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What colour is this packet of polymer clay?
There is more than one way to experience colours. One way is to see them. The other way is to feel them. Blind and visually impaired people like to do arts and crafts, too. Beading, polymer clay, knitting, origami and other things all involve colours. Combining the right colours of beads or wool, choosing the right colour of paper or polymer clay is still important even if you can't see. Braille labels can solve this problem very elegantly. Posting a sticker with the description of the colour on a box of beads or on a packet of polymer clay is a great way to feel the colours of the contents.
To answer the question I asked at the beginning: The Braille label on this packet of polymer clay tells me that the colour of the clay is "lemon yellow".
If you want to learn how to make Braille labels, click here.
Keep the comments clean! No banners, awards or invitations, please!
The National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament is the brainchild of several employees of the Iowa City VA Medical Center, along with two visually impaired Iowa Veterans. These visionaries created the TEE Tournament, an acronym standing for TRAINING, EXPOSURE and EXPERIENCE. In 2008, it became one of VA's six national rehabilitation programs for Veterans. The event expanded to include not only blind Veterans, but amputees, wheelchairbound Veterans, and those with other life changing disabilities. It takes place each year in Iowa City.
The Nystagmus Network Open Day was held in Reading on the 7th May 2016. Over 170 people attended the event to hear about the work at the charity and latest research into the condition.
The visually-impaired protest group spokesman, Sandy Taylor, addressing the electorate outside the council offices at Southbank Marina, Kirkintilloch.
This was a design for a hosting company called Hostcube. I wanted to create something a bit more edgy, polished, and more graphically heavy.
I made use of subtle gradient and lighting effects to give the design more depth. I've also paid attention to small details when creating the background patterns, headers, iconography, and overall content area treatments. On top of that, I've also come up with the concept for the logo, which then I dissected into smaller pieces to visually represent the VPS nodes used in this type of hosting service. The client requested 2 comps, and they were complete opposites, as you can see by viewing the second version here.
Website URL: www.hostcube.com
If you like what you see, and would like my help on your next project, contact me on Flickr or directly at: martin@lunchboxcollective.com
GN07 TBY
Iveco 50C15
Arun Transport for the Visually Impaired (XWS)
Ford, West Sussex, 2nd September 2014.
Visually, the Type G van is very similar to the Type H.
The radiator grill is adummy, because the nose contained only the controls - and the ocupants feet !
By contrast the mechanical components were very different. The engine was effectively under the cab floor.
22-year-old Azer Ćatović was born in Mostar, and has been living here for 14 years. Azer grew up with a sight defect, but by secondary school, he had become fully independent thanks to his education.
As he awaits the start of the second academic year, he spends his summer break doing running training sessions, reading, and taking walks. He does most of his running sessions on a treadmill in the fitness hall of the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Children and Youth.
The centre was recently renovated by UNDP and offers full time support in learning and other skills like mobility, self-care, and sight exercises for the visually impaired, use of teaching aids, playing games, going out to town and attending events.
Read more: bit.ly/35fhLVw
Photos: Sulejman Omerbašić/ UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina
This golden retriever puppy is a guide dog in training as part of the Guide Dogs of America program to provide guide dogs to blind and visually impaired men and women in the USA and Canada.
I felt like doing something visually extreme just for the sake of it and I was thinking of waterfalls. I imagined a tower of them and wondered how many I could stack on one page with it still looking pleasing to the eye. The answer was 7 different stamps and 9 impressions of them for a total of 9 falls and most of them large. For such a large scene, I didn't have to add many more stamps to finish off the scene because there wasn't much more space left. I love adding white pigment ink and Dr. Martin's Bleed Proof White splatter painting embellishments on scenes so this one was a real treat when it came to that.
Original: Marvy, and Distress dye based inks. Hero Arts white pigment ink. Versafine black pigment ink. 8.5" x 11" glossy card stock (not glossy photopaper). Shuttle Art and Marvy alcohol pens. Miaosun white paint pen. Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White.
