Horns are important to the rams. Their annual head-butting battles establish the right to breed. Rams also fight dirty. A common tactic is to approach a rival from behind and give a good kick to the testicles with a front leg. Our beautiful world, pass it on.

Winter. Time to eat fat

and watch hockey. In the pewter mornings, the cat,

a black fur sausage with yellow

Houdini eyes, jumps up on the bed and tries

to get onto my head. It’s his

way of telling whether or not I’m dead.

If I’m not, he wants to be scratched; if I am

He’ll think of something. He settles

on my chest, breathing his breath

of burped-up meat and musty sofas,

purring like a washboard. Some other tomcat,

not yet a capon, has been spraying our front door,

declaring war. It’s all about sex and territory,

which are what will finish us off

in the long run. Some cat owners around here

should snip a few testicles. If we wise

hominids were sensible, we’d do that too,

or eat our young, like sharks.

But it’s love that does us in. Over and over

again, He shoots, he scores! and famine

crouches in the bedsheets, ambushing the pulsing

eiderdown, and the windchill factor hits

thirty below, and pollution pours

out of our chimneys to keep us warm.

February, month of despair,

with a skewered heart in the centre.

I think dire thoughts, and lust for French fries

with a splash of vinegar.

Cat, enough of your greedy whining

and your small pink bumhole.

Off my face! You’re the life principle,

more or less, so get going

on a little optimism around here.

Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it be spring.

Margaret Atwood

Johanna Beisteiner: Schubert - Serenade

JUSTICE

Maybe he was happy because it's spring?

Male kangaroos really love to pose like pros, this big male is a good example! ;) Just sad that the quality isn't really good...

Nature wished me Merry Christmas

Die Natur wünschte mir Frohe Weihnachten

Early in the morning on the way to the supermarket, fridge update for the festive season was aimed at, I took one of the cameras with me, thinking that it could be that nature somehow and somewhere, perhaps very hidden, thanked me for my tender, sometimes thoroughly voyeuristic and always non-destructive observations of her marvels.

I am a testicle-less (sic!) optimist, so purely not taken in by myself 😎

And lo and behold...

I first found a solitary buttercup and later this rose formation, the Edixa Xenar and I pounced enthusiastically on both.

The buttercup will (perhaps) be added in the next few days, at the moment I only have one picture left...

XT19219

Did you know that if you rest your testicles on top of a empty beer bottle, and hold a naked flame at the base, it eventually gets sucked inside?

If you did know this, and you know how to get it out, please message me...URGENTLY!

These really tiny flies - perhaps 2.5 to 3 mm - are now in the Easter air! And they're set on multiplication. On the inset bottom left you'll see a male with his swollen everted yellow testicles. All about their function isn't clear. Obviously they're meant for multiplication but apparently, too, they emit a pheromene that attracts females such as the one in the inset on the bottom right. The main picture shows what happens when they meet...

I don't have much to say.

I think I've learned very little in all these years: I've learned that there are many reckless things you can do. And among those millions one who is even more reckless than the others. And you usually do that.

I learned that blue and black together are a in one eye.

I learned that certain smells are fixed in the memory, and when you feel them it is as if all those years had never passed.

I learned that Saturday is better than Sunday.

I discovered that there are people so scassapalle that they represent a real ornament to the testicles.

I've learned that there's nothing more intoxicating than pinning yourself on your choice. And then make mistakes.

I learned that the comfort of friends can sometimes be cruel.

I understood that certain rules are made to go against them.

I realized that there is nothing more fun than to agree with an idiot. And inside laugh.

I realized that nothing is more beautiful than getting up at night while everyone else is sleeping and wandering in solitude like a dog among the garbage, looking for any fulfilling feeling.

We were nearly trapped on Rock Creek Road by fires close to both ends of it, so we fled and missed the Testicle Festival (an annual celebration of the virtues of Rocky Mountain oysters) in nearby Clinton, MT.

