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Tribal Carpets of Afghanistan
To write effectively and intelligently about carpets from the tribal areas of Afghanistan and the former central Asian States of the USSR would require many years of experience and personal knowledge of these carpet making regions. Unfortunately, we don't qualify in any of these areas, but I do have a number of reference books written by experts in the field- and the following is a compilation of observations from these volumes.
This clause will only serve to help put the background of the carpet making areas in central Asia in some perspective, and to help identify some of the more recognizable afghan rug designs and characteristics of carpets from these areas. When one considers the source of carpets from Afghanistan and the Former States of the USSR one must realize that the tribal peoples of the mountains really dont comprehend or honour modern geopolitical borders. Specific tribes exist on both sides and across the modern borders as if they didnt exist. The Baluchi tribes for example, extend from Eastern Iran through Western Afghanistan and into Pakistan. Similarly, the Turkoman tribes extend all across the northern borders.
Herat, in the Western part of Afghanistan, has a history of over two thousand five hundred years and was once occupied by Alexander the Great, and subsequently invaded by Mongols led by Genghis Khan and then Tamerlan in the 13th century. Herat was considered part of the Persian Empire, and the Persian influence in carpet making in Herat is still seen.
Types Of Carpets
There are many names for the type of weavings found in Afghanistan and Central Asia. For example, in Herat and the Northern Turkmen tribes an ensi (or engsi) is a rug designed to serve as an internal tent door. This same design is called a Hatchli (or Hatchlu) in Iran, and a purdah (or purdhu) in other parts of Afghanistan - all of them referring to a door curtain or closure.
A young tribal girl who has been taught the art of carpet weaving from a young age would probably have the following carpets and weavings in her dowry:
One Main Carpet (ghali) 9ft.10in. x 7ft.
Two small rugs (dip ghali) 6ft. x 3ft.
One engsi
One decoration for over the engsi (kapunuk)
12 small personal belonging bags 2ft.x1.5ft. and 4ft.x 1.5 ft. (mafrash & torba)
two large bedding bags (chuval or Juwal) always made in pairs
three decorated tent-bands (aq yup) 50 ft long and 2 inch to 1 ft wide
Materials: The material used for making tribal rugs are basically what these nomads have at their immediate disposal: wool from their sheep which is used in the warp and weft as well as the pile. Some tribes use goat hair for overbidding the sides (selvedges) or rugs. Camel hair is especially prized for the field areas of prayer carpets. When possible the sheep are driven into streams to wash them prior to shearing. The wool is then sorted by color and quality and then combed and spun. The wool is then dyed one person can generally can generally spin one kilo per day.
Dyes: Natural dyes are still used, but since the 1950s pre-dyed wool yarn (using synthetic dyes) readily found in the towns and villages are often substituted for or combined with the natural dyes. The wild colors (some almost iridescent) often found in many Afghan carpets are surely synthetics. In natural dying, the yarn is presoaked in a fixing bath of alum, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, tin or urine. The yarn is then transferred to a dye bath and soaked until the desired color is obtained. The yarn is then washed and hung out to dry. Dying was usually done by the men. Natural dyes fade beautifully and often show as uneven coloring (abrash). Abrash (meaning speckled or marbled) is commonly the result of a weaver running out of wool and having to dye another lot or buying a similar color from elsewhere. Abrash in no way detracts from the value of a tribal carpet, but is a desirable characteristic of a tribal weaving. Naturally dyed wool will fade right through whereas synthetic dyes will fade only on the tips where the light hits it. A newer tribal carpet can be "mellowed" by placing it in the direct sun for several days.
Natural dyes originate from the following materials:
Reds: Madder - Root of Madder Plant - (ranges from reds to orange and purple)
Cochineal: produced from the female shield louse (Blue /red tone)
Lac Deep purple: from the excretions of a scale insect native to India Kermes. From an insect which breeds on the Kermes oak
Blues: Indigo plant (Dyers Wood)
Black: Can be achieved by using a very dark blue or by use of a bath of tannic acid, acorn cups, pomegranate skin, oak galls, and then adding to a bath iron sulphate to make the color fast. This can produce a weakness in the black wool which in carpets 50 to 100 years old can be seen as worn black areas where the remaining pile is still OK.
Yellow: Many sources including; Dyers weed; Saffron; wild chamomile; tanners sumac; buckthorn; pomegranate tree; isperek (a flowering larkspur)
Green: Obtained from walnuts and olive leaves? Or by blending blue and yellow agents
Brown: Can be natural undyed wool or by dying with fresh or dried pods of the walnut, oak guls or acorn cups.
Looms: Tribal carpets are almost always done on the horizontal or ground loom. This is due to the fact that the nomads rarely remain in one location for more than two months. The horizontal loom can be easily dismantled and packed on an animal to the new location and then staked out on the ground again. A Turkoman woman will usually take at least six months to finish a carpet 6ft.6in. by 4ft. The loom therefore can be set up and taken down four to six times before a carpet or Kelim is finished. This often results in different tensions in the warp threads and is the reason why tribal rugs often have an irregular shape. While this irregularity is part of the charm of a tribal rug, carpets which do not lie flat should be avoided
Some interesting facts/observations when comparing Sako 85 to Tikka T3 rifles:
1. Sako receivers require more machine work due to more complex contours, and therefore, require more time to finish. Time equals money. The Tikka T3 receiver is geometrically simpler and does not require as many machining operations. For example, Sako 85's have a tapered dovetail on their receivers versus Tikka T3's being simply drilled and tapped for standard Weaver style scope mounts.
Photo of a Sako 85 receiver here: farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8352503892_3fac9e9d8d_b.jpg
Photo of a Tikka T3 receiver here: farm8.staticflickr.com/7047/6834586702_5023d84ca5_b.jpg
2. Tikka T3's contain plastic parts, and Sako's generally do not (excluding stocks). Plastic is simply a far less expensive medium from which to create parts from. Tikka T3 polymer (fibreglass reinforced composite) parts include: bolt shrouds/knob ends, trigger guards, and magazines. Barrels, receivers, and triggers are of equal quality and made on the same Sako assembly line. Note, plastic (polymer) is not necessarily a negative thing, and in some applications/conditions, is arguably a superior material -- it is strong, flexible, and does not rust or dent. Many firearm manufacturers employ polymer parts to varying degrees, including highly respected names like Glock, Benelli, and even Remington. Regarding Remington, the highly regarded 870 'Police' pump action shotguns are now shipping with polymer trigger guards!
3. Tikka T3 bolts are simpler in design and less expensive to make. Given that Tikka T3's are found chambered in 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, and 270/300 WSM, just to name a few, there should be no concern about the durability and safety of the T3 2-lug design! Tikka T3 bolts are particularly slick feeding, especially in combination with the T3 single-stacked polymer magazines.
Photo of a Sako 85 and Tikka T3 bolt here: farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6834593516_d42616b629_b.jpg
4. Tikka T3's usually come with a relatively inexpensive molded stock. Sako wood stocks are usually much more expensive, and Sako synthetic stocks are also of higher quality. Note, this does not apply to the Tikka T3 Sporter stocks and Tikka T3 Tactical synthetic stocks, which are amongst the nicest factory stocks on the market -- and reflective in the retail price of these models!
5. Sako is regarded as having a bit better finish quality. Note, this has NOT been my observation when comparing my lovely Sako M85 Bavarian Carbine to my Tikka T3 Sporter.
6. Sako has multiple action lengths scaled to the family of cartridges they are designed for. Tikka (T3) have only one action length. This keeps costs lower for Tikka. Personally, I would not buy a Tikka in a calibre smaller than 308 (eg. 223), and prefer to take advantage of the larger T3 action length.
7. The Sako safety is more sophisticated as it allows you to operate the bolt while on safe.
West Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
1854 Amsterdam Avenue, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Constructed in 1871-72 and designed by Nathaniel Bush, who acted as the official architect of the New York City Police Department, this handsome French Second Empire style brick building was located at the center of the village of Carmansville, then an affluent suburb of New York. Typical of Bush's work, the station house is also an important reminder of the history of this section of Manhattan.
History
The 32nd Police Precinct Station House was built as part of a city- wide reconstruction and renovation campaign to modernize police facilities, and was often cited in its own day as one of the finest of the new station houses. New York had first been divided into precincts by a law of 1844 which also required that each precinct be furnished with a station house. Some stations were set up in buildings originally intended for other uses, while others, hastily erected "without much, if any, regard for the comfort of the men, or the sanitary or architectural advantage of the houses," were quickly judged obsolete. By the early 1860s. the Police Department had retained an official full-time architect, Nathaniel D. Bush, with offices at Police Headquarters on Mulberry Street. Bush "went to work with characteristic energy and in a few years [the] station houses began to put on a very different appearance."^
Over the course of two decades Bush was to design more than twenty new or renovated station houses. These larger and more architecturally commanding buildings reflected not only the growth and prosperity of the city, but also the increased professionalism of its police force. Before the act of 1844, the majority of the city's law enforcers—nicknamed "Old Leatherheads for their fireman-like varnished hats, or "Coppers" for their star-shaped badges—had daytime jobs and only served alternate nights on watch duty. The first attempt, in the early 1840s, to introduce full uniform met with hostile opposition, (The uniform, patterned after that of London's renowned Metropolitan Police, was likened to livery, and was thus deemed "undemocratic," while the many Irishmen on the force resented its English connotations.) The reorganized, and now uniformed, police force was larger, more selective in its hiring policy and better trained, but was frequently criticized, as had been its predecessor, as a tool of political partisanship.
Ostensibly to correct this condition, but in reality to shift control from the city Democrats to the state Republicans, the New York Police were by a state legislative act of 1857 placed under the jurisdiction of the state-run Metropolitan Police District. This District included Westchester County, and beginning in 1866 the 32nd Precinct had substations in Yonkers and West Farms, which were retained until 1871, the year after the Tweed Charter returned control of the Police Department to the city. These political machinations apparently had no effect on the architectural improvement campaign, and architect Bush, who had been appointed by the Metropolitan Police Commissioners, retained his position in the ensuing Democratically-control led years. In 1876 he was even appointed sergeant.
The Precinct and its Neighborhood
The 32nd Precinct erected its first documented station house an land acquired in 1864. A modest three-story brick structure with an adjacent stable, the building was of little architectural interest, although Bush may well have prepared the plans. The building did not contain a jail, a reflection of the suburban serenity of the area. Indeed, there was so little crime that a contemporary description of this section of Manhattan makes the surprising criticism that all may seem "peaceful and rural enough...but in the shadow of mossy hillocks the eye may occasionally detect the intrusive uniform of the Metropolitan Police."
Nevertheless, by 1869 plans were laid for a "new and more commodious building to meet the requirements of the 32nd Precinct". Although the precinct was still relatively sparsely populated, and was to remain so throughout the nineteenth century, it was a geographically large one. By the 1880s more than seventy men were assigned to it, and from the beginning it was patrolled in part by mounted police. The new station had a handsome stable building and also included an annex with a jail and lodging space for vagrants—the nineteenth century solution to sheltering New York's homeless. Despite the semi-rural character of the neighborhood, Bush's new design followed what an 1871 newspaper account approvingly described as "The policy of providing substantial houses for the accommodation of the police... [using] the best materials and workmanship... [with] no little pretence to elegance."'
By the early 1870s 'elegance' might equally have described the neighborhood immediately surrounding the 32nd Precinct's new headquarters The station house stood at the center of the Village of Carmansville which had been founded in about 1840 by its namesake, Richard F. Carman. Carman had begun life "as a poor boy making packing boxes for merchants" but had moved up through the ranks from carpenter to builder, and, capitalizing on the reconstruction in lower Manhattan after the Fire of 1835, to contractor and real estate speculator. Carman was buying land in upper Manhattan as early as 1836, a few years before the naturalist and artist John James Audubon (1785-1851) purchased a fairly large tract along the Hudson River surrounding 156th Street, where he build a Greek Revival style country house. In the same year Carman purchased roughly twenty-three acres of land between Amsterdam and Twelfth Avenues, and 153rd and 155th Streets which he soon sold to Trinity Church for a new cemetery- By the mid-1860s Audubon's widow had subdivided her property into a development of "country seats, all sharing in common the rural pleasures of a broad woodland stretch along the river marge."
