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Sara Pantuliano, Managing Director, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom, speaking during the session, Transforming Humanitarian Finance, at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Ciaran McCrickard

Not terrible in mobile suit mode, the mobile armor though is a bit rough. Scaled for Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack.

The princes and cubs have all been totally deboxed, and are standing next to each other. The princes are a bit unstable free standing, even on a hard flat surface. That is because their feet are small, they are very top heavy and not exactly balanced. So I had to put them on small doll stands.

 

My first look at the 6 piece Triplets Brave Doll Set. It was released by the Disney Store on Monday May 14, 2012 online and in stores, along with many other Brave merchandise. It's cost is $19.50 US. The set consists of the triplet princes in kilts as 4 1/2'' tall dolls, and the three bear cubs, as 4 3/4'' tall hollow plastic cases for the princes to transform into cubs. The prince dolls have arms and legs that are molded into fixed positions on their bodies; only their heads can move.

 

First I photographed the set in the unopened box. Then with the dolls taken out of the box, but still attached to the inner cardboard backing, which slides out of the box like a tray. Then I remove the triplets from the backing, and transform the triplet princes to triplet cubs. Finally I pose the triplets in various transformational states with Formal Merida (from the Angus and Merida doll set).

Transforming the Horizon into gaming mode.

 

I'll be displaying this SHIP at the June Brickworld Virtual Con

The original docks area of Tampa had fallen into steady dereliction but is now being transformed by wholesale redevelopment. A new yachting marina and boatyard also features the waterside Hula Bay bar and restaurant that is already a popular lunchtime venue.

...... a plastic bag with drops into a flower.

 

Explore : # 498

The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.

 

~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

  

Transformable forklift

Transformed from a cultivated jungle into a steppe. Second Nature reveals the exceptional state of those greenhouses, left by their owners, greenhouses that offer new opportunities for the development exotic wildlife.

Foto aus dem Technik Museum Sinsheim und dem Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen

 

Once just a fence, now transformed into a memorial to the 51 people who died and the many who were injured in the Christchurch massacre. this is just a very very small part of the flowers and messages left by the people of Christchurch in support of the Muslim community of Christchurch. And appalling tragedy.

My first look at the 6 piece Triplets Brave Doll Set. It was released by the Disney Store on Monday May 14, 2012 online and in stores, along with many other Brave merchandise. It's cost is $19.50 US. The set consists of the triplet princes in kilts as 4 1/2'' tall dolls, and the three bear cubs, as 4 3/4'' tall hollow plastic cases for the princes to transform into cubs. The prince dolls have arms and legs that are molded into fixed positions on their bodies; only their heads can move.

 

First I photographed the set in the unopened box. Then with the dolls taken out of the box, but still attached to the inner cardboard backing, which slides out of the box like a tray.

This year's first visit to Thorpe Park was today (May 5th 2016) and what a glorious day it was! However with only 3 visiting coaches, I also sought permission to visit the First School Bus depot adjacent to the theme park.

 

Here, First Beeline BMC Falcon 1100FE B60F rests away from the Bluebirds.

Transformative Space

 

Enter a cathartic pursuit. The passage entrance was small and did not indicate what we were to experience—assessing the unknowns in space, shifting dramatically from concept to academic self-questioning to a deconstructed disorientation. I followed our seers upstairs, through multiple room scapes, and down corridors, to when and where I finally realised. I had to select which self-delusion was best for me. In hindsight, I have re-entered these rooms my entire life, and my disconnection between acting and actioning required resolution. To begin a transformation and build a manifestation of social-spatial exclusiveness. To play as one within this curated experience, as a spectator and participant. A paradox in finding meaning and fulfilment.

 

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IAVE Transformative Impact: sustained change through corporate volunteering event at Credit Suisse offices, canary wharf, London 10th April 2019. Organised by VSO corporate partnerships team.

'Measuring Impact and Reporting Results'

speakers: Eva Halper; Director Corporate Citizenship Credit Suisse, (black dress, sat on left, shoulder length hair)

 

Julia Prats Romeu; Project Manager Volunteering 'La Caixa' foundation. (black trouser suit, long brown hair, sat on right)

 

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos; sinisorsa) molting.

 

Salmisaari, Helsinki, Finland

Loch Tay is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the Perth and Kinross and Stirling council areas, the largest body of fresh water in Perth and Kinross. The watershed of Loch Tay traditionally formed the historic province of Breadalbane.

 

It is a long, narrow loch about 14.55 miles (23.42 km) long, and typically around 1 to 1.5 miles (1.6 to 2.4 km) wide, following the line of the strath from the south-west to north-east. It is the sixth-largest loch in Scotland by area and more 150 metres (490 ft) deep at its deepest.

