View allAll Photos Tagged stutter

“The flicker, the flutter, even thoughts can stutter.”

EXPLORE #328, May 12/09

 

View On Black

 

I saw this Song Sparrow yesterday hiding from the Red Wing Blackbirds lol ;) The blue you see in the background is Lake Ontario ;) Sunny days are here again!! Whoopee.

 

"A rich, russet-and-gray bird with bold streaks down its white chest, the Song Sparrow is one of the most familiar North American sparrows. Don’t let the bewildering variety of regional differences this bird shows across North America deter you: it’s one of the first species you should suspect if you see a streaky sparrow in an open, shrubby, or wet area. If it perches on a low shrub, leans back, and sings a stuttering, clattering song, so much the better."

 

"Length

4.7–6.7 in

12–17 cm

Wingspan

7.1–9.4 in

18–24 cm

Weight

0.4–1.9 oz

12–53 g"

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moxa0z7BBs8

 

Best viewed LARGE.

 

The handsome Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

makes a great ambassador for the notoriously difficult-to-identify shorebirds. They occur all across North America, they are distinctive in both looks and actions. They also have interesting social lives. The male takes the primary role in parental care, incubating the eggs and taking care of the young. The female is the one who establishes and defends the territory. She arrives at the breeding grounds earlier than the male. One female may lay eggs for up to four different males at a time. With their richly spotted breeding plumage, teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats, and showy courtship dances, this bird is among the most notable and memorable shorebirds in North America. Photographed at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.

 

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www.cuttsnaturephotography.com

The helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It is native to Africa, mainly south of the Sahara.

Helmeted guinea fowl are perfectly capable of flying but most choose not to. They actually prefer to walk everywhere. It is possible for them to walk up to six miles (10km) a day.

They’re quite striking in their appearance in that they have a bony structure on top of their red, blue and white head.

This diurnal bird calls with a rasping, stuttering, grating "keerrrr." Lives in flocks of up to hundreds of birds, and forages on open ground.

Helmeted guineafowl are both monomorphic and monochromatic meaning that both males and females are similar in size, appearance and color.

 

This beautiful Guineafowl was captured during a photography safari on an early morning game drive in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Crash landing instead of after work:

In Hornafjörður they delivered equipment for the nearby radar station in Stokksnes. Now, defying the winter storms, they rock anxiously in their Skytrain towards the end of the day. But nothing comes of it: Suddenly, the freighter's two Wright radial engines begin to stutter ominously. The carburetors are freezing! The hum of the engines subsides, ends in a wild rattle, until it is finally completely swallowed by the rustling of the airstream. An unreal silence breaks through. Wicke and Fletcher desperately try to restart the engines. Without success. When they emerge from the clouds at a height of almost 800 meters, it becomes clear to them that they will not get as far as Keflavik. You have to make an emergency landing. But where? The area here is anything but inviting - cold lava, stones, rocks. Death also lurks next door in the whipped sea. Shatter or drown? It doesn't matter. But what is this? A beach? Yes indeed. It has to work out here!

 

Source and Story by:

www.flugrevue.de/klassiker/verloren-in-island-das-flugzeu...

Translated from German to English by Google Translator, checked by Bepsie Bepps ;-))

 

- Beppe -

 

Times are gone for honest men

And sometimes far too long for snakes

In my shoes, a walking sleep

And my youth I pray to keep

Heaven send Hell away

No one sings like you anymore

 

Black hole sun, won't you come

And wash away the rain?

Black hole sun, won't you come?

Won't you come?

Black hole sun, won't you come

And wash away the rain?

Black hole sun, won't you come?

Won't you come?

By SOUNDGARDEN

 

๖ۣۜღ Body๖ۣۜღ

- Head: Lelutka Briannon

- Body: Ebody Reborn

Hair- PUNKLIST $$$//F.Q.// Becca

-EARS-*~*Illusions*~* Elfin Ears Lelutka Evo X

- Ear Tattoo from Heaux / Glam Affair in the "Dark Fae" set

 

๖ۣۜღClothing, Headware, Jewelry ๖ۣۜღ

*{minuit} Eva Kimono Set [FATPACK]

-False Deity - Death Lily Antler FATPACK

-FLOWERS Air_FUKI (headdress)_FAT_CM*fm

-UNHOLY REGAL EARRINGS _ALL EARS

-+ Magical Butterflies + {Aii & Ego}

-!SEmotion Libellune Royal Mainecoon Companion SPECIAL

 

BACKDROP: Tekka Street Backdrop - The Bearded Guy

Forgive me if I still stutter

From all of the clutter in my head

Cause I could fall asleep in those eyes

Like a waterbed

Do I seem familiar

I've crossed you in hallways a thousand times

No more camouflage

I want to be exposed

And not be afraid to fall

This stuttering chickadee wishes everybody a "dee dee dee delightful day!"