Known as Audubon Park, it was a wealthy middle-class enclave of substantial freestanding houses in a picturesquely landscaped setting. Some of the houses were used as summer retreats, but the majority were the homes of commuters who travelled to the city proper by means of the Hudson River Railway, which had its Carmansville Station at the foot of 152nd Street. The town also included a hotel, and several churches clustered around the cemetery, which was landscaped in the tradition of Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery.
Beginning in 1871 the well- known architect Calvert Vaux, who had collaborated with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park, was engaged in making improvements to Trinity Cemetery. Farther afield were isolated institutions; the Juvenile Asylum, a school for the blind, and another for the deaf and dumb. There were also a few factories, including a sugar refinery and an iron- works. The High Bridge, built in 1848 in the form of a Romand aqueduct to carry water from the Croton Reservoir, was at the upper boundary of the Precinct.
In the nineteenth century the fundamental duty of each precinct was a round-the-clock patrol of its district. Patrolmen were assigned to a 'beat, so-called roundsmen acted as supervisors checking with the men in the field, and sergeants and the captain manned the station house. The men often slept overnight in the stations. A telegraph system linked the station houses and in the case of the 32nd Precinct "even the horsemen were aided by boxes from which they could send necessary signals back to the station house."
The Design
The author of "Police Palaces" noted that "the new station houses adhere closely to a general plan" which Bush seems to have followed in the 32nd Precinct:
The first story contains the office, the captain and sergeants' sleeping apartments [each with full bathrooms] and the men's sitting room, while the second and third floors are occupied with two large sleeping rooms, fully furnished with closets for the different sections of the platoons and two small dormitories for the roundsmen. The fourth floor is an immense drill room, and the rear of the lot in each case is covered by a smaller building, the upper floors of which are divided into two compartments for the reception of male and female lodgers, and the lower portion into cells for the prisoners.
In the 1860s and 1870s Bush favored the French Second Empire style, then at the height of its popularity in this country. The 32nd Precinct building is a very fine and highly representative example of the style as it was applied to urban public buildings of moderate scale; it is boldly massed in a compact block with strictly symmetrical tripartite elevations subsumed beneath an assertive mansard roof with central tower pavilions. Constructed in brick which was originally painted an off-white in imitation of stone, the classical detail was executed in a contrasting brownstone.
The mansard roof, covered in scalloped slate shingles with delicate metal roof cresting, is typical of the Second Empire style. Originally the building must have harmonized with the surrounding houses, many of which were also designed in the Second Empire style. Of the many other station houses designed by Bush the surviving example which bears the closest resemblance to the 32nd Precinct building is the station house on Mulberry Street formerly occupied by the 14th Precinct; however, the corner siting of the 32nd Precinct station house which allows for a side elevation makes it the more impressive of the two.
Description
The facade on Amsterdam Avenue and the longer side elevation are treated very similarly. Both have central slightly projecting bays three windows wide flanked by narrow bays with a single window at each story. There is a full basement and areaway surmounted by a simple, but handsome wrought-iron fence which surrounds the building. The entrance has a heavy brownstone round-arched pediment, ornamented with dentils and supported on console brackets. (The original doors and lanterns are no longer in place.) The central first-story window on the side elevation (which was originally an entranceway) displays a similar pediment.
The side windows of the central bays have brownstone lintels at each story. Round-arched pediments appear in the flanking bays at the first-story level, triangular pediments at the second, and lintels at the third. A round-arched pediment with dentils surmounts the central window of the second story on both elevations, echoing in smaller scale those below. The quoins, which articulate the bays and corners of the building are composed of alternating smooth and vermiculated brownstone. The cornice, cast in galvanized iron, is bracketed with console brackets atop the quoining. (These were originally surmounted by decorative urns.)
The tall mansard roof contains metal pedimented dormers with segmentally arched windows, two flanking the central tower pavilions on each elevation and larger central ones within the pavilions themselves. (The central dormer on the facade was damaged by fire and a large portion of it has been removed.) Metal cresting (a segment of which is no longer extant) with corner finials surmounts the roof. The jail annex to the building is executed in the same brick , is two stories in height and has had a garage door added at street level. The south elevation of the station is a party wall. The building has been sealed.
Conclusion
The northward progress of urban development in Manhattan had little effect on the Carmansville area throughout the nineteenth century. A few more institutions, such as the Home School for Sailors Children, were constructed, as were a few factories. The Joseph Loth & Co. building, which still stands just to the south of the station house, originally manufactured silk ribbon and had seme six hundred employees by the early 1890s. But by and large the area remained "a district of villa residences," and the 32nd Precinct "one of the most delightful [of] commands." Only in the early 1900s with the construction of Riverside Drive and a subway line along Broadway were developers attracted to the area, which then rapidly evolved into an urban neighborhood of five and six story apartment buildings and row houses. The houses of Audubon Park gave way to these newer buildings and to the great cultural center known as Audubon Terrace which was begun in 1904.
Trinity Cemetery has retained its park-like character, and is now dominated by the neo-Gothic Church of the Intercession of 1911-14. The smaller nineteenth-century churches which border on the cemetery survive along with the Police Station as reminders of the area's earlier character. At the same time these buildings are all compatible in materials, scale and style with the later development.
Although French Second Empire buildings such as the 32nd Police Precinct Station house were once quite common in this country, they have become rare in New York City, particularly in Manhattan. Now owned by the St. Luke A.M.E. congregation, whose church building is located one block to the north, the station house is not only an important architectural reminder of the history of New York's police department, but could readily be adapted to again serve a useful community purpose.
- From the 1986 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
...was required to spend time setting up this shot without weakening, and stuffing it all in my mouth.
But I managed. And besides, if I had weakened I'd be sleeping in the garage until such time as I replaced the egg which is, after all, the property of Mrs PYLTN.
This extremely decadent egg is from Hotel Chocolat
The British Heart Foundation hosts the 2017 Celebration of Life carol service at Middle Temple for staff, survivors and family of anyone connected to the charity. 9th December 2017
Photography by Fergus Burnett
Accreditation required with all use - 'fergusburnett.com
Painting highway bridges requires a special containment system. The containment system is intended to help protect the environment while crews strip paint down to bare metal. The system allows crews to apply new primer and paint. While the SR 305 Agate Pass Bridge receives annual maintenance, the entire bridge was last painted in 1991. WSDOT uses four custom colors for painting bridges. These are used to obscure visual differences between concrete mixes, aid in maintenance control of graffiti and provide a finished look. WSDOT’s four standard custom colors are: Washington Gray, Mount Saint Helens Gray, Mt. Baker Gray, and Cascade Green. The SR 305 Agate Pass Bridge will be Cascade Green which is the existing color.
Copyright © 2012 by Ian J MacDonald. Permission required for any use. All rights reserved
Part of a set of 4 based on the saying:
One for the mouse
One for the crow
One for the earth
and one to grow
meaning plant 4 seeds if you want 1 to grow. A friend complained that critters were eating the tomatoes from her garden - literally the fruits of her hard labor - and just taking a few nibbles and moving on to another. It reminded me of this saying that I remember reading in a farmer's almanac.
See the whole set: www.flickr.com/photos/ianmacdonald/sets/72157631708466497...
Day 2 of The Indy KA500 and After a Fantastic First Day of Racing and Celebrations now is where the Real Hard Work Begins as The Entire Field of 46 KA'S were in the Garages with Drivers Teams and Engineers at The Ready as they were about to tackle 8 Hours of the Indy Circuit.
With an 8 Hour Race anything can Happen and with such a Large Field of Cars a lot of Overtakes and Careful Navigation will be Required to Ensure Victory.
With The Start of The Race About to get underway Its Time to See Who will be able to Hold out the Longest and Take the Title of IndyKa500 Endurance Champion for 2021.
Hour 1 (11:04AM)
As The Field of 46 KA'S Completed the Formation Lap and Slowly made their way Towards the Start Finish Straight The Lights went Green and at Exactly 11:04AM the Race Had Begun.
Racing Down Towards Paddock Hill Bend it was The KA of Team (IP Racing's Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington) Who took the Lead Followed Closely by Team (Octane Junkies Adam Smith Martyn Smith and Bazza Ward) in Second Place and Team (Alex Read Motorsport's Chris Reade Sam Luke's Carlito Miracco and Luke Read) in Third Place as they Thundered Up the Hill Towards The Tops of Druids and Back Down Again through Bottom Bend where Team (Ferguson Motorsport's Damon Astin Billy Ferguson Joe Ferguson and Daniel Ferguson) took the Lead from (Octane Junkies) before Flying Around The Track to Complete Lap 1 of 500.
As The Cars came Round Paddock for The Second Time The KA of (Ferguson Motorsport) Now Leads by a Heathy Margin While Further Back (IP Racing) and (Octane Junkies) Have A Fantastic Scrap over Second Place with The Two of Them Swapping The Lead Over and Over again. Car Number 55 of (Al Most Racers Alistair Hardie Alistair McDonald Lee Conway and Will Denny) was Seen Getting Air of The Inside Curb on the Exit of Paddock Hill Bend making for a Spectacular Sight.
Hour 2 (11:54AM)
Hour 2 and All 46 KA'S are Still Alive and Well with Each Driver Pushing Hard to Maintain their Advantage as the Tyres Begin to Warm Up and Start to Grip the Track More.
KA Number 56 Team (Hard And Enthusiastic Martyn Dilworth Mark Figes and Mike Hickey) are Locked in a Tight Battle at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 27 Team (Semprini Racing's Jeremy Evans James Hart Phil Hart and William Puttergill) as they Fight it Out Between the Two Cars for a Position.
Further Down the Field KA Number 23 Team (Kastrol's Michael Keegan Tim Keegan and David Murfitt) is Having its Own Battle with KA Number 4 of Team (Alex Read Motorsport) as The Two Teams Have a Go at One Another Thought the Course of The Lap trying Hard to Hold onto that Position they Worked so Hard for.
Another Battle at Paddock is the KA Number 3 of Team (Wingdat Racing's Andy Chapman Jonathan Barret and Wayne Jackson) Having to Fend off The KA Number 16 of Team (M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling) as they Also were Looking to be in an Intense Battle Thought the Lap with Many Other Teams and Drivers Now Settling into a Rhythm. at The Endo f The Second Hour The KA't Mobile Number 49 of Team (LDR Performance Tuning's David Bywater Adrian Clarke Andy Grear Hardy and Sammy Bryan) is Seen Making its way Through Paddock Hill Bend and Through the Gravel Trap but Manages to Get Out Unaided and Safely.
At 12:12PM a Huge and Very Loud Crash is Heard at The Bottom of Paddock Hill Bend and Seen Rowling Through The Gravel Trap and Ending up on its Wheels is the KA Number 3 of Team (Windgat Racing) Bringing out the First Safety Car of The Endurance Race. Lucky The Driver was Fine and After a Few Minutes Due to The Recovery Taking Place they Are Back out in the Race But with a Lot of Catching Up to do.
Hour 3 (13:08PM)
With the Safety Car Now in the Race gets Back Underway and Already each Driver was Pushing Even Harder trying to either Create a Gap or Make Up for Lost Time Due to The Safety Car Intervention.
At The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Fierce Battle is Taking Place Between the Two Teams of KA Number 13 and KA Number 155 Team (Deranged Motorsport's Jason Pelosi Josh Larkin and Alex Kelby) and Team (JRS's Nick Walker Alex Day and William Foster) as they Duel Thought the Whole of Paddock Hill Bend Starting at The Top and Still Keeping the Fight Going Right Up towards Druids in The End Deranged Motorsport Wins Out and Takes The Position Away from JRS.
At 13:24PM The Fighting Between each Team Continues at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend which is Proving to be the Best Overtaking Area as Each Car has Only 73 Break Horse Power so Carrying as Much Speed as Possible from the Main Straight Towards Paddock is Essential for a Successful Overtake.