 

Between 1996 and 2005, a large-scale project was carried out to investigate the heritage and archaeology of Loch Tay, the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape (BLHL) Project. It took place primarily on the National Trust for Scotland’s property but included some local landowners who held the agricultural lands between the head-dyke and the loch-shore.

 

Before 1996 the earliest known evidence for occupation along the shores of Loch Tay had been a nearby stone-axe factory at Creag an Caillich and the 1965 excavations of the stone circle at Croft Moraig (dated to the 3rd to 2nd millennium BC). However, the BLHL project found a lithic scatter along the Ben Lawers Nature Trail that dated to the 8th and 7th millennia BC, during Scotland's Mesolithic period. This and another Mesolithic site found during the project were very important to archaeologists understanding of that time period in Scotland. Until the 1990s most Mesolithic sites were recorded along the coasts and these sites were the first ones recorded in the uplands of the Highlands, demonstrating that the hunter and gathers of that time did not strictly live by the coasts.

 

The BLHL project also found evidence of people living and working in the hills above the loch during the Neolithic period. A Beaker burial was also found, the Balnahanaid Beaker, which may be among the earliest Beakers in Scotland, dating to a time when their use was rare.

 

Prehistoric environment and loch levels

Investigations of the loch have found that a Neolithic woodland existed on its edge for at least 900 years and that during that period the shoreline would have been least 4–5m lower than it is today.

 

Several of the 20 crannogs found along Loch Tay have been radiocarbon dated to the Iron Age:

 

Morenish Crannog 50 BC – AD 220

Morenish Boathouse Crannog 750 BC – AD 30

Milton Morenish Crannog 810 – 390 BC

Eilean Breaban Crannog AD 420–640 & 600–400 BC (two occupations)

Tombreck Crannog 170BC–AD180

 

As well as round houses that were excavated at Croftvellich and Tombreck which the archeologists took to indicate that that settlements may have been much more densely concentrated during the Iron Age than was previously thought, with people living both on the land and on the water.

 

The loch appears to have been at the edge of Pictland. An Early Christian graveyard at Balnahanaid was found, as well as some upland occupation sites. Furthermore, there is evidence that Eilean Breaban, Dall North and Craggan Crannogs were occupied during this period, but overall Loch Tay was not a major centre of Pictish activity.

 

In the Early Medieval period people began to cultivate the higher elevations of the hills around the loch. The Macnabs, the Menzies, the Drummonds, the Napiers, the Haldanes, the MacGregors and the Robertsons of Carwhin and Strowan all owned land around the loch but little remains of their possible castles/manors. Most of the surviving lordly residences are associated with the Glenorchy Campbells, who grew in power and influence during the 15th and early 16th centuries, specifically those at Lawers, Carwhin and Edramucky.

 

The Campbells held most of the land in the area from around the 1600s to the late 1800s, when they began to sell off the land. Though before doing so they undertook clearances of the residents. It is estimated that two-thirds of the population was removed from around the loch. The National Trust for Scotland would buy a significant amount of the land in the 1950s to become the largest landowner in the area.

 

More than 20 crannogs have been identified in Loch Tay. The Scottish Crannog Centre. is an open-air museum on the south of Loch Tay and has a reconstructed crannog, built between 1994 and 1997. The recreated Iron Age roundhouse was destroyed by fire in 2021. The museum is raising money for its repair.

 

Ben Lawers, on the north shore shore of the loch is, at 1,214 metres (3,983 ft), the tenth-highest mountain in the British Isles, and is the highest peak in a group of seven munros. Killin at the head of the loch, and Kenmore at the outflow of the River Tay, are the main settlements on the lochside today. The smaller settlements of Acharn, Ardeonaig and Ardtalnaig are located on the south side of the loch whilst Fearnan and Lawers are on the north side. The loch is fed by the rivers Dochart and Lochay at its head and numerous smaller streams.

 

The loch is a popular spot for salmon fishing, and many of its surroundings feature in the traditional Scottish 'Loch Tay Boat Song' (Scottish Gaelic, Iorram Loch Tatha). This is a very sad song in which the protagonist muses on unrequited love for a red-haired woman (a Nighean ruadh) whilst rowing at the end of a working day. It has been recorded by Liam Clancy and The Corries amongst others.[citation needed] The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail filmed the famous scene with the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog at Tomnadashan Mine on the east bank of the loch.

 

Kenmore is a small village in Perthshire, in the Highlands of Scotland, located where Loch Tay drains into the River Tay.

