BOX DATE: 1983

MANUFACTURER: Mattel

RELEASES: 1983 separately sold; 1983 Party Gift Set

MISSING ITEMS: Gift box, shoes, ribbon

PERSONAL FUN FACT: This dress is so playful and adorable! It is also amazing quality like most 80s Barbie outfits. When I spotted this dress in a beat up metal trunk, during the fall of 2016, it lead me to the identity of Happy Birthday Barbie, who was also tucked inside the trunk. I like this dress even more than my other birthday Barbie gowns from the same decade. It's vibrant pink color still looks just as fresh as it did in the 80s. I love how ruffled and fanciful this outfit is. The sheer polka dot layer paired with the white flowered waistband makes this outfit very visually appealing. Not to mention that the color of this dress is a perfect match to Barbie's coordinating eye shadow!

Visually a descendent of the SP1 Striker, but sized more like the Galactic Peacekeeper.

I'm still not totally sure about that cagelike take on the prisoner transport pod, but it mostly works.

And I actually managed semi-retractable undercarriage.

If the word perfume is to ever be used to describe scenery, that part of nature would probably look like something very close to this.

I give you the fragrance of paradise, visually scented.

“Visually Warm”

Susquehanna Sunset January 29, 2025

Strong winds and lake affect snow but,still was able to capture a visually warm moment.

Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania

The photo shows the Braille letters BRL - short for the word Braille.

4th January is celebrated as World Braille Day every year. The whole month of January is Braille Literacy Month.

Many people say that in the era of modern technology Braille is outdated. However, that is absolutely not true. Just like sighted people must know how to read and write, blind and visually impaired people must be able to use a system for reading and writing, too. In fact, it is even more important for blind and visually impaired people to be able to read and write. Being literate is a basic skill that everybody must master. Sure, screen readers are great and make life a lot easier if you can't use a phone or a computer screen. But still - these apps and programs are not a substitute for the basic ability of reading and writing. So, if you are visually impaired or blind, I encourage you to learn Braille! As a Braille user I can tell you from experience that it will open up a whole world of new possibilities for you just as it has for me!

Keep the comment clean! No banners, awards or invitations, please!

Visually speaking, tree stumps and saw dust are kinda the story of our lives right now.

A visually pleasing and creative charcuterie platter, that I was lucky to share with friends while visiting the Liquidity Bistro in the Okanagan on the May long weekend.

©Maria Janicki. All rights reserved. Image may not be used or reproduced without permission. Contact me for further information.

The Izapa Ruins are historically significant but visually lacking the impact other sites. This shot shows about 50% of what has been uncovered to date which a mere fraction of the ruins.

The HAL tour spent about 90 minutes here, 30 would have been sufficient.

From Mundo Maya:

Founded around the year 1,500 B.C., Izapa was the most important ceremonial, political, and religious center of the Pacific coast for almost a thousand years. Its importance was due to commercial factors, as well as for being the region’s religious center. Its position favored migrations and the trade of jade, cocoa, and obsidian, however its ruins do not house spectacular structures or famous paintings like other sites, as it lost a great deal of importance during the Mayan Classic period.

Izapa, originally inhabited by Mize-zoque people, began its development around 600 B.C. and reached its peak as a regional center toward the upper Preclassic period, due mostly to the climactic characteristics of where it is located, with its fertile soil and high humidity, which allowed the creation of an intensive agricultural system and surplus stock.

The location and planning of its ceremonial center is full of astronomical references, to the point that many archaeologists believe that Izapa had a key role in the construction of Mesoamerican calendars and the Mayan calendar in particular. Its orientation, on a slightly askew angle from the geographical north and its alignment with the Tacaná volcano, have led to the conclusion that its best structures and pyramids for astronomical observation match the dusk of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere.

The ancient city of Izapa was explored by Matthew Stirling in 1935; by Philip Drucker, from the Smithsonian Institution in 1947 and 1948; and was inspected by Eulalia Guzmán in 1935 and 1944.

Various stelae narrate some of the myths collected in the Popol Vuh.

The archaeological zone is quite wide, it has an area of two kilometers and is comprised of groups of mounds.

Today, it is only possible to visit Group F, north of the highway to Talismán, it is the most restored area, which groups together most of the stelae and stone sculptures. Groups A and B, to the south, are accessible through dirt roads, but the area is covered in vegetation. Most of the stelae are in Groups A and B, which correspond to the site’s Preclassic occupation.

LEGAL NOTICE | protected work • All Rights reserved! © B. Egger photographer retains ownership and all copyrights in this work.

photographer | Bernard Egger • collections • sets

location | Soelk Pass, Styria 💚 Austrian Alps

📷 | 2004 BMW R 1200 CL :: rumoto images # 2825 bw

© Dieses Foto darf ohne vorherige Lizenzvereinbarung keinesfalls publiziert oder an nicht berechtigte Nutzer weiter gegeben werden.

Todos los Derechos Reservados • Tous droits réservés • Todos os Direitos Reservados • Все права защищены • Tutti i diritti riservati

licence | → for an user agreement please contact Bernard Egger..

Auf herrlich gewundenen Küsten- oder Passstraßen die Lust und das lockere Spiel zwischen Schwerkraft und Fliehkraft erleben. Erleben wie von Kilometer zu Kilometer die positiven Gefühle intensiver werden - links, rechts, links - Landschaften und Gedanken dahin gleiten... bald schon jene Augenblicke kommen, wo die Enge der Zivilisation der überwältigenden Szenerie der Natur Platz macht und beruhigende Geräusche des Motors und Formen verschmelzen...

--

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, August 2002 ...

Some people consider a six-day cruise as the perfect vacation. Other's might agree, as long as the days are marked by blurred fence posts and dotted lines instead of palm trees and ocean waves. For them, BMW introduces the perfect alternative to a deck chair - the R 1200 CL.

Motorcyclists were taken aback when BMW introduced its first cruiser in 1997, but the R 1200 C quickly rose to become that year's best-selling BMW. The original has since spawned several derivatives including the Phoenix, Euro, Montana and Stiletto. This year, BMW's cruiser forms the basis for the most radical departure yet, the R 1200 CL. With its standard integral hard saddlebags, top box and distinctive handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL represents twin-cylinder luxury-touring at its finest, a completely modern luxury touring-cruiser with a touch of classic BMW.

Although based on the R 1200 C, the new CL includes numerous key changes in chassis, drivetrain, equipment and appearance, specifically designed to enhance the R 1200's abilities as a long-distance mount. While it uses the same torquey, 1170cc 61-hp version of BMW's highly successful R259 twin, the CL backs it with a six-speed overdrive transmission. A reworked Telelever increases the bike's rake for more-relaxed high-speed steering, while the fork's wider spacing provides room for the sculpted double-spoke, 16-inch wheel and 150/80 front tire. Similarly, a reinforced Monolever rear suspension controls a matching 15-inch alloy wheel and 170/80 rear tire. As you'd expect, triple disc brakes featuring BMW's latest EVO front brake system and fully integrated ABS bring the bike to a halt at day's end-and set the CL apart from any other luxury cruiser on the market.

Yet despite all the chassis changes, it's the new CL's visual statement that represents the bike's biggest break with its cruiser-mates. With its grip-to-grip sweep, the handlebar-mounted fairing evokes classic touring bikes, while the CL's distinctive quad-headlamps give the bike a decidedly avant-garde look - in addition to providing standard-setting illumination. A pair of frame-mounted lowers extends the fairing's wind coverage and provides space for some of the CL's electrics and the optional stereo. The instrument panel is exceptionally clean, surrounded by a matte gray background that matches the kneepads inset in the fairing extensions. The speedometer and tachometer flank a panel of warning lights, capped by the standard analog clock. Integrated mirror/turnsignal pods extend from the fairing to provide further wind protection. Finally, fully integrated, color-matched saddlebags combine with a standard top box to provide a steamer trunk's luggage capacity.

The CL's riding position blends elements of both tourer and cruiser, beginning with a reassuringly low, 29.3-inch seat height. The seat itself comprises two parts, a rider portion with an integral lower-back rest, and a taller passenger perch that includes a standard backrest built into the top box. Heated seats, first seen on the K 1200 LT, are also available for the CL to complement the standard heated grips. A broad, flat handlebar places those grips a comfortable reach away, and the CL's floorboards allow the rider to shift position easily without compromising control. Standard cruise control helps melt the miles on long highway stints. A convenient heel/toe shifter makes for effortless gearchanges while adding exactly the right classic touch.

The R 1200 CL backs up its cruiser origins with the same superb attention to cosmetics as is shown in the functional details. In addition to the beautifully finished bodywork, the luxury cruiser boasts an assortment of chrome highlights, including valve covers, exhaust system, saddlebag latches and frame panels, with an optional kit to add even more brightwork. Available colors include Pearl Silver Metallic, Capri Blue Metallic and Mojave Brown Metallic, this last with a choice of black or brown saddle (other colors feature black).

The R 1200 CL Engine: Gearing For The Long Haul

BMW's newest tourer begins with a solid foundation-the 61-hp R 1200 C engine. The original, 1170cc cruiser powerplant blends a broad powerband and instantaneous response with a healthy, 72 lb.-ft. of torque. Like its forebear, the new CL provides its peak torque at 3000 rpm-exactly the kind of power delivery for a touring twin. Motronic MA 2.4 engine management ensures that this Boxer blends this accessible power with long-term reliability and minimal emissions, while at the same time eliminating the choke lever for complete push-button simplicity. Of course, the MoDiTec diagnostic feature makes maintaining the CL every bit as simple as the other members of BMW's stable.

While tourers and cruisers place similar demands on their engines, a touring bike typically operates through a wider speed range. Consequently, the R 1200 CL mates this familiar engine to a new, six-speed transmission. The first five gear ratios are similar to the original R 1200's, but the sixth gear provides a significant overdrive, which drops engine speed well under 3000 rpm at 60 mph. This range of gearing means the CL can manage either responsive in-town running or relaxed freeway cruising with equal finesse, and places the luxury cruiser right in the heart of its powerband at touring speeds for simple roll-on passes.

In addition, the new transmission has been thoroughly massaged internally, with re-angled gear teeth that provide additional overlap for quieter running. Shifting is likewise improved via a revised internal shift mechanism that produces smoother, more precise gearchanges. Finally, the new transmission design is lighter (approximately 1 kg.), which helps keep the CL's weight down to a respectable 679 lbs. (wet). The improved design of this transmission will be adopted by other Boxer-twins throughout the coming year.

The CL Chassis: Wheeled Luggage Never Worked This Well

Every bit as unique as the CL's Boxer-twin drivetrain is the bike's chassis, leading off-literally and figuratively-with BMW's standard-setting Telelever front suspension. The CL's setup is identical in concept and function to the R 1200 C's fork, but shares virtually no parts with the previous cruiser's. The tourer's wider, 16-inch front wheel called for wider-set fork tubes, so the top triple clamp, fork bridge, fork tubes and axle have all been revised, and the axle has switched to a full-floating design. The aluminum Telelever itself has been further reworked to provide a slightly more raked appearance, which also creates a more relaxed steering response for improved straight-line stability. The front shock has been re-angled and its spring and damping rates changed to accommodate the new bike's suspension geometry, but is otherwise similar to the original R 1200 C's damper.

