The great tit (Parus major) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. Until 2005 this species was lumped with numerous other subspecies. DNA studies have shown these other subspecies to be distinct from the great tit and these have now been separated as two distinct species, the cinereous tit (Parus cinereus) of southern Asia, and the Japanese tit (Parus minor) of East Asia. The great tit remains the most widespread species in the genus Parus.

 

The great tit is a distinctive bird with a black head and neck, prominent white cheeks, olive upperparts and yellow underparts, with some variation amongst the numerous subspecies. It is predominantly insectivorous in the summer, but will consume a wider range of food items in the winter months, including small hibernating bats. Like all tits it is a cavity nester, usually nesting in a hole in a tree. The female lays around 12 eggs and incubates them alone, although both parents raise the chicks. In most years the pair will raise two broods. The nests may be raided by woodpeckers, squirrels and weasels and infested with fleas, and adults may be hunted by sparrowhawks. The great tit has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is a common and familiar bird in urban parks and gardens. The great tit is also an important study species in ornithology.

 

The great tit is large for a tit at 12.5 to 14.0 cm (4.9–5.5 in) in length, and has a distinctive appearance that makes it easy to recognize. The nominate race P. major major has a bluish-black crown, black neck, throat, bib and head, and white cheeks and ear coverts. The breast is bright lemon-yellow and there is a broad black mid-line stripe running from the bib to vent. There is a dull white spot on the neck turning to greenish yellow on the upper nape. The rest of the nape and back are green tinged with olive. The wing-coverts are green, the rest of the wing is bluish-grey with a white wing-bar. The tail is bluish grey with white outer tips. The plumage of the female is similar to that of the male except that the colors are overall duller; the bib is less intensely black, as is the line running down the belly, which is also narrower and sometimes broken. Young birds are like the female, except that they have dull olive-brown napes and necks, grayish rumps, and greyer tails, with less defined white tips.

 

The colour of the male bird's breast has been shown to correlate with stronger sperm, and is one way that the male demonstrates his reproductive superiority to females. Higher levels of carotenoid increase the intensity of the yellow of the breast its color, and also enable the sperm to better withstand the onslaught of free radicals. Carotenoids cannot be synthesized by the bird and have to be obtained from food, so a bright color in a male demonstrates his ability to obtain good nutrition. However, the saturation of the yellow color is also influenced by environmental factors, such as weather conditions. The width of the male's ventral stripe, which varies with individual, is selected for by females, with higher quality females apparently selecting males with wider stripes.

 

The great tit is, like other tits, a vocal bird, and has up to 40 types of calls and songs. The calls are generally the same between the sexes, but the male is much more vocal and the female rarely calls. Soft single notes such as "pit", "spick", or "chit" are used as contact calls. A loud "tink" is used by adult males as an alarm or in territorial disputes. One of the most familiar is a "teacher, teacher", often likened to a squeaky wheelbarrow wheel, which is used in proclaiming ownership of a territory. In former times, English folk considered the "saw-sharpening" call to be a foretelling of rain. There is little geographic variation in calls, but tits from the two south Asian groups recently split from the great tit do not recognize or react to the calls of the temperate great tits.

 

The great tit has a wide distribution across much of Eurasia. It can be found across all of Europe except for Iceland and northern Scandinavia, including numerous Mediterranean islands. In North Africa it lives in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It also occurs across the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan to Mongolia, as well as across northern Asia from the Urals as far east as northern China and the Amur Valley.

 

Great tits combine dietary versatility with a considerable amount of intelligence and the ability to solve problems with insight learning, that is to solve a problem through insight rather than trial and error. In England, great tits learned to break the foil caps of milk bottles delivered at the doorstep of homes to obtain the cream at the top. This behavior, first noted in 1921, spread rapidly in the next two decades. In 2009, great tits were reported killing, and eating the brains of roosting pipistrelle bats. This is the first time a songbird has been recorded preying on bats. The tits only do this during winter when the bats are hibernating and other food is scarce. They have also been recorded using tools, using a conifer needle in the bill to extract larvae from a hole in a tree.

 

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_tit

 

©2009 by João Paglione - all rights reserved

Visit my webpage www.joaopaglione.de to view images in larger resolution (full screen) or license them for editorial, commercial, or personal usage. Or e-mail me

  

Process by which cells containing chlorophyll in green plants convert incident light to chemical energy and synthesize organic compounds from inorganic compounds, especially carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, accompanied by the simultaneous release of oxygen.

  

..Ultimately, nearly all living things depend on energy produced from photosynthesis for their nourishment, making it vital to life on Earth. It is also responsible for producing the oxygen that makes up a large portion of the Earth's atmosphere

 

Source

Leptoptilos crumeniferus. Kruger national Park. South Africa.

The Marabous are having a sunbath with their wings held open for maximum benefit. Ultra-vioelet rays kill potencially harmful bacteria on the feathers. The sun´s rays also help synthesize vitamine D and pay a roll in restoring the shape of the bird´s flight feathers that become bent or bowed out of shape.

The Marabou Storks defecate on their legs to keep cool, this is the reazon they have whitewashed apperance.

   

Illinois.

 

Synthesized IRY-->RGB cross-sampled image from a single exposure. Converted camera, Tiffen #15 filter. Worked up in Pixelbender and Photoshop.

 

Details best viewed in Original Size.

 

According to Wikipedia, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (more commonly known as The Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning its interior walls) was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I and although it is still popularly used as a mosque, it is also a popular tourist attraction. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets (here two are hidden by the fountain), and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman Mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendor. The facade of the spacious forecourt was built in the same manner as the facade of the Süleymaniye Mosque (also included in this set). The court is about as large as the mosque itself, is surrounded by a continuous vaulted arcade and has a central hexagonal fountain which is small relative to the courtyard.

NASA release April 22, 2010

 

This is a three-dimensional trip into a giant "mountain" of cool hydrogen and dust in the Carina Nebula, a vast star-forming region in our Milky Way Galaxy. The nebula is too far away for Hubble Space Telescope to see in true three dimensions. But this visualization creates foreground and background elements based on an approximation of how the region might be distributed in a 3-D volume. A virtual camera flies through this synthesized space to create a 3-D effect.

 

Credit: NASA, G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, and F. Summers (STScI/AURA)

 

To read learn more about this video go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/hubble20th-img....

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

modelshopstudio™ with Lloyd Thrap Creative Photography — at modelshopstudio™. — at modelshopstudio™.

 

Location: modelshopstudio™

Albuquerque, New Mexico. USA

 

© 2014 2025 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for modelshopstudio™

 

Lloyd-Thrap-Creative-Photography

 

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Model

The recognizable profile of the Pelican Nebula soars nearly 2,000 light-years away in the high flying constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Also known as IC 5070, this interstellar cloud of gas and dust is appropriately found just off the "east coast" of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), another surprisingly familiar looking emission nebula in Cygnus. Both Pelican and North America nebulae are part of the same large and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. From our vantage point, dark dust clouds (upper left) help define the Pelican's eye and long bill, while a bright front of ionized gas suggests the curved shape of the head and neck. This striking synthesized color view utilizes narrowband image data recording the emission of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the cosmic cloud. The scene spans some 30 light-years at the estimated distance of the Pelican Nebula. via NASA ift.tt/2frkU7N

Photographed in the Pantanal, Brazil - From a boat, no cover

 

Click on the image or press the L key to view at larger size

 

Capybara are a common sight throughout the Pantanal but it was a special delight to see this pair swimming together right next to the boat.

=======================

From Wikipedia: The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a mammal native to South America. It is the largest living rodent in the world. Also called chigüire, chigüiro (in Colombia and Venezuela) and carpincho, it is a member of the genus Hydrochoerus, of which the only other extant member is the lesser capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius). Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu. The capybara inhabits savannas and dense forests and lives near bodies of water. It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals. The capybara is not a threatened species but it is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin, which is used in the pharmaceutical trade.

 

Ecology:

 

Capybaras are semiaquatic mammals found throughout almost all countries of South America except Chile. They live in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, and marshes, as well as flooded savannah and along rivers in the tropical rainforest. They are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes at a time. Capybara have flourished in cattle ranches. They roam in home ranges averaging 10 hectares (25 acres) in high-density populations.

 

Many escapees from captivity can also be found in similar watery habitats around the world. Sightings are fairly common in Florida, although a breeding population has not yet been confirmed. In 2011, one specimen was spotted on the Central Coast of California.

 

Diet and predation:

 

Capybaras are herbivores, grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants, as well as fruit and tree bark. They are very selective feeders and feed on the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it. They eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season, as fewer plants are available. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season. Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter, so are not consumed at that time. The capybara's jaw hinge is not perpendicular, so they chew food by grinding back-and-forth rather than side-to-side. Capybaras are autocoprophagous, meaning they eat their own feces as a source of bacterial gut flora, to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet, and to extract the maximum protein and vitamins from their food. They may also regurgitate food to masticate again, similar to cud-chewing by cattle. As is the case with other rodents, the front teeth of capybaras grow continually to compensate for the constant wear from eating grasses; their cheek teeth also grow continuously.

 

Like its relative the guinea pig, the capybara does not have the capacity to synthesize vitamin C, and capybaras not supplemented with vitamin C in captivity have been reported to develop gum disease as a sign of scurvy.[26]

 

They can have a lifespan of 8–10 years, but live less than four years in the wild, because they are "a favourite food of jaguar, puma, ocelot, eagle, and caiman". The capybara is also the preferred prey of the anaconda.

  

4F3A6365-1_fCAFlkr

Rachy Aragon at modelshopstudio™

  

© 2016 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

for Halo Media Group and modelshopstudio™

All works subject to applicable copyright laws. This intellectual property MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED except by normal viewing process of the browser. The intellectual property may not be copied to another computer, transmitted , published, reproduced, stored, manipulated, projected, or altered in any way, including without limitation any digitization or synthesizing of the images, alone or with any other material, by use of computer or other electronic means or any other method or means now or hereafter known, without the written permission of Lloyd Thrap and payment of a fee or arrangement thereof.

 

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The great tit (Parus major) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. Until 2005 this species was lumped with numerous other subspecies. DNA studies have shown these other subspecies to be distinct from the great tit and these have now been separated as two distinct species, the cinereous tit (Parus cinereus) of southern Asia, and the Japanese tit (Parus minor) of East Asia. The great tit remains the most widespread species in the genus Parus.

 

The great tit is a distinctive bird with a black head and neck, prominent white cheeks, olive upperparts and yellow underparts, with some variation amongst the numerous subspecies. It is predominantly insectivorous in the summer, but will consume a wider range of food items in the winter months, including small hibernating bats. Like all tits it is a cavity nester, usually nesting in a hole in a tree. The female lays around 12 eggs and incubates them alone, although both parents raise the chicks. In most years the pair will raise two broods. The nests may be raided by woodpeckers, squirrels and weasels and infested with fleas, and adults may be hunted by sparrowhawks. The great tit has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is a common and familiar bird in urban parks and gardens. The great tit is also an important study species in ornithology.

 

The great tit is large for a tit at 12.5 to 14.0 cm (4.9–5.5 in) in length, and has a distinctive appearance that makes it easy to recognize. The nominate race P. major major has a bluish-black crown, black neck, throat, bib and head, and white cheeks and ear coverts. The breast is bright lemon-yellow and there is a broad black mid-line stripe running from the bib to vent. There is a dull white spot on the neck turning to greenish yellow on the upper nape. The rest of the nape and back are green tinged with olive. The wing-coverts are green, the rest of the wing is bluish-grey with a white wing-bar. The tail is bluish grey with white outer tips. The plumage of the female is similar to that of the male except that the colors are overall duller; the bib is less intensely black, as is the line running down the belly, which is also narrower and sometimes broken. Young birds are like the female, except that they have dull olive-brown napes and necks, grayish rumps, and greyer tails, with less defined white tips.

 

The colour of the male bird's breast has been shown to correlate with stronger sperm, and is one way that the male demonstrates his reproductive superiority to females. Higher levels of carotenoid increase the intensity of the yellow of the breast its color, and also enable the sperm to better withstand the onslaught of free radicals. Carotenoids cannot be synthesized by the bird and have to be obtained from food, so a bright color in a male demonstrates his ability to obtain good nutrition. However, the saturation of the yellow color is also influenced by environmental factors, such as weather conditions. The width of the male's ventral stripe, which varies with individual, is selected for by females, with higher quality females apparently selecting males with wider stripes.

 

The great tit is, like other tits, a vocal bird, and has up to 40 types of calls and songs. The calls are generally the same between the sexes, but the male is much more vocal and the female rarely calls. Soft single notes such as "pit", "spick", or "chit" are used as contact calls. A loud "tink" is used by adult males as an alarm or in territorial disputes. One of the most familiar is a "teacher, teacher", often likened to a squeaky wheelbarrow wheel, which is used in proclaiming ownership of a territory. In former times, English folk considered the "saw-sharpening" call to be a foretelling of rain. There is little geographic variation in calls, but tits from the two south Asian groups recently split from the great tit do not recognize or react to the calls of the temperate great tits.

 

The great tit has a wide distribution across much of Eurasia. It can be found across all of Europe except for Iceland and northern Scandinavia, including numerous Mediterranean islands. In North Africa it lives in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It also occurs across the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan to Mongolia, as well as across northern Asia from the Urals as far east as northern China and the Amur Valley.

 

Great tits combine dietary versatility with a considerable amount of intelligence and the ability to solve problems with insight learning, that is to solve a problem through insight rather than trial and error. In England, great tits learned to break the foil caps of milk bottles delivered at the doorstep of homes to obtain the cream at the top. This behavior, first noted in 1921, spread rapidly in the next two decades. In 2009, great tits were reported killing, and eating the brains of roosting pipistrelle bats. This is the first time a songbird has been recorded preying on bats. The tits only do this during winter when the bats are hibernating and other food is scarce. They have also been recorded using tools, using a conifer needle in the bill to extract larvae from a hole in a tree.

 

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_tit

 

Whilst Talia continues to fight Ubu, she orders me to focus on shutting down the tower. Part of me fundamentally disagrees with her. Everything Bruce taught me in the first year focused on the importance of team work and how no matter what, we never abandon an ally. Almost four years on though, I can’t help but wonder how heavily that was caused by Jason’s loss. It had been well over a year after he’d lost Jason at the time and it would be another year before he’d finally open up about what really happened to Jason.

 

But now I can see where Bruce was coming from. After both Steph and I were attacked at the fairground, it feels wrong to leave Talia on her own to face Ubu. Especially with how little I know about his own skills with a blade. However, if what Bruce says about her is true, and she’s the one who trained him, then I’m worrying over nothing.

 

I really hope that’s the case.

 

Red Robin: Red Bird to bunker.

 

Alfred: Bunker here. Go ahead Red Bird.

 

Red Robin: How are we looking Al?

 

Alfred: I’m not sure yet. You’re the first team to report in.

 

Red Robin: Nothing from Bruce?

 

Alfred: Not since he found his father’s body.

 

Red Robin: Wait, what? There was a body at his tower too?

 

Alfred: Yes, its dental records match those belonging to Thomas Wayne. Lucius has told me that Master Grayson and Miss Gordon came across Mrs Wayne’s body at the Eastern tower. Did you identify who the body that you encounter belonged to?

 

Red Robin: We didn’t stop to confirm it, but Talia identified our body as that of Bruce’s uncle.

 

Alfred: First his parents, now his uncle.

 

Red Robin: Have you heard from the Outlaws about their body?

 

Alfred: We’ve not heard anything from them so far. I suspect they must have faced substantial resistance almost immediately to have not reported a body to us. Or perhaps maybe there isn’t one to report.

