camera, which was itself triggered via a Pixel Oppilas RW–221 radio remote, allowing me to walk around and pop the flash wherever it was needed.
Südafrika - Kleine Karoo
Red Stone Hills Farm
Ostriches
Strauße
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)
The common ostrich (Struthio camelus), or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa and is the largest living bird. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the genus Struthio in the ratite order of birds. The other is the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), which was recognized as a distinct species by BirdLife International in 2014 having been previously considered a very distinctive subspecies of ostrich.
The common ostrich belongs to the order Struthioniformes. Struthioniformes previously contained all the ratites, such as the kiwis, emus, rheas, and cassowaries. However, recent genetic analysis has found that the group is not monophyletic, as it is paraphyletic with respect to the tinamous, so the ostriches are now classified as the only members of the order. Phylogenetic studies have shown that it is the sister group to all other members of Palaeognathae and thus the flighted tinamous are the sister group to the extinct moa. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs, and can run for a long time at a speed of 55 km/h (34 mph) with short bursts up to about 70 km/h (43 mph), the fastest land speed of any bird. The common ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest eggs of any living bird (the extinct elephant birds of Madagascar and the giant moa of New Zealand laid larger eggs).
The common ostrich's diet consists mainly of plant matter, though it also eats invertebrates and small reptiles. It lives in nomadic groups of 5 to 50 birds. When threatened, the ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground or run away. If cornered, it can attack with a kick of its powerful legs. Mating patterns differ by geographical region, but territorial males fight for a harem of two to seven females.
The common ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used as feather dusters. Its skin is used for leather products and its meat is marketed commercially, with its leanness a common marketing point.
Description
Common ostriches usually weigh from 63 to 145 kilograms (139–320 lb), or as much as one to two adult humans. The Masai ostriches of East Africa (S. c. massaicus) average 115 kg (254 lb) in males and 100 kg (220 lb) in females, while the nominate subspecies, the North African ostrich (S. c. camelus), was found to average 111 kg (245 lb) in unsexed adults. Exceptional male ostriches (in the nominate subspecies) can weigh up to 156.8 kg (346 lb). At sexual maturity (two to four years), male common ostriches can be from 2.1 to 2.8 m (6 ft 11 in to 9 ft 2 in) in height, while female common ostriches range from 1.7 to 2.0 m (5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 7 in) tall. New chicks are fawn in color, with dark brown spots. During the first year of life, chicks grow at about 25 cm (9.8 in) per month. At one year of age, common ostriches weigh approximately 45 kilograms (99 lb) Their lifespan is up to 40–45 years.
The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with white primaries and a white tail. However, the tail of one subspecies is buff. Females and young males are grayish-brown and white. The head and neck of both male and female ostriches is nearly bare, with a thin layer of down. The skin of the female's neck and thighs is pinkish gray, while the male's is gray or pink dependent on subspecies.
The long neck and legs keep their head up to 2.8 m (9 ft) above the ground, and their eyes are said to be the largest of any land vertebrate – 50 mm (2.0 in) in diameter – helping them to see predators at a great distance. The eyes are shaded from sunlight from above. However, the head and bill are relatively small for the birds' huge size, with the bill measuring 12 to 14.3 cm (4.7 to 5.6 in).
Their skin varies in color depending on the subspecies, with some having light or dark gray skin and others having pinkish or even reddish skin. The strong legs of the common ostrich are unfeathered and show bare skin, with the tarsus (the lowest upright part of the leg) being covered in scales: red in the male, black in the female. The tarsus of the common ostrich is the largest of any living bird, measuring 39 to 53 cm (15 to 21 in) in length. The bird has just two toes on each foot (most birds have four), with the nail on the larger, inner toe resembling a hoof. The outer toe has no nail. The reduced number of toes is an adaptation that appears to aid in running, useful for getting away from predators. Common ostriches can run at a speed over 70 km/h (43 mph) and can cover 3 to 5 m (9.8 to 16.4 ft) in a single stride. The wings reach a span of about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), and the wing chord measurement of 90 cm (35 in) is around the same size as for the largest flying birds.