Team (Piston Heads Peter Dignan Oliver Lewis Benjamin Lowden and Sam Sheehan) Battles it out with Team (LDR Performance Tuning's Laurence Davey Mike Paul James Parker and Glen Copeland) as The Two Cars Do Battle for All to See with Team LDR Taking The Position Away.
At 13:39PM A Set of 4 KA's are Seen Fighting Their Way up Towards Druids with All Four Teams not Giving up the Fight as they Swap Positions Relentlessly with not One Driver Willing to Give Up his Position.
The 98 55 53 and 13 All Really Having a Good Go at One Another Thought their Fight. As The Sun Starts its Slow Dissent Down Over The Hills and Valleys that Surround The Circuit Bottom Bend was Providing Some More Opportunities for Drivers to do Battle with One Another. A Four way Fight Between KA's Number 56 51 44 and 64 was Occurring with Number 56 Holding Strong at The Front of This Fight and Leading them on Towards Clearways.
Finally at 13:48PM An Epic Battle Between KA's Number 64 and 44 was Witnessed Through Bottom Bend with The Likes of The Number 64 Bouncing a Wheel Into The Air as The Car Took the Tight Racing Line making for an Amazing Picture and a Superb bit of Car Control To Keep that KA Pointing The Right Way.
Hour 4 (14:02PM)
The Fourth Hour and Pit Stops and Driver Changes were Imminent with Many Teams Choosing to Go into The Pits to Change Both Drivers and Top Up the Fuel as Well as Change Tyres if Necessary. Every Team was Running to a Different Strategy Depending Upon the Amount of Drivers they Had with Teams of Four Drivers Taking 2 Hours in the Car Each While Teams of Three or Less would Have to Take on Longer Stints of 3 To Maybe Even 4 Hours in the Car Hoping that Having to do Fewer Driver Changes would Mean they could make Up The Difference on Track.
Back on The Track at 14:02PM More Battles were Commencing Through Pilgrims Drop With KA's Number 81 Team (GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell) Going Head to Head with KA Number 46 Team (JDC Motorsport's Stu Neal Andy Gaugler and Simon Walker Hensell) with The KA of GM Performance Narrowly Taking The Place From JDC Motorsport on the Run towards Clearways.
At 14:20PM a Fantastic Battle Between KA Number's 18 100 127 3 55 and 115 was Seen as they Powered their Way onto Clearways with 155 Leading Followed by 55 and 3 127 100 and 18 All Slowly Gaining Ground to the Two Leading KA's at The Front of This Train.
Shortly After This Train of Cars Came Through Another Train of 5 KA's was not Far Behind this Time Being Lead by Number 13 Deranged Motorsport with 131 (Team Viking's Mark Holme Harry Nunn and Nick Nunn) Then came Number 4 Alex Read Motorsport with 98 Piston Heads and 41 (Rowe Rage Motorsport's Alex Butler Greg Caswell Jason Handcock and Sam Rowe) As they All Fought Hard to Catch One Another Thought their Fight.
KA's Number 98 4 and 64 were Also Seen at 14:48PM Having a Really Good Three Way Fight with 64 and 98 Side by Side down Pilgrims Drop with The Number 4 Car Closing Fast.
At 14:54PM A Final Battle was Seen on the Run Up Towards Clearways with The KA's of Number 60 (Powerflex's David Power Paul Cowland and Dom David) Battling Hard with KA's Number 7 (G and B Finch's Joe Bragg Lee Finch Steve Finch Benjamin Smith and Arthur Thurtle) and Number 127 (Fat Boys Racing's Charlie Jackson and Matt Pinny) with The Number 7 KA Leading The Trio On Towards Clearways as The Sun Began to Set.
Hour 5 (15:25PM)
The Fith Hour and a Swarm of KA's were Seen Storming Down the Main Straight towards Paddock Hill Bend with the Number 131 Car of (Team Viking) in the Lead by Some Distance Followed by Number 64 125 18 81 and 155 as they All Made their Way Towards Paddock for another Chance at an Overtake.
Another Battle Followed Closely Behind with KA Numbers 11 18 49 and 111 All Fighting as Well in order to Maintain or Improve their Positions as The Race Went on.
At 15:28PM The Safety Car was Out again While Another KA Somewhere on Track was Being Recovered and The Leading car Number 36 IP Racing's (Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington's Lead Evaporates as the Field is Once again Bunched up.
Behind Them are KA's Number 44 (Mini Challenges Max Coates Dominic Wheatley Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Looking to Make a More Once the Safety Car Period Ends The 14 of (Frugal Racing) and 51 of (Barwell Autosport's Taylor Norton Kamran Tunio Ryan Brinsted and Kester Cook) Also Looking to Take the Lead of This Endurance Race.
At 15:36PM The Car that Had Caused The Safety Car was Seen Being Recovered into the Outer Garage Area where cars are Held Before the Start of Each Race. KA Number 46 (JDC Motorsport) Had Made Contact Somewhere on the Circuit and Looked to Have a Broken Front Left Steering Arm with the Wheel Being Completely Bend Backwards into The Car with the Car Heading Back to the Garage for Repairs Before Rendering The Race Quite a Few Laps Down.
15:38PM and The Two KA's of Positive Motorsport's Andrew Rogerson Samuel Rendon and Ryan Frith Battle it Out with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Through Westfield Towards Dingle dell with The Number 13 Beautifully Sweeping Around the Outside to Take The Position Away.
Another Battle was Seen at 15:38PM with (Alex Read Motorsport) Number 4 Battling Number 64 (Auto Teach Motorsport's Reece Kellow Andrew Howell Luca Ataccini Anzanello and Megan) through Westfields Side by Side on Towards Dingle dell.
Finally at 15:57PM Another KA Had Fallen Victim to an Issue with the Number 23 Car of (PSR's Carl Beresford Russel Danzey Tom Gilbert and Jack Wood) Being Taken on the Back of the Recovery Truck to The Garages for Repairs Before Going back Out into The Race as Night Began to Fall Upon The Indy Circuit.
Hour 6 (16:15PM)
As The Light Slowly began to Fade Away from the Indy Circuit Many Drivers were Now starting to use their Headlights as The Lighting Conditions got Darker and Darker as Time went by.
At 16:15PM A Massive Group of Cars came Flying Down Through Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 55 Al Most Racers on the Inside Line 127 Fat Boys Racing on the Middle Line and 39 Kameleon Racing's Chris Bright Richard Cox Steve Goldsmith and Leigh Youles Michael on the Outside Line as they Fought their way Through the Bend and Up Towards Druids.
At 16:21PM Piston Heads Racing KA Number 98 was Seen Leading another Group of Cars Through Paddock Hill Bend with Numbers 41 52 33 and 2 All Fighting for Places as they Came Towards Paddock Hill Bend.
16:24PM and The Paddock Hill Bend Gravel Trap Claims Another Victim This Time the Number 131 KA of Team Viking Had Ended up Taking a Trip Through it Before a Half Spin Left Him Facing the Marshalls Post Opposite before Returning to the Track after Losing a Few Places. Recovery Teams set to work Once Again with The Safety Car Being Called into Action for The Third Time.
16:40PM and at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Three way Fight Becomes a Two Way Fight as The Number 127 KA of Fat Boys Racing Goes for a Spin after Trying to Get a Run on the Number 19 KA of LDR Performance Tuning with The Number 14 Car of Frugal Racing Just Narrowly Missing The Spinning Car.
16:42PM and a Final Intense Battle Between the Number 44 KA and The Number 1 KA of Burton Power Racing's Andy Burton Kyle Sagar Tom Valentine and Sammy Venables as They Fight Hard to try and Take that Position away from Mini Challenge to Round off The 6th Hour.
Hour 7 (16:50PM)
The Seventh Hour and at The Bottom of Surtees a Massive Crash is Heard as The KA's of Number 42 The K Teams (Paul Simmons Edward Simmons Glen Woodbridge Damo) is Seen Running off Track with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Onto The Grass and Number 81 GM Performance Being Spun Out Trying to Avoid The Carnage in Front. All Drivers Okay and They Get back on Track and Continue on As Day Turns into Night.
17:02PM and a Top of Druids The Ka's of Number 72 Misty Racings (Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham) are Fighting Hard to Keep their Position from the Number 49 Car of LDR Performance Tuning as well as Number 7 of G and B Finch Trying to Find a Way Through on the Outside of Druids. The 98 of Piston Heads is also Closing in by This Stage with Headlights A Blaze.
17:05PM and Coming Towards Druids is a Sea of KA's All With Headlights A Blaze as they Fight for Positions Cars Number 60 3 19 and 39 All in Different Positions and Yet Still Fighting to try and Gain an Advantage that Could Swine this Endurance Race in Any of the Teams Favours. Further Back 127 and 140 Are Doing Battle on the Run Up Towards Druids.
17:09PM Once Again Another Battle at Druids This Time its The Trio of Number 127 36 and 60 That are All Trying to Better One Another in their Attempt to Gain a Place with Number 36 IP Racing Leading The Way.
17:14PM One Final Battle is Seen Coming Up towards Druids with The Number's 18 44 55 and 2 Fighting it Out Number 2 Kastrol's Has The Lead of This Group of Cars with Blazing Bright Headlights to Aid the Drivers Around The Circuit.
17:27PM and Now Darkness was Everywhere Making Visibility Very Difficult and Yet this did not Stop the Likes of Cars Number 128 JTR's Eliot Mason Nick Tandy David Mason and James Rhodes from Battling with Car Number 16 M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling. In a Daring Move in the Pitch Black Darkness The Two Cars Go Side by Side Trying to Gain One over The Other Before JTR's Takes The Inside Line and The Position.
17:30PM Another Daring Battle is Captured Between The Number 180 Car of (Shine Auto motive's Colin French Mathew Eldridge and Wayne Clelland) and Number 44 (Mini Challenge's Max Coates Dominic Whitely Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Defending The Outside Line as Best as they Can but Ultimately Shine Automotive Makes their way Through.
17:51PM A KA is Seen Flying Down Through The Bottom of Druids and into a Cloud of Dust Caused by Another KA Going off The KA is Just Barely Visible Showing The Dangers of what can Happen at Night When Visibility Becomes Low or Obstructed. Other KA's Soon Followed Through the Dust Cloud as Well with Many Backing off Slightly In case a Car was Stuck out on The Track but Thankfully All was Good as Hour 7 Ended.
Hour 8 (17:56PM) (THE FINAL HOUR)
The FINAL Hour of The 8 Hour Indy KA 500 and With Every Driver Now Getting into a Rhythm it was Up to Each Teams Last Driver to Strap in and Go for it to the Checkered Flag. However not All had gone to Plan for every Driver as The Number 29 KA of LDR Performance Tuning Found Out Slipping into the Gravel and Costing Them a Ridge Back to the Pits for Repairs with Less than 1 Hour to go.
18:00PM and The Number 2 KA of Kastrol's was Captured Racing Through Paddock Hill Bend During The Night Pushing Incredibly Hard to Ensure a Good Top 25 Finnish in the Points with Headlights Illuminating their way Around Paddock Hill Bend as The Car Flew Through The Bend.
18:30PM The Safety Car was Out for The Last Time During The Race and was Captured Leading a whole Train of KA's Through Pilgrims Drop and Onto Clearways with Each Driver Poised and Ready to Get Going Once the Safety Car Had Come In.
19:07PM An Amazing Sight to Behold with Just 15 Minutes Left on the Clock a Huge Rush of KA's Flooded their way Down The Main Straight and Past The Start Finnish Straight with Headlights on Full Beam to Aid in Visibility. The Number 8 KA Leads The way in This Group of Cars with The Number 18 CHR Hoonikan Car of Stratton MacKay Dave Mayer and Paul Robson Closing in Behind.
19:09PM And The Green Flag is Dropped for The Final Time as The Safety Car Comes into the Pitlane All 44 Remaining KA's Race Towards Druids with the Field so Bunched up this is Anyone's Race to both Win or Lose at This Stage.
The Number 42 KA of The K Teams Paul Simmons Edward Simmons and Glen Woodbridge Damo takes off Leading from Number 20 A Reeve's Motorsport Aron Reeve Stuart Lane and Andy Godfrey while The Number 127 of Fat Boys Racing Chases Them Down into a Nail Biting Finnish at The Centre of The Field.