 

Red Robin: There’ll be one, Al. You don’t do something like that without covering your bases. They’ll have wanted Bruce to see them so they’ll have planted one at each tower to make sure that he does.

 

Alfred: I fear so.

 

Red Robin: How did he react to it?

 

Alfred: Not well. He cut off comms once he realised it was actually Thomas’ body. I fear the worst.

 

Red Robin: He’ll be alright, Alfred. He always is.

 

Alfred: But at what cost? You know how he protective he is of his parent’s memory, Master Timothy. I dread to think what having their peace disturbed will do to him.

 

Red Robin: He’ll do what’s right.

 

Alfred: I hope so.

 

The concern in Alfred’s voice is difficult to ignore. Clearly Bruce reacted worse than I thought he would upon learning who the bodies belong to. Please Bruce, don’t do anything stupid, for Alfred’s sake if not your own. In order to distract himself from those thoughts prying at the back of his head, Alfred tries to move the conversation along.

 

Alfred: Have you and Miss Al-Ghul secured the tower?

 

Red Robin: Not exactly. Talia had us split up. I’m on my way to try and shut down the tower, she’s dealing with one of the guards.

 

Alfred: I’ll transfer the tower schematics to your HUD now.

 

Red Robin: Thanks, Al………………………Do you know this person Talia’s fighting?

 

Alfred: Do they have a name?

 

Red Robin: Ubu.

 

Alfred: I’ll see if the Batcomputer has anything on anyone with that name and get back to you. The tower schematics should be with you now.

 

I activate the Batcomputer connection built into my mask and it begins downloading the tower schematics. Much to my surprise, the dispersal system controls are only two floors above. Not what you’d expect from a tower that’s at least 15 floors tall.

 

Red Robin: Al, are you sure these schematics are good? They say the controls are only two floors above me.

 

Alfred: You’re having the same problem that both Lucius and I did. A lack of logic behind the building of these towers

 

Red Robin: Are we sure Joker didn’t build these towers?

 

Alfred: Whilst it does sound like something he would do, thankfully he did not.

 

Red Robin: Alright Al, I’m making my way to the tower controls now. I’ll contact you if I need anything.

 

Alfred: Very good Master Timothy. Keep safe.

 

It takes little more than two minutes for me to locate the control room and much to my surprise it’s not booby trapped. With the way Bruce and Talia talk about the League, I’m rather surprised they have something waiting for me. That confusion quickly fades away as I realize why there was no trap set up to protect the room.

 

Damn it.

 

They’ve damaged the controls. Looks like the schematics Alfred gave me for the mechanism are worthless. How am I supposed to shut the dispersal system off now? Unless……I don’t need to shut the tower down? What if I just render what it’s pumping out into Gotham harmless?

 

Red Robin: Red Bird to bunker.

 

Alfred: Bunker here, go ahead Red Bird.

 

Red Robin: Alfred I’ve got a problem. The controls for my tower have been sabotaged and I’m not sure if they’re salvageable.

 

Alfred: This day just keeps getting better and better.

 

Red Robin: I’m looking at the system now. From what I can make out it looks like it’ll take some time to rewire the controls so they’re useable again, but the dispersal chamber appears accessible.

 

Alfred: I’ll patch you through to Lucius.

 

Red Robin: Thanks, Al.

 

Hopefully, Lucius has managed to reverse engineer the neutralising agent for this toxin. Otherwise I’m going to be stuck at rewiring this terminal for a good 15 minutes at least, and that’s time I can’t afford to waste especially with Talia fighting that Ubu guy alone.

 

Lucius: Good evening Mr. Drake.

 

Red Robin: Lucius.

 

Lucius: I hear the League of Assassins have decided to play dirty and vandalised your tower’s controls.

 

Red Robin: From what I can make out, the controls could be made to work again with enough rewiring but that will take time.

 

Lucius: A commodity that’s in short supply currently.

 

Red Robin: When isn’t it?

 

Lucius: Waiting for Luke to finish his driving exam comes to mind. So, what do you propose we do about shutting the tower down?

 

Red Robin: From what I can see, the actual dispersal chamber seems accessible. I’m wondering how far are you from synthesizing a neutralising agent for this gas?

 

Lucius: Though I can’t be 100% certain, I think I’ve cracked it. But I don’t have enough available right now to neutralise much gas at all. However, I think I have a solution.

 

Red Robin: Which is?

 

Lucius: I’m deploying the Batwing to your position now. Standby.

 

Red Robin: Lucius……Bruce told you about how you shouldn’t keep us in the dark when you have a new idea…..

 

Lucius: Don’t worry Mr. Drake. My idea will prevent the tower from dispersing anymore of that toxin into Gotham whilst I wait for the rest of the antidote to finish.

 

Red Robin: You’re not planning on blowing up the tower are you?

 

Lucius: ……

 

Red Robin: ………..Lucius?

 

Lucius: Not all of it.

 

Well that’s terrifying. I really don’t think I want to know just what he has cooked up in that crazy head of his. Hopefully Talia is having better luck with Ubu than I am with these controls.

Sodium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate and magnesium sulfate were combined with high heat to synthesize this 3" wide specimen of what I call, "Orangite". Zinc chloride and sulfur were then heated to a high temperature on the surface of the ceramic-like orangite.

 

Shown in UV light.

 

Created in my basement.

© 2018 2020 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

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Dirty Laundry

From The Dirty Laundry Cabaret. © 2011 2025Lloyd Thrap

 

Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

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From 11,500 feet over eastern Tennessee.

 

Synthesized IRG-->RGB cross-sampled image from a single exposure. Converted camera, Steinheil 50mm lens, Tiffen #15 filter. Worked up in Pixelbender and Photoshop.

© 2016 2025 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

for Halo Media Group and modelshopstudio™

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After convincing Roy to call Oliver, we both join the others at the Batcomputer. To our confusion, they all appear horrified by what they’re seeing.

 

Jason: What’s going on?

 

Bruce: Ra's has made his move. A gas attack.

 

I can’t help but notice neither Alfred or Lucius are here. Bruce has probably already got them working on analysing the gas and figuring out a way to neutralise it.

 

Dick: This….this is horrible….

 

Scarlett: Do you think any of the national guard managed to make it to safety?

 

Jason: I don’t know, Scarlett. I really don’t know.

 

I feel Scarlett grab hold of my hand as I give my answer. The reality about just what we’re about to face seems to be hitting home for her.

 

Tim: Do we know just what’s in this gas?

 

Bruce: Alfred and Lucius are still working to analyse the gas and synthesize a neutralising agent.

 

Roy: This isn’t right. What sort of monster gases people without a second thought?

 

Barbra: One who believes himself above all others. A man who thinks it his right to decide who deserves to live, and who deserves to die.

 

Bruce: This cannot be allowed to continue.

 

Dick: What are you suggesting?

 

Bruce: The gas is toxic if inhaled, but the tests that have already been performed show it is unable to corrode a gas mask and rebreather.

 

Tim: You’re saying we go out there and try to shut the towers down ourselves?

 

Bruce: Without a neutralising agent, there is little more we can do than simply prevent the gas from covering all of Gotham at present. We must ensure that the gas is not able to make it towards the GCPD or Gotham General.

 

Scarlett: But what about the soldiers? How do we help them?

 

Bruce doesn’t respond to her question, instead choosing to keep his attention directed solely at the Batcomputer monitor. At first, Scarlett thinks Bruce simply didn’t hear her, but Roy quickly realises what his silence means.

 

Roy: You’re just going to ignore them? Leave them to die?

 

I feel Scarlett let go of my hand as Bruce confirms that Roy’s accusation is in fact what he’s planning to do. It’s not like doing so doesn’t upset him. He always views any life he fails to save as blood on his hands. But being the very reason for why all of this chaos has come to Gotham, Dick, Tim and I know just how much he’s probably tearing himself apart on the inside.

 

Bruce: They’ll all die anyway if we don’t stop this gas from covering all of Gotham.

 

Scarlett: They’re innocent in all this! This whole attack is only happening because of you! We have to save them!

 

Jason: Scarlett…

 

Bruce: We have to prioritise. Say we’re successful, say we save what? Ten of them? How do you then justify saving ten of them and dooming the hundred or so police officers in the GCPD to death? How do you justify to Barbra that her father died needlessly because you chose saving one man over an entire city? How do you justify to Tim that his friend died in Gotham General because you let your emotions overrule your head?

 

Roy: Ollie would try to save them.

 

Bruce: I’m no Oliver Queen.

 

Roy: That’s for sure.

 

Dick: Thank goodness.

 

Dick’s attempt to diffuse the situation goes down poorly. It was a worthwhile attempt, but with tensions so high now really isn’t the time to try and make jokes at someone else's expense.

 

Bruce: Given that the towers cover all four corners of Gotham, we’ll have to divide our forces in order to neutralise them simultaneously.

 

Barbra: So we split up into teams? Who goes with who?

 

Bruce: Barbra, you and Dick take the east tower.

 

Dick: The one closest to GCPD?

 

Barbra: We’re on it.

 

Bruce: Jason, you and the Outlaws will take the southern tower.

 

Jason: Roger.

 

Bruce is sending three of us to handle one tower? That seems like an odd choice, especially when the numbers divide evenly to make four teams of two.

 

Roy: Wait, how the hell are we supposed to stop those towers anyways?

 

Bruce: Alfred will be feeding us all live information including the tower’s schematics when we arrive.

 

Dick: Good old Alfred.

 

Tim: So which tower does that leave me with? North or west?

 

Bruce: You and Talia will take the western tower.

 

Tim: Talia?

 

Bruce is sending Talia with Tim rather than with himself? In some ways that’s comforting, knowing that Tim won’t be going after a tower on his own, but why send Talia with him when he’s sending three of us to deal with the southern tower.

 

Bruce: She’s a skilled combatant. We’d be foolish not to make use of her help.

 

Tim: Then why’s she going with me and not you?

 

Bruce: I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on her.

 

Tim: You don’t trust yourself?

 

Bruce: Not unless it’s necessary.

 

Talia: He’s always been like that, I’m afraid.

 

Dick: You don’t need to tell any of us that, we’ve had to live with it.

 

Against my better judgement, I can’t help to ask why Bruce thinks it’s better to have uneven teams.

 

Jason: Wait, it doesn’t make sense that three of us are going to the southern tower but you’re going alone to the northern tower. Doesn’t it make more sense for Roy to go with Tim and Talia go with you?

 

Bruce: I’ll be fine. I have the sword.

 

Scarlett: What sword?

 

Tim: You know how every member in the League has a chemical in their body that gives them an unnatural healing factor? He's got a magical sword that neutralises it.

 

Dick: Then why haven’t you tried giving all of us one of those swords!?

 

Bruce: Because I had to do a deal with Hephaestus, and he would only forge me one blade.

 

Roy: That’s why you had us retrieve that stuff from Greene’s mansion.

 

Bruce: That was only intended as a contingency for this very scenario. The blade was the product of desperation.

 

Barbra: What did you have to promise him in return for it?

 

Bruce: Far too much.

 

Before any of us can ask for more detail on just what he had to promise, an alert comes up on the Batcomputer. The gas is beginning to spread deeper into Gotham.

 

Bruce: Suit up.

————————————

Thirty Minutes Later...

 

Given how the southern tower is built in the middle of the slums, it doesn’t take the three of us long to make it there. According to Alfred, we were the first team to make it to our tower which was rather surprising. Then again, the northern tower is in the direction of Wayne Manor…..or what remains of Wayne Manor that is. So Bruce will have less rooftops to help him traverse the city. He could always make use of the Batmobile or Batwing, but without knowing the effects this gas might have on either of them, he doesn’t want to risk having them taken out of commission. If what’s happened so far is anything to go by, we’ll be needing them.

 

Scarlett: I can’t believe he turned his back on them.

 

I walk up to Scarlett to see her looking down the scope of her rifle at a pair of dead bodies in front of the tower. It’s difficult to be sure from this distance, but they look like military. From Scarlett’s comment they’re no doubt national guard.

 

Red Hood: There was nothing he could do, Scarlett.

 

Scarlett: Of course there was something he could have done. There’s always something that can be done.

 

Arsenal: Save your anger. You’re directing it at the wrong person. Even if he is an asshole, the person who actually deserves that anger is the monster who’s leading the attack against the city.

 

Scarlett: In order to get back at him....

 

Arsenal: Do you have a problem, Scarlett?

 

Scarlett: I’m not the one who doesn't care that innocent people were killed because of this crusade against us. Against him.

 

Red Hood: You seriously think he doesn’t care?

 

Scarlett: Not if what I’ve seen so far is anything to go by.

 

Red Hood: Then you don’t understand anything. You might be upset to see those men on the street dead, but imagine how Bruce feels about this. He feels guilty if he’s not able to save the life of someone who was put in danger by something that wasn’t his doing. Imagine what he must be feeling about all this, knowing Ra’s is only doing it to get to him.

 

Scarlett: Then why doesn’t he just run? Lead them away from here and keep them as far away from Gotham as possible.

 

Arsenal: She’s got a point.

 

Red Hood: You don’t know Ra’s Al-Ghul. Neither of you do. You don’t know what’s he’s capable of. What he’s prepared to do. He only brought me back from the dead to use as a weapon against Bruce, and what did I do? I blew up a clock tower, I almost killed Tim and Alfred and I killed dozens of people just to try and hurt him. That was only after a couple of months with Ra’s, that's all it took for him to make me into a weapon

 

Scarlett: But you weren’t truly yourself. It was the Lazarus clouding your judgement.

 

Red Hood: Oh I knew what I was doing, and the worst part? I enjoyed it. When I went back to Nanda Parbat after we'd killed Black Mask, and told Ra’s just what I’d done? He was proud. He was proud. That’s why Bruce isn’t running. He knows Ra’s. He knows that this won’t stop with just him.

 

Arsenal: That’s why he went after the others yesterday. He wants to destroy everything Bruce cares about.

 

Red Hood: Ra’s already took his parents from him. Now he wants to take everything else. His city. His family. He's already taken his home indirectly. That’s why he’s choosing to fight. Not for himself. But to protect the others. To protect us.

 

Scarlett:…I’m…..sorry…..I didn’t mean…..

 

Red Hood: I know, Scarlett. I know.

 

Before any of us can say something else, Alfred radios in.

 

Alfred: Pen-7 to all strike teams. Mission is a go!

 

Red Hood: This South team, beginning insertion.

 

The three of us quickly make our towards the front entrance with our weapons at the ready. Scarlett holsters her rifle and pulls out a small taser pistol of her own whilst Roy removes an arrow from his quiver and rests it in his bow.

 

Red Hood: Roy, cover our flank. Scarlett, with me.

 

Arsenal: Roger.

 

Scarlett: I’ve got your back.

 

As Roy turns away from us to make sure there’s no-one watching us from a distance, Scarlett and I quickly make our way towards the front entrance. The door’s open and the lock's been shattered so clearly the tower has been broken into, most likely by the League’s agents. But what catches both of our attentions is the body laid in front of the door. It’s not wearing any military gear so it doesn’t appear to be another member of the national guard, but most of Gotham has been evacuated. So who is this, and what is their body doing here of all places?

 

Scarlett: Roy we’ve got a body.

 

Arsenal: National guard?

 

Red Hood: Doesn't look like it. There’s clear decomposition, a body killed by the gas would be fresh. This one’s anything but.

 

Scarlett: What’s it doing here anyways?

 

Arsenal: Clearly it’s been planted here for some reason. Probably a warning.

 

Red Hood: But what for, and why?

 

Scarlett: We’re not going to know without identifying the body.

 

Arsenal: Could be a trap.

 

Red Hood: I’ll give it a scan. It seems to be in good enough condition for us to identify it from DNA...