Unfortunately, the annual celebration of gonadophagy was cancelled in 2018 after a lawsuit was filed against the Clinton organizers of the event:

www.newsweek.com/testicle-festival-cancelled-montana-898477

Thank you for visiting - ❤ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

Today we went to a Día de Muertos event in San Jose, California. Aztec dancer did a performance to loud drums. On one dance, some of the dancers burned their thigh or foot as part of a ritual to honor the dead. You can see the pain in her face. I'd love to learn more about this ritual.

I processed a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully pulled the curves and selectively adjusted the color balance.

-- © Peter Thoeny, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, NEX-6, _DSC4443_hdr1bal1f 2

UPDATE 2016-10-24: This interesting info got posted on my FB post:

"The burning is to send them into a altered state, so that inspiration will come. It's a variation of a ritual ancient shaamans performed. They would pierce their testicles and let the blood drip into the open fire below, inhaling the smoke their blood created to provide the inspiration directing their warriors in battle.

The thing is, all the rituals performed are religious, rather than entertainment. They should tell you ahead of time which parts are not to be photographed, as they have the potential to be damaging. Same applies to other Native (Indian) dances."

Los machos de los Odonatos poseeen una exclusividad en el mundo animal: tienen la genitalia dividida. La secundaria (órgano reproductor) es esa protuberancia que se puede observar en la cara ventral a la altura del 2º segmento y la genitalia primaria (testículos) en la misma cara al final del abdomen , menos ostensible.

Este macho de Trithemis annulata me permitió fotografiarlo desde un ángulo que nos permite apreciar esta circunstancia. He puesto dos notas.

Fotograma recortado un 4%

En El Coto. Villena (Alicante) España

The males of the Odonatos possess an exclusivity in the animal world: they have divided genitalia. The secondary (reproductive organ) is that protuberance that can be observed in the ventral face at the height of the 2nd segment and the primary genitalia (testicles) on the same face at the end of the abdomen, less ostensible.

This male from Trithemis annulata allowed me to photograph him from an angle that allows us to appreciate this circumstance. I have put two notes.

Frame cut by 4%

In El Coto. Villena (Alicante) Spain

Meat market in Northern Laos

Stanley the cat... who needs an alarm clock, he is used to me getting up for work at 0450 and letting him out to terrorise the neighbourhood, he has no respect for weekends. Fortunately this morning he refrained from some of his more extreme efforts to wake me up.

"did you have trouble getting up this morning ?"

"no once I had prised the cat off my testicles it was plain sailing"

Yes this morning he didn't bite me anywhere sensitive and settled for wailing until I surrendered. Driving around the countryside here it's either farmland or deep thick fairytale woodland. The woods are full of old houses, abandoned small holdings and plenty of tiny stone bridges like this one.

I hope you are all having a great weekend !

. . . . looks a little like Orson Welles.

He takes photos too . . . www.flickr.com/photos/chazthewaz/

No, Hermes. We are not talking about the gigantic testicles of Uranus, important as they were. What matters at this moment are potatoes.

7Artisans manual lens at F1.2, contre-jour, reflector.

- Les Orchidées ou Orchidacées (Orchidaceae), latin orchis, du grec ancien ὄρχις , órkhis (« testicule »), forment une grande famille de plantes monocotylédones. C'est une des familles les plus diversifiées, comptant plus de 25 000 espèces, réparties en 850 genres.

- Orchids or Orchidaceae (Orchidaceae), Latin orchis, from the ancient Greek ὄρχις, órkhis (“testicle”), form a large family of monocotyledonous plants. It is one of the most diverse families, with more than 25,000 species, divided into 850 genera.

All rights reserved - © Michaël Gadsaudes

www.instagram.com/sohmi/

Having just finished uploading my photos from this years London Photo24 event I thought I'd tag this new version of an old image on the end.

This shot is nearly ten years old but this shot is still probably my favourite I've taken of the Norman Foster City Hall building.