Similarly, the R 1200 CL's Monolever rear suspension differs in detail, rather than concept, from previous BMW cruisers. Increased reinforcing provides additional strength at the shock mount, while a revised final-drive housing provides mounts for the new rear brake. But the primary rear suspension change is a switch to a shock with travel-related damping, similar to that introduced on the R 1150 GS Adventure. This new shock not only provides for a smoother, more controlled ride but also produces an additional 20mm travel compared to the other cruisers, bringing the rear suspension travel to 4.72 inches.

The Telelever and Monolever bolt to a standard R 1200 C front frame that differs only in detail from the original. The rear subframe, however, is completely new, designed to accommodate the extensive luggage system and passenger seating on the R 1200 CL. In addition to the permanently affixed saddlebags, the larger seats, floor boards, top box and new side stand all require new mounting points.

All this new hardware rolls on completely restyled double-spoke wheels (16 x 3.5 front/15 x 4.0 rear) that carry wider, higher-profile (80-series) touring tires for an extremely smooth ride. Bolted to these wheels are larger disc brakes (12.0-inch front, 11.2-inch rear), with the latest edition of BMW's standard-setting EVO brakes. A pair of four-piston calipers stop the front wheel, paired with a two-piston unit-adapted from the K 1200 LT-at the rear. In keeping with the bike's touring orientation, the new CL includes BMW's latest, fully integrated ABS, which actuates both front and rear brakes through either the front hand lever or the rear brake pedal.

The CL Bodywork: Dressed To The Nines

Although all these mechanical changes ensure that the new R 1200 CL works like no other luxury cruiser, it's the bike's styling and bodywork that really set it apart. Beginning with the bike's handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL looks like nothing else on the road, but it's the functional attributes that prove its worth. The broad sweep of the fairing emphasizes its aerodynamic shape, which provides maximum wind protection with a minimum of buffeting. Four headlamps, with their horizontal/vertical orientation, give the CL its unique face and also create the best illumination outside of a baseball stadium (the high-beams are borrowed from the GS).

The M-shaped windshield, with its dipped center section, produces exceptional wind protection yet still allows the rider to look over the clear-plastic shield when rain or road dirt obscure the view. Similarly, clear extensions at the fairing's lower edges improve wind protection even further but still allow an unobstructed view forward for maneuvering in extremely close quarters. The turnsignal pods provide further wind coverage, and at the same time the integral mirrors give a clear view to the rear.

Complementing the fairing, both visually and functionally, the frame-mounted lowers divert the wind blast around the rider to provide further weather protection. Openings vent warm air from the frame-mounted twin oil-coolers and direct the heat away from the rider. As noted earlier, the lowers also house the electronics for the bike's optional alarm system and cruise control. A pair of 12-volt accessory outlets are standard.

Like the K 1200 LT, the new R 1200 CL includes a capacious luggage system as standard, all of it color-matched and designed to accommodate rider and passenger for the long haul. The permanently attached saddlebags include clamshell lids that allow for easy loading and unloading. Chrome bumper strips protect the saddlebags from minor tipover damage. The top box provides additional secure luggage space, or it can be simply unbolted to uncover an attractive aluminum luggage rack. An optional backrest can be bolted on in place of the top box. Of course, saddlebags and top box are lockable and keyed to the ignition switch.

Options & Accessories: More Personal Than A Monogram

Given BMW's traditional emphasis on touring options and the cruiser owner's typical demands for customization, it's only logical to expect a range of accessories and options for the company's first luxury cruiser. The CL fulfills those expectations with a myriad of options and accessories, beginning with heated or velour-like Soft Touch seats and a low windshield. Electronic and communications options such as an AM/FM/CD stereo, cruise control and onboard communication can make time on the road much more pleasant, whether you're out for an afternoon ride or a cross-country trek - because after all, nobody says you have to be back in six days. Other available electronic features include an anti-theft alarm, which also disables the engine.

Accessories designed to personalize the CL even further range from cosmetic to practical, but all adhere to BMW's traditional standards for quality and fit. Chrome accessories include engine-protection and saddlebag - protection hoops. On a practical level, saddlebag and top box liners simplify packing and unpacking. In addition to the backrest, a pair of rear floorboards enhance passenger comfort even more.

- - - - -

Der Luxus-Cruiser zum genußvollen Touren.

Die Motorradwelt war überrascht, als BMW Motorrad 1997 die R 1200 C, den ersten Cruiser in der Geschichte des Hauses, vorstellte. Mit dem einzigartigen Zweizylinder-Boxermotor und einem unverwechselbar eigenständigen Design gelang es auf Anhieb, sich in diesem bis dato von BMW nicht besetzten Marktsegment erfolgreich zu positionieren. Bisher wurden neben dem Basismodell R 1200 C Classic die technisch nahezu identischen Modellvarianten Avantgarde und Independent angeboten, die sich in Farbgebung, Designelementen und Ausstattungsdetails unterscheiden.

Zur Angebotserweiterung und zur Erschließung zusätzlicher Potenziale, präsentiert BMW Motorrad für das Modelljahr 2003 ein neues Mitglied der Cruiserfamilie, den Luxus-Cruiser R 1200 CL. Er wird seine Weltpremiere im September in München auf der INTERMOT haben und voraussichtlich im Herbst 2002 auf den Markt kommen. Der Grundgedanke war, Elemente von Tourenmotorrädern auf einen Cruiser zu übertragen und ein Motorrad zu entwickeln, das Eigenschaften aus beiden Fahrzeuggattungen aufweist.

So entstand ein eigenständiges Modell, ein Cruiser zum genussvollen Touren, bei dem in Komfort und Ausstattung keine Wünsche offen bleiben.

Als technische Basis diente die R 1200 C, von der aber im wesentlichen nur der Motor, der Hinterradantrieb, der Vorderrahmen, der Tank und einige Ausstattungsumfänge übernommen wurden. Ansonsten ist das Motorrad ein völlig eigenständiger Entwurf und in weiten Teilen eine Neuentwicklung.

Fahrgestell und Design:

Einzigartiges Gesicht, optische Präsenz und Koffer integriert.

Präsenz, kraftvoller Auftritt und luxuriöser Charakter, mit diesen Worten lässt sich die Wirkung der BMW R 1200 CL kurz und treffend beschreiben. Geprägt wird dieses Motorrad von der lenkerfesten Tourenverkleidung, deren Linienführung sich in den separaten seitlichen Verkleidungsteilen am Tank fortsetzt, so dass in der Seitenansicht fast der Eindruck einer integrierten Verkleidung entsteht. Sie bietet dem Fahrer ein hohes Maß an Komfort durch guten Wind- und Wetterschutz.

Insgesamt vier in die Verkleidung integrierte Scheinwerfer, zwei für das Abblendlicht und zwei für das Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad ein unverwechselbares, einzigartiges Gesicht und eine beeindruckende optische Wirkung, die es so bisher noch bei keinem Motorrad gab. Natürlich sorgen die vier Scheinwerfer auch für eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung.

Besonders einfallsreich ist die aerodynamische Gestaltung der Verkleidungsscheibe mit ihrem wellenartig ausgeschnittenen oberen Rand. Sie leitet die Strömung so, dass der Fahrer wirkungsvoll geschützt wird. Gleichzeitig kann man aber wegen des Einzugs in der Mitte ungehindert über die Scheibe hinwegschauen und hat somit unabhängig von Nässe und Verschmutzung der Scheibe ein ungestörtes Sichtfeld auf die Straße.

Zur kraftvollen Erscheinung des Motorrades passt der Vorderradkotflügel, der seitlich bis tief zur Felge heruntergezogen ist. Er bietet guten Spritzschutz und unterstreicht zusammen mit dem voluminösen Vorderreifen die Dominanz der Frontpartie, die aber dennoch Gelassenheit und Eleganz ausstrahlt.

Der gegenüber den anderen Modellen flacher gestellte Telelever hebt den Cruisercharakter noch mehr hervor. Der Heckbereich wird bestimmt durch die integrierten, fest mit dem Fahrzeug verbundenen Hartschalenkoffer und das abnehmbare Topcase auf der geschwungenen Gepäckbrücke, die zugleich als Soziushaltegriff dient. Koffer und Topcase sind jeweils in Fahrzeugfarbe lackiert und bilden somit ein harmonisches Ganzes mit dem Fahrzeug.

Akzente setzen auch die stufenförmig angeordneten breiten Komfortsitze für Fahrer und Beifahrer mit der charakteristischen hinteren Abstützung. Luxus durch exklusive Farben, edle Oberflächen und Materialien.

Die R 1200 CL wird zunächst in drei exklusiven Farben angeboten: perlsilber-metallic und capriblau-metallic mit jeweils schwarzen Sitzen und mojavebraun-metallic mit braunem Sitzbezug (wahlweise auch in schwarz). Die Eleganz der Farben wird unterstützt durch sorgfältige Materialauswahl und perfektes Finish von Oberflächen und Fugen. So ist zum Beispiel die Gepäckbrücke aus Aluminium-Druckguß gefertigt und in weissaluminium lackiert, der Lenker verchromt und die obere Instrumentenabdeckung ebenfalls weissaluminiumfarben lackiert. Die Frontverkleidung ist vollständig mit einer Innenabdeckung versehen, und die Kniepads der seitlichen Verkleidungsteile sind mit dem gleichen Material wie die Sitze überzogen.

All dies unterstreicht den Anspruch auf Luxus und Perfektion.

Antrieb jetzt mit neuem, leiserem Sechsganggetriebe - Boxermotor unverändert.

Während der Boxermotor mit 1170 cm³ unverändert von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen wurde - auch die Leistungsdaten sind mit 45 kW (61 PS) und 98 Nm Drehmoment bei 3 000 min-1 gleich geblieben -, ist das Getriebe der R 1200 CL neu. Abgeleitet von dem bekannten Getriebe der anderen Boxermodelle hat es jetzt auch sechs Gänge und wurde grundlegend überarbeitet. Als wesentliche Neuerung kommt eine sogenannte Hochverzahnung zum Einsatz. Diese sorgt für einen "weicheren" Zahneingriff und reduziert erheblich die Laufgeräusche der Verzahnung.

Der lang übersetzte, als "overdrive" ausgelegte, sechste Gang erlaubt drehzahlschonendes Fahren auf langen Etappen in der Ebene und senkt dort Verbrauch und Geräusch. Statt eines Schalthebels gibt es eine Schaltwippe für Gangwechsel mit einem lässigen Kick. Schaltkomfort, Geräuscharmut, niedrige Drehzahlen und dennoch genügend Kraft - Eigenschaften, die zum Genusscharakter des Fahrzeugs hervorragend passen.

Dass auch die R 1200 CL, wie jedes seit 1997 neu eingeführte BMW Motorrad weltweit, serienmäßig über die jeweils modernste Abgasreinigungstechnologie mit geregeltem Drei-Wege-Katalysator verfügt, muss fast nicht mehr erwähnt werden. Es ist bei BMW zur Selbstverständlichkeit geworden.

Fahrwerkselemente für noch mehr Komfort - Telelever neu und hinteres Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung.

Ein cruisertypisches Merkmal ist die nach vorn gestreckte Vorderradführung mit flachem Winkel zur Fahrbahn und großem Nachlauf. Dazu wurde für die R 1200 CL der nach wie vor einzigartige BMW Telelever neu ausgelegt.