 

The village dates from the 16th century. It and the neighbouring Castle were originally known as Balloch (from Gaelic bealach, 'pass'). The original village was sited on the north side of river approximately two miles (three kilometres) from its present site and was known as Inchadney. In 1540 Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy started the construction of Balloch castle on the opposite bank of the river and the entire village was moved to a prominent headland by the shores of Loch Tay, hence the name Kenmore, which translates from Scots Gaelic to "big (or large) head". The village as it is seen today is a model village laid out by 3rd Earl of Breadalbane in 1760.

 

The Kenmore Hotel, commissioned in 1572 by the then laird Colin Campbell, has its origins in a tavern built around 70 years earlier offering accommodation and refreshments. It is reputed to be Scotland's oldest hotel. Well known travel writer Rick Steves defined the community as "little more than the fancy domain of its castle, a church set in a bouquet of tombstones, and a line of humble houses, Kenmore offers a fine dose of small-town Scottish flavour".

 

Taymouth Castle, another Campbell creation, was built by John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane (d. 1862) on the site of its late medieval predecessor, Balloch Castle (built 1550 by the Campbells of Glenorchy, ancestors of the Marquesses of Breadalbane, demolished 1805). This enormous mansion, in neo-Gothic style, was completed in time for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1842. No expense was spared on the interior, which was decorated with the utmost sumptuousness. Taymouth Castle is now privately owned and has a golf course in its grounds.

 

Kenmore Bridge dates from 1774 and the village as it is today was laid out in the 18th Century by the third Earl of Breadalbane. It retains many of its original buildings and historic appearance.

 

Around two miles (three kilometres) northeast of the village by the side of the A827 road is a complex multi-phase stone circle known as Croft Moraig Stone Circle.

 

To the southwest, between Kenmore and Acharn, the waterside settlement of Croft-na-Caber has been redeveloped into a number of tourist attractions. The Scottish Crannog Centre (formerly the Crannog Reconstruction Project) is an open-air museum on the south of Loch Tay Road. It features an accurate full-size reconstruction of a crannog, an Iron Age artificial island, of which more than 20 (most now submerged) have been found in Loch Tay. The crannog mockup is based on the real Oakbank Crannog archaeological site off the north shore of the loch.[citation needed] The Crannog mock-up was destroyed by fire on the evening of 11 June 2021. The visitor centre also displays artefacts from nearby excavations, which are funded in part by the proceeds from this attraction. The Croft-na-Caber Watersports & Activity Centre, originally planned as a £20 million sailing resort in 2009, now offers additional activities, including hydraboarding and canyoning. The original Croft-na-Caber Hotel closed in the 2000s, though the successor resort is served by other area hotels, the largest of which is the Kenmore Hotel.

 

The biggest island in the loch, known as the Isle of Loch Tay, or in Gaelic Eilean nam Ban-naomh, 'Isle of Holy Women', is just north of Kenmore. It was the site of a nunnery in the 12th century and was the burial place of Queen Sibylla (d. 1122), wife of Alexander I of Scotland (1107–24). A castle was built on the island in the later Middle Ages. Signs of 18 crannogs, "circular houses on stilts", have been found Loch Tay. Only one was rebuilt and became the museum known as the Scottish Crannog Centre.

 

The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

 

The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim  The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.

 

The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

 

The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.

 

Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.

 

Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".

 

Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".

 

Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West.  Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way.  The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes. 

 

Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities.  Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land.  In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.

 

In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.

 

When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected.  This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms.  Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.

 

The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.

 

Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.

 

According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".

 

The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.

 

For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.

 

In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.

 

A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

 

Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.

 

The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

 

Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.

 

There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.

 

Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.

 

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.

 

These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.

 

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.

Climate

 

The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.

 

Places of interest

An Teallach

Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)

Arrochar Alps

Balmoral Castle

Balquhidder

Battlefield of Culloden

Beinn Alligin

Beinn Eighe

Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station

Ben Lomond

Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore

Cairngorm Mountains

Caledonian Canal

Cape Wrath

Carrick Castle

Castle Stalker

Castle Tioram

Chanonry Point

Conic Hill

Culloden Moor

Dunadd

Duart Castle

Durness

Eilean Donan

Fingal's Cave (Staffa)

Fort George

Glen Coe

Glen Etive

Glen Kinglas

Glen Lyon

Glen Orchy

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glen Shiel

Glen Spean

Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)

Grampian Mountains

Hebrides

Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.

