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1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic - Peter Mullin by Maarten O.

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Nikon D7100 with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

1964\1965 New York World's Fair - Unisphere by Larry Syverson

The 1964 - 1965 New York World's Fair was in Flushing Meadows, Queens. The grounds are now Corona Park.

There are a few traces of the fair left.

The Unisphere was the symbol of the Fair.

The Unisphere is 12 stories tall. With me as a scale, you can see your big the Unisphere is.

(1) Skipper's Bedroom Tour by Foxy Belle

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I'm going to take you on a tour of the completed bedroom diorama I made for Skipper. It took me about a week to make it. I worked on it a few hours per day.

This is the aereal view. It is a VERY large room. Each wall is 40 inches long and the room is about 30 inches deep and about 48 inches wide. It is triangular shaped.

Floor: wrapping paper

Walls: teal mat board with scrapbook paper on top

Window scene: calander photo

Woodwork: white mat board cut into strips

Bed and Vanity: vintage Amsoc 1971 with bedding that I made

Baby Crib, Play Table, rocker, white dollhouse table, toy chest, baby cradle: 1:12 scale miniatures

I did a photo series on the making of this diorama on mt stream if you are interested. It starts here: www.flickr.com/photos/foxybelle/8481714841/in/photostream/

Isotria medeoloides - with seed pod by Ben Rostron

Isotria medeoloides, the Small Whorled Pogonia Orchid.

One flowering plant (just past prime condition) beside last-year's(?) seed pod. Very nice to see both.

The 1st flowering species of 2023 for me, and a significant one! This species is federally listed as threatened in the United States, and rarely seen by the public. Only the second time I've seen it, and we only saw 4 flowering plants. Small little plants that you'd miss unless you were looking for them. (pine needles give some sense of scale)

On top of that: a brand-new camera; in the rain; very low light; and not wanting to step off the path (fear of damaging others, possibly non-flowering). These are the best couple of photographs I could manage.

Virginia, United States.

IMG_0294-rev3-isotria-med

X-wing - that's how it turned out by Maciej Szymański

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That's it. My X-wing is finally done. The photo session, however, is not. X-wings are supposed to fly, right? Tomorrow I'll upload the second batch of photos.

About the model: I call it minifig scale, although if you compare ship's length to minifig's height it turns out the pilot is 5 feet tall. Not much but acceptable, he doesn't have to be a stormtrooper ;).

The model features 12 LED lights which of course are not original LEGO product but aside from electric installation - there are no modified parts, just pure LEGO. There are 4 red LEDS in the engines, 4 white in frontal part of wings (as seen on Dagobah), 3 yellow in landing gear bays (Dagobah) and 1 white inside the cockpit.. Another 10 lights (this time original LEGO 9V light bricks) are located around the model, Yavin-style ;).

Inside the rear part of the model there is a simple, crank-operated mechanism for opening the wings. It works with the display stand, to be featured tomorrow, when I reconfigure the model to flight position ;) .

And that's pretty much it - if you have any questions, just shoot.

Oh, I forgot: there are 4 small decals borrowed from old MPC/Ertl models. Stickers are LEGO.

NGC 4826 by Judy Schmidt

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Here's an old favorite galaxy that I'm glad to have had the chance to process some new observations for. This is also known as the Black Eye galaxy, and is among the most striking galaxies that Hubble has looked at. Previously a Hubble Heritage image release, new imagery is around 2.5 times the resolution of the old WF/PC2 imagery. That means more refined details are visible, especially If you are able to zoom all the way in. In fact, the texture of the individual stars forming even the smooth, redder, non star-forming parts the galaxy are now revealed. If you do zoom in, don't mistake that grainy, noisy texture as actual noise. Those are stars!

I went ahead and did use some old WFPC2 data just to show glowing hydrogen gas. This usually works well without lowering the image quality, despite the disparity in resolution.

Data from the following proposals were used to create this image:

PHANGS-HST: Linking Stars and Gas throughout the Scales of Star Formation

The Smallest Nuclear Black Holes

Red: WFC3/UVIS F814W+WFPC2 F656N

Green: WFC3/UVIS F555W

Blue: WFC3/UVIS F438W+F336W+F275W

North is 142.85° clockwise from up.

PORTMEIRION ON ST DAVID'S DAY by Trisha Owen

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Today Hef & I went to Portmeirion. It was free admission today St David's Day / Dydd

Gwyl Dewi Saint @ Portmeirion 1st March 2023.

The next set of photographs are from walking around Portmeirion in North Wales.

Built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 - 1975 In the style of an Italian Village.

In 1925, Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis acquired the site which was to become Portmeirion. He had been searching for a suitable site for his proposed ideal village for several years and when he heard that the Aber Iâ estate near Penrhyndeudraeth was for sale, he did not hesitate to make an offer.

He wanted to show how a naturally beautiful location could be developed without spoiling it, and that one could actually enhance the natural background through sympathetic development. The Aber Iâ estate had everything he had hoped for as a site for his architectural experiment: steep cliffs overlooking a wide sandy estuary, woods, streams and a nucleus of old buildings.

But the history of Portmeirion started long before 1925. The construction of Castell Deudraeth was recorded in 1188 by Gerald of Wales, who wrote: "We crossed the Traeth mawr and the Traeth Bychan. These are two arms of the sea, one large and one small. Two stone castles have been built there recently. The one called Castell Deudraeth belongs to the sons of Cynan and is situated in the Eifionydd area, facing the northern Mountains."

Castell Deudraeth was referenced again by the 17th century philologist, geologist, natural historian and keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Edward Lhuyd in 1700. Lhuyd recorded the name as Aber Iâ, stating " The Castle of Aber Iâ yet stood in ruined form overlooking the south western extremity of the peninsula".

In 1861, Richard Richards wrote a description: "Neither man nor woman was there, only a number of foreign water-fowl on a tiny pond, and two monkeys, which by their cries evidently regarded me as an unwelcome intruder. The garden itself was a very fine one, the walls of which were netted all over with fruit trees...Aber Iâ, then, gentle reader, is a beautiful mansion on the shore of Traeth Bach, in Merionethshire."

When Williams-Ellis acquired the land in 1925 he wrote, "a neglected wilderness - long abandoned by those romantics who had realised the unique appeal and possibilities of this favoured promontory but who had been carried away by their grandiose landscaping...into sorrowful bankruptcy." Clough immediately changed the name from Aber Iâ (Glacial Estuary) to Portmeirion; Port because of the coastal location and Meirion as this is Welsh for Merioneth, the county in which it lay.

His first job was to extend and convert the old house on the shore into a grand hotel. The concept of a tightly grouped coastal village had already formed in Clough's mind some years before he found the perfect site and he had quite a well-defined vision for the village from the outset.

Portmeirion was built in two stages: from 1925 to 1939 the site was 'pegged-out' and its most distinctive buildings were erected. From 1954-76 he filled in the details. The second period was typically classical or Palladian in style in contrast to the Arts and Crafts style of his earlier work. Several buildings were salvaged from demolition sites, giving rise to Clough's description of the place as "a home for fallen buildings".

"An architect has strange pleasures," Clough wrote in 1924. "He will lie awake listening to the storm in the night and think how the rain is beating on his roofs, he will see the sun return and will think that it was for just such sunshine that his shadow-throwing mouldings were made."

The first article about Portmeirion appeared in The Architects' Journal (January 6 1926) with photographs of scale models and preliminary designs prepared by Clough to impress potential investors. In this article, John Rothenstein writes: "On the sea-coast of North Wales, quite near his own old home, Plas Brondanw, he has acquired what he believes to be an ideal site, and he is engaged upon plans and models for the laying out of an entire small township. The results of his scheme will be significant and should do much to shake the current notion that although houses must be designed with due care, towns may grow up by chance."

The Hotel Portmeirion officially opened for the Easter Weekend, on 2nd April 1926. The last building, the Tollgate, was built in Clough's 93rd year.

The Oil Delivery - Setup Shot by Michael Paul Smith

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I never realized how many interesting buildings and views there are in the town I live in until I seriously started to scout around for backgrounds.

The one thing I have to do is wait until the shops close so there aren't any cars or trucks mixing in with the Elgin Park vibe.

Usually early in the morning or on the weekends is the best time.

The Holidays, though, are great because everyone leaves town so the streets tend to be empty.

When I was young, I would purposely take walks by way of short cuts and back alleys to avoid seeing people. It gave me the impression that I was the only person around.

But I must add here, I liked the fact that I could walk by an open window and hear a radio or a muted conversation, or off in the distance I could hear a train rolling by.

How interesting that decades later I would be photographing such scenes.

I know, I know, perhaps I should see a therapist. Actually I did but there were no inroads made on this particular subject.

Just think, if there were, Elgin Park might not exist!

Now that's a scary thought.

Here is the completed image:

www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/11594728873/

2021 - Mexico City - 132 - Jorge Marín Bronze in Colonia Roma Norte by Ted McGrath

A sculpture by Mexican artist Jorge Marín on a street in Colonia Roma Norte.

Jorge Marin´s work in sculpture is a compendium of the vital impulses of the human being and his body, which Marin interprets as the landscape of man’s own existence.

