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Just south of the south switch at Byron where the double track ends the hill has been topped and the train gains speed. Helperlink on the pushers allow them to cut off on the fly. This probably should be a video but everything is in motion here, the DPU is slowly pulling away and the tunnel motors are about the brake to a stop before reversing direction. July 20, 2024.
TopGear 2002 Season 1 (Episode 6): Renault AVANTIME on the Cool Wall: Jeremy Clarkson places the Renault AVANTIME on the very edge of the Sub-Zero section!
TopGear 2008 Season 12 (Episode 3) a used AVANTIME was recognized by the presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as one of the few cars that they all three liked.
www.flickr.com/photos/halfbyte/3040409681/
This is my 2002 Renault AVANTIME 2.0 16V TURBO 'NOIR NOCTURNE' photographed on our driveway.
No other car in the world has these ingenious doors and I'm sure this feature will be one of the most remembered features of this AVANTGARDE LOOKING FUTURE CLASSIC.
Detail ingenious doors: www.autoreview.ru/new_site/year2001/n13/avantime/avant-19...
THE AVANTIME HISTORY RETOLD
Renault suffered from over-capacity at their factories, and rather than letting people off, they wanted to take over the manufacture of the hugely successful Espace. So, they made the agreement with Matra that if Matra was given the task of developing this new high-spec topmodel, Renault could bring the Espace production in-house. Since Renault don't have the knowhow and expertise to produce cars like Matra do, they had to redesign the Espace, making it the conventional steel car we see marketed as "Espace IV". Matra took on the task and they came up with a series of design-ideas, all based on the "Espace III".
The Geneva motor show in March 1999 saw the unveiling of a new Renault concept car - where it was called a "Coupéspace" - which leads the way in opening up a long forgotten niche - that of a luxurious Grand Tourer Coupé with space for four adults to relax in comfort.
Poster AVANTIME 1999: www.flickr.com/photos/m_and_jiji/6920221965/
In the 1920's and '30's Renault's main products were luxurious sports models like the 1929 eight-cylinder Reinastella and 1930 Nervastella, driven by Royalty and Europe's aristocracy. The AVANTIME takes some inspiration from these powerful Grand Tourers, built to cover large distances in great comfort and style, whilst focusing firmly on the future. The AVANTIME, illustrates in a forthright manner Renault's ability to shape the future of the motor car. The manufacturer is convinced that there is room in the market for a new breed of coupe, targeted at a customer group seeking the visual distinction, rarity and driving enjoyment of a coupe with the luxury of space and comfort found in a large car or monospace, all wrapped up in a vehicle which is technologically advanced and forward looking. Styled by Patrick Le Quément, the AVANTIME was intended to combine the space of an MPV with four-place pillarless qualities of a coupé. Regarding the styling, Thierry Metroz, design project manager, said, "We wanted someone walking around the car to be continually astonished."
You sit high up, with glass all around you. The AVANTIME has no B-pillars - one thing that certainly delayed the project was getting the pillar-less design safety-approved - which adds a roadster feel to it, with windows down.
It was named the AVANTIME, which is not pronounced fully in French, but a combination 'AVANT' as in French for "ahead" and 'TIME' pronounced in english. In other words "Ahead of its time". They are quite probably right, and it will not be the first time Matra have been ahead of their time, and have spotted a niche almost before it appeared. It is an avantgarde looking car, the target group were people (former Espace-owners) whose kids have left home, but who still prefer the style and flexibility of the Espace, spiced up with a more luxurious interior and some decent performance. Very similar to the Espace the AVANTIME uses a warm-galvanized chassis in the lower part, but with the upper structure done in aluminium, to get the centre of gravity even lower than the Espace. The bodywork is still polyester, which is bonded in place. The doors are now a (galvanized) steel construction with polyester bodypanels bonded to it, making them much stronger than standard Espace doors, which were all fibreglass, with a metal frame, and in later models (J63 and JE) a side-impact steel bar about halfway up, on the inside. The frontend design is developed from the Espace, with the air-con intake moved to above the headlights, rather than the sidemirrors. The sidemirrors, on the other hand, have moved towards the door-windows again, as on the early Espace models.
Matra's engineers have avoided the top-heaviness of a minivan or SUV by fitting a lightweight aluminum superstructure to the Espace chassis. The track has been widened, the suspension lowered, and the wheels and brakes enlarged. Careful development has produced a car that feels stable at high speed on the autobahn, steers accurately, rolls only a little when cornered hard, yet smoothes all but the roughest roads. This is an impressive achievement and makes the AVANTIME fun for the driver and calm and secure for the passengers.
Renault has enlisted the services of French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to front its first-ever cross-brand advertising campaign "Créateur d'automobiles" (a one-minute spot with music by Etienne de Crécy). The pan-European ad aims to position the French motor brand as being creative and innovative, paving the way for forthcoming launches such as the new AVANTIME GT Coupe in 2001. TV advertising, by incumbent agency Publicis, breaks on October 17 (2000) and shows Gaultier designing and producing a new dress, from sketches to the finished product on the catwalk. After the fashion show, the model sees a Renault AVANTIME and is captivated by it. The ad then shows the process by which the car was created, in reverse from the completed car back to the production line. The designer's sketch is reduced to a blank piece of paper, mirroring Gaultier's process. Eric Bernard, Renault's worldwide advertising director, said: 'We're going to cause a stir with this campaign, and we hope to surprise and interest those who only think of Renault as a brand for small and medium-sized cars. 'It will trigger awareness and help us develop the new message in preparation for the launch of our new large cars.' The TV campaign's launch is being timed to coincide with the Birmingham International Motor Show, where Renault is unveiling its production version of the AVANTIME. It is being supported by press and poster activity.
Link Renault AVANTIME spot commercial 2001: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FS3V-akz-c
In the meantime - there was a considerable delay in launching the AVANTIME - Renault had tested their design studio VEL SATIS with the public at car-shows and put the VEL SATIS into production, and hit the marked about the same time as the Avantime was finally ready. This means that Renault had two different approaches to the high-end luxury car, one being almost entirely Renault, the other a Matra. The Renault VEL SATIS has 4 doors, which should appeal to less adventurous (or more conservative) people. The AVANTIME was a two-doors only car (well, Matra did have a prototype 4-door version, but it never made it to production), but the doors are "huge" to allow for easy access, and are novel in the way they open, as they are internally hinged, making them sort of fold when you open them. Hereby even these huge doors will only require the same parkingspace as any other car, but at the same time offering excellent access. Having the AVANTIME compete with its Renault sibling obviously was not a good thing for Matra, who must have felt that Renault had not kept their part of the deal. To add insult to injury, its no secret that Renault urged their sales-organisation to push the VEL SATIS before the AVANTIME (by offering higher bonuses to the sales-people). This caused the AVANTIME to sell suficciently poor, to drain Matra for funds, and since there were no hopes for Renault helping them out, Matra decided in december 2002 that enough was enough and in April 2003 they shut down Matra Automobile and closed the factory in Romorantin. The last AVANTIME left the Matra assembly lines 18th of April 2003.
The following production figures have been published (Source: Matra France, L.Thimonner, 2003 ):
2001 : 2067
2002 : 5097
2003 : 1286
HISTORY REPEATING
Only 8450 Renault AVANTIME's were eventually built, before its abrubt end-of-life...
In the science fiction movie 'Children of men' (released 2006), the AVANTIME prototype 4-door version was seen in the cinema, Clive Owen and Julianne Moore travel in the AVANTIME until a breathtaking action sequence disrupt the journey...
Avantime has retained its feeling of novelty!
www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=renault%20icons%20...
The tale of Renault's short lived but stunning coupé is brought to life using interviews with the key players in the cars development, including ex Renault Head of Design Patrick Le Quement and Matra's Phillipe Guedon. With a colourful gathering of over 200 of the iconic cars at the famous Montlhery race track, the Avantime's 10th anniversary is the centre piece of this programme. Enthusiasts and experts swap opinions about what prevented this car becoming as much of a success as it perhaps should have been. Even more of the car's story is provided by Renault Avantime insiders Thierry Metroz and Carole Hurel, while current boss of Renault design, Laurens Van Den Acker gives his verdict on what makes this unique car so special.
Official Video Renault 10 Years AVANTIME, the "Coupéspace"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCXHroaxg8w&feature=feedu
Explore Renault AVANTIME
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The Design Firm Collection :: LIMEHOUSE TABLES ::
The Limehouse Tables come as a trio, providing you with a console, coffee & side table. We have reimagined this table set in three new materials; Granite, Marble and Travertine. Each material contains six texture change options for the body, as well as five texture change options for the wooden leg accents. These options will allow for endless possibilities when customizing your space!
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BRC&W Class 104 M50455 and M50517 both entered traffic in (separate) Class 104 3-car sets in 1957; delivered to British Railways' London Midland region to replace steam operated suburban services in the North West.
Up until the 1980's, M50455 & M50517 had very similar histories, being allocated first to the North West depots of Longsight and Crewe respectively. Carrying green livery, the two vehicles ran reliably and uneventfully, receiving BR Blue colours during the late 1960's after approximately 10 years in service.
Both were overhauled in the 1970's, being stripped of their lethal asbestos insulation and the obsolete two character route indicators removed from the front ends, changing their outward appearance markedly. The interior fittings and decor remained original as the Class were never included in the DMU life extension programme.
M50455 & M50517 were renumbered M53455 & M53517 in February & May 1983 respectively as part of the 'TOPS' system. By the 1980's Class 104's were also being superseded by new 'Pacer' and 'Sprinter' trains. This is where the histories of M50455 & M50517 diverge.
