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The pin having been pulled, the rearmost Faun unit is backed away from the rest of the trucks and trailer combination.
This particular Faun was then driven down the length of Manor Lane to take up its position ready to be part of the next turning manoeuvre, which would gain access to the Congleton Road.
This way looks hard lens separation. It's the effect, when 2 or more stucked together lenses separate. It looks bad, but it seems to be only a defective appearance. First shots show no noticeable effects on image quality. By comparison at wide open aperture with a faultless Color-Skopar X 50mm f/2.8 there are no flares, color defects or other aberrations visible. Even sharpness, at least scanned at 1600dpi, appears not impaired.
So sieht starke Linsenseparation bzw. ein Verkittungsfehler aus. Schaut übel aus, aber es scheint doch eher nur ein Schönheitsfehler zu sein. Erste Aufnahmen damit haben keinen merkbaren Einfluss auf die Bildqualität gezeigt. Im direkten Vergleich bei Offenblende mit einem einwandfreien Color-Skopar X 50mm f/2.8 sind keine Streulichter, Farbfehler oder andere Abbildungsfehler erkennbar. Auch die Schärfe wirkt, zumindest bei einem Scan mit 1600 dpi, nicht beeinträchtigt.
These separations are somewhat temporary, in my opinion. No matter what closure you made, I mean, there’s a thousand and one ways of seeing each other in the future. Blogged
The nosecone alone takes a 60” parachute, seen here drifting away from the rocket.
My Mavericks Sledgehammer rocket with a M1550 motor
Frame grab from the on-board Sony PC-1 videocam with wide angle lens.
Some things are meant to be separated, (such as government and religion), but too often people forget the rules and mix them up, which usually generates more evil than good. A second interpretation is another dangerous (and unfortunately not so unusual) combination: Money and Faith…
Macro Monday project – 09/06/10
"Unusual Combination(s)"
. . . 2. 3. 2007 - this is the first day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see the showing of the water buffalos, pigs, cow, horse, deer and chicken. All these animals are offered to be the servants of the died woman in her new life after death in Puya. We will see buffalo fighting. Men bet for the winner of those fightings. Two buffalos fight each other - the one running away lost the fight!
If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.
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The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").
The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).
HISTORY
From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.
Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.
In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to
CHRISTIANITY
Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.
SOCIETY
There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.
FAMILY AFFILIATION
Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.
Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.
Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.
CLASS AFFILIATION
In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.
Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.
Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.
The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.
CULTURE
TONGKONAN
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.
WOOD CARVINGS
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.
FUNERAL RITES
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.
As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.
A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.
LANGUAGE
The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.
ECONOMY
Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.
Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.
TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.
In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.
Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.
A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.
Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.
WIKIPEDIA
Trichrome photography involves taking three exposures of the same subject on black and white film. Each exposure is taken through a red, green or blue filter.
One of the early users of the process, over a hundred years ago, was Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky , he used projectors with coloured filters to make a combined image, nowadays it can be done with photo editing software such as Photoshop.
For this trichrome, I used the Harris Shutter technique, which was invented by Robert Harris of Kodak for making colour photographs with the different primary colour layers exposed in separate time intervals in succession. Using an Olympus ECR35 35mm camera, I took three photos of the scene on black and white film (Rollei RPX400) with a red, green or blue filter in front of the lens. It took several seconds to change the filter, so moving subjects, such as clouds or people, appear in different positions and in different colours, while static subjects appear normal.
From the August 2016 return trip to Siem Reap and the Angkor complex:
I love the Angkor complex, Siem Reap, and the Cambodian people so much that I returned again for about a week to photograph as much of the “non-major” sites as I could. Some of them are slightly far from Angkor Wat (by that, I mean to say more than 10 kilometers away), and usually require a little more money to get to. Also, some of the sites (Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen) are not included in the Angkor ticket price and have an additional admission fee.