Jorge Marín:

Jorge Marín is a Mexican sculptor and painter. He has been an active figure in the contemporary art world for the last 25 years.

Marín began to sculpt ceramics in the early 1980s. Bronze has been his preferred material for the last ten years.

Marín's work often depicts horses, centaurs, garudas, children, madonnas, acrobats, along with elements like spheres, masks, arrows, boats and scales. These concepts are consistent with recurring themes of reflection and balance.

Marín's work focuses mainly on the human figure as a metaphor of its own experiences. His style has a strong foundation in the integration of baroque dramatic art with a powerful sensuality and a subtle sense of the perverse. Uncomplicated and easy to read, his work is prolific in Mexico City.

In 2006, Marín’s sculptures served as the inspiration for a dance and acrobatics production munDO marinO, performed by the contemporary dance company Humanicorp.

Since 07 September, 2010, one of the most representative exhibitions of the work of the sculptor was located in Paseo de la Reforma, on the ridge opposite the Museum of Anthropology, entitled "The Wings of the City".

It consists of 13 monumental works in bronze.

let's fly to neverland by Anika van Veen

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sooc, except for scaling the picture with PS CS5

blog ... facebook

A Mars a Day......... by Steve Pellatt

Luke Jerram's Mars at Exeter Cathedral

Well this will be my last post for 2-3 weeks as I'm heading up to Northumberland for a week and then further north to Glencoe. Hope I can catch up a bit on comments and replies...where does the time go. Thanks a lot for your patience with me.

This portrait shot allowed be to get more floor/ceiling in. The visitor spoke to one of the clergy for ages so there was no way i could time blend them out and actually thought they worked being off centre and giving some sense of scale.

Following on from the David Bowie connection my mind jumped to a certain black, gold and red chocolate bar. Did you know that the ‘Mars Bar’ is over 90 years old? It was first made in Slough by Forrest Mars in 1932, with the three main ingredients being chocolate, nougat and caramel. The recipe was reportedly based on the Milky Way’ chocolate bar which I never would have known without Google!

Anyone like me who grew-up in the UK during the 1960s-80s will most definitely remember the Mars Bar adverts with the catchy jingle "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play", which made its first appearance in 1959. Eating one every day is most definitely not a healthy option, but back then, advertisers could get away with saying just about anything! The slogan was used in dozens of their adverts, and was last shown in 1995. However, in 2008, a new Mars advert featuring bell-ringing monks featured the slogan "Work, rest, play" but not the jingle. Instead, the song "Jump Around" by House of Pain was used…ughhh.

I can’t remember the last time I had a full sized mars bar (well post Covid I guess they downsized them anyway!! I do have some if they appear in one of those tubs of mini-sized chocolate bars. What I do appreciate though is that the Chocolate Police have left the name of the ‘Mars bar’ alone. I refuse to name that flavoured bar anything other than ‘Marathon’ and those fruity sweets will always be Opal Fruits to me. Anything else would be like taking away my childhood!!!

1-250 scale Lego Star Wars Krennic's Shuttle by Darth Bricks

This is my micro scale lego star wars Krennic's Shuttle in its flying form. I absolutely love this shuttle in this form.

Human Scale LEGO Minifigure Accessories by Jeffy O

Have you ever wanted to BE a LEGO minifigure? If so, these builds are for you.

Two of my favourite LEGO MOC's, human scale versions of the classic mini-figure radio and lightsaber handle accessories.

Instructions are available at: rebrickable.com/users/Jeffy-O/mocs/

Starkiller's Rogue Shadow - the Force Unleashed by Bruxxy

I present to you my new UCS scaled Galen Marek / Starkiller's Rogue Shadow! Another large one, tried to implement more snot than I usually do. I think it came out well! It's a big improvement on my first attempt, both structurally and aesthetically!

Instructions available:

rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-145344/Bruxxy/starkillers-rogue-...

Starkiller figure by firestartoys, Rancor design by Brick Sheepa!

Dimensions: 47cm wide, 54cm long and 18cm tall (34cm tall with wings in landing mode)

Pieces: 3105

RC Minifig Scaled Lego Flixbus by Gabor Horvath

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Hi everyone!

I´m happy that I can present my newest creation! It´s the next piece of my minifig scaled RC collection. This time I decided to build a Flixbus. After Flixbus bought the rivalry Eurolines, it became maybe the cheapest way for poor students from Hungary (or not only from Hungary) to travel across Europe. At least for me it was the perfect method at that time! Hope you like it!

Unfortunately the last time I travelled somewhere by a Flixbus was in August 2019. But hopefully it will change in the near future!

Flixbus came often in the middle of the night, just as the Knight Bus did in Harry Potter. That´s why it stands on the destination screen :)

Before you start reading about the boring technical facts and irritating things during the building period, please watch the video!

It took approx 4 months long to build the bus. It´s not the first tiny RC I build. Despite of it I can´t say it didn´t challenge me. Yes, I´m speaking about the lettering and arrows on the sides. Maybe you still remember of the Milka Truck. That lettering has only vertical or horizontal building techniques. That´s why it was possible to do the lettering on each side only 1 stud deep. It was important, because it allowed to put the battery box (the biggest and most inflexible element) between the two walls and staying with the width in 6 studs at the same time. But “FLIXBUS” is more difficult. It is also not always possible to have stud connections (for example letter X, or the diagonal arrows). In this case the letters have to have inside some bigger parts on them, which simply doesn’t allow them to fall out. It means it stays only a two-stud wide space in the middle. That’s enough for the technic chassis, but not for the batteries. And also not for the motors… So only the half of the lengths stayed for the functional parts.

For the steering and propulsion I stole the method from the Milka truck (with vertical motors), where they´ve already proven, that they work really well. The only possible (long enough) space for the battery box was at the back. Fortunately right above the driven wheels. They need the weight on them to increase the friction between the tires and the street. Another positive feature is, that the Sbrick is small enough to be above the letters, so I didn´t have to make the whole bus longer.

Another part of the challenge was to create the diagonal white lines on the front. There was almost nothing inside, which they could be attached to. The reason is, that the moving parts of the steering are there, so it´s simply impossible to put there any other parts without disablement of the steering. Other reason is, that the upside-down parts of the front have already used the space there. At the end I decided to use the rubber bands, without being irritated by the fact, that it´s possible to see them outside, too.

The bus has three axles. The third one is again an axle with some kind of fake suspension. It is just hanging there and doesn´t hold anything, so in theory it can never happen, that the driven wheels leave the ground. Please notice the detail that there are brackets instead of plates on the top of the third mudguards. It creates a bit bigger space in the mudguard for the wheels with the fake suspension. It means, that the bus can win against bigger obstructions.

All in all I really enjoyed working on the bus. Hope you like the result, too! Thanks for watching and reading!

Harry Potter... by Pumpkin Hill Studios/King William Miniatures

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Today my Star Ace Studios Harry Potter & the Philospher's stone arrived and he is wonderful! I simply adore him and can't wait until Ron arrives...I made the miniature aged books, candy and papers tied with ribbon. The jar of wishbones is a Tim Holtz scrabook embellishment from Michael's.Table is Bespaq

Jill's ready to get started! by FarrahF

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A repainted and restyled Farrah Fawcett by artist Noel Cruz of ncruz.com. Diorama by Ken Haseltine/Regent Miniatures.

Farrah is wearing Randall Craig's Pinstripe Pizzazz fashion for Fashion Royalty, Barbie or other 11-1/2" dolls (Slacks and Sweater/blouse).

1Sixth Book is on iTunes at itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1454076425

Also as featured in the 1Sixth Winter Hardbound Edition available in Hardback/imagewrap or paperback cover. Also as a PDF or eBook.

Order here: www.blurb.com/b/9320555-1sixth

eBook: www.blurb.com/b/9320555-1sixth?ebook=690084

Photos by Steve McKinnis of stevemckinnis.com

Scalextric C4544 Ford Capri MkIII 3.0 S by Andrew 2.8i

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Scalextric C4544 Ford Capri MkIII 3.0 S Gerry Marshall.

1/32 scale.

Ford Capri Scale Models

Moorhen at Le Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France, Carmargue, Southern France - April 2016 by Saffy H

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_moorhen

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the swamp chicken[2]) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.[3]

The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.

The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities,[3] starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.

Name

The name mor-hen has been recorded in English since the 13th century.[5] The word moor here is an old sense meaning marsh;[5] the species is not usually found in moorland. An older name, common waterhen, is more descriptive of the bird's habitat.

A "watercock" is not a male "waterhen" but the rail species Gallicrex cinerea, not closely related to the common moorhen. "Water rail" usually refers to Rallus aquaticus, again not closely related.

The scientific name Gallinula chloropus comes from the Latin Gallinula (a small hen or chicken) and the Greek chloropus (khloros χλωρός green or yellow, pous πούς foot).

Description and ecology

The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.

The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened.[7] A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).[8][9]

This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments and well-vegetated lakes. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes. This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.