The feathers lack the tiny hooks that lock together the smooth external feathers of flying birds, and so are soft and fluffy and serve as insulation. Common ostriches can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. In much of their habitat, temperatures vary as much as 40 °C (72 °F) between night and day. Their temperature control relies in part on behavioral thermoregulation. For example, they use their wings to cover the naked skin of the upper legs and flanks to conserve heat, or leave these areas bare to release heat. The wings also function as stabilizers to give better maneuverability when running. Tests have shown that the wings are actively involved in rapid braking, turning, and zigzag maneuvers. They have 50–60 tail feathers, and their wings have 16 primary, four alular, and 20–23 secondary feathers.
The common ostrich's sternum is flat, lacking the keel to which wing muscles attach in flying birds. The beak is flat and broad, with a rounded tip. Like all ratites, the ostrich has no crop, and it also lacks a gallbladder. They have three stomachs, and the caecum is 71 cm (28 in) long. Unlike all other living birds, the common ostrich secretes urine separately from feces. All other birds store the urine and feces combined in the coprodeum, but the ostrich stores the feces in the terminal rectum. They also have unique pubic bones that are fused to hold their gut. Unlike most birds, the males have a copulatory organ, which is retractable and 20 cm (8 in) long. Their palate differs from other ratites in that the sphenoid and palatal bones are unconnected.
Distribution and habitat
Common ostriches formerly occupied Africa north and south of the Sahara, East Africa, Africa south of the rainforest belt, and much of Asia Minor. Today common ostriches prefer open land and are native to the savannas and Sahel of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. In southwest Africa they inhabit the semi-desert or true desert. Farmed common ostriches in Australia have established feral populations. The Arabian ostriches in the Near and Middle East were hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century. Attempts to reintroduce the common ostrich into Israel have failed. Common ostriches have occasionally been seen inhabiting islands on the Dahlak Archipelago, in the Red Sea near Eritrea.
Research conducted by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in India found molecular evidence that ostriches lived in India 25,000 years ago. DNA tests on fossilized eggshells recovered from eight archaeological sites in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh found 92% genetic similarity between the eggshells and the North African ostrich, so these could have been fairly distant relatives.
Ostriches are farmed in Australia. Many escaped, however, and feral ostriches now roam the Australian outback.
Behaviour and ecology
Common ostriches normally spend the winter months in pairs or alone. Only 16 percent of common ostrich sightings were of more than two birds. During breeding season and sometimes during extreme rainless periods ostriches live in nomadic groups of five to 100 birds (led by a top hen) that often travel together with other grazing animals, such as zebras or antelopes. Ostriches are diurnal, but may be active on moonlit nights. They are most active early and late in the day. The male common ostrich territory is between 2 and 20 km2 (0.77 and 7.72 sq mi).
With their acute eyesight and hearing, common ostriches can sense predators such as lions from far away. When being pursued by a predator, they have been known to reach speeds in excess of 70 km/h (43 mph) and can maintain a steady speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), which makes the common ostrich the world's fastest two-legged animal. When lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear like a mound of earth from a distance, aided by the heat haze in their hot, dry habitat.
When threatened, common ostriches run away, but they can cause serious injury and death with kicks from their powerful legs. Their legs can only kick forward.
(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)
Der Afrikanische Strauß (Struthio camelus) ist eine Vogelart aus der Familie der Strauße und ist nach dem eng verwandten Somalistrauß der größte lebende Vogel der Erde. Während er heute nur noch in Afrika südlich der Sahara heimisch ist, war er in früheren Zeiten auch in Westasien beheimatet. Für den Menschen war der Strauß wegen seiner Federn, seines Fleisches und seines Leders seit jeher von Interesse, was in vielen Regionen zur Ausrottung des Vogels führte.
Merkmale
Die Männchen des Straußes sind bis zu 250 Zentimeter hoch und haben ein Gewicht bis zu 135 Kilogramm. Weibchen sind kleiner: Sie sind 175 bis 190 Zentimeter hoch und 90 bis 110 Kilogramm schwer. Die Männchen, Hähne genannt, haben ein schwarzes Gefieder. Davon setzen sich die Schwungfedern der Flügel und der Schwanz weiß ab. Die Weibchen, Hennen genannt, tragen dagegen ein erdbraunes Gefieder; Flügel und Schwanz sind bei ihnen heller und haben eine weißlichgraue Farbe. Das Jugendkleid ähnelt dem Aussehen des Weibchens, ohne die charakteristische Absetzung von Flügeln und Schwanz. Frisch geschlüpfte Küken sind dagegen rehbraun, ihr Daunenkleid weist dunkle Tupfen auf. Die Daunen des Rückengefieders sind igelartig borstig aufgestellt. Die nackten Beine sowie der Hals sind je nach Unterart grau, graublau oder rosafarben. Beim Männchen leuchtet die Haut während der Brutzeit besonders intensiv.