I don’t know if there’s a set number of how many sites belong in the Angkor complex, though I’m sure it would vary. (Do you only count the major sites like Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm? Do you add the sites that aren’t included in the standard “Angkor Pass,” but are clearly of the same era? Do you include sites that aren’t even named (as are one of the sites in this series)? All in all, I’ll put a very rough number at…50 sites in the Siem Reap area, and that includes the sites that are about 100 km away. Of those, I would say I’ve been to all but 5-10 now. All are included here with the exception, obviously, of the sites that I didn’t visit. (Off the top of my head, I can say they include Koh Ker & that respective group, which is about 120 km ENE of Siem Reap; Phnom Krom, one of the three “mountains” with temples; Ta Prohm Kel; and Mangalartha.)
In practical terms, I’m afraid that with the volume of shooting (about 1,500 frames in the past 7 days), photos will start to look redundant to those who don’t have the same interest in ancient/historical architecture or Angkor as I do. That being said, there are a few things besides temples here. The Old Market area (now Night Market/Pub Street) is represented – a little – and Phnom Kulen has a pretty nice waterfall which is also in this series. Also, I tried to catch a few people in here, though didn’t get as many as I would’ve liked.
I had my friend Mao (tuktuk driver) take me around for 5 of these 7 days this time around. As I mentioned last time, he may cost a little more than what you can arrange through a hotel/guesthouse, but he’s well worth the money (and, in the grand scheme of things, not too expensive; I paid less than $200 for the five days, two of which were “long” trips). He loves his country and heritage, he knows what he’s showing you, he’s flexible, he gives you enough ice water to keep you hydrated, and he’s just a good guy. (He even bought me a birthday cake for cryin’ out loud…) Anyway, I highly recommend Mao. You can find him here: www.facebook.com/mao.khvan (or on Trip Advisor: www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297390-d10726821-R... )
Now that shameless plugs and other assorted rhetoric are out of the way, it’s time to get on to the temples, ruins, and other miscellany.
The fifth day (and last time I’ll see Mao unless I go back to Siem Reap again) started just the same as my birthday. Chhiengmai brought me a ham & cheese omelette at the hotel, then Mao picked me up and off we went.
Following the same route to Banteay Kdei, we took a right and headed out on the grand loop. The first stop was at Pre Rup, which I’d seen in May, but wanted to photograph again this time around. I love the May shots because it’s in afternoon light, so there are some nice silhouette shots in there. This time, however, was early morning. We didn’t shoot as extensively as we did in May; only staying on the eastern side of the temple and not ascending it. Still, it’s a rather striking temple and worth seeing, even with the restoration that looks as if it hasn’t been touched since May – and didn’t look like it was being touched then, either.
Pre Rup is on the southeast corner of the Grand Loop. From there, continue north. Right before you reach East Mebon is a road going east. (This is the road that would lead you to Banteay Samré if taken straight, or Banteay Srei, Phnom Kulen, and Kbal Spean, if you turn left at the first intersection about 1 kilometer east from here.)
Our second destination, though, was Phnom Bok. To reach here, continue east on the aforementioned road – pass Banteay Samré – taking the first left, then continuing north about 5-10 minutes. All in all, it’s about 20 minutes from the Grand Loop road.
Having seen snow-capped mountains enough in my life, I chuckle to call these mountains instead of hills. However, Angkor is in a large plain, as you can see in these pictures, so any hill looks like a mountain. In the same breath, these aren’t baby hills.
Mao’s wife and daughter stayed with the tuktuk while we went clambering up the hill. I was giving Mao a good ribbing about him not being my friend for making me climb a mountain in tropical heat, but it really wasn’t too bad. He said, “there are only 100 stairs to the top!” I laughed and said there’s no way that’s a mountain then. We walked up a hill for about five minutes before getting to the bottom of the staircase on the south side of the mountain that goes to the summit. He still insisted it was only 100 steps. I counted, just for fun. Turns out, there are 626 steps, give or take one, to the top of the hill and, even when you get to the top, you still have to climb up…a little farther.
