Otter House

72091

cardboard

1,000 pieces, used and complete

685 x 490 mm

27 x 19¼ in

2022 piece count: 154,698

puzzle: 213

 

TED: "This is the first pussel in me Advent Pussle Event, wot I'm runnin' this yeer. All the pussels'll be Krissmussy or Wintry, an' I'll be doin' 'em all this mumf. If I runs out of ones I ain't done before, I'll dig out sum of Mum's posh ones frum the cubberd an' do them too.

This one's a pikchur of Krissmuss Past an' Present. I fink it's clever 'ow they've put it all togevver in one pikchur, don't yew?"

A fire exit at Waitrose supermarket in Newark. Hopefully you never get to use these steps!

Using Photoshop Layers Software here is a quick montage of the fireworks seen above my home yesterday evening. Hope you like it.

also in german size 42 DM mail

Using the 35 II again!

#PeopleOfTokyo

Folkloric

· In the Philippines, decoction of dried roots used as emmenagogue.

· Few seeds, masticated and eaten, said to be a good stomachic.

· Skin pruritus, scabies: use pounded fresh material (quantity sufficient combine with kerosene applied over the afflicted area.)

· Concentrated decoction may also be used as external wash over afflicted area.

· Decoction of leaves used for washing cuts and sores; also used for the treatment of cholera.

· Decoction of leaves used as pectoral and antiscabious.

· Poultice of pounded leaves or bruised leaves applied to wounds and boils; also, inflamed joints.

· Juice of leaves used for facial acne, gum-boils, sores and wounds.

· Sap of leaves, mixed with salt, used for clearing vision.

· Plant used for ear and skin infections.

· Leaves used for poulticing herpes and rheumatism.

· Decoction of leaves and flowers used as gargle for sore throats and tonsillitis.

· Flowers in small doses are emmenagogue; in large doses, abortive.

· In Mexico, decoction of roots or any plant part used for asthma.

· In Liberia, considered and used as "erysipelas" plant.

· In India, juice of leaves used for treating sores and insect bites.

· Leaf juice given to infants for cough.

· In Costa Rica, leaves are crushed and used as resolvent for abscesses and furuncles.

· In Indo-China, decoction of leaves used for urticaria.

· In Nigeria, used for fevers and ulcers.

· Sino-Annamites used the plant for beri-beri.

· In West Africa, used for vomiting, amenorrhea, high blood pressure; sap applied to gumboils, clean up ulcers and for eye infections.

· In Sierra Leone , decoction of leaves used for washing new-born babies.

· In Senegal, leaf powder used for dermatitis, eczema, impetigo in children.

· In Indonesia, leaf decoction is used for thrush; poultices used for herpes and rheumatism.

· In Thailand, traditionally used for wound healing.

· In Taiwan, a folk remedy for sore throat and lung diseases.

  

source: stuart xchange

Used Nissin DI700a held above gun using the Air commander.

using "Airdroid" remote, this is a picture of the front camera, triggered online via wifi. It is the current-outlet of my lamp in the living room.

Joking! It is the dwarf star next to our sun. Just some lightyears away.

Stone Mill across the street in 1763 (now known as the Hunterdon Art Museum)

Ralph Hunt built the earliest section of this Mill to process wool sometime around 1810. His wool business failed, however, thanks to a permanent downturn in the market for domestic cloth. By 1820 Ralph confessed to the Census that “the establishment has been doing very little for two or three years past. The demand for sale of the cloths and sattinets are very dull…a few of the farmers get their wool manufactured, but from the low prices of foreign cloths.” Things did not improve and Ralph lost all of the family’s property, more than 400 acres and mills on both sides of the river. He defaulted on his mortgage, and the Taylor family took ownership.

 

The Red Mill in Operation: 1810 - 1928

 

From 1828 to 1834 John Bray and John B. Taylor took over running the Woolen Mill. The Taylors, now the dominant merchant family, changed the name of the town from Hunt’s Mills to Clinton, after the popular New York governor DeWitt Clinton. Bray and Taylor continued in the woolen business but they also diversified by grinding feed, flour and stone plaister, as well as by selling chestnut wood for rails. They even opened a dry goods establishment which carried everything from china to sheet iron. But Bray and Taylor also failed in their business, selling it for three quarters of its purchase price.

  

John W. Snyder, the new owner, refitted the Mill for grist and ceased wool production. But he too quickly fell into debt, and lost the property in 1842. After a swift series of owners, the Easton Bank split the site into a mill and a quarry. In 1847 the Mill was sold to John F. Stiger and John A. Young, who used it to grind flour and grist. In 1868 Young sold his part of the business to his partner, John Stiger, who continued to operate it as a grist mill.

  

In 1871 Stiger sold the mill and it again changed hands several times before it was purchased by Philip Gulick in 1873. Gulick ground grist on the third and fourth floors of the mill and produced peach baskets in the first level. In 1892 Gulick set up The Clinton Illuminating and Water Co. on the second floor of the mill. It provided electricity for Clinton’s street lamps. Gulick died in 1901 and his widow rented the Mill to Elmer and Chester Tomson and in 1905 they purchased it outright.

  

Chester changed the mill’s operation to grist to graphite and for a short time the mill became known as the “Black Mill.” The greasy black dust was wildly unpopular in town, and after a public outcry he turned to grinding talc and the Mill was soon dubbed the “White Mill.”

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced concept atmospheric-only prototype, the VF-0 Phoenix, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1).

 

The space-capable VF-1's combat debut was on February 7, 2009, during the Battle of South Ataria Island - the first battle of Space War I - and remained the mainstay fighter of the U.N. Spacy for the entire conflict. Introduced in 2008, the VF-1 would be out of frontline service just five years later, though.

 

The VF-1 proved to be an extremely capable craft, successfully combating a variety of Zentraedi mecha even in most sorties which saw UN Spacy forces significantly outnumbered. The versatility of the Valkyrie design enabled the variable fighter to act as both large-scale infantry and as air/space superiority fighter. The signature skills of U.N. Spacy ace pilot Maximilian Jenius exemplified the effectiveness of the variable systems as he near-constantly transformed the Valkyrie in battle to seize advantages of each mode as combat conditions changed from moment to moment.

 

The basic VF-1 was deployed in four minor variants (designated A, D, J, and S) and its success was increased by continued development of various enhancements including the GBP-1S "Armored" Valkyrie, FAST Pack "Super" Valkyrie and the additional RÖ-X2 heavy cannon pack weapon system for the VF-1S for additional firepower.

The FAST Pack system was designed to enhance the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter, and the initial V1.0 came in the form of conformal pallets that could be attached to the fighter’s leg flanks for additional fuel – primarily for Long Range Interdiction tasks in atmospheric environment. Later FAST Packs were designed for space operations.

 

The VF-1D Valkyries were two-seater variants of the VF-1 Valkyrie and they were used for training. Each features two independent TV camera "eye" systems within their head, one for each crew member, and each visual system was linked to a RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon, which could be fired independently or as a single weapon station, operated by either crew member. Otrherwise the VF-1D had the same equipment and avionics suite as the single seat fighters, making them fully combat-capable.