19:13PM A Group of Six KA's are Captured Having an Intense Battle with Only 5 Minutes Left to Run The Likes of KA Number 127 36 and 128 All Putting Up One Hell of a Good Fight in The Closing Stages of The Endurance Race with Some Drives Having Driven for 4 Hours Straight.
19:21PM and after 8 Hours of Continuous Racing and 5 KA's Out of The Race The Checkered Flag was Ready and Waiting as The Number 81 KA of GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell Takes the Victory at The 2021 8 Hour Indy Car 500!!!! Followed Closely by The Number 72 Car Misty Racing's Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham in Second Place with KA Number 14 Frugal Racing's Jim McDougal Callum McDougal Mike Marais and Leon Bidgeway Taking Third Place.
A Huge Congratulations to The Overall Top Three Winners and to All of the other Teams and Competitors for Showing some Incredible Racing To End of The 2021 Motorsport Season. From
Historic Formula 1 to Classic Touring Cars To The Indy KA 500 This Season Has been One of The Best to Date.
See You All Again Next Year Where We Will do it All Over Again.
2nd shift, 12/13/2024, Nashville, TN
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ƒ/2.4 1.5 mm 1/30 2000
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This is an example of an image that could not be achieved with real photography. Focus-stacking would be required if this was a real photo, and it would take far too long to get a sharp image. See my 'micro world' album for more info on this.
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
This is one of a series of images I made with the Bing Image Creator, which is an AI image generator powered by DALL-E 3.
For most of these images I tried to combine multiple elements together into one, rather than creating a scene with multiple separate elements. This pushes the limits of what the AI model can do, and maximizes the amount of human control over the images. For example, I might use the text prompt ‘photo realistic snake plane made out of carbon fiber and gold’.
Here is my take on AI generated images vs. human made art: I think that the quality of AI generated images will NOT dramatically improve, even many years into the future. The ultimate goal of a creative image is to create a certain emotional state in the viewer. - Emotions themselves - are the main tool used to do this. A purely logic driven machine can only create a crude, generalized model of something meant to create a certain emotional state. When someone makes a piece of art, it is always some combination of using logic and emotions to guide the process. Remember that the ultimate goal is to create a certain emotional state in the viewer. Only having access to logic, but not emotions, will always create a very generic looking work. You need to actually be able to feel emotions to fine-tune the work beyond that, since creating emotions is the ultimate goal.
The main difference between an AI model and a human is not the difference in the power of the logic that can be deployed. The difference is that a human can feel emotions, which is key to creating an image (or text) made to create a certain emotional state. The logic that the best AI image generator models currently have seems to already be at the level of what the best human can do (based on some of the results I got, which was quite a shock). The results are still crude and generic compared to what a human can do, because the AI models have no access to emotions, which are the main tool for making and refining a creative work designed to create certain emotional states.
All creative work is built with a combination of logic and emotions (emotions should always be the main tool), and by not having direct access to emotions, a machine can only create crude, generic results. When I make music I always try and use emotions rather than logic to guide the process as much as possible, since creating a certain emotional state in the listener is the ultimate goal. The best AI models have an amazing ability to use logic to mix two different styles of images together since that is a logic driven process. They can’t make those images from scratch, since that is an emotion driven process, since it is all about creating certain emotions in the viewer.
Imagine you were a chef trying to develop a new dish, but you were not allowed to taste the food at any point as you made it. Your ability to determine the correct amount of salt and other seasonings would be very crude and limited. There would always be the possibility of a disaster happening, since you could not add a bit of seasoning at a time and taste it, so you would have to just dump it all in at once. This is the same idea of an AI model that is trying to ultimately create emotional states using sophisticated logic, but without having any access to emotions to guide the process.
The results will always be very generic looking, with the occasional unexpected gruesome image being returned. The power of the logic I have seen in some of the images I have created is quite shocking, but the results are still crude and generic compared to what a human can do, since the AI model is trying to create emotional states without being able to actually feel emotions itself, which is vital to creating emotional states through an image (or text).
The AI models have an amazing ability to combine multiple types of images together into one, but they have no understanding of what the individual elements they are combining together truly are. Again, this is because the individual images are designed to create certain emotional states, and an AI model has no ability to feel emotions, meaning it has no ability to understand them.
Having said all that, there is a good chance that the ability of humans to customize AI generated images will keep going up, and this will allow for this tool to create highly creative works close to what a human could do from scratch after all. I don’t think that the AI models will ever be able to do this by themselves with a simple button push though, as I have made the case for above. Also, I would expect that the number of images that are generated with a button push will keep going up and up.
Now, does making good AI generated images take talent? I say the answer is yes simply because these images are not all equal in quality. To create the best image in a set of 1,000 to 100,000,000 images, and to do so consistently, takes skill. You need to learn something from every single image you create about what the AI model does well and does not do well. You also need creative and artistic skills to come up with really good text prompts, in addition to this. The skills involved in this are similar to the skills involved in coming up with a great line in text, like in books, poems, speeches, scripts, ect. This is like abstract art. I know from experience that randomly applying different colors of paint never yields anything impressive. It takes a lot of talent to make good abstract art. Random combinations of words in text prompts will never create the results that highly targeted ones will, when it comes to AI generated images.
Blueberry juice feels rather decadent when you consider how many of the tiny fruits are required to produce just a glass or two of juice. Luckily, blueberry pulp is very easy to use. It becomes almost invisible when combined with chocolate or cocoa powder in baked goods, where it lends moisture and can even replace some of the oil or butter in your recipe.
www.foodthinkers.com/2010/05/blueberry-papaya-cucumber-ju...
BLUEBERRY PAPAYA CUCUMBER JUICE
Juice Ingredients
1¼ cup blueberries
1 medium papaya, peeled, and trimmed, seeds removed
1 large cucumber, peeled and seededjuice of 1 to 2 sweet limes or 1 Valencia orange
Juice Instructions
1. Process blueberries and cucumber in your juicer and reserve the pulp in one bag.
2. Juice papaya and reserve its pulp separately.
3. Add the sweet lime or orange juice to the mixture, stir, and enjoy.
Serves 3.
BLUEBERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND TOASTED COCONUT
The above juice left me with about 4 ounces (½ cup) of cucumber-blueberry pulp and ¾ cup of papaya pulp. Using slightly more or less pulp in your recipe probably will not affect your finished product all that much.
Here I adapted my standard vegan chocolate cake recipe, with the pulp serving as a substitute for a large portion of the oil. As I mentioned above, the pulp in the batter is virtually undetectable and the cake came out incredibly moist and tender.
Cake Ingredients
1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1½ cups all purpose flour
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
(I add a tablespoon or two of black onyx cocoa powder to my regular cocoa when I make chocolate cake — it gives a slightly richer product. Onyx cocoa powder can be ordered from the Savory Spice Shop.)
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup blueberry-cucumber pulp
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups brewed black tea*, chilled
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
*Either coffee or tea works very well in this recipe — for best results be sure to use a strong brew.
Cake Instructions
1. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and grease the parchment as well.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the middle.
3. Sift flours, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the blueberry-cucumber pulp, vegetable oil, chilled tea, and vanilla.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a rubber spatula. Add the vinegar and mix in with as few strokes as possible (it’s okay if there are streaks in the batter).
6. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, testing doneness with a wooden toothpick.
7. Let cakes cool in their pans for 5 to 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of each pan and unmolding to cool completely.
While cakes are cooling, put the papaya pulp and a tablespoon or two or orange juice into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add a tablespoon of sugar and stir as the mixture simmers gently for about 5 minutes. Cook until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Cool.
Filling Instructions
When the cake has cooled you may want to even out the surface of your first layer by slicing off the dome to create a flat, even round. Spread the papaya filling over the bottom cake layer and top with second cake.
Ganache Ingredients
8 ounces chopped dark chocolate, or chocolate chips (about 60% cocoa)
⅔ cup soy milk
4 tablespoons maple syrup
topping: ½ cup toasted* unsweetened shredded coconut
(*spread coconut onto a sheet pan and toast at 325°F (163°C) in a toaster oven for about 10 minutes)
Ganache Instructions
1. Heat the soy milk in a small saucepan until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate.
2. Stir until all the chocolate has melted, then stir in maple syrup until the mixture is completely smooth.
3. Let cool slightly before pouring over the cake. Top your cake with the toasted coconut, and chill in fridge to set the ganache.
This cake keeps beautifully for 3 to 4 days at room temperature when wrapped in plastic or stored inside a cake dome.
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It would be very much appreciated (though not required) if you provide a link back to my photo. Send me a message on Flickr or at thisisbossi@gmail.com if you use my image & I'll add a link on the photo's page back to your article.
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================================
In response to the Congressional budget debacle which proved that DC is but a colony -- prone to being singled out unlike any other city in the country -- a number of activists, elected officials, and general citizens came out in force upon the grounds of Capitol Hill.
The crowd first formed on the sidewalk, but after some opening remarks by elected officials and activists: they quickly spilled into the street. The Capitol Police had been on hand & I'd thought it amusing that a couple were taking photos & videos... it wasn't until I saw the wristbands come out when I realised these weren't officers enjoying the moment; they were recording evidence.
With many minutes of warning, large portions of the group shifted over the sidewalk; whilst a core of dedicated supporters -- including our Mayor, a number of councilmembers, and members of DC Vote -- remained behind to block the roadway. The officers began to surround the group & repeated their warnings to get back on the sidewalk or face arrest.
Now in all fairness to the Capitol Police: they were doing their job. They were quite courteous about it & the protest was similarly jubilant right back. One woman was first to be bound, soon followed by several other activists. Then came Muriel Bowser: first councilmember to be arrested.
In general, I tend to dislike political grandstanding... but this was different. If our council was being arrested by our own police, I'd think it a cheesy photo op... but now our locally-elected officials were being arrested by the very forces we were out to protest: the Feds. This wasn't a mere photo op arrest; this was actually a legitimate arrest... the kind of thing that goes on your record; the kind of thing you spent a night in jail for.
Now granted, I don't expect anyone will be in jail longer than tomorrow; I'd be surprised if any were still locked up by midnight tonight. But it was Councilmember Bowser's arrest which really hit a moment... you could see the look on her face was of some worried concern: someone who had never been arrested before & didn't show up here today expecting to be arrested. As she was placed into the police van: her look of concern changed to a bit more worry. I mean this as no knock against Councilmember Bowser's committment; rather I felt it really help to humanise the entire event. It made me respect her all the more.
Yvette Alexander stood right beside us for quite some time, complicated in that she didn't have her ID on her. While it was entertaining to see our top officials being frisked, it was also quite entertaining that our easily-recognisable councilmember needed her ID... prompting a standerby to call one of her staffers with the best introduction I've ever heard over a phone: "Hi, your councilmember has been arrested." Also, kudos to Councilmember Alexander for going to jail in high heels!
There is a lot I can complain about with the council in general; and certainly with individual councilmembers & even the mayor. Heck, that's what politicians are for: you're not supposed to always like them. But this was an opportunity to set aside some of those issues (frankly, I'd say DC was glad to have a unifying moment after the past couple weeks) and cheer on our own brothers & sisters as they stood up in support of our rights.
It was certainly a proud moment to be a DC resident and a fine boost to our collective esteem after several weeks of turmoil within our local & federal levels of government. It's aggravating that my support for small & local government is inhibited by those in Congress whom advocate small & local government. If I wanted to live in a colony, I'd have moved to Williamsburg.
VISA ....
2 weeks on arrival at the border. 10 dollars US or
500baht. 3 photos required. You leave your passport
iat immigration in Tachilek and are issued with a
folder which you hand in at the checkpoints and your
hotel to keep. The taxi drivers and hotel takes care
of all the paperwork for you.
CAREFUL if you wish to go to Mongla, you must
inform them at Tachilek. This stamp/permission can't
be obtained in Kengtung.
You have to have 37Yuan to pay to cross the border
into Mongla. The guard unhappily took my 5dollars US
as I had no Yuan. You can probably change money to
Yuan at the gold sellers at the market in Keng. where
I changed Yuan back to Kyet.