As I mentioned, though, it wasn’t a bad climb. The first 400 or so steps are forested, so you’re in shade, though it’s hot and humid. After that, the views of the surrounding plains open up which are quite nice. Mostly, you can see to the south or southeast. I couldn’t see any of the main temples which would be southwest from here. (I couldn’t see them from the peak when looking southwest, though, either…)
At the top of Phnom Bok, there’s a little shelter/rest area where you can sit and buy ice cold drinks. There’s a new Hindu temple up there, and also the ruins of an Angkor-era temple. Sadly, there are also remnants of the Khmer Rouge era, too; machine gun mounts and the like, surrounding the temple.
After 30-45 minutes on the mountaintop, we went back down and I was glad to have a rest in the tuktuk while we made our way back to the Grand Loop. It was a good chance to rest up and enjoy the scenery (in addition to waving like a fool at every passerby as I’m wont to do).
Upon returning to the Grand Loop road, we made a quick right heading north for about 200 meters to the East Mebon. In May, we stopped here, but didn’t do anything other than climb the main stairs, take a few shots, and head off to lunch. (We were tired by that point.)
Because of that, I told Mao I wanted to take time to extensively go around the East Mebon. It’s a surprisingly nice temple mount. (I don’t know how the West Mebon compares; unlike this one, there is still water in the west baray, and I didn’t go out there.) All told, Mao and I wandered our separate ways here for about half an hour or so. I got back to the tuktuk right before one of the daily summer downpours. Mao was stuck out in the rain, but had my backpack, P&S, and umbrella, so was fine.
After a 5-10 minute rest, a Coke and a smile later, the four of us went back on our way around the Grand Loop continuing clockwise. We bypassed Ta Seo (which I’d shot well enough in May) and stopped for a very quick shoot at Prasat Krol Ko. This is a very small temple built in the late 12th and early 13th century by Jayavarman VII. It looks like many of the other temples, so most don’t stop here as it’s not terribly interesting. It’s a temple surrounded by two concentric enclosures, in the Bayon style, and rather small. However, it’s near Neak Pean and Preah Khan, so there’s no reason not to stop. This is a Hindu (I believe) temple, as it’s named/dedicated to a cow. I enjoyed it.
The next stop – Neak Pean – was less than two minutes down the road. (Again, no reason not to stop at both. Neak Pean (sometimes spelled “Neak Poan” and pronounced “neek poh-an”) is architecturally different than most of the other sites, as is the setting. Neak Pean is a cruciform arrangement of ponds that centers on a sanctuary tower on a circular island in the middle. Currently, access is limited and you can’t go all the way around it. You approach from the north over a boardwalk – this crosses over the Jayatataka baray, which offers some nice panoramic views of Phnom Bok about 5 kilometers to the east – and finally arrive at the north end of the monument. You can walk around either side to the eastern and western corners, but can go no farther. There are (were) four different sculpted animals on each of the four small ponds around the sanctuary. Eavesdropping a tour guide, he said the four ponds represent earth, air, fire, and water. I had read somewhere what the four animals were, but can’t seem to find that information now. I was very pleased with this stop, too, mainly because it offered a little variety.
After the nice stroll over the boardwalk back to the tuktuk, we continued heading west. At the turn off for Preah Khan (which I skipped this time since we spent a bit of time here in May), there are also two other nearby, rarely visited temples: Banteay Prei and Prasat Prei. These are immediately north of Preah Khan on the outside of the Loop road. Preah Khan is about 200 meters south on the inside of the loop. Neither of these two temples are listed in either LP Cambodia or my Ancient Angkor guidebook, so I unfortunately can’t tell you a thing about them, but would venture to say they were probably built by Jayavarman VII…but, that’s pure conjecture. They were both rather nice to see, and in a fair state of decomposition, so it lent to nice photography. As they are so close to Preah Khan, again…I don’t see why you wouldn’t visit here. You can see both temples in about 20 minutes without going out of your way to do so.