Highland Wildlife Park

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Jail

Inverness Castle

Inverewe Garden

Iona Abbey

Isle of Staffa

Kilchurn Castle

Kilmartin Glen

Liathach

Lecht Ski Centre

Loch Alsh

Loch Ard

Loch Awe

Loch Assynt

Loch Earn

Loch Etive

Loch Fyne

Loch Goil

Loch Katrine

Loch Leven

Loch Linnhe

Loch Lochy

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

Loch Lubnaig

Loch Maree

Loch Morar

Loch Morlich

Loch Ness

Loch Nevis

Loch Rannoch

Loch Tay

Lochranza

Luss

Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)

Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran

Rannoch Moor

Red Cuillin

Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83

River Carron, Wester Ross

River Spey

River Tay

Ross and Cromarty

Smoo Cave

Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Stac Polly

Strathspey Railway

Sutherland

Tor Castle

Torridon Hills

Urquhart Castle

West Highland Line (scenic railway)

West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)

Wester Ross

Negative Scanned - Epson V700

Yashica 124G

Kodak Pro 160 Ektacolor

TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE

 

Lego Sideswipe - Masterpiece Brickformer (MB-03).

 

Fully transformable without removing pieces.

 

I started work on this before Soundwave and Nemesis but his transformation was so difficult that it took the longest to build. wrapping his arms (doors) around the front wheels was the biggest challenge. But I am most proud of the feet - as they turn into the seats when in vehicle mode.

Then, pale as privet, took she heart to drink,

And therewithal most strange new thoughts did think,

And unknown feelings seized her, and there came

Sudden remembrance, vivid as a flame,

Of everything that she had done on earth,

Although it all seemed changed in weight and worth,

Small things becoming great, and great things small;

And godlike pity touched her therewithal

For her old self, for sons of men that die;

And that sweet new-born immortality

Now with full love her rested spirit fed.

Then in that concourse did she lift her head,

And stood at last a very goddess there,

And all cried out at seeing her grown so fair.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day

This weekend, I made progress on Violet’s Journey, our animated fairy tale featuring Natalina’s art ducks.

 

These new mockups show what Violet could look like with a beaded skirt and a new pair of wings, against different backgrounds. For this prototype, I mounted an oval plate between her belly and the robot base, then loosely hung some of Natalina's beads, for discussion purposes. I then superimposed my green screen capture of this prototype against some of the nature photos we used for the first storyboard, as well as a simpler backdrop using silhouetted shapes and gradient lighting.

 

Our first goal for this test is to cover the wheels and robot parts below the duck’s belly, as they seem out of place for a fairy tale. To that end, we plan to create a beaded curtain, using necklaces from Natalina’s treasure trove of jewels.

 

The second goal is to make Violet more expressive, as the decoy ducks are static and can’t show their feelings very well. To that end, we’re considering giving her new wings that could flap in different ways to show a range of emotions. These wings could be laser cut out of white or translucent acrylic, backlit with neopixels and made to flap gently with a servo motor attached to the oval float.

 

Lastly, we are experimenting with different background styles, ranging from photo-realistic backdrops to simpler landscapes with painted shapes and lighting. These simple shapes could be cut out on cardboard -- or laser cut on thin wood: I now have tons of vector files to choose from, besides the chinese landscape I used in this test. Both the forest and the cave would seem easy to implement. This first mockup is very flat, but we can add more color and texture over the laser cut shapes, to make them more real.

 

What do you think? Is it OK that Violet is not floating on water like a normal duck, but hovering over the ground with a beaded skirt and twitchy wings? How do you like the new backdrop idea? I think this could work if we set it up in a magical world, with surreal landscapes not just photo-realistic nature shots.

 

View more photos of Violet’s Journey and the Wonderbots experiment: bit.ly/wonderbot-photos

 

Check out our story guide for this work progress:

docs.google.com/document/d/1ceHph_XI-3m1mBk4lpduQ-JgCzGrH...

A good father has a bit of a mother

 

La CEPAL ha definido la paternidad masculina como la relación que los hombres establecen con sus hijas e hijos en el marco de una práctica compleja en la que intervienen factores sociales y culturales, que además se transforman a lo largo del ciclo de vida tanto del padre como de los hijos o hijas. Se trata de un fenómeno cultural, social y subjetivo que relaciona a los varones con sus hijos o hijas y su papel como padres en distintos contextos, más allá de cualquier tipo de arreglo conyugal.2

La función de reproducción es del orden biológico y la compartimos con el reino animal, pero la función paterna es del orden simbólico.3 Los animales se reproducen instintivamente pero entre ellos no existe la paternidad dado que existen especies cruzadas que se adoptan mutuamente y mismas especies que se comen a sus crías o procrean con ellas. Por ende la paternidad es una institución humana cuya función excede lo instintual de la reproducción.4

