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"Even when the world burns and cities crumble and nothing remains the same, love will still live on. Nothing will survive. Everything dies, everything burns, but love has a way of flourishing in the harshest environment, because it is all that is left. We cling onto it, and will never let it go. As long as two humans walk the face of this planet love with live on in their hearts."
"Crime Through Time Museum", Littledean Jail, Forest of Dean.
Couldn't get a decent shot because it was in a glass dome, behind a glass case.
Perhaps this is a cast off from Potter's Museum of Curiosities.
Another day, another ballgame.
Lansing shortstop Elvis Peralta tags second and rifles (always, "rifles") the ball to first against Lake County.
334 game photos here. And here's the same photo with all the players labelled.
The 'Cathedrals Explorer' tour of Britain, starting on 18 My 2012 and covering eight days, leaves London Victoria behind A1 pacific no. 60163 'Tornado' and banked by BR pacific no. 70000 'Britannia'. Most steam departures from Victoria are banked up the 1 in 62 incline to Grosvenor Bridge, but this is almost always by a diesel locomotive. On this occasion, though, 'Britannia' had brought the train into the station from Staines, via Redhill and Tonbridge. The plume of exhaust from 'Britannia" rises in the background. Edit of original post.
Nazi Germany's most produced fully Tracked Armoured Fighting Vehicle of World War Two was the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) Assault Gun and also the second-most produced Nazi German Armoured Combat Vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 Half-Track, it was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the Turret with an Armoured fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful Gun. Initially intended as a Mobile Assault Gun for Direct-Fire Support for Infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer vehicles, was employed as a ''Tank Destroyer''.
The Sturmgeschütz originated from German experiences in World War I, when it was discovered that, during the Offensives on the Western Front, the Infantry lacked the means to effectively Engage Fortifications. The Artillery of the time was heavy and not mobile enough to keep up with the advancing Infantry to destroy Bunkers, Pillboxes, and other minor Fortifications with Direct Fire. Although the problem was well known in the German Army, it was General Erich von Manstein who is considered the father of the 'Sturmartillerie' (Assault Artillery). The initial proposal was from von Manstein and submitted to General Ludwig Beck in 1935, suggesting that Sturmartillerie units should be used in a Direct-Fire Support role for Infantry Divisions.
On 15th June 1936, Daimler-Benz AG received an order to develop an Armoured Infantry Support Vehicle capable of mounting 75cm calibre Artillery Piece. The Gun mount's fixed, fully integrated casemate superstructure was to allow a limited traverse of a minimum of 25° and provide overhead protection for the Crew, the height of the vehicle was not to exceed that of the average Soldier. Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and running gear of its recent Panzer III Medium Tank as a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype manufacture was passed over to Alkett, which produced five prototypes in 1937 on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and a Krupp Short-Barrelled, 'Howitzer-Like' in appearance, 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 Cannon. Production vehicles with this Gun were known as Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette für Sturmgeschütz 7.5cm Kanone Ausführung A bis D (Sd.Kfz.142).
While the StuG was considered to be Self-Propelled Artillery, it was not clear which Land Combat Arm of the German Army would handle the new Weapon. The Panzerwaffe (Armoured Corps) was the natural user of Tracked Fighting Vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG Units and neither did the Infantry. It was agreed that it would best be employed as part of the Artillery Arm. The StuG's were organized into Battalions (later renamed ''Brigades'' for disinformation purposes) and followed their own doctrine. Infantry support using direct fire was its intended role. Later, there was also a strong emphasis on its use as an Anti-Tank Gun.