 

Scarlett: I’ll watch the entrance.

 

Arsenal: Keep an eye on the upper levels as well. Probably the perfect place to launch an ambush from.

 

Red Hood: Copy that. I’m moving up.

 

I cautiously approach the body holding a taser pistol in my right hand, trying to figure just why the League would go out of their way to unearth an body. Obviously whoever this person is, they’re important to all this. Well, important to us at least. Rather than risk disturbing the body, I choose to simply take a stray hair that is resting on the body’s chest and scan it using the interface Scarlett installed into my new vambraces.

 

The result that it gives both horrifies and confuses me.

 

Identity: Jason Todd.

 

How is that possible?

 

Red Hood What the hell. What the actual hell.

 

Scarlett: What’s wrong?

 

Arsenal: You know that person?

 

Red Hood: It says it’s…...how is that even possible…..?

 

Scarlett: Jason, who is it?

 

Red Hood: The scanner says it’s me.

 

Arsenal: What? You can’t be serious? Have you got that thing turned on properly?

 

Scarlett: Let me have a look at it.

 

Scarlett walks over to me and scans the hair herself. The look on her face confirms that my scanner is correct.

 

Scarlett: How is that even...

 

Arsenal: Are you sure the scanner’s not faulty? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had problems with faulty equipment.

 

Both Scarlett and I desperately try to find something to help us identify the body properly. The face has been removed so it’s impossible to discern, and attempts to analyse finger prints come up with the same result.

 

Identity: Jason Todd.

 

Arsenal: What the fuck, man. What the actual fuck. How is this even possible?

 

Red Hood: When the League brought me back to life, they must have kept samples of my DNA. It’s the only possible explanation.

 

Arsenal: Are you sure? First the gas attack and now this, I’m really starting to wonder whether or not cloning is out of the question.

 

Red Hood: Are you serious?

 

Immediately, Roy points his bow at me with an arrow at the ready.

 

Arsenal: We know of aliens that are basically indestructible, can change form on a whim and an 800 year old man who is able to regenerate himself by taking a bath. Don't tell me cloning sounds stupid when this is reality.

 

Red Hood: Roy, what the hell!?

 

Arsenal: Who’s to say you’re not some clone that’s been planted here to spy on us?

 

Scarlett doesn’t step in, no doubt horrified by the prospect that the League has gone out of their way to create a fake dead body of myself.

 

Red Hood: Roy, you idiot it’s obviously a fake!

 

Arsenal: Prove it.

 

Red Hood: Or what? What are you going to do, shoot me with an arrow? Choke me to death with your mechanical arm?

 

Arsenal: Don’t tempt me, Todd. Prove it’s not you.

 

I turn around and begin to inspect the body for any defects. All I need is something small, but it has to be different and it has to be obvious. Whilst I’m occupied trying to deal with Roy in his paranoid state, I look up to see Scarlett clench her fist and check her own taser pistol before running into the tower.

 

Scarlett: Those……monsters…..

 

Red Hood: Scarlett, wait!

 

Arsenal: Scarlett! Damn it. You’d better hurry up and find something, as I’m not letting her go in there on her own.

 

Red Hood: Damn it Roy, this isn’t the time!

 

Arsenal: Then prove me wrong.

 

With no face to prove it’s not me, and the fingerprints suggesting that it is, I need to find something to prove to Roy that it’s a fake. The build is almost a perfect copy of my own and the body’s height is identical. It takes me a minute looking up and down the body before I spot something.

 

Shoe size. I’m a size 10, the shoes on this body look to be a size bigger. A quick look at the shoes confirms

my suspicion. Size 11.

 

Red Hood: Look at the feet. This body is wearing size 11 shoes and I’m a size 10.

 

I remove the shoe on the left foot and place it against my own for comparison. Roy glances down at the exposed foot and realises that there’s no way that foot could into a size 10 shoe.

 

Once he realises his mistake, he quick retracts his bow and places his arrow back in his quiver.

 

Arsenal: Sorry…..I wasn’t thinking straight.

 

Red Hood: Apologise later, we’ve got to find Scarlet!

3D Crosseyed stereo: Cross your eyes until the two images overlap in the middle to form a 3rd image. That should appear in 3D! This is an Alder Flea Beetle - about 6mm long (7x magnification). The 3d image is synthesized by Zerene Stacker focus stacking software. He's sitting on a dried up rose petal (posed, staged).

Palacio de Aguirre, Cartagena (Murcia), Spain

Built: 1898–1901

Architect: Víctor Beltrí (1862-1935)

Client: Camilo Aguirre, industrialist and newspaper proprietor

 

This opulent residence stands as a jewel of Cartagena’s late 19th-century bourgeois expansion, marrying Neo-Baroque monumentality with eclectic ornamental sophistication.

 

Commissioned by Camilo Aguirre, a wealthy entrepreneur whose fortune was rooted in the region’s mining boom and media influence, the palace functioned as both a family home and an architectural assertion of modern taste, cultural literacy, and upward mobility.

 

About Cartagena

In 1901, Cartagena was a city of strategic and symbolic importance in Spain—a historic naval stronghold undergoing a period of intense economic and urban renewal. Situated on the southeastern coast, it had long been home to the country’s principal Mediterranean naval base and shipyards.

 

By the turn of the 20th century, Cartagena was also at the center of a mining and industrial boom, driven by the extraction of silver, lead, and zinc from the nearby Sierra Minera. This influx of capital gave rise to a new class of bourgeois entrepreneurs, financiers, and professionals who sought to remake the city in their image: modern, cultured, and prosperous.

 

The construction of the Palacio de Aguirre in this context signals not only the personal ambition of its patron, Camilo Aguirre, but also the aspirations of a city eager to assert its place in the modern Spanish nation—as both a military bulwark and a symbol of civic progress, blending classical heritage with contemporary style.

 

Listed Status

The Palacio de Aguirre is officially designated as a Bien de Interés Cultural in the category of Monumento (Monument), which is the highest level of heritage protection in Spain. This status protects both its architectural integrity and decorative elements, including its polychrome tilework, sculptural ornamentation, and historic fabric.

 

Additionally, the building forms part of the Museo Regional de Arte Moderno (MURAM) and has been incorporated into the city's cultural and tourism infrastructure, further reinforcing its protected status.

 

🎨 Style: Historicist Eclecticism meets the Aesthetic Movement

 

The building synthesizes a rich variety of historicist vocabularies, from Baroque and Renaissance revival to the Aesthetic and Eastlake movements then circulating through European design discourse. Its intricate surface program reveals Beltrí’s fluency with:

 

•Arts & Crafts and Eastlake linearity, evident in the rhythmic scrolls, plant forms, and stylized beasts

 

•Spanish and Italian Baroque massing (note the heavily bracketed cornices and ornamental cresting)

 

•Renaissance grotesque motifs, especially in the ceramic panels

 

Ceramic Iconography: Pleasure, Labor, and Moral Complexity

 

A highlight of the façade is the vibrant polychrome tile frieze, where putti harvest grapes amid thistles and symbolic flora. This program draws directly on Roman and Renaissance precedents:

 

•The grape harvest invokes Bacchic fertility, but here labor is emphasized—putti are not frolicking but toiling, echoing bourgeois work ethic.

 

•The thistle, beneath soft flesh and ripe fruit, injects emotional and symbolic tension: a reminder of the pain beneath pleasure, or the hard reality beneath surface delight.

 

•Elsewhere, a putto presents a green parrot perched on a ring—a scene of exotic domesticity, but also allegory: a tamed, mimicking creature symbolizing artifice, desire, and aestheticized nature.

 

🐉 Scrollwork Beasts and Decorative Lineage

 

Surrounding these scenes, ceramic panels display scroll-and-beast motifs—hybrid zoomorphic forms emerging from foliage. These derive from:

 

•Roman grotesque wall painting, filtered through Renaissance revival and 19th-century pattern books.

 

•Possibly influenced by Moorish ornamental flattening or Japoniste abstraction, part of the wider Aesthetic Movement.

 

These “botanicomorphic” beasts, unreal by design, assert cultivated imagination—a hallmark of both imperial Rome and modern elite culture. Their presence signals control over the fantastical, a visual assertion of taste, intellect, and privilege.

 

🐝 Architectural Allegory in Relief and Iron

 

On the tower, relief bees and stylized botanical panels add another symbolic layer. The bee—a classical emblem of industry, order, and fertility—underscores the patron’s narrative: this is a house of productive labor, refined taste, and civilizing aspiration. Even the wrought iron balcony grilles echo Eastlake wood carving in their intricate scrollwork—nature made geometric, ornament made discipline.

 

A mixed-use building from the outset:

 

✔️ Primary Use: Family Residence

 

The upper floors, particularly the ornate corner rooms and formal salon spaces, were undoubtedly intended as private domestic quarters for the Aguirre family.

 

The architectural richness—putti, allegorical tiles, wrought iron balconies, and symbolic reliefs—aligns with the bourgeois ideal of the cultivated home, a stage for displaying wealth, refinement, and cultural legitimacy.

 

✔️ Secondary Use: Business and Social Functions

 

Camilo Aguirre was more than a rentier—he was an entrepreneur, linked to the regional press, mining interests, and finance.

 

Like many Spanish industrialist homes of the period, it is plausible that the ground floor or a lateral wing housed offices related to:

 

Aguirre’s publishing ventures (possibly editorial or administrative spaces)

 

Business meeting rooms for investment partnerships or civic involvement

 

Such arrangements were typical of urban palacetes—blending domestic life and elite professional activity in one structure.

 

Supporting Clues from the Architecture

 

The arched main door and grander-than-domestic vestibule suggest semi-public or business-related access.

 

The vertical zoning—more decorative and symbolic elements concentrated on upper façades—often marked a distinction between public-facing lower floors and private upper floors.

 

️ Afterlife: From Private Palace to Public Use

 

By the mid-20th century, the palace had ceased to function as a private residence.

 

It now houses the Museo Regional de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MURAM)—a fitting reuse that continues the building’s role as a showcase of cultural aspiration.

  

Final Note

The Palacio de Aguirre is not just eclectic—it is encoded. It offers a narrative façade, in which labor and luxury, sensuality and discipline, mythology and modernity are layered into its ornament. Whether or not Camilo Aguirre grasped every classical or mythic reference, he certainly intended to project cultural legitimacy, moral rectitude, and aesthetic modernity—the values of a man made in the age of industry, but longing to be remembered in the idiom of empire.

 

About the Architect

 

Víctor Beltrí (1862–1935) was a prolific and versatile architect who played a transformative role in shaping Cartagena’s architectural identity during its late 19th- and early 20th-century boom. A Catalan by birth and trained in Barcelona, Beltrí brought to Murcia a refined blend of eclectic historicism, Modernisme, and regionalist idioms, applying them across public, religious, and residential buildings.

Here are some of his most notable surviving works, nearly all in Cartagena:

 

️ Casa Cervantes (1900–1901)

 

•One of his earliest major commissions in Cartagena, built for the industrialist José María Cervantes.

 

•Strongly eclectic, with Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance features.

 

•Known for its decorative stuccowork, ironwork balconies, and elegant symmetry.

 

🏫 Casa Llagostera (1916)

 

•A more Modernista work, distinguished by elaborate ceramic tile panels and stylized floral motifs.

 

•Famous for its ceramic depictions of Cervantine characters (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza), referencing the owner’s name.

 

🏨 Grand Hotel of Cartagena (1907)

 

•Perhaps Beltrí’s most iconic secular work.

 

•A true Modernista showpiece, with a curved corner façade, domed turret, lavish iron balconies, and Art Nouveau ornament.

 

•Its exuberant decorative program and urban prominence make it one of Cartagena’s architectural landmarks.

 

⛪ Iglesia de la Caridad (restoration and dome, early 20th c.)

 

•Beltrí contributed to the renovation of this Baroque church, particularly the dome and lateral chapels.

 

•The church is the spiritual heart of Cartagena, housing the patron saint Nuestra Señora de la Caridad.

 

🏫 Casa Clares (1905)

 

•Residential and commercial building with wrought iron balconies, stucco ornament, and a carefully proportioned façade.

 

•A good example of Beltrí’s ability to adapt ornamental richness to smaller-scale urban commissions.

 

️ Casino de Cartagena (remodeling, early 20th century)

 

•Beltrí was responsible for major interior renovations to this 19th-century social club.

 

•He introduced Neo-Mudejar elements, stained glass, and eclectic interiors that blend orientalist fantasy with bourgeois refinement.

 

🏥 Hospital de la Caridad Expansion

 

•Beltrí also worked on institutional architecture, contributing to the expansion of Cartagena’s medical infrastructure.

 

Summary of Beltrí’s Significance

 

Beltrí’s legacy lies in his stylistic range: from strict academic revivalism (as in the Palacio de Aguirre) to Art Nouveau experimentation, always tailored to his patrons’ ambitions. His buildings remain among the most photographed and best-preserved examples of Cartagena’s golden age architecture.

  

This text is a collaboration with Chat GPT

 

Visiting the Cemetery this evening a sliver of sun shone through the clouds and lit up this fine strong dominating tree that towers the external back wall of the graveyard, like a super trooper.

 

It caught my eye and provoked some thoughts of life after death, hence this capture, posting to Flickr to archive the moment and enjoy time and again.

 

Resurrection

 

Resurrection is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of ancient religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and resurrects. The death and resurrection of Jesus, an example of resurrection, is the central focus of Christianity.

 

As a religious concept, it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing (Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The resurrection of the dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions.

 

Some believe the soul is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected.

Christian theological debate ensues with regard to what kind of resurrection is factual – either a spiritual resurrection with a spirit body into Heaven, or a material resurrection with a restored human body. While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension to Heaven was in a material body, a very small minority believe it was spiritual.

 

There are documented rare cases of the return to life of the clinically dead which are classified scientifically as examples of the Lazarus syndrome, a term originating from the Biblical story of the Resurrection of Lazarus.

 

Etymology

Resurrection, from the Latin noun resurrectio -onis, from the verb rego, "to make straight, rule" + preposition sub, "under", altered to subrigo and contracted to surgo, surrexi, surrectum + preposition re-, "again", thus literally "a straightening from under again".

 

Religion

 

Ancient religions in the Near East

 

See also: Dying-and-rising god

The concept of resurrection is found in the writings of some ancient non-Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. A few extant Egyptian and Canaanite writings allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris and Baal. Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough relates to these dying and rising gods, but many of his examples, according to various scholars, distort the sources. Taking a more positive position, Tryggve Mettinger argues in his recent book that the category of rise and return to life is significant for the following deities: Ugaritic Baal, Melqart, Adonis, Eshmun, Osiris and Dumuzi.

 

Ancient Greek religion

 

In ancient Greek religion a number of men and women were made physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead. Asclepius was killed by Zeus, only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by his divine mother Thetis and resurrected, brought to an immortal existence in either Leuce, Elysian plains or the Islands of the Blessed. Memnon, who was killed by Achilles, seems to have received a similar fate. Alcmene, Castor, Heracles, and Melicertes, were also among the figures sometimes considered to have been resurrected to physical immortality. According to Herodotus's Histories, the seventh century BC sage Aristeas of Proconnesus was first found dead, after which his body disappeared from a locked room. Later he found not only to have been resurrected but to have gained immortality.

 

Many other figures, like a great part of those who fought in the Trojan and Theban wars, Menelaus, and the historical pugilist Cleomedes of Astupalaea, were also believed to have been made physically immortal, but without having died in the first place. Indeed, in Greek religion, immortality originally always included an eternal union of body and soul. The philosophical idea of an immortal soul was a later invention, which, although influential, never had a breakthrough in the Greek world. As may be witnessed even into the Christian era, not least by the complaints of various philosophers over popular beliefs, traditional Greek believers maintained the conviction that certain individuals were resurrected from the dead and made physically immortal and that for the rest of us, we could only look forward to an existence as disembodied and dead souls.