El hecho de el padre sea el agente de la procreación no es una verdad de la experiencia directa. Existieron tribus que, a pesar de tener conocimiento de que una mujer no daba a luz si no había tenido un coito unos meses antes, atribuían la paternidad a una fuente, a una piedra, o al encuentro con un espíritu en lugares apartados. La calificación del padre como procreador no depende del hecho de que el ser humano haya reconocido una cierta consecución entre acontecimientos tan diferentes como coito y parto sino que es un asunto que se sitúa en el nivel simbólico.3 Los humanos pueden conocer muy bien que es necesario que un varón se aparee con una mujer nueve meses antes del parto y sin embargo no designar a ese varón como padre, el padre designado puede ser no solo un espíritu o dios sino también un hermano de la mujer, aún sabiendo que no ha tenido relaciones sexuales con dicha mujer. La palabra engendramiento designa la procreación masculina y no debe confundirse con filiación que es de orden simbólico y jurídico. La procreación es el hecho de producir y hacer nacer un niño o niña de un varón y una mujer o de gametos masculinos y gametos femeninos. La simple constatación de la transmisión de los genes nunca fue suficiente para identificar a un padre. Para el discurso jurídico la paternidad nunca se redujo al patrimonio genético y ahora que es posible constatarlo, paradojalmente, muchos menos. La paternidad incluye una función de autoridad, de cuidado, de protección, de nominación (pues da el nombre o apellido del padre), una función económica (que incluye la manutención de los hijos y la transmisión de los bienes y del patrimonio, del latín Patri=padre y onium= recibido que significa lo recibido por línea paterna, una función social, cultural, educativa (transmisión de saberes, enseñanza de los valores morales) y afectiva.1

 

El varón, a diferencia de la mujer, nunca fue definido por su paternidad o su capacidad de ser padre sino por su trabajo y su posición como productor y ciudadano. El padre siempre fue incierto y la paternidad menos evidente que la maternidad, sin embargo, a pesar de que sólo existía certeza de quien era la madre, los hijos, históricamente, siempre pertenecieron al padre presunto o presupuesto.

Según Monique Schneider

La cuestión política está íntimamente urdida en la problemática sobre la que se apoya la cuestión de la paternidad.5

Todas las sociedades occidentales y orientales conocidas en todos los tiempos históricos han sido patriarcales. La paternidad siempre dependió de la voluntad del padre.6 Ha dependido históricamente del consentimiento (o no) del varón hasta la aparición de las pruebas de paternidad mediante el estudio de ADN.

Aun así, en muchos casos continúa dependiendo de la voluntad paterna: en el caso de donación de esperma por parte de un tercero el padre reconocido es el esposo de la mujer inseminada y no el donante. Es decir, quien expresó su voluntad de ser padre lo será, por el contrario el dador del espermatozoide, quien no tiene voluntad ni dona paternidad, no lo será

 

En el caso de una madre soltera el varón no necesita su consentimiento para reconocer al niño. En todo caso será ella quien tenga que realizar una demanda para solicitar una prueba de paternidad y demostrar que ese varón no es el padre biológico del niño.

Un varón puede reconocer como suyo un niño que no es su hijo biológico y ser considerado su padre sin incurrir en delito (no sucede lo mismo en el caso de la mujer que si inscribe un niño ajeno como propio comete un delito grave).11

Las dos funciones primordiales de la paternidad, pater y genitor, son las de la nominación y la de la transmisión de la sangre. El fundamento de la definición de paternidad está en el derecho romano.

Processed with VSCO with p5 preset

See it better, tap on the photo!

   

This flowers is becoming one of my favorites. I don't know what I like the most...

  

I do must of all nature photography, and from time to time city life. I enjoy trying new techniques, and transforming some of my photos into something different and ( I think) artistic.

 

EXPLORE:

 

Also, I’m very proud to say that twenty eight of my photos made it to Explore, many are still on, Also, I’m very proud to say that twenty eight of my photos made it to Explore, many are still on, three of them at 25, 14 and 52, still! If you’d like to see them, please go to my Explore set.

If you’d like to see them, please go to my Explore set.

 

TO MY FRIENDS:

 

Flickr has giving me opportunity to meet a group of wonderful people. Thanks for making me feel so proud of what I do and love. You know who you are…

 

ABOUT GROUPS:

 

I would gladly submit my photos to the groups that would allow me to see their pages and be part of them. Please, don’t invite me to groups that will show my work once, and by invitation. I rather be part of a group that will allow me to choose my own material, and decide what to put and when. Remember, we are artists, and very temperamental ;)

 

MY THANKS:

 

Thanks for coming and for viewing my photos. I appreciate all comments, so leave one, if you want to.