Stampscapes stamps used: 081E Tall Rock w/Falls, 082G Tall Rock w/Falls Lg, 043G Gushing Falls Lg, 075G Side Falls Lg, 015G Cascading Falls Lg, Babbling Brook 183G, Brook Falls 184G, Pines and Rocks Sm 267E, Spruce Lg 078F, Leafless Pines Medium 370E, Leafless Pines Lg 371G, and Cloud Cumulus 018E.
For more information visit: www.stampscapes.com
Master Butcher
Visually impaired people playing with sighted feel that accessibility kits can be clunky, alter the gameplay for everyone and highlight their impairment. Social interaction between players is different with a visually impaired person present, and the players can tell the difference.
In ‘Master Butcher’ concealment, not seeing and vocalisation of one’s actions is part of the fun, not an action catering only for the visually impaired. All aspects of the game are either tactile or sound, the latter created by the players themselves, conversing. This enables an organic gaming environment despite any visual impairment, pushing towards a middle-ground instead of a false sense of equality.
‘Master Butcher’ is a game of deception where players assume the role of a butcher in medieval Britain, trying to source and sell meat for maximum profit at the farmer’s market. However, good meat is scarce and to make ends meet one might have to resort to selling bad meat instead. Every turn one of the players assumes the role of a customer at the market, buying meat and waging whether the butchers are telling the truth or not. Is the meat in the sales bag actually what they say it is? The butchers have apprentices that can run errands for them and play trickery on other butchers, thus sabotaging their pursuit of success.
alani.yasir@gmail.com
Watercolor and gouache on paper
5.5"x7.5"
2012
Sold
I created this piece for "Visions in the Dark". A show scheduled for May 5th 2012 at Calles y Suenos. This piece depicts a vision beyond vision that is probably more enchanting than what the frustrations of being visually impaired would present to me. Learning to let go of old pathways that the brain and the retinas have set up for the neurotransmitters to travel down and open for new synapses to grow. (not scientifically accurately described, but I hope you get the gist.)
Visually enhanced at the front and with STARTECH Monostar S rims this Range Rover looks more aggressive than the original.
"與立法會議員暢談"—立法會綜合大樓午間音樂表演（表演學校：心光盲人院暨學校）
"与立法会议员畅谈"—立法会综合大楼午间音乐表演（表演学校：心光盲人院暨学校）
"Meeting with Members"—music performance at the Legislative Council Complex (Performing school: Ebenezer School and Home for the Visually Impaired) (2017.10.20)
Visually impaired and disabled Veterans from across the United States participate in the 21st National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament
Visually unattractive pub on Jubitts Lane. I've never been inside and it could well be lovely. Large bowling green to the side. Very close to the public art titled 'The Dream'. Pub www.flickr.com/photos/garstonian/3746572064
Visually impaired and other disabled Veterans roll for 300 during bowling events at the 2014 TEE Tournament.
Visually impaired and disabled Veterans from across the United States participate in the 21st National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY HARD WARE AND SOFTWARE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF VISUALLY CHALLENGED / IMPAIRED - JAWS (SCREEN READER), MAGIC (SCREEN MAGNIFIER), KURZWEIL 1000, OPENBOOK, ABBYFINE READER (OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SOFTWARES), SPELL WELL, DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING, VICTOR READER, ANGEL EBOOK READER, BRAILLE HARDWARE & BRAILLE TRANSCRIPION SOFTWARE, STATE OF ART RESOURCE CENTRE FOR VISUALLY CHALLENGED 2010 2011- SATHYASEELAN.S- COORDINATOR CUM SOCIAL WORKER, MODEL RESOURCE CENTRE OF DISABILITY SERVICES 2010 2011 (NIVH (GOV.OF.INDIA)-LOYOLA COLLEGE)
I don't typically buy anything from the Revoltech series, mostly likely because the licenses that they play with aren't usually my thing. However, once in a while, an interesting figure pops up.