 

This traditional religious belief in physical immortality was generally denied by the Greek philosophers. Writing his Lives of Illustrious Men (Parallel Lives) in the first century CE, the Middle Platonic philosopher Plutarch's chapter on Romulus gave an account of the mysterious disappearance and subsequent deification of this first king of Rome, comparing it to traditional Greek beliefs such as the resurrection and physical immortalization of Alcmene and Aristeas the Proconnesian, "for they say Aristeas died in a fuller's work-shop, and his friends coming to look for him, found his body vanished; and that some presently after, coming from abroad, said they met him traveling towards Croton." Plutarch openly scorned such beliefs held in traditional ancient Greek religion, writing, "many such improbabilities do your fabulous writers relate, deifying creatures naturally mortal."

 

The parallel between these traditional beliefs and the later resurrection of Jesus was not lost on the early Christians, as Justin Martyr argued: "when we say ... Jesus Christ, our teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propose nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you consider sons of Zeus." (1 Apol. 21). There is, however, no belief in a general resurrection in ancient Greek religion, as the Greeks held that not even the gods were able to recreate flesh that had been lost to decay, fire or consumption.

 

The notion of a general resurrection of the dead was therefore apparently quite preposterous to the Greeks. This is made clear in Paul's Areopagus discourse. After having first told about the resurrection of Jesus, which makes the Athenians interested to hear more, Paul goes on, relating how this event relates to a general resurrection of the dead:

 

"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, `We shall hear you again concerning this."

 

Christianity

 

Resurrection of Jesus

 

In Christianity, resurrection most critically concerns the Resurrection of Jesus, but also includes the resurrection of Judgment Day known as the Resurrection of the Dead by those Christians who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which is the majority or Mainstream Christianity), as well as the resurrection miracles done by Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament. Some churches distinguish between raising the dead (a resumption of mortal life) and a resurrection (the beginning of an immortal life).

 

Resurrection of Jesus

Christians regard the resurrection of Jesus as the central doctrine in Christianity. Others take the Incarnation of Jesus to be more central; however, it is the miracles – and particularly his Resurrection – which provide validation of his incarnation. According to Paul, the entire Christian faith hinges upon the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus and the hope for a life after death. The Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

 

Resurrection

Miracles of Jesus § Resurrection of the dead

During the Ministry of Jesus on earth, before his death, Jesus commissioned his Twelve Apostles to, among other things, raise the dead. In the New Testament, Jesus is said to have raised several persons from death. These resurrections included the daughter of Jairus shortly after death, a young man in the midst of his own funeral procession, and Lazarus, who had been buried for four days. According to the Gospel of Matthew, after Jesus's resurrection, many of those previously dead came out of their tombs and entered Jerusalem, where they appeared to many.

 

Similar resurrections are credited to Christian apostles and saints. Peter allegedly raised a woman named Dorcas (called Tabitha), and Paul the Apostle revived a man named Eutychus who had fallen asleep and fell from a window to his death, according to the book of Acts. Proceeding the apostolic era, many saints were said to resurrect the dead, as recorded in Orthodox Christian hagiographies.[citation needed] St Columba supposedly raised a boy from the dead in the land of Picts .

 

Most Christians understand these miraculous resurrections to be of a different nature than the resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection of the dead. The raising of Lazarus and others from the dead could also be called "resuscitations" or "reanimations", since the life given to them is presumably temporary in nature—there is no suggestion in the Bible or hagiographic traditions that these people became truly immortal. In contrast, the resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection of the dead will abolish death once and for all (see Isaiah 25:8, 1 Corinthians 15:26, 2 Timothy 1:10, Revelation 21:4).

 

Resurrection of the Dead

 

Christianity started as a religious movement within 1st-century Judaism (late Second Temple Judaism), and it retains what the New Testament itself claims was the Pharisaic belief in the afterlife and Resurrection of the Dead. Whereas this belief was only one of many beliefs held about the World to Come in Second Temple Judaism, and was notably rejected by both the Sadducees and, according to Josephus, the Pharisees, this belief became dominant within Early Christianity and already in the Gospels of Luke and John included an insistence on the resurrection of the flesh. This was later rejected by gnostic teachings, which instead continued the Pauline insistence that flesh and bones had no place in heaven.

 

Most modern Christian churches continue to uphold the belief that there will be a final Resurrection of the Dead and World to Come, perhaps as prophesied by the Apostle Paul when he said: "...he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world..." (Acts 17:31 KJV) and "...there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." (Acts 24:15 KJV).

 

Belief in the Resurrection of the Dead, and Jesus's role as judge, is codified in the Apostles' Creed, which is the fundamental creed of Christian baptismal faith. The Book of Revelation also makes many references about the Day of Judgment when the dead will be raised up.

 

Difference From Platonic philosophy

In Platonic philosophy and other Greek philosophical thought, at death the soul was said to leave the inferior body behind. The idea that Jesus was resurrected spiritually rather than physically even gained popularity among some Christian teachers, whom the author of 1 John declared to be antichrists. Similar beliefs appeared in the early church as Gnosticism. However, in Luke 24:39, the resurrected Jesus expressly states "behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

 

Islam

Belief in the "Day of Resurrection", Yawm al-Qiyāmah (Arabic: ‫يوم القيامة‬‎‎) is also crucial for Muslims. They believe the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man. The trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah are described in the Qur'an and the hadith, and also in the commentaries of scholars. The Qur'an emphasizes bodily resurrection, a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death.

 

Judaism and Samaritanism

There are three explicit examples in the Hebrew Bible of people being resurrected from the dead:

* The prophet Elijah prays and God raises a young boy from death (1 Kings 17:17-24)

* Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32-37); this was the very same child whose birth he previously foretold (2 Kings 4:8-16)

* A dead man's body that was thrown into the dead Elisha's tomb is resurrected when the body touches Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21)

 

During the period of the Second Temple, there developed a diversity of beliefs concerning the resurrection. The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh.[17] Resurrection of the dead also appears in detail in the extra-canonical books of Enoch,[18] in Apocalypse of Baruch, and 2 Esdras. According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism Philip R. Davies, there is “little or no clear reference … either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead” in the Dead Sea scrolls texts.

 

Both Josephus and the New Testament record that the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife, but the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees. The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not. According to Josephus, who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only the soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be reincarnated and “pass into other bodies,” while “the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment.” Paul, who also was a Pharisee, said that at the resurrection what is "sown as a natural body is raised a spiritual body." Jubilees seems to refer to the resurrection of the soul only, or to a more general idea of an immortal soul.

 

According to Herbert C. Brichto, writing in Reform Judaism's Hebrew Union College Annual, the family tomb is the central concept in understanding biblical views of the afterlife. Brichto states that it is "not mere sentimental respect for the physical remains that is...the motivation for the practice, but rather an assumed connection between proper sepulture and the condition of happiness of the deceased in the afterlife".

 

According to Brichto, the early Israelites apparently believed that the graves of family, or tribe, united into one, and that this unified collectivity is to what the Biblical Hebrew term Sheol refers, the common Grave of humans. Although not well defined in the Tanakh, Sheol in this view was a subterranean underworld where the souls of the dead went after the body died. The Babylonians had a similar underworld called Aralu, and the Greeks had one known as Hades. For biblical references to Sheol see Genesis 42:38, Isaiah 14:11, Psalm 141:7, Daniel 12:2, Proverbs 7:27 and Job 10:21,22, and 17:16, among others. According to Brichto, other Biblical names for Sheol were: Abaddon (ruin), found in Psalm 88:11, Job 28:22 and Proverbs 15:11; Bor (the pit), found in Isaiah 14:15, 24:22, Ezekiel 26:20; and Shakhat (corruption), found in Isaiah 38:17, Ezekiel 28:8.

 

Zen Buddhism

There are stories in Buddhism where the power of resurrection was allegedly demonstrated in Chan or Zen tradition. One is the legend of Bodhidharma, the Indian master who brought the Ekayana school of India to China that subsequently became Chan Buddhism.

The other is the passing of Chinese Chan master Puhua (J., Fuke) and is recounted in the Record of Linji (J., Rinzai). Puhua was known for his unusual behavior and teaching style so it is no wonder that he is associated with an event that breaks the usual prohibition on displaying such powers. Here is the account from Irmgard Schloegl's "The Zen Teaching of Rinzai".

 

"One day at the street market Fuke was begging all and sundry to give him a robe. Everybody offered him one, but he did not want any of them. The master [Linji] made the superior buy a coffin, and when Fuke returned, said to him: "There, I had this robe made for you." Fuke shouldered the coffin, and went back to the street market, calling loudly: "Rinzai had this robe made for me! I am off to the East Gate to enter transformation" (to die)." The people of the market crowded after him, eager to look. Fuke said: "No, not today. Tomorrow, I shall go to the South Gate to enter transformation." And so for three days. Nobody believed it any longer. On the fourth day, and now without any spectators, Fuke went alone outside the city walls, and laid himself into the coffin. He asked a traveler who chanced by to nail down the lid.

 

The news spread at once, and the people of the market rushed there. On opening the coffin, they found that the body had vanished, but from high up in the sky they heard the ring of his hand bell."

 

Technological resurrection

Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryonics procedures ideally begin within minutes of cardiac arrest, and use cryoprotectants to prevent ice formation during cryopreservation.

 

However, the idea of cryonics also includes preservation of people long after death because of the possibility that brain encoding memory structure and personality may still persist or be inferable in the future. Whether sufficient brain information still exists for cryonics to successfully preserve may be intrinsically unprovable by present knowledge. Therefore, most proponents of cryonics see it as an intervention with prospects for success that vary widely depending on circumstances.

 

Russian Cosmist Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov advocated resurrection of the dead using scientific methods. Fedorov tried to plan specific actions for scientific research of the possibility of restoring life and making it infinite. His first project is connected with collecting and synthesizing decayed remains of dead based on "knowledge and control over all atoms and molecules of the world".

 

The second method described by Fedorov is genetic-hereditary. The revival could be done successively in the ancestral line: sons and daughters restore their fathers and mothers, they in turn restore their parents and so on. This means restoring the ancestors using the hereditary information that they passed on to their children. Using this genetic method it is only possible to create a genetic twin of the dead person. It is necessary to give back the revived person his old mind, his personality. Fedorov speculates about the idea of "radial images" that may contain the personalities of the people and survive after death. Nevertheless, Fedorov noted that even if a soul is destroyed after death, Man will learn to restore it whole by mastering the forces of decay and fragmentation.

 

In his 1994 book The Physics of Immortality, American physicist Frank J. Tipler, an expert on the general theory of relativity, presented his Omega Point Theory which outlines how a resurrection of the dead could take place at the end of the cosmos. He posits that humans will evolve into robots which will turn the entire cosmos into a supercomputer which will, shortly before the big crunch, perform the resurrection within its cyberspace, reconstructing formerly dead humans (from information captured by the supercomputer from the past light cone of the cosmos) as avatars within its metaverse.

 

David Deutsch, British physicist and pioneer in the field of quantum computing, agrees with Tipler's Omega Point cosmology and the idea of resurrecting deceased people with the help of quantum computer but he is critical of Tipler's theological views.

 

Italian physicist and computer scientist Giulio Prisco presents the idea of "quantum archaeology", "reconstructing the life, thoughts, memories, and feelings of any person in the past, up to any desired level of detail, and thus resurrecting the original person via 'copying to the future'".

 

In his book Mind Children, roboticist Hans Moravec proposed that a future supercomputer might be able to resurrect long-dead minds from the information that still survived. For example, this information can be in the form of memories, filmstrips, medical records, and DNA.

 

Ray Kurzweil, American inventor and futurist, believes that when his concept of singularity comes to pass, it will be possible to resurrect the dead by digital recreation.

 

In their science fiction novel The Light of Other Days, Sir Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter imagine a future civilization resurrecting the dead of past ages by reaching into the past, through micro wormholes and with nanorobots, to download full snapshots of brain states and memories.

 

Both the Church of Perpetual Life and the Terasem Movement consider themselves transreligions and advocate for the use of technology to indefinitely extend the human lifespan.

 

Zombies

A zombie (Haitian Creole: zonbi; North Mbundu: nzumbe) can be either a fictional undead monster or a person in an entranced state believed to be controlled by a bokor or wizard. These latter are the original zombies, occurring in the West African Vodun religion and its American offshoots Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo.

 

Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction, largely because of the success of George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and they have appeared as plot devices in various books, films and in television shows. Zombie fiction is now a sizable subgenre of horror, usually describing a breakdown of civilization occurring when most of the population become flesh-eating zombies – a zombie apocalypse. The monsters are usually hungry for human flesh, often specifically brains. Sometimes they are victims of a fictional pandemic illness causing the dead to reanimate or the living to behave this way, but often no cause is given in the story.

 

Disappearances (as distinct from resurrection)

As knowledge of different religions has grown, so have claims of bodily disappearance of some religious and mythological figures. In ancient Greek religion, this was a way the gods made some physically immortal, including such figures as Cleitus, Ganymede, Menelaus, and Tithonus. After his death, Cycnus was changed into a swan and vanished. In his chapter on Romulus from Parallel Lives, Plutarch criticises the continuous belief in such disappearances, referring to the allegedly miraculous disappearance of the historical figures Romulus, Cleomedes of Astypalaea, and Croesus. In ancient times, Greek and Roman pagan similarities were explained by the early Christian writers, such as Justin Martyr, as the work of demons, with the intention of leading Christians astray.

 

In somewhat recent years it has been learned that Gesar, the Savior of Tibet, at the end, chants on a mountain top and his clothes fall empty to the ground. The body of the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev, is said to have disappeared and flowers were left in place of his dead body.

 

Lord Raglan's Hero Pattern lists many religious figures whose bodies disappear, or have more than one sepulchre. B. Traven, author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, wrote that the Inca Virococha arrived at Cusco (in modern-day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast where he walked across the water and vanished.[46] It has been thought that teachings regarding the purity and incorruptibility of the hero's human body are linked to this phenomenon. Perhaps, this is also to deter the practice of disturbing and collecting the hero's remains. They are safely protected if they have disappeared.

 

The first such case mentioned in the Bible is that of Enoch (son of Jared, great-grandfather of Noah, and father of Methuselah). Enoch is said to have lived a life where he "walked with God", after which "he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:1–18).

 

In Deuteronomy (34:6) Moses is secretly buried. Elijah vanishes in a whirlwind 2 Kings (2:11). After hundreds of years these two earlier Biblical heroes suddenly reappear, and are seen walking with Jesus, then again vanish. Mark (9:2–8), Matthew (17:1–8) and Luke (9:28–33). The last time he is seen, Luke (24:51) alone tells of Jesus leaving his disciples by ascending into the sky.

  

St Machar's Cathedral (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the city centre, in the former burgh of Old Aberdeen. Technically, St Machar's is no longer a cathedral but rather a high kirk, as it has not been the seat of a bishopsince 1690.

 

St Machar is said to have been a companion of St Columba on his journey to Iona. A fourteenth-century legend tells how God (or St Columba) told Machar to establish a church where a river bends into the shape of a bishop's crosier before flowing into the sea.

 

The River Don bends in this way just below where the Cathedral now stands. According to legend, St Machar founded a site of worship in Old Aberdeen in about 580. Machar's church was superseded by a Norman cathedral in 1131, shortly after David I transferred the See from Mortlach to Aberdeen.