Die Gabelholme stehen weiter auseinander, um dem bulligen, 150 mm breiten Vorderradreifen Platz zu bieten.

Für die Hinterradfederung kommt ein Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung zum Einsatz, das sich durch hervorragende Komforteigenschaften auszeichnet. Der Gesamtfederweg wuchs um 20 mm gegenüber den anderen Cruisermodellen auf jetzt 120 mm. Die Federbasisverstellung zur Anpassung an den Beladungszustand erfolgt hydraulisch über ein bequem zugängliches Handrad.

Hinterradschwinge optimiert und Heckrahmen neu.

Die Hinterradschwinge mit Hinterachsgehäuse, der BMW Monolever, wurde verstärkt und zur Aufnahme einer größeren Hinterradbremse angepasst.

Der verstärkte Heckrahmen ist vollständig neu, um Trittbretter, Kofferhalter, Gepäckbrücke und die neuen Sitze sowie die modifizierte Seitenstütze aufnehmen zu können. Der Vorderrahmen aus Aluminiumguss wurde mit geringfügigen Modifikationen von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen.

Räder aus Aluminiumguss, Sitze, Trittbretter und Lenker - alles neu.

Der optische Eindruck eines Motorrades wird ganz wesentlich auch von den Rädern bestimmt. Die R 1200 CL hat avantgardistisch gestaltete neue Gussräder aus Aluminium mit 16 Zoll (vorne) beziehungsweise 15 Zoll (hinten) Felgendurchmesser, die voluminöse Reifen im Format 150/80 vorne und 170/80 hinten aufnehmen.

Die Sitze sind für Fahrer und Beifahrer getrennt ausgeführt, um den unterschiedlichen Bedürfnissen gerecht zu werden. So ist der breite Komfortsattel für den Fahrer mit einer integrierten Beckenabstützung versehen und bietet einen hervorragenden Halt. Die Sitzhöhe beträgt 745 mm. Der Sitz für den Passagier ist ebenfalls ganz auf Bequemlichkeit ausgelegt und etwas höher als der Fahrersitz angeordnet. Dadurch hat der Beifahrer einen besseren Blick am Fahrer vorbei und kann beim Cruisen die Landschaft ungestört genießen.

Großzügige cruisertypische Trittbretter für den Fahrer tragen zum entspannten Sitzen bei. Die Soziusfußrasten, die von der K 1200 LT abgeleitet sind, bieten ebenfalls sehr guten Halt und ermöglichen zusammen mit dem günstigen Kniebeugewinkel auch dem Beifahrer ein ermüdungsfreies Touren.

Der breite, verchromte Lenker vermittelt nicht nur Cruiser-Feeling; Höhe und Kröpfungswinkel sind so ausgelegt, dass auch auf langen Fahrten keine Verspannungen auftreten. Handhebel und Schalter mit der bewährten und eigenständigen BMW Bedienlogik wurden unverändert von den anderen Modellen übernommen.

HighTech bei den Bremsen - BMW EVO-Bremse und als Sonderausstattung Integral ABS.

Sicherheit hat bei BMW traditionell höchste Priorität. Deshalb kommt bei der R 1200 CL die schon in anderen BMW Motorrädern bewährte EVO-Bremse am Vorderrad zum Einsatz, die sich durch eine verbesserte Bremsleistung auszeichnet. Auf Wunsch gibt es das einzigartige BMW Integral ABS, dem Charakter des Motorrades entsprechend in der Vollintegralversion. Das heißt, unabhängig ob der Hand- oder Fußbremshebel betätigt wird, immer wirkt die Bremskraft optimal auf beide Räder. Im Vorderrad verzögert eine Doppel-Scheibenbremse mit 305 mm Scheibendurchmesser und im Hinterrad die von der K 1200 LT übernommene Einscheiben-Bremsanlage mit einem Scheibendurchmesser von 285 mm.

Fortschrittliche Elektrik: Vierfach-Scheinwerfer, wartungsarme Batterie und elektronischer Tachometer.

Vier Scheinwerfer, je zwei für das Abblend- und Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad von vorne ein einzigartiges prägnantes Gesicht. Durch die kreuzweise Anordnung - die Abblendscheinwerfer sitzen nebeneinander und die Fernscheinwerfer dazwischen und übereinander - wird eine hohe Signalwirkung bei Tag und eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung bei Dunkelheit erzielt.

Neu ist die wartungsarme, komplett gekapselte Gel-Batterie, bei der kein Wasser mehr nachgefüllt werden muss. Eine zweite Steckdose ist serienmäßig. Die Instrumente sind ebenfalls neu. Drehzahlmesser und Tachometer sind elektronisch und die Zifferblätter neu gestaltetet, ebenso die Analoguhr.

Umfangreiche Sonderausstattung für Sicherheit, Komfort und individuellen Luxus.

Die Sonderausstattung der R 1200 CL ist sehr umfangreich und reicht vom BMW Integral ABS für sicheres Bremsen über Komfortausstattungen wie Temporegelung, heizbare Lenkergriffe und Sitzheizung bis hin zu luxuriöser Individualisierung mit Softtouchsitzen, Chrompaket und fernbedientem Radio mit CD-Laufwerk.

Is this ensemble that visually compelling that you must stare?

I hope your answer is "yes!"

I created this ensemble around a very clingy Baltogs wet look white lycra spandex leotard from nydancewear.com and matching wet look white lycra spandex miniskirt from coquetryclothing.com (which I've… discarded) and embellished it with my white satin under bust corset from canalboat.com, sheer white lycra mesh elbow length gloves and white fully fashioned Premier French Heel stockings, both from secretsinlace.com and finished off with my white stiletto pumps with 5" heels from electriqueboutique.com

To see more pix of me in other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157623668202157/

To see more pix of me in my body hugging leotards & bodysuits click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157622755507602/

To see more pix of me in my Baltogs lycra spandex dancewear click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157617535517907/

To see more pix of me in clothes from Coquetry Clothing click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157626739774869/

DSC_1602-12

What a visually stunning first encounter this handsome Hawk Moth caterpillar was... we found two older instars as well, one green and one so brown it was almost black! They will be posted tomorrow...

Visually appealing landforms.

Not as dramatic visually, but this image blows me away. As well as the colourful version of the Crab Nebula I shared a few days ago, I also collected some data without a filter - the upshot is the stars are more visible in post processing including the star that powers the whole thing. I didn't think I could capture it with equipment I had, but checking my image against several others with better resolution - I'm pretty confident I got it. That diminutive black dot shining at around 16th magnitude is only 20-30 km across, a neutron star, smaller than the island of Montreal, and yet we can see it here on Earth, 6000 light years or about 60 quadrillion km away.

This is a calibrated stack of 60 two minute sub frames.

Astrotech AT102ED Refractor

0.8X Reducer/Flatenner

UV/IR Cut Filter Filter

ZWO ASI533MC Pro Camera

Submitted by: Raj K Raj

Country: India

Organisation: Special Photo journalist with Hindustan Times New Delhi

Category: Professional

Caption: Bibekananda Tripathi, 42, first met his wife Sasmita, 35, at school in their hometown Bhubhaneshwar in Odisha. It was a bond born out of love and empathy. They were both visually impaired and became close friends while learning how to negotiate a dark world at Bhima Bhoi School for the Blind. Twenty-five years later, Bibekananda’s job as a stenographer with the Central government led them to Delhi, where they live in a two-room government accommodation in RK Puram in South Delhi. On busy Delhi streets, most people help Bibekananda and his wife negotiate the traffic and people, but he gets more help from people from poorer sections than from the busy middle-classes. “We rarely step out at night because of drunk-driving. People who drink and drive are even more blind than the two of us,” laughs Sasmita.

--

Photo uploaded from the #StrongerTogether Photo Competition website (photocomp.iapb.org)

by artofvisuals ift.tt/1qCNzvL

The latest experimental baking project: “Pop-Tarts”. I made two varieties, these filled with homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam, and another with a chocolate crust filled with Nutella (and attempting to mimic store-bought strawberry and chocolate Pop-Tarts, at least visually.)

I don't think I've gotten a crust that I'm happy with yet. Regular Pop-Tart crust is like dry pie crust, and I didn't want to go that route, but I figured that the crust needed to be a bit stronger than pie crust typically is. This time around, I tried an egg, but that doesn't appear to be the right answer, as the crust was too firm instead (albeit still tastier than stock Pop-Tart crust). I think that part of the problem was that I figured the extra fat in the egg would compensate for the extra liquid in the egg, but given the gluten that formed in the resulting dough, I think I figured wrong. The recipe below is as I prepped things last night; next time I'll probably drop the egg but add a little extra liquid and some vegetable shortening to keep a 3 part flour : 2 part fat : 1 part liquid ratio. The amounts here make about 6 pastries per recipe.

After setting up a bunch of shots in the kitchen this morning (and then eating the subject matter), I realized I didn't really get any good shots of the Nutella variety, but I'll include the recipe here for completeness’ sake, along with the recipe for the strawberry-rhubarb jam.

I shot these indoors despite a lot of good light outside, because my original thought was to get a few of them with the toaster in the background, and my mirror-finish toaster would not exactly work well outside. I ended up not liking any of the compositions in the shots I set up that way, unfortunately.

Ingredients

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

14 oz. rhubarb, diced

1 lb. 6 oz. strawberries, hulled and diced

1 lb. 4 oz. sugar

juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

3 tbl. balsamic vinegar

pinch salt

few grinds of black pepper

Pop-Tart Crust

8 oz. all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tbl. sugar

4 oz. cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1 oz. ice water

1 oz. chilled vodka

Chocolate Pop-Tart Crust

7.5 oz. all-purpose flour

0.5 oz. dutch-process cocoa powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tbl. sugar

4 oz. cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

2 oz. chilled Frangelico liqueur

Pop-Tart Frosting

1 c. confectioner's sugar

milk

Chocolate Pop-Tart Frosting

1 c. confectioner's sugar

1 tbl. dutch-process cocoa powder

Frangelico

Directions

To make the jam

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pot and allow to sit until a good amount of juice comes out of the berries and soaks the sugar. Mash the berries with a potato masher. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture gels when a small amount is placed on a cold plate (mixture will be measure 220°F on a thermometer). Portion into containers and allow to cool, makes about 3 cups.

To make the Pop-Tart Crust

Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter, and give 10-12 one second pulses, to cut the butter in. You should have pieces of butter about the size of small peas. Sprinkle the liquid ingredients over the mixture, and pulse just a few times to distribute. Pour onto plastic wrap, form into a small disc, and refrigerate at least one hour.

To make the Pop-Tarts

Preheat your oven to 325°F.

Roll out your dough very thin (I used some 2mm rolling pin spacers, and even that ended up baking a little thick). Cut into 3"x4.5" rectangles. Spread about 1-2 tbl. of the filling out in the middle of a rectangle, leaving the outer 1/3" or thereabouts clear. Brush an egg wash or some water on the outer border, lay on another rectangle of dough, and press the edges to seal (I used a straightedge to do the pressing). Puncture the top several times with a skewer, and transfer to a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Store completed tarts in the refrigerator as you work.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the dough is cooked through and set up but not really browned much on the top. Remove to a cooling rack.