For the last little while, one of the more visually impressive sublines from the Revoltech is the Figure Complex: Amazing Yamaguchi line featuring various beloved X-Men characters sculpted by Yamaguchi Katsuhisa. I know a Wolverine and Magneto were released, and a Gambit will be released. I also believe the line has moved onto at least non-X characters with the recently solicited Iron Man.
Obviously, this figure is none of those - this is Psylocke.
For someone that likes figures and toys, it's surprising how few comics I've read. My introduction to the character was from the original Capcom Vs. Game, X-Men: Children of the Atom in all her uninhibited bouncy glory.
The character naturally has a long and storied past that I'd probably lose much sleep over if I actually tried to research. I believe that "too long, didn't read" version of it is that she is a mutant (duh) named Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock, the sister of Captain Marvel. Through a series of events such as self sacrifice and transference of mental capacities, she ends up in a body of an Japanese woman who is the brain dead wife of the leader of the Hand, an assassin clan, and is brainwashed into become one of them. She develops Psionic powers (ability to form things out of mental energy, mostly for her being blades), and eventually breaks free of this brainwashing, and that, friends is the genesis of the X-Men character Psylocke.
None of that matters, of course. I bought the figure because the previews made her look really, really, good, and Psylocke herself being a very sharp character design with long flowing purple hair and her purple kind-of-there outfit. While it's been out for probably 6 months now, I only recently got mine because I insist that the guy who sold it to me bring it to me personally... even if I had to wait six months.
If you've never watched gameplay of Psylocke, just think slinky female ninja dressed in purple capable of making various energy things. And, as mentioned, the prototype pictures show cased that very well. So, how did it do?
Well, let's start from the top.
Psylocke comes with the figure, two face plates (one neutral, one smiling), a sheathed katana, an empty sheath, twin katanas, twin energy katanas, twin Psyblades, 4 sets of hands, a detachable sash, and a dynamic stand with both a peg connector, along with a clamp that I guess would give you a bit more height with your aerial stuff but I never actually used it. I personally would have like an additional angry/attacking face plate because as it is, she's a bit too serene looking.
Also kind of neat is that on the cardboard insert (and side flaps of the box) are full colour prints of I guess what comic art inspired this particular design.
The Revoltech joint system is a bit different from the Figma and Figuart systems.. at least I guess they are, and at the very least this one is.
Articulation is very, very, very good. I cannot emphasize how much you can get this figure to do despite it's small size. The trade off is that some of the joints look really weird when not positioned properly, specifically the shoulders and knees, which are double or triple joints depending on which one we're talking about. Whomever designed the tray for holding Psylocke really didn't do the figure any favours to say the least. However, the amount of knee bend and chest press that this figure more than overshadows this first impression issue, and that range or movement is something you want for a figure like Psylocke.
In addition to the aforementioned, all your standard points of articulation are present. Bonus ones include a toe swivel, articulation for her sash, thigh swivel, independent neck and head articulation, and hair that can be lifted to all for greater neck movement, with the latter head/neck related items allowing for some great crouching poses.
Sadly, while her shoulders worked out just fine despite their wonky appearance, her ass suffers from the dreaded "thigh separation" scenario where the movement of the legs creates an unsightly gap where the thigh meets the back of the body, particularly notable given that she doesn't wear pants. But, again, at least the trade off is great articulation.
Psylocke I guess would technically be the action figure (or at least middle of the pack Japanese figure) equivalent of a Butterface release. To be fair, it is generally what was promised on the box, so I don't really have anyone to blame but myself for buying her if this was the key aspect that ruins the experience for me. Both the prototype and the final item feature the same round almost featureless face with the undersized nose.
No it's other things that serve not only as a topic of discussion, but also kind of give you a feeling as to why Figma and Figuarts are kind of priced the way they are.
Psylocke has an MSRP of about 6,000 Yen, which is about the price of your run of the mill Figuart, with Figma coming in closer to what.. 7,000 if not more these days? The releases are about the same size, but lets remember that Figuarts have no stand and very few accessories, and clearly Psylocke destroys any run of the mill Figuart figure in terms of value.