 

Almost nothing of that original cathedral survives; a lozenge-decorated base for a capital supporting one of the architraves can be seen in the Charter Room in the present church.

 

After the execution of William Wallace in 1305, his body was cut up and sent to different corners of the country to warn other dissenters. His left quarter ended up in Aberdeen and is buried in the walls of the cathedral.

 

At the end of the thirteenth century Bishop Henry Cheyne decided to extend the church, but the work was interrupted by the Scottish Wars of Independence. Cheyne's progress included piers for an extended choir at the transept crossing. These pillars, with decorated capitals of red sandstone, are still visible at the east end of the present church.

 

Though worn by exposure to the elements after the collapse of the cathedral's central tower, these capitals are among the finest stone carvings of their date to survive in Scotland.

 

Bishop Alexander Kininmund II demolished the Norman cathedral in the late 14th century, and began the nave, including the granite columns and the towers at the western end. Bishop Henry Lichtoun completed the nave, the west front and the northern transept, and made a start on the central tower.

 

Bishop Ingram Lindsay completed the roof and the paving stones in the later part of the fifteenth century. Further work was done over the next fifty years by Thomas Spens, William Elphinstone and Gavin Dunbar; Dunbar is responsible for the heraldic ceiling and the two western spires.

 

The chancel was demolished in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation. The bells and lead from the roof were sent to be sold in Holland, but the ship sank near Girdle Ness.

 

The central tower and spire collapsed in 1688, in a storm, and this destroyed the choir and transepts. The west arch of the crossing was then filled in, and worship carried on in the nave only; the current church consists only of the nave and aisles of the earlier building.

 

The ruined transepts and crossing are under the care of Historic Scotland, and contain an important group of late medieval bishops' tombs, protected from the weather by modern canopies. The Cathedral is chiefly built of outlayer granite. On the unique flat panelled ceiling of the nave (first half of the 16th Century) are the heraldic shields of the contemporary kings of Europe, and the chief earls and bishops of Scotland.

 

The Cathedral is a fine example of a fortified kirk, with twin towers built in the fashion of fourteenth-century tower houses. Their walls have the strength to hold spiral staircases to the upper floors and battlements. The spires which presently crown the

 

Though worn by exposure to the elements after the collapse of the cathedral's central tower, these capitals are among the finest stone carvings of their date to survive in Scotland.

 

Bishop Alexander Kininmund II demolished the Norman cathedral in the late 14th century, and began the nave, including the granite columns and the towers at the western end. Bishop Henry Lichtoun completed the nave, the west front and the northern transept, and made a start on the central tower.

 

Bishop Ingram Lindsay completed the roof and the paving stones in the later part of the fifteenth century. Further work was done over the next fifty years by Thomas Spens, William Elphinstone and Gavin Dunbar; Dunbar is responsible for the heraldic ceiling and the two western spires.

 

The chancel was demolished in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation. The bells and lead from the roof were sent to be sold in Holland, but the ship sank near Girdle Ness.

 

The central tower and spire collapsed in 1688, in a storm, and this destroyed the choir and transepts. The west arch of the crossing was then filled in, and worship carried on in the nave only; the current church consists only of the nave and aisles of the earlier building.

 

The ruined transepts and crossing are under the care of Historic Scotland, and contain an important group of late medieval bishops' tombs, protected from the weather by modern canopies. The Cathedral is chiefly built of outlayer granite. On the unique flat panelled ceiling of the nave (first half of the 16th Century) are the heraldic shields of the contemporary kings of Europe, and the chief earls and bishops of Scotland.

 

Bishops Gavin Dunbar and Alexander Galloway built the western towers and installed the heraldic ceiling, featuring 48 coats of arms in three rows of sixteen. Among those shown are:

* Pope Leo X's coat of arms in the centre, followed in order of importance by those of the Scottish archbishops and bishops.

* the Prior of St Andrews, representing other Church orders.

* King's College, the westernmost shield.

* Henry VIII of England, James V of Scotland and multiple instances for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also King of Spain, Aragon, Navarre and Sicily at the time the ceiling was created.

* St Margaret of Scotland, possibly as a stand-in for Margaret Tudor, James V's mother, whose own arms would have been the marshalled arms of England and Scotland.

* the arms of Aberdeen and of the families Gordon, Lindsay, Hay and Keith.

 

The ceiling is set off by a frieze which starts at the north-west corner of the nave and lists the bishops of the see from Nechtan in 1131 to William Gordon at the Reformation in 1560. This is followed by the Scottish monarchs from Máel Coluim II to Mary, Queen of Scots.

 

Notable figures buried in the cathedral cemetery include the author J.J. Bell, Robert Brough, Gavin Dunbar, Robert Laws, a missionary to Malawi and William Ogilvie of Pittensear—the ‘rebel professor’.

 

There has been considerable investment in recent years in restoration work and the improvement of the display of historic artefacts at the Cathedral.

 

The battlements of the western towers, incomplete for several centuries, have been renewed to their original height and design, greatly improving the appearance of the exterior. Meanwhile, within the building, a number of important stone monuments have been displayed to advantage.

 

These include a possibly 7th-8th century cross-slab from Seaton (the only surviving evidence from Aberdeen of Christianity at such an early date); a rare 12th century sanctuary cross-head; and several well-preserved late medieval effigies of Cathedral clergy, valuable for their detailed representation of contemporary dress.

 

A notable modern addition to the Cathedral's artistic treasures is a carved wooden triptych commemorating John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen (d. 1395), author of The Brus.

The boldly striped black and white wing pattern is aposematic, warning off predators.

The species is distributed across South and Central America and as far north as southern Texas and peninsular Florida; there are migrations north into other American states in the warmer months.

 

Zebra longwing adults roost communally at night in groups of up to 60 adults for safety from predators. The adult butterflies are unusual in feeding on pollen as well as on nectar; the pollen enables them to synthesize cyanogenic glycosides that make their bodies toxic to potential predators.

 

Location: Vlindorado, Netherlands.

Model: Karen

 

Photo by: Lloyd Thrap

 

Single FL 50 strobe on TTL cable.

 

Off camera shot with slight retouching.

 

© 2008 2020 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

for Halo Media Group

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MUA Jennifer Clark

 

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The economic prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region in the 90s has created no less attentions to Confucianism for it was regarded as the cultural background conducive for entrepreneurs of this region to excel. Some scholars even believe that a "Confucian Revival" is at hand and propose the 21st Century to be the "Confucian Century".

Although the causes of economic growth and success are complex and likely to vary from one country to another, the significance of culture has been emphasized. Hicks and Redding commented, "as there are well over a hundred developing countries, the almost perfect correlation between Chinese heritage and economic success could hardly be due to chance." Another study by Gordon Redding on the spirit of Chinese capitalism suggested a strong link between Confucian values and modern overseas Chinese business enterprises.

However, when the same region triggered a globally felt economic crisis two years ago, fingers were also pointed at Confucianism, naming it as the culprit behind the downfall of Chinese entrepreneurship. Further, people often loosely refer to "Confuciamsm" or "Asian Values" when analyzing factors relevant to the economy and social matters. They do so without first synthesizing the system of thought upon which they base their claims, thereby weakening their arguments. Moreover, studies on Chinese values are certainly insufficient if not misconstrued by scholars with no Chinese background, How then does Confucianism influence Asian countries? Do traditional Chinese values still exist in modern Chinese societies? Based on the publications by scholars in the past few years, the approach to these questions varies between "institutionalism" and "culturalism". Yet, as Yang Kuo-shu points out, in this age of rapid global development, we can no longer be over-concerned with nebulous and abstract issues; rather, we should discuss modernization directly at the level of the real world, basing ourselves on actual observable phenomena...

 

(Cheuk Yin Lee)

  

...taken at "The Art of Timber Construction - Chinese Architectural Models" exhibition at Pinakothek der Moderne...

 

Munich, Germany...

  

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, also known by its official name, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It sits next to the Hagia Sophia, the principal mosque of Istanbul until the Blue Mosque's construction and another popular tourist site. The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of "Historic Areas of Istanbul".

 

After the Peace of Zsitvatorok and the crushing loss in the 1603–18 war with Persia, Sultan Ahmed I decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to reassert Ottoman power. It would be the first imperial mosque for more than forty years. While his predecessors had paid for their mosques with the spoils of war, Ahmed I procured funds from the Treasury, because he had not gained remarkable victories. The construction was started in 1609 and completed in 1616.

 

Having been paid from the public treasury rather than from the sultan's war booty, as was done normally, it caused the anger of the ulama, the Muslim jurists. The mosque was built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, in front of the basilica Hagia Sophia (at that time, the primary imperial mosque in Istanbul) and the hippodrome, a site of significant symbolic meaning as it dominated the city skyline from the south. Big parts of the south shore of the mosque rest on the foundations, the vaults of the old Grand Palace.

 

The Blue Mosque has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates many Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendor. The upper area is decorated with approximately 20,000 hand-painted glazed ceramic in 60 different tulip patterns. The lower stories are illuminated by 200 stained glass windows. The mosque is preceded by a forecourt with a large fountain and special area for ablution. An iron chain hangs in the court entrance on the western side. Only the Sultan was allowed to ride into the mosque horseback, and he would need to lower his head to not hit the chain, a symbolic gesture ensuring the humility of the ruler before Allah.

 

By way of his works he left a decided mark on Istanbul. The square on which the Blue Mosque is situated became known as Sultanahmet. This mosque can be considered the culmination of his career. Mehmed Agha, who was the last student of Mimar Sinan, had completed his mission by adding his brighter, colorful architectural style to that of his master teacher.

 

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

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mosque,_Istanbul

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

Article by RSPB

Blackbird indulging in behaviour known as sunning. This usually involves the bird adopting an unusual posture and deliberately positioning itself in sunlight. It may spread or raise its wings, fan its tail feathers, sit down, fluff the feathers on the head and back, and hold the head to one side, looking directly into the sun with one eye. In this country, sunning has been observed in blackbirds more often than any other species (Simmons, K.E.L. The Sunning Behaviour of Birds, Bristol Ornithologists Club, 1986).

No-one knows for certain the reasons birds do this and several theories have been proposed. However, sunning would appear to perform two separate functions: maintaining the bird's feathers in good condition, and helping to regulate it's temperature. There is even a suggestion that they do it simply because they enjoy it!

Precisely how sunning assists with the maintenance of feathers is not known, despite being widely studied. All birds have a gland on the rump, called an oil gland. The 'preen-oil' that this gland produces helps to keep the feathers flexible and hygienic. It has been suggested that the sun affects the preen-oil in the feathers in some beneficial manner, or that it helps to synthesize the Vitamin D from the preen-oil. This preen-oil also aids with waterproofing the birds' feathers. Additionally, the heat from the sun may stimulate activity in parasites within the feathers, making them more accessible when the bird starts to preen. Preening usually occurs directly after sunning.

 

July 11, 2011

 

Saturday, July 9 was a really special night bringing together a beautiful medley of performers & artists for this memorable summer event. Featuring Paris a GoGo Burlesque Performers.Created By Kelly Fernandez, Music by the Infamous Nick Fury, Atom Ortiz, Jungle One and Triple S.E.C.! Belly dance by Megan Martyn. Amazing live art & vending by Kaylas Face and Body Art as well as The Talking Fountain Gallery, Boutique and Artistic Epicenter. Photos by Lloyd Thrap Creative Photography — with the late Kirsten Darlin.

  

©2011 2024 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

for Halo Media Group

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Oil and graphite on canvas; 86.7 x 117.2 cm.

 

Arshile Gorky (born Vosdanig Manoug Adoian; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter, who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian Genocide.[1]

 

Gorky was born Vostanik Manuk Adoian on April 15, 1904, in the village of Khorgom, situated on the shores of Lake Van in the Ottoman Empire. In later years he was vague about his date of birth, changing it from year to year. In 1908 his father emigrated to America to avoid the draft, leaving his family behind in the town of Van.[2]

 

In 1915 Gorky fled Lake Van during the Armenian Genocide and escaped with his mother and his three sisters into Russian-controlled territory. In the aftermath of the genocide, Gorky's mother died of starvation in Yerevan in 1919. Arriving in America in 1920, the 16-year old Gorky was reunited with his father, but they never grew close.

 

In the process of reinventing his identity, he changed his name to "Arshile Gorky", claiming to be a Georgian noble[3] (taking the Georgian name Arshile/Archil), and even telling people he was a relative of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky.[4]

 

Gorky's contributions to American and world art are difficult to overestimate. His work as lyrical abstraction[18][19][20][21][22] was a "new language.[18] He "lit the way for two generations of American artists".[18] The painterly spontaneity of mature works like The Liver is the Cock's Comb (1944), One Year the Milkweed (1944), and The Betrothal II (1947) immediately prefigured Abstract expressionism, and leaders in the New York School have acknowledged Gorky's considerable influence.

 

But his oeuvre is a phenomenal achievement in its own right, synthesizing Surrealism and the sensuous color and painterliness of the School of Paris with his own highly personal formal vocabulary. His paintings and drawings hang in every major American museum including the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (which maintains the Gorky Archive), and in many worldwide, including the Tate in London.

 

A number of English translations of letters allegedly written by Gorky in Armenian to his sisters are now considered to be fakes produced by Karlen Mooradian, a nephew of Gorky, in the late 1960s and early 1970s (especially those expressing nationalistic sentiments or imparting specific meanings to his paintings). The letters often described moods of melancholy, and expressed loneliness and emptiness, nostalgia for his country, while bitterly and vividly recalling the circumstances of his mother's death. The contents of the fake letters heavily influenced the authors of books written about Gorky and his art during the 1970s and 1980s.

 

His daughter, the painter Maro Gorky, married Matthew Spender, son of the British writer Sir Stephen Spender.

 

15 of his paintings and drawings were destroyed in a plane crash in 1962[23]

 

In June 2005, the family of the artist established the Arshile Gorky Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation formed to further the public’s appreciation and understanding of the life and artistic achievements of Arshile Gorky. The foundation is working on a catalogue raisonné of the artist's entire body of work. In October 2009, the foundation relaunched its website to provide accurate information on the artist, including a biography, bibliography, exhibition history, and list of archival sources.[24]

 

In October 2009 the Philadelphia Museum of Art held a major Arshile Gorky exhibition: Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective [25][26] On June 6, 2010, an exhibit of the same name opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles.[27]

 

From 1946, Gorky suffered a series of crises: his studio barn burned down, he underwent a colostomy for cancer, and Mougouch had an affair with Roberto Matta. In 1948, his neck was broken and his painting arm temporarily paralyzed in a car accident, and his wife left him, taking their children with her. She later married the British writer and war hero, Xan Fielding.[17]

 

Gorky hanged himself in Sherman, Connecticut, in 1948, at the age of 44. He is buried in North Cemetery in Sherman, Connecticut.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arshile_Gorky

  

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Model: Robin... Body art by Mark Reid.

 

Location Q-Bar in the Hotel Albuquerque, Albuquerque New Mexico. USA.

 

© 2010 2018 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography

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Sagrada Família, Barcelona, España.

 

El Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, conocido simplemente como la Sagrada Familia, es una basílica católica de Barcelona (España), diseñada por el arquitecto Antoni Gaudí. Iniciada en 1882, todavía está en construcción (noviembre de 2016). Es la obra maestra de Gaudí, y el máximo exponente de la arquitectura modernista catalana.

La Sagrada Familia es un reflejo de la plenitud artística de Gaudí: trabajó en ella durante la mayor parte de su carrera profesional, pero especialmente en los últimos años de su carrera, donde llegó a la culminación de su estilo naturalista, haciendo una síntesis de todas las soluciones y estilos probados hasta aquel entonces. Gaudí logró una perfecta armonía en la interrelación entre los elementos estructurales y los ornamentales, entre plástica y estética, entre función y forma, entre contenido y continente, logrando la integración de todas las artes en un todo estructurado y lógico.