 

Have great day, and enjoy the ride!

 

Martha.

SIMBOLISMO

 

Los poderes de la Mosca:

 

- Insistencia

- Permanencia

- Visión multifacética

 

La sabiduría de la Mosca incluye:

 

- Heredar aprendizajes

- Aprovechar las oportunidades

- Adaptación a los ambientes más duros

- Habilidad de transformar los desperdicios en valiosos recursos

 

A productive afternoon making art together at Pataphysical Studios.

 

Doctors Canard and Rindbrain completed an illuminated painting that is constantly changing, as the light box around it cycles through the colors of the rainbow. This creates an ethereal experience, as the brush strokes quietly shimmer and transform, to the sound of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports (see video: vimeo.com/151282015 ). Nicely done, doctors!

 

Our visitors this week were Michael Easton and his son Kyan, who seemed to enjoy themselves. A friend of Dr. Figurine’s, Michael is quite an accomplished artist, inventor and engineer and showed us some of his cool creations, including magical mushroom lights inspired by this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5LjGFkpApw

 

Doctor Fabio showed a Chinese New Year wonderbox prototype he is building for his upcoming maker workshops (bit.ly/wonderbox-overview ). Doctors Really and Igor worked on bringing sound to more wonderboxes. Dr. Rindbrain showed his new Universe cards about Mamie. Dr. Figurine worked on a Neopixel badge for her lab coat. Doctor Zboon showed some of his new pataphysical talismans. A fine time was had by all.

 

View more 'Pataphysical photos: www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157623637793277

 

Watch 'Pataphysical videos: vimeo.com/album/3051039

 

Learn more about Pataphysical Studios: pataphysics.us/

Alva Noto

 

⚫️

 

CD :

 

Alva Noto

For Gerd Müller

Noton

N-067

 

Sounds . Carsten Nicolai

 

Design . Carsten Nicolai . Nibo

 

Noton . Archiv Für Ton Und Nichtton

 

Postcard :

 

Gerd Müller

Mannschaft

1974

 

Use Hearing Protection

 

GMA

The entire 525 m (1722 ft) of the tunnel was installed with Philips Color Kinetics ColorGraze MX4 Powercore fixtures, transforming the mostly unused railway tunnel into a visually stunning walkway connecting the north and south portals. Grazing fixtures were specifically chosen for the inside of the railway in order to showcase the unique architectural and geological components of the 155 year old tunnel, while ColorBlast Powercore gen4 fixtures were installed at both portals to invitingly illuminate the entrances. The lighting inside the tunnel runs a dynamic “Philips Light Show” 365 days a year, drawing in locals and tourists alike. Citizens can even request custom lightshows for events held on the waterfront.

 

The Brockville Railway Tunnel was reopened to the public on August 12, 2017 to coincide with the Canada 150 celebrations taking place across the Great White North this year. Already a hotbed of tourist activity in the summer months, the newly restored Brockville Railway Tunnel serves as a perfect gateway between the section of the city known as ‘The Gorge’ and the waterfront, drawing as much as 30,000 more visitors to the downtown area. 1193

Toda transformada me siento una sexy y liberada colegiala

Before the battle... become one with the sword which will carry you to victory.

hrough one of the alternate plain glass windows in the Round Church (1185) - Temple Church, London. Built by the Knights Templar, the soldier monks who protected pilgrims to the Holy Land during the crusades.

The cold, grey and windy day outside was transformed by the random ripples in the old glass.

Sara Pantuliano, Managing Director, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom, and Ion Yadigaroglu, Managing Partner, Capricorn Investment Group, USA, speaking during the session, Transforming Humanitarian Finance, at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Ciaran McCrickard

from man to old woman?

 

ha ha haaaa

 

our daily challenge: street photography.

This transforming Lego can convert from a flying machine to a standing robot mech. All parts easily fold out from flying mode to create the standing mech robot. This is version 1.3 and is not weaponized.

 

Seen here in the gargoyle pose just prior to lift off. The tail is still out for stability but once in flight the rest of the machine will be in this form.

Alva Noto

 

⚫️

 

Book :

 

Hannettica

Homage To A Typeface

Lars Müller

2007

 

CD :

 

Joy Division

Unknown Pleasures

Factory

FAC10

 

Design . Peter Saville

 

iMusic :

 

Alva Noto

Prototypes

Noton

N-012

 

GMHA ...

British postcard by Art Photo, no. 62.