Black Hole Sun

 

In my eyes

Indisposed

In disguise

As no one knows

Hides the face

Lies the snake

The sun

In my disgrace

Boiling heat

Summer stench

'Neath the black

The sky looks dead

Call my name

Through the cream

And I'll hear you

Scream again

 

Black hole sun

Won't you come

And wash away the rain

Black hole sun

Won't you come

Won't you come

 

Stuttering

Cold and damp

Steal the warm wind

Tired friend

Times are gone

For honest men

And sometimes

Far too long

For snakes

In my shoes

A walking sleep

And my youth

I pray to keep

Heaven send

Hell away

No one sings

Like you

Anymore

 

Hang my head

Drown my fear

Till you all just

Disappear

 

Soundgarden

 

DO NOT use my pictures without my written permission, these images are under copyright. Contact me if you want to buy or use them. CarloAlessio77© All rights reserved

 

Mixophyes balbus. Dorrigo, NSW.

Sei still

Be silent

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJg9NA6P9cw

 

Silence! Do not speak. It's a shame. Silence your voice. Hush!

If speech is silver, silence is golden.

 

The first words I heard as a child, whether I was crying, laughing, playing, they kept on telling me to "Be Silent!"

 

At school they taught me half the truth, and told me: "Why do you care? Be Silent!"

 

The first boy I fell in love was kissing me and was telling me:

"Don't say a word about it and Be Silent!"

"Silence your voice and do not speak. Shut up".

 

And that lasted till I was twenty years old.

 

The word of Authority against the silence of the Subordinate.

I was looking at the blood on the pavement and they were telling me "Why do you care?" "You'll get into trouble,

Be Silent."

 

Later in my life my bosses were telling me "Don't question orders. Pretend that you agree with them and Be Silent!"

 

I got married and had children and taught them to be Silent.

My husband was honest and hardworking and knew how to be Silent.

He had a wise mother, that was telling him to be "Be Silent."

 

During leap years, neighbors were advising me:

"Do not get involved. Pretend you did not see a thing and Be Silent"

We may have not had any kind of great relationship between us,

but were however united by Silence.

 

"Be Silent" one of them was saying, "Be Silent" the other was responding,"Be Silent" the people upstairs were saying, "Be Silent" the people underneath were saying.

 

"Be Silent" throughout the whole building and around the whole square.

"Be Silent" across the vertical and parallel streets.

 

We swallowed our tongues.

We may have a mouth, but not a voice.

We joined the "Be Silent" club" that gathered many,

an entire city of great strength, but a mute one!

We achieved a lot and reached so high that they gave us medals.

 

And all so easy, just by being Silent.

What a great art that phrase "Be Silent" can be.

Teach it to your wife, teach it to your child, teach it to your mother in law.

And when you feel the need to speak, forcefully remove your tongue out and Be Silent.

 

Cut your tongue out and throw it to the dogs. It has become a useless body part, since you're not using it correctly. By doing so, you will not have nightmares, guilt and doubts.

 

You will not be ashamed of your children

and you'll save yourself from the trouble of talking,

you won't have to speak and say "you are so right, I'm with you".

 

Oh gosh ! How much I wish I was able to speak!

And you will not speak, you'll become a windbag,

you will be drooling instead of talking.

Cut out your tongue, immediately cut it out.

You don't have any other choice.

 

Be mute. Since you will not speak, it's better to dare it.

Cut out your tongue.

 

At least be honest with yourself.

In my plans and in my dreams, between sobs and fits, I hold my tongue.

 

Cause I fear that the moment will come, where I won't be able to withhold this urge and I 'll burst out without fear, but full of hope.

 

And every time my throat will be filled with just one phoneme,

with just one whisper, one stutter, one cry that tells me:

"S P E A K".... !!!

9th programme at the Experimental Film Club (Dublin)

Curated by moi in colladoration with based-Cork artist and critique Maximilian Le Cain.