As the StuG was designed to fill an Infantry Close Support Combat role, early models were fitted with a Howitzer-Pattern, Low-Velocity 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 Gun, much as the earliest versions of the fully Turreted Panzer IV were. Low-Velocity Shells are lightly built of thin steel and carry a large charge of explosive, to destroy 'Soft-Skin Targets' and blast Fortifications. Such Shells do not penetrate armour well. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 Tanks, the StuG was first equipped with a High-Velocity 7.5cm StuK 40 L/43 Main Gun (spring 1942) and in the autumn of 1942 with the slightly longer 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48 Gun. These High-Velocity Guns were the same as those mounted on the Panzer IV for Anti-Tank use but the heavy steel wall High-Velocity Shells carried much less explosive and had a lower blast effect for use against Infantry or Field Fortifications. These versions were known as the 7.5cm Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf.F, Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz.142/1).
▪︎Type: Assault Gun
▪︎Place of Origin: Nazi Germany
▪︎In Service: 1940 to 1945 (German service) / Syrian StuG IIIs were in use until the Six-Day ▪︎War (1967), possibly later
▪︎Wars: World War Two / Six-Day War
▪︎Designer: Alkett
▪︎Manufacturer: Alkett, MIAG
▪︎Unit Cost: 82,500 Reichmark
▪︎Number Built: c. 10,086 StuG III / c. 1,299 StuH 42
▪︎Mass: 23.9 tonnes
▪︎Length: 22ft 6in / Width: 9ft 8in / Height: 7ft 1in
▪︎Crew: 4 (Driver / Commander / Gunner / Loader
▪︎Armour: 0.62in to 3.15in
▪︎Main Armament: 1 x 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48 Main Gun, 54 rounds
▪︎Secondary Armament: 1 x 7.92mm MG34 or MG42 Machine Gun, 600 rounds / 1 x coaxial 7.92mm MG34 Machine Gun firing from hole in Gun Mantle (from 1944 on) 600 rounds
▪︎Powerplant: Maybach HL120 TRM V-12 gasoline engine driving six-speed transmission 296hp
▪︎Power / Weight: 12 PS (9.2 kW) / tonne
▪︎Suspension: torsion bar
▪︎Operational Range: 96 miles (1.1 mpg‑imp) at 22mph (59 Imperial gallons fuel)
▪︎Maximum Speed: 25mph.
From the May 2016 trip to Thailand and Cambodia:
Ta Som is a unique, small temple on the northeast corner of the Grand Circuit Loop. It’s rather remote, and is unique in that it has combinations of Bayon (face towers on the outer enclosure) and Ta Prohm. It’s almost on the axis formed by Preah Khan and Neak Pean. It was built by Jayavarman VII (who seems to have been responsible for the construction of a lot of these temples, or so it seems to me) in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
If pressed for time, you can probably skip Ta Som (or most any of the sites on the Grand Circuit). However, I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t take a few days to see the sites here. You can easily visit Ta Som in about half an hour.
Well, this is it. Save for a return flight to Bangkok on Tuesday, May 17 (a formality, really, just to pick up the return flight to China on the 18th…and no shoots on the 17th in Bangkok), Siem Reap/Angkor Wat is the last stop – and the one I was most looking forward to.
The flight over was pretty uneventful, though amusing. At Phnom Penh International Airport, we checked in at the gate, then went outside and hopped on a bus to take us to the plane…which was literally less than 100 meters away. That amused me to no end. A quick, comfortable 45 minute flight on the prop jet later – over completely black terrain; it seems the countryside is either sparsely populated, or electricity is a premium, but we may as well have been flying over a moonless ocean – brought us to Siem Reap (which, I’m glad to say, had lights). Siem Reap is the small town (and it’s basically a tourist/party kind of town where it’s great to go out at night after spending a full day in the sweltering hot sun. It’s about 10 kilometers south of Angkor Wat.
In overview, Angkor Wat is the ancient capital of the Khmer kingdom. What remains today are temples…temples…and temples. Hindu temples. Buddhist temples. They were also a people who were animists, so some temples are reminiscent of that system, too.
The detail of the temples is also fascinating. There are more asparas here than you can shake a stick at. Of the roughly 20,000 asparas, only one is shown smiling (baring teeth, that is). It fascinates – and impresses – me that people have done such extensive research and restoration that they know this. Those are the details, though.