Part of the pricing on everything is of course the cut paid for the actual license, but it's not like a Marvel license is particularly cheap. So what else is there?
It pretty much comes down to paint.
If you look closely, you'll probably notice that Psylocke has no paint whatsoever on her fleshy bits. Not only does this look a bit meh, but it makes photographing her a major pain in the ass, especially if you're trying to bring out details.. like her nose and eye sockets. You'll notice that the paint masking on her leg bands isn't bad, but there are more weak spots than on its Figma and Figuarts competitors, especially if we're talking about figure with a relatively simple colour scheme. Some minor paint issues were also spotted on her neck piece, but those are primarily paint transfers. There were also some areas with paint overspray, but it wasn't anything bootleg bad, just something worth noting.
Her translucent purple hair is also a big seller for this figure. The overall final product is pretty good, but if you look closely (and in the instance of the back of her head, not even that close), you'll notice some very rough spots that I don't know were a QC issue or a design flaw. By comparison, nothing this was spotted on either KOS-MOS or T-ELOS, both of which are at least 7 years older than Psylocke.
For what it is worth, her effect parts are very well done, particularly her Psiblades with the gradient from cold to warm Purple. The quality of the stand itself is, from my analysis, more solid than a Figma stand, mostly due to a combination of better plastic, a thicker arm, and better designed joints. There were also no issues with regards to rough plastic finishes other than the aformentioned hair problems.
One other issue that I read about was the face plate itself. Some owners seem to be indicating that due to the way the face is mounted on the head (friction based, one slot, straight above the face) the figure arrived with the socket on the hair already worn out and wouldn't hold the face in place, or would be in danger of doing so in the future. I didn't have that issue on mine, but I do understand where they're coming from with these statements.
I should probably also mention the eyes. Those who are familiar with the Hot Toys world will know the term PERS, which is their fancy term for eyes that can be moved on the sculpts to facilitate an even greater amount of posing. Amazingly this figure also features eyeballs that can be moved, though it's not as complicated as the PERS system. This is actually pretty neat given the size of the eyeballs, though you might want to ditch the included white pick in favour of a tiny screw driver or something to move the eyes as I believe the 90 degree bend actually makes it harder to manipulate the eyes into the right direction.
In the end, a very good release, and probably the best Psylocke action figure I've ever seen.. of course, the only others I have seen are the Marvel Legends one which again, aren't bad given the price. Those looking for a more legit comic sculpt need not apply here, naturally.
But there is no doubt that this is a sharp looking figure, and for the price it comes with quite a few goodies. It just lacks that final bit of spit polish that would push it from being very good to being outstanding. Still, if you like your ninjas purple and slinky, you can't go wrong.
A visually-modified M113 rolls through the High Mojave Desert at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, Calif. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment's visually-modified vehicles will once again be employed during force-on-force combat training. The vehicles will be used as part of hybrid threat warfare which uses both conventional military assets as well as insurgency operations.
Visually a bowl barrow, but potentially a bell barrow, with an infilled ditch. The main tumulus has the appearance of a 'U' due to historical interference including a 'dig' by Greville Chester in 1850. This is one of 10,000 surviving examples of bowl barrows - mostly in lowland Britain. Many more have been destroyed by farming (source: historicengland.org.uk).
Date: 4400-3500 ybp (Another paper cites barrows in this heaths as middle Bronze Age 3200-3000 BC).
15m apparent diameter.
20m diameter with expected hidden ditch.
1.4m high
2 types of pottery urn were found within, each with cremated remnants. A third broken urn was also found.
Mesolithic stone tools have been found on the general heathland. Neolithic stone tools and pieces of pottery have also been found at different times and on different sites. Many are now at the Norwich museum.