 

Films on this programme:

 

MAKING A HOME (Maximilian le Cain, 2007, 10mins., video, Ireland).

LEO ES PARDO (Iván Zulueta, 1976, 10mins. 16mm., Spain).

CHROMO SUB (Etienne O´Leary, 1968, 20mins, 16mm., France).

T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (Paul Sharits, 1968, 12mins., 16mm., EEUU).

 

The blurring of reality, the torture of repetition, the sensual limits of the subject... a selection of films that make architectonical space stutter, guaranteeing a sublime E,J,A,C,U,L,A,T,I,O,N of cinematic light all over the audience !!

 

Poster designed by ZARZ.

 

The words should be read here:

 

experimentalfilmclub.blogspot.com/

homage to Virginia Woolf while sheltering in place

We went so I could hopefully get some photos of Sanderlings and I did but not with my iPhone. We are used to this beach and knew the tide would be out which of course it was….the distant thin blue line on the horizon confirmed that lol…it appeared to be half a mile away so I asked Jonathan to stay back with the dogs whilst I walked to the water which started to slowly roll in. I was absolutely fascinated by the steady movement of the water that didn’t have waves as such but rolled inexorably in. I got my knee wet first then both feet ( leather walking shoes ) but found it fascinating. I found later my favourite iPhone clips kept stuttering and not sure why but this short one gives a feeling of of the mesmerising nature of the sea slowly and sort of gently with no waves as such but little wavelets - that probably isn’t even a real word. Used a Nikon to get some photos of the Sanderlings without the greatest success but it was a wonderful day nonetheless..Sue :)

My Friend With A Stuttering Problem Was Just Sent To Prison.

 

I Fear He May Not Finish His Sentence.

 

Arr arr...ahem

🌲 Beneath the pines, where the lake mirrors the sky like polished glass and even the heron pauses to admire its own reflection, I choose my armor with exquisite care — not for battle, but for the slow, delicious surrender of a man who cannot help himself when I walk toward him. Tonight, it is the Desiree Mini Dress and Radija Boots by WellMade… a pairing that does not ask for attention, but commands it.

 

💗 The Desiree Mini is sculpted temptation — a slip of silk-kissed satin that clings as though it remembers every curve it touches. Its silhouette is clean yet dangerously soft, the kind that follows the body rather than restrains it. Thin straps trace the shoulders like whispered promises, while the ruched side draw gathers the hem into a teasing asymmetry, lifting just enough to make his pulse stutter. The back is its most treacherous secret: a laced web that bares the spine in a way both elegant and primal, recalling the gowns worn by nightclub sirens of the late 1960s — women who understood that mystery, not exposure, is what keeps a man leaning forward.

 

👢 Anchoring this fragility are the Radija Boots — thigh-high declarations of power. Their towering platforms and razor heels transform every step into ceremony. Satin-smooth panels sheath the legs like a second skin, while delicate metal accents and lace details along the rear seam add a flash of ornament that catches the light as I move. They are not merely footwear; they are posture, dominance, inevitability. In them, I am taller, slower, impossible to ignore.

 

🎨 Both pieces arrive with richly versatile HUDs, turning one outfit into a wardrobe.

• Desiree Mini Dress: 22 sumptuous colors ranging from soft blush and wine to midnight noir

• Radija Boots: 40 colors with 6 metallic accent options for hardware detailing

 

This means I can become whatever he craves — innocent rose, dangerous garnet, untouchable ivory — without changing a single silhouette.

 

Compatible mesh bodies

Desiree Mini Dress supports:

• Belleza Classic + Curvy

• Erika + Petite

• Maitreya

• LaraX + PetiteX

• Legacy + Perky

• Bombshell + Perky

• Reborn

• Waifu

• Kupra

 

Radija Boots support:

• Maitreya

• LaraX

• Legacy

• Reborn

 

💫 Looking beautiful is not vanity — it is communication. When I appear in something like this, I am telling him without words that I chose to become irresistible for him alone. Men respond to that intention with a hunger that is almost reverent. His eyes darken, his voice lowers, his hands hover just a fraction too close… because desire, once awakened, is difficult to conceal.

 

👑 This style descends from a lineage of legendary temptresses — the satin minis of Brigitte Bardot’s Riviera summers, the body-skimming silhouettes favored by Diana Ross on stage, the unapologetic glamour of Studio 54 muses who danced until dawn beneath mirrored ceilings. These dresses were never meant to be practical; they were meant to be remembered.