Click here for more shots taken during this, and previous years, Photo24 events : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157667520181380

From Wikipedia : "City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA), which comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It is located in Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge. It was designed by Norman Foster and opened in July 2002, two years after the Greater London Authority was created.........

The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency, although the excess energy consumption caused by the exclusive use of glass (in a double facade) overwhelms the benefit of shape. Despite claiming the building "demonstrates the potential for a sustainable, virtually non-polluting public building", energy use measurements have shown this building to be fairly inefficient in terms of energy use (375 kWh/m2/yr), with a 2012 Display Energy Performance Certificate rating of "E". It has been compared variously to a helmet (either Darth Vader's or simply a motorcyclist's), a misshapen egg, and a woodlouse. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while his successor, Boris Johnson, made the same comparison using a different word, "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion". Its designers reportedly saw it as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. It has no front or back in conventional terms but derives its shape from a modified sphere.

My Website : Twitter : Facebook : Instagram : Photocrowd

© D.Godliman

I have posted a number of rare orchids recently but this Common Spotted Orchid is also rather special as it grows in my lawn. This photo shows the typical elongated pyramidal flower head with a whitish ground colour and short bracts. But the individual flower shape is also highly distinctive as it has three long, splaying teeth on the lower lip that reminds me of an inverted fleur de lis. In my area they often hybridise with Marsh Orchids but this individual seems to be a pure-bred Common Spotted. It is found pretty much throughout the British Isles and is one of our commonest orchid species. Its scientific name is Dactylorhiza fuchsii. Dactylorhiza means finger root because the underground tubers are elongated like fingers. Incidentally many orchids have two egg-shaped tubers and the name "orchid" actually means testicle. The name fuchsii commemorates Leonhart Fuchs (1501-66), a German physician and botanist who wrote a herbal, a book about plants and their medicinal uses. The popular flowering garden shrub Fuchsia is also named after him.

Los machos de los Odonatos por su peculiar y exclusiva conformación de la genitalia producen escenas muy fotográficas.

Sabemos que la genitalia del macho está dividida, en el 2º segmento abdominal se sitúa la genitalia secundaria, el pene, y en el 9º, en la cara ventral, la primaria (los testículos).

Para aparearse, el macho cogerá a la hembra y hará la carga de esperma que es lo que vemos en la foto, instantes después se producirá la cópula.

Enallagma cyathigerum (foto) es muy abundante en el Coto y no es difícil ver la escena.

En el Coto. Villena (Alicante) España

Odonatos males, due to their peculiar and exclusive conformation of the genitalia, produce very photographic scenes.

We know that the male genitalia is divided, in the 2nd abdominal segment the secondary genitalia, the penis, and in the 9th, on the ventral side, the primary one (the testicles).

To mate, the male will take the female and load the sperm, which is what we see in the photo, moments later copulation will take place.

Enallagma cyathigerum (photo) is very abundant in the Coto and it is not difficult to see the scene.

In the Coto. Villena (Alicante) Spain

hairy legs.. with nut action.

this one is for biggerGuns.. i know he likes testicles.

Bertlmann’s work questions social conventions and traditional gender relations. Here the curved forms suggest the outlines of a body, while the pairs of polystyrene eggs allude to testicles. ‘Pornographic jokes have always been a male domain, made at the exclusive expense of women,’ Bertlmann has said. ‘I consider my series of objects an accomplished example of an obscene female joke.’

One of the millions of things I like about Montana is the clear water. This is plainly seen in this photo. Here a H-1 Dash 9 leads a BNSF freight over Bridge 55 on Montana Rail Link's 4th Subdivision west of Trout Creek, Montana. Props go out to Drew "Lime Testicles" Halverson for collaborating on this idea.

Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly known as balloon milkweed, hairy balls, balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop's balls, nailhead, or swan plant, is a species of milkweed. The plant is native to southeast Africa, but it has been widely naturalized. It is often used as an ornamental plant. The name "hairy balls" is an allusion to the swelling testicle-like follicles which are full of seeds. Hawks Allee, Tryon Palace, New Bern, North Carolina

It's good to see Mother Nature has a perverse sense of humor sometimes. ;-)

I've told Dudette's story many times, but I'm sure we have new people viewing this sexually confused whitetail. In 2011 a game ranger told me about an antlered doe. Developed antlers, but they never hardened due to lack of testosterone. Over the years the antlers have gotten progressively gnarlier.

I photo'd Dudette many times and showed her to friends. Then one day in 2014 while processing photos, I discovered that Dudette is actually a buck with no testicles. Behaves like a doe and hangs out with the does. In the rut, bucks pay him no mind.

Our beautiful world, pass it on.

In mediaeval times it was thought that Beaver testicles were an aphrodisiac and they were hunted for this. It was also believed that a Beaver cornered by hunters would chew off its own scrotum to escape "otherwise unharmed"! Later its anal gland was used as a fixative for perfumes, so they were hunted for that as well, not to mention their pelts. Fortunately a plant was found that fixed perfumes even better than beaver juice. That plant was called Castor Oil, after the Beaver's scientific name Castor. Castor is the Latin word for Beaver, but is thought to derive from the Sanskrit word Kasturi, which means musk (back to the perfume fixative). This one is a North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) photographed early morning near Zeballos on Vancouver Island. This one was incredibly close and this is uncropped, but high ISO as the light levels were low.

The title is a quote from Leslie Nielson in the 1988 film Naked Gun. There is a gratuitous scene where Priscilla Presley climbs a step ladder as Nielson steadying the ladder, looks up and says "Nice Beaver!" She then climbs down with a stuffed Beaver from the top shelf saying "Thank you. I just had it stuffed". Here's the clip on Youtube if you really want to see it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS3LWOTCW4A

The male's testicles grow very large during the mating season and in this instance they make a nice chair, LOL! They do reduce in size after the spring time.

Tuttle Creek Campground, Lone Pine, Ca.

Red Deer

(Cervus elaphus scoticus, Lönnberg, 1906)

IMG_1937

Full classification: Phylum Chordata, Sub-phylum Verbrata, Class Mammalia, Oder Artiodactyla, Family Cervidae, Sub-family Cervinae, Genus Cervus, Species Cervus elaphus scoticus.

Origin & History:

The red deer is Ireland’s largest land mammal and is the only species of deer that is considered native to Ireland. They earned their ‘native’ or indigenous status, as they are believed to have survived our last ice age or are the closest living population to the post-glacial native Irish Red deer.

Although Red deer can be found in most counties the only herd that are believed to be native or indigenous are those found in Killarney. In the 1960’s the Red deer in Killarney numbered 100 animals or less, these animals were brought back from the brink of extinction by the efforts and work of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Deer Society. Now there are approximately 600 – 700 native Red Deer in the Killarney Valley area of Co. Kerry. A small herd of the Killarney Red deer has been translocated to Innismhicilean island off the Kerry coast. The reasons for this was to preserve and conserve their genetic pureness. Two other captive native herds of these animals are held in Doneraile, Co. Cork and in Co. Tyrone. Thus, theoretically, these animals could be used to restock the Killarney Valley if hybridization or serious disease occurs.

Adult Size:

Adult males are known as stags, weigh up to 220Kg, Females as hinds, weighing up to 110Kg, Offsprings are calves, which weigh 6-9Kg. have a spotted coat until the age of about 2 months old.

IMG_7933Description:

Summer coat is a deep-reddish-brown colour, spots can occur along spine. The underbelly is cream, as is inner thighs and rump. In winter the coat is shaggy, thick (for insulation against the cold and rain) dark brown-grey in colour, with light patches on the undersides and rump. The caudal patch extends higher over the rump than in most other deer, being a cream colour. The tail has a dark stripe that extends upward along the spine. Age and the condition of the individual animal can seriously affect this general appearance. The metatarsal gland, found on the hind legs is a creamy colour.