The birds are territorial during breeding season. The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in Northern hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.[7][10]

On a global scale – all subspecies taken together – the common moorhen is as abundant as its vernacular name implies. It is therefore considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.[1] However, small populations may be prone to extinction. The population of Palau, belonging to the widespread subspecies G. c. orientalis and locally known as debar (a generic term also used for ducks and meaning roughly "waterfowl"), is very rare, and apparently the birds are hunted by locals. Most of the population on the archipelago occurs on Angaur and Peleliu, while the species is probably already gone from Koror. In the Lake Ngardok wetlands of Babeldaob, a few dozen still occur, but the total number of common moorhens on Palau is about in the same region as the Guam population: fewer than 100 adult birds (usually fewer than 50) have been encountered in any survey.[11]

The common moorhen is one of the birds (the other is the Eurasian coot, Fulica atra) from which the cyclocoelid flatworm parasite Cyclocoelum mutabile was first described.[12] The bird is also parasitised by the moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae.[13]

Subspecies

Five subspecies are today considered valid; several more have been described that are now considered junior synonyms. Most are not very readily recognizable, as differences are rather subtle and often clinal. Usually, the location of a sighting is the most reliable indication as to subspecies identification, but the migratory tendencies of this species make identifications based on location not completely reliable. In addition to the extant subspecies listed below, an undescribed form from the Early Pleistocene is recorded from Dursunlu in Turkey.

Flowers and 2 Ladybirds...Ladybugs by Anni

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Coccinellidae...in my garden.

The majority of coccinellid species are generally considered useful insects, ...

... one of the greatest allies of the farmer and the gardener as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. They are nature's own 'pest' controllers.

Some populations of ladybugs are decreased due to habitat destruction and chemical pollution (as a result of increased human activity).Luckily, most species of ladybugs are abundant in the wild. softschools.com

Also from Softschools.com is this fascinating info: Middle Ages in Europe were associated with lot of damaged crops due to raid of various pests. People prayed to the Virgin Mary for the salvation. Red bug covered with black dots appeared soon after the prayer and eliminated pests from the fields. Bug was known as "beetle of Our Lady" in the beginning, but it was renamed into "ladybug" later

from Softschools.com. Ladybug Facts.

O-gauge 2-8-4 locomotive RD&S #4015 model railroad. by Terry Spirek

1:12 Scale Movie Palace Project by Ken Haseltine Regent Miniatures

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It's going to take another week to finish the upholstery, but I was curious to see how they would look in place. Well worth the efforts I think.

Ancona - Architecture on film by Michele Nicoletti

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San Francesco alle Scale.

Analogica eseguita con con Zenza Bronica SQ-B, Zenzanon S 50 mm f3.5, pellicola fomapan 100 e filtro rosso. Sviluppo con Bellini Hydrofen 1+39. Scansione da pellicola con Epson v600.

Flat-top round-up (explored) by crusader752

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This time a US Navy & US Marine Corps 1:100th scale variety box!

From the left lower, clockwise:

A Tamiya US Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas RF-4B Phantom II.

From the box which was issued as a USAF F-4E.

Model has a modified nose and decals culled from the spares box.

Above her is a scratch-built US Navy North American RA-5C Vigilante.

Made from Balsa wood and plastic card with hand-painted fin markings and undercarriage/decals from spares.

Top is another wooden/plastic card scratch-built model - this time a US Navy Vought RF-8G Crusader.

Top right is a Tamiya issued US Marine Corps Douglas A-4M Skyhawk.

As per kit but with added dorsal fairing and a mix of culled and hand-painted decals.

The detailing on the original kit is something to behold and it is extremely delicate.

Bottom right is a wooden/scratch-built US Navy Lockheed S-3A Viking.

I used hard-wood for the fuselage, balsa for the wings with some plastic card.

Hand-blown cockpit with full interior plus I raided the spares box for undercarriage etc. Some parts are mixtures eg. the engines are carved wood with fan inserts from other jet engines.

Mix of Hand-painted and decal spares.

Lastly up front is a Tamiya issued USNTPS Boeing-Vertol NCH-46A Sea Knight.

Another excellent kit offering but with extra superdetailing and additions.

Rotors cut and folded with all the inspection covers cut out, opened and detailed.

Some decals from kit and tiny, tiny letraset!

Over the years a couple of these have suffered with the odd decal loss so a bit of tlc is needed.

Bo Derek by FarrahF

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80's IT GIRL Bo Derek, star of Blake Edwards hit "10" is repainted and restyled by Noel Cruz for www.myfarrah.com.

Bo Derek continues to act and is an animal rights activist. You can see her official web site at www.officialboderek.com.

From IMDB: She is a member of the California Horse Racing Board. Named envoy to Fight Animal Trafficking by the United States State Department. Has her own pampering pet care product company: "Bo Derek's Bless the Beasts", products in the range include numerous nourishing dog shampoos and conditioners, fragrances and fur polish.

Graphic Layout & web sites ncruz.com & myfarrah.com by www.stevemckinnis.com.

ABC Models MCW Super Metrobus with openable engine compartment covers by Can Pac Swire

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Ah, it's a very British/ European/ Hong Kong and Singapore thing that many people (mostly boys and men, but they are girls and ladies too) are bus enthusiasts. I'm one of those nerds and I'm a minor one compared with many who know buses much better than me.

Metro-Cammell Weymann (MCW) Metrobus (Super Metrobus), 12-meter, non-aircon, dual-door, triaxle double-decker in China Motor Bus (a Hong Kong bus operator) livery. (ABC Models product ID: 000803)

Mostly such models are built to a very high precision in 1:76 scale, which is also known as the OO-scale -- the British model railway scale. Continental Europe tends to use the 1:87 HO-scale.

492 Jaguar S Type 3.4 litre (1967) SYT 110 F by Robert Knight

Jaguar S type 3.4 (1964-68) Engine 3442 cc straight six Production 9830 (for the 3.4 plus 15,070 for the 3.8)

Registration Number SYT 110 F (London)

JAGUAR SET

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623671588245...

A sort of cross between the Mark 2 front end and the Mark 10 twin fuel tanks, rear suspension and roof line. Improved handling and an all synchro-mesh box. The Jaguar S type was launched in 1963, technically more sophisticated than the Jaguar Mark 2, offering buyers a more luxurious alternative to the Mark 2 but without the size and expense of the Mark X. The S-Type sold alongside the Mark 2, as well as the Jaguar 420 following its release in 1966.

The car used a mid-scale version of the Mark X independent rear suspension to replace the Mark 2's live rear axle and featured longer rear bodywork, among other styling and interior changes. The S-Type was available with either 3.4 or 3.8-litre XK engines but only in twin carburettor form because the triple carburettor setup would not fit into what was essentially still the Mark 2 engine bay

Diolch am olygfa anhygoel, 65,182,986

oblogaeth y Lloegr honno dros y Mynyddoedd

Thanks for a stonking 65,182,986 views

Shot 06.05.2018 at Catton Hall Car Show, Catton Hall, Walton on Trent, Derbyshire Ref 133-492

789 Mercedes (W108) 280SE (1970) TUX 85 H by Robert Knight

Mercedes 280SE (W108) (1967-72) Engine 2800cc S6 Production 91051 (280SE 1967-72) 364,699 (all W108 1965-72)

Registration Number TUX 85 H (Shrewesbury)

MERCEDES SET

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623671722255...

Introduced at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show, and was designed under the leadership of designer Paul Bracq, the W108 was an evolution of the highly successful W111 produced 1959-1971) that had helped establish higher sales and greater economy of scale for the Mercedes marque.

The most visable change was the departure of the earlier tail fins but the W108 also had a lower body waist line that increased the window area, (the windscreen was 17 percent larger than W111). The cars had a lower ride (a decrease by 60 mm) and wider doors (+15 mm). The result was a visibly new car with a more sleek appearance and an open and spacious interior. The suspension system featured a reinforced rear axle with hydro-pneumatic compensating spring. The car sat on larger wheels (14”) and had disc brakes on front and rear. The W109 was identical to the W108, but featured an extended wheelbase of 115 mm (4.5 in) and self-levelling air suspension.

Thankyou for a massive 56,288,935 views

Shot 07.08.2016 at the 2016 Shugborough Car Show REF 121-789

1976 Kreidler Florett RS Schuco scale model (c) Bernard Egger :: rumoto images 5122 by © Bernard Egger 📷

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No use of this image is allowed without photographer’s express prior permission and subject to compensation • no work-for-hire

licence | please contact me before to obtain prior a license and to buy the rights to use and publish this photo. A licensing usage agreed upon with Bernard Egger is the only usage granted. more

photographer | ▻ Bernard Egger.. • collections.. • sets..

classic sports cars | vintage motorcycles | Oldtimer GP |

:: rumoto images - differs from all the turkeys out there

category | Schuco scale 1/10 motorcycle - item 06620

📷 | 1976 Kreidler Florett RS-L :: rumoto images # 5122

----

If a photographer can’t feel what he is looking at, then he is never going to get others to feel anything when they look at his pictures.