 

📍 Available now at the Fifty Fifty (50L) promotion — a fleeting indulgence for those who understand that beauty is often best enjoyed in the moment

Desiree Mini Dress & Radija Boots teleport:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Serena%20Capri/153/156/3501

 

Marketplace listing for the boots:

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/WellMade-Radija-Boots-PROMO/...

 

✨ As I smooth the satin over my hips and step into those impossibly high heels, I realize the truth every siren has always known: seduction begins long before the first touch. It begins with the way a woman decides to be seen.

 

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” — Coco Chanel

 

It was getting dark, I had been out to long, it had been a very hard day and the slow stuttering steps I was taking to descend High Crag were painful, I was starting to doubt I could do this any more, had my age caught up with me. It was my first serious fell walk since my nerve injury last January and I was euphoric when I made the top of Red Pike taking an unrelenting steep climb from Buttermere. I set off from Red Pike in high spirits in total clag (dense mountain mist), you were lucky to see 20 metres ahead. The ridge of Red Pike, High Stiles and High Crags I’ve always found to be easy with exhilarating views down the sheer north facing buttresses, but for what ever reason it took me ages. It wasn’t the route finding as I’ve done it in snow and white out conditions in the past. By the time I was descending High Crag I knew I was going to be out in the dark but I was confident I would get too or near the lake shore footpath before I lost the light of dusk. As it was this route had taken me 2 hours longer than it took me last time I did it, 31 years ago, and then I had my 10 and 8 year old sons with me. So the route I had penciled in for the next day, some 2 miles longer was looking doubtful. So I adjusted my timings for the next day and planned some escape routes to cut the walk shorter. So I was very pleased when I gained the first summit Robinson a good 1 hour and 40 minutes quicker than my updated estimate, in fact I made Dale head the last summit ahead of my estimate for Robinson and I had a stop for coffee. This post is that coffee stop.

i like it ... zis way

 

i've been a terrible contact lately - way behind on comments and stuff. have been packing, cleaning, saying my goodbyes, planning the road trip itinerary, and we just had a blizzard yesterday. i'll try to be better. but, sorry.

 

going to see slumdog millionaire tonight, but first, i was tagged by tom & wayne to do this 'sixteeen things about me' thang, so here goes.

 

1. i have serious nerd tendencies: obsessed with lord of the rings, star wars/trek, philosophy, neuroscience, and i'm a bookworm ... yeah.

2. i frequently eat pasta and/or pizza for breakfast.

3. i'm probably one of the most undisciplined people i know. i don't have many 'rules'; i just kind of do what i want, when i want.

4. i hate hate hate water with ice. makes my teeth hurt!

5. i have terrible circulation. my nose is always freezing cold (probably due to how enormous it is ;) and turns red when it's cold, and my feet are usually blocks of ice.

6. if i could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive: jesus, gandhi, bobby kennedy (they just all happen to be dead...i'll get my seance on).

7. i would probably die without butter.

8. i really want to get two cats when i move out to san francisco, so i'm only looking for apartments that allow 'em. i've already named them: muddy waters & etta james brown.

9. i drink my coffee black. french or italian roast.

10. i stuttered until i was about four or five years old. i guess i just grew out of it.

11. i tend to mumble ... a lot. mostly talk to myself, follow a train of thought, fading off towards the end. it aggravates a lot of people.

12. i was nearly sent home from my (chartered) trip to israel a few years ago because i got too drunk in the bedouin tent. vodka shots and hookah. winning combination.

13. i smoke. sorry.

14. i'm not religious, but 'spiritual'. a deist. had been a raving atheist, then an agnostic (and there IS a difference, for you idiots who think that agnosticism is just 'safe' atheism, you are very wrong, just study the freaking etymology to start), until one week of binge mushroom-eating this spring.

15. i have an elf ear (you can see it, there, my right ear).

16. peonies are my favorite flower. (in case you want to send me some.)

38/365 -Around the house - Day 38

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Shot this through the falling snow, playing around with the 'panorama' setting.

There must be a learning curve... this shot has stutters.

It's also cropped and tinted.

Mixophyes balbus. Dorrigo National Park, Dorrigo, NSW.