MONEY......
US dollars and thai baht can be used in
KENGTUNG/TACHILEK. They will often give change from
thai baht in thai baht. Small notes please. Keep some
small bills for last, as you don't want to be stuck
with Kyet before leaving.
MONGLA. Chinese currency only, and I changed mine
at a pharmacy upon arrival.
Get your US dollars before going to Mae Sai. 5
banks either had no USD, or only in 100 notes.
Exchange rates commonly rounded eg: 1,000 Kyet = 1
USD = 40baht=7.5 Yuan.
TRAVEL....
TACHILEK TO kENGTUNG Choose a driver at 8.30-9am
either at the end of the Tach bridge, or immigration
can organise this for you.
Thais paid 250b, but even if you can speak thai no one
we met paid under 450baht to Kengtung. Most of us paid
400b for the return trip.If there are less in the
taxi, the price goes up.
KENGTUNG TO MONGLA was 400 to 450b also.
Sometimes you can jump straight into a taxi and go,
another time I waited 3 hours at the guesthouse. I
think it would have been better if I had gone to the
taxi station myself.
Both these journeys took between 2 and a half to 3 and
a half hours. If your trip is shorter take some
mints...the road particularly to Mongla is very windy
and hilly/mountainous.
We often left our bags at the guesthouse when
arranging the taxi, as when they have 4 people, they
come and pick up other passengers anyway.
We didn't try the bus from Tach. as the station is
a couple of K's out of town, and I didn't fancy my
chances of getting a bus driver to drive back to the
border to immigration to wait an hour or more to
process the papers.
INTERNET....
Didn't see any anywhere.
LANGUAGE....
Lucky you if you can speak some thai already, as
the Shan people speak Thai Yai, which is similar, so
it is well understood and spoken in Tach. and Keng.
Mongla is a Wa state, so they speak chinese. Very
little English was spoken in the 2 days I was there,
apart from a few Burmese/Shan there who spoke thai and
a bit of english.
FOOD.....
My favorite subject....Tachilek and Kengtung you
can get chinese, burmese, Shan and thai.
Side of the road stalls sell Indianstyle
springrolls, samosas and bean patties similar to
felafel Yuuuuuuuuuum. Approx 50Kyet each.
KENGTUNG....Aung Naing restaurant on the street
next to the market has pots of mildly spiced burmese
curries which come with soup, 2 dipping sauces,
condiment and fresh cabbage/lettuce/herbs. All this
and a drink for 1,300kyet. Gorgeous. There are 2
restaurants in this street, this is the bigger and
better one.
There is a huge restaurant 2 doors down from
Shein Tip hotel on the airport road which is
fantastic. Thai, burmese and chinese food.
Shan food uses salty soybean sauce for flavor and
pickled vegies unlike other parts of burma that use
fermented fish sauce.
MONGLA....Chinese mostly.....and you can eat your
noodle soup to the sound of hacking and spitting on
the floor at the next table. mmmmm
MARKETS.....
The central market in Kengtung and Mongla sell a
lot of cheap chinese clothing, some fruits and vegies
and pots and pans....some sarongs as well. Nothing
special but ok for a look!
ACCOMMADATION....
TACHILEK. 9 stars hotel. 350-400b double with hot
water and tv.
Small rooms but cosy and comfortable.
KENGTUNG.... SAM YWET on airport road. 8-10 USD
per person even if you use the same room. Huge bunglow
with solar hot water....no sun, so fffreeezzzzing.
Damp and mouldy smelling, although this place would be
nice in the summer. free b'fast.
SAM YWET in town close to the market. Same price
as above.Nicer place with spasmodic hotwater and free
b'fast (egg, toast, fruit coffee) Very nice people.
Not good value for couples, as most paid 20dollars US
for the same room I paid 8USD for. You can bargain if
you stay longer.
HARRYS HOUSE... was full, but looked good. A
couple I met paid 10USD a room for the two of them,
but you can also get 5USD rooms with hotwater. It is a
little out of town but not too far to walk. It is only
2-300kyet by motorbike taxi or tuk tuk.
SHEIN TIP HOTEL... 7USD for small and a bit dingy
rooms with hotwater. Larger room available, and the
15USD room was much brighter and huge with 3 double
beds.Nice people, helpful manager who speaks good
english, and an outstanding restaurant 2 doors
down(forgot the name). Building works next door at
present. Also a bit of a walk from town on the airport
road.PH 084.22208
MONGLA....
I stayed at the big chinese place next to the
market...will post the name later. It is usually
100yuan, but due to the casinos and discos closed
down, has dropped to 60Yuan. It is a bargain, as it is
beautiful, huge room and bed, hotwater, tv, water
dispenser, furniture....very flash. And close to the
taxi stop.
PHONE..... My thai sim card still worked in Tachilek.
ELECTRIC PLUGS....Same as Thailand, with some like the
3 pronged ones in Australia.
FLIGHTS....Yangon air ...when changing flights it is
free to bring the date forward, but costs to delay
flight.
MONKS....In Kengtung. Naughty young boys who came
begging to the guesthouse everymorning around 9am when
they knew you were eating brekkie. They wouldn't leave
unless you gave them something, and often chanted
money money money. They didn't ask for anything from
other burmese. The owners of the GH and a guide told
us not to give to them as they were not hungry or
destitute, went to school and lived with their
families.
STRANGE KNOCKING STYLE.... Don'e be alarmed if when
they knock on your door they jiggle the door knob
backwards and forwards. They aren't trying to get in,
it is just their knocking style.
GOVT RUN?.....We had no idea which hotels were and
were not govt run. Our guidebook didn't cover these
areas.
BOOKS....Take plenty as we saw none in either a shop
or at the GH's. And very few travellers to swap with
at the time.
Phew, I think that's it. Feel free to PM me anyone if
you have any further q's...
Have a great trip, the people in Kengtung were
amazingly friendly, warm and welcoming, and interested
in travellers.
Could someone out there in the Flickr verse Identify this bird for me? I got a brief chance at long range .
Thanks in advance
Copyright © 2014 by Ian J MacDonald. Permission required for any use. All rights reserved
Caption: Once huge schools swam up and down the Hudson Hudson River. The schools were so large one could easily catch them by hand. They were initially harvested for fertilizer and later for food - and valued for their delicate flavor. They are easily caught in stationary nets and since the late 1800s they have been severely over-fished. In the late 20th century their breeding grounds, in the mouths of small rivers leading to the Hudson, have been lost and damaged by upland damming, diversion, drainage, and development affecting streams... Waterfront development, hardening of shorelines, filling in wetlands, has directly eliminated much of their spawning grounds. Since WWII bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals has rendered them unsafe to eat and pollution from human waste, lawns, agriculture, runoff, etc... have further fouled (deoxygenation and contamination) their breeding grounds. There are recovery plans in place. These seek to restore breeding areas. Stationary net fishing has been banned and chemical pollution has been decreased since 1970.
General Story Idea: These are illustrations about the water in our lives. I am attempting to create a book about the environment that is both entertaining and interesting but also scientifically factual and realistic. I am working on a story that is interesting and clever but not patronizing and "cutesie". I do not want it to be an environmental engineering textbook or a rant against modernism but a thoughtful consideration of the environment as it was, as it is, and realistic ways in which we can we could live environmentally responsible and/or the consequences if we continue on the path we are on.
My environmental philosophy and training in engineering and science show through in illustrating how important water is and how misused it has been through human history. The animals depicted in the the scenes are not there just because they are cute and adorable - they are indicators of the health of our waters. An often used complaint against environmentalism is that it is geared to save animals. While it is surely a reasonable goal to preserve the life on earth these animals are not simply cute critters, but are indicators of the health of our environment, at the top of which we sit. The environment is a very complex system that was honed by millions of years of evolution. Like keystones in an arch the members of this complex system hold it together and when one is knocked out (extinct) the system veers. Some animals go extinct and others over-proliferate. Throughout the history of the earth there have been periodic, drastic climate shifts , land movement, species invasions etc... but there has not been a disruption that has been so sustained and unrelenting such as humans have carried out over the last 2000 years.
see the entire set www.flickr.com/photos/ianmacdonald/sets/72157639982848755/
This had been assembled but someone had more fun breaking it down .... here, I go again!!
Our Daily Challenge ~ Some Assembly Required ...
Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!
Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all!
HISTORY
Blackburn Meadows electricity generating station was built by the Sheffield Corporation in 1921,mainly to support the steel industry in the Lower Don Valley. The station was expanded in the 1930s, requiring the construction of Cooling Towers 6 and 7 in 1937-8 to supplement earlier square cooling towers to the north east.
These new hyperbolic shaped towers were designed by LG Mouchell and Partners. This was the same partnership responsible for the first hyperbolic cooling towers in the country (built in Liverpool in 1925) and some 150 towers subsequently built across the United Kingdom. Blackburn Meadows was one of those power stations nationalised to form part of the National Grid after the Second World War. It was decommissioned and mainly demolished in the 1970s.
ASSESSMENT
The Blackburn Meadows cooling towers are nationally rare surviving remains of pre-nationalisation large scale electricity generation. They are thought to be the only pre-1950 hyperbolic cooling towers surviving nationally, with nearly all the other 500 or so towers in the country dating to 1960or later. In addition to their early date, the association with LG Mouchell, the design features such as the banding and the thinness of the shell all give the towers interest. The addition of the spray coating of concrete following the 1964 disaster at Ferrybridge adds further interest by showing a development in the industry.
Even without the clouds of steam that signify operational examples, the cooling towers are also very prominent landmark features, providing a visual indication of the former scale and importance of the Sheffield steel industry in the Lower Don Valley.
However the two hyperbolic cooling towers are just one component of an extensive complex that formerly existed. The plant at Blackburn Meadows generated electricity by using steam turbines to turn electric generators, with the steam produced using coal fired boilers, the coal supplied by rail.
The railway system, coal handling plant, boiler complex, turbine and generating halls, as well as the switchgear for connecting the plant to the electricity grid and the earlier square cooling towers have all been lost. Water used by the steam turbines would have been maintained within a closed system, the steam leaving the turbine then passing through a condenser to change it back to hot water before being reboiled to produce steam to turn the turbine.
The cooling towers were used to cool water circulating in a separate system that was used to cool the condensers other equipment.
With the demolition of the rest of the generating station, the surviving cooling towers have lost their context so it is difficult to see how they functioned as an integrated part of a much wider plant.
Functionally, cooling towers still in use consist of far more than just the shell of the tower that survives at Blackburn Meadows. In operation, water is piped into the lower portion of the cooling tower into a complex network of pipes or troughs ending with sprinklers.
A fine mist of water is then sprayed on to a timber or asbestos lattice of staging and screens filling the lower 4-5m of the tower, with the water being cooled via natural evaporation aided by air being drawn upwards by the tower above. Any water droplets carried by this updraft are intercepted by a layer of louvers positioned above the sprinklers. In addition, operational cooling towers have a network of maintenance access ways. All bar one pipe in one of the towers has been stripped out from the cooling towers at Blackburn Meadows, leaving very little indication of how the towers actually functioned.
The Blackburn Meadows cooling towers are thus not only a very partial survival of an electricity generating station, they are also only a very partial survival of a pair of cooling towers. Even given the national context of the highly fragmentary survival of the pre-nationalisation power generation industry, designation of the Blackburn Meadows cooling towers cannot be justified.
The rest of the generating station has been lost, depriving the towers of their functional context and the loss of pipe work, staging, screens and access ways means that a highly significant part of the interest of the towers as cooling towers has also been lost.
www.tinsley-towers.org.uk/pages/english_heritage.pdf
If you’ve ever driven into Sheffield from the M1, you’ll be familiar with the Tinsley Cooling Towers - a piece of industrial landscape that’s become one of the city’s most famous landmarks. For now at least.
Three quarters of the public want them saved
The BBC online poll established www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/image_galleries/tins… that three quarters of the public want them saved. This makes more than half a million supporters in Sheffield and Rotherham alone. E.ON’s own poll was flawed by a mix-up of criteria.