It started to snow a speckled ice during this photograph - nothing to see, but a sizzling pin-tap on the dry vegetation.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY HARD WARE AND SOFTWARE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF VISUALLY CHALLENGED / IMPAIRED - JAWS (SCREEN READER), MAGIC (SCREEN MAGNIFIER), KURZWEIL 1000, OPENBOOK, ABBYFINE READER (OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SOFTWARES), SPELL WELL, DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING, VICTOR READER, ANGEL EBOOK READER, BRAILLE HARDWARE & BRAILLE TRANSCRIPION SOFTWARE, STATE OF ART RESOURCE CENTRE FOR VISUALLY CHALLENGED 2010 2011- SATHYASEELAN.S- COORDINATOR CUM SOCIAL WORKER, MODEL RESOURCE CENTRE OF DISABILITY SERVICES 2010 2011 (NIVH (GOV.OF.INDIA)-LOYOLA COLLEGE)
**Visually Describe a movie still (not a moving picture), like 1 frame of a movie and include these words: cybergoth::5 marvel character::4 battle-droid 80's style::6 SciFi::6 Dramatic::5 spaceship::4 syd mead::3 highly detailed scifi movie still::7 --ar 16:9 --v 5.2 --w 3 --style raw** - Image #1 <@477744869264195594>
Visually impaired Navy Veteran Clinton Ray listens to instructions on how to perfect his putt at the 2014 TEE Tournament
The most visually challenging stretch on the Kalalau Trail on the island of Kauai. It is not as dangerous as it appears; If you slip, you would most likely just fall on your butt and stop. There are many other places along this trail which have the illusion of looking less dangerous, however, one slip in those areas and you will slide/fall to your death. -The humble opinion of a Na Pali Coast goat hunter.
Downtown Brooklyn
The home office of the Dime Savings Bank, built in 1906-08 and vastly enlarged and altered in 1931-32, is among Brooklyn's most notable works of commercial architecture and stands as a symbol of that institution's long and significant role in the history of the borough. Since its founding in 1859, the Dime has been directed by many prominent Brooklynites who were instrumental in the development of Brooklyn. The bank has always maintained its headquarters in downtown Brooklyn and since the 1880s its buildings have been visually and symbolically prominent in the downtown streetscape. When the bank acquired the present location on DeKalb Avenue, it commissioned the firm of Mowbray & Uffmger to design an imposing structure. Built in 1906-08, it was articulated as a temple form adapted to the unusually-shaped site. Following several decades of institutional growth, the bank building — by then serving the largest savings institution in the borough — was substantially altered and enlarged in 1931-32; the new design reinforced the association of the bank with classical
architecture and emphasized the visual continuity between the old and new buildings. An outstanding example of neo-Classical design, the marble-clad exterior features stately Ionic colonnades, a soaring dome, and an ornamental program which appropriately allegorizes industry and progress. The alterations were designed by the firm of Halsey, McCormack & Helmer, specialists in bank buildings.
For much of the twentieth century, the Dime has ranked among the largest savings banks in the country and its impact on the development of Brooklyn is pervasive. Though now established far beyond its original Brooklyn borders, the bank has retained the DeKalb Avenue building as its headquarters and the structure remains remarkably intact.
Clad in white marble and resting on a polished pink granite podium, the bank has a temple form adapted to an unusually-shaped site. The exterior is articulated with fluted Ionic columns at the central portions of the side facades and at the pedimented entrance portico at the chamfered apex of the building on the southwest comer of the lot. The volume of the building steps back into an attic, octagonal drum, and massive dome.