The next stop on today’s private tour is Krol Romeas. This is a very unassuming structure that is less than five minutes outside the North Gate of Angkor Thom. I’m a little confused about what “romeas” means. At first Mao’s wife told me it meant sheep. Then I believe she said it meant hippopotamus. Either way, this structure was an animal pen for one of those. Given the size and depth, I’ll say hippo enclosure is probably correct. Currently, it’s just a very nice setting in the forest. It’s a round enclosure about 20 meters in diameter, just east of the Grand Loop road.
After Krol Romeas, our next stops were the remaining (for me) gates of Angkor Thom: first, the North Gate for a very quick shoot, then down to Bayon and due west on a relaxing, rarely traveled road to the West Gate. The West Gate is supposed to be the one in the most pristine (unrestored) state, though I thought it looked fine. The setting was good.
By this time, it was getting to be early afternoon, probably around 4:00. The next – and last – stop of the day was south of town, away from the majority of Angkor sites. Going south from the Night Market area of Siem Reap along the river, there are two sites of interest: The main one Is the third of the “major” hills – Phnom Krom. This is supposed to be a nice place to see the sunset. However, from having climbed Phnom Bok earlier in the day, I wasn’t inclined to go here, though it was on my original “wish list” that I gave to Mao. Instead, we just went to the other temple in the area: Wat Athvea (sometimes also written Athwea). This is a very tranquil temple and is great in the late afternoon. It’s attached to a functioning monastery, but isn’t noisy. There is a pagoda built on the site of an ancient temple here. What you see here is a 12th century Hindu temple. There is a cemetery adjacent, but that’s not included in this set.
Upon finishing for the day, Mao dropped me back off at my guesthouse. This would be the last time I saw Mao on this trip, though his wife and daughter insisted on taking me to the airport on Tuesday, so I would see them one more time. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Mao’s a good man (Cambodian Mao, that is…)
As always, I hope you enjoy this set. I appreciate you taking time to look. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message or leave it via comment.
No rear bench but visible is a small separation wall behind the front seats. This 504 is clearly meant for commercial purposes. Seen in a 1981 PEUGEOT 504 GRD Commerciale.
Great french estate. It was sold just four days before I took these pictures, but not for the best reasons you can imagine: it was demolished shortly after this day... really incredible, I would buy it immediately if I knew this earlier!
Designed by Pininfarina. The Berline was introduced in 1968, the estate in May 1971.
2112cc diesel engine,
1340 kg.
Max pay-load 740 kg.
Original Dutch reg. number: March 18, 1981.
Scrapped probably after Febr. 2014 (officially, note the curved front license plate).
Zaandam, Sluispolderweg, June 18, 2014.
© 2014 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved
Belogradchik fortress, Bulgaria.
The mission of the Belogradchik Fortress was to control the road from the town of Ratsiaria (near the today’s village of Archar in the region of Vidin). The Romans constructed the highest part of the fortress, called The Citadel.
There are remains of another fortress at a distance of a few meters from it – Latin Stronghold, which served as an assisting fortification.
Upon the separation of the Roman Empire in 395 the Balkan lands entered within the borders of Byzantium. In the end of 7th century the Belogradchik Fortress fell within the territory of the newly created Bulgarian state.
During the time of Tsar Ivan Sratsimir (1356 – 1396) the fortress was broadened and fortified. In 1396 the Ottomans conquered it and later reconstructed it. Garrison for protection of the west part of the empire and for oppression of the Bulgarians’ revolts was built.
In 1850, when the Belogradchik Uprising was routed, its leaders were taken away through one of the fortress tunnels and beheaded. On this place today raises a monument of their heroism. In 1885 during the war between Serbia and Bulgaria (1885) the fortress was last used as a military installation. It was declared an architectural and constructional monument in Issue 41 of the State Gazette of 1965.
The Belogradchik Fortress has three yards separated from one another, the total area of which reaches 10 210 square meters, and one fortification. Even nowadays embrasures (openings) for guns and three bastions and embrasures for cannons can be seen on the fortress walls.