53455 (M50455) migrated South to the London area to operate outer suburban lines which were still to be electrified. In 1988 the vehicle was one of eight Class 104's (four 2-car sets) selected for refurbishment and emerged from Doncaster Works in the striking multi-coloured Network SouthEast livery as part of set L702.
L702 was later split up and 53455 became part of set L730 with other vehicles, being used mostly on the Gospel Oak to Barking route. In January 1992 the service was given over to Class 115 units, seeing 53455 transferred to the Reading area, working 'Thames Line' trains until finally being displaced by Class 165 DMUs. With more thoroughly refurbished vehicles, such as Class 108s, still available, 53455 was taken out of service in September 1992.
53517 (M50517) headed in the opposite direction during the 1980's, being transferred to Scotland where it became part of a 3-car set numbered '456'. In 1989, 53517 returned South of the border, back to North West England, being formed in 2-car 'power twin' set CH611. Initially this saw a return to the Manchester area with a further transfer to Chester Depot, the last place to see 104s in the North. 53517 was taken out of service in May 1990.
M50455 & M50517 were secured by the Birmingham Railcar Workgroup in 1992 and moved to the Churnet Valley Railway where they were selected as the best pair of vehicles in the group's care and therefore most worthy of restoration. Both vehicles were painstakingly restored to 1960's condition over the following 12 years, entering CVR service in September 2004.
Ten years of successful operation followed before the set was relocated to the ELR in November 2014 to join the DMU fleet there.
The 104 set made a brief debut at the ELR DMU Theme Day on Saturday 14th March 2015 before being taken back out of service for bodywork repairs and repaint.
After successful completion of its final tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is being prepped for shipment to its launch site.
Engineering teams have completed Webb’s long-spanning comprehensive testing regimen at Northrop Grumman’s facilities. Webb’s many tests and checkpoints were designed to ensure that the world’s most complex space science observatory will operate as designed once in space.
Now that observatory testing has concluded, shipment operations have begun. This includes all the necessary steps to prepare Webb for a safe journey through the Panama Canal to its launch location in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Since no more large-scale testing is required, Webb’s clean room technicians have shifted their focus from demonstrating it can survive the harsh conditions of launch and work in orbit, to making sure it will safely arrive at the launch pad. Webb’s contamination control technicians, transport engineers, and logistics task forces are all expertly prepared to handle the unique task of getting Webb to the launch site. Shipping preparations will be completed in September.
Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-james-webb-space...
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager, NASA JPL reacts to the first image to be seen from the Mars InSight lander shortly after confirmation of a successful touch down on the surface of Mars, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 inside the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
successful attack of the Germans between Noyon and Montdidier, the German Infantry leaving their positions to start the attack.
A successful catch for the heron - he appears to have caught a small Dace or a Roach.
I was annoyed to find a stick and wjhat looks to be an old bike frame in the way of the heron when I uploaded the shot.
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty eight metres at 07:18am just as the light broke through the dawn on an Autumn morning, Saturday Octyober 22nd 2022 off Hythe Avenue and Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
Here we see an adult male Carrion crow (Corvus corone), one of a pair who I have fed for three years now. Nicknamed Russell, he sits on an aerial opposite my front door, calling to Sheryl his wife, and Baboo, thier young'en from this year.
AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT CORVUS CORONE
LEGEND AND MYTHOLOGY
By Paul Williams
Crows appear in the Bible where Noah uses one to search for dry land and to check on the recession of the flood. Crows supposedly saved the prophet, Elijah, from famine and are an Inuit deity. Legend has it that England and its monarchy will end when there are no more crows in the Tower of London. And some believe that the crows went to the Tower attracted by the regular corpses following executions with written accounts of their presence at the executions of Anne Boleyn and Jane Gray.
In Welsh mythology, unfortunately Crows are seen as symbolic of evilness and black magic thanks to many references to witches transforming into crows or ravens and escaping. Indian legend tells of Kakabhusandi, a crow who sits on the branches of a wish-fulfilling tree called Kalpataru and a crow in Ramayana where Lord Rama blessed the crow with the power to foresee future events and communicate with the souls.
In Native American first nation legend the crow is sometimes considered to be something of a trickster, though they are also viewed positively by some tribes as messengers between this world and the next where they carry messages from the living to those deceased, and even carry healing medicines between both worlds. There is a belief that crows can foresee the future. The Klamath tribe in Oregon believe that when we die, we fly up to heaven as a crow. The Crow can also signify wisdom to some tribes who believe crows had the power to talk and were therefore considered to be one of the wisest of birds. Tribes with Crow Clans include the Chippewa (whose Crow Clan and its totem are called Aandeg), the Hopi (whose Crow Clan is called Angwusngyam or Ungwish-wungwa), the Menominee, the Caddo, the Tlingit, and the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico.
The crow features in the Nanissáanah (Ghost dance), popularized by Jerome Crow Dog, a Brulé Lakota sub-chief and warrior born at Horse Stealing Creek in Montana Territory in 1833, the crow symbolizing wisdom and the past, when the crow had became a guide and acted as a pathfinder during hunting. The Ghost dance movement was originally created in 1870 by Wodziwob, or Gray Hair, a prophet and medicine man of the Paiute tribe in an area that became known as Nevada. Ghost dancers wore crow and eagle feathers in their clothes and hair, and the fact that the Crow could talk placed it as one of the sages of the animal kingdom. The five day dances seeking trance,prophecy and exhortations would eventually play a major part in the pathway towards the white man's broken treaties, the infamous battle at Wounded knee and the surrender of Matȟó Wanáȟtaka (Kicking Bear), after officials began to fear the ghost dancers and rituals which seemed to occur prior to battle.
Historically the Vikings are the group who made so many references to the crow, and Ragnarr Loðbrók and his sons used this species in his banner as well as appearances in many flags and coats of arms. Also, it had some kind of association with Odin, one of their main deities. Norse legend tells us that Odin is accompanied by two crows. Hugin, who symbolizes thought, and Munin, who represents a memory. These two crows were sent out each dawn to fly the entire world, returning at breakfast where they informed the Lord of the Nordic gods of everything that went on in their kingdoms. Odin was also referred to as Rafnagud (raven-god). The raven appears in almost every skaldic poem describing warfare.Coins dating back to 940's minted by Olaf Cuaran depict the Viking war standard, the Raven and Viking war banners (Gonfalon) depicted the bird also.
In Scandinavian legends, crows are a representative of the Goddess of Death, known as Valkyrie (from old Norse 'Valkyrja'), one of the group of maidens who served the Norse deity Odin, visiting battlefields and sending him the souls of the slain worthy of a place in Valhalla. Odin ( also called Wodan, Woden, or Wotan), preferred that heroes be killed in battle and that the most valiant of souls be taken to Valhöll, the hall of slain warriors. It is the crow that provides the Valkyries with important information on who should go. In Hindu ceremonies that are associated to ancestors, the crow has an important place in Vedic rituals. They are seen as messengers of death in Indian culture too.
In Germanic legend, Crows are seen as psychonomes, meaning the act of guiding spirits to their final destination, and that the feathers of a crow could cure a victim who had been cursed. And yet, a lone black crow could symbolize impending death, whilst a group symbolizes a lucky omen! Vikings also saw good omens in the crow and would leave offerings of meat as a token.
The crow also has sacred and prophetic meaning within the Celtic civilization, where it stood for flesh ripped off due to combat and Morrighan, the warrior goddess, often appears in Celtic mythology as a raven or crow, or else is found to be in the company of the birds. Crow is sacred to Lugdnum, the Celtic god of creation who gave his name to the city of Lug
In Greek mythology according to Appolodorus, Apollo is supposedly responsible for the black feathers of the crow, turning them forever black from their pristine white original plumage as a punishment after they brought news that Κορωνις (Coronis) a princess of the Thessalian kingdom of Phlegyantis, Apollo's pregnant lover had left him to marry a mortal, Ischys. In one legend, Apollo burned the crows feathers and then burned Coronis to death, in another Coronis herself was turned into a black crow, and another that she was slain by the arrows of Αρτεμις (Artemis - twin to Apollo). Koronis was later set amongst the stars as the constellation Corvus ("the Crow"). Her name means "Curved One" from the Greek word korônis or "Crow" from the word korônê.A similar Muslim legend allegedly tells of Muhammad, founder of Islam and the last prophet sent by God to Earth, who's secret location was given away by a white crow to his seekers, as he hid in caves. The crow shouted 'Ghar Ghar' (Cave, cave) and thus as punishment, Muhammad turned the crow black and cursed it for eternity to utter only one phrase, 'Ghar, ghar). Native Indian legend where the once rainbow coloured crows became forever black after shedding their colourful plumage over the other animals of the world.
In China the Crow is represented in art as a three legged bird on a solar disk, being a creature that helps the sun in its journey. In Japan there are myths of Crow Tengu who were priests who became vain, and turned into this spirit to serve as messengers until they learn the lesson of humility as well as a great Crow who takes part in Shinto creation stories.
In animal spirit guides there are general perceptions of what sightings of numbers of crows actually mean:
1 Crow Meaning: To carry a message from your near one who died recently.
2 Crows Meaning: Two crows sitting near your home signifies some good news is on your way.
3 Crows Meaning: An upcoming wedding in your family.
4 Crows Meaning: Symbolizes wealth and prosperity.
5 Crows Meaning: Diseases or pain.
6 Crows Meaning: A theft in your house!
7 Crows Meaning: Denotes travel or moving from your house.
8 Crows Meaning: Sorrowful events
Crows are generally seen as the symbolism when alive for doom bringing, misfortune and bad omens, and yet a dead crow symbolises potentially bringing good news and positive change to those who see it. This wonderful bird certainly gets a mixed bag of contradictory mythology and legend over the centuries and in modern days is often seen as a bit of a nuisance, attacking and killing the babies of other birds such as Starlings, Pigeons and House Sparrows as well as plucking the eyes out of lambs in the field, being loud and noisy and violently attacking poor victims in a 'crow court'....