La Sagrada Familia tiene planta de cruz latina, de cinco naves centrales y transepto de tres naves, y ábside con siete capillas. Ostenta tres fachadas dedicadas al Nacimiento, Pasión y Gloria de Jesús y, cuando esté concluida, tendrá 18 torres: cuatro en cada portal haciendo un total de doce por los apóstoles, cuatro sobre el crucero invocando a los evangelistas, una sobre el ábside dedicada a la Virgen y la torre-cimborio central en honor a Jesús, que alcanzará los 172,5 metros de altura. El templo dispondrá de dos sacristías junto al ábside, y de tres grandes capillas: la de la Asunción en el ábside y las del Bautismo y la Penitencia junto a la fachada principal; asimismo, estará rodeado de un claustro pensado para las procesiones y para aislar el templo del exterior. Gaudí aplicó a la Sagrada Familia un alto contenido simbólico, tanto en arquitectura como en escultura, dedicando a cada parte del templo un significado religioso.

 

The Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia, known simply as the Sagrada Familia, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona, Spain, designed by architect Antoni Gaudí. Begun in 1882, it is still under construction (November 2016). It is Gaudí's masterpiece and the greatest exponent of Catalan modernist architecture.

The Sagrada Familia is a reflection of Gaudí's artistic plenitude: he worked on it for most of his professional career, but especially in his later years, where he reached the culmination of his naturalistic style, synthesizing all the solutions and styles he had tried up to that point. Gaudí achieved perfect harmony in the interrelationship between structural and ornamental elements, between plasticity and aesthetics, between function and form, between content and container, achieving the integration of all the arts into a structured and logical whole. The Sagrada Familia has a Latin cross plan, five central naves, a three-aisled transept, and an apse with seven chapels. It boasts three façades dedicated to the Birth, Passion, and Glory of Jesus. When completed, it will have 18 towers: four at each portal, making a total of twelve for the apostles, four over the transept invoking the evangelists, one over the apse dedicated to the Virgin, and the central dome tower in honor of Jesus, which will reach 172.5 meters in height. The temple will have two sacristies next to the apse and three large chapels: the Assumption Chapel in the apse and the Baptism and Penance Chapels next to the main façade. It will also be surrounded by a cloister designed for processions and to isolate the temple from the exterior. Gaudí applied a highly symbolic content to the Sagrada Familia, both in architecture and sculpture, dedicating each part of the temple to a religious significance.

 

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but is grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant, and now has a pantropical distribution. It is a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. It was formerly included in the genus Vinca as Vinca rosea.

 

It has many vernacular names among which are arivotaombelona or rivotambelona, tonga, tongatse or trongatse, tsimatiririnina, and vonenina.

 

Taxonomy

Two varieties are recognized

 

Catharanthus roseus var. roseus

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. angustus Steenis ex Bakhuizen f.

Catharanthus roseus var. albus G.Don

Catharanthus roseus var. occellatus G.Don

Catharanthus roseus var. nanus Markgr.

Lochnera rosea f. alba (G.Don) Woodson

Lochnera rosea var. ocellata (G.Don) Woodson

Catharanthus roseus var. angustus (Steenis) Bakh. f

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. nanus Markgr.

Lochnera rosea var. angusta Steenis

 

Description

Catharanthus roseus is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing 1 m (39 in) tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm (1.0–3.5 in) long and 1–3.5 cm (0.4–1.4 in) wide, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm (0.4–0.7 in) long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers range from white with a yellow or red center to dark pink with a darker red center, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm (1.0–1.2 in) long and a corolla 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long and 3 mm (0.1 in) wide.

 

Ecology

In its natural range along the dry coasts of southern Madagascar, Catharanthus roseus is considered weedy and invasive, often self-seeding prolifically in disturbed areas along roadsides and in fallow fields. It is also, however, widely cultivated and is naturalized in subtropical and tropical areas of the world such as Australia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the United States. It is so well adapted to growth in Australia that it is listed as a noxious weed in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, and also in parts of eastern Queensland.

 

Cultivation

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5–7 °C (41–45 °F), and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet, and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions.

 

Notable cultivars include 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Grape Cooler' (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and 'Peppermint Cooler' (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant).

 

In the U.S. it often remains identified as "Vinca" although botanists have shifted its identification and it often can be seen growing along roadsides in the south.

 

In the United Kingdom it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).

 

Uses

Traditional

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine, as it can be traced back to 2600 BC Mesopotamia. In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, although poisonous, are used against several diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the 1950s, vinca alkaloids, including vinblastine and vincristine, were isolated from Catharanthus roseus while screening for anti-diabetic drugs. This chance discovery led to increased research into the chemotherapeutic effects of vinblastine and vincristine. Conflict between historical indigenous use, and patent from 2001 on C. roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

 

Medicinal

Vinblastine and vincristine, chemotherapy medications used to treat several types of cancers, are found in the plant and are biosynthesised from the coupling of the alkaloids catharanthine and vindoline. The newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent vinorelbine, used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer, can be prepared either from vindoline and catharanthine or from the vinca alkaloid leurosine, in both cases via anhydrovinblastine. The insulin-stimulating vincoline has been isolated from the plant.

 

Research

Despite the medical importance and wide use, the desired alkaloids (vinblastine and vincristine) are naturally produced at very low yields. Additionally, it is complex and costly to synthesize the desired products in a lab, resulting in difficulty satisfying the demand and a need for overproduction. Treatment of the plant with phytohormones, such as salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate, have been shown to trigger defense mechanisms and overproduce downstream alkaloids. Studies using this technique vary in growth conditions, choice of phytohormone, and location of treatment. Concurrently, there are various efforts to map the biosynthetic pathway producing the alkaloids to find a direct path to overproduction via genetic engineering.

 

C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas. This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.

 

In 1995 and 2006 Malagasy agronomists and American political ecologists studied the production of Catharanthus roseus around Fort Dauphin and Ambovombe and its export as a natural source of the alkaloids used to make vincristine, vinblastine and other vinca alkaloid cancer drugs. Their research focused on the wild collection of periwinkle roots and leaves from roadsides and fields and its industrial cultivation on large farms.

 

Biology

Rosinidin is the pink anthocyanidin pigment found in the flowers of C. roseus. Lochnericine is a major alkaloid in roots.

 

Toxicity

C. roseus can be extremely toxic if consumed orally by humans, and is cited (under its synonym Vinca rosea) in the Louisiana State Act 159. All parts of the plant are poisonous. On consumption, symptoms consist of mild stomach cramps, cardiac complications, hypotension, systematic paralysis eventually leading to death.

 

According to French botanist Pierre Boiteau, its poisonous properties are made known along generations of Malagasy people as a poison consumed in ordeal trials, even before the tangena fruit was used. This lent the flower one of its names vonenina, from Malagasy: vony enina meaning "flower of remorse".[

Bi-Colour, Ha - Red, OIII - Blue and synthesized Green using Noels Astro Tools.

 

10 x Ha 1x1

9 x OIII 1x1

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaterialism

 

Subjective idealism, or empirical idealism, is the monistic metaphysical doctrine that only minds and mental contents exist. It entails and is generally identified or associated with immaterialism, the doctrine that material things do not exist.

 

It is the contrary of eliminative materialism, the doctrine that only material things, and no mental things, exist.

 

Subjective idealism: This form of idealism is "subjective" not because it denies that there is an objective reality, but because it asserts that this reality is completely dependent upon the minds of the subjects that perceive it.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant

Kant believed that the concepts of space and time are integral to all human experience, as are our concepts of cause and effect. One important consequence of this view is that one never hasdirect experience of things, the so-called noumenalworld, and that what we do experience is thephenomenal world as conveyed by our senses.

  

Kant aimed to resolve disputes between empirical andrationalist approaches. The former asserted that all knowledge comes through experience; the latter maintained that reason and innate ideas were prior. Kant argued that experience is purely subjective without first being processed by pure reason. He also said that using reason without applying it to experience only leads to theoretical illusions.

  

The notion of the "thing in itself" was much discussed by those who came after Kant. It was argued that since the "thing in itself" was unknowable its existence could not simply be assumed. Rather than arbitrarily switching to an account that was ungrounded in anything supposed to be the "real," as did the German Idealists, another group arose to ask how our (presumably reliable) accounts of a coherent and rule-abiding universe were actually grounded. This new kind of philosophy became known as Phenomenology, and its founder was Edmund Husserl.

  

Kant, however, contests this: he claims that elementary mathematics, like arithmetic, is synthetic a priori, in that its statements provide new knowledge, but knowledge that is not derived from experience. This becomes part of his over-all argument for transcendental idealism. That is, he argues that the possibility of experience depends on certain necessary conditions — which he calls a priori forms — and that these conditions structure and hold true of the world of experience. In so doing, his main claims in the "Transcendental Aesthetic" are that mathematic judgments are synthetic a priori and in addition, that Space and Time are not derived from experience but rather are its preconditions.

  

Kant asserts that experience is based both upon the perception of external objects and a priori knowledge.[39] The external world, he writes, provides those things that we sense. It is our mind, though, that processes this information about the world and gives it order, allowing us to comprehend it. Our mind supplies the conditions of space and time to experience objects. According to the "transcendental unity of apperception", the concepts of the mind (Understanding) and the perceptions or intuitions that garner information from phenomena (Sensibility) are synthesized by comprehension. Without the concepts, intuitions are nondescript; without the intuitions, concepts are meaningless — thus the famous statement, "Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind."

Judgments are, for Kant, the preconditions of any thought. Man thinks via judgments, so all possible judgments must be listed and the perceptions connected within them put aside, so as to make it possible to examine the moments when the understanding is engaged in constructing judgments.

Kant ran into a problem with his theory that the mind plays a part in producing objective knowledge. Intuitions and categories are entirely disparate, so how can they interact? Kant's solution is the schema: a priori principles by which the transcendental imagination connects concepts with intuitions through time. All the principles are temporally bound, for if a concept is purely a priori, as the categories are, then they must apply for all times. Hence there are principles such as substance is that which endures through time, and the cause must always be prior to the effect

Transcendental idealism is a doctrine founded by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 18th century. Kant's doctrine maintains that human experience of things is similar to the way they appear to us — implying a fundamentally subject-based component, rather than being an activity that directly (and therefore without any obvious causal link) comprehends the things as they are in and of themselves.

Xenophanes of Colophon in 530 BC anticipated Kant's epistemology in his reflections on certainty. "And as for certain truth, no man has seen it, nor will there ever be a man who knows about the gods and about all the things I mention.

Briefly, Schopenhauer described transcendental idealism as a "distinction between the phenomenon and the thing in itself, and a recognition that only the phenomenon is accessible to us because "we do not know either ourselves or things as they are in themselves, but merely as they appear."[4] Some of Schopenhauer's comments on the definition of the word "transcendental" are as follows:

Transcendental is the philosophy that makes us aware of the fact that the first and essential laws of this world that are presented to us are rooted in our brain and are therefore known a priori. It is called transcendental because it goes beyond the whole given phantasmagoria to the origin thereof. Therefore, as I have said, only the Critique of Pure Reason and generally the critical (that is to say, Kantian) philosophy are transcendental.

Realism can also be promoted in an unqualified sense, in which case it asserts the mind-independent existence of a visible world, as opposed to skepticism and solipsism. Philosophers who profess realism state that truth consists in the mind's correspondence to reality.[1]

Realists tend to believe that whatever we believe now is only an approximation of reality and that every new observation brings us closer to understanding reality.[2] In its Kantian sense, realism is contrasted with idealism. In a contemporary sense, realism is contrasted with anti-realism, primarily in the philosophy of science.

Naïve realism[edit]

Naïve realism, also known as direct realism, is a philosophy of mind rooted in a common sense theory of perception that claims that the senses provide us with direct awareness of the external world. In contrast, some forms of idealism assert that no world exists apart from mind-dependent ideas and some forms of skepticism say we cannot trust our senses. The realist view is that objects are composed of matter, occupy space and have properties, such as size, shape, texture, smell, taste and colour, that are usually perceived correctly. We perceive them as they really are. Objects obey the laws of physics and retain all their properties whether or not there is anyone to observe them

  

Stuckists claim that conceptual art is justified by the work of Marcel Duchamp, but that Duchamp's work is "anti-art by intent and effect". The Stuckists feel that "Duchamp's work was a protest against the stale, unthinking artistic establishment of his day", while "the great (but wholly unintentional) irony of postmodernism is that it is a direct equivalent of the conformist, unoriginal establishment that Duchamp attacked in the first place"

  

Obscurantism (French: obscurantisme, from the Latin obscurans, "darkening") is the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known. There are two common historical and intellectual denotations to Obscurantism: (1) deliberately restricting knowledge—opposition to the spread of knowledge, a policy of withholding knowledge from the public; and, (2) deliberate obscurity—an abstruse style (as in literature and art) characterized by deliberate vagueness.

Model: Chelsea Rae Gray

On modelshopstudio™'s profile

On Lloyd Thrap Creative Photography's profile

  

Lloyd-Thrap-Creative-Photography

 

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Details best viewed in Original Size

 

According to Wikipedia, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (more commonly known as The Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning its interior walls) was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I and although it is still popularly used as a mosque, it is also a popular tourist attraction. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman Mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendor. The facade of the spacious forecourt was built in the same manner as the facade of the Süleymaniye Mosque (also included in this set). The court is about as large as the mosque itself, is surrounded by a continuous vaulted arcade and has a central hexagonal fountain which is small relative to the courtyard. The Hippodrome is park-like area separating the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Lloyd Thrap Creative Photography

April 26 · Edited

  

At modelshopstudio™ — with Suhail Rodriguez at modelshopstudio™. Location: modelshopstudio™

Albuquerque, New Mexico. USA

 

© 2014 2021 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for modelshopstudio™

 

Lloyd-Thrap-Creative-Photography

 

All works subject to applicable copyright laws. This intellectual property MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED except by normal viewing process of the browser. The intellectual property may not be copied to another computer, transmitted , published, reproduced, stored, manipulated, projected, or altered in any way, including without limitation any digitization or synthesizing of the images, alone or with any other material, by use of computer or other electronic means or any other method or means now or hereafter known, without the written permission of Lloyd Thrap and payment of a fee or arrangement thereof.

 

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Model: shangri-L.A.™

MUA: Jennifer Clark

 

© 2009 2020 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for Halo Media Group

 

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Meghan Duncan - Photography by: Alex Gonzalez of VPXSPORTS.COM

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Model: Shangri-L.A.™

 

MUA: Jennifer Clark.

 

© 2009 2023 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for Halo Media Group

 

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Artist Fred Eversley to create large-scale sculptural installation at One Flagler in West Palm Beach

 

West Palm Beach

 

Dec 14, 2022

Eversley’s largest commission to date will be unveiled in spring 2024.

Sculptor and artist Fred Eversley has been commissioned by Related Companies in partnership with the City of West Palm Beach to create a new public art installation. Slated for completion in spring of 2024, the artwork is titled Portals. It will comprise a constellation of eight of his signature parabolic shapes in transparent, violet-hued polyurethane resin, adorning the One Flagler office tower, a new 25-story building designed by architect David Childs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.

 

Eversley’s work is often associated with the Light and Space movement. It has been featured in over 200 exhibitions and is included in over 40 museum collections. He has executed 20 large public artwork commissions. By training, Eversley is an engineer, and his sleek creations in cast polyester resins and bronze, and laminated acrylics and stainless steel, frequently take the form of disks, parabolas, helices and lenses. The reflectivity of the works makes them naturally interactive.