The highest point of the fortress, called First Slab, reveals a beautiful view towards the Balkan.
Cape Reinga the northwestern most tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Day six of our trip up north, March 2012, NZ.
Cape Reinga is generally considered the separation marker between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. From the lighthouse it is possible to watch the tidal race, as the two seas clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast. The Māori refer to this as the meeting of Te Moana-a-Rehua, 'the sea of Rehua' with Te Tai-o-Whitirea, 'the sea of Whitirea', Rehua and Whitirea being a male and a female respectively.
The cape is often mistakenly thought of as being the northernmost point of the North Island, and thus, of mainland New Zealand. However, North Cape's Surville Cliffs, 30 km east of Cape Reinga, are slightly further north. Another headland just to the west of Cape Reinga is Cape Maria van Diemen, which was discovered and named by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman during his journey in 1642 and thought of by him to be the northernmost point of the newly-discovered country he named 'Staten Landt'.
According to mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland. They turn briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last look back towards the land, then continue on their journey.
A spring in the hillside, Te Waiora-a-Tāne (the 'Living waters of Tāne'), also played an important role in Māori ceremonial burials, representing a spiritual cleansing of the spirits, with water of the same name used in burial rites all over New Zealand. This significance lasted until the local population mostly converted to Christianity, and the spring was capped with a reservoir, with little protest from the mostly converted population of the area. However, the spring soon disappeared and only reappeared at the bottom of the cliff, making the reservoir useless.
this snow fence was placed around a soccer field and it seemed to go on forever... the blue garbage cans looked like they were floating... the depth of field with a full frame is amazing (seen and taken in Columbus Ohio)
This image cannot be used on websites, blogs or other media without explicit my permission. © All rights reserved
Shot with kind of an improvised super-telephoto rig. My old Soligor 500mm f/8 mirror lens mated to an old Vivitar 2x Macro Focusing Teleconverter for 1000mm of focal length (with some vignetting tossed in for free). Probably something like an effective T/22 with light loss from the mirror lens and then of course I was using a polarizer, which cut incoming light even more. So I had to shoot at ISO 3200. But it got me close enough, albeit at fairly poor contrast and resolution, to get a few shots. The fire upped the contrast a lot, though, and made a big difference in what I was able to get. They mean something to me, if no one else.
Haven't even really started sorting buttons and pins and already having a hard time - so many memories...
A subject I have used before. Hard to separate it from the background on a given day but rough water made it easier for this one. I would think at one time this was a sea stack.
Magic Square Technology applied for three phase seriesed coil segments yielding balanced currents to create torsional fields on three phase and time distortion effects on perimeters. Three diagonal progressions of phases wrapping around each other in 3d model produces torsional time effects on perimeters of poles.
(google 666 machine) uses 3 phase to mimic 6 phase by employing wiring reversal of the central of three series segments of coils that consists of nine coils; three coils in series per phase with three tri-segment pathways twisting around each other. Modeled after the first magic square of nine no.s having balanced sums that when topologically curved in 3d space to show connection to opposite edges shows three diagonals curving around each other in 3d space. Likewise it is only this segmented 3d circular diagonal pathways that yields balance of 3 phase currents in mutual induction (excepting that of a circular toroidal geometry) when 9 adjacent coils in tri-fold series are forced into mutual induction.
This 3 phase balance of reactive currents by mutual induction being a "magic" arrangement whereas every other combination will be unbalanced is NOT magnetically symmetrical as it is in single phase mutual inductance laws. In that arrangement the amount of current lost in paralleled magnetic unity= amount of current gained in paralleled magnetic opposition. The mutual induction effects BETWEEN phasings will also be opposite to that found in single phaseIn 3 phase the phases will be attractive(opposite polarities) between them 2/3 of the time period, and repulsive 1/3 of the total time period. While using two spiralled coils having the highest mutual inductance between them to become attractive while powered by a single phase, the inductance of each goes up and less current results. For two of three phases in mutual inductance in 3 phase the current instead goes up and the inductance goes down.