The chamfered corner facing the southwest has a tetrastyle Ionic portico (figs. 4-6). Its triangular pediment features an allegorical sculptural group, "Morning and Evening of Life" which presents the main theme of the bank's ornamental program. "Morning" is depicted as a youth at dawn preparing for a day's work, and "Evening" is an old man surrounded by the fruits of his industry. The figures flank an illuminated clock in a frame shaped like a spur gear resting on smaller gears, in keeping with the theme of industry. The frieze proclaims "THE DIME SAVINGS BANK OF BROOKLYN." A low flight of stairs pierces the portico and leads to the main entrance (fig. 10). Doors are separated by a bronze trumeau panel bearing images of the building in front of the Brooklyn Bridge and skyscrapers of the modern era, a frontal figure of Mercury and a Mercury head, and the building's address ("No. 9"). Sheet-metal strips have been added to the edges of the
trumeau. At the transom grilles and sliding security gates, bronze panels have a foliated pattern which serves as a background for images of Mercury and classically-robed figures who are engaged in various tasks that connote industry and progress — such as sawing and bricklaying. The entablature of the bronze surround bears the inscription "THE DIME SAVINGS BANK OF BROOKLYN" and is surmounted with acroteria. The bronze surround and glazed over-transom are framed by a marble surround decorated with bezants, acanthus leaves, and a bead molding; its denticulated cornice rests on scrolled brackets. The soffit of the portico has a stone framework of hexagonal panels outfitted with modern recessed light fixtures. At the base of the portico, two marble-sheathed projections have been inserted; they accommodate metal-framed service windows (no longer used) and an automatic teller machine (ATM).
The DeKalb Avenue and Albee Square facades are nearly mirror images. Each is composed of an Ionic colonnade which frames tall window openings surmounted by fruited garlands). The historic metal window frames contain both fixed and operable glazed panels; bronze spandrel panels, embellished with floral patterns around classicizing heads, are capped by delicate acroteria. At the end sections of both facades, flat pilasters with stylized capital bands and ornamental friezes with rains' skulls and fruited garlands define the bays. On the DeKalb Avenue side, one-quarter-columns bracket a bay containing a large round-arched window opening, embellished with a Mercury-head keystone and containing original metal-framed windows, and an entrance surround crowned with a Winged cap ("Mercury") dime set between oak leaves and pine branches (fig. 9). Modern glazed aluminum-framed doors and an intermediate window have been installed beneath the original bronze transom grille, which displays figures engaged in industrious activities. Additional features on the DeKalb Avenue front include two metal display cases and, at the easternmost bay, a paneled bronze service door below a marble screen which frames a bronze foliated panel.
Recessed beyond the main parapet of the building stands the fifth-story attic, characterized by its pilaster-framed window openings; the attic is divided into projecting sections of marble — with fluted pilasters, carved over-window panels, and a Greek-key frieze — and recessed, elaborately detailed bronze sections surmounted by half-round acroteria. At the eastern end of the DeKalb Avenue side there is a stone-coped brick enclosure which is visible from the street. Resting on an acroteria-capped hexagonal drum is the marble-clad dome, smooth except for its modillioned base. A flagpole is situated at the southwest corner of the roof.
The northern end of the Albee Square side (fig. 11) is a five-story wall of buff brick, laid in common bond with occasional modified soldier courses, resting on the polished granite water table continued from the marble colonnaded front. Window openings, which are protected by iron bars at the first and second stories, contain one-over-one double-hung metal sash.
Subsequent History of the Dime Savings Bank
The Dime Savings Bank continued its phenomenal growth during the decades following the enlargement of its home office. Contemporaneous with that project was the opening of branches in Bensonhurst (1929) and Flatbush (1932), both already mentioned. The home office was again expanded in 1940 when the bank acquired an existing building at the northern corner of the block, using it for a time as a drive-in bank, and in 1942 when the bank erected the surviving five-story addition (neither is subject to this designation). In recognition of the bank's beneficence, the borough of Brooklyn temporarily renamed the adjacent Macomber Square "Dime Square" in 1959.
Off site, later expansion took place in Coney Island and other Brooklyn neighborhoods, Valley
Stream (Long Island), Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, so that in recent years many branches have been operating in the metropolitan area. During the second half of the twentieth century, the Dime has been among the largest savings banks in the country, and twice the size of the next largest Brooklyn-based savings bank, The Williamsburgh.