English Heritage wrote www.tinsley-towers.org.uk/pages/english_heritage.pdf that the Towers, built in 1938, are the oldest surviving hyperbolic Cooling Towers in the UK and that their prominence provides a visual indication of the former scale and importance of Sheffield’s steel industry.
Five car set 800024 climbs away from Swansea with the 1B20, 09.37 hrs London Paddington to Carmarthen Sundays only, usually made up of two 5 cars sets it's splits at Swansea with one 5 car set going west and connects back up at Swansea for the return to Paddington (Photo By Steve Powell)
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/kunalkhuranaphotography
Contact in case a non-watermarked version is required.
Meet Herbert Grosvenor.
A native of Alsager in Cheshire, he was a resident of Davis Street in Eccles, Salford, when this photograph was taken in June 1930.
He had just been convicted of 3 cases of housebreaking, with a further similar offence and a case of larceny taken into consideration.
He appears to have been sentenced to ‘1.1.1 months’ imprisonment.
He had previously come to the attention of the court in 1926 when he was fined 5/- (shillings) for not possessing a dog licence.
He makes an appearance in book identifying known thieves of the day, which is in the collection of the Greater Manchester Police Museum.
See our Faces of Crime Gone By album for more.
For more about Greater Manchester Police Museum.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website www.gmp.police.uk
You should call 101, national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
A new carpet and a lick of paint required urgently at Talgarth Mental hospital to bring its decor up-to-date. Anyone who can wander round this place on their own without getting slightly creeped out is a braver person than me.
"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality."
--Walt Disney
Day 2 of The Indy KA500 and After a Fantastic First Day of Racing and Celebrations now is where the Real Hard Work Begins as The Entire Field of 46 KA'S were in the Garages with Drivers Teams and Engineers at The Ready as they were about to tackle 8 Hours of the Indy Circuit.
With an 8 Hour Race anything can Happen and with such a Large Field of Cars a lot of Overtakes and Careful Navigation will be Required to Ensure Victory.
With The Start of The Race About to get underway Its Time to See Who will be able to Hold out the Longest and Take the Title of IndyKa500 Endurance Champion for 2021.
Hour 1 (11:04AM)
As The Field of 46 KA'S Completed the Formation Lap and Slowly made their way Towards the Start Finish Straight The Lights went Green and at Exactly 11:04AM the Race Had Begun.
Racing Down Towards Paddock Hill Bend it was The KA of Team (IP Racing's Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington) Who took the Lead Followed Closely by Team (Octane Junkies Adam Smith Martyn Smith and Bazza Ward) in Second Place and Team (Alex Read Motorsport's Chris Reade Sam Luke's Carlito Miracco and Luke Read) in Third Place as they Thundered Up the Hill Towards The Tops of Druids and Back Down Again through Bottom Bend where Team (Ferguson Motorsport's Damon Astin Billy Ferguson Joe Ferguson and Daniel Ferguson) took the Lead from (Octane Junkies) before Flying Around The Track to Complete Lap 1 of 500.
As The Cars came Round Paddock for The Second Time The KA of (Ferguson Motorsport) Now Leads by a Heathy Margin While Further Back (IP Racing) and (Octane Junkies) Have A Fantastic Scrap over Second Place with The Two of Them Swapping The Lead Over and Over again. Car Number 55 of (Al Most Racers Alistair Hardie Alistair McDonald Lee Conway and Will Denny) was Seen Getting Air of The Inside Curb on the Exit of Paddock Hill Bend making for a Spectacular Sight.
Hour 2 (11:54AM)
Hour 2 and All 46 KA'S are Still Alive and Well with Each Driver Pushing Hard to Maintain their Advantage as the Tyres Begin to Warm Up and Start to Grip the Track More.
KA Number 56 Team (Hard And Enthusiastic Martyn Dilworth Mark Figes and Mike Hickey) are Locked in a Tight Battle at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 27 Team (Semprini Racing's Jeremy Evans James Hart Phil Hart and William Puttergill) as they Fight it Out Between the Two Cars for a Position.
Further Down the Field KA Number 23 Team (Kastrol's Michael Keegan Tim Keegan and David Murfitt) is Having its Own Battle with KA Number 4 of Team (Alex Read Motorsport) as The Two Teams Have a Go at One Another Thought the Course of The Lap trying Hard to Hold onto that Position they Worked so Hard for.
Another Battle at Paddock is the KA Number 3 of Team (Wingdat Racing's Andy Chapman Jonathan Barret and Wayne Jackson) Having to Fend off The KA Number 16 of Team (M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling) as they Also were Looking to be in an Intense Battle Thought the Lap with Many Other Teams and Drivers Now Settling into a Rhythm. at The Endo f The Second Hour The KA't Mobile Number 49 of Team (LDR Performance Tuning's David Bywater Adrian Clarke Andy Grear Hardy and Sammy Bryan) is Seen Making its way Through Paddock Hill Bend and Through the Gravel Trap but Manages to Get Out Unaided and Safely.
At 12:12PM a Huge and Very Loud Crash is Heard at The Bottom of Paddock Hill Bend and Seen Rowling Through The Gravel Trap and Ending up on its Wheels is the KA Number 3 of Team (Windgat Racing) Bringing out the First Safety Car of The Endurance Race. Lucky The Driver was Fine and After a Few Minutes Due to The Recovery Taking Place they Are Back out in the Race But with a Lot of Catching Up to do.
Hour 3 (13:08PM)
With the Safety Car Now in the Race gets Back Underway and Already each Driver was Pushing Even Harder trying to either Create a Gap or Make Up for Lost Time Due to The Safety Car Intervention.
At The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Fierce Battle is Taking Place Between the Two Teams of KA Number 13 and KA Number 155 Team (Deranged Motorsport's Jason Pelosi Josh Larkin and Alex Kelby) and Team (JRS's Nick Walker Alex Day and William Foster) as they Duel Thought the Whole of Paddock Hill Bend Starting at The Top and Still Keeping the Fight Going Right Up towards Druids in The End Deranged Motorsport Wins Out and Takes The Position Away from JRS.
At 13:24PM The Fighting Between each Team Continues at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend which is Proving to be the Best Overtaking Area as Each Car has Only 73 Break Horse Power so Carrying as Much Speed as Possible from the Main Straight Towards Paddock is Essential for a Successful Overtake.
Team (Piston Heads Peter Dignan Oliver Lewis Benjamin Lowden and Sam Sheehan) Battles it out with Team (LDR Performance Tuning's Laurence Davey Mike Paul James Parker and Glen Copeland) as The Two Cars Do Battle for All to See with Team LDR Taking The Position Away.
At 13:39PM A Set of 4 KA's are Seen Fighting Their Way up Towards Druids with All Four Teams not Giving up the Fight as they Swap Positions Relentlessly with not One Driver Willing to Give Up his Position.
The 98 55 53 and 13 All Really Having a Good Go at One Another Thought their Fight. As The Sun Starts its Slow Dissent Down Over The Hills and Valleys that Surround The Circuit Bottom Bend was Providing Some More Opportunities for Drivers to do Battle with One Another. A Four way Fight Between KA's Number 56 51 44 and 64 was Occurring with Number 56 Holding Strong at The Front of This Fight and Leading them on Towards Clearways.
Finally at 13:48PM An Epic Battle Between KA's Number 64 and 44 was Witnessed Through Bottom Bend with The Likes of The Number 64 Bouncing a Wheel Into The Air as The Car Took the Tight Racing Line making for an Amazing Picture and a Superb bit of Car Control To Keep that KA Pointing The Right Way.
Hour 4 (14:02PM)
The Fourth Hour and Pit Stops and Driver Changes were Imminent with Many Teams Choosing to Go into The Pits to Change Both Drivers and Top Up the Fuel as Well as Change Tyres if Necessary. Every Team was Running to a Different Strategy Depending Upon the Amount of Drivers they Had with Teams of Four Drivers Taking 2 Hours in the Car Each While Teams of Three or Less would Have to Take on Longer Stints of 3 To Maybe Even 4 Hours in the Car Hoping that Having to do Fewer Driver Changes would Mean they could make Up The Difference on Track.
Back on The Track at 14:02PM More Battles were Commencing Through Pilgrims Drop With KA's Number 81 Team (GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell) Going Head to Head with KA Number 46 Team (JDC Motorsport's Stu Neal Andy Gaugler and Simon Walker Hensell) with The KA of GM Performance Narrowly Taking The Place From JDC Motorsport on the Run towards Clearways.
At 14:20PM a Fantastic Battle Between KA Number's 18 100 127 3 55 and 115 was Seen as they Powered their Way onto Clearways with 155 Leading Followed by 55 and 3 127 100 and 18 All Slowly Gaining Ground to the Two Leading KA's at The Front of This Train.
Shortly After This Train of Cars Came Through Another Train of 5 KA's was not Far Behind this Time Being Lead by Number 13 Deranged Motorsport with 131 (Team Viking's Mark Holme Harry Nunn and Nick Nunn) Then came Number 4 Alex Read Motorsport with 98 Piston Heads and 41 (Rowe Rage Motorsport's Alex Butler Greg Caswell Jason Handcock and Sam Rowe) As they All Fought Hard to Catch One Another Thought their Fight.
KA's Number 98 4 and 64 were Also Seen at 14:48PM Having a Really Good Three Way Fight with 64 and 98 Side by Side down Pilgrims Drop with The Number 4 Car Closing Fast.
At 14:54PM A Final Battle was Seen on the Run Up Towards Clearways with The KA's of Number 60 (Powerflex's David Power Paul Cowland and Dom David) Battling Hard with KA's Number 7 (G and B Finch's Joe Bragg Lee Finch Steve Finch Benjamin Smith and Arthur Thurtle) and Number 127 (Fat Boys Racing's Charlie Jackson and Matt Pinny) with The Number 7 KA Leading The Trio On Towards Clearways as The Sun Began to Set.
Hour 5 (15:25PM)
The Fith Hour and a Swarm of KA's were Seen Storming Down the Main Straight towards Paddock Hill Bend with the Number 131 Car of (Team Viking) in the Lead by Some Distance Followed by Number 64 125 18 81 and 155 as they All Made their Way Towards Paddock for another Chance at an Overtake.
Another Battle Followed Closely Behind with KA Numbers 11 18 49 and 111 All Fighting as Well in order to Maintain or Improve their Positions as The Race Went on.
At 15:28PM The Safety Car was Out again While Another KA Somewhere on Track was Being Recovered and The Leading car Number 36 IP Racing's (Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington's Lead Evaporates as the Field is Once again Bunched up.
Behind Them are KA's Number 44 (Mini Challenges Max Coates Dominic Wheatley Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Looking to Make a More Once the Safety Car Period Ends The 14 of (Frugal Racing) and 51 of (Barwell Autosport's Taylor Norton Kamran Tunio Ryan Brinsted and Kester Cook) Also Looking to Take the Lead of This Endurance Race.
At 15:36PM The Car that Had Caused The Safety Car was Seen Being Recovered into the Outer Garage Area where cars are Held Before the Start of Each Race. KA Number 46 (JDC Motorsport) Had Made Contact Somewhere on the Circuit and Looked to Have a Broken Front Left Steering Arm with the Wheel Being Completely Bend Backwards into The Car with the Car Heading Back to the Garage for Repairs Before Rendering The Race Quite a Few Laps Down.
15:38PM and The Two KA's of Positive Motorsport's Andrew Rogerson Samuel Rendon and Ryan Frith Battle it Out with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Through Westfield Towards Dingle dell with The Number 13 Beautifully Sweeping Around the Outside to Take The Position Away.
Another Battle was Seen at 15:38PM with (Alex Read Motorsport) Number 4 Battling Number 64 (Auto Teach Motorsport's Reece Kellow Andrew Howell Luca Ataccini Anzanello and Megan) through Westfields Side by Side on Towards Dingle dell.
Finally at 15:57PM Another KA Had Fallen Victim to an Issue with the Number 23 Car of (PSR's Carl Beresford Russel Danzey Tom Gilbert and Jack Wood) Being Taken on the Back of the Recovery Truck to The Garages for Repairs Before Going back Out into The Race as Night Began to Fall Upon The Indy Circuit.