To frost the Pop-Tarts

Add just enough liquid to the sugar (and optional cocoa) to make a thick glaze (work just a tiny bit at a time; it doesn't take much liquid at all do do this, usually less than a tablespoon). Spread the glaze out over the cooled pastries. If you like, decorate with some colored sugar (I used raw sugar on the chocolate version), since that's similar to what Kellogg's does. Or not.

My only observation on the frosting is that this glaze is pretty obviously not what's on an actual Pop-Tart. I actually had some stuck-on residue catch fire in my toaster (wee little fire, but still, use caution.) I have a slotted toaster whose "baskets" close in on the pastry, which results in residue like this. Toaster ovens and slot toasters that don't do this will probably be fine, but pay attention if you do toast these.

"Constructed circa 1865, Upton is a coursed gray ashlar two-storey residence located in the east end of the central residential core of Sault Ste. Marie. It visually provides a well proportioned, dignified elevation to a quiet dead end street.

Upton has been recognized for its heritage value by the City of Sault Ste. Marie, By-law 83-266.

Thought to have been constructed in 1865, Upton, as it was originally named, is one of the oldest residences in Sault Ste. Marie, second only to the Ermatinger Old Stone House (built in 1812). It was built as the home of Wemyss Mackenzie Simpson. Simpson had come to Canada in 1840, serving with the Hudson's Bay Company in various capacities, including that of chief factor of the Sault post from 1862 until its closure in 1865. Following the closure of the post, Simpson was elected as the first Member of Parliament for Algoma. He served in that capacity from 1867 to 1872, at which time he resigned to accept the post of Indian Commissioner.

One of the most important examples of Sault Ste. Marie's earliest residential buildings, Upton displays a Georgian style of architecture with Regency influences. It is similar in design to Bishophurst, built in 1874 as the home of Bishop Frederick Dawson Fauquier, the first Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Algoma. Similarities can be seen in the verandahs, the box-like structure of the main house and the low-hipped roofs with smaller projecting wings.

In the mid-1980's Upton was in danger of being lost to the community through neglect and abuse. It was saved by the efforts of Heritage Sault Ste. Marie, a local non-profit corporation that purchased Upton in 1987 and restored its exterior while converting the interior into three luxury condominiums. Now owned by private individuals, this important heritage building is secure in its future.

Key character defining elements that reflect Upton's heritage value include its:

- symmetrical fenestration and layout

- low, truncated hip roof

- coursed ashlar stone

- stone lintels, keystones and quoins

- six over six sash windows

- french doors

- Regency style wood verandah" - info from Historic Places Canada.

"Sault Ste. Marie (/ˈsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ SOO-seint-ma-REE) is a city on the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada, close to the Canada–US border. It is the seat of the Algoma District and the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants of the area, call this area Baawitigong, meaning "place of the rapids." They used this as a regional meeting place during whitefish season in the St. Mary's Rapids. (The anglicized form of this name, Bawating, is used in institutional and geographic names in the area.)

To the south, across the river, is the United States and the Michigan city of the same name. These two communities were one city until a new treaty after the War of 1812 established the border between Canada and the United States in this area at the St. Mary's River. In the 20th century, the two cities are joined by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 on the Michigan side, and Huron Street (and former Ontario Secondary Highway 550B) on the Ontario side. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the Saint Mary's Rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage that passes through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

French colonists referred to the rapids on the river as Les Saults de Ste. Marie and the village name was derived from that. The rapids and cascades of the St. Mary's River descend more than 6 m (20 ft) from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. Hundreds of years ago, this slowed shipping traffic, requiring an overland portage of boats and cargo from one lake to the other. The entire name translates to "Saint Mary's Rapids" or "Saint Mary's Falls". The word sault is pronounced [so] in French, and /suː/ in the English pronunciation of the city name. Residents of the city are called Saultites.

Sault Ste. Marie is bordered to the east by the Rankin and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west by Prince Township. To the north, the city is bordered by an unincorporated portion of Algoma District, which includes the local services boards of Aweres, Batchawana Bay, Goulais and District, Peace Tree and Searchmont. The city's census agglomeration, including the townships of Laird, Prince and Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional and the First Nations reserves of Garden River and Rankin, had a total population of 79,800 in 2011.

Native American settlements, mostly of Ojibwe-speaking peoples, existed here for more than 500 years. In the late 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries established a mission at the First Nations village. This was followed by development of a fur trading post and larger settlement, as traders, trappers and Native Americans were attracted to the community. It was considered one community and part of Canada until after the War of 1812 and settlement of the border between Canada and the US at the Ste. Mary's River. At that time, the US prohibited British traders from any longer operating in its territory, and the areas separated by the river began to develop as two communities, both named Sault Ste. Marie." - info from Wikipedia.

Now on Instagram.

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

The most visually interesting parts of the city are often found behind buildings and in alleys. There's clutter and a sense of organized disorganization. Sometimes you'll see people, like this guy (actually there were two guys but I only drew the one) behind a restaurant, apron on, smoking, and clearly exhausted.

A visually intense, dense collage from the late 20th Century. Something about Donkey Party Game and Vincent Van Gogh's sunflowers and more, much more. High Art/Low Art. The Beatles from their second album and a Girly Bird screaming upside down at them is in here too. The battleship Texas pennant hangs. A lady at a political convention drapes a Flowers bumper sticker across her forehead. And donkey tales. Poor VV Gogh's 19th century masterpiece gets reduced to background and cultural reference.

Polaroid Type 665 contact prints.

I'd never intended to post these photos. 'Always wanted the Zeppelin print to just stand on it's own as a mysterious little pinhole "gem".

However,

Nine months ago while I was in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy and my stem cell transplant, 3 stooges set out to diss and debunk the Zeppelin image as not a pinhole image but, photoshopped (ugh). So, now in my defense (like, I should even have to...)

The location: Denver Public Works Building. I was attracted to this building from it's original construction. With it's German industrial look and saluting stormtroopers sculpture on the bridge, it seemed only right to have some form of airship in the image. I'd originally thought of an Albatros DIII (german biplane) or an Me-262 (german jet) but always fancied dirigibles.

The Zeppelin: LZ 129 Hindenburg 1:720 scale (about 13 inches or 33cm long) Revell 04802

The Boom (to suspend the zeppelin): Made of wood strips, angle aluminum, hardware, monofilament and mounted on a tripod.

The Camera: Polaroid pinhole conversion. 35mm focal length with 9mm rise. I converted this camera specifically for this project. Can be seen here.

Film: Polaroid Type 665 positive/negative.

Other notes: I had to pack everything in on my bike as the location was accessible by bike path only.

Total time and expense to final neg.: I'd rather not think about it.

....................................................................................................

Back to the stooges: kevinolson44, Airships and SouthWestDreams. You can read their comments here or at the Zeppelin image.

By the way, not one of them have a single pinhole image in their photostream.

kevinolson44 says:

The last Zeppelin that looked like this was destroyed in 1940. Please explain how you managed to photograph it in 2006.

Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Stefan G. Pro User says:

Very adequate way to capture a Zeppelin!

Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

kevinolson44 says:

Doesn't anyone want to know how he shot this in 2006? Zeppelins like this no longer exist and have not existed in this form in 69 years! Also judging by the size of the "Zeppelin" in the shot it appears to be over the river. Where's the reflection in the water? Come on people, this is obviously Photoshop'd.

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Gary M Pro User says:

Looks like many of the blimps that fly over the NYC/NJ area to me. Just looks like a fabulous pinhole camera image to me.

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

rustman Pro User says:

8^)

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Airships Pro User says:

Sorry to spoil anyone's fun, but this is not a pinhole photograph taken in 2006, or any photograph taken in 2006.

The airship in this image looks nothing at all like a modern blimp. According to the shape of its hull, its size, and the location and design of its control gondola and engine cars, if this is a real airship at all (as opposed to a model or a computer generated image) it can only be one of two airships ever built, either the LZ-129 Hindenburg, or its near sister, the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II (and in either case, with the swastika flags digitally removed from the vertical stabilzers). The Hindenburg crashed in 1937, and the LZ-130 was dismantled in 1940.

It is still a very cool image, and I like it a lot, but it was made with Photoshop, not an oatmeal box.

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Gary M Pro User says:

www.modern-airships.info/en/home.html The blimp is moving since it is a pinhole camera image. Probally a several second exposure. I see several ships posted that look similar in the link i posted. I hope the photographer chimes in on the discussion. I see nothing fake.

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Airships Pro User says:

@ Gary:

This photo is almost certainly a fake.

Unless the photographer somehow came across a very large,

historically accurate, and flyable remote-control model (and I believe

I would be aware of any such model in existence), this is not a

pinhole photograph, but a digitally (or otherwise artificially)

contrived creation, using a photograph of the LZ-129 Hindenburg or its near sister ship, LZ-130. The zeppelin in this image can be no other ship.

Take a look for yourself.

Enlarge the photo. (Click "All Sizes").

And here is a photograph, and a drawing, of Hindenburg for comparison:

www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/lz129-pro file.jpg

www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/hindenb-f light051web.jpg

LZ-129

Now, look slightly to the left of the control car in the "pinhole photo." On both sides of the hull; you will see the "ledge" that was the promenade area on "A Deck" of the Hindenburg.

www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/passenger s-arriving-1...

www.airships.net/hindenburg/interiors

Next, look a little father aft; you will see the four engine cars of the Hindenburg, two on either side of the hull.

www.airships.net/hindenburg/design-tec hnology)

Compare the engine cars in the "pinhole photo" to the engine cars in the photo and drawing of Hindenburg.

You said that you see blimps which look similar in the link you posted, but no modern airship (and none of the airships depicted in the link you posted) have external engine cars, nor could they structurally support them.

Now, look at the whole hull; you will see lines running the length of the hull, from bow to stern, which were the longitudinal girders of Hindenburg's internal duralumin frame.

FInally, look at the stern, at the shape of the fins, and also compare the size of the fins to the overall size of the hull, to get a sense of the length of the ship; Hindenburg was four times longer than the largest modern blimp.

The zeppelin in the "pinhole photo" is either the LZ-129 (destroyed in 1937) or the LZ-130 (dismantled in 1940); it can be no other airship.

I still think this is a great image, and my congratulations to its creator; he has a great artistic sense, and some great technical skills.

But it's not a pinhole photo.

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Henry [6*3=?] Pro User says:

A fake ? So what ? It's a wonderful picture *a*n*y*w*a*y

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Airships Pro User says:

@ Henry... as I said at the end of my post. :-)

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

kevinolson44 says:

@ Airships

Thanks for making this clear that the photo was a Photoshop creation. It annoys me that so many people bought into this fake. Does anyone really believe that there's a giant Zeppelin flying around in Colorado or Nebraska? And with no visible name anywhere to be seen? Wouldn't the presence of this draw a crowd? The bridge is completely deserted. Check any photos of actual Zeppelins and there are people crowding the rooftops to get a look. Wake up everyone!

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

guruveee says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Pinholers, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

B.l.u.e.S.k.y. Pro User says:

fantastic... real or unreal...=))))

Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

bob merco Pro User says:

Fuck em czak. this is one of your best. !!!

Posted 4 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

lepoSs says:

well the so long and never ending debate about photography = reality...