Macro Mondays theme: Paper

 

This week I chose to photograph a couple of pop-up greeting cards with bird themes. The one I selected to post to the group opens to a robin feeding two recently hatched nestlings. I like the way the doubled pieces almost stutter. The image in the 1st comment was the outside of the card and would have been my second choice.

 

HMM

"The dapper Spotted Sandpiper makes a great ambassador for the notoriously difficult-to-identify shorebirds. They occur all across North America, they are distinctive in both looks and actions, and they're handsome. They also have intriguing social lives in which females take the lead and males raise the young. With their richly spotted breeding plumage, teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats, and showy courtship dances, this bird is among the most notable and memorable shorebirds in North America.:

 

from allaboutbirds.org

I felt a sweet sensation, when I first met you. Oh beauteous sunflower, why do you have to tease me so much like this? ; )

Slow shutter cam -pixlrExpress .

 

A forgotten relic of the Bagenalstown & Wexford Railway dream to create a 44 mile inland railway route to Wexford. Built in 1858 as part of the first opening 8 miles to Borris, the dream quickly stuttered as the railway only made it to Ballywilliam by 1862.

Running through the totally unremunerative, but beautiful and sparsely populated rolling hills of South Carlow and Kilkenny and with only four stations it earned the least of any railway in Ireland and early closure envitably followed in 1864.

 

A fresh impetus in the 1870’s revived the line and with the line operated south of Ballywilliam by the Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway the line eventually made it’s connection to Wexford just north of Palace East.

 

Unfortunately for the line these developments never really improved the financial situation of the line and the Bagnelstown - Palace East section was the first in Ireland to lose it’s passenger service under Great Southern Railways ownership in 1931, full freight services following in 1947. Surprisingly for a line with such a perilous existence, it was kept open and in place for occasional passenger special and seasonal sugar beet traffic till the axe finally came down in 1963.

 

Today with one side of it’s embankment removed, it really is a bridge to nowhere.

 

Canon 5D - August 2025.

Repeat after me: Ho, ho, ho!

 

Since when do you have a stutter, Sven? Holdup isn't that difficult a word.

 

No, no, this is a festive laughter!

 

Yeah, the kind of laughter after they gave you all their stuff.

 

You're getting it all wrong, Olaf. You are supposed to give them...

 

A good bashing. I can do that!

 

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

That new religion isn't catching on with Olaf.

 

Pagan Project Day 3797

My phone camera has a mind of its own, and today when taking photos of a rescue helicopter departing Toowoomba Hospital, it had this among the shots taken.

Totally unintentional.

I've been seeing these tracks out in our woods since there has been snow on the ground. Too big for a cat & too small for a coyote; thinking maybe a dog...or a Red Fox; but the tracks didn't come up to the house like a curious dog. ....And there I saw it around the beaver dam; looking for rodents. It then started moving and headed across the path in front of me, from the frozen creek. I hurried my focus in the general area (should of had a digital lens this time 😏); but rapid stuttered through it crossing the path. Put all the images together in a sequence. I'll be ready next time. 😉

 

* Canon EOS M50 camera

* Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8 (Asahi) lens

* Fotasy M42-EOSM lens adapter

Dedicated to Lee Schnalberg whose video inspired me to try his technique. Thanks, Lee, for the inspiration!

 

iPhoneography on iPhone 11 Pro Max; Editing in Snapseed and Photo Editor, all on iPhone.

« i'm s-so sorry b-butterfly »

  

a remake of an old, but popular image of mine. It's still here on flickr if you want to see it. :D

Dorrigo National Park, New South Wales, Australia

 

Vulnerable

 

Contact me on jono_dashper@hotmail.com for use of this image.

Rich caramel-colored duck; long legs and neck give it a goose-like appearance. Body size much smaller than Mallard. Usually found in flocks; prefers marshes, marshy ponds, and flooded rice fields. Juvenile has contrasting dark wings and light belly. Vocal; frequently gives descending whistled calls with a stuttered beginning. Males sound wheezier, females more nasal and squeaky.

 

Slimbridge

( Vanessa kershawi ) A small genus that has a worldwide distribution. Adults fly close to the ground with quick stuttering glides with horizontal, outstretched wings.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are fairly small woodpeckers with stout, straight bills. The long wings extend about halfway to the tip of the stiff, pointed tail at rest. Often, sapsuckers hold their crown feathers up to form a peak at the back of the head.