Food & Feeding:

Red deer are primarily grazers, but other food sources if available are taken advantage of. These include heather, dwarf shrubs and rough grasses such as Molina sp. Found on the uplands. Heather plays an important food source to uphill animals during the winter months, especially if there is snow-covered ground. If the weather is harsh enough then the deer may be forced from the upland to migrate to nearby farmland to feed upon farm crops, this occurs generally at night.

The Rut:

The rut occurs during the month of October and may last up to 6 weeks. The two sexes are segregated throughout the year apart from the rut. The males congregate to form bachelor groups, these vary in the number of individuals present. They begin to become intolerant of each other from August onwards; this is due to the now increasing levels of the male hormone testosterone. The increasing levels of this hormone stimulates the increase in neck size (mane) and testicle size, as well as the cleaning of the new antlers of the velvet covering, the general thickness of such a mane depends on the condition and age of the stag. The photoperiod or the changing lengths of light and darkness determine the level of testosterone. The hinds begin to congregate in their traditional rutting areas. Sexually mature stags (5-11yrs) take ‘possession’ of hind harems, which they will defend from other stags and herd in any hinds that wander close. Up to 20% of a mature stag’s body weight may be lost during this rutting period, as they tend not to consume much. The rut peaks generally in mid-October, where fighting can escalate, resulting in serious injury and possible death. Many Stags can be sufficiently weakened from the rut, especially older animals and followed by a harsh winter, they may not survive.

Breeding:

Calves (singles) are born during the period of late May until early-mid June after a gestation of 229 days. They are born with a spotty coat, which remains with them up until the age of about 2 months. This dappled coat camouflages the calf until its mother returns to suckle it. Suckling occurs on average every 2-3 hours during the first few days, after which the time lapse is greater between feeds. The mother wil return to the area where she left her calf, and call to it with a short bark to locate it. Interestingly enough, that apart from the rutting and calving calls, both sexes are generally silent throughout the rest of the year, unless emitting an alarm call.

Antlers:

Antlers are cast between Mid-March and April and regrown every year, so they are in their prime for the rut. Older Stags tend to cast earlier than younger ones. The antlers form in Red deer is of many branches of multi-points, the number of which can vary considerably with age, condition of the stag. These antlers are used in fights during the rut. Red deer fight characteristically by pushing and shoving the opponent by the antlers, untilone is pushed backwards, at which point the winner will chase off the loser.

Damage/Economic factors:

They can cause considerable damage in young broadleaf woodland, eating the leaders and side shoots and also in agricultural crops. Red deer are extensively farmed for their venison.

There has been much speculation surrounding the mysterious objects discovered in the skies above Alaska, Northwestern Canada, and Lake Huron in recent days following an earlier downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

A number of theories have circulated regarding the origins of these UFOs, from more spy balloons to the release of an oversized helium balloon that had escaped from the film set of the sequel to the film UP.

However, what is not yet widely known is the fact that one of the objects was carrying this alien life form!

It has been christened ‘Orchis’, from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις, meaning "testicle", by General Francis Drebbin commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command as he referred to the press leak as a ‘complete balls up!’

Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.

ETYMOLOGY AND HISTORY: The word orchid derives from the Greek "órjis" (testicle) and "idéa" (form).

The word refers to the shape of the tubers of species of the genus Orchis, terrestrial orchids whose double tubers resemble testicles.

The word is first attested in the manuscripts of the work "De Causis Plantarum" by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, dating from approximately 375 BC.

They have been known and appreciated by humans since ancient times.

There are 1,500-year-old Chinese writings that refer to the cultivation of orchids.

In ancient Greece, they were attributed with healing and aphrodisiac properties.

The Aztecs used an orchid—the vanilla—to enrich a thick cocoa-based drink intended for nobles and warriors and known as "xocoatl" (chocolate). Source: Wikipedia.