 

American singer and actor Dick Powell (1904-1963) was also a film producer, film director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a juvenile lead in the Warner backstage musicals, Powell showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man in Film Noirs. He was the first actor to portray the private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.

 

Richard Ewing Powell was born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas. Powell was the son of Ewing Powell and Sallie Rowena Thompson. He was one of three brothers. His brothers were Luther and Howard Powell, who ended up as vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad. The family moved to Little Rock in 1914, where Powell sang in church choirs and with local orchestras and started his own band. Powell attended the former Little Rock College before he started his entertainment career as a singer and banjo player with the Royal Peacock Band. He then got a gig with the Charlie Davis band and toured with them throughout the mid-west, appearing at dance halls and picture theatres. In 1925, he married Mildred Maund, a model, but she found being married to an entertainer, not to her liking. After a final trip to Cuba together, Mildred moved to Hemphill, Texas, and the couple divorced in 1932. He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s. Powell moved to Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought Brunswick Records, which at that time owned Vocalion. Warner Bros. was sufficiently impressed by Dick Powell's singing and stage presence to offer him a film contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event (Roy Del Ruth, 1932) with Lee Tracy and Mary Brian. He was borrowed by Fox to support Will Rogers in Too Busy to Work (John G. Blystone, 1932). He was a boyish crooner, the sort of role he specialised in for the next few years. Back at Warners, he supported George Arliss in The King's Vacation (John G. Adolfi, 1933). Then he was the love interest for Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933), which was a massive hit. Warner let him repeat the role in Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933), which was another big success. Looking rather younger than his actual years, Powell soon found himself typecast as clean-cut singing juveniles. Another hit was Footlight Parade (Lloyd Bacon, 1933), with Keeler, Joan Blondell, and James Cagney. Powell was upped to star for College Coach (William A. Wellman, 1933), then went back to more ensemble pieces including 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933), Convention City (Archie Mayo, 1933), and Dames (Ray Enright, Busby Berkeley, 1934). He was top-billed in Gold Diggers of 1935 (Busby Berkeley, 1935), with Joan Blondell. He supported Marion Davies in Page Miss Glory (Mervyn LeRoy, 1935), made for Cosmopolitan Pictures, a production company financed by Davies' lover William Randolph Hearst who released through Warners. Warners gave Dick Powell a change of pace, casting him as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Dieterle, Max Reinhardt, 1935). He did two films with Blondell, Stage Struck (Busby Berkeley, 1936) and Gold Diggers of 1937 (Lloyd Bacon, 1937). Then 20th Century Fox borrowed him for On the Avenue (Roy Del Ruth, 1937) with Madeleine Carroll. Back at Warners, he appeared in Hard to Get (Ray Enright, 1938) with Olivia de Havilland, and Naughty but Nice (Ray Enright, 1939), starring Ann Sheridan. Fed up with the repetitive nature of his roles, Powell left Warner Bros and went to work for Paramount.

 

At Paramount, Dick Powell and his then-wife, Joan Blondell were in another musical, I Want a Divorce (Ralph Murphy, 1940). Then Powell got a chance to appear in a non-musical and starred opposite Ellen Drew in the sparkling Preston Sturges comedy Christmas in July (1940). I.S. Mowis at IMDb cites Powell saying: "I knew I wasn't the greatest singer in the world and I saw no reason why an actor should restrict himself to any one particular phase of the business". Universal borrowed him to support Abbott and Costello in In the Navy (Arthur Lubin, 1941), one of the most popular films of 1941. He was in a fantasy comedy directed by René Clair, It Happened Tomorrow (1944) then went over to MGM to appear opposite Lucille Ball in Meet the People (Charles Reisner, 1944), which was a box office flop. During this period, Powell starred in the musical program Campana Serenade, which was broadcast on NBC radio (1942–1943) and CBS radio (1943–1944). I.S. Mowis at IMDb: "Few actors ever managed a complete image transition as thoroughly as did Dick Powell: in his case, from the boyish, wavy-haired crooner in musicals to rugged crime fighters in films noir." By 1944, Powell felt he was too old to play romantic leading men anymore. Still dissatisfied with lightweight roles, Powell lobbied hard to get the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray's success, however, fueled Powell's resolve to pursue projects with greater range. Instead, he was slotted into more of the same fare, refused to comply and was suspended. Powell tried his luck at RKO and at last, managed to secure a lucrative role: that of hard-boiled private eye Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler's Murder, My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk, 1944). He was the first actor to play Marlowe – by name – in motion pictures. Hollywood had previously adapted some Marlowe novels, but with the lead character changed. Later, Powell was the first actor to play Marlowe on radio, in 1944 and 1945, and on television, in an episode of Climax! (1954). Murder My Sweet was a big hit. Bosley Crowther in the New York Times: " ...and while he may lack the steely coldness and cynicism of a Humphrey Bogart, Mr. Powell need not offer any apologies. He has definitely stepped out of the song-and-dance, pretty-boy league with this performance". Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor. His career changed dramatically: he was cast in a series of Films Noirs. On the radio, Powell played detective Richard Rogue in the series Rogue's Gallery beginning in 1945. On-screen, Dmytryk, and Powell reteamed to make the film Cornered (Edward Dmytryk, 1945), a gripping, post-World War II thriller that helped define the Film Noir style. For Columbia, he played a detective in Johnny O'Clock (Robert Rossen, 1947) and made To the Ends of the Earth (Robert Stevenson, 1948) with Signe Hasso. In 1948, he stepped out of the brutish type when he starred in Pitfall (André De Toth, 1948), a Film Noir in which a bored insurance company worker falls for an innocent but dangerous woman, played by Lizabeth Scott. He broadened his range appearing in a Western, Station West (Sidney Lanfield, 1948), and a French Foreign Legion tale, Rogues' Regiment (Robert Florey, 1949) with Marta Toren. He was a Mountie in Mrs. Mike (Louis King, 1950). From 1949 to 1953, Powell played the lead role in the NBC radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likable private detective with a quick wit. Many episodes were written by Blake Edwards and many ended with Detective Diamond having an excuse to sing a little song to his date.