A macro view of the Siem Reap area is just as impressive in that these temples are a study of a civilization close to one thousand years old (yet another jaw-dropping aspect of Angkor: the longevity) and their durability. The earliest temples are over a thousand years old, and the most recent are from the 14th century. (If the guide book I bought is correct, they were all built between 790-1307.) What survives today is all original (though there have been reinforcements with stone – many foreign countries support renovations of specific temples; I recall China and India among them). It’s quite obvious to tell what’s old and what’s new in most cases. However, the restorations are all good and necessary. One last note regarding the longevity of these temples is this: If these stone temples are what remained…how impressive must the society have been who created them? (That’s to say…think of the temples, houses, and all that didn’t survive as they were built of wood; these are simply the temples built by the royals or the aristocracy.)
A tour of modern-day Angkor Wat can be done in one or two fairly vigorous days. However, if you’re looking for any classic shots, you’ll want to spend longer here. (Common sense: the more time here, the more chances for good shots.) For this trip – it may be the only time I come here, though you never know – we arrived on a Saturday night and checked into our hotel (My Home Tropical Garden Villa; $20/night)
Siem Reap feels, at first, like a small dusty outpost of a town. The center of town is about four square blocks of small dive restaurants (and a bar street) and slightly pricier restaurants. There is also a night market street, an art street…all in all, it’s quite nice and has a bit of a party feel to it in addition to the endless souvenir stands you would expect. Though we didn’t go out on Saturday night (since we didn’t get checked in until around 9:30 p.m.), we did get a chance to go on Sunday.
Sunday morning was an awfully early start. Before having left Phnom Penh, I jumped on Facebook and, by chance, found and hired a local tuktuk driver, Mao Khvan, for $25/day. He agreed to pick us up at 4:50 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.
Now, a quick note on tuktuks: almost every single hotel/hostel/guesthouse probably has tuktuks available for hire. Also, when we were picked up at the airport, the taxi driver offered to drive us for the time we were there. In short…it’s a competitive market, and finding a driver for the day will be no problem. $25 may even be slightly pricy (you could probably find a driver for $15-20), however, I was so impressed with Mao’s service that, if I were to return, I’d gladly hire him again. He wasn’t rude or pushy, provides all the ice water you could possibly want to drink, and though he’s not an “official” guide, he’s very, very knowledgeable and made both days pleasant. I even had him take us to the airport the morning we left, and he brought his wife and daughter to meet us. He’s just a genuinely good and decent guy. (For anyone who goes to Angkor Wat, here’s Mao’s contact info if you want to arrange his services ahead of time: www.facebook.com/maotuktuksiemreap/?fref=ts )
Back to the actual touring itself, Angkor is geared towards tourism and they do it well. You can buy an admission ticket for either one, three, or seven days. ($20, $40, or…$60?). It’s also nice because they don’t have to be used in consecutive days (for the three and seven day passes, obviously). The three days can be used in a given week. The seven day pass, within a month.
Conventionally, two days is enough to see the “main” sites (albeit quickly) in about 8 hours each day. There’s a small loop (which we did the first morning) in which we caught the sunrise (not a great one, but…there was one, and it wasn’t terrible, by any stretch) at Angkor Wat, followed by a quick tour of the grounds – but not the temple itself. Afterwards (we were at Angkor Wat from 5:30 until 7:00 or 8:00, I’d say), we hopped back in the tuktuk and headed over to Ta Prohm, about 15-20 minutes away. Ta Prohm is famous for those who are fans of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies. (The first, I think. I’m not, so I don’t recall it vividly.) After those two spots – probably two of the three most famous – we went to the Khmer Country Kitchen for a rather nice, relaxing, and cheap breakfast where we spent an hour with the other two members of our group. Around 10:00, we went to our third stop: Ta Keo Temple. In 40 degree heat (roughly 104F), I was feeling a bit too exhausted to climb the somewhat steep stairs to the top of this temple, but I did enjoy the lower area just as well. From Ta Keo, we made a quick stop at two temples (they form a pair): Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda for about 20 minutes. Between these three, I’d say we spent about an hour. Our last stop of the morning, around high noon, was the Bayon complex of Angkor Thom. Passing through Bayon’s east gate, we stopped for a few quick pictures before going to the main compound of Bayon, which I would say is the the last of the three most-recognizable places here. We spent a good hour, or a little longer, shooting here after which point we were completely spent. Mao would have gladly taken us back to Angkor for sunset, but we actually decided to call it a day around 1:00. 9 hours in high heat was more than enough.