ORQUÍDEAS, JULIO 2025

Las orquídeas son plantas que pertenecen a la familia Orchidaceae, un grupo diverso y extendido de plantas con flores que suelen tener flores coloridas y fragantes.

ETIMOLOGÍA E HISTORIA: La palabra orquídea deriva del griego "órjis" (testículo) e "idéa" (forma).

El vocablo hace referencia a la forma de los tubérculos de las especies del género Orchis, orquídeas de hábito terrestre cuyos tubérculos dobles parecen testículos.

El vocablo se atestigua por primera vez en los manuscritos de la obra "De Causis plantarum" del filósofo griego Teofrasto, que datan aproximadamente del año 375 antes de Cristo.

Fueron conocidas y apreciadas por los seres humanos desde la Antigüedad.

Existen escritos chinos de 1500 años de antigüedad donde se hace referencia al cultivo de las orquídeas.

En la antigua Grecia se le atribuían propiedades curativas y afrodisíacas.

Los aztecas utilizaban una orquídea —la vainilla— para enriquecer una bebida espesa hecha a base de cacao, destinada a los nobles y a los guerreros y era conocida con el nombre de "xocoatl" (chocolate). Fuente: Wikipedia.

View On Black

City Hall in London is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. It stands on the south bank of the River Thames, in the More London development by Tower Bridge. Designed by Norman Foster, it opened in July 2002.

The building has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce the building's surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse or a motorcycle helmet. London Mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle". Its designers reportedly saw the building as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. The building has no front or back on conventional terms but derives its shape from a modified sphere.

City Hall was constructed on a site formerly occupied by wharves serving the Pool of London. The building does not belong to the GLA but is leased under a 25-year rent. It forms part of a larger development called More London, including offices and shops. Next to City Hall is a sunken amphitheatre called The Scoop, which is used in the summer months for open-air performances; it is not, however, part of the GLA's jurisdiction. A 500 metre (1,640 foot) helical walkway, reminiscent of that in New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum ascends the full height of the building. At the top of the ten-story building is an exhibition and meeting space called "London's Living Room," with an open viewing deck which is occasionally open to the public. The walkway provides views of the interior of the building, and is intended to symbolise transparency; a similar device was used by Foster in his design for the rebuilt Reichstag in Germany. In 2006 it was announced that Solar photovoltaic cells would be fitted to the building by the London Climate Change Agency.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the text.

Artizen HDR Lock06

As viewed from the Tower Bridge walkway. The large, blob-like building in the foreground was City Hall before the move to The Crystal. It was once referred to as a "glass testicle" by Ken Livingston.

Regno Unito, Londra, Bermondsey, Inverno 2013

More London è un nuovo gruppo di edifici sulla riva sud del Tamigi, vicino al Tower Bridge e include il Municipio, un anfiteatro chiamato The Scoop, blocchi di uffici, negozi, ristoranti, caffè, e una zona pedonale con sculture all'aperto e giochi d'acqua, tra cui fontane illuminate da luci colorate. La forma del costoso municipio (43 milioni di Sterline) è stato oggetto di numerosi paragoni dal casco di Darth Vader, un uovo deforme e un casco da motociclista. L’ex sindaco Ken Livingstone lo chiamava il "testicolo di vetro", mentre l'attuale sindaco, Boris Johnson, lo riferisce ben più educatamente ad una “cipolla”.

More London is a new development on the south bank of the River Thames, near Tower Bridge and it includes the City Hall, a sunken amphitheatre called The Scoop, office blocks, shops, restaurants, cafes, and a pedestrianized area containing open-air sculptures and water features, including fountains lit by coloured lights. The very expensive City Hall (£43 million) has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg and a motorcycle helmet. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while the present mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it more politely as "The Onion".

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is Italy's oldest active shopping gallery and a major landmark of Milan in Italy. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town,[1] the Galleria is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by architect Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.

The structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala. The street is covered by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade in London, which was the prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels (opened in 1847), the Passazh in St Petersburg (opened in 1848), the Galleria Umberto I in Naples (opened in 1890), and the Budapest Galleria.

The central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. The Milanese Galleria was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall, of which it was the direct progenitor. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls.

On the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the three capitals of the Kingdom of Italy (Turin, Florence and Rome) plus Milan's. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull from Turin coat of arms this will bring good luck. This practice causes damage to the mosaic: a hole developed on the place of the bull's genitals.

The Galleria connects two of Milan's most famous landmarks: The Duomo and the Teatro Alla Scala, but the Galleria is a landmark in its own right.

The Milan gallery and its roof have been acknowledged as an important reference on 19th-century iron-and-glass architecture by Pevsner and Hitchcock. As one can still observe today, the roof consists of four barrel vaults (approximately 14.5 m in width and 8.5 m in height) that are crowned with a huge dome (around 37.5 m as internal diameter and 17.10 m in height). Jorini pointed out the accomplishments of this dome with special regard to the large dimensions. Each of the roof parts is topped with a lantern.

According to Geist, the Milan gallery and the roof were unprecedented in dimensions by previously built shopping arcades. Another difference with already existing passages, was the monumental character of the roof at Milan. Jodice, for example, appreciated the monumental spatial effect of the dome. In comparison to earlier emblematic arcades, such as Galerie d'Orléans (1828-1829) and Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (1845-1847), the Milan arcade was also special because of the large spans of the vaults and the ethereal effect of the entire glass canopy. The construction of the whole Gallery was the result of international collaboration. This especially concerned the roof: the ironwork was produced, transported and installed by the French Atelier Henry Joret. The glass plates were made of flat ribbed glass by Saint-Gobain. The construction technology of the roof employs primary wrought-iron arches in order to support the glazing. By contrast, arcades that were built earlier were smaller and had simpler roofs: the same components were used for both load bearing and glazing purposes. In addition, the roof at Milan was equipped with invisible reinforcements in the supporting walls. This complicated roof is discussed as the unity of four systems that were skillfully combined through characteristic construction details. This construction technology was creative for avoiding visible tie-rods in the spans of the vaults and the dome, for a special effect of the glass plates and for the glazing bars.

The historical roof was heavily damaged during World War II. Before that the roof had undergone multiple maintenance interventions. Serious problems in the roof were reported in the 1970s, and some of them were solved in the 1980s. The roof that we see today has gone through different historic modifications and represents complicated conservation issues. In 2015, in preparation for Expo Milano 2015, the facades, statues, and mosaics underwent detailed cleaning and repair, using a giant moving crane scaffolding system.

I first photo'd this deer we named Dudette in 2009. At the time we thought it was an antlered doe, but discovered that it is a buck with no testicles. Behaves as a doe and is the matriarch of a doe herd. Antlers used to look somewhat normal, but just never progressed beyond the velvet stage. In recent years, they have gotten progressively gnarlier. They do fall off in spring.

Our beautiful world, pass it on.

Indian testicles ..........................................

BOLA DE INDIO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tephrocactus aoracanthus

Este ejemplar proviene de la localidad de La Laja, provincia de San Juan, ARGENTINA;

a 720 metros de altitud, donde llueven solo 70 milímetros anuales.

La especie se distribuye por las provincias de La Rioja, San Juan (donde es abundante), oeste de Córdoba, norte de San Luis, y norte de Mendoza.

Las plantas de este género (y, por lo tanto, las de todas sus especies) vegetan solo en el oeste de la Argentina.

Las especies que viven en Chile, Bolivia, y Perú incluídas en Tephrocactus son hoy tratadas en el género afín "Maihueniopsis".

Sus frágiles artejos se desprenden con facilidad, generando de esta manera nuevas plantas al enraizar rapidamente en contacto con el suelo.