I really appreciate your picture from any way you did it.

It's poetic, futuristic (yes!), so well processed and even... neo-post-avantgardist ;-)

Posted 4 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

sixtåriis Pro User says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called je ne regrette rien (by invitation), and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

SouthWestDreams Pro User says:

masterful! I can't imagine this scene looking better expressed any other way

Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

skellum Pro User says:

damn, very cool, such a sharp image with apinhole

Posted 4 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )

D.Ingraham Pro User says:

Had to revisit this one. One of your more epic shots.

Posted 4 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )

D.Ingraham Pro User says:

Had to revisit this one. a real masterpiece.

Posted 4 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )

kevinolson44 says:

If a photographer claims to have photographed something, pinhole camera or otherwise, and it turns out to be a Photoshop creation, he should say so. Since these airships don't exist it goes without saying that this is a Photoshop creation.

Posted 2 days ago. ( permalink | delete )

SouthWestDreams Pro User says:

Sad lie. I am revising my post from a masterful photo to a masterful CREATION. You need not have deceived and lied to enhance the image.

Posted 2 days ago. ( permalink | delete )

My first attempts with a black mirror. I'm quite pleased with the result, actually :-)

While I initially started out with different combinations of coloured pencils, I decided to post this photo here on my Flickr. Why? Well, I decided to use it as a way of explaining the question that I got the other day about my white cane: "Do the colours on your cane mean anything?" And the answer is yes!

While today white canes can be colourful, too (different colours of grips, tips, etc), there is a kind of an international "code" about white canes, too.

1) A white cane that is completely white indicates that the user is completely blind.

2) A white cane with a red bottom part (like the one I have) indicates that the user is visually impaired and still has some usable vision left.

3) A striped red and white cane indicates that the user is deafblind.

So, next time you see someone with a white cane, pay attention to the colours of the cane. This way, you'll know how to act around them and perhaps help them if they ask for help.

Keep the comments clean! No banners,a wards or invitations, please!

The visually most dazzling sarad is always the one made of colored rice powder. My friend tells me that this one is heavy with symbolism. The most distinguishable feature is the giant face of the Bhoma, a guard which wards of evil. This is the rice sarad tradition which I adapted for our wedding cake.

at a Ngeroras ceremony, Penaban, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia

celebrate the triumph of good over evil: Selamat Hari Raya Galungan in colloidfarl.blogspot.com

#within It’s #flexible #because it has #multiple #principles #Paintings with a #capacity to #change #visually by the #artistic #magic #changing #your #subconscious #mind It is a #session of #Hypnosis that #controls you by a #disorganized #absolute #harmony of #everything #expected #from a #nonexistent #picture It #depends #upon the #pattern of #line as a #primal #creator of #whatever #associated or #disassociated from the #theme The #artists #mind is the #superior #beginning of the line, but the line is #free and #emancipated. #Flexi is a #new #neo #pro #anti #post #pauljaisini #manifesto #short #version #1994 #artnews #prophecy

#YOU #CAN #PAINT #YOUR #WALLS #SAME AS #ROTHKO DID, OR YOU CAN #DRIP YOUR #PAINT ON THE #FLOOR AS #POLLOCK DID, #BUT DON’T YOU #DARE #CALL IT THE #FINE #HIGHART. IT’S #CALLED AN #ANARCHY & #UNCONTROLLABLE #CHAOS. IT DOESN’T #REALLY #MATTER IF YOU’D #HAND A #GUN TO #3 #YEARS #OLD OR A #PAINTBRUSH TO A #MONKEY, THE #RESULT WILL BE THE #SAME -#INNOCENT #FREEDOM FOR #DESTRUCTION OF #BEAUTY & #HARMONY. DON’T YOU DARE MY #SUPER #INTELLECTUAL” SUPER ARTISTS #TWIST THE #PERCEPTION OF #FREEDOM IN #BEAUTY. #RECYCLING SAME #CRAFT FOR OVER #60 #YEARS IS NOT #INNOVATION, IT’S #MADNESS. #MOST OF YOU ARE #CRAFTSMEN, WHO #LACK EVEN #BASIC #ART #SKILLS, #KNOWLEDGE OR #TECHNQUE. IN #ORDER TO #CREATE #MUSIC YOU WOULD NEED A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE #CHAOS OR #CONTEMPORARY #CACOPHONY, CALLED #FREESTYLE. I’M HERE TO #JUDGE & I HAVE #RIGHTS TO DO SO, #BECAUSE I #DESTROYED MY #PAINTINGS 19 YEARS AGO, #REALIZING THAT I FELL #UNDER THE #SPELL OF #MODA = #MODERN. NOW, FOR OVER 19 YEARS I’M #PAINTING #INVISIBLEPAINTINGS. I #LOVE #TRUE #BEAUTY & TRUE #TALENT. I #VALUE #PEOPLE #WHO LOVE ART, WHO #BELIEVE IN ART, WHO #INVEST IN ART. BUT I WILL #FIGHT THOSE WHO ARE #TRYING TO #KILL THIS #ALL. #BEWARE #MY #INVISIBLE #PAINTINGS ARE #COMING TO MAKE YOUR #VISUAL #CRAFT #INVISIBLE. #KIDS #MUST PAINT AS KIDS DO= #ARTIST #MUST #PAINT AS #MASTERS #DO #PAULJAISINISAID #JAISINISAID #PAULJAISINI #JAISINI

#gleitzeit #manifesto #2015 #newyorkcity #nyc #His #eyes #see #dialistically #theway #mystics #see

#gleitzeit #glitter #detail #bow #manifesto #photography #jaisini #diamond #beads #grunge #frame #border #soft #focus # #decor #bokeh #jaisinipainting #creative #fashion #amazingink #ink #drawing #pic #image #cute #polish #transparent #brightness #contemporary #flower #graphic #painted #futurismjaisini #spacejaisini #spacecraftjaisini #metaljaisini #starsjaisini #alienjaisini #universejaisini #saturation #toning #positioning #tiltshift #vignette #artistic #handmade #flashing #lights #graphicdesign #cs6 #sketchbook #graffiti #sharpie #stickers #colorbalance #masterpiece #swag #hot #manifesto #surreal #seer #surrealism #animated #animation #exposure #hipster #cake #cupcake #cream #mint #honey #sapphire #blue #peach #orange #yellow #green #highlights #polish #shadow #contrast #author #anime #boho #glam #vision #optical #visual #loop #3d #acid #trip #psychedelic #scale #decor #love #sweet # #perfect #roses #lights #decorative #genius #prophet #prophecies #art #robot #catrobot #cattoy #toy #cat-toy #star #opart #opticalillusion #colorful #star #painting #wallpaper #design #rainbow #lips #love #games #puzzle #glow #groovy #hippie #neon #blue #aqua #aquamarine #flowers #acid #bright #effect #art #hypnotic #sparkles #sparkle #glwointhedark #moonlight #stardust #galaxy #futuristic #universe #energy #reflection #illusion #photoset, #eye #green #red #yellow #white #black #blackboard #chalk #artschool #sketch #talent #series #inspiration #creative #fashion #amazingink #ink #drawing #pic #image #cute #polish #vibrant #dark #magic #painted #abstract #contemporary #flower #graphic #paintings #artistic #graphicdesign #cs6 #sketchbook #graffiti #sharpie #masterpiece #swag #hot #manifesto #gleitzeit #pauljaisini #surreal #seer #prophet #surrealism #animated #animation #author #anime #boho #glam #vision #trippy #optical #illusion #visual #loop #3d #acid #trip #psychedelic #perfect #shoutout #caramel #honey #topaz #grunge #victoriasecret #trip, #perfect, #shoutout, #redrose #rose #spacemen

#feline #catwoman #tiger #epic #nyc #event #fun #sparkling #colorful #psychedelic #invisible #love #unique #chocolate #vanilla #coffee #cool #inspiration #style #beauty #pretty #stylish #shiny #doodle #luxury #disco #vibrant #dark #magic #painted #abstract #icarus #marblelady #911 #narcissus #blue-reincarnation #moving #movingpicture #video #neonpink #crayons #digital #digitalart #bling #happy #relax #photoeffect #paintedphoto #glittered #dream, #journey #infinite #dreams #high #dmt #cosmos #lsd #trippy #d rugs #acid #trip #hippie #wonder #imagine #quest #moon #STELLYRIESLING #DAVINCI #ARTSHOW #NEW #FOLLOW #FUTUREFOLLOWS #PERSPECTIVE #FANTASTIC #GALAXY #INFINITY #see #blacklight #topaz #glance <3 #heart #hearts #texture #backround #collage #compo #skull #skulls #red #crystal #crystals #jewels #super #fancy #wow #fly #mood #turquoise #cobalt #aurora-borealis #glam #glamorous #beautiful #saturated #interesting

#girl #perception #viewpoint #love #art #style #glass #beach #cigarette #butts #2 #= #0 #sad #lonely #sexy #1 #x #legs #beach #summer #reflection #selfie #stelly #stelly-riesling #artistic #nyc #newyorkcity #hot #young #trendy

I enjoy modern… Visually & mentally… but how amazing does it feel to walk into the 90’s and feel… and even taste it… 🎄❤️ The most immense happiness is in the most minor things… There are many misunderstandings in life… way too many… we don’t listen… we don’t hear… what people say & what they mean… and what they say & what we hear is not always the same thing…

All I want for Christmas is for you

You're the gift that's made my dreams all come true

All I need for Christmas is here

Finding every sweet surprise wrapped up in your eyes

Waiting there for me underneath the tree

We'll then spend the day exchanging kisses

Smile and say What a Christmas this is

Long before the snowflakes appear

Without bells or mistletoe or the tinsel silver glow

You just look at me and Oh!

Christmas is here!

Someone asks me today if she should not speak to her fiance ever again because of something she heard… and I said, “yes, you should not speak to him if you want to quit him.” Ignoring someone is an excellent way to get them out of your life 200% of the time. But if you want to ignore because of something you “think”… assumption is a hypothesis not worth testing. If you would ignore it because of love… just make sure they speak your “language” before you lose them.

Leopards may be the most visually stunning of all the big cats. But they are often the most difficult to photograph because of their habit of climbing trees and hiding themselves behind layers of branches. Happily, there are exceptions to any rule and this shot was a result of one of those rare moments...

Jeff

My Website ¦ My Blog ¦ Google+¦ Facebook

See more of my images from my last trip to Kenya at;

www.firefallphotography.com/6564-2/

11/23/16 - I stopped at Matthaei today. The structure in the plants is always visually appealing.

by artofvisuals ift.tt/1S9nyNC

A young girl with typical 1960s hair style and distinctive cats eye glasses with what appears to be a correction for myopia.

This photograph, taken from the International Space Station flying approximately 220 miles above Earth, was captured by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, as he visually followed the course of the Soyuz spacecraft carrying the Expedition 29 threesome of Mike Fossum, Satoshi Furukawa and Sergei Volkov toward their entry through the atmosphere. According to a Twitter message from Burbank, the Soyuz appears as a tiny streak near the exact center of the image. The orbital outpost was over a point near the southeastern Black Sea (bottom) looking generally northeastward over southern Russia/eastern Ukraine. A Russian Progress spacecraft, docked to the station, appears at the top of the frame.