 

Yellow-belled Sapsuckers perch upright on trees, leaning on their tails like other woodpeckers. They feed at sap-wells—neat rows of shallow holes they drill in tree bark. They lap up the sugary sap along with any insects that may get caught there. Sapsuckers drum on trees and metal objects in a distinctive stuttering pattern.

 

(Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

 

(Nikon D500, 300mm/4.0, 1/800 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 1000)

 

My Friend's Stutter Is So Bad, By The Time He Told Us His Nana Had Died, We Were All Singing "Hey Jude."

 

Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA

In the South, history is mother's milk and father's glare, nourishing and reproving, embracing and humiliating. Slavery, that particularly cruel institution, is the nervous stutter that makes the whites wince and the blacks smolder when mentioned amongst polite folk. History, once the perogative of the powerful, practices a silence here, adhering to a compact between the children of the oppressors and oppressed that things were what they were and shouldnt be resurrected in open conversation. In this complicit silence, your eyes become your ears.

 

Down the road a spell from my home lies an antebellum plantation manor, once the estate of the wealthiest man in the pre-war South, and its largest slave holder. Though considered benign in his treatment of his slaves, 3,000 souls toiled under his ownership, building his mansion, harvesting his crops, caring for his family. Living and dying as property.

 

Behind the manor, down a long dirt and gravel road, nestled in a hillside grove, is the cemetery where those slaves were buried. A visitor today looking for the graveyard could easily pass through it without notice. It is a slow sloping fold of land, opening to a fallow field where cotton and tobacco were once grown. Young pines and old cedars. Leaves from the surrounding hardwoods starting to brown and litter the ground. There is nothing to shout out and shake the wandering visitor that they are standing in the middle of a cemetery of perhaps hundreds. I say perhaps because there are no records of who or how many are buried here. No statues, no monuments, no engraved tombstones - only a curious repetition of granite stones jutting up from the ground - and then they realize where they are, and then all they can then see are the scores and scores of nameless rocks marking burials. Anonymous and forgotten, with only a field stone to mark their resting place, you see the trees surrounding them and remember the columns of the mansion they served. This is where laconic history fesses up one of its secrets and you meet the cruel face of slavery for the first time.

*I'm sorry the picture isn't that great. I've included this looong story so you can see what is happening, as it's not very clear in the pic. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. But if you do, be sure to read the notes on the dolls before the story. Thanks (:

 

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For weeks, Penelope and her two best friends, Skye and Krystell, had plans to see their favourite dance group, The Swifts, perform a musical on stage. While the trio were discussing their plans at the school cafeteria one day, Penelope's former best friend and Krystell's Science Lab partner, Hilary, who happened to be the most annoying girl at the school, overheard their conversation. Excited from the words "The Swifts" and "I can't wait to see them", Hilary yanked a chair from a nearby table and sat with the girls.

 

"You're going to see The Swifts?!" Asked Hilary with wide eyes and hands clasped to her chin.

 

While still getting used to the fact that Hilary - the girl who used to steal just about every one of her pencils and erasers, the girl who laughed and made fun of her when she was sick, snotty and coughing in class, the girl who turned away her old friends, picked fights and lied her mouth off to just about everybody - Penelope sat there, unable to form words from her mouth, regretting that she'd ever started the conversation about seeing her favourite dance group while Hilary was nearby.

 

There was a small silence between the girls. Skye, having small knowledge of Hilary's true character and thinking that Penelope and Krystell were friends with Hilary only because she had seen them talking and walking together in the past, finally spoke up; "Yep, wanna come?"

 

Penelope and Krystell, slightly burying their faces in their hands, looked at each other nervously. They felt too bad to say anything, as Skye had already invited Hilary to come.

 

"Sure!" Hilary replied excitedly.

 

In the week to come, the four girls prepared for the show; they purchased the tickets and bought new dresses. When they were dressed and it was finally time to see the show which was starting in thirty minutes, they all met at Penelope's house to take her car. A confident Hilary, sure she had everything, took one last look into her purse to re-assure she had her ticket... but it was gone! She had left it on her dresser back at her house!

 

"Oh my Gosh, where's my ticket?!?!" Hilary yelled out as she was searching her purse.

 

The girls just stood back watching Hilary's rage, worried that she would never find her ticket and somehow try to stop them from seeing the show they were planning to see for weeks.

 

Hilary panicked and grabbed her head. "OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!" she yelled, pulling every little item from her purse and shoving it back in with frustration.

