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When I look at it, I always have the feeling, here is a professor looking sceptically at its audience ;-)
Wenn ich den Sperling ansehe, habe ich immer das Gefühl, hier ist ein Lehrer, der skeptisch seine Schüler ansieht ;-)
I have a small group of friends which I consider a blessing during these difficult times. My friend Sylvia Jean here is one of the bubbliest. Her positive view in live is just infectious. A generous friend who sends over food or trinkets or scented candles.. with matching hand-written notes. One of the quote she shared is, "Go on with life with an attitude of 'why not?' " The sceptic in me would say, "that is a dangerous proposition" but the quote also gives me courage when i am having doubts.
Happy weekend everyone!
Several (many!) years ago I was an extra in a couple of movies and a commercial that took place in frontier days. This was a great experience in learning how movies were made, but it also gave me the opportunity to photograph some very interesting characters in period costumes.
This particular image was of a fur merchant and was in a commercial celebrating The Bay’s 325th anniversary. This shoot was at Fort Edmonton.
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
Street photography from Glasgow, Scotland.
Colour re-edit of a shot from February 2019.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend of photography my Flickr friends. Stay safe and keep shooting!
... that French snails are remarkably strong.
This picture has lots of lovely notes. If they are not where they should be when you open the page, going to lightbox and back again should do the trick. It's simply a Flickr quirk. No comment!
They are slimy customers, but they work hard! At the moment this one, Hercules, is getting a bit of shut-eye after a hard day's work!.
But French snails can cause quite a lot of damage and, as you may have noticed, they have a penchant for concrete! I know it's hard to believe that but you can take it as gospel, you have my word for it! And after all, seeing is believing, is it not?
According to a Pillbox Study Group report, over 18,000 pillboxes were built for the defence of Britain in 1940. But, despite the herculean nature of the task, not a single snail, French or otherwise, was mentioned in the report. Classified information is my guess.
Interestingly enough, the first thing the Germans did when they marched into Paris, was to round up all the snails! There was work to be done!
In France, snails grow on trees (see below). At first the trees didn't like snails very much but, in the fullness of time, the snails grew on them. Also, they are said to be edible - that's snails not trees - which means they are fit to eat. Yuck! You may not like them either at first but, given time, they may even come round to growing on you! (ツ)
The French are eating snails (see below) not only as a delicacy but also as a convenient form of pest control. The downside is that the snail is fast becoming an endangered species which, in turn, could mean the end of the pillbox manufacturing industry as we know it?
View in lightbox and zoom in to admire his craftsmanship.
Do you believe that? Well, if you believe that they can do it, then they can do it, if you believe. So, in your comment below, just say : We do! We do! We do! And I firmly believe that both Irving Berlin and Johnnie Ray would have endorsed that. ♫♫♫ (new tab).
And to any lingering sceptics, I would say: Be ye not of little faith! The evidence is there, before your eyes, concrete evidence no less. No trick photography, no special effects, no added sweeteners; He’s a real, live French snail asleep on the job! The extent of his capabilities is undeniable. So, where’s the problem?
P'tit Glossaire (en cas de besoin!) ;-))
- shut-eye = sommeil / demi-sommeil
- to come round to = finir par / arriver à
- to grow on (someone) = apprendre à aimer (quelqu un)
- to be slow on the uptake = être lent à comprendre (voir note)
- seen better days = vieux et délabré (voir note)
__________________
Take care, my friends, and many thanks for calling,
Colin ... (ツ)
STOP PRESS :
See, below, what looks like a new project underway ( ツ)
(｡◕‿◕｡)
Though that great naturalist of Antiquity, Pliny the Elder (23-79), perpetuated lots of myths about natural phenomena, he could voice his doubts as well. A good instance is his description of Swallowwort, Chelidonium majus. 'Chelidonium' or 'Hirundinaria' refers to Swallow, and it was thought that those birds swathed that plant's sap on the still closed eyes of their young nestlings to open them. That story is repeated in Pliny's Naturalis historia, and to be complete he adds that Swallowwort restores sight 'even if their eyes have been plucked out'; but sceptical about that claim he parenthetically adds: 'ut quidam volunt', 'as some persons will have it'.
This is Swallowwort in the Hortus of Amsterdam being visited for pollen by a Honeybee, Apis mellifera - regard its corbicula - probably from one of the beehives placed on the edge of the garden.
A seance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word seance comes from the French word for "seat", "session" or "sitting", from the Old French seoir, "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une seance de cinema" ("a movie session"). In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits; many people, including sceptics and non-believers, treat it as a form of entertainment. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a seance .
“What of Art?
-It is a malady.
--Love?
-An Illusion.
--Religion?
-The fashionable substitute for Belief.
--You are a sceptic.
-Never! Scepticism is the beginning of Faith.
--What are you?
-To define is to limit.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Portrait Shot of a Blackbird through mirrored glas. It still reacted on the slightest niose we made when moving position a bit.
I was lucky enough to get one of these sceptic stares.