Image credit: NASA

View original image:

spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-30/html/...

More about space station research:

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

There's a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join! www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/

View more than 400 photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

This is One Complementary chest of River Jamuna....when the monsoon...river water Stream of Section They move Without by boat is not the way those...gave in the hands of irrigation….. Bangladesh Agriculture, rivers, and land with this environmental atmosphere working one that such competition cultivation With the company of the sandy soil In the dry season doing the planting of crops advances in River Visually Like This….

Saturdays' Sun was rather visually boring, hence the title :)

Bright rim aside - it's a deconvolution artifact - this is how the Sun looks like if observed visually through Hα interference filtering telescope.

WARNING! Sun is dangerous, use proper filters for observing and imaging!

Aquisition time: JD 2456717.886007 (01.03.2014 13:15:51 MSK).

Image orientation: inverted (west is left and North is down)

Equipment:

Canon EOS 60D (unmodded) coupled to Coronado PST via Baader Planetarium Hyperion Zoom 8-24 mm Mark III click-stop system eyepiece and Baader Planetarium M43-to-T2 conversion ring and mounted on photo-tripod.

Aperture 40 mm

Native focal length 400 mm

Projection zoom setting: 20 mm.

Effective focal length ~900 mm

Tv = 1/30 seconds

Av (effective) = NA

ISO 800

Exposures: 74 (all in :)

Processing: images were converted to monochrome and exported as 8-bit .TIFFs. Images were assembled into stack in ImageJ and saved as .AVI. AVI was processed in Autostakkert!2.

Resulting image was subjected to Richardson-Lucy deconvolution in AstraImage 3.0 (Cauchy type PSF, size 2,8 units, 10 iterations). Deconvolve image was tonmapped in Luminance HDR (QTPFSGUI) using Mantiuk'06 operator with contrast factor 0,3 and pre-gamma 0,515.

Contrast enchancement, high-pass filtering and coloration made in Photoshop.

Image was scaled down to have Solar disk equals to 1265 pixels in diameter to compensate oversampling.

Call me Snake offers an optimistic provocation – ‘imagine what could be here’ by Judy Millar. On a walk into the city October 3, 2015 Christchurch New Zealand.

The work is comprised of vibrant graphics of Millar’s looped paintings, which are adhered to five intersecting flat planes, and draws inspiration from the forms found in pop-up books. The colourful piece will add a dramatic and rhythmic counterpoint to the city’s current urban landscape — a mix of flattened sites, construction zones and defiant buildings that have stood through the quakes. The work employs theatricality, playfulness and visual trickery, whereby the viewer is unsure about the work’s flatness or three-dimensionality; and it has been designed to offer a different perspective from each angle. The bright colours interrupt the grey of the work’s surrounds, and as buildings pop up around it,

SCAPE 8, New Intimacies curated by Rob Garrett was a contemporary art event which mixed new artworks with existing legacy pieces, an education programme, and a public programme of events. The SCAPE 8 artworks were located around central Christchurch and linked via a public art walkway. All aspects of SCAPE 8 were free-to-view.

The title for the 2015 Biennial – New Intimacies – came from the idea that visually striking and emotionally engaging public art works can create new connections between people and places. Under the main theme of New Intimacies there are three other themes that artists responded to: Sight-Lines, Inner Depths and Shared Strengths.

For more Info: www.scapepublicart.org.nz/scape-8-judy-millar

Visually Panther Creek Falls is one of the most unique waterfalls in all of the United States. Found where Panther Creek plunges over a pair of steps in its valley, the creek begins by rushing towards the upper cliff, with a small portion of the creek splitting off from the main flow and plunging directly over the edge. The remaining 90 percent of the stream makes a hard right turn and follows a natural trough along the top of the cliff, contouring around the top of the horseshoe-shaped basin until reaching the far side, then plunging in a twisting fall for 69 feet to the bottom of the first step. Immediately adjacent to the main stream a large spring sends a broad veil of water sheeting 102 feet down the side of the canyon. After the collective waters of these streams merge, they plunge over the second tier in three distinct channels, falling 30 feet into a pool, with a broad 4-foot ledge immediately below to culminate the formation. Without visual aids to illustrate the scene it's quite complicated to imagine and grasp the complexity and eclecticism.

Well, I've been to The Wave and still cannot explain it completely, either in thought or visually it seems. Only a fleeting glimpse of what it really seems to be.

I have wondered a why those that have been, never post more than a handful of photo's. Now I know. This place is so surreal it's really beyond capture. Well outside the few main shots that have a defining characteristics, like the main 'room.' Abstracts are abundant, beautiful and true to life, but they struggle to carry a full feeling. So much goes into the location, the long remote hike, the feel of the sandstone and the way you step into the wave and are really removed from rest of the high desert surroundings.

All that waxing philosophic aside, I will keep on trying to share what I feel pretty fortunate about seeing myself. Hopefully what I can convene most importantly though:

You really have to be there, anywhere. So go out and shoot, see, feel and do!

/soapbox.

This shot is looking out the front entry of the Main Wave area, with real sunshine on the sandstone (we only had a total of about 10 minutes of sun over the 8 plus hours we were there, hike in included.)

Enjoy, this is straight from the D90.

28mm (my new prime) | f11 | 1/1000 | ISO200 | Sunny

Sometimes a bus so visually rough comes our way for re-painting that desperate measures are called for before we even dare send it to the shop. Unpteen layers of flaking crazed coatings need removing before dispatch if there's any chance of a budget re-spray looking anything like decent. This was ex London Country Park Royal bodied Leyland Atlantean, JPL 153K earlier today being 'finished off' in order to meet it's appointment with the spray booth later this afternoon. Here, Mr 'national bus is best!' wields the steam lance removing paint in strips after we'd become bored by two days with scrapers and elbow grease. The surface of our yard was an inch or so greater in elevation above sea level following his exploits.

Bangladesh Agriculture, rivers, and land with this environmental atmosphere working one that such competition cultivation With the company of the sandy soil In the dry season doing the planting of crops advances in River chest Visually similar....

visually playing around with the watersurface of the fountain at Rathauspark, Vienna

Spiegelung im Wasser des Springbrunnens am Rathausplatz, Wien

"Casa Cuseni is a house-garden-museum, with countless delightful works of art of all shapes and types: here a table lamp with the features of a beautiful girl, in Art Nouveau style."

“Casa Cuseni è una casa-giardino-museo, con innumerevoli deliziose opere d'arte di ogni foggia e tipo: qui una lampada da tavolo con le fattezze di una bella fanciulla, in stile liberty.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------

click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

……………………………………………………………………….

A history of Taormina: chronicles of a forbidden love and its great secret (not only Paolo and Francesca) with an unexpected "scoop".

This story is an integral part of the story previously told, the historical period is the same, the place is the same, the various characters often meet each other because they know each other; Taormina, between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, in an ever increasing growth, became the place of residence of elite tourism, thanks to the international interest aroused by writers and artists, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , or great personalities like Lady Florence Trevelyan: Taormina becomes so famous, thanks to the paintings of the painter Otto Geleng and the photographs of the young Sicilian models by Wilhelm von Gloeden; in the air of Taormina there is a sense of libertine, its famous and histrionic visitors never fail to create scandal, even surpassing the famous Capri, in which, to cite just one example, the German gunsmith Krupp, trying to recreate the he environment of Arcadia that one breathed in Taormina (thanks to the photos of von Gloeden) was overwhelmed by the scandal for homosexuality, and took his own life. Taormina thus becomes a heavenly-like place, far from industrial civilizations, where you can freely live your life and sexuality; this is the socio-cultural environment in which the two protagonists of this story move, the British painter Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873 - 1947) and the painter Carlo Siligato (born in Taormina in 1875, and died there in 1959). Robert H. Kitson, born in Leeds in England, belonged to a more than wealthy family, as a young engineer he had begun to replace his father in the family locomotive construction company (Kitson & Co.), on the death of his father in 1899 sells everything and decides to move very rich in Sicily to Taormina (he had been there the previous year with a trip made with his parents, here he had met, in addition to Baron von Gloeden, also the writer and poet Oscar Wilde who came to Italy, immediately after having served two years in prison in forced labor, on charges of sodomy); Kitson settled there because he was suffering from a severe form of rheumatic fever (like von Gloeden was advised to treat himself in the Mediterranean climate milder), and because as a homosexual, he leaves England because the Labouchere amendment considered homosexuality a crime. The other protagonist of this story is Carlo Siligato, he was from Taormina, he had attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, a very gifted painter, he was very good at oil painting (he exhibited his paintings in an art workshop, even now existing, in via Teatro Greco in Taormina), the meeting with the painter Robert Kitson, led him to adopt the watercolor technique: almost to relive Dante's verses on Paolo and Francesca "Galeotto was the book and who wrote it" the common passion for painting led the two artists to live an intense love story. Kitson built his home in the "Cuseni" district of Taormina, called for this "Casa Cuseni", the house was built between 1900 and 1905, its decorations were entrusted to the artists Alfred East (realist landscape painter, president of the Royal Society ), and Frank Brangwyn (painter, decorator, designer), he was a pupil of William Morris, leader of the English movement "Arts and Crafts" which spread to England in the second half of the nineteenth century (the Arts and Crafts was a response to the industrialization of Europe, of mass production operated by factories, all this at the expense of traditional craftsmanship, from this movement originated the Art Nouveau, in Italy also known as Liberty Style or Floral Style, which distinguished itself for having been a artistic and philosophical movement, which developed between the end of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, whose style spread in such a way as to be present everywhere). Casa Cuseni has kept a secret for 100 years that goes far beyond the forbidden love lived by Robert and Carlo, a secret hidden inside the "secret room", that dinning room that was reopened in 2012; entering the dining room, you can witness a series of murals painted on the four walls by Frank Brangwyn, in Art Nouveau style, which portray the life and love story between the painter Robert Kitson, and his life partner, the Carlo Siligato from Taormina, but the thing that makes these murals even more special, full of tenderness and sweetness, is that "their secret" (!) is represented in them, it is described visually, as in an "episodic" story that really happened in their lives: Messina (and Reggio Calabria) are destroyed by the terrible earthquake with a tsunami on December 28, 1908, Carlo Siligato, Robert Kitson, Wilhelm von Gloeden and Anatole France leave for Messina, to see and document in person the tragedy, the city was a pile of rubble, many dead, Robert and Carlo see a baby, Francesco, he is alone in the world, without parents who died in the earthquake, abandoned to a certain and sad destiny, a deep desire for protection is born in the two of them, a maternal and paternal desire is born, they decide to takes that little child with them even knowing that they are risking a lot ... (!), what they want to do is something absolutely unthinkable in that historical period, they are a homosexual couple, what they are about to do is absolutely forbidden ..(!) but now there is Francesco in their life, thus becoming, in fact, the first homogenitorial family (with a more generic term, rainbow family) in world history: hence the need to keep the whole story absolutely hidden, both from an artistic point of view , represented by the murals (for more than 100 years, the "dinning room" will be kept hidden), both of what happens in real life, with little Francesco cared for lovingly, but with great risk or. I have allegorically inserted, in the photographic story, some photographs of the artists of the company "Casa del Musical", who came to Taormina to perform during the Christmas period: today as yesterday, Taormina has always been (starting from the last 20 years of the 19th century) center of a crossroads of artists and great personalities, Casa Cuseni also in this has an enormous palmares of illustrious guests, too long to state. The young boys painted on the murals of Casa Cuseni, wear white, this is a sign of purity, they wanted to represent their ideal homosexual world, fighting against the figure dressed in black, short in stature, disturbing, which acquires a negative value, an allegorical figure of the English society of the time, indicating the Victorian morality that did not hesitate to condemn Oscar Wilde, depriving him of all his assets and rights, even preventing him from giving the surname to his children. The boys are inspired by the young Sicilian models photographed by Wilhelm von Gloeden, dressed in white tunics, with their heads surrounded by local flowers. The only female figure present has given rise to various interpretations, one could be Kitson's detachment from his motherland, or his detachment from his mother. On the third wall we witness the birth of the homogenitorial family, both (allegorically Carlo and Kitson with the child in their arms) are in profile, they are walking, the younger man has a long, Greek-style robe, placed on the front, next to him behind him, the sturdier companion holds and gently protects the little child in his arms, as if to spare the companion the effort of a long and uncertain journey, there is in the representation of the family the idea of a long journey, in fact the man holding the child wears heavy shoes, their faces are full of apprehension and concern: in front of them an empty wall, so deliberately left by Frank Brangwin, since their future is unknown, in front of them they have a destiny full of unknowns (at the same time, their path points east, they go towards the rising sun: opening the large window the sun floods everything in the room). In the "secret room" there is the picture painted in 1912 by Alfred E. East, an oil on canvas, representing Lake Bourget. Carlo Siligato later married Costanza, she was my father's grandmother's sister, they had a son, Nino, who for many years lived and worked as a merchant in his father's art workshop. I sincerely thank my colleague Dr. Francesco Spadaro, doctor and esteemed surgeon, owner and director of the "Casa Cuseni" House-Garden-Museum, who, affectionately acting as a guide, gave me the precious opportunity to create "this photographic tour" inside the house- museum and in the "metaphysical garden" of Casa Cuseni. … And the scoop that I announced in the title ..? After photographing the tomb of Carlo Siligato, in the Catholic cemetery of Taormina, I started looking for that of Robert Kitson, in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina: when I finally found it (with him lies his niece Daphne Phelps, buried later in 2005) ... I felt a very strong emotion, first of all I was expecting a mausoleum, instead I found a small, very modest tomb on this is not a photo of him, not an epitaph, not a Cross, not a praying Angel to point it out, but ... unexpectedly for a funerary tombstone ... a small bas-relief carved on marble (or stone) depicting ... the Birth ... (!), obviously , having chosen her could have a very specific meaning: a desire to transmit a message, something very profound about him, his tomb thus testified that in his soul, what was really important in life was having a family, with Carlo and baby Francesco, certainly beloved, saved from a certain and sad fate, in the terrible Messina earthquake-tsunami of 28 December 1908 ... almost recalling in an absolute synthesis, at the end of his life, what had already been told in the "secret murals" of Casa Cuseni.