By reversing the polarity by wiring on each center element of the three stacks in the circular stacking, the three center elements representing all three phases will be one sixth of a cycle off from both the phases above and below it; repelling those magnetic fields outwards into their opposite polar areas for 5/6ths of the cycle, and only attracting them on one side only for 1/6ths of the cycle. The inductance will have gone up by having mutual inductance between phasings, increasing the Q.
For spirals having the highest mutual inductance between phasings the impedance rises 30% from that measured exclusively as a solitary phase. We have 6 magnetic interior repulsions @ 1/6ths of a cycle, shoving the magnetic fields outwards from 6 polar exits on the assembly, that when series resonated we call a 666 machine. We now will need 3d vectors representing the voltages in time to explain the machines operation.
The 666 machine, a special torsional device that can either expand or compress the time periods acting between the three phases of a three phase power source. This utilyses a higher dimensional vector expressed in the 3D space, whereas the vectors of ordinary three phase machines will show their resultant voltages plotted as vectors in time as a 2D flat diagram. 3 dimensional representation of voltage vectors in time are necessary to show the results of the 666 machine's operation. If we try to represent them in the conventional manner employed with a 2D vector diagram; we wind up with the quandary of a 3rd resultant vector solution appearing to exist as two different vectors on that 2D vector diagram. By cutting out the piece of pie between these two vector solutions: and then folding the entire diagram into a 3D cone shape by connecting the two solutions into a single solution; we now have a 3D vector system to show the actions of the machine by its plotted vectors. This vector translation becomes necessary to describe a machine whereby the normal 360 degrees of separation in time are compressed to an amount shown by the (missing) portion of time cut out of the 2D diagram as a pie shape into a 3D cone shape; in order to make all the quantities "fit" together as a coherent vector solution showing the actions of the machine. A space-time "curvature" will now exist between resonant voltage rises of all three phases involved as inputs. From our perspective however the full 360 degrees of a time circle will no longer exist on the resonated outputs. This measurement is the most important measurement ever made regarding relativity, besides that of the eclipse of the sun verifying Einstein's concepts. It furthermore shows that it is not necessary to make astronomical measurements to show the principles involved with relativity, and that machines exhibiting a "localized" time space curvature are indeed possible.
We have classified the 666 machine as a nine coil system using six polar
reaction areas, given six options for polarity, where all the options are set at
one sixth of a cycle, hence it produces the effects that a six phase system
could deliver. Ordinarily we would not suppose that a six phase system can
accomplish effects that a strict interpretation of the three phase system could not itself accomplish if instead the cycle separation time at the polar interaction areas were instead set at one third of a cycle or 120 degrees...,
however this is untrue in light of the fact that the three phase system can not
produce Lenz Law effects by mutual induction between phasings whereby that voltage component with relation to the phasal line connections and phase
rotation will always arrive BEHIND that rotation, or be lagging it. Instead the
666 machine allows that component to arrive AHEAD of the phase rotation.
By polarity reversal of the central coil segment; this will exhibit lenz law effects from a source only 60 degrees out of phase, whereas the induced voltage law works at 90 degrees so that extra source of emf arrives 30 degrees ahead in time of the actual phase rotation, yielding a vector summation with the source emf at 15 degrees ahead of the phase rotation. Cycle after cycle it keeps arriving 15 degrees ahead of the phase rotation until after 12 cycles it completely opposes the source voltage
The next 12 cycles it gradually aids the source emf so that the extra rotating vector source of emf is seen as an extra cycle every 24 cycles. Ordinarily this only causes a periodic cyclic voltage effect on the phase itself. However when two (tuned) high induction coils are slightly elevated above two polar areas of the 666 machine the vibration of the source(s) can be transferred fully to the secondary so as to cause the rotating counter emf to fully oppose the source emf at a point in the entire cycle. The momentary appearance of secondary energy having no primary source is a result of this process. This is also consequential of a third magnetic reaction occuring between the two adjacent tuned secondaries themselves.