 

The forward fuselage (コクピット・カプセル Kokupitto Kapuseru, lit. Cockpit Capsule) of a VF-1D Valkyrie functionsed as an escape system that was furnished with an independent life support system, rescue transponder, a hypo-metabolic system, and a simple emergency medical system. When a VF-1D transformed into Battroid mode, the head could open, allowing the two seats to emerge at the top, arranged vertically. The back seat emerged first and the front seat, where the pilot sat, emerged second underneath the back seat.

 

After the end of Space War I, the VF-1 continued to be manufactured both in the Sol system and throughout the UNG space colonies. Although the VF-1 would be replaced in 2020 as the primary Variable Fighter of the U.N. Spacy by the more capable, but also much bigger, VF-4 Lightning III, a long service record and continued production after the war proved the lasting worth of the design.

The versatile aircraft also underwent constant upgrade programs. For instance, about a third of all VF-1 Valkyries were upgraded with Infrared Search and Track (IRST) systems from 2016 onwards, placed in a streamlined fairing on the upper side of the nose, just in front of the cockpit. This system allowed for long-range search and track modes, freeing the pilot from the need to give away his position with active radar emissions, and it could also be used for target illumination and guiding precision weapons.

Many Valkyries also received improved radar warning systems, with receivers, depending on the systems, mounted on the wingtips, on the fins and/or on the LERXs. Improved ECR measures were also mounted on some machines, typically in conformal fairings on the flanks of the legs/engine pods.

 

The VF-1 was without doubt the most recognizable variable fighter of Space War I and was seen as a vibrant symbol of the U.N. Spacy even into the first year of the New Era 0001 in 2013. At the end of 2015 the final rollout of the VF-1 was celebrated at a special ceremony, commemorating this most famous of variable fighters. The VF-1 Valkryie was built from 2006 to 2013 with a total production of 5,459 VF-1 variable fighters with several variants (VF-1A = 5,093, VF-1D = 85, VF-1J = 49, VF-1S = 30, VF-1G = 12, VE-1 = 122, VT-1 = 68).

 

However, the fighter was frequently updated, leading to several “re-built” variants, and remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction!

  

General characteristics:

All-environment variable fighter and tactical combat Battroid,

used by U.N. Spacy, U.N. Navy, U.N. Space Air Force

 

Accommodation:

Pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

 

Dimensions:

Fighter Mode:

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

 

Battroid Mode:

Height 12.68 meters

Width 7.3 meters

Length 4.0 meters

 

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons;

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons;

MTOW: 37.0 metric tons

 

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

18x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles

 

Performance:

Battroid Mode: maximum walking speed 160 km/h

Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.71; at 30,000+ m Mach 3.87

g limit: in space +7

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

 

Design Features:

3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry wing; vertical take-off and landing; control-configurable vehicle; single-axis thrust vectoring; three "magic hand" manipulators for maintenance use; retractable canopy shield for Battroid mode and atmospheric reentry; option of GBP-1S system, atmospheric-escape booster, or FAST Pack system

 

Transformation:

Standard time from Fighter to Battroid (automated): under 5 sec.

Min. time from Fighter to Battroid (manual): 0.9 sec.

 

Armament:

2x Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon in the "head" unit, firing 6,000 pulses per minute

1x Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min

4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, including

12x AMM-1 hybrid guided multipurpose missiles (3/point), or

12x MK-82 LDGB conventional bombs (3/point), or

6x RMS-1 large anti-spaceship reaction missiles (2/outboard point, 1/inboard point), or

4x UUM-7 micro-missile pods (1/point) each carrying 15 x Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles, or a combination of above load-outs and other guided and unguided ordnance

  

The kit and its assembly:

This started as a quick relief build after the submission for the 2021 "One Week " Group Build at whatifmodellers.com - but progress was so quick that I finished this VF-1 in time to make it a second submission withing the GB's effective run of nine days.

This one was a simple adaptation of one of the experimental "Heather Ferris" low-visibility paint schemes the US Navy tested during the early Eighties on some F-4S "Phantom II"s of VF-301 and 302, before the moere uniform Light Compass Grey/Light Ghost Grey was eventually adapted. However, the Heather Ferris schemes are absolutely comtemporary for the VF-1's medial appearance, and mating them on a model appeared like a suitable combo.

 

The basis is - as usual - the vintage and very simple ARII VF-1, in this case a double-seater. It was built OOB with the landing gear down, and with the usual improvements: some standard blade antennae, the fins’ tops were modified with RHAWS fairings. However, I neglected to modify the upper torso - The VF-1D Valkyrie has a slightly different forward fuselage in Super Dimension Fortress Macross The First, lacking the dorsal air brake of the single-seat fighters and having a "cleaner" surface with an edgier spine. But the "standard" hull is also fine/canonical, I just missed the opportunity. Maybe on another VF-1D...?

 

The underwing pylons were deleted (it's just a trainer and maybe used for air combat drill, so extra weight is superfluous). The gun pod was retained and modified to accept a scratched wire display in its tail to hold the Valkyrie in flight scenes. The pilot figures were just guests for the in-flight photo sessions, later the canopy was glued to a mount in open position.

  

Painting and markings:

As mentioned above, this kit carries an adaptation of one of the three Heather Ferris schemes, namely #2 with a light nose section and a darker tail/starboard side. Since the VF-1's structure, with VG wings at shoulderposition and a twin tail, differs from the benchmark F-4, I drew up a three-side profile view of a VF-1 and laid the paint scheme out - it made painting much easier.

 

The Heather Ferris warp-around scheme consists of four tones FS 36375 (Light Ghost grey), 36307 (Light Sea Grey, it was a brownish hue), 35237 (Grey bLue AMT-11) and 35164 (Intermediate Blue). The paints I used were Humbrol 127, a 3:1 mix of 64 and 140, 145 and 144, respectively. The cockpit interior became, according to the look in the TV series, medium grey (Revell 47) with black seats and brown cushions. The landing gear became white and the GU-11 gun pod iron metallic (Humbrol 53), for a toned.down look.

 

After basic painting, the model received an overall washing with thinned black ink to emphasize the engraved panel lines. A little post-shading was done, too, for a more graphic look, and then the decals were applied. The low-viz "kite" roundels were printed at home, the tactical markings came from an Authentic Decals F-18 sheet (which turned out to be rubbish - very thin but brittle and prone to crack like vintage ESCI decals!!!) and the stencils were taken from the VF-1 OOB sheet. For some contrast to the dull livery, and as a hommage to the "Delta November" markings of the F-4Ss that carried this unique paint scheme, I gave the VF-1D small red markings on the fins and under the cockpit - very subtle, but I think that this improves the overall look a lot. Generic decal material was used to create the grey wing leading edges and some black hull details, e.g. the bands around the nose.

 

Finally, after some more detail painting (antennae, position lights) , the VF-1 was sealed with a semi-gloss acrylic varnish. The jet nozzles/feet were treated with graphite for a used abnd metallic look.

  

A small and quick interim project, realized in just three days (plus two more for the pictures). There are certainly better VF-1 models than the vintage ARII kits, but I just love them because they are small, simple and easy to modify. Creating a benchmark profile for painting was quite a challenge, but it was IMHO worthwhile because it made adapting the F-4 scheme to the rather different VF-1 easier.