 

Penelope couldn't just stand back helplessly any longer; she wanted to help Hayley somehow so Skye and Krystell could see the show. A generous Penelope, worried for her best friends and not herself, suddenly spoke up; "Hilary!" She tried calling out over Hilary's shouting. Hilary heard, turned around and glanced at Penelope; "What do you want?"

 

"I... Y-You can have my ticket" stuttered Penelope, still unsure of what she was doing.

"Really?! OMG, you saved my life!" replied a relieved Hilary.

 

Penelope grabbed the ticket from her bag and handed it over to Hilary, who swiped it from her hand in a heartbeat. "Thanks!" she said with no shame at all. "Well, see ya!" she heads over to the other girls.

 

Penelope was dumbfounded by Hilary's selfishness. But still, at least she felt better now that she knew her friends could see the show they had been planning for so long.

Hilary swung her arms over Skye's and Krystell's shoulders and walked out the door. Penelope could see how irratated her BFF's were from Hilary's weight over their shoulders. "Uh-Oh!" thought Penelope."What have I done to my girls?!"

  

Practicing star trails for an upcoming trip to Yosemite. The trails in this shot have a slight stutter which causes them to not look as smooth. I'm still figuring out the Sony built in time-lapse app; so I think it's the problem. I may have to go back to using my old method of shutter priority bracketing.

 

This was approximately 45 minutes of 30sec exposures blended with a single shot for the foreground using a luminosity mask.

 

Japan in Epcot seems to be the darkest area around the World Showcase. Every time I capture stars there I'm amazed at how many I can see in my photos.

This is a neat story if you have time to read it. Have a great weekend

 

"I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said, 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk, I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said, 'Wasu's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.'

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wasu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water, and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a lassi since I’ve never had one before.'

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have Good Housekeeping magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Bible, and a Travel + Leisure magazine.'

As we were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wasu told me he had the heater on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wasu,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.'

'Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle. If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining! Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right,' said Wasu. He continued and said, 'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Wasu replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year, I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. I hope we all decide to soar like an eagle and not quack like a duck."

Credit: Summer Grace Vanni

maybe for a long time, disowned by your parents, betrayed by your wife. Your friends live in another town, your children only recall your stutter. You could hit yourself when you see yourself in the mirror... (angel touches his shoulder)

What's going on? I'm still here! All I need do is want it! I must want it! Only then will I get myself out of it! I can let myself go or drag myself out!!!

 

(Taken from the English subtitled version of the film "Der Himmel über Berlin").

Mit schönen Erinnerungsfotos von diesem wunderbaren Aussichtpunkt beim Grand Canyon reisten Luis, Bärbel und Sweety dann doch mit Hilfe der magischen Glocke rasch weiter, bevor noch einer dort in die Schlucht stürzte:

 

BIM-BIM-BIM 🔔🔔🔔

🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀

 

SWEETY: „Wo sind wir denn jetzt gelandet ? Das ist ein schöner Blumestand. Ah, da gibt es auch eine Telefonzelle, ob ich Onkel Peter anrufen soll, er weiß vielleicht wo wir sind … ?“

 

BÄRBEL: „Das brauchst du nicht Sweety. Ich kann dir sagen, wir sind in London beim Buckingham Palast, der Residenz von König Charles und Königin Camilla !“

 

Seine Majestät König Charles III und Ihre Majestät Königin Camilla: „Wir heißen Euch herzlich willkommen bei uns in London.“

 

LUIS macht eine Verbeugung: „Vielen Dank … Eure … Majestät ...“

 

SWEETY versteckt sich vor Schreck in der Telefonzelle. 😲

 

BÄRBEL und LUIS bekommen ein Geschenk und stottern vor Aufregung: „Dankeschön … Eure … Majestät ...“

(Fortsetzung folgt … )

 

Ein großes Dankeschön an Karen, die mir das Hintergrundbild mit Hilfe von KI zur Verfügung stellte ! 💞

Vielen Dank auch an Jesse und Katharina für ihre Fotos !! 💞

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With beautiful souvenir photos of this wonderful viewpoint at the Grand Canyon, Luis, Bärbel and Sweety travelled on quickly with the help of the magic bell before anyone else fell into the canyon:

 

BIM-BIM-BIM 🔔🔔🔔

🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀

 

SWEETY: “Where have we ended up now? That's a nice flower stand. Ah, there's also a phone box, should I call Uncle Peter, he might know where we are ... ?”