There is even a classic horror film called 'THE CROW' released in 1994 by Miramax Films, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee in his final film appearance as Eric Draven, who is revived by a Crow tapping on his gravestone a year after he and his fiancée are murdered in Detroit by a street gang. The crow becomes his guide as he sets out to avenge the murders. The only son of martial arts expert Bruce Lee, Brandon lee suffered fatal injuries on the set of the film when the crew failed to remove the primer from a cartridge that hit Lee in the abdomen with the same force as a normal bullet. Lee died that day, March 31st 1993 aged 28.
The symbolism of the Crow resurrecting the dead star and accompanying him on his quest for revenge was powerful, and in some part based on the history of the carrion crow itself and the original film grossed more than $94 Million dollars with three subsequent sequels following.
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK
So let's move away from legend, mythology and stories passed down from our parents and grandparents and look at these amazing birds in isolation.
Carrion crow are passerines in the family Corvidae a group of Oscine passerine birds including Crows, Ravens, Rooks, Jackdaws, Jays, Magpies, Treepies, Choughs and Nutcrackers. Technically they are classed as Corvids, and the largest of passerine birds. Carrion crows are medium to large in size with rictal bristles and a single moult per year (most passerines moult twice). Carrion crow was one of the many species originally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (Carl Von Linne after his ennoblement) in his 1758 and 1759 editions of 'SYSTEMA NATURAE', and it still bears its original name of Corvus corone, derived from the Latin of Corvus, meaning Raven and the Greek κορώνη (korōnē), meaning crow.
Carrion crow are of the Animalia kingdom Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Corvus and Species: Corvus corone
Corvus corone can reach 45-47cm in length with a 93-104cm wingspan and weigh between 370-650g. They are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in the United Kingdom with a Green UK conservation status which means they are of least concern with more than 1,000,000 territories. Breeding occurs in April with fledging of the chicks taking around twenty nine days following an incubation period of around twenty days with 3 to 4 eggs being the average norm. They are abundant in the UK apart from Northwest Scotland and Ireland where the Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) was considered the same species until 2002. They have a lifespan of around four years, whilst Crow species can live to the age of Twenty years old, and the oldest known American crow in the wild was almost Thirty years old. The oldest documented captive crow died at age Fifty nine. They are smaller and have a shorter lifespan than the Raven, which again is used as a symbol in history to live life to the full and not waste a moment!
They are often mistaken for the Rook (Corvus frugilegus), a similar bird, though in the UK, the Rook is actually technically smaller than the Carrion crow averaging 44-46cm in length, 81-99cm wingspan and weighing up to 340g. Rooks have white beaks compared to the black beaks of Carrion crow, a more steeply raked ratio from head to beak, and longer straighter beaks as well as a different plumage pattern. There are documented cases in the UK of singular and grouped Rooks attacking and killing Carrion crows in their territory. Rooks nest in colonies unlike Carrion crows. Carrion crows have only a few natural enemies including powerful raptors such as the northern goshawk, the peregrine falcon, the Eurasian eagle-owl and the golden eagle which will all readily hunt them.
Regarded as one of the most intelligent birds, indeed creatures on the planet, studies suggest that Corvids cognitive abilities can rival that of primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas and even provide clues to understanding human intelligence. Crows have relatively large brains for their body size, compared to other animals. Their encephalization quotient (EQ) a ratio of brain to body size, adjusted for size because there isn’t a linear relationship is 4.1. That is remarkably close to chimps at 4.2 whilst humans are 8.1. Corvids also have a very high neuronal density, the number of neurons per gram of brain, factoring in the number of cortical neurons, neuron packing density, interneuronal distance and axonal conduction velocity shows that Corvids score high on this measure as well, with humans scoring the highest.
A corvid's pallium is packed with more neurons than a great ape's. Corvids have demonstrated the ability to use a combination of mental tools such as imagination, and anticipation of future events. They can craft tools from twigs and branches to hook grubs from deep recesses, they can solve puzzles and intricate methods of gaining access to food set by humans., and have even bent pieces of wire into hooks to obtain food. They have been proven to have a higher cognitive ability level than seven year old humans. Communications wise, their repertoire of wraw-wraw's is not fully understood, but the intensity, rhythm, and duration of caws seems to form the basis of a possible language. They also remember the faces of humans who have hindered or hurt them and pass that information on to their offspring.
Aesop's fable of 'The Crow and the Pitcher, tells of a thirsty crow which drops stones into a water pitcher to raise the water level and enable it to take a drink. Scientists have conducted tests to see whether crows really are this intelligent. They placed floating treats in a deep tube and observed the crows indeed dropping dense objects carefully selected into the water until the treat floated within reach. They had the intelligence to pick up, weigh and discount objects that would float in the water, they also did not select ones that were too large for the container.
Pet crows develop a unique call for their owners, in effect actually naming them. They also know to sunbathe for a dose of vitamin D, regularly settling on wooden garden fences, opening their mouths and wings and raising their heads to the sun. In groups they warn of danger and communicate vocally. They store a cache of food for later if in abundance and are clever enough to move it if they feel it has been discovered. They leave markers for their cache. They have even learned to place walnuts and similar hard food items under car tyres at traffic lights as a means of cracking them!
Crows regularly gather around a dead fellow corvid, almost like a funeral, and it is thought they somehow learn from each death. They can even remember human faces for decades.Crows group together to attack larger predators and even steal their food, and they have different dialects in different areas, with the ability to mimic the dialect of the alpha males when they enter their territory!
They have a twenty year life span, the oldest on record reaching the age of Fifty nine. Crows can leave gifts for those who feed them such as buttons or bright shiny objects as a thank you, and they even kiss and make up after an argument, having mated for life.
In mythology they are associated with good and bad luck, being the bringers of omens and even witchcraft and are generally reviled for their attacks on baby birds and small mammals. They have an attack method of to stunning smaller birds before consuming them, tearing violently at smaller, less aggressive birds, which is simply down to the fact that they are so highly intelligent, and also the top of the food chain. Their diet includes over a thousand different items: Dead animals (as their name suggests), invertebrates, grain, as well as stealing eggs and chicks from other birds' nests, worms, insects, fruit, seeds, kitchen scraps. They are highly adaptable when food sources grow scarce. I absolutely love them, they are magnificent, bold, beautiful and incredibly interesting to watch and though at times it is hard to witness attacks made by them, I cannot help but adore them for so many other and more important reasons.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE PAIR IN MY GARDEN
Crows have been in the area for a while, but rarely had strayed into my garden, leaving the Magpies to own the territory. Things changed towards the end of May when a beautiful female Carrion crow appeared and began to take some of the food that I put down for the other birds. Within a few days she began to appear regularly, on occasions stocking up on food, whilst other times placing pieces in the birdbath to soften them. She would stand on the birdbath and eat and drink and come back over the course of the day to eat the softened food.
Shortly afterwards she brought along her mate, a tall and handsome fella, much larger than her who was also very vocal if he felt she was getting a little too close to me. By now I had moved from a seated position from the patio as an observer, to laying on a mat just five feet from the birdbath with my Nikon so that I could photograph the pair as they landed, scavenged and fed. She was now confident enough to let me be very close, and she even tolerated and recognized the clicking of the camera. At first I used silent mode to reduce the noise but this only allowed two shooting frame rates of single frame or continuous low frame which meant I was missing shots. I reverted back to normal continuous high frames and she soon got used to the whirring of the mechanisms as the mirror slapped back and forth.
The big fella would bark orders at her from the safety of the fence or the rear of the garden, whilst she rarely made a sound. That was until one day when in the sweltering heat she kept opening her beak and sunning on the grass, panting slightly in the heat. I placed the circular water sprayer nearby and had it rotating so that the birdbath and grass was bathed in gentle water droplets and she soon came back, landed and seemed to really like the cooling effect on offer. She then climbed onto the birdbath and opened her wings slightly and made some gentle purring, cooing noises....
I swear she was expressing happiness, joy....
On another blisteringly hot day when the sprayer was on, she came down, walked towards it and opened her wings up running into the water spray. Not once, but many times.
A further revelation into the unseen sides to these beautiful birds came with the male and female on the rear garden fence. They sat together, locked beaks like a kiss and then the male took his time gently preening her head feathers and the back of her neck as she made tiny happy sounds. They stayed together like that for several minutes, showing a gentle, softer side to their nature and demonstrating the deep bond between them. Into July and the pair started to bring their three youngsters to my garden, the nippers learning to use the birdbath for bathing and dipping food, the parents attentive as ever. Two of the youngsters headed off once large enough and strong enough.
I was privileged to be in close attendance as the last juvenile was brought down by the pair, taught to take food and then on a night in July, to soar and fly with it's mother in the evening sky as the light faded. She would swoop and twirl, and at regular intervals just touch the juvenile in flight with her wing tip feathers, as if to reassure it that she was close in attendance. What an amazing experience to view. A few days later, the juvenile, though now gaining independence and more than capable of tackling food scraps in the garden, was still on occasions demand feeding from it's mother who was now teaching him to take chicken breast, hotdogs or digestive biscuits and bury them in the garden beds for later delectation. The juvenile also liked to gather up peanuts and bury them in the grass. On one occasion I witnessed a pair of rumbunctious Pica Pica (Magpies), chasing the young crow on rooftops, leaping at him no matter how hard he tried to get away. He defended himself well and survived the attacks, much to my relief.