Robert Stephenson's "Rocket" of 1829 is famous for winning the 'Rainhill trials.' These chose the propulsion for the world's first intercity passenger train service - a new railway between Liverpool and Manchester. Rocket disproved sceptics' claims that stationary engines would be needed to haul the passenger trains.
Rocket combined innovative features of a separate water lined firebox, a multi-tubular boiler and a blastpipe for fire draught. Together they gave a lightweight and efficient locomotive. The large wooden driving wheels were for speed rather than slow heavy freight pulling - its maximum 30mph must have been the Victorian equivalent of supersonic flight.
This little wooden model (a Christmas present kit) rather quaintly portrays the engine's essence.
The phrase "the wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine" means that while justice may be delayed, it will eventually be delivered thoroughly and accurately. This proverb highlights the often-protracted nature of legal processes but emphasises the eventual attainment of a fair and just outcome.
The proverb has roots in ancient Greek philosophy and has been adapted and used throughout history in various contexts, including religious and legal settings. It is also found in literature and popular culture.
A reference to a hexameter by an unknown poet, cited by sceptic philosopher Sextus Empiricus (2nd century) in his Adversus Grammaticos as a popular adage:
"The millstones of the gods grind late, but they grind fine.
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Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point.
IMPFEN GEGEN CORONA!
Message from the Burgtheater, the national theater of Austria in Vienna, to the covidiots who pass by here every weekend with their demonstrations. In the entreaty "Macht nicht so ein Theater!", literally "Don't make such a theater", the German language uses the word "Theater" in the sense of "fuss". "IMPFEN GEGEN CORONA!" means "VACCINATE AGAINST CORONA!"
There are truly other problems in the world than compulsory vaccination, where there are not even penalties for violations. But these people live in their own delusional world, and the Burgtheater appeal will hardly reach them. Today's demo was well-behaved, though, and the dreaded Russia flags stayed packed. It is a frightening fact, however, that Corona-sceptic groups are teeming with pro-Putin postings.
www.derstandard.at/story/2000133663474/anti-corona-und-pr...
One cannot but regard these people as enemies of the civilised world.
The fact that there were far more participants in these demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday than in Saturday's demonstration against the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a disgrace for Austria. In Berlin, more than 100,000 people took part in a demonstration against the Russian war of aggression, in Vienna there were only a few thousand.
Der Nandu schaut zweifelnd in die Runde: "Ob das mit den Coronalockerungen so richtig ist?"
Jedenfalls haben sich die Besucher des Wildparks Lüneburger Heide an die Abstandsregeln gehalten und alle haben sich gefreut, dass sie wieder mit ihren Kindern einen Tierpark besuchen konnten.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Another archive capture from two years ago: observing and being observed by a young White-faced Heron. After a while I left - it stayed.
(Egretta novaehollandiae)
October 2024
Tired of a country full of sceptics. Overcome Germany and venture into more Scandinavia.
The Sound of the Bells that Resonates over Humanity
Bells above the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse,the Cave of the Revelation,where John of Patmos received his visions that he recorded in the Book of Revelation.A point of reference not only of Patmos,but of Christianity worldwide.
In 1999,the Cave along with the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian,founded in the late 10th century,were declared a World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO.
ONENESS :Here the monks live in peace and pray for love,health and happiness for all human beings under the cerulean Empyrean,the highest part of heaven,where the soul is a step closer to the Divine.
"To bliss unknown by lofty soul aspires,
My lot unequal to my vast desires.
Born on the Wings of vain Philosophy;
Mysterious Passage! hid from human Eyes;
Soaring you'll sink, and sinking you will rise:
Let humble Thoughts thy wary Footsteps guide,
Regain by Meekness what you lost by Pride." John Arbuthnot
Pilgrims from all over the world,regardless of their religion,swarm into the monastery to seek the spirit of the faith and their heavenly destiny.Atheists,,heretics,sceptics,agnostics,free thinkers,nihilists,or pilgrims seeking Τω Αγνώστω Θεώ,the "unknown God",they all find peace as soon as they get inside these Holy grounds.
"The main object of religion is not to get a man into heaven, but to get heaven into him." Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
Acceptance of Heritage ...
When European Renaissance started,the monastery was galloping silently ...
Easter nears ; time to be at peace with our thoughts in our own temples ; to reflect on the Infinite in Nature,in Man,and in the Self ...
We can find the Bliss of Life & Easter even in the Perfection of a Smiling Flower ...