You burned me at the stake without a trial

Watching through the flames, I see you smile

It's your world we're living in

I could prove my innocence

But you'd still make me drown in your denial

And you say, "Don't dress like you're going out"

What's next? Can you write it down?

I'd talk less if you shut your mouth

Yeah, I bet you can hear me now

Guess I'm not who you thought

It's okay, it's okay

It's all good, you can hate me

Am I not what you want?

Use me, I don't mind

I'll be the bad guy

- Use Me, Charlotte Sands

 

♰ SPOTLIGHT ITEMS ♰

 

Outfit:

Karna - Sayuri Set - Fatpack

• Fits: Reborn/Waifu, Legacy/Bombshell, LaraX, Kupra

• Options: 6 Solid Shirts + 6 Plaid Shirts + 12 Shorts Colors

>>-----Get it Here-----> Reborn Event

 

Tattoo:

Vudu Tattoo - Blessed Collection

• Fits: BOM, Tattoo Layers

• Options: 11 Layers + 4 Opacities

>>-----Get it Here-----> Reborn Event

 

Sleeves:

Badwolf Accessories & Co. - Chaos Armsleeves

• Fits: Lara, Legacy F/M/Athletic, Jake, Reborn, Malevolent

• Options: 4 Metals + 12 Leather Options + 2 Sections

>>-----Get it Here-----> TMD

 

Makeup & Beauty Marks:

Hexumbra - Margo Makeup Collection

• Fits: BOM, Lelutka EvoX, HD Appliers (lashes and lipsticks)

• Includes:

- 2 Eye Makeup Packs - 15 BOM shadows with tintable liner

- EvoX HD Lash Applier - 6 styles, black and white options

- 4 EvoX HD Lipstick Packs - 8 Lipsticks per pack

- Blush Set - BOM - 6 styles with 3 opacities

- Contour Set - BOM - Cheek, forehead, jaw, orbital, nostril, and nose in 2 styles and 2 opacities

- Highlight & Glitter Set - BOM - 3 Styles for cheek, nose, forehead, chin, mouth

in multiple opacities and glitter accents for eyes and cheeks

- Beauty Marks - BOM - 4 placements with mirrored and tintable options

>>-----Get it Here-----> Kinky Event

 

Background:

blaink - Self Storage

• Options: With and Without Lights

>>-----Get it Here-----> Man Cave Event

 

♰ SPONSORED ITEMS ♰

Body - eBODY - Reborn Body + Waifu Boobs

Hair - Truth Hair - Suade

 

♰ BASE & EXTRAS ♰

Head - LeLutka

Skin - DeeTaleZ & Velour

Eyes - Avi-Glam

Boots - EQUAL

Shine/Eye Shine - This is Wrong

 

My New Ride

Built by Ƿarkiℵ Ƨtormє, owner and creator of SSC Storme Surge Creations custom motorcycles.

XJ494 was used as a trials aircraft and has an undernose camera mounting and a cable running down the port boom, leading to what may be a transponder or beacon fairing of some kind on the tailfin. She took part in Red Beard and Martel missile trials, some details of which are still classified. After retirement she survived many years out in the open (formerly with the 'Trout Lake Air Force' at Kings Langley) with minimal deterioration. The cockpits are in excellent condition, with the non-standard instrument fit also indicating her use as a trials aircraft. There is an ongoing effort to restore her to taxiable condition so that XJ494 can take part in Bruntingthorpe's regular open days, and to that end she has had her starboard engine replaced with a 'new' one (the old one had suffered FOD damage of the first stage compressor blades) and has now run both engines.

Using an "ancient" railroad locomotive as a back-drop, our nation's 26th President launches into an animated campaign speech during a brief whistle stop in tiny Corinth, NY.

 

It has been many years since our nation had a President who could be described as "larger than life". Theodore Roosevelt (or "TR") was such a person. Although he lived only 60 years, "TR" grabbed life by the short hairs and lived it to its fullest. He was a scholar, an athlete, rancher, war hero, big game hunter, Governor of New York, Vice President and ultimately, President of the United States. He was a tough guy, too. His motto was "speak softly and carry a big stick" and he lived it. During the Spanish American War, he joined the service and helped form a military unit that became known as the "Rough Riders". He distinguished himself for bravery in the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba. When he later became President, his strong foreign policies kept other governments from questioning our national will. On one occasion, a would-be assassin actually shot him just before a campaign speech. TR dusted himself off, determined that he was not seriously hurt....and went on with the speech! TR even won a Noble Peace Prize in 1908. Long after his death, in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery on San Juan Hill....the only US President ever to be so honored. Yeah, there's a reason why his likeness is carved into the side of Mt. Rushmore.

 

The gentleman portraying TR in my photo is Mr. Joe Wiegand, who has become rather famous as a TR "repriser". Mr. Wiegand spent a weekend at the Saratoga & North Creek Railroad helping to commemorate TR's connection with the line. Back in 1901, it was at North Creek Station that TR learned of the death of then-President William McKinley, and his own ascension to the office of the Presidency.

Used here. dennissylvesterhurd.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-day-trip-to-ch...

A staircase in the remains of an castle near Ludlow.

"RAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! PAI-N!!!!!!! PA-IN!!!!!!!!" Grundy screams. "Ughh... Now I have to send your corpse to earth, and call the next enemy myself." Brainiac explains. "Contacting-

~Scarecrow

 

FIRST PERSON TO GUESS WHO THE NEXT ENEMY IS GETS A SHOUT OUT!

Lot 7182 top centre of map was purchased by my Father in the 1930's

After over one thousand days into the Saudi bombing of Yemen, which is almost entirely UK/US equipped and supported, the first large protest takes place in London of a few hundred people outside Downing Street.

 

[ Just in case anyone is interested I have attached a link to my research on British crimes in and against Yemen since the bombardment of Aden in 1839. Use the following url and scroll down the list of countries alphabetically for Yemen - roguenation.org/choose-by-country/ ]

 

They are outraged that the British government is not just rolling out the red carpet for one of the most brutal family dictatorships in the Middle East, but also quite deliberately facilitating and aiding the Saudi terror bombing of civilian targets in Yemen, including numerous schools and hospitals, in the full knowledge that this will only exacerbate the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

 

Since the war in Yemen started the UK has exported over £4.6 billion worth of arms, including Typhoon and Tornado aircraft as well as weaponry and Paveway IV bombs which have been used with appalling consequences in Yemen. We have even been training the Saudi air force.

 

The same day as the protest against the welcoming of Mohammad bin Salman at Downing Street, the British corporate owned mainstream media embarked on a massive campaign to whitewash the crown prince who has become Saudi Arabia's feared absolute ruler and who's corrupt regime has a cosy relationship with many of Britain's biggest businesses.

 

The deaths of tens of thousands in Yemen was, several newspapers claimed, of little or no importance in comparison to the prince's reforming zeal. The decision to allow women to drive and the reintroduction of cinemas was highlighted as the evidence that this was a regime Britain could and should support economically and diplomatically. That the Saudi government has just launched a brutal purge of political opponents and the country's Shia minotiry was not considered important or relevant.