Into August and the last youngster remained with the adults, though now was very independent even though he still spent time with his parents on rooftops, and shared food gathering duties with his mum.Hotdog sausages were their favourite choice, followed by fish fingers and digestive biscuits which the adult male would gather up three at a time. In October, the three Crows were still kings of the area, but my time observing them was pretty much over as I will only put food out now for the birds in the winter months. The two adults are still here in December and now taking the food that I put out to help all birds survive in the winter months. They also have a pair of Magpies to compete with now.
Late February 2022 and Cheryl and Russell and their youngster are still with me, still dominant in the area and still taking raw chicken, hotdogs, biscuits and fatballs that I put out for them. Today I saw them mating for the first time this year in the tree and the cycle continues.
By October 2022 the pair had successfully reared a new baby who we nicknamed Baboo, and the other youngster flew the coup. The three no recognised our car returning from weekends away, and were enjoying sausages, hotdogs, raw chicken, fish and especially cheese, but life was hard as they aged with daily morning and evening tustles in the air with invaders and intruders hoping to take their land.
Corvus Corone.... magnificently misunderstood by some!
Paul Williams June 4th 2021 (Updated in October 2022)
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Nikon D850 Focal length 550mm Shutter speed: 1/40s Aperture f/11.0 iso640 Hand held with Tamron VC Vibration control set to ON in position 1 14 Bit uncompressed RAW NEF file size L (8256 x 5504 pixels) FX (36 x 24) Focus mode: AF-C AF-Area mode: 3D-tracking AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual exposure mode Metering mode: Matrix metering ISO Sensitivity: Auto 360 White balance on: Auto1 (5390k) Colour space: RGB Picture control: Standard (Sharpening +3)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.36s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.61s
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Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Once this train had passed below me at the Piriaka lookout, I knew Id have to make a dash in order to get in front of it again and catch it from the overbridge in Piriaka itself. The Subaru was up to the task and I was able to park safely and run up to the bridge parapet......just in time!
Great Blue Heron and vole, Lake Los Carneros, Goleta, California
Sometimes the heron, especially its eyes, reminds me snake. I wonder if this prey was for itself or for its kids...
The Dassault-Breguet "Super Etendard" ("Banner" in French) is a light embarked fighter bomber , successfully tested in combat, on various attack missions in Argentina, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and recently in Libya.
It is a development of the Dassault Étendard IV attack aircraft in parallel with the new "Air-surface" version of the Aérospatiale anti-ship missile, the AM 39 Exocet. The first test prototype flew on October 28, 1974. The French Navy initially ordered 60 units of the new model, which were delivered in June 1978.
The Argentine Navy acquired 14 Super Etendard in 1980, after the US. UU. He denied the possibility of replacing his A-4Q Skyhawks with the new F-18 naval fighters and being able to continue, the operations embarked from the light aircraft carrier ARA Twenty-fifth of May, whose remaining useful life was calculated in 10 years. They were enrolled from 0751/3-A-201 to 0764/3-A-214, and were assigned to the 2nd Hunting and Attack Aircraft Squadron of the Naval Aviation Command.
Argentine pilots trained in France between November 1, 1980 and August 31, 1981, used similar Navy aircraft, completing their training from the Aircraft Carrier (R-98) "Clemenceau".
On December 7, 1981 they officially join the 2nd Squadron with the reception, in Argentina of the first 5 devices of the series, together with 5 missiles AM-39 Exocet.
By April 2, 1982, at the start of the Falklands War, they had received only 45 hours of flight in this type of aircraft and the integration by French technicians of the interface between the plane and the missile was pending.
Although the French technicians returned to their country due to pressure from England and NATO, the Argentine Navy personnel managed to complete the assembly work. Finally, during the Falklands War, operating from the Admiral Hermes Quijada Air Base, in Río Grande Tierra del Fuego.
MISSION OF THE UNIT: Execute Offensive Naval Air Operations, destroying or neutralizing surface units, in order to contribute to the defense of the MALVINAS ISLANDS. Participating aircraft: 4 SUPER ETENDARD (3-A-202; 3-A-203; 3-A-204 and 3-A-205).
April 1: The take-off and landing race tests were started with the configuration planned before the possibility of operating on short tracks such as PUERTO ARGENTINO.
April 10: A flight refueling practice was carried out with a FAA KC-130 aircraft. The commissioning of the AM-39 system was completed, completing all the tests for the four aircraft that stood out.
April 12: Aerospatiale staff visit canceled.
April 15 and 16: Attack practices were carried out on the Destroyer ARA "SANTISIMA TRINIDAD" analyzing the capabilities of the enemy's radar and how to evade its detection. Recall that this ship was twin at Type 42, the backbone of the Royal Navy's air defense.
April 17: The practice of a complete mission with two planes was carried out. It was resupplied from a KC-130 aircraft located 300 MN from the take-off airfield with an attack on the Destroyer mentioned in the previous paragraph located 230 MN from the tank. The position was given by an S-2E, 15 minutes before launch.
On April 18, the NAVAL AVIATION COMMAND ordered the deployment of the four airplanes to the ALMIRANTE AERONAVAL BASE QUIJADA in order to complete their training, now in the area of operations.
On 19, a section (3-A-202/204) was highlighted to the south and 20 the other section (3-A-203/205). Maintenance personnel and spare parts were transported in transport aircraft.
On May 1, when hostilities began, the radar of PUERTO ARGENTINO reported the presence of three targets at 095º and 15 miles. The NAVAL AVIATION COMMAND ordered the Squadron to carry out an attack, for which 3-A-204 (CC COLOMBO) and 3-A-203 (TF MACHETANZ) were enlisted. The maneuver began without inconvenience, but the 3-A-204 began to have a loss of fuel that endangered the mission, so it had to be canceled.
On May 4, a classic mission of efficient coordination of exploratory aircraft (2-P-112) and attack aircraft (3-A-202 and 3-A-203) was accomplished, which caused the sinking of the HMS Destroyer "SHEFFIELD ". flying at low altitude to not be detected, it launched two Exocet AM / 39 missiles of which one hit HMS Sheffield and, although it did not explode, caused an uncontrollable fire with the fuel it was carrying and had not yet been consumed. The ship's wrecks sank on May 10, 1982.
On May 25, by the method of analyzing the movement of airplanes on its radar, PUERTO ARGENTINO reported the presence of a large target and 5 mediums at latitude 50º55 '(S) longitude 56º00' (W). This mission was accomplished with 3-A-203 (CC CURILOVIC) and 3-A-204 (TN BARRAZA). The target turned out to be container ship MV Atlantic Conveyor, being attacked at 4:41 p.m. Two Exocet AM / 39 missiles hit the port near the stern, causing an opening in the hull the size of a house and large fires on board. It sinks on May 28, 1982.
On the 26th they returned to COMPORANTE ESPORA on 3-A-203 and 3-A-204.
On May 30 PUERTO ARGENTINO reported the position of a British GT at latitude 51º42 (S) longitude 54º40 '(W). He also reported the possible presence of a picket at 160º and 60 miles, the composition of the force being unknown.
The execution of a double refueling in flight was planned with detailed precision. For its part, the ARGENTINE AIR FORCE Command expressed its desire to carry out the operation jointly, for which the participation of 4 A4-C planes in this attack was requested. The two KC-130 took off on May 30 to 1125 from RIO GALLEGOS and the six attackers, to 1243 from RIO GRANDE, heading towards the established meeting point.
The fifth missile was launched against the HMS Invincible aircraft carrier, failing the target according to the English and damaging it according to the Argentines. Of the four Air Force A-4Cs, two were shot down and the other two pilots continued their attack on the aircraft carrier, carrying out the ground bombardment and subsequent evasion maneuvers. When they dropped their bombs, they observed a large fire on board. First Lieutenant URETA and Ensign ISAAC, separately, said they had attacked a large ship, with a flat deck and starboard superstructure, which was damaged and was throwing smoke.
On June 1, both planes returned to COMPORANTE ESPORA to meet the rest of the Squadron because the last EXOCET had already been launched.
Finally, on June 13, it was ordered to highlight a section to RIO GRANDE for Guiding Attack Groups, but this order was canceled on 14.
After the Falklands War, the Naval Aviation Command (COAN) of the Argentine Navy received the remaining Super Étendard units previously requested, which completed the 14 aircraft requested.
After the reforms in the light aircraft carrier (PAL) ARA Twenty-five of May (V-2) (POMA), they began to operate, forming part of their GAE (Embarked Air Group), on April 18, 1983, Captain Corvette Augusto Bedacarratz, first landed on the aircraft carrier May 25 (POMA).
Until mid-1988 they continued to be part of the GAE, together with the Grumman S-2 Tracker and the Douglas A-4Q Skyhawk, on that date the POMA entered a period of reforms that were never completed and the ship was finally scrapped to late 90s, in Alang India.
British postcard by Santoro Graphics Ltd, London, no. C243.
American actor and producer Tom Cruise (1962) became with his charismatic smile the most successful member of Hollywood's Brat Pack, the golden boys and girls of the 1980s. Top Gun (1985) made him an action star, but with his roles in The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) he proved himself to be an all-round star and excellent actor. During the 1990s, he continued to combine action blockbusters like Mission Impossibe (1996) with highly acclaimed dramas like A Few Good Men (1992), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Magnolia (1999). He received more praise for his roles in Minority Report (2000) and Collateral (2002) and was for years one of the highest paid actors in the world. Although he continued to score major box office hits with the Mission Impossible franchise, his later work was overshadwowed by his outspoken attitude about Scientology which alienated him from many of his viewers.
Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in 1962 in Syracuse, NY. He is the only son of Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. He has three sisters: Marian, Lee Anne De Vette and Cass. In 1974, when Cruise was 12, his parents divorced. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his mother and her new husband. Deeply religious, he enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with the ambition to join the priesthood. He dropped out after one year. At high-school, he was a wrestler until he was sidelined by a knee injury. Soon taking up acting, he found that the activity served a dual purpose: performing satiated his need for attention, while the memorisation aspect of acting helped him come to grips with his dyslexia. Moving to New York in 1980, he studied drama at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse, in conjunction with the Actors Studio, New School University, New York. He signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and began acting in films. His film debut was a small part in Endless Love (Franco Zeffirelli, 1981), starring Brooke Shields. It was followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military academy student in Taps (Harold Becker, 1981), starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983). The Hollywood press corps began touting Cruise as one of the 'Brat Pack', a group of twenty-something actors who seemed on the verge of taking over the movie industry in the early 1980s. Cruise's first big hit was the coming-of-age comedy Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983), in which he entered film-trivia infamy with the scene wherein he celebrates his parents' absence by dancing around the living room in his underwear. From the outset, he exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences. Cruise played the male lead in the dark fantasy Legend (Ridley Scott, 1985) and the action film Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986) with Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer. Top Gun (1986) established Cruise as an action star. However, he refused to be pigeonholed, and followed it up with a solid characterszation of a fledgling pool shark in The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese, 1986), for which co-star Paul Newman earned an Academy Award. In 1988, he played the brother of an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the drama Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988). However, Cruise had not yet totally convinced critics he was more than a pretty face while he also starred in Cocktail (Roger Donaldson, 1988), which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. His chance came when he played paraplegic Vietnam vet Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989). For his role, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1990 Tom Cruise renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. He was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife Mimi Rogers. Though Cruise's bankability faltered a bit with the expensive disappointment Far and Away (Ron Howard, 1990) with his-then wife Nicole Kidman, A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992) brought him back into the game. By 1994, the star was undercutting his own leading man image with the role of the slick, dastardly vampire Lestat in the long-delayed film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994), opposite Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas. Although the author was vehemently opposed to Cruise's casting, Rice famously reversed her decision upon seeing the actor's performance, and publicly praised Cruise's portrayal. In 1996, Cruise scored financial success with the reboot of Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma, 1996), but it was with his multilayered performance in Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996), that Cruise proved once again why he is considered a major Hollywood player. For Jerry Maguire, he won another Golden Globe and received his second Oscar nomination. According to IMDb, Cruise is the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in the United States: A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). 1999 saw Cruise reunited onscreen with Kidman in a project of a very different sort, Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1990). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The film, which was the director's last, had been the subject of controversy, rumour, and speculation since it began filming. It opened to curious critics and audiences alike across the nation, and was met with a violently mixed response. However, it allowed Cruise to once again take part in film history, further solidifying his position as one of Hollywood's most well-placed movers and shakers. Cruise's enviable position was again solidified later in 1999, when he earned a third Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a loathsome 'sexual prowess' guru in Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)."
In 2000, Tom Cruise scored again when he returned as international agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible II (John Woo, 2000), which proved to be one of the summer blockbusters. Like its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year, and had a mixed critical reception. He then reteamed with Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe for a remake of the Spanish film Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997) titled Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. Though Vanilla Sky's sometimes surreal trappings found the film receiving a mixed reception at the box office, the same could not be said for the following year's massively successful Sci-Fi chase film Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2001), or of the historical epic The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003). For his next film, Cruise picked a role unlike any he'd ever played; starring as a sociopathic hitman in the psychological thriller Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004). He received major praise for his departure from the good-guy characters he'd built his career on, and for doing so convincingly. He teamed up with Spielberg again for the second time in three years with an epic adaptation of the H.G. Wells alien invasion story War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005). The summer blockbuster was in some ways overshadowed, however, by a cloud of negative publicity. It began, when Cruise became suddenly vocal about his beliefs in Scientology, the religion created by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise publicly denounced actress Brooke Shields for taking medication to combat her postpartum depression, going so far as to call the psychological science a "Nazi science" in an Entertainment Weekly interview. In 2005, he was interviewed by Matt Lauer for The Today Show during which time he appeared to be distractingly argumentative in his insistence that psychiatry is a "pseudoscience," and in a Der Spiegel interview, he was quoted as saying that Scientology has the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. This behaviour caused a stirring of public opinion about Cruise, as did his relationship with 27-year-old actress Katie Holmes. The two announced their engagement in the spring of 2005, and Cruise's enthousiasm for his new romantic interest created more curiosity about his mental stability. He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he jumped up and down on the couch, professing his love for the newly-Scientologist Holmes. The actor's new public image alienated many of his viewers. As he geared up for the spring release of Mission: Impossible III (J.J. Abrams, 2006), his ability to sell a film based almost purely on his own likability was in question for the first time in 20 years. Despite this, the film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. Cruise moved on to making headlines on the business front, when he and corporate partner Paula Wagner in 2006 officially "took over" the United Artists studio, which was all but completely defunct. One of the first films to be produced by the new United Artists was the tense political thriller Lions for Lambs (Robert Redford, 2007), with Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep. The film took an earnest and unflinching look at the politics behind the Iraq war but was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by the World War II thriller Valkyrie (Bryan Singer, 2008) with kenneth Branagh and Carice van Houten.
Tom Cruise would find a solid footing as the 2010s progressed, with blockbusters like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011) and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015). He is known for doing many of his own stunts in these films, even exceptionally dangerous ones. The Mission Impossible franchise earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Cruise reteamed with Cameron Diaz in the action-comedy Knight and Day (James Mangold, 2010). He starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot (Christopher McQuarrie, 2012). He also starred in big budget fantasy projects like Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014). Tom Cruised was married three times. His first wife was actress Mimi Rogers, with whom he was married from 1987 till their divorce in 1990. His second marriage with Nicole Kidman from 1990 till 2001. They adopted two children Isabella Jane Cruise (1992) and Connor Antony Cruise (1995). he lived together with Vanilla Sky (2001) co-star Penélope Cruz from 2001 - 2004. His 2006 marriage to Katie Holmes ended in a divorce in 2012. They have one daughter, Surie Cruise (2006). Recently, Cruise returned on the screen as Ethan Hunt in the sixth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018). In 2020, he will also return as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick (Joseph Kosinski, 2020), in which Val Kilmer will also reprise his role from the first film.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
unlike Volvo trucks, that has been used in Soviet time for international transportation by state Sovtransauto company, Scania trucks arrived in Russia only after USSR breakage but successfully competed with Volvo. Informally they were named the benches after the original grille design.
Successful beautiful shots are not only the merit of the photographer, but also the correct preparation of the model.
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So, to create good shots, you need to:
Decide
on the location (where exactly you want to shoot: a beautiful winter forest, an outdoor ice rink, a cozy cafe, a themed studio or your own house);
Think about the style (what will your image be: classic or maybe creative and bright?);
📍Use accessories. They can complement your image, make it more harmonious, add personality and charm;
📍Relax and enjoy the moment. Don't forget that photography should be fun!
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📣 Share your ideas and tips on preparing for photography in the comments!
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Ph: @safronov_photo
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#photoshootMoscow #weddingMoscow #weddingphoto #weddingmoscow #art #beauty #christmastree #event #fashiondesign #fawn #happy #pink #textile #thigh #NikonD800 #safronoviv_photo
French postcard by Edycard, no. 29. Photo: Tom Cruise in Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986).
American actor and producer Tom Cruise (1962) became with his charismatic smile the most successful member of Hollywood's Brat Pack, the golden boys and girls of the 1980s. Top Gun (1986) made him an action star, but with his roles in The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) he proved himself to be an all-round star and excellent actor. During the 1990s, he continued to combine action blockbusters like Mission Impossibe (1996) with highly acclaimed dramas like A Few Good Men (1992), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Magnolia (1999). He received more praise for his roles in Minority Report (2000) and Collateral (2002) and was for years one of the highest paid actors in the world. Although he continued to score major box office hits with the Mission Impossible franchise, his later work was overshadwowed by his outspoken attitude about Scientology which alienated him from many of his viewers.
Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in 1962 in Syracuse, NY. He is the only son of Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. He has three sisters: Marian, Lee Anne De Vette and Cass. In 1974, when Cruise was 12, his parents divorced. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his mother and her new husband. Deeply religious, he enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with the ambition to join the priesthood. He dropped out after one year. At high-school, he was a wrestler until he was sidelined by a knee injury. Soon taking up acting, he found that the activity served a dual purpose: performing satiated his need for attention, while the memorisation aspect of acting helped him come to grips with his dyslexia. Moving to New York in 1980, he studied drama at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse, in conjunction with the Actors Studio, New School University, New York. He signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and began acting in films. His film debut was a small part in Endless Love (Franco Zeffirelli, 1981), starring Brooke Shields. It was followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military academy student in Taps (Harold Becker, 1981), starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983). The Hollywood press corps began touting Cruise as one of the 'Brat Pack', a group of twenty-something actors who seemed on the verge of taking over the movie industry in the early 1980s. Cruise's first big hit was the coming-of-age comedy Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983), in which he entered film-trivia infamy with the scene wherein he celebrates his parents' absence by dancing around the living room in his underwear. From the outset, he exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences. Cruise played the male lead in the dark fantasy Legend (Ridley Scott, 1985) and the action film Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986) with Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer. Top Gun (1986) established Cruise as an action star. However, he refused to be pigeonholed, and followed it up with a solid characterszation of a fledgling pool shark in The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese, 1986), for which co-star Paul Newman earned an Academy Award. In 1988, he played the brother of an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the drama Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988). However, Cruise had not yet totally convinced critics he was more than a pretty face while he also starred in Cocktail (Roger Donaldson, 1988), which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. His chance came when he played paraplegic Vietnam vet Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989). For his role, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1990 Tom Cruise renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. He was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife Mimi Rogers. Though Cruise's bankability faltered a bit with the expensive disappointment Far and Away (Ron Howard, 1990) with his-then wife Nicole Kidman, A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992) brought him back into the game. By 1994, the star was undercutting his own leading man image with the role of the slick, dastardly vampire Lestat in the long-delayed film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994), opposite Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas. Although the author was vehemently opposed to Cruise's casting, Rice famously reversed her decision upon seeing the actor's performance, and publicly praised Cruise's portrayal. In 1996, Cruise scored financial success with the reboot of Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma, 1996), but it was with his multilayered performance in Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996), that Cruise proved once again why he is considered a major Hollywood player. For Jerry Maguire, he won another Golden Globe and received his second Oscar nomination. According to IMDb, Cruise is the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in the United States: A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). 1999 saw Cruise reunited onscreen with Kidman in a project of a very different sort, Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1990). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The film, which was the director's last, had been the subject of controversy, rumour, and speculation since it began filming. It opened to curious critics and audiences alike across the nation, and was met with a violently mixed response. However, it allowed Cruise to once again take part in film history, further solidifying his position as one of Hollywood's most well-placed movers and shakers. Cruise's enviable position was again solidified later in 1999, when he earned a third Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a loathsome 'sexual prowess' guru in Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)."
In 2000, Tom Cruise scored again when he returned as international agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible II (John Woo, 2000), which proved to be one of the summer blockbusters. Like its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year, and had a mixed critical reception. He then reteamed with Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe for a remake of the Spanish film Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997) titled Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. Though Vanilla Sky's sometimes surreal trappings found the film receiving a mixed reception at the box office, the same could not be said for the following year's massively successful Sci-Fi chase film Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2001), or of the historical epic The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003). For his next film, Cruise picked a role unlike any he'd ever played; starring as a sociopathic hitman in the psychological thriller Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004). He received major praise for his departure from the good-guy characters he'd built his career on, and for doing so convincingly. He teamed up with Spielberg again for the second time in three years with an epic adaptation of the H.G. Wells alien invasion story War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005). The summer blockbuster was in some ways overshadowed, however, by a cloud of negative publicity. It began, when Cruise became suddenly vocal about his beliefs in Scientology, the religion created by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise publicly denounced actress Brooke Shields for taking medication to combat her postpartum depression, going so far as to call the psychological science a "Nazi science" in an Entertainment Weekly interview. In 2005, he was interviewed by Matt Lauer for The Today Show during which time he appeared to be distractingly argumentative in his insistence that psychiatry is a "pseudoscience," and in a Der Spiegel interview, he was quoted as saying that Scientology has the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. This behaviour caused a stirring of public opinion about Cruise, as did his relationship with 27-year-old actress Katie Holmes. The two announced their engagement in the spring of 2005, and Cruise's enthousiasm for his new romantic interest created more curiosity about his mental stability. He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he jumped up and down on the couch, professing his love for the newly-Scientologist Holmes. The actor's new public image alienated many of his viewers. As he geared up for the spring release of Mission: Impossible III (J.J. Abrams, 2006), his ability to sell a film based almost purely on his own likability was in question for the first time in 20 years. Despite this, the film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. Cruise moved on to making headlines on the business front, when he and corporate partner Paula Wagner in 2006 officially "took over" the United Artists studio, which was all but completely defunct. One of the first films to be produced by the new United Artists was the tense political thriller Lions for Lambs (Robert Redford, 2007), with Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep. The film took an earnest and unflinching look at the politics behind the Iraq war but was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by the World War II thriller Valkyrie (Bryan Singer, 2008) with kenneth Branagh and Carice van Houten.
Tom Cruise would find a solid footing as the 2010s progressed, with blockbusters like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011) and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015). He is known for doing many of his own stunts in these films, even exceptionally dangerous ones. The Mission Impossible franchise earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Cruise reteamed with Cameron Diaz in the action-comedy Knight and Day (James Mangold, 2010). He starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot (Christopher McQuarrie, 2012). He also starred in big budget fantasy projects like Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014). Tom Cruised was married three times. His first wife was actress Mimi Rogers, with whom he was married from 1987 till their divorce in 1990. His second marriage with Nicole Kidman from 1990 till 2001. They adopted two children Isabella Jane Cruise (1992) and Connor Antony Cruise (1995). he lived together with Vanilla Sky (2001) co-star Penélope Cruz from 2001 - 2004. His 2006 marriage to Katie Holmes ended in a divorce in 2012. They have one daughter, Surie Cruise (2006). Recently, Cruise returned on the screen as Ethan Hunt in the sixth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018). In 2020, he will also return as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick (Joseph Kosinski, 2020), in which Val Kilmer will also reprise his role from the first film.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
My first successful full run through Jupiter imaging with R,G and B filters plus IR 685nm for Luminosity.
3 minute video captures in a RoI of about 650x650 pxls. Good tracking with just minimal hand guiding from me.
5% of each video stacked so just 9 seconds equivalent exposure for each channel but increasing percentage just added more noise.
Can see the following disturbance caused by the GRS especially in the Red image. Dark central dot in the GRS also visible.
A white oval is seen closer to the meridian.
Stacked in AutoStakkert!3
Wavelets adjusted in RegiStax6
Derotated and Ephemerides data from WinJupos.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE SCT
ZWO ASI 290MM CMOS camera
Ioptron ZEQ25GT eq mount
It may be a while before Jupiter is favourable again so some settings on the ASI290:
Blue:
Shutter 73.83ms
Gain 300 (50%)
Gamma 10
IR:
Shutter 53.33ms
Gain 300 (50%)
Gamma 4
Green:
Shutter 50.5ms
Gain 300 (50%)
Gamma 10
Red:
Shutter 63.94ms
Gain 291 (48%)
Gamma 4
Courage sits on my desk in the shape of a good size rock and on a piece of paper under glass. The rock is heavy and so were my burdens at one time. The paper is my freedom. It tells me that Courage is doing something even when you are afraid. "I have a theory about courage. I don't think it's a moment of bravery when you have a rush of adrenaline. Courage is something level, a kind of force that sustains you. And that's what it takes to face difficult things, to make it through life successfully."
Beyond Layers..Day 28
Write about A Brave Moment in You LIfe.
Join Me in the BackCountry Blogging Today
This was taken just after sunrise at Kalkheuwel waterhole in Etosha. About 25 elephants arrived there as I watched from my car. The waterhole is not all that big, so the elephants had it to themselves and some were displaying courtship behavior, another was curious (he came up to my car and put his trunk on the tire, I guess trying to figure out of it were edible?), and these very young elephants made their way through a forest of legs and trunks to reach the waterhole.
This substantial, two-storeyed brick residence was erected in 1902-03 for John Lamb, co-proprietor of the successful Queen Street drapery establishment of Edwards & Lamb, and a businessman with enlightened attitudes toward his employees. Named ‘Home’, (also known as Lamb House) the house has remained in the sole ownership of the Lamb family since its construction. Designed by eminent architect Alexander B Wilson, the residence embraced the Federation Queen Anne style and is recognised as one of Wilson’s greatest domestic works.
Kangaroo Point, originally part of the land of the Jagera and Turrbul people, was one of the earliest localities used for colonial purposes following the establishment of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. The Kangaroo Point Cliffs were quarried for their Brisbane tuff, used in building works for the colony, and the area was farmed from 1837. Following the opening of the colony for free settlement in the 1840s, land along the peninsula was offered for sale. Industry and shipping was established along the river front, with modest working-class dwellings dotting the lower-lying areas. By the 1850s, the higher land at Kangaroo Point was attracting wealthy residents who erected substantial homes overlooking the Brisbane River.
The highest part of Kangaroo Point was River Terrace, running atop the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. By 1875 the terrace was recognised as ‘beauteous… with its unrivalled coup d’oeil of the great city’, and recommended to visitors for sightseeing. Subdivisions along the east side of the terrace were offered for sale from the 1850s, but the western side was reserved for public purposes, providing a dramatic clifftop promenade between the Kangaroo Point State School and St Mary’s church, at the Main Street intersection, and Leopard Street, a continuation of River Terrace.
By the turn of the 20th century Kangaroo Point was a highly appealing residential area, both for its quiet, leafy nature and for its proximity to the city, with ferry and bus services linking the area to the central business district. In 1901, a parcel of eight undeveloped subdivisions on Leopard and Wild streets, at the highest elevation overlooking the Gardens Point, were sold by the mortgagee. The subdivisions surrounded an older residence, ‘Rockfield’, built on the corner of Leopard and Wild streets, circa 1890, for Captain Daniel McGregor. The undeveloped sites had first been offered for sale in October 1852 and granted to John McCabe in 1855. They were transferred to land agent GT Lang in 1882, before they were purchased in August 1901 by John Lamb.