Back at the hotel, we rested, and I enjoyed myself immensely in the swimming pool. In the early evening, we walked about 600 meters to the “happening” part of town where we wandered the various streets and had a rather nice Khmer dinner. After eating and walking off a rather good dinner, we called it a night and headed back to our room. (For what it’s worth, the afternoon sky clouded over quite a bit and I heard we didn’t miss much as far as sunsets go. Mao also told us the following morning that the sunrise was a wash, as was Tuesday morning’s. Perhaps he was just trying to make us feel good.)
Monday morning we gladly skipped the sunrise and had a late start around…10:00. After a good old-fashioned breakfast of a ham & cheese omelet, Mao came by and we spent the second full day on the large loop. The first stop of the day was at Ba Phuon, a lesser temple just north of Bayon in Angkhor Thom. This was accompanied by quick stops at the adjacent Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace. After about an hour in the Ba Phuon area, we rode off to the northeast and stopped at Preah Khan, which was a rather interesting ruins. Another hour or so gone, we continued along the northeastern loop, bypassing Neak Pean (which, following English pronunciation rules, could theoretically be pronounced “neck pain,” which amused me for some reason…). The next stop was a rather small temple named Ta Som on the eastern end of the outer loop. Just down the road from Ta Som, we stopped at the East Mebon temple. When it was constructed, this was an island, only accessible by boat. That, however, was centuries ago. Now, it’s just a very dry, dusty area – with the temple still standing – and it’s hard to imagine it was once surrounded by water. At any rate, it was a quick stop at East Mebon, followed by another nice meal at the Khmer Country Kitchen before we continued with the tour. The next stop on the list was due east of the restaurant (southeast corner of the outer loop, which is really slightly northeast of Angkor Wat). Pre Rup (or Bre Rup) was a fairly photogenic temple. By this point, the heat – also around 40 degrees, just like Sunday – was starting to take a toll, though we still managed to stay out and see all we could. The last “new” temple for us was Banteay Kdei, a citadel that is at the corner of where the inner and outer loop meet on the eastern side of Angkor Wat. Directly across the street from Bnateay Kdei is what should be a nice lake called Sra Srang. A long, rectangular lake, which is also across the street from the Khmer Country Kitchen, it’s now nothing but a dustbowl. Though it’s rainy season now, there’s been so little rain that the lake has completely dried up. (But, please don’t tell any “right”-thinking politicians in my country that global warming is a problem. It certainly isn’t, despite what your eyes see.) After some rather sad contemplation at Sra Srang, we went back to Angkor Wat around 4:00 and were there until 6:30 or so for sundown. However, a boomer of a thunderstorm (light rain, but heavy on thunder & lightning) came through and there wasn’t much to see. However, we did finally get to tour the interior of Angkor Wat, and found that a pretty fitting way to end the initial Siem Reap shoot. From there, we went back to the hotel where we passed out from exhaustion.
The only thing left to do was wake up on Tuesday for a quick 45 minute flight at noon to Bangkok. We concluded the trip as we started it: eating well at a Thai restaurant. Other than that, we just had a quiet night in Bangkok (no shooting at all) and a very early (3:30 a.m.) wake up call for our return flights out of Thailand. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Thailand again soon.
Two Dot, Montana. Located off of Hwy 12. Needed to stretch the legs and I,m a sucker for road signs. Sign was something to the effect of the Two Dot Bar........ World Famous!