 

Not since Hitler instigated a purge of his paramilitary SA in 1934, has the British press gone so far out of its way to praise a murderous dictator. Then Hitler was lauded as a moderating influence on the Nazi party. This was a deception carefully cultivated by Hitler's minister of propaganda Jozef Goebbels. Today the Saudi dictatorship have also become highly skilled in developing a propaganda campaign of which Goebbels would have been envious and the British Spectator magazine has even honoured MBS, a standard shortening of the Saudi tyrant's name, with the title "Prince of PR.."

 

MBS clearly understands that images of dead and dying children in Yemen could cost him dearly, so he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the British media and public, buying numerous pages of advertising in multiple newspapers, but especially in The Financial Times, so crucial in influencing Britain's business elite. Similarly billboards went up across London lauding Bin Salman as a "great reformer."

 

For anyone who might feel even partially persuaded by the media attempt to whitewash the Saudi regime, try and imagine how the media would react in another similar situation. Let us suppose Iran, which has been introducing extensive reforms and is now far more democratic than Saudi Arabia which makes no pretence at holding elections, had been bombing Israeli civilians for three years killing tens of thousands. Let us suppose the British government now not only welcomes the Iranian leader to visit London, but promises to continue supplying British aircraft and bombs to Iran in the full knowledge that this would mean that more Israeli schools and hospitals would be bombed and that a large part of the Israeli population could die from cholera and famine. Would the British media be so supportive then ? Of course, not, they would almost certainly demand military action against Iran. The very opposite of what they are doing now !

 

Surveys conducted by the Yemen Data Project, a group of academics, human rights and national security experts, showed that as of 2016 at least one third of all Saudi air strikes had hit civilian targets with the United Nations estimating in 2017 that 5,000 civilians had been killed by the Saudi bombing. The predictable indirect consequences of the bombing however have been even more catastrophic.

 

Britain continues to be complicit in one of the worst war crimes of the twenty first century by supplying the aircraft and weapons and the diplomatic support for Saudi Arabia's three year bombing campaign. This together with a tight blockade on basic imports of food, fuel and other essentials has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis with 76% of the population in need of humanitarian aid and 8.4 million at risk of famine, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. Additionally, over one million Yemenis have now contracted cholera while a recent outbreak of diphtheria is spreading rapidly.

 

While British media outlets focus on alleged Iranian violations of the arms embargo on Yemen, there is a deafening silence on the devastating role played by British aircraft and weapons, with the government granting arms export licenses worth £1.12 billion to Saudi Arabia during 2017 alone.

   

Smoky Highway

Using my new 100-400mm lens, I captured this super sharp moon shot!

Used in my blog post. dennissylvesterhurd.blogspot.com/2021/07/were-forgetting-...

 

dennissylvesterhurd.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-completely-stu...

The Thinktank Science Museum at Millennium Point, a multi-use meeting complex on Curzon Street in the Eastside, Birmingham, West Midlands.

 

The Birmingham Collection of Science & Industry was started in the mid-19th century, initially consisting of collections of weapons from the gun trade and the Birmingham Proof House. The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery opened in 1885, including science collections. In 1951 the Museum of Science and Industry opened at Elkington Silver Electroplating Works, Newhall Street. Over the following years, the museum acquired individual artefacts, as well as entire collections, that were related to local industry and the history of science and technology.

 

Birmingham City Council decided in 1995 to relocate the museum when it was given an opportunity by the Millennium Commission to construct a new building. At the time, the old building was falling into a state of disrepair, and many of the artefacts were no longer in working order. The former museum closed in 1997, and Thinktank opened on 29 September 2001 as part of the £114-million Millennium Point complex. It was funded by Birmingham City Council, supported by the Millennium Commission. The area adjacent to the building is designated Eastside City Park. While many objects were put on display at Thinktank, others were stored at the Birmingham Museum Collection Centre, and some were brought out of storage.

 

Although the previous science museum was free to enter, Thinktank charges an entrance fee. In 2005 the museum underwent a £2 million upgrade, including the installation of a planetarium. By 2007 it had received over 1 million visitors. In April 2012, Birmingham Museums Trust took over governance and management responsibility for Thinktank, along with eight other sites.

 

In March 2015, a new "Spitfire gallery" opened, relating the displayed aircraft to their production, locally. Among the new exhibits are a leather flying helmet previously belonging to Helen Kerly, one of only two British civilian women commended for flying during the Second World War.

 

The museum shares the Millennium Point building with Birmingham City University, and is situated in the Eastside district. It lies near Aston University and the Gun Quarter – which was for many years the centre of world's gun-manufacturing industry. Immediately opposite are The Woodman, a public house, and Curzon Street railway station - both listed buildings.

 

One of my first digital SLRs was a Canon 40D. It eventually broke and wasn't worth fixing so I moved on to other systems. Instead of doing the sensible thing and selling my Canon fit lenses I kept them in a cupboard for years not getting any use.

 

A couple of years back I saw a Canon 5D in excellent condition for sale for about £250 if I remember correctly. I rationalised that I should buy it to use the old lenses (any excuse for GAS) so it duly arrived and it really was in near mint condition - very surprising for a semi pro camera nearly 17 years old. The serial number tells me that my camera is one of the early ones with the poor LCD and the mirror which is likely to fall off at any moment.

 

The LCD really is useless. It tells you that a picture has been taken but not much else and the Raw files look awful. However, the Raws are very easy to work with and getting a good result is not difficult. The camera has only 12.8 megapixels but they are quality pixels and I'm pleasantly surprised how good the images can be. These two photos have been cropped but I think they stand up to scrutiny well.

 

These photos show the Trotternish Ridge, looking from Staffin.

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

(mejor en grande y fondo negro) (aconsejo ver y leer las palabras escuchando la música)

  

Lilium - Assassin's Creed

 

...no te juzgo... no te digo palabras que ofendan a tu espiritu ni tan si quiera te dedico una mirada de reproche...sólo espero... espero pacientemente a que el día borre las huellas del tiempo en que empezó la tormenta.... con la primera nube... el primer rumor.... el primer dolor...

....no soy quien piensas... ..apenas me conoces aunque llevas todo tu vida caminando a mi lado....no soy cruel.... solamente hago lo que tengo que hacer...

....déjame que terminé mi trabajo...déjame.... que al fin el viento me eleve y pueda de nuevo liberarme....sobre el azul del mar... en el azul del cielo....

hubo una vez en que mis ojos....lloraron lágrimas....sal y arena.... para el perdón de mis errores....

enterrando la miseria.....

yo....una vez fui como tu.....mirame... y no lo olvides nunca....

. . . the natural make-up of the women is called Thanaka. It is a cream made out of the bark of specific trees. Thanaka cream has been used by Burmese women for over 2000 years. It has a fragrant scent somewhat similar to sandalwood. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek, nose, sometimes made stripey with the fingers known as thanaka bè gya, or patterned in the shape of a leaf, often also highlighting the bridge of the nose with it at the same time. It may be applied from head to toe (thanaka chi zoun gaung zoun). Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn. It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin. It is also an anti-fungal. The active ingredients of thanaka are coumarin and marmesin.