English-born John Lamb and his business partner to-be Thomas Edwards arrived in Australia on the ship Cuzco in 1881. After settling briefly in New South Wales, they established a drapery and clothier business in Brisbane’s premier shopping district, Queen Street, in 1884. Edwards and Lamb was one of a number of locally-established drapery firms opened between the 1860s and 1890s, which were the forerunners of Brisbane’s major department stores. By 1888, Edwards and Lamb had made ‘such rapid strides that… it is one of the representative mercantile house of the kind in the colony.' The firm openly supported workers’ rights, and was actively engaged in the Early Closing Association movement, which campaigned for shorter working hours for retail workers. The movement’s first chair and secretary were both recruited from Edwards and Lamb, and in the 1890s the firm employed Frank McDonnell as a manager-cum-union organiser until McDonnell’s elevation to Queensland Parliament in 1896. This was quickly followed by the passage of the Factories and Shops Act 1896, and the introduction of early closing in its 1900 replacement. McDonnell credited Edwards and Lamb for his success.
Following the death of Thomas Edwards in 1897, John Lamb purchased Edwards’ share in the business, and continued it on his own. In 1899, Lamb married Sarah Jeane Stephens in Maryborough, and by 1901 the couple had two children, with a third due in 1902. With his family growing, and his business on firm footing, Lamb purchased the Kangaroo Point sites and moved into temporary accommodation in Leopard Street, pending the construction of a new family residence.
Lamb’s timing coincided with a period of steady residential growth in Brisbane. The city had suffered in the 1890s from the combined effects of an economic depression and extensive flooding, and commissions for substantial houses had fallen off. By 1900, the economy was recovering, and businessmen and retailers engaged Brisbane’s prominent architects to design a number of large residences in the inner-city and suburban areas, from Waterton, at Chelmer, circa 1900, for insurance agent Thomas Beevor Steele (architect unknown); Drysllwyn, in Auchenflower, c1905, by architect Claude William Chambers, for mining entrepreneur William Davies; Endrim, at Toowong, 1906, by unknown architect, for tram company director JS Badger; Turrawan, at Clayfield, 1906, by Hall and Dods, for doctor Arthur Halford (combined surgery/house); Cremorne, at Hamilton, circa 1906, by Eaton and Bates, for publican James O'Connor; Feniton, at New Farm, 1906, by RS Dods, for the Trude family; to Weemalla, at Corinda, 1909, by RS Dods, for insurance company manager RM Steele.
Lamb engaged architect Alexander Brown Wilson to design his new Kangaroo Point house. Wilson was by then a well-established Brisbane architect, having commenced work with the Queensland Public Works Department in 1875 at the age of 16. From 1882 he was employed as architect FDG Stanley’s principal draftsman, before beginning his architectural training in Brisbane and Europe. He became the first Queensland-trained associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, returning to Brisbane to open his own architectural practice in 1884. He also helped found the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1888, and served four terms as its president. Wilson’s practice quickly developed into a substantial firm, particularly renowned for its church and domestic designs. Prominent examples of Wilson’s domestic work survive in Brisbane, including Leckhampton (1890), Kinauld (1888) and Como (1890), but his most recognised domestic work was his design for John Lamb.
In designing Lamb’s house, Wilson put his personal interpretation on the Queen Anne style. Imported from Britain and the United States, Federation ‘Queen Anne’ was the dominant style in Australian domestic architecture for substantial houses at the turn of the 20th century. Popularised by the influential British architect Richard Norman Shaw, who in the 1870s began designing country houses in an eclectic style combining elements from many periods of traditional English rural building, the style was labelled ‘Queen Anne’ after it became popular in America. In Australia, the style was characterised by: red facebrick walls, often with contrasting white painted ornamentation or timber joinery; complex roof forms with towers and multiple gables; Tudor-style half-timber panelling in gable ends; tall brick chimneys; terracotta detailing; and picturesque asymmetry. Roofs were often French Marseilles tile with a detailed ridge or apex. Verandahs featured ornamental posts, brackets, balustrades and valances. Patterns in leadlight windows, doors and fanlights tended to echo the free curves found in nature as the influence of Art Nouveau on the Queen Anne design became increasingly apparent after the 1900s. Although not as popular or extensively used as in Victoria and New South Wales, the Federation Queen Anne style spread to Queensland and was incorporated into designs from the 1890s until the 1940s. In Queensland the style was often applied to traditional timber houses, influencing their roof forms, timber verandah detailing and other ornamentation.
Notable Queen Anne features of the Lamb residence include its red brick composition, terracotta shingle tiles, chimney post, turned timber posts, gables of suggested half-timbering and Classical motifs on the three-storey tower.
Wilson drew plans for Lamb’s house, and a specification was detailed in September 1901. Wilson’s design for the residence set out a ground and first floor, with a protruding observation tower. It was of brick construction, with a tiled roof featuring half-timbered detailing to gable-ends; and a concrete-finished entrance porch aligned vertically with the observation tower. The front door, accessed by the porch, led to the central staircase via a vestibule, which had a lavatory to one side. On the river (northern) side of the residence was an eastern drawing room and connected western dining room that both featured fireplaces, architraves, large windows, skirting boards and ‘wainscoting’ (dado panelling). On the southern side of the residence was a morning (breakfast) room to the east, which opened onto the front verandah; with the kitchen, scullery and connected service wing to the west. Upstairs, there were six bedrooms, each of a different size; a small housemaid’s store and press; and a bathroom behind the central staircase. An additional stair climbed the observation tower, which had a viewing platform in response to the house’s prominent position atop the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. Externally, there were two water tanks, a service wing, including a washhouse with fuel store and earth closet, and a full-sized tennis court (56 x 17m). Early photographs from the Leopard Street entrance driveway show various concrete render mouldings, including the residence’s name, Home, above the pediment to the entrance porch; and iron entrance gates set within a front fence with polychromatic brickwork and concrete capping.
The specifications also clearly distinguished between the primary and other rooms, requiring cedar and ‘fancy wood’ of a wider profile for timber joinery in the public rooms (including drawing, dining and morning rooms, staircase, vestibule and lavatory) and four principal bedrooms; with pine in the two back bedrooms and kitchen. Pressed metal ceilings and / or ceiling roses were to be located in public rooms and principal bedrooms, with leadlight glazing specified for use in a skylight, the front door, vestibule door, cloak-room (potentially describing the lavatory) window, small windows to dining room fireplace, bathroom windows, some verandah doors, and fanlights over dining room and drawing room windows. The drawing room and main bedroom featured bay windows.
Wilson called for tenders for the brick villa in March 1902. The house was constructed over a twelve month period by builder William Anthony at a contract price of £3,250. Work was underway by June 1902, when the ‘fine two-storied residence… commanding a beautiful prospect’ was described in the Brisbane Courier as the main work occupying Wilson’s ‘architectural skill’.
The eight subdivisions provided a generous 3133m2 site for the house and its features. The house was positioned near the back of the site, taking advantage of the extensive views, with a driveway from Leopard Street curving around the tennis court. The Leopard Street frontage was lined by a polychromatic brick wall and ornate driveway gates, also designed by Wilson. Fig trees were planted along the Leopard Street frontage to the property, with additional trees and gardens along the northern boundary, the tennis court fence and the circular driveway, which terminated in front of the house. A service entrance ran from Wild Street to the kitchen and service wing.
The Lamb family house was completed by April 1903, when Mrs Lamb advertised for a general servant from ‘Home, River terrace’. The youngest of the Lambs’ four children was born in 1905; by 1910, Mrs Lamb, with two servants and a children’s nursemaid, advertised for additional help.
The attraction of Kangaroo Point as a quiet but centrally located suburb for the well-to-do continued well into the 1920s. Its reputation as a leafy garden suburb was enhanced in the 1910s when River Terrace was planted with a line of fig trees and garden beds, improving the clifftop promenade. A photograph taken of the River Terrace promenade in 1919 displayed both the vegetation improvements and the view, which terminated in Home and its neighbouring house, Edgecliffe. In 1928 the suburb was recognised as one of the ‘garden suburbs of Brisbane’, with ‘handsome residences, well-kept gardens, wide-streets, and tree-lined avenues.’ From the 1930s, however, houses along the peninsula (including a number of historic homes) were removed for the construction of the Story Bridge (1940), and the suburb became increasingly busy.
Few changes appear to have been made to Home after its construction. Architect Wilson undertook minor repairs to the property in 1911, and a brick garage was added at the Wild Street boundary by 1925, with the circular driveway removed and extended to the garage. A pavilion was later added to the tennis court (extant by 1942). The trees, which had become substantial by the 1940s, were cut back in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
John Lamb senior died in 1920, passing the Edwards and Lamb business to his two sons, John and Frank, and the house to his widow, Sarah. Home was mortgaged in 1922 for the sum of £8,000. Three of the Lamb children did not marry, and continued to reside in the large family residence. Both sons worked for the retail firm, while Sarah and her daughters hosted a number of social and fundraising events at the house in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in aid of the nearby St Mary’s Anglican Church. The three unmarried children also purchased the neighbouring Rockfield in 1941. Following Sarah’s death in 1956, ownership of Home passed to her daughters, who remained resident at the house.
The Lamb family business – known both as Edwards and Lambs and simply Lamb’s – operated successfully into the mid-20th century, as one of the renowned Queensland draperies which dominated the state’s retailing market until the 1950s. From the small Queen Street store, it expanded to a large commercial operation with a mail order business for country customers, and was ‘always assured of patronage, especially from country people, who know they are dealing with a reputable establishment’. Until 1921 it relied on word-of-mouth, rather than advertising, for its business. Edwards and Lambs’ premises were extended in 1932 and 1938, doubling the floor size and improving the layout, until it developed a ‘world-wide reputation’ by 1949. A Victory Farm was established at Holland Park during WWII, changing to flowers after the war to decorate the business premises. The Lamb brothers also continued to operate Edwards and Lamb with attention to the welfare of its employees, providing a superannuation scheme and mutual benefits society; additional Christmas holidays; and an extra week’s pay on the firm’s 60th anniversary. As neither a private nor public company, the business was the responsibility of the Lamb brothers, and after both passed away, the firm was sold to Factors Ltd. The sale coincided with the demise of the Queensland-based retailers in the 1960s, when they were superseded by drive-in suburban shopping centres, and sold to large southern retailers.