Hour 6 (16:15PM)
As The Light Slowly began to Fade Away from the Indy Circuit Many Drivers were Now starting to use their Headlights as The Lighting Conditions got Darker and Darker as Time went by.
At 16:15PM A Massive Group of Cars came Flying Down Through Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 55 Al Most Racers on the Inside Line 127 Fat Boys Racing on the Middle Line and 39 Kameleon Racing's Chris Bright Richard Cox Steve Goldsmith and Leigh Youles Michael on the Outside Line as they Fought their way Through the Bend and Up Towards Druids.
At 16:21PM Piston Heads Racing KA Number 98 was Seen Leading another Group of Cars Through Paddock Hill Bend with Numbers 41 52 33 and 2 All Fighting for Places as they Came Towards Paddock Hill Bend.
16:24PM and The Paddock Hill Bend Gravel Trap Claims Another Victim This Time the Number 131 KA of Team Viking Had Ended up Taking a Trip Through it Before a Half Spin Left Him Facing the Marshalls Post Opposite before Returning to the Track after Losing a Few Places. Recovery Teams set to work Once Again with The Safety Car Being Called into Action for The Third Time.
16:40PM and at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Three way Fight Becomes a Two Way Fight as The Number 127 KA of Fat Boys Racing Goes for a Spin after Trying to Get a Run on the Number 19 KA of LDR Performance Tuning with The Number 14 Car of Frugal Racing Just Narrowly Missing The Spinning Car.
16:42PM and a Final Intense Battle Between the Number 44 KA and The Number 1 KA of Burton Power Racing's Andy Burton Kyle Sagar Tom Valentine and Sammy Venables as They Fight Hard to try and Take that Position away from Mini Challenge to Round off The 6th Hour.
Hour 7 (16:50PM)
The Seventh Hour and at The Bottom of Surtees a Massive Crash is Heard as The KA's of Number 42 The K Teams (Paul Simmons Edward Simmons Glen Woodbridge Damo) is Seen Running off Track with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Onto The Grass and Number 81 GM Performance Being Spun Out Trying to Avoid The Carnage in Front. All Drivers Okay and They Get back on Track and Continue on As Day Turns into Night.
17:02PM and a Top of Druids The Ka's of Number 72 Misty Racings (Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham) are Fighting Hard to Keep their Position from the Number 49 Car of LDR Performance Tuning as well as Number 7 of G and B Finch Trying to Find a Way Through on the Outside of Druids. The 98 of Piston Heads is also Closing in by This Stage with Headlights A Blaze.
17:05PM and Coming Towards Druids is a Sea of KA's All With Headlights A Blaze as they Fight for Positions Cars Number 60 3 19 and 39 All in Different Positions and Yet Still Fighting to try and Gain an Advantage that Could Swine this Endurance Race in Any of the Teams Favours. Further Back 127 and 140 Are Doing Battle on the Run Up Towards Druids.
17:09PM Once Again Another Battle at Druids This Time its The Trio of Number 127 36 and 60 That are All Trying to Better One Another in their Attempt to Gain a Place with Number 36 IP Racing Leading The Way.
17:14PM One Final Battle is Seen Coming Up towards Druids with The Number's 18 44 55 and 2 Fighting it Out Number 2 Kastrol's Has The Lead of This Group of Cars with Blazing Bright Headlights to Aid the Drivers Around The Circuit.
17:27PM and Now Darkness was Everywhere Making Visibility Very Difficult and Yet this did not Stop the Likes of Cars Number 128 JTR's Eliot Mason Nick Tandy David Mason and James Rhodes from Battling with Car Number 16 M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling. In a Daring Move in the Pitch Black Darkness The Two Cars Go Side by Side Trying to Gain One over The Other Before JTR's Takes The Inside Line and The Position.
17:30PM Another Daring Battle is Captured Between The Number 180 Car of (Shine Auto motive's Colin French Mathew Eldridge and Wayne Clelland) and Number 44 (Mini Challenge's Max Coates Dominic Whitely Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Defending The Outside Line as Best as they Can but Ultimately Shine Automotive Makes their way Through.
17:51PM A KA is Seen Flying Down Through The Bottom of Druids and into a Cloud of Dust Caused by Another KA Going off The KA is Just Barely Visible Showing The Dangers of what can Happen at Night When Visibility Becomes Low or Obstructed. Other KA's Soon Followed Through the Dust Cloud as Well with Many Backing off Slightly In case a Car was Stuck out on The Track but Thankfully All was Good as Hour 7 Ended.
Hour 8 (17:56PM) (THE FINAL HOUR)
The FINAL Hour of The 8 Hour Indy KA 500 and With Every Driver Now Getting into a Rhythm it was Up to Each Teams Last Driver to Strap in and Go for it to the Checkered Flag. However not All had gone to Plan for every Driver as The Number 29 KA of LDR Performance Tuning Found Out Slipping into the Gravel and Costing Them a Ridge Back to the Pits for Repairs with Less than 1 Hour to go.
18:00PM and The Number 2 KA of Kastrol's was Captured Racing Through Paddock Hill Bend During The Night Pushing Incredibly Hard to Ensure a Good Top 25 Finnish in the Points with Headlights Illuminating their way Around Paddock Hill Bend as The Car Flew Through The Bend.
18:30PM The Safety Car was Out for The Last Time During The Race and was Captured Leading a whole Train of KA's Through Pilgrims Drop and Onto Clearways with Each Driver Poised and Ready to Get Going Once the Safety Car Had Come In.
19:07PM An Amazing Sight to Behold with Just 15 Minutes Left on the Clock a Huge Rush of KA's Flooded their way Down The Main Straight and Past The Start Finnish Straight with Headlights on Full Beam to Aid in Visibility. The Number 8 KA Leads The way in This Group of Cars with The Number 18 CHR Hoonikan Car of Stratton MacKay Dave Mayer and Paul Robson Closing in Behind.
19:09PM And The Green Flag is Dropped for The Final Time as The Safety Car Comes into the Pitlane All 44 Remaining KA's Race Towards Druids with the Field so Bunched up this is Anyone's Race to both Win or Lose at This Stage.
The Number 42 KA of The K Teams Paul Simmons Edward Simmons and Glen Woodbridge Damo takes off Leading from Number 20 A Reeve's Motorsport Aron Reeve Stuart Lane and Andy Godfrey while The Number 127 of Fat Boys Racing Chases Them Down into a Nail Biting Finnish at The Centre of The Field.
19:13PM A Group of Six KA's are Captured Having an Intense Battle with Only 5 Minutes Left to Run The Likes of KA Number 127 36 and 128 All Putting Up One Hell of a Good Fight in The Closing Stages of The Endurance Race with Some Drives Having Driven for 4 Hours Straight.
19:21PM and after 8 Hours of Continuous Racing and 5 KA's Out of The Race The Checkered Flag was Ready and Waiting as The Number 81 KA of GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell Takes the Victory at The 2021 8 Hour Indy Car 500!!!! Followed Closely by The Number 72 Car Misty Racing's Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham in Second Place with KA Number 14 Frugal Racing's Jim McDougal Callum McDougal Mike Marais and Leon Bidgeway Taking Third Place.
A Huge Congratulations to The Overall Top Three Winners and to All of the other Teams and Competitors for Showing some Incredible Racing To End of The 2021 Motorsport Season. From
Historic Formula 1 to Classic Touring Cars To The Indy KA 500 This Season Has been One of The Best to Date.
See You All Again Next Year Where We Will do it All Over Again.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The 21 cm Kanone 39 (K 39) was a Czech-designed heavy gun used by the Germans in the Second World War. It was original designed by Škoda as a dual-purpose heavy field and coast defence gun in the late 1930s for Turkey with the designation of ‘K52’. Only two had been delivered before the rest of the production run was appropriated by the Heer upon the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
Initially, the K 39 only saw limited use as a field cannon in Operation Barbarossa, the Siege of Odessa, Siege of Leningrad and the Siege of Sevastopol. During the war, nine of these guns were sold to Sweden, too.
With the ongoing (and worsening) war situation and the development of heavy tank chassis towards late 1944, the K 39 received new attention and was adapted by the Wehrmacht as a long-range mortar, primarily intended as a mobile coastal defense weapon for strategically important naval sites, and as a second line artillery support. There were several reasons that made the heavy weapon still attractive: Unlike the German practice of sliding block breeches that required a metallic cartridge case to seal the gun's chamber against combustion gases, Škoda had preferred to use an interrupted screw breech with a deBange obdurator to seal the chamber. This lowered the rate of fire to 3 rounds in 2 minutes but had the great economic advantage of allowing bagged propellant charges that didn't use scarce brass or steel cartridge cases, since these metals became more and more short in supply. This also meant that the propellant charge could be adjusted to the intended range, what also helped save material.
The other unusual feature of the gun was a monobloc auto-frettaged barrel, created from a single piece of steel that was radially expanded under hydraulic pressure. This had the advantage of placing the steel of the barrel under compression, which helped it resist the stresses of firing and was simpler and faster to build since the barrel didn't require assembly as with more traditional construction techniques.
Every shell used by the K 39 weighed 135 kilograms (298 lb). HE shells (the 21 cm Gr 40), anti-concrete shells (21 cm Gr 39 Be) and an armor-piercing, base-fuzed shell, the 21 cm Pzgr 39 were available. The K 39 used a bagged charge with a total weight of 55 kilograms (121 lb). The base charge (“Kleine Ladung”) weighed 21.5 kilograms (47 lb) and had an igniter stitched to its base. The two increments (“Vorkart”) were lightly stitched together and enclosed in another bag tied at the top and with another igniter stitched to the base. The medium charge (“Mittlere Ladung”) consisted of the base charge and increment 2 while the full charge (“Grosse Ladung”) consisted of the base charge and both increments. The increments were loaded before the base charge. This resulted in a muzzle velocity of 800–860 m/s (2,600–2,800 ft/s) and a maximum firing range of 33 km (36,000 yd).
Emplacing the K 39 on its original box trail carriage took six to eight hours, mainly to dig in and anchor the firing platform, and a significant entourage was necessary to operate it. To improve the weapon’s handling and mobility, and to protect the crew especially against aircraft attacks, the K 39 was in 1943 to be mounted on a self-propelled chassis. Initially, a standardized “Schwerer Waffenträger”, which would also be able to carry other large-caliber guns (like the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette), was favored. However, the vehicle’s functional specification included the ability to set the heavy weapon gun down on the ground, so that it could be operated separately, and this meant an open weapon platform as well as complex and heavy mechanisms to handle the separate heavy guns. The Schwere Waffenträger’s overall high weight suggested the use of existing standard heavy tank elements and running gear and drivetrain elements from the heavy Tiger II battle tank were integrated into the design. The development of this mobile platform had high priority, but the focus on more and new battle tanks kept the resources allocated to the Schwerer Waffenträger project low so that progress was slow. As it became clear that the Schwere Waffenträger SPG would not become operational before 1945 a simpler alternative was chosen: the modification of an existing heavy tank chassis. Another factor was the Heeresleitung’s wish to protect the weapon and its crew through a fully enclosed casemate, and the ability to set the weapon down was dropped, too, to simplify the construction.
Originally, the SdKfz. 184 (Porsche’s chassis design for the Tiger I battle tank, which was not accepted in this role but instead developed into the tank hunter SPG Elefant/Ferdinand with a modified combat compartment at the rear, was chosen. But since this type’s production ended prematurely and many technical problems occurred through its complex propulsion system, the chassis of the Sd.Kfz. 186, the heavy Jagdtiger SPG, was selected instead, as it was the only readily available chassis at the time in production that was capable of carrying the K 39’s size and weight and of accepting its massive recoil forces.
The Jagdtiger itself was based on the heavy Tiger II battle tank, but it was lengthened by 260 mm. Due to production problems with its main armament, many Jagdtiger hulls were left uncompleted, and to bring more of these heavy vehicles to the frontlines it was adapted to the Sd.Kfz. 187, the Jagdtiger Ausf. M with a modified internal layout (casemate and engine bay positions were switched to fit an 88 mm gun with an extra-long barrel), a stronger but still experimental X16 gasoline engine, and a simplified Porsche running gear.