The Retirement Scheme Torando's by The North East Photographer

Corgi Aviation Archive 1.72 Scale Torando GR.4's

ZG752 in the (Camo Retirement Scheme)

ZG775 in the (No.IX(B) Squadron Retirement Scheme)

ZD716 in the (RAF No.31 Squadron 'Goldstars' Retirement Scheme)

City of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA by Urban Florida Photographer

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Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) of Miami Beach, along with downtown Miami and the Port of Miami, collectively form the commercial center of South Florida. Miami Beach's estimated population is 92,307 according to the most recent United States census estimates. Miami Beach is the 26th largest city in Florida based on official 2017 estimates from the US Census Bureau. It has been one of America's pre-eminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.

In 1979, Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Art Deco District is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world and comprises hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures erected between 1923 and 1943. Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco are all represented in the District. The Historic District is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the East, Lenox Court on the West, 6th Street on the South and Dade Boulevard along the Collins Canal to the North. The movement to preserve the Art Deco District's architectural heritage was led by former interior designer Barbara Baer Capitman, who now has a street in the District named in her honor.

Miami Beach is governed by a ceremonial mayor and six commissioners. Although the mayor runs commission meetings, the mayor and all commissioners have equal voting power and are elected by popular election. The mayor serves for terms of two years with a term limit of three terms and commissioners serve for terms of four years and are limited to two terms. Commissioners are voted for citywide and every two years three commission seats are voted upon.

A city manager is responsible for administering governmental operations. An appointed city manager is responsible for administration of the city. The City Clerk and the City Attorney are also appointed officials.

In 1870, a father and son, Henry and Charles Lum, purchased the land for 75 cents an acre. The first structure to be built on this uninhabited oceanfront was the Biscayne House of Refuge, constructed in 1876 by the United States Life-Saving Service at approximately 72nd Street. Its purpose was to provide food, water, and a return to civilization for people who were shipwrecked. The next step in the development of the future Miami Beach was the planting of a coconut plantation along the shore in the 1880s by New Jersey entrepreneurs Ezra Osborn and Elnathan Field, but this was a failed venture. One of the investors in the project was agriculturist John S. Collins, who achieved success by buying out other partners and planting different crops, notably avocados, on the land that would later become Miami Beach. Meanwhile, across Biscayne Bay, the City of Miami was established in 1896 with the arrival of the railroad, and developed further as a port when the shipping channel of Government Cut was created in 1905, cutting off Fisher Island from the south end of the Miami Beach peninsula.

Collins' family members saw the potential in developing the beach as a resort. This effort got underway in the early years of the 20th century by the Collins/Pancoast family, the Lummus brothers (bankers from Miami), and Indianapolis entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher. Until then, the beach here was only the destination for day-trips by ferry from Miami, across the bay. By 1912, Collins and Pancoast were working together to clear the land, plant crops, supervise the construction of canals to get their avocado crop to market, and set up the Miami Beach Improvement Company. There were bath houses and food stands, but no hotel until Brown's Hotel was built in 1915 (still standing, at 112 Ocean Drive). Much of the interior land mass at that time was a tangled jungle of mangroves. Clearing it, deepening the channels and water bodies, and eliminating native growth almost everywhere in favor of landfill for development, was expensive. Once a 1600-acre, jungle-matted sand bar three miles out in the Atlantic, it grew to 2,800 acres when dredging and filling operations were completed.

With loans from the Lummus brothers, Collins had begun work on a 2½-mile-long wooden bridge, the world's longest wooden bridge at the time, to connect the island to the mainland. When funds ran dry and construction work stalled, Indianapolis millionaire and recent Miami transplant Fisher intervened, providing the financing needed to complete the bridge the following year in return for a land swap deal. That transaction kicked off the island's first real estate boom. Fisher helped by organizing an annual speed boat regatta, and by promoting Miami Beach as an Atlantic City-style playground and winter retreat for the wealthy. By 1915, Lummus, Collins, Pancoast, and Fisher were all living in mansions on the island, three hotels and two bath houses had been erected, an aquarium built, and an 18-hole golf course landscaped.

The Town of Miami Beach was chartered on March 26, 1915; it grew to become a City in 1917. Even after the town was incorporated in 1915 under the name of Miami Beach, many visitors thought of the beach strip as Alton Beach, indicating just how well Fisher had advertised his interests there. The Lummus property was called Ocean Beach, with only the Collins interests previously referred to as Miami Beach.

Carl Fisher was the main promoter of Miami Beach's development in the 1920s as the site for wealthy industrialists from the north and Midwest to and build their winter homes here. Many other Northerners were targeted to vacation on the island. To accommodate the wealthy tourists, several grand hotels were built, among them: The Flamingo Hotel, The Fleetwood Hotel, The Floridian, The Nautilus, and the Roney Plaza Hotel. In the 1920s, Fisher and others created much of Miami Beach as landfill by dredging Biscayne Bay; this man-made territory includes Star, Palm, and Hibiscus Islands, the Sunset Islands, much of Normandy Isle, and all of the Venetian Islands except Belle Isle. The Miami Beach peninsula became an island in April 1925 when Haulover Cut was opened, connecting the ocean to the bay, north of present-day Bal Harbour. The great 1926 Miami hurricane put an end to this prosperous era of the Florida Boom, but in the 1930s Miami Beach still attracted tourists, and investors constructed the mostly small-scale, stucco hotels and rooming houses, for seasonal rental, that comprise much of the present "Art Deco" historic district.

Carl Fisher brought Steve Hannagan to Miami Beach in 1925 as his chief publicist. Hannagan set-up the Miami Beach News Bureau and notified news editors that they could "Print anything you want about Miami Beach; just make sure you get our name right." The News Bureau sent thousands of pictures of bathing beauties and press releases to columnists like Walter Winchell and Ed Sullivan. One of Hannagan's favorite venues was a billboard in Times Square, New York City, where he ran two taglines: "'It's always June in Miami Beach' and 'Miami Beach, Where Summer Spends the Winter.'"

Post–World War II economic expansion brought a wave of immigrants to South Florida from the Northern United States, which significantly increased the population in Miami Beach within a few decades. After Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1959, a wave of Cuban refugees entered South Florida and dramatically changed the demographic make-up of the area. In 2017, one study named zip code 33109 (Fisher Island, a 216-acre island located just south of Miami Beach), as having the 4th most expensive home sales and the highest average annual income ($2.5 million) in 2015.

South Beach (also known as SoBe, or simply the Beach), the area from Biscayne Street (also known as South Pointe Drive) one block south of 1st Street to about 23rd Street, is one of the more popular areas of Miami Beach. Although topless sunbathing by women has not been officially legalized, female toplessness is tolerated on South Beach and in a few hotel pools on Miami Beach. Before the TV show Miami Vice helped make the area popular, SoBe was under urban blight, with vacant buildings and a high crime rate. Today, it is considered one of the richest commercial areas on the beach, yet poverty and crime still remain in some places near the area.

Miami Beach, particularly Ocean Drive of what is now the Art Deco District, was also featured prominently in the 1983 feature film Scarface and the 1996 comedy The Birdcage.

The New World Symphony Orchestra is based in Miami Beach, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Lincoln Road, running east-west parallel between 16th and 17th Streets, is a nationally known spot for outdoor dining and shopping and features galleries of well known designers, artists and photographers such as Romero Britto, Peter Lik, and Jonathan Adler. In 2015, the Miami Beach residents passed a law forbidding bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding and other motorized vehicles on Lincoln Road during busy pedestrian hours between 9:00am and 2:00am.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Beach,_Florida

Savoia Marchetti S.65 (10) by Henrik Jensen

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Life I'd Reckon by Steve Skafte

There's a church down this road that few ever travel. Four kilometres past the nearest power lines, no matter; it was built in a time before power. In those days, one dirt road was as good as the next. There were no scales of significance, forest dotted with settlements (like this one on Gibsons Lake) that seemed equally hard or easy to reach as the next. But we got used to regular maintenance, modern convenience and communication, and mostly pulled out of the deeper places. They've recently resurfaced this road, first time in my life I'd reckon, gravelling up the muddy ruts I'd usually be avoiding this late in the season. Still snowed in mostly till spring, though – so I wouldn't make the journey once drifts start forming. All Saints Anglican is long since deconsecrated, no sign to tell what she once was, just a companion to her neighbouring graveyard. These woods are very nearly colourless now, and grey skies give them nothing to work with. That must be why even a dark and cold shelter seems so welcoming.

December 7, 2022

West Dalhousie, Nova Scotia

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137|365 by Cottage 960

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it's so rusty I picked it up for $2

I think it's beautiful.

Ralston Lynx MkI-B Boat-tail Speedster - 1929 by Peter Blackert

The Ralston Company's automotive roots stretch right back to the 1910's, but it wasn't until the late 1920's that the low-volume products offered really shone.

Like all luxury automotive companies, however, the Wall Street Crash and ensuing Great Depression upset the grand plans that they had put into place. Prior to WWII the Ralston Group was still based in Finland, where the assembly of it's cars took place. Many of the systems, however, were sourced from other makers or suppliers.

The Ralston Type 6 was launched in 1919, featuring a six-cylinder inline engine produced by engine specialist firm Continental Motors.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Motors_Company

The Continental engine was used, at the time, by a large number of small, independent vehicle manufacturers who were not in a position to be able to design, tool and produce their own engines independently.