…………………………………………………………………..

Una storia di Taormina: cronache di un amore proibito e del suo grande segreto (non solo Paolo e Francesca) con inaspettato “scoop”.

Questa storia fa parte integrante della storia precedentemente raccontata, il periodo storico è lo stesso, il luogo è lo stesso, i vari personaggi spesso si frequentano tra loro poiché si conoscono; Taormina, tra la fine dell’800 e l’inizio del’900, in un sempre maggiore crescendo, diventa luogo di residenza del turismo d’élite, grazie all’interesse internazionale suscitato ad opera di scrittori ed artisti, come Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, o grandi personalità come Lady Florence Trevelyan: Taormina diventa così famosa, complici i quadri del pittore Otto Geleng e le fotografie dei giovani modelli siciliani di Wilhelm von Gloeden; nell’aria di Taormina si respira un che di libertino, i suoi famosi ed istrionici frequentatori non mancano mai di creare scandalo, superando persino la famosa Capri, nella quale, per citare solo un esempio, l’armiere tedesco Krupp, cercando di ricreare l’ambiente dell’Arcadia che si respirava a Taormina (grazie alle foto di von Gloeden) viene travolto dallo scandalo per omosessualità, e si toglie la vita. Taormina diviene quindi un luogo simil-paradisiaco, lontana dalle civiltà industriali, nella quale poter vivere liberamente la propria vita e la propria sessualità; questo è l’ambiente socio-culturale nel quale si muovono i due protagonisti di questa vicenda, il pittore britannico Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873 – 1947) ed il pittore Carlo Siligato (nato a Taormina nel 1875, ed ivi morto nel 1959). Robert H. Kitson, nacque a Leeds in Inghilterra, apparteneva ad una famiglia più che benestante, da giovane ingegnere aveva cominciato a sostituire il padre nell’impresa familiare di costruzioni di locomotive (la Kitson & Co.), alla morte del padre nel 1899 vende tutto e decide di trasferirsi ricchissimo in Sicilia a Taormina (vi era stato l’anno precedente con un viaggio fatto coi suoi genitori, qui aveva conosciuto, oltre al barone von Gloeden, anche lo scrittore e poeta Oscar Wilde venuto in Italia, subito dopo aver scontato due anni di prigione ai lavori forzati, con l’accusa di sodomia); Kitson vi si stabilisce perché affetto da una grave forma di febbre reumatica (come von Gloeden gli fu consigliato di curarsi nel clima mediterraneo più mite), sia perché in quanto omosessuale, lascia l’Inghilterra perché l’emendamento Labouchere considerava l’omosessualità un crimine. L’altro protagonista di questa storia è Carlo Siligato, egli era taorminese, aveva frequentato l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, pittore molto dotato, era bravissimo nel dipingere ad olio (esponeva i suoi quadri in una bottega d’arte, ancora adesso esistente, in via Teatro Greco a Taormina), l’incontro col pittore Robert Kitson, lo portò ad adottare la tecnica dell’acquarello: quasi a rivivere i versi di Dante su Paolo e Francesca “Galeotto fu ‘l libro e chi lo scrisse” la comune passione per la pittura condusse i due artisti a vivere una intensa storia d’amore. Kitson costruì nel quartiere “Cuseni” di Taormina la sua abitazione, detta per questo “Casa Cuseni”, la casa fu costruita tra il 1900 ed il 1905, le sue decorazioni furono affidate agli artisti Alfred East (pittore verista paesaggista, presidente della Royal Society), e Frank Brangwyn (pittore, decoratore, designer, progettista), egli era allievo di William Morris, leader del movimento inglese “Arts and Crafts” (Arti e Mestieri) che si diffuse in Inghilterra nella seconda metà del XIX secolo (l’Arts and Crafts era una risposta alla industrializzazione dell’Europa, della produzione in massa operata dalle fabbriche, tutto ciò a scapito dell’artigianato tradizionale, da questo movimento ebbe origine l’Art Nouveau, in Italia conosciuta anche come Stile Liberty o Stile Floreale, che si distinse per essere stata un movimento artistico e filosofico, che si sviluppò tra la fine dell’800 ed il primo decennio del ‘900, il cui stile si diffuse in tal modo da essere presente dappertutto). Casa Cuseni ha custodito per 100 anni un segreto che va ben oltre quell’amore proibito vissuto da Robert e Carlo, segreto celato all’interno della “stanza segreta”, quella dinning room che è stata riaperta nel 2012; entrando nella sala da pranzo, si assiste ad una serie di murales realizzati sulle quattro pareti da Frank Brangwyn, in stile Art Nouveau, che ritraggono la vita e la storia d’amore tra il pittore Robert Kitson, ed il suo compagno di vita, il pittore taorminese Carlo Siligato, ma la cosa che rende questi murales ancora più particolari, carichi di tenerezza e dolcezza, è che in essi viene rappresentato “il loro segreto” (!), viene descritto visivamente, come in un racconto “ad episodi” quello che è realmente avvenuto nella loro vita: Messina (e Reggio Calabria) vengono distrutte dal terribile sisma con maremoto il 28 dicembre del 1908, partono per Messina, Carlo Siligato, Robert Kitson, Wilhelm von Gloeden ed Anatole France, per vedere e documentare di persona la tragedia, la città era un cumulo di macerie, moltissimi i morti, Robert e Carlo vedono un piccolo bimbo, Francesco, egli è solo al mondo, privo dei genitori periti nel terremoto, abbandonato ad un certo e triste destino, nasce in loro due un profondo desiderio di protezione, nasce un desiderio materno e paterno, decidono di prende quel piccolo bimbo con loro pur sapendo che stanno rischiando moltissimo…(!) , quello che vogliono fare è una cosa assolutamente impensabile in quel periodo storico, loro sono una coppia omosessuale, quello che stanno per fare è assolutamente proibito..(!) ma oramai c’è Francesco nella loro vita, divenendo così, di fatto, la prima famiglia omogenitoriale (con termine più generico, famiglia arcobaleno) nella storia mondiale: da qui la necessità di tenere assolutamente nascosta tutta la vicenda, sia dal punto di vista artistico, rappresentata dai murales (per più di 100 anni, la “dinning room” verrà tenuta nascosta), sia di quanto accade nella vita reale, col piccolo Francesco accudito amorevolmente, ma con grandissimo rischio. Ho inserito allegoricamente, nel racconto fotografico, alcune fotografie degli artisti della compagnia “Casa del Musical”, giunti a Taormina per esibirsi durante il periodo natalizio: oggi come ieri, Taormina è sempre stata (a partire dagli ultimi 20 anni dell’800) al centro di un crocevia di artisti e grandi personalità, Casa Cuseni anche in questo ha un enorme palmares di ospiti illustri, troppo lungo da enunciare. I giovani ragazzi dipinti sui murales di Casa Cuseni, vestono di bianco, questo è segno di purezza, si è voluto in tal modo rappresentare il loro mondo ideale omosessuale, in lotta contro la figura vestita di nero, bassa di statura, inquietante, che acquista un valore negativo, figura allegorica della società inglese dell’epoca, indicante la morale Vittoriana che non ha esitato a condannare Oscar Wilde, privandolo di tutti i suoi beni e diritti, impedendogli persino di dare il cognome ai suoi figli. I ragazzi sono ispirati ai giovani modelli siciliani fotografati da Wilhelm von Gloeden, vestiti con tuniche bianche, col capo cinto dei fiori locali. L’unica figura femminile presente, ha dato spunto a varie interpretazioni, una potrebbe essere il distacco da parte di Kitson dalla sua madre patria, oppure il distacco da sua madre. Sulla terza parete si assiste alla nascita della famiglia omogenitoriale, entrambi (allegoricamente Carlo e Kitson col bimbo in braccio) sono di profilo, sono in cammino, l’uomo più giovane ha una veste lunga, alla greca, posto sul davanti, accanto a lui, alle sue spalle, il compagno più robusto sostiene in braccio e protegge con dolcezza il piccolo bimbo, quasi a voler risparmiare al compagno la fatica di un lungo ed incerto percorso, vi è nella rappresentazione della famiglia l’idea di un lungo percorso, infatti l’uomo che regge il bimbo indossa delle calzature pesanti, i loro volti sono carichi di apprensione e preoccupazione: davanti a loro una parete vuota, così volutamente lasciata da Frank Brangwin, poiché il loro futuro è ignoto, davanti hanno un destino pieno di incognite (al tempo stesso, il loro cammino indica l’est, vanno verso il sole nascente: aprendo la grande finestra il sole inonda ogni cosa nella stanza).