Since it was readily available, this re-arranged Jagdtiger base was adopted for the so-called Sd.Kfz. 190 “Küstenbatterie K 39 (auf Jagdtiger (Ausf. M)” self-propelled gun (SPG), or “KüBa 39” for short. The casemate-style combat section at the rear offered sufficient space for both the huge weapon and its crew, and also prevented the long gun barrel from hanging over too far ahead of the tank, improving its handling. Space for ammunition was still limited, though: racks on the casemate’s side walls offered space for only four rounds, while fifteen gun charges were stored separately. Gun elevation was between +50° and –3°, azimuth adjustment was achieved through turning the whole vehicle around.
The Sd.Kfz. 190’s hull featured the Jagdtiger’s standard heavy armor, since the Sd.Kfz. 190 was converted from existing lower bodies, but the new battle compartment was only heavily armored at the front. This was intended as a protection against incoming RPGs or bombs dropped from Hawker Hurricane or Typhoon fighter bombers, and as a sufficient protection against frontal ground attacks – the vehicle was supposed to retreat backwards into a safe position, then turn and move away. Roof and side walls had furthermore to be thinner to reduce the vehicle’s overall weight and lower its center of gravity, but they still offered enough protection against 20mm projectiles. Nevertheless, the Sd.Kfz. 190 weighed 64 tonnes (71 short tons), almost as much as the original Jagdtiger SPG it was based upon. Since it was not intended to operate directly at the front lines, the Sd.Kfz. 190 retained the Jagdtiger’s original (but rather weak) Maybach HL230 P30 TRM petrol engine with 700hp and the Henschel suspension with internal torsion bars, what simplified the conversions with readily available material.
A pair of retractable supports at the rear of the vehicle could be lowered to stabilize the vehicle when firing and distribute the gun’s massive recoil into the ground. The tall casemate’s rear featured a large double swing door which were necessary to avoid crew injuries from the massive gun’s pressure when it was firing. The doors were also necessary to re-load the gun – a small crane was mounted above the doors on the roof of the casemate, and a hoist to move the heavy rounds around in the casemate was mounted on tracks under the combat compartment’s ceiling.
The KüBa 39 had a standard crew of six men. The crew in the hull retained their role and positions from the Tiger II, with the driver located in the front left and the radio operator in the front right. This radio operator also had control over the secondary armament, a defensive machine gun located in a mount in the front glacis plate. In the casemate were the remaining 4 crew, which consisted of a commander (front right), the gunner (front left), and two loaders in the rear, which were frequently augmented by a third loader to handle the heavy rounds with an internal hoist under the casemate’s roof. Due to the severe maintenance and logistics needs, the KüBa 39 never operated on its own. Typically, several dedicated vehicles accompanied the self-propelled gun carrier as a “battle group”, including at least one ammunition carrier like the Hummel Munitionsträger, a crew transporter like a Sd.Kfz. 251 for more helping hands outside of the vehicle and frequently a command/radio vehicle to coordinate and direct the fire onto targets far beyond visual range.
The KüBa 39 was quickly developed and fielded, but it came too late for the Allied invasion in 1944 where it could have been a valuable asset to repel Allied ships that operated close to the French coast or even in second line in the Channel. The first vehicles became operational only in early 1945, and production was limited and rather slow. The ever-worsening war situation put more and more emphasis on the production of battle tanks and tank hunters, so that the heavy artillery vehicle only received low priority. However, the few vehicles that were produced (numbers are uncertain, but not more than 30 were eventually completed and fielded), found a wide range of uses – including the defense of the Elbe mouth and the Hamburg port. Some were shipped to Norway for coastal defense purposes, and a handful was allocated to the defense of German submarine bases in France.
Towards the end of hostilities, the survivors were integrated into infantry groups and used for long-range fire support at both Western and Eastern front. No vehicle survived, since most Sd.Kfz. 190 were destroyed by their crews after breakdowns or when the heavy vehicle got stuck in difficult terrain – its weight made the KüBa 39 hard to recover.
Specifications:
Crew: Six - seven (commander, gunner, 2 -3× loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 64 tonnes (71 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)
9.72 metres (31 ft 10 in) overall in marching configuration
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.81 metres (12 1/2 ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Torsion bar
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
25 – 150 mm (1 – 5.9 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 38 km/h (23.6 mph)
- Sustained, road: 32 km/h (20 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 120 km (75 mi) on road
80 km (50 mi) off road
Power/weight: 10,93 PS/tonne (9,86 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL HL230 P30 TRM gasoline engine with 700 PS
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 21 cm K 39/41 L45 heavy siege gun with 4 rounds and 15 separate charges
1× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 or 42 with 800 rounds in the front glacis plate
The kit and its assembly:
The project to put the massive (real) Czech 21 cm K39 gun on a German chassis had been on my agenda for a long time, but I have never been certain about the vehicle donor for this stunt. I initially favored a Modelcollect E-50/75 since it is available as an SPG version with a reversed engine/casemate layout. But this kit has two serious issues: it would IMHO be too late to be adapted for the pre-war weapon, and – worse - the kit has the flaw that the mould designers simply ignored the driver/radio operator in the hull’s front – the glacis plate immediately migrates into the engine deck and bay, so that there’s no internal space for the driver! Even if you’d assume that the driver would sit with the rest of the crew in the casemate behind the engine, there are no hatches, sights slits or mirrors? Well, it’s a fictional tank, but IMHO it has been poorly designed.
Correcting this might be possible, but then I could also convert something else, probably easier. This alternative became a serious option when I recently built my fictional Sd.Kfz. 187, a Jagdtiger with a reversed layout. This stunt turned out to be easier than expected, with good results, and since I had a second Jagdtiger kit left over from the Sd.Kfz. 187 project I simply used it for the KüBa 39 – also having the benefit of being rooted in an earlier time frame than the E-50/75, and therefore much more plausible.
The Trumpeter 1:72 Jagdtiger first lost its mid-positioned casemate. Internal stiffeners were glued into the hull and the engine deck was cut out and glued into the former casemate’s place, directly behind the driver section. The casemate for the 21 cm gun (a Revell field gun model of this weapon, highly detailed) was scratched, though, and designing it was a gradual step-by-step process. To offer more internal space, the engine deck was slightly shortened, what also changed the vehicle’s profile. From the Jagdtiger’s superstructure I just retained the roof. Things started with another donor piece, though, the massive gun mantlet from a Trumpeter 1:72 KV-2 tank. It was mated with the21 cm gun and the movable KV-2 mantlet mounted with styrene sheet spacer onto a scratched casemate front plate. More styrene sheet was used to create covers around the mantlet, and inside I glued an “arm” to the gun with lead bead ballast, so that the gun could be easier posed in raised position. The finished gun element was glued onto the hull, and the Tiger II roof positioned as far back as possible, what revealed a 3mm gap to the front plate – bridged by another styrene sheet filler, which was also used to raise the roof and add a kink to the roofline that would make the casemate look less boxy.
With the roofline defined I decided to extend the casemate backwards – after all, the original rear engine was gone and the vehicle would certainly need a spacious back door to enter and load it. Therefore, a back wall section was cut out and a casemate extension scratched from styrene sheet. When this was in place, the vertical casemate rear wall was added, and with the profile now fully defined the casemate side walls were created from 1.5 and 0.5 mm styrene sheet. The kink under the roofline was a self-imposed challenge, but I think that this extra effort was worthwhile because the casemate looks more organic than just a simple box design like the Ferdinand/Elefant’s superstructure?
Once the casemate was closed, surface details were added, including the doble door at the rear, the small crane on the roof, and the retractable supports (which came, IIRC, from a Modelcollect 1:72 T-72 kit). The rest of the original Jagdtiger kit was simply taken over OOB.
Painting and markings:
As a vehicle operated in the open field, I gave the KüBa 39 a classic, contemporary “Hinterhalt” paint scheme, in the sophisticated original style that was only applied to a few vehicles on factory level until the camouflage job was soon delegated to the frontline units. Painting started with a base coat of RAL 8000 (Grünbraun) as an overall primer, then 7028 Dunkelgelb (Tamiya TS-3) was sprayed onto the upper surfaces from a rattle can for a light shading effect. At this stage the markings/decals were already applied, so that the additional camouflage could be applied round them. They were puzzled together from the scrap box.
Then clusters/fields in Olivgrün (RAL 6003; Humbrol 86) and Rotbraun (RAL 8012, Humbrol 160) were added onto the sand tone base with circular templates/stencils made from densely foamed styrene that were glued onto the tip of toothpicks – the large casemate with its even surfaces lent itself for this elaborate “factory finish” scheme variant. The stamp method worked better than expected, and the result is very convincing. I just tried to concentrate the dark areas to the upper surfaces, so that the contrast against the ground when seen from above would be smaller than from a side view, which became more fragmented. The running gear remained uniform Dunkelgelb, as a counter-shading measure and to avoid wobbling patterns on camouflaged wheels that could attract attention while the vehicle would move.
After protecting the decals with a thin coat of varnish the model and the still separate wheels received a dark-brown washing with highly thinned acrylic paint and an overall dry-brushing treatment with light grey and beige. Additionally, water colors were used to simulate dust and light mud, and to set some rust traces on exposed areas.
Artist mineral pigments were dusted into the running gear and onto the tracks after their final assembly, and some mud crusts on the tail supports were created with a bit of matt acrylic varnish and more pigments.
A thorough conversion project, and the result is a really massive vehicle - its bulk is hard to convey, the Jagdtiger basis is already a massive vehicle, but this is "super-size", close to an E-100! However, you have to place something next to it to fathom the size of the 21 cm mortar and the huge casemate that covers it. But the conversion looks IMHO rather natural, esp. for a scratched work, and the Hinterhalt suits the bulky vehicle well, it really helps to break the outlines up.
Such a subject required a second shot, to show off the latest livery as repainted by Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh Works. This view will change next week when the poles are due to go up.
The Climate Group hosts the Under 2 General Assembly at Strathclyde University, attended by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. 7th November 2021
Photography by Fergus Burnett
Accreditation required with all use - 'fergusburnett.com'
Transformer facilities required to power 5th Signal Command’s 59,000-square-foot Cyber Center Europe, located on Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany, are installed October 30, 2013. A 130-foot truck crane and flatbed truck brought the facilities on post and placed them within inches of the intended destination. The huge crane was required to lift the facilities over existing buildings and trees. By avoiding tree cutting, the project earned significant points towards achieving a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold certification. The facility, scheduled to be complete in summer 2014, will feature 200 workstations, a detached parking structure and many sustainable design elements. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, in partnership with the German construction agency, is managing the project, which broke ground in June 2012. The Cyber Center will capitalize on the use of natural light, thus minimizing the need for florescent lighting. It will also include low flow, water-saving plumbing, using 40 percent less water than a comparably sized building and saving more than 200,000 gallons of water annually. The center, recently dedicated to Lt. Gen. Robert E. Gray, a distinguished signal officer, will consolidate several key organizations under one roof. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Karl Klein)
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010
Pendleton, Oregon — This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famed Pendleton Round-Up (rodeo) and was the biggest event in its history.
One fashion accessory that will never go out of style as long as you have enough style to wear one, is the cowboy hat. Whether sold from street vendors across from the grand stands or from the walls within Hamley & Co., cowboy hats are the required dress code.
Canon 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4-5.6L IS USM.
All Rights Reserved © 2010 JB Studio / Jeff Burger
BD57
Serves 25
This cake requires that the order is finalized and paid in full at least 10 days in advance of the date required.
"£600 - requires gearbox" says the note in the windscreen. Maybe a cheap way into modern Jag ownership if you can cheaply source a replacement box?
"You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm" -Unknown. I looked forever and couldn't find an author to the quote, so I hope I'm not mistaken!
I've been feeling so discouraged with my artwork lately, I'm not even sure art school is the place I should be going. The more I try to push my creative boundaries, the more bored I get and the more boring my photos become. Maybe I'll get over it.