Drove around the town, all three streets or so that it had and decided that a beer with the locals might be a good idea. The two ladies in the bottom photo made up the crowd in the bar. Was told that I had an accent ....... and wanted to know were I was from . Tried passing myself off as being from Idaho.
The gal setting at the bar would have none of that........ " Now listen, I grew up in Idaho and not a soul there talks as slow as you.............. were you from " ! Busted by a barfly, I had to fess up............ Kentucky . " You sure came a long way to get a beer " !
Yes I did !
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Twodot was named for "Two Dot" Wilson, a local cattleman who got his nickname because his brand was two dots placed on the shoulders and hips of his cattle and horses, which made it very difficult for a thief to alter the brand.
Two Dot was never one for dressing up, and one time in Chicago, having arrived with a load of cattle, he was arrested for vagrancy because he was so dirty and unkempt. He asked the policeman to accompany him to the bank, and when it was verified that Wilson had just deposited more than $10,000 he was set free. The incident had begun as a practical joke. A couple of cowhands who had accompanied Wilson to Chicago thought it would be fun to play a trick on the boss—they were the ones who pointed him out to police as a vagrant. But Two Dot found out about their conspiracy and went them one better—he took the next train home and left them in Chicago with neither money nor a return ticket. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Two Dot was built in 1900. The Jawbone Rail Road arrived in the fall of 1899 and the town of Big Elk, a few miles to the south, was moved to the rail head and became Two Dot.
Another link to Two Dot Wilson........
Two young hielan' calves, which are part of an award winning herd which is located at Bridge Of Earn Perthshire.
...of a little girl in the hospital... Her Grandma ordered flowers for her about a week ago telling us her first favorite color was purple (and her second favorite color was turquoise). The Grandma wanted only purple hydrangea in a vase. She gave us plenty of money and her simple request turned into a total joy for me! I love creating flowers for the children that are sick in the hospital because you an make them as colorful and as whimsical as possible. I love creating something that will put a smile on their face and strike a creative cord. I found a glam purple vase and set the hydrangea in but I felt this little girl needed some more fun some more joy.* I always try to put birds or butterflies in the children's arrangements so I found these perfect 2 butterflies in the child's favorite colors. There was still a pinch of money left and then I remembered this crazy striped stuffed (what ever it is?) (a co-worker recognized it's resemblance to "Alf") ;P How can it be that the stripes are her favorite colors! Aw, come on!!! Perfect (or rather "synchronicity"!) :)
Qtpfsgui 1.9.3 tonemapping parameters:
Operator: Mantiuk
Parameters:
Contrast Mapping factor: 0.287
Saturation Factor: 2
Detail Factor: 1
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PreGamma: 1
"Se eu pudesse iluminar por dentro as palavras de todos os dias
para te dizer, com a simplicidade do bater do coração,
que afinal ao pé de ti apenas sinto as mãos mais frias
e esta ternura dos olhos que se dão.
Nem asas, nem estrelas, nem flores sem chão
- mas o desejo de ser a noite que me guias
e baixinho ao bafo da tua respiração
contar-te todas as minhas covardias.
Ao pé de ti não me apetece ser herói
mas abrir-te mais o abismo que me dói
nos cardos deste sol de morte viva.
Ser como sou e ver-te como és:
dois bichos de suor com sombra aos pés.
Complicações de luas e saliva."
José Gomes Ferreira
Chrysanthemum: the big blooms are often duo toned, collectively known as kotengiku or antique chrysanthemums.
These were a very pale and soft yellow.
Sometimes I just 'feeeeeeeeel' like this, a flower image in b&w...
I love the subtle tones, all the varied tones, that give the flower/petals/stems their texture, depth and form, their delectable shapes accentuated, extracted and emphasized without the colour. Don't you agree?
Thanx, M, (*_*)
For more stories and anecdotes, see my non-commercial blog here: magdaindigo.blogspot.com/