______________________________________

 

Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်, MLCTS rankun mrui, pronounced: [jàɴɡòʊɴ mjo̰]; formerly known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's largest city and is its most important commercial centre.

 

Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in the region, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centred around the Sule Pagoda, which reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda — Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda. The mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor is located in Yangon, where he had been exiled following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

 

Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. Though many historic residential and commercial buildings have been renovated throughout central Yangon, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be profoundly impoverished and lack basic infrastructure.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Yangon (ရန်ကုန်) is a combination of the two words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean "enemies" and "run out of", respectively. It is also translated as "End of Strife". "Rangoon" most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of "Yangon" in the Arakanese language, which is [rɔ̀ɴɡʊ́ɴ].

 

HISTORY

EARLY HISTORY

Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century (c. 1028–1043) by the Mon, who dominated Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it "Yangon", and added settlements around Dagon. The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.

 

COLONIAL RANGOON

The British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, to live after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. Yangon became the capital of all British-ruled Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and Inya Lake. The British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University.

 

Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East." By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.

 

Before World War II, about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, and only about a third was Bamar (Burman). Karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest.

 

After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon University students leading the way. Three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920, 1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation (1942–45), and incurred heavy damage during World War II. The city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945.

 

Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire.

 

CONTEMPORARY YANGON

Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the city's English name to "Yangon", along with many other changes in English transliteration of Burmese names. (The changes have not been accepted by many Burmese who consider the junta unfit to make such changes, nor by many publications, news bureaus including, most notably, the BBC and foreign nations including the United Kingdom and United States.)

 

Since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya,

 

Shwepyitha and South Dagon in the 1980s. Today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres.

 

During Ne Win's isolationist rule (1962–88), Yangon's infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance and did not keep up with its increasing population. In the 1990s, the current military government's more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the city's infrastructure. Some inner city residents were forcibly relocated to new satellite towns. Many colonial-period buildings were demolished to make way for high-rise hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls, leading the city government to place about 200 notable colonial-period buildings under the Yangon City Heritage List in 1996. Major building programs have resulted in six new bridges and five new highways linking the city to its industrial back country. Still, much of Yangon remains without basic municipal services such as 24-hour electricity and regular garbage collection.

 

Yangon has become much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic make-up since independence. After independence, many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left. Many more South Asians were forced to leave during the 1960s by Ne Win's xenophobic government. Nevertheless, sizable South Asian and Chinese communities still exist in Yangon. The Anglo-Burmese have effectively disappeared, having left the country or intermarried with other Burmese groups.

 

Yangon was the centre of major anti-government protests in 1974, 1988 and 2007. The 1988 People Power Uprising resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese civilians, many in Yangoon where hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the streets of the then capital city. The Saffron Revolution saw mass shootings and the use of crematoria in Yangoon by the Burmese government to erase evidence of their crimes against monks, unarmed protesters, journalists and students.

 

The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government.

 

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon. While the city had few human casualties, three quarters of Yangon's industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, with losses estimated at US$800 million.

 

In November 2005, the military government designated Naypyidaw, 320 kilometres north of Yangon, as the new administrative capital, and subsequently moved much of the government to the newly developed city. At any rate, Yangon remains the largest city, and the most important commercial centre of Myanmar.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Yangon is located in Lower Burma (Myanmar) at the convergence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers about 30 km away from the Gulf of Martaban at 16°48' North, 96°09' East (16.8, 96.15). Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.

 

CLIMATE

Yangon has a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a lengthy wet season from May through October where a substantial amount of rainfall is received; and a dry season from November through April, where little rainfall is seen. It is primarily due to the heavy rainfall received during the rainy season that Yangon falls under the tropical monsoon climate category. During the course of the year 1961 to 1990s, average temperatures show little variance, with average highs ranging from 29 to 36 °C and average lows ranging from 18 to 25 °C.

 

CITYSCAPE

Until the mid-1990s, Yangon remained largely constrained to its traditional peninsula setting between the Bago, Yangon and Hlaing rivers. People moved in, but little of the city moved out. Maps from 1944 show little development north of Inya Lake and areas that are now layered in cement and stacked with houses were then virtual backwaters. Since the late 1980s, however, the city began a rapid spread north to where Yangon International airport now stands. But the result is a stretching tail on the city, with the downtown area well removed from its geographic centre. The city's area has steadily increased from 72.52 square kilometres in 1901 to 86.2 square kilometres in 1940 to 208.51 square kilometres in 1974, to 346.13 square kilometres in 1985, and to 598.75 square kilometres in 2008.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Downtown Yangon is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former British colonial capital has the highest number of colonial period buildings in south-east Asia. Downtown Yangon is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most downtown buildings from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with 4.3 m ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market.

 

In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO started by Thant Myint-U, aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use.

 

A latter day hallmark of Yangon is the eight-story apartment building. (In Yangon parlance, a building with no elevators (lifts) is called an apartment building and one with elevators is called a condominium. Condos which have to invest in a local power generator to ensure 24-hour electricity for the elevators are beyond the reach of most Yangonites.) Found throughout the city in various forms, eight-story apartment buildings provide relatively inexpensive housing for many Yangonites. The apartments are usually eight stories high (including the ground floor) mainly because city regulations, until February 2008, required that all buildings higher than 23 m or eight stories to install lifts. The current code calls for elevators in buildings higher than 19 m or six stories, likely ushering in the era of the six-story apartment building. Although most apartment buildings were built only within the last 20 years, they look much older and rundown due to shoddy construction and lack of proper maintenance.

 

Unlike other major Asian cities, Yangon does not have any skyscrapers. Aside from a few high-rise hotels and office towers, most high-rise buildings (usually 10 stories and up) are "condos" scattered across prosperous neighbourhoods north of downtown such as Bahan, Dagon, Kamayut and Mayangon. The tallest building in Yangon, Pyay Gardens, is a 25-story condo in the city's north.

 

Older satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa are lined mostly with one to two story detached houses with access to the city's electricity grid. Newer satellite towns such as North Dagon and South Dagon are still essentially slums in a grid layout. The satellite towns - old or new - receive little or no municipal services.

 

ROAD LAYOUT

Downtown Yangon's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads:

 

Broad 49-m wide roads running west to east

Broad 30-m wide roads running south to north

Two narrow 9.1-m wide streets running south to north

Mid-size 15-m wide streets running south to north

 

The east-west grid of central was laid out by British military engineers Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 30 m wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 30 m wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named.

 

For example, the 30 m Lanmadaw Road is followed by 9.1 m-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 15 m Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 30 m wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on.

 

The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road.

 

PARKS AND GARDENS

The largest and best maintained parks in Yangon are located around Shwedagon Pagoda. To the south-east of the gilded stupa is the most popular recreational area in the city – Kandawgyi Lake. The 61-ha lake is surrounded by the 45-ha Kandawgyi Nature Park, and the 28-ha Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park. West of the pagoda towards the former Hluttaw (Parliament) complex is the 53-ha People's Square and Park, (the former parading ground on important national days when Yangon was the capital.) A few miles north of the pagoda lies the 15-ha Inya Lake Park – a favorite hangout place of Yangon University students, and a well-known place of romance in Burmese popular culture.