The Type 6 covered a variety of frame lengths and body styles which evolved through the 1920, all models built in modest numbers. Economic volatility through this period led to the dissolution of many competitors in the luxury field, but Ralston, through modest ambition, was able to ride out the storms, if not able to capitalise fully during the fair weather periods. It must be remembered that Ralston was still manufacturing vehicle frames and finishing most bodies in the native Finland, and this compounded the difficulty in being able to react to rapidly changing market conditions.

Nonetheless, 1927 had been deemed the breakout year. The Type 8 was to be launched in mid 1928, using an engine from luxury competitor Auburn, who were readying their own straight 8, under new ownership by E.L. Cord. The Type 8 chassis was planned to support the 'senior' Ralstons - those Imperials, Limousines and Phaetons demanded by the most exclusive of customers, while the new Type-6 for 1927 would be renamed 'Lynx' and act as the 'junior' Ralston, in support of Roadsters, Speedsters and Coupes, in other words, all the smaller body styles, and in particular those that could be made in series production to help lower the cost.

In the end, things didn't go quite to plan. Both the Type 6 'Lynx' and the grand new Type 8 were launched just in time for the Wall Street Crash and financial crisis. The crisis ultimately killed off even more of the facing competition, but the actions to use type-production bodies on the established Type 6 chassis, along with a 'generic' engine, provided about the safest pathway through this period of automotive history. The image of the marque was upheld by the (barely, if at all profitable) Type 8, this series receiving some of the grandest body designs of any vehicle at this time. All variants of both the senior and junior cars were trimmed and detailed to the highest standards, the additional standardisation and volume of the junior Type 6 Lynx helping to reduce the bespoke items (and cost) on all but the most exclusive of fittings.

The car shown here is the Type 6 Lynx MkI-B of 1929 in Boat-tail Speedster (a bodystyle popular at the time). This model, along with all other revise 'B' models can be identified primarily by the reclined radiator grille and flowing fender design. The Boat-tail speedster was not one of the series production body styles, so production numbers for this variant were quite low. All the chassis and powertrain were shared with volume types, and from the cowl forward, this model is near identical to the much more common 'series' Coupe, Coupe-Cabriolet (both with rumble seats), and the Coupe-Sport.

The Type-6 Lynx was subsequently updated every two to three years up until the outbreak of WWII. At that point, the factory was given over briefly to the production of military vehicles, though a final series 'F', a non-luxury trimmed version of the preceding 1938-'E', and built in Sedan, Cabriolet-Sedan and a limited number of Coupe-Sport vehicles.

After the war production of passenger vehicles was largely transferred to the US (the main customer market), via a head quarter transition to Costa Rica, with the Type-8 (renamed to Tigre in 1938) powered by Cadillac V8 engines, initially at very low volumes. Ralston's first new post-war car was the Tigre MkII of 1954, using a modified 1948-53 Cadillac 'C' Body, frame, engine and underbody (some special versions used the long-wheelbase 'D' Body systems). There was no 'junior' Ralston at this time, and even in the vibrant US-market, total sales remained modest, requiring the continued adoption of major systems from a donor manufacturer.

This Ralston Typ-6 Lynx MkI B Boat-tail Speedster (1929) has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 95th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - a challenge to design the fictitious Dragon 'Motorcycle' model for the fictitious Ralston company, though any of the previous Ralston challenge vehicles, the Tiger or the Rhino are also eligible to be submitted. The chief stipulation is that the model must feature a 'X' in the styling.

RC Minifig Scaled Lego Flixbus by Gabor Horvath

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Hi everyone!

Unfortunately the last time I travelled somewhere by a Flixbus was in August 2019. But hopefully it will change in the near future!

Flixbus came often in the middle of the night, just as the Knight Bus did in Harry Potter. That´s why it stands on the destination screen :)

Before you start reading about the boring technical facts and irritating things during the building period, please watch the video!

All in all I really enjoyed working on the bus. Hope you like the result, too! Thanks for watching and reading!

Street scene | Kolkata | India by dynamo.photography

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++++++++++ FROM WKIPEDIA +++++++++

Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtə/ ([kolkata] (About this soundlisten), also known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also nicknamed the "City of Joy".[1][2][3].According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city. the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[11][12][13]

In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[15] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.

As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.

Etymology

The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[16]

There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:

The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area of Goddess Kali").

Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[17]

Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat area".[18]

The name may have its origin in the words khal [ˈkʰal] (Bengali: খাল) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa [ˈkata] (Bengali: কাটা), which may mean "dug".[19]

According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun [ˈkɔlitɕun] (Bengali: কলি চুন) and coir or kata [ˈkat̪a] (Bengali: কাতা); hence, it was called Kolikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা).[18]

Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[20] (It should be noted that "Calcutt" is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.)

History

The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[21][22] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[23] In response to a public petition,[24] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[25] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[26]:1

In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[27] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[28] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[28] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[29] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[30] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[31] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[32]

By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[33] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[34] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[35]

Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.

The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[36][37] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[38] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[39][40] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[41] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[42][43][44] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[45]

During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[46] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[47] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes.[48] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[49][50][51] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[52]

Geography

Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[53] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[54] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[55] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[56] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[56] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[56] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[57] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[58]

Urban structure

Howrah Bridge from the western bank of the Ganges

The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[59]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[59]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[60] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[61]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[60] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[62] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.

North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan, and Dum Dum.[63]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Barasat, Birati, Khardah up to Barrackpur are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).

Central Kolkata

Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[64] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[65] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"[66] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[67] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Park Circus, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.

South Kolkata

South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni and Kudghat.[16] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Majerhat, Budge Budge, Behala, Sarsuna, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala and Joka. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Sonarpur, Subhashgram and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[68] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.

East Kolkata

East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc. Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[16][69] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[70][71] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[69]

Climate

Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[58]

Temperature

The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[72] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[72] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or "Nor'westers" in English.[73]

Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[74] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings live to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in March.[75] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[76][77]

Environmental issues

Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[80][81] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[82]

Economy

Kolkata is the main commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[61] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[83][84] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[52] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[52] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".[85] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[52]

Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[16] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 8,772 crore (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[86] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[61]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[87]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[87]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[88] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[89] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[90] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[52] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[91][92][93][94][95] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.

Panoramic view of the Down town Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, Godrej Waterside, TCS Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.

Demographics

See also: Health care in Kolkata

A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico

Calcutta Medical College, the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine(after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')

IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata is the largest hospital in West Bengal and one of the oldest in Kolkata.

As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[177] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[177] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[178] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[179] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[180][181] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[182] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[183][184][185] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[117]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[117]:61

According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[117]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[117]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[117]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[117]:48

Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[117]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[117]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[117]:54–55

About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[117]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[117]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[117]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[186][187] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[188][189]

As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[190]

Education

Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[191][192] Schools in Kolkata follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[191] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[191] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[193]

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[194] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[195] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[196] Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[197] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[198] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[199] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[200][201] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).

Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[202] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[203] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[202] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[202] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[202] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[204] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[205] C. V. Raman,[203] and Amartya Sen.[206]

Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.

Culture

Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[207] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"[208] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".[209][210] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[211] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[211] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[212][213] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[214][215]

Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";[216] others are in various stages of decay.[217][218] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[219] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[220]

The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[221]:99[222] Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[223] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[221]:99[224] Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[225][226] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[227] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[228]

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[229] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[230] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[231] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "... a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.[232]

Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[233] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[234] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[235][236] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[237][238] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[237] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.[221]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[239] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[240][241][242][243]

Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[244] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[245][246] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.

Media

See also: Kolkata in the media and List of Bengali-language television channels

A five storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front

Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned All India Radio, Kolkata

The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[247] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[248] The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[248] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[248][249] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[248][103] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[248] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[250][251]

All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[252] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[253] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[254] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[255][256][257] Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[258]

Sports

See also: Football in Kolkata, Kolkata Marathon, and Kolkata derby

Salt Lake Stadium during Indian Super League opening ceremony

The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[259] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[260][261] Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[262] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".[263][264] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[265]

A Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors during Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens

As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[266][267] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[211] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[268]

Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[269] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-Final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[270] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[271][272]

Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[273][274] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[275] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[276][277][278] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[279][280] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[281][282] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[283][284]

The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[285][286][287] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[288][289] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[290][291] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[292][293] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.

The Sentinel by Grantmasters

72 10

As you can tell from my stream I like to share what I'm working on. This is another WIP ( I think at last count I had about 20 ;P) Marvel's Sentinel isn't available in NZ yet so I thought I'd start to make my own.

This is a bit of a test shot for scale and colour etc. The dark blue and purple parts are not the best for the purpose, but they are what I have at hand, so yeah...

I'm thinking about using robot arms for the fingers (as most people do) since they are available in the right colour. Plus I'll curve the arms with purple etc. The articulation is good since it's got one of those big knight figures as a base.

I've chucked Iceman in for a cameo (decal from Redbean) since he's my favorite custom that uses a decal, but also for scale comparison.

JL - '63 Chevy II Nova SS by Scott Ash

1999 Johnny Lightning

Super Chevy Magazine Series

1:64 Die-Cast

What's weird about this one is the card says it's a 1963 Chevy Nova that was featured in the July 1999 issue of Super Chevy. However the bottom of the car is stamped 1965 Chevy Nova.