Nella “stanza segreta” c’è il quadro dipinto nel 1912 da Alfred E. East, un olio su tela, rappresentante il lago Bourget.

Carlo Siligato, successivamente si sposò con Costanza, una sorella della nonna di mio padre, da lei ebbe un figlio, Nino, il quale per tantissimi anni ha vissuto e lavorato come commerciante nella bottega d’arte del padre. Ringrazio di cuore il mio collega dott. Francesco Spadaro, medico e stimato chirurgo, proprietario e direttore della Casa-Giardino-Museo “Casa Cuseni”, il quale, facendomi affettuosamente da cicerone, mi ha dato la preziosa opportunità di realizzare “questo tour fotografico” all’interno dell’abitazione-museo e nel “giardino-metafisico” di Casa Cuseni.

…E lo scoop che ho annunciato nel titolo..? Dopo aver fotografato la tomba di Carlo Siligato, nel cimitero cattolico di Taormina, mi sono messo alla ricerca di quella di Robert Kitson, nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina: quando finalmente l’ho trovata (insieme a lui giace sua nipote Daphne Phelps, seppellita successivamente nel 2005)…ho provato una fortissima commozione, innanzitutto mi aspettavo un mausoleo, invece ho trovato una tomba piccola, molto modesta, su questa non una sua foto, non un epitaffio, non una Croce, non un Angelo pregante ad indicarla, ma … inaspettatamente per una lapide funeraria…un piccolo bassorilievo scolpito su marmo (o su pietra) raffigurante…la Natalità…(!), evidentemente, l’averla scelta potrebbe avere un significato ben preciso: un desiderio di trasmettere un messaggio, qualcosa di molto profondo di lui, la sua tomba testimoniava così che nel suo animo, ciò che in vita fu davvero importante fu l’aver avuto una famiglia, con Carlo e col piccolo Francesco, certamente amatissimo, salvato da un molto probabile triste destino, nel terribile terremoto-maremoto di Messina del 28 dicembre del 1908…quasi rievocando in una sintesi assoluta, al termine della sua vita, ciò che era già stato raccontato nei “murales segreti” di Casa Cuseni.

………………………………………………………………………………….

Sadly not a patch on previous times I've been. Visually less of everything across the board. It's clear reenactors, stall holders, vintage vehicles etc., have given it a miss in advance.

The event organisers [Pike and Shot] say 80% of the groups let them down. Cant blame the groups for the mass exodus. You're the organisers, they have supported this event for over 10 years. The fault is on your doorstep.

I was watching and listening to the fella firing up the Rolls Royce engine. He was furious to put it mildly (as seen in my video). He received a call to start it earlier than scheduled. He had to! He did with reluctance and was subsequently drowning out the singers nearby. When he challenged the staff about it they were not so sympathetic. Awful for him. To his credit he apologised to the small crowd of what happened that he was instructed to start the engine early. So for me, this was a live example of the organisers causing unrest as the event unfolded.

Having been to several 1940s events this year, this was the bottom of the pile. When I spoke with quite a few visitors and stall holders etc., they were expecting so much more, as in the past.

Singer: Miss Trixie Holiday

The other singer, not in this video, was Ricky Hunter. Decided not to include him in my video because he spent way too much time looking at his phone, playlist, drinking water, while singing, rather than entertain the crowd. He was a last minute guest singer anyway. He had not been invited for over 5 years.

Entrance fee was £10! (reduced to £4 very late on into the second day). No concessions. No signposting to the event. No map or itinerary. Limited parking. A bare bones event. Purely the fault of the organisers and Rufford Abbey Estate collectively.

Without Prejudice.

A lovely spheroidal dwarf galaxy. Visually, the younger, bluer stars appear near the center, while an older, redder population appears on the outskirts. Interesting. I think this is typical for these spheroidal dwarfs, but I haven't taken much notice to it.

I tried to include as much as I could on the right, but unfortunately the nice data is cut off right about there. The galaxy continues more or less symmetrically to the right. Note the IR data did not cover the entire image, so the parts in the upper left and lower left that look kind of yellow and lack red are where that ended.

Apparently I already processed this one a while back but I forgot. Well it looks way better with Meredith's data, that's for sure.

This was put together using some custom drizzled data made by Meredith Durbin, attribution as follows:

NASA/ESA/Meredith Durbin/Judy Schmidt

That data came from these proposals:

ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey

A Calibration Database for Stellar Models of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

Red: WFC3/IR F110W+WFC3/IR F160W

Green: ACS/WFC F606W

Blue: ACS/WFC F475W

North is 32.32° clockwise from up.

Sadly not a patch on previous times I've been. Visually less of everything across the board. It's clear reenactors, stall holders, vintage vehicles etc., have given it a miss in advance.

The event organisers [Pike and Shot] say 80% of the groups let them down. Cant blame the groups for the mass exodus. You're the organisers, they have supported this event for over 10 years. The fault is on your doorstep.

I was watching and listening to the fella firing up the Rolls Royce engine. He was furious to put it mildly (as seen in my video). He received a call to start it earlier than scheduled. He had to! He did with reluctance and was subsequently drowning out the singers nearby. When he challenged the staff about it they were not so sympathetic. Awful for him. To his credit he apologised to the small crowd of what happened that he was instructed to start the engine early. So for me, this was a live example of the organisers causing unrest as the event unfolded.

Having been to several 1940s events this year, this was the bottom of the pile. When I spoke with quite a few visitors and stall holders etc., they were expecting so much more, as in the past.

Singer: Miss Trixie Holiday

The other singer, not in this video, was Ricky Hunter. Decided not to include him in my video because he spent way too much time looking at his phone, playlist, drinking water, while singing, rather than entertain the crowd. He was a last minute guest singer anyway. He had not been invited for over 5 years.

Entrance fee was £10! (reduced to £4 very late on into the second day). No concessions. No signposting to the event. No map or itinerary. Limited parking. A bare bones event. Purely the fault of the organisers and Rufford Abbey Estate collectively.

Without Prejudice.

"Constructed circa 1865, Upton is a coursed gray ashlar two-storey residence located in the east end of the central residential core of Sault Ste. Marie. It visually provides a well proportioned, dignified elevation to a quiet dead end street.

Upton has been recognized for its heritage value by the City of Sault Ste. Marie, By-law 83-266.

Thought to have been constructed in 1865, Upton, as it was originally named, is one of the oldest residences in Sault Ste. Marie, second only to the Ermatinger Old Stone House (built in 1812). It was built as the home of Wemyss Mackenzie Simpson. Simpson had come to Canada in 1840, serving with the Hudson's Bay Company in various capacities, including that of chief factor of the Sault post from 1862 until its closure in 1865. Following the closure of the post, Simpson was elected as the first Member of Parliament for Algoma. He served in that capacity from 1867 to 1872, at which time he resigned to accept the post of Indian Commissioner.

One of the most important examples of Sault Ste. Marie's earliest residential buildings, Upton displays a Georgian style of architecture with Regency influences. It is similar in design to Bishophurst, built in 1874 as the home of Bishop Frederick Dawson Fauquier, the first Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Algoma. Similarities can be seen in the verandahs, the box-like structure of the main house and the low-hipped roofs with smaller projecting wings.

In the mid-1980's Upton was in danger of being lost to the community through neglect and abuse. It was saved by the efforts of Heritage Sault Ste. Marie, a local non-profit corporation that purchased Upton in 1987 and restored its exterior while converting the interior into three luxury condominiums. Now owned by private individuals, this important heritage building is secure in its future.

Key character defining elements that reflect Upton's heritage value include its:

- symmetrical fenestration and layout

- low, truncated hip roof

- coursed ashlar stone

- stone lintels, keystones and quoins

- six over six sash windows

- french doors

- Regency style wood verandah" - info from Historic Places Canada.

"Sault Ste. Marie (/ˈsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ SOO-seint-ma-REE) is a city on the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada, close to the Canada–US border. It is the seat of the Algoma District and the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants of the area, call this area Baawitigong, meaning "place of the rapids." They used this as a regional meeting place during whitefish season in the St. Mary's Rapids. (The anglicized form of this name, Bawating, is used in institutional and geographic names in the area.)

To the south, across the river, is the United States and the Michigan city of the same name. These two communities were one city until a new treaty after the War of 1812 established the border between Canada and the United States in this area at the St. Mary's River. In the 21st century, the two cities are joined by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 on the Michigan side, and Huron Street (and former Ontario Secondary Highway 550B) on the Ontario side. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the Saint Mary's Rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage that passes through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

French colonists referred to the rapids on the river as Les Saults de Ste. Marie and the village name was derived from that. The rapids and cascades of the St. Mary's River descend more than 6 m (20 ft) from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. Hundreds of years ago, this slowed shipping traffic, requiring an overland portage of boats and cargo from one lake to the other. The entire name translates to "Saint Mary's Rapids" or "Saint Mary's Falls". The word sault is pronounced [so] in French, and /suː/ in the English pronunciation of the city name. Residents of the city are called Saultites.

Sault Ste. Marie is bordered to the east by the Rankin and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west by Prince Township. To the north, the city is bordered by an unincorporated portion of Algoma District, which includes the local services boards of Aweres, Batchawana Bay, Goulais and District, Peace Tree and Searchmont. The city's census agglomeration, including the townships of Laird, Prince and Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional and the First Nations reserves of Garden River and Rankin, had a total population of 79,800 in 2011.

Native American settlements, mostly of Ojibwe-speaking peoples, existed here for more than 500 years. In the late 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries established a mission at the First Nations village. This was followed by development of a fur trading post and larger settlement, as traders, trappers and Native Americans were attracted to the community. It was considered one community and part of Canada until after the War of 1812 and settlement of the border between Canada and the US at the Ste. Mary's River. At that time, the US prohibited British traders from any longer operating in its territory, and the areas separated by the river began to develop as two communities, both named Sault Ste. Marie." - info from Wikipedia.

Now on Instagram.

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

Visually busy alley-facing sides of some buildings in Adelaide, encountered during a poodlewalk.

PC filter combined with motion blur. Originally a bowl of venison :))

Probably my favourite movie ever. Visually beautiful and full of atmosphere, this was my biggest inspiration for the Dark Isle Saga along side Rareware's Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Snes. So i'd be lying if I said I hadn't been planning to do this for a while now and have one scene complete and another nearly finished.

I'm looking at 8 mocs for this and maybe a few extra's. So far I have planned the following scenes:

The Windmill

Van Tassle's Manor House

The Tree Of The Dead

The Witches Cave in the woods

Large complete Sleepy Hollow Village

They are the more bigger mocs and obviously the complete village is gonna be huge and probably something I will take to shows this year. Ive been wanting to build another village for ages now, so will really be going all out on that one. I have managed to get some plans of the original village design to work from, so should be lots of fun!

Hopefully going to post the first moc next month BUT they wont be in order as they appear in the movie. Mainly because I need that new Lego pumpkin head for a few scenes and its not out yet.

So if there's any other fans of this movie among you, rest assured I shall do my best to do it justice.