 

BÄRBEL: “You don't need to, Sweety. I can tell you we're in London at Buckingham Palace, the residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla !”

 

His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla: “We welcome you to London.”

 

LUIS bows: “Thank you ... Your ... Majesty ...”

 

SWEETY hides in the phone box in fright. 😲

 

BÄRBEL and LUIS receive a present and stutter with excitement: “Thank you ... Your ... Majesty ...”

(To be continued ...)

 

A big thank you to Karen, who created the background picture with the help of AI ! 💞

Many thanks also to Jesse and Katharina for their photos !! 💞

Stuttering star trail. It was looking to be clear on Saturday night so decide to try get a astro shot with my little olympus with its livecomp mode, which stacks the photos in camera. It's a popular place for dog walkers but nobody will be there this time of night it's pitch black. WRONG! Eventually I get the composition I wanted and along came the visiting Exmoor ponies to see what this idiot is doing on the hill, on this cold night. So I start again and along comes the first dog walker, no light but his monster dog nearly knocks over my tripod. And I bet he left a monster poo on the hill. I start again and back come the ponies, I ignore them, I'll brush them out in post. Then an aeroplane across my trail. Start again. Now the fun and games, another couple of dog walkers with torches, flashing collars on the dogs and flashing go and fetch balls. Nearly about to give up, but I take a clean image of the foreground before the neon dog walkers make the return trip and then go for it. The last attempt I get 40 shots, with ponies walking about the foreground and then I pack in, my feet were freezing. Said bye bye to the ponies who I was getting rather attached to. Anyway I've stacked what I got together in PS for your enjoyment. Every photo tells a story.

Olney State Forest, The Watagans, New South Wales, Australia

 

Vulnerable

 

Contact me on jono_dashper@hotmail.com for use of this image.

paltimesnews 21/X/25

 

'Reports from the Gaza Mental Health Program reveal that many children in Gaza are losing their ability to speak due to psychological trauma from the ongoing war and Israeli bombardment, not physical injuries.

 

Known as “psychological mutism,” affected children communicate through gestures and repetitive movements instead of words.

 

Dr. Hiba Haidar, a language disorders specialist, confirmed that UNICEF and WHO data link speech loss and stuttering directly to exposure to bombing and traumatic events.

 

Even before the genocide, over half of Gaza’s children showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and experts warn that the situation may worsen, increasing the psychological burden on the next generation.'

_______________________

 

BETHEL - CAPEL YR ANNIBYNWYR/ INDEPENDENT CHAPEL - CYNGHORDY - SIR GAERFYRDDIN/ CARMARTHENSHIRE (1872)

 

coflein.gov.uk/en/site/6471/

 

Four days ago, on 15 April 2015, my parking lot was going to be spring-cleaned, which meant that all cars had to be out of the lot by 7:30 am. I don't have a 2015 street parking permit, so I had to leave home at 7:30 and find something that would use up the few hours before my volunteer shift. I didn't want to risk being late for that, so decided to stay within the city rather than go driving some backroads. The owls in Fish Creek Park ended up being my destination. I had only been there twice in many weeks and seen Mom on my first visit and then Mom with two of her three owlets on the second. When I arrived four mornings ago, there was no sign of the "paparazzi" - I had been expecting there to be at least a few photographers and people out for a walk. This time, I was able to see all three owlets as well as Mom and Dad. Late afternoon, after my volunteer shift, I called in again for a while on my way home.

 

Note added on 19 April: I've just checked the EXIF data for my photos from that morning and talk about being lucky! When I got to the park, I took my first photo at 7:52 am. The photo above was my sixth photo, and was taken at 7:54 am.. I think I was actually standing on the paved path for this. I heard today that a 10 minute limit has now been put on watching and photographing the owls at this location, thanks to the people who are there from morning till late afternoon every day (or almost every day). I had a bad feeling that these people were going to end up spoiling things for everyone else, and now it has happened. Can't say I agree with the "10 minute thing", but all day every day is going way too far. Sigh ....

 

This is a busy Mom with three young ones – not sure which owlet this is. Dad sits in one or other of the nearby trees, keeping careful watch over his mate and owlets. He hunts at night and brings food to the rest of his family. The feathers around Mom’s beak are very dark, discoloured from the dried blood from all the feedings.

 

"With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.

 

Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots." From AllAboutBirds.

 

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl

 

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