LEGO-Star Wars: Mini Krennic's Imperial Shuttle by I P R I M E I

45 6

Hello everyone !

I think it's no surprise that i am pumped to see Rogue One TODAY ! I've been waiting for the movie since it was announced, and a specific group of people have caught my atenttion ever since day 1: the Death Squad, i just love the idea, looks, and function of Krennic's special team, and Krennic himself, and it has grown after reading Catalyist.

Now i planned on getting a.. certain group of fig's tonight for the release of RO however they will not be ready in time, but ! i made this lovely little MOC a while back to go along with them and i wanted to show it to you nontheless.

I am a sucker for SW's shuttles, unfortunally most of the TLG's sets and MOC's are huuuge since they are in scale and i don´t have the space to display them, i wanted to make Krennic's shuttle since i am in love with the ship so i thought "Why not do it in a mini-midi scale ?" and that's what i did.

I gotta say that it was hard to recreate this ship in this scale (specially since i wanted to keep the wing folding, landing gears and ramp in the final model) and while not perfect i am really happy with the result since i think i re-created it fairly well.

As i did with my T-65, i will breakdown some bits in the other 2 pictures, so if you want to learn more about the model i highly recomend checking those.

I am also very happy to announce that the instructions for this model will be up by Friday (hopefully) FOR FREE ! on the eurobricks forums so keep an eye out for that ;)

LINK TO THE TOPIC:

www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/144567-k...

Thank you so much for all of your amazing support as always guys, i hope you like this little guy.

Have a Bricktacular day and May the force be with you !

-Prime

The Phoenix - 5th April 2063, First Contact Day! by Kevin J. Walter

37 3

"Let's Rock 'n' Roll!" *Steppenwolf intensifies*

Happy First Contact Day!

I am glad to launch my LEGO minifigure scale Phoenix on this special day! 😊🚀

Including Lego Minifigures of Zefram Cochrane, William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge! 😎

Some details I really like: The various patterns on the cockpit-module, the warp-nacelles and the detailed main thruster! I included as well some black and white parts in the hull, resembling the origin of the Phoenix as nuclear missile.

I really liked this particular concept on Star Trek First Contact - the transformation of a weapon of mass destruction into a vessel that will shape a peaceful future!

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You can find me as well on Instagram under my username kevin.j.walter or my pictures via #skywalter

Kaskawulsh Glacier Redux by Marc Shandro

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Here's a reason to shoot in raw. I was contacted to use this image in a calendar (see original below). Being a bit more proficient in post-processing images, I ran the original raw file through Photomatix's HDR software, then adjusted the contrast using Adobe Lightroom to punch it up a bit. I probably could have achieved similar results with enough time spent in Photoshop, but I haven't delved into that software sufficiently because it doesn't seem worth my time to learn it.

This was taken from a Cessna on a 2 hour flight over the Kluane mountains from Haines Junction Yukon.

The larger view is always better... B l a c k M a g i c

Locate in Google Earth

Apple's New Logo? by Steve Peters

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No, it's not. But occasionally I just wave illuminated stuff around in my back yard at night (I mean, who doesn't?) to try to come up with cool, "light painting" abstracts. Last night I came up with this design, which is faintly reminiscent of an apple, with some embellishments. Could also be a butterfly, I guess. I didn't have anything in particular in mind TBH; I was just experimenting with lines and shapes and symmetry.

I used several light painting tools for this (short light wand, acrylic writer, fiber optic brush), including a Critter BT programmable flashlight by Ants on a Melon. Everything was done in a single exposure of 164 seconds. The design is about 8 feet in height, just to give you a sense of the scale.

Scales Creek Falls by Kevin Pihlaja

Scales Creek Falls in northern Houghton County, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Historic Pub by Andrea Guagni 8,4 Million

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La Bodeguita del Medio is a restaurant-bar in Havana, Cuba. La Bodeguita lays claim to being the birthplace of the Mojito cocktail, prepared in the bar since its opening in 1942, although this is disputed. It has been patronized by Salvador Allende, the poet Pablo Neruda, the artist Josignacio and many others. The rooms are full of curious objects, frames, photos, as well as the walls covered by signatures of famous or unknown customers, recounting the island's past.

In 1942, Angel Martínez bought out the small Bodega La Complaciente in Empedrado Street, in the old Havana district. He renamed the place Casa Martínez. Angel Martínez sold typical Cuban products and, from time to time, served dinner to the regulars. But mainly, the people who were found at the Casa Martínez, were there to have a drink with their friends, and savor a brand new cocktail called Mojito, made with rum, mint, sugar, lime and club soda.

In 1949, the cook Silvia Torres aka “la china” prepared the food. Very quickly, the Casa Martínez became the centre of Havana's cultural effervescence. Attracted by the bohemian charm of the place, writers, choreographers, musicians or journalists met there in a convivial ambiance. Encouraged by a need for restaurants in the Old Havana at the end of the 1950s, the place started to serve food to everyone.

On April 26, 1950, the name Bodeguita del Medio was officially adopted.

Among the first clients was Felito Ayon, a charismatic editor, who rubbed shoulders with the avant-garde of Havana, and put Casa Martínez on the map amongst his acquaintances. It is the way Felito Ayon used to indicate the location of the Bodeguita to his friends, that made popular the expression Bodeguita del Medio, that was to become its official name in 1950.

Harry's Bar is a restaurant located at Calle Vallaresso 1323, Venice, Italy, owned by Cipriani S.A.

Harry's Bar was opened in 1931 by Giuseppe Cipriani. According to the company's history, Harry Pickering, a rich young American, had been frequenting the Hotel Europa in Venice, where Cipriani was a bartender. When Pickering suddenly stopped coming to the hotel bar, Cipriani asked him why. Pickering explained that he was broke because his family found out his drinking habits and cut him off financially, and Cipriani lent him 10,000 lire (about $500 US [$7,839 in 2015 dollars]). Two years later, Pickering returned to the hotel bar, ordered a drink, and gave Cipriani 50,000 lire in return. "Mr. Cipriani, thank you," he said, according to the Cipriani website. "Here's the money. And to show you my appreciation, here's 40,000 more, enough to open a bar. We will call it Harry's Bar."

The Italian Ministry for Cultural Affairs declared it a national landmark in 2001.

Harry's Bar has long been frequented by famous people, and it was a favourite of Ernest Hemingway.[1] Other notable customers have included Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, inventor Guglielmo Marconi, Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Richard Halliburton, Truman Capote, Orson Welles, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Princess Aspasia of Greece, Aristotle Onassis, Barbara Hutton, Peggy Guggenheim, Tareq Salahi, George Clooney, the Mundys, and Woody Allen.

The bar was also briefly mentioned in the second and subsequent editions of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited (in the first edition Waugh simply called the bar "the English bar") as a frequent haunt of principal characters Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte during their time in Venice.

The Fortune of War Hotel is a heritage-listed pub located at 137 George Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the Tooth & Co. resident architect and built in 1922 by H. J. & H. W. Thompson. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.

The bubonic plague broke out on the waterfront in January 1900, prompting the Government to resume the entire Rocks and Millers Point area. Large scale demolitions followed and the area was administered by the Sydney Harbour Trust, then the Maritime Services Board and in 1970 The Rocks was handed to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority.

The Fortune of War continued to trade until 1920 when Tooth & Co. Ltd. entered into a head-lease with the Sydney Harbour Trust for 45 years. Shortly after this the 19th century building was demolished and the extant hotel constructed. The first month of trading in the new building was in December 1921. In March 1976 Tooth & Co relinquished their head lease to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority.

The site of the Fortune of War was originally part of the first hospital, erected in 1788. By 1790 the original tent hospital had been replaced by a portable hospital which came out with the Second Fleet. After the Rum Hospital opened in 1816 in Macquarie Street the buildings on George Street were demolished and the site became an early quarry.

The site of the Fortune of War was formalised in the survey of the township carried out in the early 1830s, the site was classified as Lot 7 of City Section 84, comprising an area of 1 rod 15 perches. In January 1841 the allotment was officially granted to the trustees, executrix and executors of the estate of the emancipist Samuel Terry, these being Rosetta Terry (widow), John Terry Hughes (nephew and son-in-law), Tom White Melville Winder of Windermere (family friend and long standing business acquaintance) and James Norton (solicitor).

Terry's interest in the site seems to date from at least c. 1823 when an area of "26 rods" situated on the "west side of George Street" was leased to Terry for the term of 21 years. Terry arrived in Sydney in 1801 on a seven-year sentence convicted of theft. He was eventually described as the "Botany Bay Rothschild" and at his death in 1838 left a personal estate of £250,000, an annual rental income from his Sydney properties of £10,000 and "land and property which defies assessment". Terry's business interests included brewing and he was occasionally a publican. On the site of the Fortune of War, Terry constructed a terrace of three buildings (today's 139-143 George Street) completed in the mid to late 1820s. The footprint of this building, a terrace of three with a breakfront is marked in the Robert Russell survey of 1834.