See www.flickr.com/photos/harvich/8291688443/
666 Coil System Voltage Outputs
www.flickr.com/photos/harvich/5495059320/
An average 13 some volts is internally made by resonant rise of voltage,(Vi) from the lowest possible input of ~1 volt stator obtained in unenergized field.
On (1-2) 25.2 volts is obtained between 1Vi= 13.9 volts and 2vi= 13.2 volts. The phase angle by the law of cos is the sum of the squares of the component vi values minus the square of the interphasal voltage/ all divided by twice the multiplication of the component vi values; which then gives the cos of the phase angle. To find the actual phase angle we take the inverse cos function and multiply by 360 degrees/2pi radians.[13.9^2+13.2^2-25.2^2]/(2*13.9*13.2) =-.729 ;cos^-1 (-.729)*(360/6.28)= 136.9 degrees. For (1-3) we find cos^-1(-.719) yields a 136 degree phase angle. Finally (2-3) yields cos^-1=-.485 equating to 119.1 degrees. "Extra time has appeared on both (1-2) and(1-3) voltage differences in time, with a total phase angle difference of 392 degrees;~10% extra time. Coincidentally the 666 machine achieves 10% increase in inductive reactance by aquisition of mutual inductance by using 6 polar interaction zones interacted at 1/6th a cycle for a 6
phase effect; where employment of a 3 phase effect in these magnetic interactions between phasings will always yield the stronger opposite effect of instead decreasing the inductive reactance, and thus the possible q factor determined by X(L)/R should be diminished for the 3 phase example employing mutual inductance between phasings.
Because of the fact that only a 10% time distortion occured in that example, where apparently it was a time "expansion" rather then a time "contraction", I decided that evidence was not conclusive enough to show the community that time distortion itself was going on. So the entire system was rebuilt using pancake coils of maximum mutual inductance between phasings..
youtu.be/dgPnLkOLvWU (See the comments section for Jan 2014 corrections)
666 pancake spiral system using Radio Shack MegaCable speaker wire spools. To gain a concept of what distortion of time means in a practical sense we can make a vector drawing of all three internal voltage rises (approximation of those drawn vectors shown near beginning of video) where these vectors start from a common point. To find the acting phase angles between each voltage rise we then measure the difference of voltages BETWEEN each voltage rise. If no time distortion is taking place, the delta V(i) quantities will form the outside voltage quantities as a triangle around the three inner vectors as rays having a common origin point as shown in the drawing. Stopping the video at 7:55 and applying the law of cosines we find the V(i) voltages between (1-2) indicates a 118 degree phase angle and (2-3) shows 126.4 degrees, but (1-3) shows only 15.6 degrees. About 100 degrees are missing in the time circle, so the flat diagram will not suffice to show that
aspect. But if we instead cut a 100 degree piece of pie out of the vector diagram; and fold the diagram into a cone to account for the missing time portion, then the outer voltage differences will be in correct measurement as periphery measurements, but now they will be curved and 2D flat plane vectors cannot be used, instead 3D vectors must be employed: thus this is the easiest analogy to explain the issuance of the curvature of space time caused by torsional or twisting magnetic fields caused by the circular placement of the coil segments in series and interacted to the fullest degree of mutual inductance between those phases themselves separated by time.
Google "Topological Evidence of Time Distortion in the 666 machine"
for further evidence of the communist electrical system;
Google "Video Records from 10/21/10" for the first 666 system records showing the flux capacitor
I'd sanded the tape down that was between the deck and hull so between the fill coats I accidentally glued the two parts together. The only was was to use the saw and cut along the edge.
PLEASE VIEW LARGE FOR DETAIL!
Another piece for my AP concentration. This was the result of a rather emotional day I had. I just tried to channel all my shit feelings into this, and I love the way it came out.
I'm heavily considering restarting my 365 now. I know I have much more time now to focus on it since I won't be hanging out with a certain someone every night anymore.. ha. :/
Tell me what you guys think! :)