 

Dick Powell took a break from tough-guy roles in The Reformer and the Redhead (Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, 1950), opposite his new wife June Allyson. Then it was back to tougher movies: Cry Danger (Robert Parrish, 1951), as an ex-con; and The Tall Target (Anthony Mann, 1951), as a detective who tries to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He returned to comedy with You Never Can Tell (Lou Breslow, 1951). He had a good role as best-selling novelist James Lee Bartlow in the popular melodrama, The Bad and the Beautiful (Vincente Minnelli, 1952). His final film performance was in a romantic comedy Susan Slept Here (1954) for director Frank Tashlin. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as Susan Slept Here (Frank Tashlin, 1954), he never sang in his later roles. It was his final onscreen appearance in a feature film and included a dance number with co-star Debbie Reynolds. By this stage, Powell had turned director. His feature debut was Split Second (1953) with Stephen McNally and Alexis Smith. He followed it with The Conqueror (1956), coproduced by Howard Hughes starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan. The exterior scenes were filmed in St. George, Utah, downwind of U.S. above-ground atomic tests. The cast and crew totaled 220, and of that number, 91 had developed some form of cancer by 1981, and 46 had died of cancer by then, including Powell and Wayne. He directed Allyson opposite Jack Lemmon in You Can't Run Away from It (1956). Powell then made two war films at Fox with Robert Mitchum, The Enemy Below (1957) and The Hunters (1958). In the 1950s, Powell was one of the founders of Four Star Television, along with Charles Boyer, David Niven, and Ida Lupino. He appeared in and supervised several shows for that company. Powell played the role of Willie Dante in episodes of Four Star Playhouse, and guest-starred in numerous Four Star programs. Shortly before his death, Powell sang on camera for the final time in a guest-star appearance on Four Star's Ensign O'Toole, singing 'The Song of the Marines', which he first sang in his film The Singing Marine (Ray Enright, 1937). He hosted and occasionally starred in his Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater on CBS from 1956–1961, and his final anthology series, The Dick Powell Show on NBC from 1961 through 1963; after his death, the series continued through the end of its second season (as The Dick Powell Theater), with guest hosts. He married three times: Mildred Evelyn Maund (1925-1932), Joan Blondell (1936-1944) and June Allyson ( 1945, until his death in 1963). He adopted Joan Blondell's son from a previous marriage, Norman Powell, who later became a television producer; the couple also had one child together, Ellen Powell. He had two children with Allyson, Pamela (adopted) and Richard 'Dick' Powell, Jr. Powell's ranch-style house was used for exterior filming on the ABC TV series, Hart to Hart. Powell was a friend of Hart to Hart actor Robert Wagner and producer Aaron Spelling. In 1962, Powell acknowledged rumors that he was undergoing treatment for cancer. The disease was originally diagnosed as an allergy, with Powell first experiencing symptoms while traveling East to promote his program. Upon his return to California, Powell's personal physician conducted tests and found malignant tumors on his neck and chest. Powell died at the age of 58 in 1963. His body was cremated and his remains were interred in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. In The Day of the Locust (1975), Powell was portrayed by his son Dick Powell Jr.

 

Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

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