Der Strauß hat einen langen, überwiegend nackten Hals. Der Kopf ist in Relation zum Körper klein. Die Augen sind mit einem Durchmesser von 5 Zentimetern die größten aller Landwirbeltiere. Das Becken der Strauße ist ventral durch eine Schambeinfuge (Symphysis pubica) geschlossen. Dies ist nur bei straußenartigen Vögeln so. Es wird von den drei spangenartigen Beckenknochen (Darmbein, Sitzbein, Schambein) gebildet, zwischen denen große Öffnungen bestehen, die durch Bindegewebe und Muskulatur verschlossen sind. Der Strauß hat sehr lange Beine mit einer kräftigen Laufmuskulatur. Seine Höchstgeschwindigkeit beträgt etwa 70 km/h; eine Geschwindigkeit von 50 km/h kann der Strauß etwa eine halbe Stunde halten. Als Anpassung an die hohe Laufgeschwindigkeit besitzt der Fuß, einzigartig bei Vögeln, nur zwei Zehen (Didactylie). Zudem können die Beine als wirkungsvolle Waffen eingesetzt werden: Beide Zehen tragen Krallen, von denen die an der größeren, inneren Zehe bis zu 10 cm lang ist.
Stimme
Zu den typischsten Lautgebungen des Straußes gehört ein Ruf des Männchens, der dem Brüllen eines Löwen ähnelt. Ein tiefes „bu bu buuuuu huuu“ wird mehrmals wiederholt. Der Laut wird bei der Balz und beim Austragen von Rangstreitigkeiten ausgestoßen. Daneben sind Strauße beiderlei Geschlechts zu pfeifenden, schnaubenden und knurrenden Lauten in der Lage. Nur junge Straußenküken geben auch melodischere Rufe von sich, die dazu dienen, das Muttertier auf sich aufmerksam zu machen.
Verbreitung und Lebensraum
Das natürliche Verbreitungsgebiet des Straußes ist Afrika, insbesondere Ost- und Südafrika. Ausgestorben ist er auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, in Westasien sowie in Afrika nördlich der Sahara.
Strauße leben in offenen Landschaften wie Savannen und Wüsten. Sie bevorzugen Habitate mit kurzem Gras und nicht zu hohem Baumbestand; wo das Gras höher als einen Meter wächst, fehlen Strauße. Gelegentlich dringen sie in Buschland vor, bleiben dort aber nicht lange, da sie an schneller Fortbewegung gehindert werden und dort nicht weit blicken können. Reine Wüsten ohne Vegetation eignen sich nicht als ständiger Lebensraum, werden aber auf Wanderungen durchquert. Weil Strauße ihren gesamten Flüssigkeitsbedarf aus der Nahrung beziehen können, benötigen sie keinen Zugang zum Wasser, und lange Trockenperioden sind ebenfalls kein Problem für sie.
Afrikanische Strauße wurden erstmals 1869 nach Australien eingeführt, weitere Importe folgten in den 1880er Jahren. Mit den importierten Straußen sollten in Australien Farmen für die Belieferung der Modeindustrie mit Federn aufgebaut werden. Bereits vor der Jahrhundertwende gab es verwilderte Strauße, deren Ansiedlung auf einigen Farmen gezielt gefördert wurde. 1890 lebten 626 Strauße in der Nähe von Port Augusta und der Stadt Meningie, 1912 betrug die Zahl 1.345 Individuen. Nachdem die Nachfrage nach Straußenfedern nach Ende des Ersten Weltkrieges zusammenbrach, kam es zu weiteren Freilassungen, die Zahl der ausgewilderten Strauße ist jedoch nicht bekannt. Im australischen Bundesstaat Western Australia konnten sich Strauße freilebend nicht etablieren, in New South Wales vermehrten sich in den Regionen, in denen Strauße ausgewildert wurden, diese Strauße in den ersten Jahren, der Bestand blieb dann über einige Zeit stabil und nahm dann stetig ab. In vielen Regionen, in denen Strauße über mehrere Jahre lebten, waren sie in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts wieder verschwunden. Nördlich von Port Augusta gab es in den 1970er Jahren noch einen Bestand von 150 bis 200 Straußen. Während der langanhaltenden Dürre von 1980 bis 1982 starben die meisten dieser Vögel. Nach 1982 wurden dort nur noch 25 bis 30 Strauße gezählt.