This success was achieved in part by expanding beyond the borders of Brooklyn; like other banks taking the same approach, in the 1970s the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn dropped its birthplace from its name in order to attract investors from other locales. During that same decade, as the Dime Savings Bank of New York, the organization was widely accused of redlining (refusing to make loans in specific low-income neighborhoods) in its home turf of Brooklyn. But in the 1980s it visibly redirected its mortgage lending activity (among the most publicized results was a bank branch within a supermarket at Restoration Plaza in Bedford-Stuyvesant) and hired as bank president Richard Parsons, a respected African-American attorney raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant. During the Summer of 1994, the Dime announced its merger with the Anchor Savings Bank; the resulting Dime Bancorp will be the fourth largest thrift institution in the country. Throughout the twentieth century, the Dime has relied on its historical ties to Brooklyn as a marketing tool: a 1988 advertisement mentions Nathan's hot dogs and the prospect of winning a trip to the Dutch town of Breukelen.
22-year-old Azer Ćatović was born in Mostar, and has been living here for 14 years. Azer grew up with a sight defect, but by secondary school, he had become fully independent thanks to his education.
As he awaits the start of the second academic year, he spends his summer break doing running training sessions, reading, and taking walks. He does most of his running sessions on a treadmill in the fitness hall of the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Children and Youth.
The centre was recently renovated by UNDP and offers full time support in learning and other skills like mobility, self-care, and sight exercises for the visually impaired, use of teaching aids, playing games, going out to town and attending events.
Read more: bit.ly/35fhLVw
Photos: Sulejman Omerbašić/ UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina
The National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament is the brainchild of several employees of the Iowa City VA Medical Center, along with two visually impaired Iowa Veterans. These visionaries created the TEE Tournament, an acronym standing for TRAINING, EXPOSURE and EXPERIENCE. In 2008, it became one of VA's six national rehabilitation programs for Veterans. The event expanded to include not only blind Veterans, but amputees, wheelchairbound Veterans, and those with other life changing disabilities. It takes place each year in Iowa City.
Portugal, Lisboa. Visually handicapped residents of the Convento dos Cardais have a good time in the São Bento swimming pool. 05 March 2008. Photography by Ernst Schade
Visually I get a big kick out of mixing people with machines, and wanted to draw a non-conventional method of movement for a double-hip amputee.
Graphite on paper (2 hours) and colored in Adobe Photoshop (9 hours).
Angkor Wat is visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus-like towers rising 65 meters from ground level. Angkor Wat is the centerpiece of any visit to the temples of Angkor.
At the apex of Khmer political and military dominance in the region, Suryavarman II constructed Angkor Wat in the form of a massive 'temple-mountain' dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu. It served as his state temple, though the temple’s uncommon westward orientation has led some to suggest that it was constructed as Suryavarman II’s funerary temple. Other temples of the same style and period include Thommanon, Banteay Samre, Wat Atwea and Beng Melea, which may have served as a prototype to Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat and an exterior wall measuring 1300 meters x 1500 meters. The temple itself is 1 km square and consists of three levels surmounted by a central tower. The walls of the temple are covered inside and out with bas-reliefs and carvings. Nearly 2000 distinctively rendered apsara carvings adorn the walls throughout the temple and represent some of the finest examples of apsara carvings in Angkorian era art. But it is the exterior walls of the lower level that display the most extraordinary bas-reliefs, depicting stories and characters from Hindu mythology and the historical wars of Suryavarman II. It is in the viewing of the bas-reliefs that a tour guide can be very helpful.
The northern reflecting pool in front is the most popular sunrise location. For sunrise, arrive very early, well before sunrise begins. The sun will rise behind Angkor Wat providing a silhouette of Angkor’s distinctively shaped towers against a colored sunrise sky. Some of the best colors appear just before the sun breaks over the horizon.