 

Hlawga National Park and Allied War Memorial at the outskirts of the city are popular day-trip destinations with the well-to-do and tourists.

 

Yangon Book Plaza, the first and biggest book shop in Myanmar was opened on February 26, 2017 on the fifth floor of Than Zay Market in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon.

 

ADMINISTRATION

Yangon is administered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). YCDC also coordinates urban planning. The city is divided into four districts. The districts combined have a total of 33 townships. The current mayor of Yangon is Maung Maung Soe. Each township is administered by a committee of township leaders, who make decisions regarding city beautification and infrastructure. Myo-thit (lit. "New Towns", or satellite towns) are not within such jurisdictions.

 

TRANSPORT

Yangon is Burma's main domestic and international hub for air, rail, and ground transportation.

 

AIR

Yangon International Airport, located 19 km from the centre, is the country's main gateway for domestic and international air travel. The airport has three terminals, known as T1, T2 and T3 which is also known as Domestic. It has direct flights to regional cities in Asia – mainly, Doha, Dubai, Dhaka, Kolkata, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming and Singapore. Although domestic airlines offer service to about twenty domestic locations, most flights are to tourist destinations such as Bagan, Mandalay, Heho and Ngapali, and to the capital Naypyidaw.

 

RAILWAYS

Yangon Central Railway Station is the main terminus of Myanmar Railways' 5,403-kilometre rail network whose reach covers Upper Myanmar (Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Shwebo), upcountry (Myitkyina), Shan hills (Taunggyi, Lashio) and the Taninthayi coast (Mawlamyaing, Dawei).

 

Yangon Circular Railway operates a 45.9-kilometre 39-station commuter rail network that connects Yangon's satellite towns. The system is heavily utilized by the local populace, selling about 150,000 tickets daily. The popularity of the commuter line has jumped since the government reduced petrol subsidies in August 2007.

 

BUSES AND CARS

Yangon has a 4,456-kilometre road network of all types (tar, concrete and dirt) in March 2011. Many of the roads are in poor condition and not wide enough to accommodate an increasing number of cars. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on an extensive network of buses to get around. Over 300 public and private bus lines operate about 6,300 crowded buses around the city, carrying over 4.4 million passengers a day. All buses and 80% of the taxis in Yangon run on compressed natural gas (CNG), following the 2005 government decree to save money on imported petroleum. Highway buses to other cities depart from Dagon Ayeyar Highway Bus Terminal for Irrawaddy delta region and Aung Mingala Highway Bus Terminal for other parts of the country.

 

Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens. As the government allows only a few thousand cars to be imported each year in a country with over 50 million people, car prices in Yangon (and in Burma) are among the highest in the world. In July 2008, the two most popular cars in Yangon, 1986/87 Nissan Sunny Super Saloon and 1988 Toyota Corolla SE Limited, cost the equivalent of about US$20,000 and US$29,000 respectively. A sports utility vehicle, imported for the equivalent of around US$50,000, goes for US$250,000. Illegally imported unregistered cars are cheaper – typically about half the price of registered cars. Nonetheless, car usage in Yangon is on the rise, a sign of rising incomes for some, and already causes much traffic congestion in highway-less Yangon's streets. In 2011, Yangon had about 300,000 registered motor vehicles in addition to an unknown number of unregistered ones.

 

Since 1970, cars have been driven on the right side of the road in Burma, as part of a military decree. However, as the government has not required left hand drive (LHD) cars to accompany the right side road rules, many cars on the road are still right hand drive (RHD) made for driving on the left side. Japanese used cars, which make up most of the country's imports, still arrive with RHD and are never converted to LHD. As a result, Burmese drivers have to rely on their passengers when passing other cars.

 

Within Yangon city limits, it is illegal to drive trishaws, bicycles, and motorcycles. Since February 2010, pickup truck bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of central Yangon, namely Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedan, Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships. In May 2003, a ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of Downtown Yangon to reduce noise pollution. In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city.

 

RIVER

Yangon's four main passenger jetties, all located on or near downtown waterfront, mainly serve local ferries across the river to Dala and Thanlyin, and regional ferries to the Irrawaddy delta. The 35-km Twante Canal was the quickest route from Yangon to the Irrawaddy delta until the 1990s when roads between Yangon and the Irrawaddy Division became usable year-round. While passenger ferries to the delta are still used, those to Upper Burma via the Irrawaddy river are now limited mostly to tourist river cruises.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Yangon is the most populous city by far in Burma although estimates of the size of its population vary widely. All population figures are estimates since no official census has been conducted in Burma since 1983. A UN estimate puts the population as 4.35 million in 2010 but a 2009 U.S. State Department estimate puts it at 5.5 million. The U.S. State Department's estimate is probably closer to the real number since the UN number is a straight-line projection, and does not appear to take the expansion of city limits in the past two decades into account. The city's population grew sharply after 1948 as many people (mainly, the indigenous Burmese) from other parts of the country moved into the newly built satellite towns of North Okkalapa, South Okkalapa, and Thaketa in the 1950s and East Dagon, North Dagon and South Dagon in the 1990s. Immigrants have founded their regional associations (such as Mandalay Association, Mawlamyaing Association, etc.) in Yangon for networking purposes. The government's decision to move the nation's administrative capital to Naypyidaw has drained an unknown number of civil servants away from Yangon.

 

Yangon is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. While Indians formed the slight majority prior to World War II, today, the majority of the population is of indigenous Bamar (Burman) descent. Large communities of Indians/South Asian Burmese and the Chinese Burmese exist especially in the traditional downtown neighborhoods. A large number of Rakhine and Karen also live in the city.

 

Burmese is the principal language of the city. English is by far the preferred second language of the educated class. In recent years, however, the prospect of overseas job opportunities has enticed

 

some to study other languages: Mandarin Chinese is most popular, followed by Japanese, and French.

 

RELIGIONS

The primary religions practiced in Yangon are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Shwedagon Pagoda is a famous religious landmark in the city.

 

MEDIA

Yangon is the country's hub for the movie, music, advertising, newspaper and book publishing industries. All media is heavily regulated by the military government. Television broadcasting is off limits to the private sector. All media content must first be approved by the government's media censor board, Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.

 

Most television channels in the country are broadcast from Yangon. TV Myanmar and Myawaddy TV are the two main channels, providing Burmese-language programming in news and entertainment. Other special interest channels are MWD-1 and MWD-2, MRTV-3, the English-language channel that targets overseas audiences via satellite and via Internet, MRTV-4 and Channel 7 are with a focus on non-formal education programs and movies, and Movie 5, a pay-TV channel specializing in broadcasting foreign movies.

 

Yangon has three radio stations. Myanmar Radio National Service is the national radio service and broadcasts mostly in Burmese (and in English during specific times.) Pop culture oriented Yangon City FM and Mandalay City FM radio stations specialize in Burmese and English pop music, entertainment programs, live celebrity interviews, etc. New radio channels such as Shwe FM and Pyinsawaddy FM can also be tuned with the city area.