Mit der Unterart Struthio camelus camelus wurden im 20. Jahrhundert in Vorderasien partiell Aussiedlungsversuche unternommen. Eine Population lebt im Mahazat-as-Sayd-Schutzgebiet in Saudi-Arabien, eine weitere im Reservat Hai Bar in Israel.
Lebensweise
Strauße sind tagaktive Vögel, die besonders in den Dämmerungsstunden aktiv sind. In Zeiten mit knappem Nahrungsangebot müssen sie große Wanderungen unternehmen und sind in der Lage, in der Mittagssonne zu wandern. Nachts ruhen sie, wobei sie für gewöhnlich die Hälse aufrecht und die Augen geschlossen halten. Nur für kurze Tiefschlafphasen werden Hals und Kopf auf das Rückengefieder oder auf den Boden gebettet.
Außerhalb der Brutzeit leben Strauße für gewöhnlich in lockeren Verbänden, die zwei bis fünf, in manchen Gegenden aber auch hundert und mehr Tiere umfassen können. In Wüstengegenden sammeln sich bis zu 680 Tiere um Wasserlöcher. Der Zusammenhalt der Straußenverbände ist locker, denn die Mitglieder der Gruppe kommen und gehen nach Belieben. Oft sieht man auch einzelne Strauße. Trotzdem gibt es innerhalb der Gruppen klare Hierarchien. Rangstreitigkeiten werden meistens durch Drohlaute und Drohgebärden geregelt; dabei werden Flügel und Schwanzfedern aufgestellt und der Hals aufrecht gehalten. Der rangniedrigere Vogel zeigt seine Unterwerfung, indem er den Hals U-förmig biegt und den Kopf nach unten hält; auch Flügel und Schwanz zeigen nach unten. Selten kann eine Rangstreitigkeit auch in einen kurzen Kampf münden.
Zur Fortpflanzungszeit lösen sich die losen Verbände auf und geschlechtsreife Männchen beginnen mit dem Sammeln eines Harems.
Nutzung
Als im 18. Jahrhundert Straußenfedern als Hutschmuck der reichen Damenwelt Europas in Mode kamen, begann die Jagd auf die Vögel solche Ausmaße anzunehmen, dass sie den Bestand der Art bedrohte. In Westasien, Nordafrika und Südafrika wurde der Strauß restlos ausgerottet. Im 19. Jahrhundert begann man, Strauße in Farmen zu züchten, da frei lebende Strauße extrem selten geworden waren. Die erste dieser Farmen entstand 1838 in Südafrika. In der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts wurden immer mehr Straußenfarmen auch in Europa und Nordamerika eröffnet. In Teilen Südamerikas erlebt die Straußenzucht seit einigen Jahren einen Boom. Vor allem in Brasilien, Kolumbien, Peru und Bolivien gelten die Farmen als lukrative alternative Erwerbsquelle.
Heute spielen die Federn in der Straußenzucht kaum noch eine Rolle. Man züchtet die Strauße nun vor allem wegen ihres Fleisches und der graublauen Haut, aus der man Leder herstellt. Das Fleisch des Straußes hat einen ganz eigenen Geschmack, der am ehesten mit Rindfleisch oder dem des Bison zu vergleichen ist. Aus den Schalen der Eier fertigt man Lampenschirme und Schmuckgegenstände.
In Südafrika (Weltmarktanteil: 75 %) werden je 45 % der Einnahmen aus der Straußenzucht durch Fleisch und Haut erzielt, 10 % durch Federn. In Europa wird durch Fleisch 75 % und die Haut 25 % eingenommen.
Als Reit- und Zugtiere werden Strauße erst in jüngerer Zeit als Touristenattraktion genutzt. Dies hat jedoch nirgendwo eine kulturelle Tradition.
Der Umgang mit Straußen ist nicht ungefährlich. Vor allem die Hähne sind während der Brutzeit angriffslustig. Eindringlinge werden dabei mit Fußtritten traktiert. Die Wucht und vor allem die scharfen Krallen können dabei zu schweren Verletzungen oder gar zum Tode führen.