The visual impact of Angkor Wat, particularly on one's first visit, is awesome. As you pass through the outer gate and get your first glimpse, its size and architecture make it appear two dimensional, like a giant postcard photo against the sky. After you cross through the gate and approach the temple along the walkway it slowly gains depth and complexity. To maximize this effect you should make your first visit in optimal lighting conditions, i.e. after 2:00PM. Do not make your first visit to Angkor Wat in the morning when the backlighting obscures the view.
The first level of is the most artistically interesting. Most visitors begin their exploration with the bas-reliefs that cover the exterior wall of the first level, following the bas-reliefs counterclockwise around the temple. Bas-relief highlights include the mythological Battle of Kuru on the west wall; the historical march of the army of Suryavarman II, builder of Angkor Wat, against the Cham, followed by scenes from Heaven and Hell on the south wall; and the classic ‘Churning of the Ocean Milk’ on the east wall.
The temple interior is not as densely carved as the first level exterior, but still sports hundreds of fine carvings of apsaras and scenes from Hindu mythology. A guide can be quite helpful in explaining the stories of the various chambers, statues and architectural forms to be found in the interior. At the upper-most of your tour of the temple, the central tower on the third level houses four Buddha images, each facing a different cardinal point, highlighting the fact that though Angkor Wat was constructed as a Hindu temple, it has served as a Buddhist temple since Buddhism became Cambodia’s dominant religion in the 14th century. Some say that it is good luck to pay homage to all four Buddha images before departing Angkor.
Source: Canby Publications Co., Ltd
Following some recent near misses at this intersection, it has been decided to install traffic lights
Dots, Dashs and Diagonals Theme
The Delaware Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI) partnered with the Wilmington Police Department in February to provide visual impairment sensitivity training for about 65 police officers at the Walnut Street precinct. Activities included hearing from Patti Addison and Frederick Noesner, who have visual impairments, and being blindfolding and provided with a white cane and sighted guide in order to navigate the halls, stairs, and the outside front area of the Justice of the Peace Courthouse in Wilmington. With the success of the training, conducted by DVI certified orientation & mobility therapists Heather Dougherty and Maria Lepore-Stevens, additional training dates have been scheduled for March.
There's nothing particularly visually interesting about this hotel in Philadelphia. However, I had a interesting stay here over a bitterly cold Presidents Day weekend in 1996.
A few months earlier I had great stay at a boutique hotel in San Francisco. It was the first time I had stayed at a boutique hotel so I made a reservation at this place, which I think was called the Walnut Street Hotel, because it advertised itself as a "boutique" hotel.
An indifferent college student checked me in at the front desk and I headed to my room. I dropped my luggage off and went out for dinner. When I came back I noticed that it was kind of chilly in the room. At the time I had a little thermometer zipper pull on my suitcase and it was not only kind of chilly it was all of 54 degrees.
I went downstairs to complain to the indifferent college student. He remained indifferent, saying the heat was not working and wouldn't be fixed until the next day.
He did give me an extra blanket though. The extra blanket was the most threadbare blanket I'd ever seen. I put it on my bed, along with all the towels and my parka and, wearing my clothes, I managed to sleep most of the night.
I spent the next day working at the convention center. When I got back to my room that evening it was no longer 54 degrees. Quite the opposite as it was 94 degrees! Opening a window made the room livable and I didn't dare complain for fear that they would turn the heat off.
In addition to the heat and cold problem there was the bathroom, specifically the toilet. The toilet was set off from the shower in this little alcove. The alcove was narrow and wedge-shaped. It was so narrow that my shoulders touched the walls when I sat down and to sit down I literally had to take my pants off beforehand and back into the space. TMI!
To end this story on a good note the hotel television had a Drexel University cable channel that was showing some pretty obscure stuff. One movie was "My New Advisor" by a guy named Jim Bihari, who was an Ohio State University student at the time. It is a feature length movie made for a few thousand dollars about a graduate student and his new advisor going to a conference, mainly by driving back and forth on rural central Ohio roads. It was really funny and had a great soundtrack. I haven't seen it since that stay but I just noticed the whole thing is on YouTube.