 

Nearly all print media and industries are based out of Yangon. All three national newspapers – two Burmese language dailies Myanma Alin (မြန်မာ့အလင်း) and Kyemon (ကြေးမုံ), and the English language The New Light of Myanmar — are published by the government. Semi-governmental The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Burmese and in English, is mainly geared for Yangon's expatriate community. Over twenty special interest journals and magazines covering sports, fashion, finance, crime, literature (but never politics) vie for the readership of the general populace.

 

Access to foreign media is extremely difficult. Satellite television in Yangon, and in Burma, is very expensive as the government imposes an annual registration fee of one million kyats. Certain foreign newspapers and periodicals such as the International Herald Tribune and the Straits Times can be found only in a few (mostly downtown) bookstores. Internet access in Yangon, which has the best telecommunication infrastructure in the country, is slow and erratic at best, and the Burmese government implements one of the world's most restrictive regimes of Internet control. International text messaging and voice messaging was permitted only in August 2008.

 

COMMUNICATION

Common facilities taken for granted elsewhere are luxury prized items in Yangon and Burma. The price of a GSM mobile phone was about K1.1 million in August 2008. In 2007, the country of 55 million had only 775,000 phone lines (including 275,000 mobile phones), and 400,000 computers. Even in Yangon, which has the best infrastructure, the estimated telephone penetration rate was only 6% at the end of 2004, and the official waiting time for a telephone line was 3.6 years. Most people cannot afford a computer and have to use the city's numerous Internet cafes to access a heavily restricted Internet, and a heavily censored local intranet. According to official statistics, in July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users, with the vast majority hailing from just two cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Although Internet access was available in 42 cities across the country, the number of users outside the two main cities was just over 10,000.

 

LIFESTYLE

Yangon's property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites. Most rent outside the centre and few can afford to rent such apartments. (In 2008, rents for a typical 60 to 70 m2 apartments in the centre and vicinity range between K70,000 and K150,000 and those for high end condos between K200,000 and K500,000.)

 

Most men of all ages (and some women) spend their time at ubiquitous tea-shops, found in any corner or street of the city. Watching European football (mostly English Premier League with occasional La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) matches while sipping tea is a popular pastime among many Yangonites. The average person stays close to his or her residential neighbourhood. The well-to-do tend to visit shopping malls and parks on weekends. Some leave the city on weekends for Chaungtha and Ngwesaung beach resorts in Ayeyarwady Division.

 

Yangon is also home to many pagoda festivals (paya pwe), held during dry-season months (November – March). The most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracts thousands of pilgrims from around the country.

 

Yangon's museums are the domain of tourists and rarely visited by the locals.

 

Most of Yangon's larger hotels offer some kind of nightlife entertainment, geared towards tourists and the well-to-do Burmese. Some hotels offer traditional Burmese performing arts shows complete with a traditional Burmese orchestra. The pub scene in larger hotels is more or less the same as elsewhere in Asia. Other options include karaoke bars and pub restaurants in Yangon Chinatown.

 

Due to the problems of high inflation, the lack of high denomination notes, and the fact that many of the population do not have access to checks, or credit or debit cards, it is common to see citizens carrying a considerable amount of cash. (The highest denomination of Burmese currency kyat is 10 000 (~US$10.)) Credit cards are only rarely used in the city, chiefly in the more lavish hotels. Credit cards are also accepted in the major supermarket and convenience store chains.

 

SPORTS

As the city has the best sporting facilities in the country, most national-level annual sporting tournaments such as track and field, football, volleyball, tennis and swimming are held in Yangon. The 40,000-seat Aung San Stadium and the 32,000-seat Thuwunna Stadium are the main venues for the highly popular annual State and Division football tournament. Until April 2009, the now defunct Myanmar Premier League, consisted of 16 Yangon-based clubs, played all its matches in Yangon stadiums, and attracted little interest from the general public or commercial success despite the enormous popularity of football in Burma. Most Yangonites prefer watching European football on satellite TV. Teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are among the favorite European teams among the Yangonites. It remains to be seen whether the Myanmar National League, the country's first professional football league, and its Yangon-based club Yangon United FC will attract a sufficient following in the country's most important media market.

 

Yangon is also home to annual the Myanmar Open golf tournament, and the Myanmar Open tennis tournament. The city hosted the 1961 and 1969 South East Asian Games. During colonial times, cricket was played mostly by British officials in the city. First-class cricket was played in the city in January 1927 when the touring Marylebone Cricket Club played Burma and the Rangoon Gymkhana. Two grounds were used to host these matches, the BAA Ground and the Gymkhana Ground. These matches mark the only time Burma and Rangoon Gymkhana have appeared in first-class cricket, and the only time first-class cricket has been played in Burma. After independence cricket all but died out in the country.

 

Yangon has a growing population of skateboarders, as documented in the films Altered Focus: Burma and Youth of Yangon. German non-profit organization Make Life Skate Life has received permission from the Yangon City Development Committee to construct a concrete skatepark at Thakin Mya park in downtown, and plans to complete the park in November 2015.

 

ECONOMY

Yangon is the country's main centre for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. The city represents about one fifth of the national economy. According to official statistics for FY 2010–2011, the size of the economy of Yangon Region was 8.93 trillion kyats, or 23% of the national GDP.

 

The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise – from basic food stuffs to used cars although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. Bayinnaung Market is the largest wholesale centre in the country for rice, beans and pulses, and other agricultural commodities. Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through Thilawa Port, the largest and busiest port in Burma. There is also a great deal of informal trade, especially in street markets that exist alongside street platforms of Downtown Yangon's townships. However, on 17 June 2011, the YCDC announced that street vendors, who had previously been allowed to legally open shop at 3 pm, would be prohibited from selling on the streets, and permitted to sell only in their townships of residence, presumably to clean up the city's image. Since 1 December 2009, high-density polyethylene plastic bags have been banned by city authorities.

 

Manufacturing accounts for a sizable share of employment. At least 14 light industrial zones ring Yangon, directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010. The city is the centre of country's garment industry which exported US$292 million in 2008/9 fiscal year. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Yangon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better life. The manufacturing sector suffers from both structural problems (e.g. chronic power shortages) and political.

 

problems (e.g. economic sanctions). In 2008, Yangon's 2500 factories alone needed about 120 MW of power; yet, the entire city received only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed. Chronic power shortages limit the factories' operating hours between 8 am and 6 pm.

 

Construction is a major source of employment. The construction industry has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw, new regulations introduced in August 2009 requiring builders to provide at least 12 parking spaces in every new high-rise building, and the general poor business climate. As of January 2010, the number of new high-rise building starts approved in 2009–2010 was only 334, compared to 582 in 2008–2009.

 

Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low - about 250,000 before the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. The number of visitors dipped even further following the Saffron Revolution and Cyclone Nargis. The recent improvement in the country's political climate has attracted an increasing number of businessmen and tourists. Between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors that went through Yangon International in 2011. However, after years of underinvestment, Yangon's modest hotel infrastructure - only 3000 of the total 8000 hotel rooms in Yangon are "suitable for tourists" - is already bursting at seams, and will need to be expanded to handle additional visitors. As part of an urban development strategy, a hotel zone has been planned in Yangon's outskirts, encompassing government- and military-owned land in Mingaladon, Hlegu and Htaukkyant Townships.