 

Portals will be the largest public art installation and most ambitious project created by Eversley in recent years; upon completion, it will be added to the City of West Palm Beach’s public art program, ArtLife WPB. The selection process for the commission was managed by Related Companies executives and Culture Corps, the art advisory and creative consultancy founded by Doreen Remen and Yvonne Force Villareal.

 

As part of the project, the adjacent First Church of Christ, Scientist—which inspired Eversley’s Portals—will be preserved in perpetuity. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by African American architect Julian Abele in 1928, and completed in 1929, the church remains one of the most architecturally significant historic structures in West Palm Beach. The 1.25-acre public green space in front of the new One Flagler building will be named “Julian Abele Park.” The eight sculptures comprising Portals refer to the eight columns of the church.

 

Explains Eversley, “Seen from afar, eight Portals rise up, from land, and out of water, shaping a graceful gate that resonates with the columns of the church. Like an arced welcoming arm, the Portals lead visitors to the heart of the site’s historical ground. The Portals become an active third part of what is now a sculptural and architectural trilogy, one in which the number eight is a recurring theme. The aim is to inspire and draw thoughts to Abele’s masterful gestures, and to the mind that gave rise to this destination point, which now appears in a new light, and with new life. Portals signals a new beginning––an homage to Abele’s significance and his relevant, lasting contribution, which are here given renewed value and brought into the eternal light of infinite spirit.”

 

“We believe that public art is inclusive and creates memorable shared experiences providing moments of discovery and inspiration. The park at One Flagler is the perfect place to present an important work of art by an iconic artist,” says Gopal Rajegowda, partner at Related Southeast. “We conducted an in-depth search and proposal process, which resulted in the selection of Portals by Fred Eversley. The artwork stands out for its beautiful, eye-catching design and its homage to architect Julian Abele and the historic church. Eversley’s sculptures will make a meaningful connection between the past and the current important time in the City of West Palm Beach.”

 

Adds City of West Palm Beach Major Keith James, “By preserving the historical First Church of Christ, Scientist and creating a new monumental artwork that pays tribute to its architect, Related and Fred Eversley are presenting the City of West Palm Beach with a lasting gift. This new park and captivating installation will be a major draw for residents, visitors and art enthusiasts.”

 

About Portals:

The shape of the sculptures will act as lenses and create optical effects in the parabolic elements, as well as refractions in the surface of the water. The sculptures are made of a crystal-clear material that will be tinted with dyes, adding a violet tone. Due to their shape, the sculptures will vary in gradation from more rich color in the thicker and wider bottom to more pale at the thinner top. The angled edge surfaces will stand out as mirror-reflective signature arches in both daylight and night light.

 

During the daytime, Portals will change in appearance, shifting with the sunlight, weather and time of day. The tapered surfaces of the sculptures will naturally be illuminated and more reflective due to their angle toward the sun, creating a silhouette of bright mirroring “arches” that will have a distinct and dramatic effect.

 

At night, Portals will be up-lit from below, so that the light travels upward through the material of the sculptures. The shell will be luminous throughout, but brighter at the bottom and fading toward the top, adding a range of violet to indigo hues.

 

About Fred Eversley:

Fred Eversley (b. 1941, Brooklyn, New York) is a key figure in the development of contemporary art from Los Angeles during the postwar period. Now based in New York after living and working in Venice Beach, California for fifty years, Eversley synthesizes elements from several art historical movements associated with Southern California, including Light and Space, though his work is the product of a pioneering vision all his own, informed by lifelong studies on the timeless principles of light, space, time, and gravity. Prior to his becoming an artist, Eversley was an engineer who designed and built highintensity acoustical laboratories for NASA, the French atomic energy commission, the European space laboratory, and other major aerospace companies. His science and technology background helped develop his interest in the parabolic shape; the only shape that concentrates all forms of energy to a single focal point.

 

His pioneering use of polyester resin, and industrial dyes and pigments, reflects the technological advances that define the postwar period even as his work reveals the timeless inner workings of the human eye and mind. Eversley’s abstract, three-dimensional meditations on color—including the luminous parabolic lenses for which he is best known—entice the viewer to approach, prompting questions about how the biological and optical mechanics of sight determine how we see and understand each other, and communicating a kinetic, palpable sense of the mysterious presence of energy throughout the universe.

 

Fred Eversley is the subject of a solo exhibition, Fred Eversley: Reflecting Back (the World), at the Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, California, on view through January 15, 2023, and will be the subject of forthcoming solo exhibitions at David Kordansky Gallery, New York, in May 2023 and at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, California, in 2024. He has also been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts (2017); Art + Practice, Los Angeles (2016); National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C. (1981); Palm Springs Art Museum, California (1977); Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California (1976); and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1970). Recent group exhibitions include Light & Space, Copenhagen Contemporary (2021-2022); Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (2017 – 2020, traveled to five venues); Space Shifters, Hayward Gallery, London (2018); and Water & Power, curated by the late Noah Davis, Underground Museum (2018). His work is in the permanent collections of more than four dozen museums throughout the world, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Museum of Modern Art, New York; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The first monograph dedicated to Eversley’s work was published by David Kordansky Gallery in 2022. Eversley lives and works in New York.

 

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

www.relatedross.com/press-releases/2022-12-14/artist-fred...

www.wpbmagazine.com/portals-a-transformative-art-installa...

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

I love the structure of this leaf and the light coming through the top exposing the veins.

 

Nature never ceases to amaze me.

 

Leaf-

 

Leaves are the most important organs of most vascular plants. Since plants are autotrophic, they do not need food from other living things to survive but instead use carbon dioxide, water and light energy, to create their own organic matter by photosynthesis of simple sugars, such as glucose and sucrose.

 

These are then further processed by chemical synthesis into more complex organic molecules such as cellulose, the basic structural material in plant cell walls.

 

The plant must, therefore, bring these three ingredients together in the leaf for photosynthesis to take place. The leaves draw water from the ground in the transpiration stream through a vascular conducting system known as xylem and obtain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by diffusion through openings called stomata in the outer covering layer of the leaf (epidermis), while leaves are orientated to maximise their exposure to sunlight.

 

Once the sugar has been synthesized, it needs to be transported to areas of active growth such as the plant shoots and roots. Vascular plants transport sucrose in a special tissue called the phloem. The phloem and xylem are parallel to each other but the transport of materials is usually in opposite directions. Within the leaf these vascular systems branch (ramify) to form veins which supply as much as the leaf as possible, ensuring that cells carrying out photosynthesis are close to the transportation system.

 

Typically leaves are broad, flat and thin (dorsiventrally flattened), thereby maximising the surface area directly exposed to light and enabling the light to penetrate the tissues and reach the chloroplasts, thus promoting photosynthesis.

 

They are arranged on the plant so as to expose their surfaces to light as efficiently as possible without shading each other, but there are many exceptions and complications. For instance, plants adapted to windy conditions may have pendent leaves, such as in many willows and eucalyptus. The flat, or laminar, shape also maximises thermal contact with the surrounding air, promoting cooling. Functionally, in addition to photosynthesis, the leaf is the principal site of transpiration and guttation.

 

Many gymnosperms have thin needle-like or scale-like leaves that can be advantageous in cold climates with frequent snow and frost.

 

These are interpreted as reduced from megaphyllous leaves of their Devonian ancestors.

 

Some leaf forms are adapted to modulate the amount of light they absorb to avoid or mitigate excessive heat, ultraviolet damage, or desiccation, or to sacrifice light-absorption efficiency in favour of protection from herbivory.

 

For xerophytes the major constraint is not light flux or intensity, but drought.

 

Some window plants such as Fenestraria species and some Haworthia species such as Haworthia tesselata and Haworthia truncata are examples of xerophytes.and Bulbine mesembryanthemoides.

 

Leaves also function to store chemical energy and water (especially in succulents) and may become specialised organs serving other functions, such as tendrils of peas and other legumes, the protective spines of cacti and the insect traps in carnivorous plants such as Nepenthes and Sarracenia.

 

Leaves are the fundamental structural units from which cones are constructed in gymnosperms (each cone scale is a modified megaphyll leaf known as a sporophyll)

and from which flowers are constructed in flowering plants.

 

Vein skeleton of a leaf. Veins contain lignin that makes them harder to degrade for microorganisms.

 

The internal organisation of most kinds of leaves has evolved to maximise exposure of the photosynthetic organelles, the chloroplasts, to light and to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide while at the same time controlling water loss. Their surfaces are waterproofed by the plant cuticle and gas exchange between the mesophyll cells and the atmosphere is controlled by minute openings called stomata, about 10 μm which open or close to regulate the rate exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapour into and out of the internal intercellular space system.

 

Stomatal opening is controlled by the turgor pressure in a pair of guard cells that surround the stomatal aperture. In any square centimetre of a plant leaf, there may be from 1,000 to 100,000 stomata.

 

Near the ground, these Eucalyptus saplings have juvenile dorsiventral foliage from the previous year, but this season their newly sprouting foliage is isobilateral, like the mature foliage on the adult trees above

The shape and structure of leaves vary considerably from species to species of plant, depending largely on their adaptation to climate and available light, but also to other factors such as grazing animals (such as deer), available nutrients, and ecological competition from other plants.

 

Considerable changes in leaf type occur within species too, for example as a plant matures; as a case in point Eucalyptus species commonly have isobilateral, pendent leaves when mature and dominating their neighbours; however, such trees tend to have erect or horizontal dorsiventral leaves as seedlings, when their growth is limited by the available light.

 

Other factors include the need to balance water loss at high temperature and low humidity against the need to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. In most plants leaves also are the primary organs responsible for transpiration and guttation (beads of fluid forming at leaf margins).

 

Leaves can also store food and water and are modified accordingly to meet these functions, for example in the leaves of succulent plants and in bulb scales. The concentration of photosynthetic structures in leaves requires that they be richer in protein, minerals, and sugars than, say, woody stem tissues. Accordingly, leaves are prominent in the diet of many animals.

 

A leaf shed in autumn.

Correspondingly, leaves represent a heavy investment on the part of the plants bearing them, and their retention or disposition is the subject of elaborate strategies for dealing with pest pressures, seasonal conditions, and protective measures such as the growth of thorns and the production of phytoliths, lignins, tannins and poisons.

 

Deciduous plants in frigid or cold temperate regions typically shed their leaves in autumn, whereas in areas with a severe dry season, some plants may shed their leaves until the dry season ends. In either case, the shed leaves may be expected to contribute their retained nutrients to the soil where they fall.

 

In contrast, many other non-seasonal plants, such as palms and conifers, retain their leaves for long periods; Welwitschia retains its two main leaves throughout a lifetime that may exceed a thousand years.

 

The leaf-like organs of Bryophytes (e.g., mosses and liverworts), known as psyllids, differ morphologically from the leaves of vascular plants in that they lack vascular tissue, are usually only a single cell thick and have no cuticle stomata or internal system of intercellular spaces.

 

Simple, vascularised leaves (microphylls) first evolved as enations, extensions of the stem, in clubmosses such as Baragwanathia during the Silurian period. True leaves or euphylls of larger size and with more complex venation did not become widespread in other groups until the Devonian period, by which time the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere had dropped significantly.

 

This occurred independently in several separate lineages of vascular plants, in progymnosperms like Archaeopteris, in Sphenopsida, ferns and later in the gymnosperms and angiosperms. Euphylls are also referred to as macrophylls or megaphylls (large leaves).

 

Link -

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf

Model: shangri-L.A.™

 

model shop studio

 

© 2009 2018 Photo by Lloyd Thrap Photography for Halo Media Group

 

Lloyd-Thrap-Creative-Photography

 

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Palacio de Aguirre, Cartagena (Murcia), Spain

Built: 1898–1901

Architect: Víctor Beltrí (1862-1935)

Client: Camilo Aguirre, industrialist and newspaper proprietor

 

This opulent residence stands as a jewel of Cartagena’s late 19th-century bourgeois expansion, marrying Neo-Baroque monumentality with eclectic ornamental sophistication.

 

Commissioned by Camilo Aguirre, a wealthy entrepreneur whose fortune was rooted in the region’s mining boom and media influence, the palace functioned as both a family home and an architectural assertion of modern taste, cultural literacy, and upward mobility.

 

About Cartagena

In 1901, Cartagena was a city of strategic and symbolic importance in Spain—a historic naval stronghold undergoing a period of intense economic and urban renewal. Situated on the southeastern coast, it had long been home to the country’s principal Mediterranean naval base and shipyards.

 

By the turn of the 20th century, Cartagena was also at the center of a mining and industrial boom, driven by the extraction of silver, lead, and zinc from the nearby Sierra Minera. This influx of capital gave rise to a new class of bourgeois entrepreneurs, financiers, and professionals who sought to remake the city in their image: modern, cultured, and prosperous.

 

The construction of the Palacio de Aguirre in this context signals not only the personal ambition of its patron, Camilo Aguirre, but also the aspirations of a city eager to assert its place in the modern Spanish nation—as both a military bulwark and a symbol of civic progress, blending classical heritage with contemporary style.

 

Listed Status

The Palacio de Aguirre is officially designated as a Bien de Interés Cultural in the category of Monumento (Monument), which is the highest level of heritage protection in Spain. This status protects both its architectural integrity and decorative elements, including its polychrome tilework, sculptural ornamentation, and historic fabric.

 

Additionally, the building forms part of the Museo Regional de Arte Moderno (MURAM) and has been incorporated into the city's cultural and tourism infrastructure, further reinforcing its protected status.

 

🎨 Style: Historicist Eclecticism meets the Aesthetic Movement

 

The building synthesizes a rich variety of historicist vocabularies, from Baroque and Renaissance revival to the Aesthetic and Eastlake movements then circulating through European design discourse. Its intricate surface program reveals Beltrí’s fluency with:

 

•Arts & Crafts and Eastlake linearity, evident in the rhythmic scrolls, plant forms, and stylized beasts

 

•Spanish and Italian Baroque massing (note the heavily bracketed cornices and ornamental cresting)

 

•Renaissance grotesque motifs, especially in the ceramic panels

 

Ceramic Iconography: Pleasure, Labor, and Moral Complexity

 

A highlight of the façade is the vibrant polychrome tile frieze, where putti harvest grapes amid thistles and symbolic flora. This program draws directly on Roman and Renaissance precedents:

 

•The grape harvest invokes Bacchic fertility, but here labor is emphasized—putti are not frolicking but toiling, echoing bourgeois work ethic.

 

•The thistle, beneath soft flesh and ripe fruit, injects emotional and symbolic tension: a reminder of the pain beneath pleasure, or the hard reality beneath surface delight.

 

•Elsewhere, a putto presents a green parrot perched on a ring—a scene of exotic domesticity, but also allegory: a tamed, mimicking creature symbolizing artifice, desire, and aestheticized nature.

 

🐉 Scrollwork Beasts and Decorative Lineage

 

Surrounding these scenes, ceramic panels display scroll-and-beast motifs—hybrid zoomorphic forms emerging from foliage. These derive from:

 

•Roman grotesque wall painting, filtered through Renaissance revival and 19th-century pattern books.

 

•Possibly influenced by Moorish ornamental flattening or Japoniste abstraction, part of the wider Aesthetic Movement.

 

These “botanicomorphic” beasts, unreal by design, assert cultivated imagination—a hallmark of both imperial Rome and modern elite culture. Their presence signals control over the fantastical, a visual assertion of taste, intellect, and privilege.