Por esta razón las distintas poblaciones de las especies de este género muestran notable uniformidad fruto del origen clonal, dominante sobre la reproducción sexual, de las mismas.

(6 de diciembre de 2008)

Cultivado en San Andrés, provincia de de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘

fotografía fotografías foto fotos photo photos imaje imajes imágenes imagen imajenes imajen picture pictures ,

It has been referred to by past and present mayors as the "glass testicle" or "glass gonad" or "the onion". I don't really get any of these - but then again I still think The Gherkin resembles more of a bullet. Located on the bank of the Thames and just up from Tower Bridge.

I think he was enjoying the snow a lot, but normal for a Siberian tiger!

Indian testicles ..........................................

BOLA DE INDIO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tephrocactus aoracanthus

Este ejemplar proviene de la localidad de La Laja, provincia de San Juan, ARGENTINA;

a 720 metros de altitud, donde llueven solo 70 milímetros anuales.

La especie se distribuye por las provincias de La Rioja, San Juan (donde es abundante), oeste de Córdoba, norte de San Luis, y norte de Mendoza.

Las plantas de este género (y, por lo tanto, las de todas sus especies) vegetan solo en el oeste de la Argentina.

Las especies que viven en Chile, Bolivia, y Perú incluídas en Tephrocactus son hoy tratadas en el género afín "Maihueniopsis".

Sus frágiles artejos se desprenden con facilidad, generando de esta manera nuevas plantas al enraizar rapidamente en contacto con el suelo.

Por esta razón las distintas poblaciones de las especies de este género muestran notable uniformidad fruto del origen clonal, dominante sobre la reproducción sexual, de las mismas.

(6 de diciembre de 2008)

Cultivado en San Andrés, provincia de de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘

fotografía fotografías foto fotos photo photos imaje imajes imágenes imagen imajenes imajen picture pictures ,

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the world's oldest shopping malls. Housed within a four-story double arcade in central Milan, the Galleria is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.

The structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala. The street is covered by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade in London, which was the prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels (opened in 1847), the Passazh in St Petersburg (opened in 1848), the Galleria Umberto I in Naples (opened in 1890) and the Budapest Galleria.

The central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. The Milanese Galleria was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall, of which it was the direct progenitor. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls.[citation needed]

On the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the three capitals of the Kingdom of Italy (Turin, Florence and Rome) plus Milan's. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull from Turin coat of arms this will bring good luck. This practice causes damage to the mosaic: a hole developed on the place of the bull's genitals.[citation needed]

The Galleria connects two of Milan's most famous landmarks: The Duomo and the Teatro Alla Scala, but the Galleria is a landmark in its own right.

Left to right:

707 AD: Kjerwjjord Albcaern: Lengendary half Norse, half Celt warrior, famous for smashing the testicles of her male enemies.

1459 AD: Aunt Llewellyn: mysterious high priestess of the Occult. Never seen in daylight.

1637 AD: Mu-Lang: She-Wolf for hire.

1772 AD: Miss Clockerham: Queen Victoria's assassin.

1855 AD: Dr. Lennox: Feared steampunk terrorist.

1951 AD: Sally Patson: the humble housewife who led the Battle of Galveston to repel the Martian Invaders.

2198 AD: Tri Salm Wng: Android special forces with energy weapons in the time of the New Ice Age Wars.

Well?

Lucky and I are huge WWE fans and we are SO EXCITED to see what tonight's RAW/Smackdown draft is going to mean for the WWE Universe. Pre-Show's about to start so I've gotta run.

(Also, "Lady balls™ are a hell of a lot bigger than testicles." Preach on Stephanie!)

Best to be viewed in large size format.

The orchid is a peculiar plant and shows the most developed and the widest variety of types. Unlike the roses, which are always symmetric and of the same type. The very word orchid has a aphrodisiac connotation, because it comes from the Greek word orchis (testicle) and for the first Greeks botanics the shape of the species in the region resembled the male reproductive organ.