 

EDUCATION

Yangon educational facilities has a very high number of qualified teachers but the state spending on education is among the lowest of the world. Around 2007 estimate by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies puts the spending for education at 0.5% of the national budget. The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. With little or no state support forthcoming, schools have to rely on forced "donations" and various fees from parents for nearly everything – school maintenance to teachers' salaries, forcing many poor students to drop out.

 

While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts such as Dagon 1, Sanchaung 2, Kamayut 2, Bahan 2, Latha 2, and TTC provide the majority of students admitted to the most selective universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country. The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education. In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year.

 

There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly a graduate school, deprived of undergraduate studies. Following the 1988 nationwide uprising, the military government has repeatedly closed universities, and has dispersed most of undergraduate student population to new universities in the suburbs such as Dagon University, the University of East Yangon and the University of West Yangon. Nonetheless many of the country's most selective universities are still in Yangon. Students from around the country still have to come to study in Yangon as some subjects are offered only at its universities. The University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, University of Computer Studies and Myanmar Maritime University are the most selective in the country.

 

HEALTH CARE

The general state of health care in Yangon is poor. According to a 2007 estimate, the military government spends 0.4% of the national budget on health care, and 40% to 60% on defense. By the government's own figures, it spends 849 kyats (US$0.85) per person. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.

 

Wealthier Yangonites still have access to country's best medical facilities and internationally qualified doctors. Only Yangon and Mandalay have any sizable number of doctors left as many Burmese doctors have emigrated. The well-to-do go to private clinics or hospitals like Pun Hlaing International Hospital and Bahosi Medical Clinic. Medical malpractice is widespread, even in private clinics and hospitals that serve the well-to-do. In 2009 and 2010, a spate of high-profile deaths brought out the severity of the problem, even for the relatively well off Yangonites. The wealthy do not rely on domestic hospitals and travel abroad, usually Bangkok or Singapore, for treatment.

 

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Critics are welcome.

 

Model: Roberta B.

Teasing with my toes!!

As normal, I don't know the tree...or even if these are leaves. Are they fronds ? Are they maroon or dark red ? Is this a proper macro photo ? Life is complicated.

Still messing around with my Nikon 60mm 'micro' lens, which is a fantastic lens - sharp (probably sharper than here, as I was struggling to catch focus with the wind acting against me...) and lovely contrast and colours. Still undecided whether I should get a 105mm as well, as I keep seeing lovely results from people using that lens. I enjoy dithering and 'deciding' cough cough as much as standing under trees gazing upward.

The leaves/fronds are small, by the way.

 

[DSC_7186a]

PGB Photographer & Creative - © Philip Romeyn - Phillostar Gone Ballistic 2021 - Photo may not be edited from its original form. Commercial use is prohibited without contacting me.

Using the Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro art lens; focus stacked.

Used the CMN Lothian President for this one. Taken apart but just flatted down to get rid of the harlequin colour blocks and take the gloss off the white.

 

Window 'stickers' (several!)removed with T-cut and the model repainted with a coat of primer, 2 x undercoats and 2 x Phoenix white gloss. Not a bad white finish for a brush job!

 

Red line is a cheat - adhesive silver vinyl strip pre-painted and fixed into place.

 

This was actually a pig to do with everything being a bit too delicate (lost wipers as soon as touched!) and taking apart needs great care especially around the glued-in glazing.

 

Used my white texture in this one.

Woke up this morning to a delivery man bringing me an unexpected parcel. It looked so good I had to document the grand opening! I had said to my neice Gemma that I adored this little sugar bowl I had seen on the net and bless her sole she bought it and sent it off to me. Complete with a little French card. I was so touched and excited. Thanks Gemma!

I dont know how I ended up with grey and white divides....maybe Beyond Layers is Beyond Me!!

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Long used as a calming herb it is also a good addition to a more biodiverse "lawn." The scent is intoxicating and induces a lighter heart, by expanding the space there, so dealing with issues seems more bearable.

The sting of a Honey Bee. Note, I use the word "sting" with some trepidation and fear that I am rising above my station, shunning my roots, or something like that. Because, of course, any untainted American will tell you that bees have "stingers" not "stings." We have Stinger Missiles not Sting Missiles, if you had any doubt. But, just like the difference between eating Venison and "Deer Meat" , these differences call attention to the murky line between people who have been cultured up by too much education and those who aren't under the influence of the precepts of the upper classes. I wonder if British kids call them stings or stingers? (And really, why do Americans use the term "Deer Meat" (real Americans I mean)? No other animal flesh as the term "meat" applied after it.) Now that I have finished exposing one of my multi-decadal chronic irritations (I am firmly of the "Deer Meat" clan) we can move on and point out that this stinger (whoops) is barbed and that is why it stays in our skin. However, most other bees do not have barbed stingers but smooth ones. However, I believe that Laurence Packer (a stingologist and originally from Britain) once told me that other species also have barbed stings. Perhaps @packerlab will report out. This bee came from Phil Frank who brought a series of honey bees in to take pictures of for his upcoming book. More to deep thoughts to come. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~

 

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

  

Photography Information:

Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

 

We Are Made One with What We Touch and See

 

We are resolved into the supreme air,

We are made one with what we touch and see,

With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,

With our young lives each spring impassioned tree

Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range

The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.

- Oscar Wilde

  

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML

 

Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

 

Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:

www.extreme-macro.co.uk/

 

Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:

www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...

 

Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:

bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf

 

Basic USGSBIML set up:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

 

USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4

 

Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus

www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections

 

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:

  

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:

plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo

or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU

 

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:

www.photomacrography.net/

 

Contact information:

Sam Droege

sdroege@usgs.gov

  

301 497 5840

Using my PENTAX SF7 again loaded with ILFORD FP4+ which I processed in my Home-Made 510-Pyro 1:100

outside the Iceland Store with SMC Pentax-M 75-150mm f4v Manual Focus

Waterproof single use camera made in USA ; expiration date 1999 . Kodak Gold film inside .

This is another recent stock use. The license fee was rather low, but I did get a photo credit.

 

MichaelLeePicsNYC.com

 

Follow me on Instagram

 

Art prints available here

It used to be a house of a wealthy tradesman called Mali Rista in the 19th century. It's a museum now,a unique one, with a very rich collection of the famous Pirot kilim (dyed with natural colours and made of sheep's wool, typical of the Balkan Mountains) and Pirot pottery. Well worth visiting if you come by.

 

It is often used by Serbian film directors when they make films featuring certain periods of history as the display in the house has remained untouched and unchanged for more than a century.

 

More photos of Pirot here:

My Pirot, by Tanjica Perovic

 

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Using the Dragoon core legs and torso mount, this heavy, short-to-mid-range beast is heavily armored and hits like a space freighter, but is effectively blind without sensory instruments and it moves slowly.

Use of this image on websites, blogs, magazines, calendars or any other forms of media without the expressed permission of the photographer is illegal.

  

© Lyubov Love Photography. All rights reserved.

Used the flash and caught the falling snow and the snow- covered trees from my back door. If you look closely you can see some colour in the birch trees, but is is pretty much a white world out there tonight!

uses Kesenia facemold and BOD body