 

🐝 Architectural Allegory in Relief and Iron

 

On the tower, relief bees and stylized botanical panels add another symbolic layer. The bee—a classical emblem of industry, order, and fertility—underscores the patron’s narrative: this is a house of productive labor, refined taste, and civilizing aspiration. Even the wrought iron balcony grilles echo Eastlake wood carving in their intricate scrollwork—nature made geometric, ornament made discipline.

 

A mixed-use building from the outset:

 

✔️ Primary Use: Family Residence

 

The upper floors, particularly the ornate corner rooms and formal salon spaces, were undoubtedly intended as private domestic quarters for the Aguirre family.

 

The architectural richness—putti, allegorical tiles, wrought iron balconies, and symbolic reliefs—aligns with the bourgeois ideal of the cultivated home, a stage for displaying wealth, refinement, and cultural legitimacy.

 

✔️ Secondary Use: Business and Social Functions

 

Camilo Aguirre was more than a rentier—he was an entrepreneur, linked to the regional press, mining interests, and finance.

 

Like many Spanish industrialist homes of the period, it is plausible that the ground floor or a lateral wing housed offices related to:

 

Aguirre’s publishing ventures (possibly editorial or administrative spaces)

 

Business meeting rooms for investment partnerships or civic involvement

 

Such arrangements were typical of urban palacetes—blending domestic life and elite professional activity in one structure.

 

Supporting Clues from the Architecture

 

The arched main door and grander-than-domestic vestibule suggest semi-public or business-related access.

 

The vertical zoning—more decorative and symbolic elements concentrated on upper façades—often marked a distinction between public-facing lower floors and private upper floors.

 

️ Afterlife: From Private Palace to Public Use

 

By the mid-20th century, the palace had ceased to function as a private residence.

 

It now houses the Museo Regional de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MURAM)—a fitting reuse that continues the building’s role as a showcase of cultural aspiration.

  

Final Note

The Palacio de Aguirre is not just eclectic—it is encoded. It offers a narrative façade, in which labor and luxury, sensuality and discipline, mythology and modernity are layered into its ornament. Whether or not Camilo Aguirre grasped every classical or mythic reference, he certainly intended to project cultural legitimacy, moral rectitude, and aesthetic modernity—the values of a man made in the age of industry, but longing to be remembered in the idiom of empire.

 

About the Architect

 

Víctor Beltrí (1862–1935) was a prolific and versatile architect who played a transformative role in shaping Cartagena’s architectural identity during its late 19th- and early 20th-century boom. A Catalan by birth and trained in Barcelona, Beltrí brought to Murcia a refined blend of eclectic historicism, Modernisme, and regionalist idioms, applying them across public, religious, and residential buildings.

Here are some of his most notable surviving works, nearly all in Cartagena:

 

️ Casa Cervantes (1900–1901)

 

•One of his earliest major commissions in Cartagena, built for the industrialist José María Cervantes.

 

•Strongly eclectic, with Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance features.

 

•Known for its decorative stuccowork, ironwork balconies, and elegant symmetry.

 

🏫 Casa Llagostera (1916)

 

•A more Modernista work, distinguished by elaborate ceramic tile panels and stylized floral motifs.

 

•Famous for its ceramic depictions of Cervantine characters (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza), referencing the owner’s name.

 

🏨 Grand Hotel of Cartagena (1907)

 

•Perhaps Beltrí’s most iconic secular work.

 

•A true Modernista showpiece, with a curved corner façade, domed turret, lavish iron balconies, and Art Nouveau ornament.

 

•Its exuberant decorative program and urban prominence make it one of Cartagena’s architectural landmarks.

 

⛪ Iglesia de la Caridad (restoration and dome, early 20th c.)

 

•Beltrí contributed to the renovation of this Baroque church, particularly the dome and lateral chapels.

 

•The church is the spiritual heart of Cartagena, housing the patron saint Nuestra Señora de la Caridad.

 

🏫 Casa Clares (1905)

 

•Residential and commercial building with wrought iron balconies, stucco ornament, and a carefully proportioned façade.

 

•A good example of Beltrí’s ability to adapt ornamental richness to smaller-scale urban commissions.

 

️ Casino de Cartagena (remodeling, early 20th century)

 

•Beltrí was responsible for major interior renovations to this 19th-century social club.

 

•He introduced Neo-Mudejar elements, stained glass, and eclectic interiors that blend orientalist fantasy with bourgeois refinement.

 

🏥 Hospital de la Caridad Expansion

 

•Beltrí also worked on institutional architecture, contributing to the expansion of Cartagena’s medical infrastructure.

 

Summary of Beltrí’s Significance

 

Beltrí’s legacy lies in his stylistic range: from strict academic revivalism (as in the Palacio de Aguirre) to Art Nouveau experimentation, always tailored to his patrons’ ambitions. His buildings remain among the most photographed and best-preserved examples of Cartagena’s golden age architecture.

  

This text is a collaboration with Chat GPT

 

Crossed-eyes 3D (stereoscopic) viewing: View the two photos cross-eyed until a third image appears in the middle, which will be in stereo 3D. The brain nicely synthesizes a composite image with realistic depth and sharpness. Then put your two hands in front of your face to cover the photos on the left and right so only the middle one remains in your sight.

Some people build careers. Others build bridges. DJ Patil does both. He is one of those rare individuals who move seamlessly between worlds—tech and government, science and storytelling, logic and intuition. I’ve known DJ for over a decade and have photographed him countless times. One particular image comes to mind: a windswept walk along the dunes of Fort Funston, the Pacific crashing below, the light shifting by the second. DJ, as always, was in motion—both physically and mentally.

Most know him as the pioneering data scientist who shaped the role of Chief Data Scientist for the United States under President Obama. His work wasn’t just about numbers; it was about people—using data to improve healthcare, criminal justice, and national security. He’s a mathematician by training, a strategist by experience, and, at his core, a problem-solver who sees patterns where others see chaos.

But numbers only tell part of his story. There’s a warmth to DJ that’s rare in the corridors of power and influence. He has a big heart, always willing to help—whether advising a fledgling entrepreneur, tackling an intractable policy issue, or simply offering a kind word. Conversations with him are an exploration, full of unexpected detours and insights. He listens as much as he speaks, a trait that makes him both a great collaborator and a formidable thinker.

Lately, he’s added another skill to his arsenal: photography. What began as curiosity has become an art, a way of seeing the world beyond data and algorithms. He approaches photography as he does everything else—with intention, precision, and an openness to discovery. The eye of the scientist meets the soul of the artist.

It’s easy to list DJ’s accomplishments—his leadership in Silicon Valley, his work shaping national policy, his role in defining what modern data science could be. But what truly sets him apart is something deeper: his ability to connect, to synthesize, to humanize the abstract. In an age where technology often feels impersonal, DJ reminds us that at the heart of every data point is a human being.

And that may be his greatest talent of all.

 

The new costume feels weird.

 

Then again, they always do.

 

I suppose anything’s going to feel weird when compared to my other suit, especially when you consider that I’ve worn that suit for countless years at this point. Still, as you’d imagine Lucius has outdone himself on this new suit. From what Bruce tells me, Lucius used the current Batsuit as the template when constructing it before making all the suitable adjustments to make it more in line with my style. On the outside, the differences are small and only slightly different cosmetically from the previous suit, but the improvement in armour plating is one of the first things I notice. Evidently, its designed to be able to take a blow from a katana.

 

Just whether or not it’d be able to take more than one is something I’ll hopefully not have to find out. The second major difference is the vambraces on my arms, they’ve been reconfigured to include various electrical components as oppose to just padding beneath the metal covering. According to Lucius, this should mean I can interface with most electrical systems in the field myself rather than requiring support from the Batcomputer. Probably not something many people would appreciate, but if you had experienced the pain of waiting for Alfred to break an encryption as much as I have, you’d consider this upgrade the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

I certainly do.

 

Beyond those two major improvements, there isn’t much new on the suit besides a slightly reworked utility belt, making it lighter and also allowing myself to carry twice the capacity of my previous belt. No doubt it will be essential tonight. Especially now that Ra’s has made his first move.

 

A gas attack, slowly enveloping all of Gotham.

 

From what the satellite network can make out, the gas is being pumped out of four towers at different corners of the city, and the whole city will be covered in less than two hours unless we stop it.

 

Dick: This….this is horrible….

 

Scarlett: Do you think any of the national guard managed to make it to safety?

 

Jason: I don’t know Scarlett. I really don’t know.

 

Tim: Do we know just what’s in this gas?

 

Bruce: Alfred and Lucius are still working to analyse the gas and synthesize a neutralising agent.

 

Roy: This isn’t right. What sort of monster gases people without a second thought?

 

Barbra: One who believes himself above all others. A man who thinks it his right to decide who deserves to live, and who deserves to die.

 

Bruce: This cannot be allowed to continue.

 

Dick: What are you suggesting?

 

Bruce: The gas is toxic if inhaled, but the tests that have already been performed show it is unable to corrode a gas mask and rebreather.

 

Tim: You’re saying we go out there and try to shut the towers down ourselves?

 

Bruce: Without a neutralising agent, there is little more we can do than simply prevent the gas from covering all of Gotham at present. We must ensure that the gas is not able to make it towards the GCPD or Gotham General.

 

Scarlett: But what about the soldiers? How do we help them?

 

Bruce says nothing. Simply turning away and looking towards the main monitor.

 

Roy: You’re just going to ignore them? Leave them to die?

 

Bruce: They’ll all die anyway if we don’t stop this gas from covering all of Gotham.

 

Scarlett: They’re innocent in all this! This whole attack is only happening because of you! We have to save them!

 

Jason: Scarlett…

 

Bruce: We have to prioritise. Say we’re successful, say we save what? Ten of them? How do you then justify saving ten of them and dooming the hundred or so police officers in the GCPD to death? How do you justify to Barbra that her father died needlessly because you chose saving one man over an entire city? How do you justify to Tim that his friend died in Gotham General because you let your emotions overrule your head?

 

I feared that this would come. Bruce would feel it necessary to put both Scarlett and Roy in line to ensure he can rely upon them. They are after all, the only rogue element in this team. The only ones Bruce didn’t have at least some input in with how they were trained. Personally, I’m not too worried about them. Jason trusts them, and that’s good enough for me. But Bruce needs to be certain, and he’s completely right to want to be. We’ll be heavily outnumbered out there, so it’s critical that we’re effective and efficient.

 

They have the numbers.

 

We need to have the skill. It’s the only way we stand a chance of winning.

 

Roy: Ollie would try to save them.

 

Bruce: I’m no Oliver Queen.

 

Roy: That’s for sure.

 

Dick: Thank goodness.

 

Not really the time to try and lighten up the mood, Dick.

 

Bruce: Given that the towers cover all four corners of Gotham, we’ll have to divide our forces in order to neutralise them simultaneously.

 

Barbra: So we split up into teams? Who goes with who?

 

Bruce: Barbra, you and Dick take the east tower.

 

Dick: The one closest to GCPD?

 

Barbra: We’re on it.

 

Bruce: Jason, you and the Outlaws will take the southern tower.

 

Wait, what? He’s having both Scarlet and Roy go with Jason? I was certain he’d pair me up with Roy.

 

Jason: Roger.

 

Roy: Wait, how the hell are we supposed to stop those towers anyways?

 

Bruce: Alfred will be feeding us all live information including the tower’s schematics when we arrive.

 

Dick: Good old Alfred.

 

Tim: So which tower does that leave me with? North or west?

 

Bruce: You and Talia will take the western tower.

 

Tim: Talia?

 

Why’s he sending Talia with me? If anything it makes far more sense to pair me up with one of the Outlaws and Talia go with him, that way everyone has someone there to cover their back.

 

Bruce: She’s a skilled combatant. We’d be foolish not to make use of her help.

 

Tim: Then why’s she going with me and not you?

 

Bruce: I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on her.

 

Tim: You don’t trust yourself?

 

Bruce: Not unless it’s necessary.

 

Talia: He’s always been like that, I’m afraid.

 

That’s….not really surprising. But it’s still kind of worrying.

 

Dick: You don’t need to tell any of us that, we’ve had to live with it.

 

Jason: Wait, it doesn’t make sense that three of us are going to the southern tower but you’re going alone to the northern tower. Doesn’t it make more sense for Roy to go with Tim and Talia go with you?

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Bruce: I’ll be fine. I have the sword.

 

Scarlett: What sword?

 

Tim: You know how every member in the League has a chemical in their body that gives them an unnatural healing factor? He's got a magical sword that neutralises it.

 

Dick: Then why haven’t you tried giving all of us one of those swords!?

 

Bruce: Because I had to do a deal with Hephaestus, and he would only forge me one blade.

 

Roy: That’s why you had us retrieve that stuff from Greene’s mansion.

 

Bruce: That was only intended as a contingency for this very scenario. The blade was the product of desperation.

 

Barbra: What did you have to promise him in return for it?

 

Bruce: Far too much.

 

Before Bruce has a chance to say just what it was he promised Hephaestus, an alert appears on the monitor. The gas cloud is beginning to move further into the city.

 

Bruce: Suit up.

 

———————————————-

 

Thirty Minutes Later…

 

By the time Talia and I make it to the western tower, Dick and Barbra have made it to the eastern tower and the Outlaws are waiting for Alfred’s signal to assault the southern tower.

 

Red Robin: Pen-7, this is West team. We’re in position.

 

Alfred: Roger West team. I’m waiting on the signal from the North team.

 

Talia: Do we really have to call him a team if he’s just one person?

 

Red Robin: It’s protocol, designed to confuse the enemy incase they’re listening in on our communications.

 

Talia: Has anyone ever managed to?

 

Red Robin: No, not yet but….

 

Talia: Then we can ditch the protocol. Let’s not make things more unnecessarily complicated than they need to be.

 

Red Robin: Alfred, we’re waiting on your signal.

 

Alfred: Standby….

 

Talia and I both look down onto the street in front of the tower, four dead bodies. All members of the national guard. None of them have any visible wounds so they clearly died from exposure to the gas. Poor guys. They probably didn’t have any idea what was going on before it was too late.

 

Talia: This is what I hoped to prevent.

 

Red Robin: Sorry?

 

Talia: All this bloodshed, Bruce and my father on opposite sides of this. I should have done more to stop it.

 

Red Robin: Maybe you couldn’t.

 

Talia: But maybe I could have. Part of me still wonders what might have happened if I’d managed to talk my father out of trying to put Bruce through the final trial. Or if I’d managed to convince Bruce to stay…..

 

Red Robin: Then the world would be a darker place.

 

Talia: How can you be sure about that? Especially with all that’s transpiring?

 

Red Robin: I can’t be. No-one can truly know whether or not the world would have been a better place if something went a better way. Sure a lot of bad things have happened which led to this moment, but do you know what also happened? A lot of great moments as well. Don’t believe me? Look at Dick. Look at Jason. Look at all of us. We’d all be nothing if Bruce hadn’t touched out lives, and if anything about Bruce has told me is true. He’d have been nothing without you.

 

For a brief moment, Talia says nothing. I think she’s smiling, but I can’t be certain. It’s difficult to tell what expression she has on her face with the rebreather covering half of it.

 

Talia: Just what has he been telling you about me?

 

Red Robin: Well err…you know….just…ummm…..stuff ya know….like umm….how you trained him and….other stuff.

 

Talia: What kind of other stuff?

 

Her tone of voice as she asks that question is incredibly discomforting. Worse still, I think I have some ides of just what it is she’s curious about. Thankfully, before I have to attempt to answer that question, a miracle arrives.

 

Alfred: Pen-7 to all strike teams. Mission is a go!

 

Immediately, before Talia can repeat her question, I race towards the roof ledge before jumping off towards the tower.

 

Red Robin: Come on Talia, we’ve got a job to do.