Home’s prominent position and striking style have made it a Brisbane landmark. As early as 1906 the ‘fine residence’ was considered worthy of note amongst the ‘suburban beauties’ of Kangaroo Point, and the ‘stately home’ featured as one of Brisbane’s newer homes photographed for the Queenslander in 1927. Home has featured in numerous publications, including Salon, the Architectural Journal of New South Wales; Towards the Dawn; 150 years of Brisbane River Housing; architectural sketches; blog posts and tourism websites; and picture postcards of the city. Visible along two stretches of the Brisbane River, as well as from the Botanic Gardens, Kangaroo Point Cliffs and South Bank, it has attracted the attention of tourists, and the house was dramatically floodlit for the Royal Visit in 1954. In 2010, Home was recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects as a nationally significant work, as an important landmark, the best known residential work of Wilson, and arguably Brisbane’s most distinguished Queen Anne styled mansion.
In the late 2010s,
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
In preparation for his Beyond mission, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, in March 2019.
His training included working on a spacewalk, or Extravehicular Activity (EVA).
Luca already has two spacewalks under his belt but in ‘building 9’ of the Johnson Space Center, Luca worked with the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility and refreshed his skills on maintaining the US spacewalk suits called Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU).
The training is important as Luca has some spacewalks planned that will see him repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS-02 particle detector. The dark-matter hunter was launched 16 May 2011 on Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134. It records over 17 billion cosmic rays, particles, and nuclei a year. The results from AMS-02 have shown unexpected phenomena not predicted by cosmic ray models—and changing our understanding of the cosmos.
The mission was initially meant to run for only three years but has been so successful that its mission life has been extended. Three of the four cooling pumps however have stopped functioning and require repair.
A series of spacewalks are planned to replace the cooling system for the $2 billion instrument but they were never designed to be replaced in space.
The first spacewalk is intended to determine just how and where to intervene, and what tools will be needed for the process.
Luca will go beyond Earth’s atmosphere when he returns to the International Space Station in 2019 as part of Expedition 60/61, alongside NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Skvortsov.
Luca was the first of the 2009 astronaut class to fly to the Space Station. His first mission Volare, meaning 'to fly' in Italian, took place in 2013 and lasted 166 days, during which time Luca conducted two spacewalks and many experiments that are still running today.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
A weekender craft (my interpretation...only used at weekends!) heads back up Cabbage Tree Creek in Brisbane for the boat ramp. Notice the crab pots in the back, wonder if he got any? After all the rain, there are plenty of prawns in Moreton Bay right now also.
Spring has arrived, the flowers are blooming and so have the mirrors of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. These three pictures help visually show how Webb’s iconic 21 foot 4-inch (6.5 meter) primary mirror has been built to fold to a much smaller size for takeoff.
Read more about Webb's recently successful mirror deployment test: go.nasa.gov/2Rq09P0
Image Credit: Northrop Grumman, NASA/Chris Gunn
Indigenously developed Prithvi-2 missile was successfully test fired from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast.
Test-It was conducted by the Strategic Force Command and was monitored by the scientists from Defence Research & Development Organisation. As part of a user trial, the missile test was... www.sharegk.com/technology/prithvi-2-missile-successfully...
#gk #EntranceExam #OnlineTest #Aptitude
Don't expect a quick end to the pandemic once Donald Trump announces a successful COVID-19 vaccine. The quarantine, social distancing, and mask-wearing will continue long after the fanfare. But when can we expect that to happen? At the moment, there are 38 drugs are in clinical trials with humans; nine are at Stage 3, where thousands of people are being inoculated to test their effectiveness and safety. Ninety-three are in pre-trial development.
The US government has allocated billions of dollars to speed advancement of a vaccine through its “Operation Warp Speed” program. The US Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release in May 2020 which stated, “Responding to President Trump's call to develop 300 million doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by January under Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and AstraZeneca are collaborating to make available at least 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine called AZD1222, with the first doses delivered as early as October 2020.” Donald Trump would love to announce a vaccine before the election to bolster his re-election bid, even though manufacturing and delivery of billions of doses worldwide will be necessary to stem COVID-19 and might not happen until well into 2021.
I have two concerns: first, Trump's desire to announce a vaccine before the election, whether it is true. In a September 4, 2020 press briefing, he told journalists, “We remain on track to deliver a vaccine before the end of the year and maybe even before November 1st. We think we can probably have it sometime during the month of October.” On September 12, Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, said that the company would have key data for the FDA on its late-stage trials by the end of October. He said that if the FDA approves, it could have “hundreds of thousands” of doses by the end of the year. But to get back to a normal life we will need hundreds of millions of doses. Relief will need to be global. If you want to travel, if we want to open our borders to tourists and allow businesses to reopen, vaccination rates will have to be high. And that will take time. We also don't know how long a vaccine will be effective. Will we need yearly shots, like the flu?
Second, will you be willing to be one of the first to take a brand new vaccine? Stage 3 trials involve about 30,000 people. Like beta testing of software, which then goes to final public release, bugs often only appear only after millions, not thousands, of people begin to use it. Just because a vaccine has passed these final trials doesn't mean problems won't arise when administered to millions of people. I am not an anti-vaxxer. But I am pragmatic. I will not be standing in line the first day of release to get a shot. There are still so many questions left unanswered.
So what a fair assessment of when we will see the end to this pandemic? Dr. Jeremy Farrar, a medical researcher and head of Wellcome Trust, a research charity in London, states in The Guardian, “I am optimistic that we will soon see results from the first vaccines coming through late-stage clinical trials. However, we must temper this optimism, this talk of the perfect vaccine ‘just around the corner' or the idea that it will be a complete and immediate solution.” He goes on to say,
“I worry that…too much hype is being applied to the first vaccines and in some countries too much focus on a political agenda and domestic provision. There should be no place for notions of vaccine nationalism, with nations posturing that ‘their' vaccine will cross the finish line first and be fully deployed by Christmas or for a political moment.”
In addition, he points out that fair distribution of any first generation vaccine is critical. This isn't a political issue, but a public health one. If we are looking to end the pandemic, immunization needs to be global. We saw how fast the virus spread throughout the world and, just as important, we need to make sure it doesn't resurface. Donald Trump's decision not to join the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (Covax), which will insure this fair distribution, is shortsighted.
At a rally in Michigan on September 10, President Trump told the crowd, “We are rounding the turn. You see what's happening; you see the numbers are plunging.” But Dr. Fauci disagrees. “If you look at the statistics, they're disturbing.” We still have over 40,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported daily and 1,000 deaths here in the US. The politicization of the coronavirus points out the perils we face when science and politics mix. Former and present CDC workers have accused Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, of throttling, revising, and even stopping the CDC's public health updates as they disagree with President Trump's message that the virus is under control. And Caputo has accused the CDC of having a “resistance unit” to undermine the president.
Despite Trump's admission he downplayed the virus, he continues to hold large rallies where there is no social distancing and few wearing masks. You would think he would pivot to a safer campaign strategy, now that he has revealed how dangerous the virus is. Yet, he is still putting thousands of people in jeopardy. Are these the actions of a moral leader—of our president? “Just because you're outdoors doesn't mean you are protected, particularly if you're in a crowd and not wearing masks,” Fauci said. And, as summer transitions to fall and winter and the flu season, scientists expect a second wave of COVID infections to spike. Dr. Fauci doesn't think we will get back to any degree of normality soon. “By the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that's likely not going to happen until the end of 2021.”
So, while an announcement of a vaccine could come by the end of the year or even before the election, that doesn't mean we can look forward to massive celebrations in Times Square or any square. In his typical Trump fashion, the president will cast this as a huge win for him and a reason he for his re-election, in the same way he feels he should get the Nobel Peace Prize. The clashes between the Trump Administration and scientists are worrisome and undermine the public's trust. The ultimate defeat of COVID-19 will be a group effort, one based on science, not pontifications or political aspirations.
When the vaccine finally becomes available, let's let Trump take the first dose. Let's see if it works, and let's see if it makes him any more honest, humane, and empathetic.
Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2018 through a six-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.
The last stray kitten and its mother were successfully captured last night by the cat rescue people. I am certain the mother and kitten will soon see the vet (probably the same vet as we brought Argent to today) and get checked out.
I was worried that the kitten hid too well in a car and the car would drive off and the kitten would fall to the road and be injured or killed. Fortunately, that did not happen.
The cat rescue people will continue to try to capture stray cats in our neighborhood (we have many stray cats here) over the next month or two. It may be easier in the winter as food is scarce due to the snow and ice.
5 Secrets of Successful Mobile App Developers
Mobile application developers have never had it better – or worse.
On the one hand, the research firm Gartner predicts that by 2015 there will be 1 billion iPad users and 2.5 billion smartphone owners. For app developers, this means the potential c...
pixelite.in/2015/10/09/5-secrets-of-successful-mobile-app...
Women & cars - A successful combination
2015 Bucharest Auto Show (October 2015)
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British Railways class 20 locomotive, D8001 (20001) freshly repainted into early green livery was given a loaded test run before being passed fit to return to traffic following an engine overhaul.
The locomotive is seen at North Weald station after the successful completion of the first test run.
North Weald station
Epping Ongar Railway
23 July 2022