Der Arabische Strauß wurde am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts ausgerottet. Diese Unterart war in Palästina und Syrien noch bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg recht häufig, wurde dann aber durch motorisierte Jagden mit Schusswaffen vernichtet. Das letzte wild lebende Tier starb 1966 in Jordanien. 1973 wurden Strauße in der Wüste Negev in Israel freigesetzt, wodurch sie dort inzwischen wieder heimisch sind. Es handelt sich jedoch um Nordafrikanische Strauße, also eine andere Unterart.
Die Art insgesamt ist nicht bedroht, da sie vor allem in Ostafrika noch häufig ist. Regional ist der Strauß jedoch selten, so in Westafrika.
Etymologie
Das Wort Strauß stammt vom altgriechischen strouthiōn (στρουθίον), was so viel wie ‚großer Spatz‘ bedeutet. Die Griechen bezeichneten den Strauß auch als ‚Kamelspatz‘ (στρουθοκάμηλος strouthokamēlos), was den wissenschaftlichen Namen der Art, Struthio camelus, erklärt.
Auffallend ist, dass der Strauß in verschiedenen Sprachen den verdeutlichenden Zusatz Vogel trägt. Dem deutschen Vogel Strauß entspricht so der niederländische struisvogel und der schwedische fågeln struts. Die englische Bezeichnung ostrich, das französische autruche und das portugiesische und spanische avestruz gehen alle gleichermaßen auf das lateinische avis struthio zurück – avis bedeutet ebenfalls nichts anderes als ‚Vogel‘.
(Wikipedia)
Rauðasandur (Red Sand) is precisely that: a beach with endless red sand. Well, not endless but 10 km is a lot. The magnificent hues of the sand differ with daylight and weather, and the beach is the biggest pearl in a string of coves with sand ranging in colours from white through yellow through red to black, and in coarseness from very fine to sole-hurting chips of seashells. (visitwestfjords.is)
The Westfjords or West Fjords is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a 7-km-wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður. The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by steep hills. These indentations make roads very circuitous and communications by land difficult. In addition many of the roads are closed by ice and snow for several months of the year. (wiki)
organized and shot for Beca, because she likes her ingredients measured precisely and the recipe closely followed. I made pulled pork the other day and 110% happy with the outcome, and yet so simple. I'm glad my brother and sister-in-law gave me a Dutch Oven, that thing is awesome.
condensed directions: preheat oven to 400F, 3lb pork butt/shoulder roast, drizzle Worcestershire sauce on meat, pack brown sugar tightly pressing it onto the meat. pour apple juice down the side without disturbing brown sugar crust. lid tightly, place in oven and immediately lower to 225F. let cook for 4.5 hours, then shred and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt.
Note to future Tim-- if you lose the recipe, it'll be right here on flickr.
I watched this individual carry no less than 11 sticks of almost precisely the same size and shape directly over my head to a nearby nest. Now that's dedication.
"There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting."
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin
Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is on the east coast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and is bordered on the south by the Wicklow Mountains. It has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin), as of 2016, was 1,347,359, and the population of the Greater Dublin area was 1,904,806.
There is archaeological debate regarding precisely where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Later expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.
Dublin is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha −", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Guinness
Arthur Guinness (24 September 1725 – 23 January 1803) was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
At 27, in 1752, Guinness's godfather Arthur Price, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel, bequeathed him £100 in his will. Guinness invested the money and in 1755 had a brewery at Leixlip, just 17 km from Dublin. In 1759, Guinness went to the city and set up his own business. He took a 9,000-year lease on the 4-acre (16,000 m2) brewery at St. James's Gate from the descendants of Sir Mark Rainsford for an annual rent of £45.
Guinness's flowery red signature is still copied on every label of bottled Guinness.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Storehouse
Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors.
The Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness. The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission, which was €18.50 on 15 October 2018 with discounts depending on dates and times, described as "overpriced" by Condé Nast Traveler. In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present-day brewing process.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery (Irish: Grúdlann Gheata Naomh Séamuis) is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a British company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Guinness Draught.
Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at IR£45 (Irish pounds) per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.
There is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness
Guinness is a dark Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850 million litres (220,000,000 US gal). It is popular with the Irish, both in Ireland and abroad. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is still the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth annually.
Guinness' burnt flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.[6]
The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932. In 1997, Guinness Plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based out of London.