The building was constructed as a Public House known as "The Fortune of War". The first recorded licensee of the public house was John Boreham in 1830 for the sale of wines, malt and liquor. Many publicans were former artisans such as stonemasons, like Boreham, a former miller. In the 1822 Land and Stock Muster Boreham was listed as a miller in government employ on a 14-year sentence. 1828 he was listed in the census as a former convict who arrived in Sydney in 1815 on the "Marquis of Wellington" and employed at that time as a dealer.

From 1833 the publican of the Fortune of War was Walter Nottingham Palmer, where he remained until 1839 when he took over the licence of the New York Tavern, also on George Street. In 1844 the lease of the Fortune of War was renewed by Robert White Moore, although he had held the licence from 1842. The lease was again renewed in 1851 for a further seven years. During this period Moore held a late-night (midnight) licence.

In 1861 Moore acquired the freehold ownership of the property through a purchase from Thomas Smart. Smart's interest in the property originated from a mortgage taken out in 1851 and the partition of the Terry Estate made in 1860. Robert White Moore continued to hold the licence for the hotel up until the time of his death in 1870 when it passed to his relatives. Thomas Moore held it for the 1870 and 1880s and his nephew Benjamin Robert Moore for the 1890s. During this period the hotel was managed by the following publicans:

1978-1987 John Walker Hook and

1987–present (2009) Robert John Keyes.

Keyes was also one of the lessees of the Russell Hotel at 143 George Street and the operation of the two properties merged at this time. The Fortune of War Hotel with its longstanding licence and retention of original bar and fittings contributes to The Rocks as a unique historic neighbourhood.

Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. It is promoted as Dublin's 'cultural quarter' and, as a centre of Dublin's city centre's nightlife, is a tourist destination.

In medieval (Anglo-Norman) times, the name of the district was St. Andrews Parish. It was a suburb, located outside the city walls. But the area fell into disuse beginning in the 14th century because it was exposed to attacks by the native Irish.

The land was redeveloped in the 17th century, to create gardens for the houses of wealthy English families. At that time the shoreline of the River Liffey ran further inland of where it lies today, along the line formed by Essex Street, Temple Bar and Fleet Street. Marshy land to the river side of this line was progressively walled in and reclaimed, allowing houses to be built upon what had been the shoreline; but unusually, the reclaimed land was not quayed, so that the back yards of the houses ran down to the water's edge. (Not until 1812 were these back yards replaced by Wellington Quay.) The fronts of the houses then constituted a new street. The first mention of Temple Bar as the name of this street is in Bernard de Gomme's Map of Dublin from 1673, which shows the reclaimed land and new buildings. Other street names given nearby are Dammas Street (now Dame Street) and Dirty Lane (now Temple Lane South).

It is generally thought that the street known as Temple Bar got its name from the Temple family, whose progenitor Sir William Temple built a house and gardens there in the early 1600s.[5] Temple had moved to Ireland in 1599 with the expeditionary force of the Earl of Essex, for whom he served as secretary. (He had previously been secretary of Sir Philip Sydney until the latter was killed in battle.) After Essex was beheaded for treason in 1601, Temple "retired into private life", but he was then solicited to become provost of Trinity College, serving from 1609 until his death in 1627 at age 72. William Temple's son John became the "Master of the Rolls in Ireland" and was the author of a famous pamphlet excoriating the native Irish population for an uprising in 1641. John's son William Temple became a famous English statesman.

Despite this grand lineage, however, the name of Temple Bar street seems to have been more directly borrowed from the storied Temple Bar district in London, where the main toll-gate into London was located dating back to medieval times.

London's Temple Bar is adjoined by Essex Street to the west and Fleet Street to the east, and streets of the same names occupy similar positions in relation to Dublin's Temple Bar. It seems almost certain therefore that Dublin's Temple Bar was named firstly in imitation of the historic Temple precinct in London. However, a secondary and equally plausible reason for using the name Temple Bar in Dublin would be a reference to one of the area's most prominent families, in a sort of pun or play on words. Or as it has been put more succinctly, Temple Bar 'does honour to London and the landlord in nicely-gauged proportions'.

Fishamble Street near Temple Bar was the location of the first performance of Handel's Messiah on 13 April 1742. An annual performance of the Messiah is held on the same date at the same location. A republican revolutionary group, the Society of the United Irishmen, was formed at a meeting in a tavern in Eustace Street in 1791.

In the 18th century Temple Bar was the centre of prostitution in Dublin. During the 19th century, the area slowly declined in popularity, and in the 20th century, it suffered from urban decay, with many derelict buildings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the state-owned transport company Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) proposed to buy up and demolish property in the area and build a bus terminus in its place. While that was in the planning stages, the purchased buildings were let out at low rents, which attracted small shops, artists and galleries to the area. The plans included a large underground carpark with 1500 spaces, a shopping centre on the ground and first floors, with the bus station at second floor level accessed by large, long ramps to accommodate double decker buses. Protests by An Taisce, residents and traders led to the cancellation of the bus station project, and then Taoiseach Charles Haughey was responsible for securing funding, and, in 1991, the government set up a not-for-profit company called Temple Bar Properties, managed by Laura Magahy, to oversee the regeneration of the area as Dublin's cultural quarter.

In 1999, "stag parties" and "hen nights" were supposedly banned (or discouraged) from Temple Bar, mainly due to drunken loutish behaviour, although this seems to have lapsed. However, noise and anti-social behaviour remain a problem at night.

The area is the location of a number of cultural institutions, including the Irish Photography Centre (incorporating the Dublin Institute of Photography, the National Photographic Archive and the Gallery of Photography), the Ark Children's Cultural Centre, the Irish Film Institute, incorporating the Irish Film Archive, the Button Factory, the Arthouse Multimedia Centre, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, the Project Arts Centre, the Gaiety School of Acting, IBAT College Dublin, the New Theatre, as well as the Irish Stock Exchange.

At night the area is a centre for nightlife, with various tourist-focused nightclubs, restaurants and bars. Pubs in the area include The Temple Bar Pub, The Porterhouse, The Oliver St. John Gogarty, The Turk's Head, The Quays Bar, The Foggy Dew, The Auld Dubliner, The Stag's Head, Bad Bobs and Busker's Bar.

The area has two renovated squares – Meetinghouse Square and the central Temple Bar Square. The Temple Bar Book Market is held on Saturdays and Sundays in Temple Bar Square. Meetinghouse Square, which takes its name from the nearby Quaker Meeting House, is used for outdoor film-screenings in the summer months. Since summer 2004, Meetinghouse Square is also home to the 'Speaker's Square' project (an area of public speaking) and to the 'Temple Bar Food Market' on Saturdays.

The 'Cow's Lane Market' is a fashion and design market which takes place on Cow's Lane on Saturdays.

Part of the 13th century Augustinian Friary of the Holy Trinity is visible within an apartment/restaurant complex called 'The Friary'.

Shantommo close-up by FarrahF

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A repainted and restyled Farrah Fawcett (Barbie) by Noel Cruz in a dress & blouse by Ryan Liang on flickr at shantommo.com/. Farrah Fawcett is a Barbie as restyled and repainted by Cruz for www.myfarrah.com in the 1:6 scale Charlie's Angels Office by Ken Haseltine.

Visit: www.myfarrah.com.

Photo/Graphic Layout & web sites www.ncruz.com & www.myfarrah.com by www.stevemckinnis.com.

Reflected Justice by Jonathan Vowles

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The central criminal courts, Old Bailey, London. Seen after heavy Spring rain.

The court originated as the sessions house of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City of London and of Middlesex. The original medieval court was first mentioned in 1585; it was next to the older Newgate gaol, and seems to have grown out of the endowment to improve the gaol and rooms for the Sheriffs, made possible by a gift from Richard Whittington. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt in 1674, with the court open to the weather to prevent the spread of disease.

Plaque commemorating Bushel's Case of 1670

In 1734 it was refronted, enclosing the court and reducing the influence of spectators: this led to outbreaks of typhus, notably in 1750 when 60 people died, including the Lord Mayor and two judges. It was rebuilt again in 1774 and a second courtroom was added in 1824. Over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out at the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1834

In 1834, it was renamed as the Central Criminal Court and its jurisdiction extended beyond that of London and Middlesex to the whole of the English jurisdiction for trials of major cases. Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service manages the courts and administers the trials but the building itself is owned by the City of London Corporation, which finances the building, the running of it, the staff and the maintenance out of their own resources.

The court was originally intended as the site where only criminals accused of crimes committed in the City and Middlesex were tried. However, in 1856, there was public revulsion at the accusations against the doctor William Palmer that he was a poisoner and murderer. This led to fears that he could not receive a fair trial in his native Staffordshire. The Central Criminal Court Act 1856 was passed to enable his trial to be held at the Old Bailey.

In the 19th century, the Old Bailey was a small court adjacent to Newgate gaol. Hangings were a public spectacle in the street outside until May 1868. The condemned would be led along Dead Man's Walk between the prison and the court, and many were buried in the walk itself. Large, riotous crowds would gather and pelt the condemned with rotten fruit and vegetables and stones. In 1807, 28 people were crushed to death after a pie-seller's stall overturned. A secret tunnel was subsequently created between the prison and St Sepulchre's church opposite, to allow the chaplain to minister to the condemned man without having to force his way through the crowds.