" Apart from the known and the unknown, what else is there ? "
Harold Pinter
" Too hard for worldly Sages to explain ... " John Arbuthnot
Know Thyself
by Alexander Pope
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast,
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such
Whether he thinks too little or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
Location: Primitive Design- The Bunker
Pose: 5ifth Order
Guns: C-Tech Redemption mk 4.3
Russell's teapot
"Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time." Bertrand Russell
« De nombreuses personnes orthodoxes parlent comme si c'était le travail des sceptiques de réfuter les dogmes plutôt qu'à ceux qui les soutiennent de les prouver. Ceci est bien évidemment une erreur. Si je suggérais qu'entre la Terre et Mars se trouve une théière de porcelaine en orbite elliptique autour du Soleil, personne ne serait capable de prouver le contraire pour peu que j'aie pris la précaution de préciser que la théière est trop petite pour être détectée par nos plus puissants télescopes. Mais si j'affirmais que, comme ma proposition ne peut être réfutée, il n'est pas tolérable pour la raison humaine d'en douter, on me considérerait aussitôt comme un illuminé. Cependant, si l'existence de cette théière était décrite dans des livres anciens, enseignée comme une vérité sacrée tous les dimanches et inculquée aux enfants à l'école, alors toute hésitation à croire en son existence deviendrait un signe d'excentricité et vaudrait au sceptique les soins d'un psychiatre à une époque éclairée, ou de l'Inquisiteur en des temps plus anciens. » Bertrand Russell
The same sunset as the previous picture but now in its last stages.
(To any sceptics there may be - this is very much how it was. There's been no winding up of colours for dramatic effect.)
This tree is literally haunted, supposedly by the spirit of an old witch. Now I am an open minded sceptic on such matters but I used to do Ghost hunts in some pretty spooky places and have seen and heard things I cant explain. So I always get nervous around this tree and on this day, with the fog rolling through the wood it was pretty intense in there. Now I am not saying they are linked but 30 minutes after I photographed this tree i tore the tendon in my foot....coinkidink?? You decide!
In other news, I now have the new Mac mini set up and running and boy oh boy its a joy to edit photos on it compared to my old PC. So much quicker and smoother workflow now.
The view from Liverpool Lime Street station up towards Edge Hill station shows the incline,
As built this line utilized rope haulage, and today, in a manner of speaking, it still does, the wire rope still provides the energy to lift trains up the incline, the difference being that the wire rope conducts electricity today.
The two holds significance, as this was P3 prior to remodeling of the station, they extended platforms to increase capacity, and..... removed a platform ?. from what i am lead to believe the original P1 is to be utilized for retail usage, then re opened as P0....
The sceptic in me thinks all this work has been done, not for passengers but for money....
Although the argument would be that, passengers can take advantage of the retail outlets on offer....
This raises more questions however,
Firstly i should say that i'm no retail marketing analyst, but....
This side of the station is predominantly Northern Rail in it's operations, along with the Newcastle and Scarborough Trans Pennine services.
It is auto ticket barrier accessed, and most of the services are relatively short haul and commuter focused...
The other side of the station operates Virgin West Coast, LNW and East Midland services and is open access...
I would have thought that these travelers would be more likely to spend prior to making a journey,
Whilst people on the other side, going to Blackpool or Scarborough are more likely to save their cash to spend at their destinations. that is my logic anyhow,
Along with all of this, the Northern side being auto ticket barrier controlled, says a little about Northern's determination to remove train crew, whilst the other side being open access may be saying something about the need for train crew on longer distance journey's.... Or more customer focused operators ! any how you catch my drift i hope..
A gorilla in the Zoo Rostock eating some grass and watching me. The camera seems to make him a bit curious... Seeing these intelligent eyes I must think that they are our closely relatives and that I would prefer so much to see them in their natural habitat than here, nevertheles this zoo is really good and is giving them so much space and employment...
Please respect my copyright.
Absolutely No use, no reposting at social media ore somewhere else of any of my photos without my expressly permission!
And: I don't like Comment-Codes, "awards", or such groups. Because of that, Comment codes, "Awards" and invitations in such groups will be deleted. There is an Explanation at my profile.
So, if you want to say something about my photo, it will be really appreciated, no matter if it's about liking or some constructive criticism. Your own thoughts and words will mean much more to me than a universal-text.
Also please don't post pictures in the commenting-area. You could post them much better in your own photo stream. ;-D
Tansy Beetle (Chrysolina graminis), the rare bronze colour morph, on gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus). Woodwalton Fen NNR, Ramsey Heights, Cambridgeshire. June 23, 2021.
I first encountered this rare bronze morph of the Tansy Beetle back in 2017, a year in which I spent much of the late summer mapping the distribution of the beetle and its foodplants across the reserve, on behalf of the Tansy Beetle Action Group, Natural England and the Wildlife Trust BCN. At first it took some persuading to get people to accept that it was a Tansy Beetle, so eventually I wrote a short article and circulated it amongst a numer of academics with expertise in Chrysomelidae, which seemed to win over the sceptics. The article was never intended to be published, but earlier this year I was persuaded to write it up as a paper, so after some revision, it was submitted back in March. One of the reviewers liked it, but the second asked some challenging questions that I felt could only be answered if I found some more.
As the Tansy Beetle season hadn't yet started, and as I'd already volunteered to monitor it at Woodwalton Fen again in 2021, it was just a case of putting the hours in, searching and hoping. This was the first of three found during this year's season, which together provided the answers I needed to complete the paper. The revised and updated version was re-submitted and accepted a couple of weeks back, and should be out in December.
As a rare morph of an endangered species, this has to be one of the rarest beetles in Britain. And as all three of this year's records came from an area less than 10m in diameter, it's probably also one facing the greatest risk of extinction and in greatest need of protection.