The present Old Bailey building dates from 1902 but it was officially opened on 27 February 1907. It was designed by E. W. Mountford and built on the site of the infamous Newgate gaol, which was demolished to allow the court buildings to be constructed. Above the main entrance is inscribed the admonition: "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer". King Edward VII opened the courthouse.

Lady Justice statue on the top of the court building

On the dome above the court stands a bronze statue of Lady Justice, executed by the British sculptor F. W. Pomeroy. She holds a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left. The statue is popularly supposed to show blind Justice, however, the figure is not blindfolded: the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her “maidenly form” is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.

During the Blitz of World War II, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but subsequent reconstruction work restored most of it in the early 1950s. In 1952, the restored interior of the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Court was once again open. The interior of the Great Hall (underneath the dome) is decorated with paintings commemorating the Blitz, as well as quasi-historical scenes of St Paul's Cathedral with nobles outside. Running around the entire hall are a series of axioms, some of biblical reference. They read:

"The law of the wise is a fountain of life"

"The welfare of the people is supreme"

"Right lives by law and law subsists by power"

"Poise the cause in justice's equal scales"

"Moses gave unto the people the laws of God"

"London shall have all its ancient rights"

The Great Hall (and the floor beneath it) is also decorated with many busts and statues, chiefly of British monarchs, but also of legal figures, and those who achieved renown by campaigning for improvement in prison conditions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This part of the building also houses the shorthand-writers' offices.

The lower level also hosts a minor exhibition on the history of the Old Bailey and Newgate featuring historical prison artefacts.

In 1973, the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA exploded a car bomb in the street outside the courts, killing one and injuring 200 people. A shard of glass is preserved as a reminder, embedded in the wall at the top of the main stairs.

South Block extension

Between 1968 and 1972, a new South Block, designed by the architects Donald McMorran and George Whitby, was built to accommodate more modern courts. There are presently 18 courts in use. Court 19 is now used variously as a press overflow facility, as a registration room for first-day jurors or as a holding area for serving jurors.

The original ceremonial gates to the 1907 part of the building are only used by the Lord Mayor and visiting royalty. The general entrance to the building is a few yards down the road in the South Block and is often featured as a backdrop in television news reports. There is also a separate rear entrance, not open to the public, which permits more discreet access. In Warwick Square, on the western side of the complex, is the "Lord Mayor's Entrance".

A remnant of the city wall is preserved in the basement beneath the cells.

Chinatown–Rose Pak Station Tile Installation, San Francisco by Dale Cruse - 10M views

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A sweeping view into the Chinatown–Rose Pak Station reveals one of the most distinctive public-art moments in San Francisco’s transit system. The arched concrete corridor frames a brilliant geometric tile installation that stretches across the far wall, forming a radiant mosaic of color, symmetry, and cultural resonance. Soft overhead lighting tracks the curve of the ceiling and falls evenly across the polished floor, allowing the tiled surface to become the visual anchor of the space. Reflections shimmer below the artwork, subtly doubling its pattern and giving the hallway a calm, almost meditative quality.

The tile composition itself is an intricate interplay of circular and petaled forms, echoing classical Chinese latticework, textile motifs, and the mathematical beauty of repeating geometry. Each tile quadrant introduces a new combination of color and pattern—some warm and earthy, others bright and playful, many referencing traditional Chinese decorative arts. Collectively they form an expansive tapestry that honors both the cultural history of the neighborhood and the contemporary design ambitions of the Central Subway project.

The Chinatown–Rose Pak Station was conceived not only as transportation infrastructure but as a celebration of community identity. Built deep beneath Stockton Street, the station is one of the most technically ambitious portions of the Central Subway, threading through dense urban layers while responding to a neighborhood defined by immigration, resilience, and continuity across generations. This particular corridor is a transitional space—neither platform nor street—but it carries the emotional weight of arrival. Commuters come through here on their way up into Chinatown’s street-level bustle, stepping from a serene, modernist tunnel into one of the city’s most historic and energetic districts.

The artwork reinforces that transition. The clean concrete envelope represents contemporary engineering, while the tile wall reintroduces ornament, cultural specificity, and a sense of handcrafted detail. It’s an intentional bridge between the present and the past, the subterranean quiet of the subway and the vibrancy of the neighborhood above. The installation also resonates with the station’s dedication to Rose Pak, the influential community advocate whose work shaped modern Chinatown and helped bring the Central Subway to life.

From a photographic standpoint, the symmetry of the frame highlights the corridor’s architectural precision. The centered perspective draws the viewer straight toward the art, while the smooth floor’s subtle reflections add visual depth. The absence of people emphasizes the station’s scale and the contemplative quality of the space—an unusual sense of stillness in a city that rarely pauses.

The Razor Crest (midi-plus scale) - Instructions available by Rubblemaker

Instructions available on my Rebrickable page at: bit.ly/3hmcO1f

Or go to www.rebrickable.com and type ‘Rubblemaker’ into the search bar

Here is my 1436 piece, 36cm long, proportionally accurate (hopefully, for the most part) Razor Crest.

I used Hasbro’s super detailed Haslab Razor Crest model as a reference to try and create a moc as accurate as possible and I’m quite pleased with how it’s come out.

I also designed an angled stand for it that slots in and out of the underside of the ship and it comes with detachable landing gear, fully functional side and rear doors and… a tiny little Mando and Grogu waiting inside.

Oly_P6250041 by calpha19

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- Road Trip en Islande - Jour 8 -

- Région géothermale de Reykjahlið -

- Changement de décor pour la suite de ce road trip, ici la terre fume de tous côté

- Après ces décors fumants de Hverir Námafjall , la région de Reykjahlið est une fourmilière géothermale, ici la nature est gratuite, production électrique, eau chaude à volonté ...

- La centrale géothermique de Krafla (en islandais Kröflustöð) est une centrale géothermique détenue et opérée par Landsvirkjun. Elle est située près du volcan Krafla, à proximité du lac Mývatn, dans le nord-est de l'Islande. Construite entre 1974 et 1977, c'est la première centrale géothermique de grande échelle, après le succès de la centrale géothermique de Bjarnarflag en 1969, située à quelques kilomètres seulement.

- Le Krafla : De 1975 à 1984, une nouvelle série d'éruptions et de tremblements de terre (Kröflueldar) s'est concentrée dans la caldeira et en particulier à Leirhnjúkur. La coulée de Leirhnjúkshraun est encore chaude et continue à dégazer ainsi que la zone de solfatares, de mares de boue et de fumerolles.

- Pendant cette phase, on a pu mesurer plusieurs phases de gonflement et de dégonflement du plancher de la caldeira. On a aussi pu mesurer un écartement des bords est et ouest de la caldeira de 900 mm pendant les 9 ans du cycle, démontrant ainsi que l'ouverture du rift est un processus discontinu.

- La dernière éruption du Krafla Leirhnjúkur a eu lieu en 1984, c'est un volcan très surveillé . (Source Wikipédia)

- L'Islande c'est la terre, le vent, le feu, l'eau et la glace ...

- L'Islande, c'est haut, c'est loin, mais c'est beau (J.C.)

- Merci pour vos passages sur les vues, favoris et commentaires.

- Road Trip in Iceland - Day 8 -

- Change of scenery for the rest of this road trip, here the earth is smoking on all sides

- After these smoking decorations by Hverir Námafjall, the region of Reykjahlið is a geothermal anthill, here nature is free, electricity production, hot water at will ...

- The Krafla geothermal power plant (in Icelandic Kröflustöð) is a geothermal power plant owned and operated by Landsvirkjun. It is located near the Krafla volcano, near Lake Mývatn, in the northeast of Iceland. Built between 1974 and 1977, it is the first large-scale geothermal power plant, following the success of the Bjarnarflag geothermal power plant in 1969, located just a few kilometers away.

- The Krafla: From 1975 to 1984, a new series of eruptions and earthquakes (Kröflueldar) concentrated in the caldera and in particular in Leirhnjúkur. The Leirhnjúkshraun flow is still hot and continues to degas as well as the area of solfataras, mud pools and fumaroles.

- During this phase, it was possible to measure several phases of inflation and deflation of the caldera floor. We have also been able to measure a separation of the eastern and western edges of the caldera of 900 mm during the 9 years of the cycle, thus demonstrating that the opening of the rift is a discontinuous process.

- The last eruption of Krafla Leirhnjúkur took place in 1984, it is a very supervised volcano. (Source Wikipedia)

- Iceland is earth, wind, fire, water and ice ...

- Iceland, it's high, it's far, but it's beautiful (J.C.)

- Thank you for your passages on views, favorites and comments.

- The Golden circle - Vidéo / Diaporama

- Cliquez ici pour visionner : youtu.be/yOQilaECX10

- South And South East Iceland - Diaporama

- Cliquez ici pour visionner : youtu.be/SYjs_Vb9Jq4

- The East Fjords icedand - Diaporama

- Cliquez ici pour visionner : youtu.be/k8q4bKx7iTE

- The North East & Marina Puffin - Diaporama

- Cliquez ici pour visionner : youtu.be/CZRKTCxkfXA

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