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The Kennet & Avon Canal at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.
Due to the nature of my work, I have to travel all over the UK and stay away from home most weeks in places both nice and not-so-nice. I am fortunate in my current job to stay alternate weeks in Bradford-on-Avon, one of the most tranquil and picturesque places that I have ever stayed. Well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.
The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century, and the 57-mile (92 km) canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the canal gradually fell into disuse after the opening of the Great Western Railway. In the latter half of the 20th century the canal was restored in stages, largely by volunteers. After decades of dereliction and much restoration work, it was fully reopened in 1990. The Kennet and Avon Canal has been developed as a popular heritage tourism destination for boating, canoeing, fishing, walking and cycling, and is also important for wildlife conservation.
The Telegraph also has an interesting writeup on Bradford-on-Avon.
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“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? - Nora Roberts
Headpieces: Casstronaut
[I just got back from a trip to Tennessee to visit with my precious friend Cassie, who is hands down one of my favorite people ever. We always have such wonderfully goofy times together. Whether we're tromping through woods in the pouring rain with stormwatch towers screaming hysterically at us or wearing garbage bags on legs or footie pajamas by a creekside or grappling with my undeniable distractibility and mile-a-minute thoughts and nonsensical garbled sentences that tumble out of my mouth, there truly is never a dull moment. I feel grateful for the friendship I have with her, and for the unquantifiable allowance to simply be who I am, unabashedly, when we spend time together.
Okay okay, enough of the squishy writeup about friendship and its value. We shot this on the last day of my visit--I really wanted to have a nice portrait with her and I where she wasn't wearing a sheet for a dress or I wasn't flapping my arms like a walrus. What. Walruses have arms that they flap.]
Who knew this locomotive is in the Register of Historical Places??? Maumelle Ordnance Works Locomotive #1 , mascarading as Augusta Railroad #7 at the Fort smith Trolley Museum. A truely unique critter for sure as it is powered by a Hercules gasoline engine that will turn 1800 rpm and is coupled to the wheels through a 4 speed gear box to the counter shafts that turn the drivers through drive rods. I had no idea I was photoing such a significant piece of history. Attached is the writeup from Wiki, I recommend reading it for some fascinating information.
Twenty-six minutes later (ie. after the shot posted yesterday), I had entered Grasslands Park, driven a few km, parked beside the road, and hiked across the frosty prairie for this view into Police Coulee. Meanwhile the sun had popped up above the horizon (although we know that in reality the earth had rotated toward it), and fog drifted up from the Frenchman River. At this juncture, my job was simply to point and shoot. It's a mistake to think too much in situations like this, and I can report that no thoughts crossed my mind while I stood there framing this photograph through the viewfinder.
The "Police" in Police Coulee likely comes from North West Mounted Police patrols in this area in the 1880s. They were the precursor of today's RCMP, wearers of red serge and famous for the musical ride they put on for tourists each summer. Seriously, what do you think of when you think of Canada, if you ever do? I would guess the image that comes to mind is a Mountie in red serge, with Niagara Falls in the background and maybe some kids playing hockey dangerously close to the falls while their mothers sip maple syrup and say "Eh?" and "Sorry!" nonstop, and the occasional moose trots past. Admit it. You do. Meanwhile, the ex-pop star Madonna - not to be confused with my dear friend, the talented artist and writer Madonna, who lives one street over from me - has advised the Royals to not move to Canada because it's boring. She is partly correct. Everything is boring for those who lack imagination.
Okay, the preceding paragraph is my idea of a joke, except for the part about the ex-pop star. Really. Try not to be offended, even if you are a Madonna fan. But seriously, I can't remember the last time I was bored, unless it was yesterday when all I could think of to make for supper was brown rice and veggies. And I know this writeup will come as a great disappointment to those who would prefer that I discuss photography and stay away from ex-pop stars and cultural icons entirely. Well, you are probably correct. Sorry, eh?
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
The writeup for March 29, 2015: Multiple Avalanches on Mt. Washington - www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/2015/03/29/march-2...
Mission 10.2 for the 253rd Elite Legion
"Sir... I've got sights on the Tarasin, but I can't get a clear shot."
-schhllllk-
"... that works too"
---
Sorry I would've loved to have done a proper writeup, but I don't think I'll have much internet access for the next few weeks and I've left it a bit late. Hope you enjoy the build anyhow. :^)
here's the writeup on the previous photo - www.box.net/shared/4z0jmqeg4c
thanks for your comments, i'll be back tonight.
for those who are interested in some of the techniques i use to create the pastel/light colors (as in the previous picture), i'll do a writeup tonight.
[i use google picasa - so the writeup will be based on that (sorry no photoshop for me ;) ]
On July 14 mother Gadwall brought six downy babies out into the harbour at the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
A week later on July 21, five of the ducklings remained, which rates as really good success in the duck world. It can be heartbreaking to monitor the progress of such families, counting fewer and fewer youngsters as the days go by.
Today, July 28, two weeks later, five are still alive and growing bigger and stronger, their chances of making it to adulthood increasing with each passing day.
I took this photo on July 21, so the duckling is eight days old. I was holding well back, attempting to secure a portrait of the whole family, but the group moved resolutely towards my position, showing no wariness. They eventually came ashore next to me, huddling up almost on my boots. The harbour is not very busy, but I guess the birds had had enough positive interactions with humans to lose their fear.
Ducklings of different species can look fairly similar and can be tricky to identify without the parent immediately visible. If you are doing a writeup on the Gadwall and need an image of a young one, get in touch for permission to use this one!
July 30 Update - Mother and five ducklings still going strong!
August 9 Update - Five ducklings now 2/3rds size of mom.
August 26 Update - Five ducklings still going strong (although not really ducklings anymore)!
Liftoff of an Antares rocket supporting mission NG-18 from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia. The photo was taken with a Nikon D7100 I had picked up on eBay a few weeks ago. The camera was used as a remote, meaning I had to set it the day before and leave it. Setup includes choosing the right location , staking the tripod to the ground, adjusting the exposure for what you think will work, taping the lens and taping a hot hands to it, and finally adding a miops sound trigger and covering it with plastic.
You can read my writeup of the mission here:
www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/iss/ng-18-cygnus-carg...
www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/iss/penultimate-antar...
DSC_5358-3
Man, o man- what a roller coaster ride of a week it's been!
First things first, this is a finely polished single frame of a timelapse sequence for a night montage I'm working on. I can't promise the final timelapse piece will have all 300 frames looking like this, but.. it's a goal! Big thanks to [http://www.flickr.com/photos/drwhite75/] for poking me to process this one. He's been raving about it since I posted a preview screen shot from my phone from the night I shot this. Thanks Darren, I think I would have left if alone as just a timelapse if you hadn't kept at me!
Ohk, on to other things, in case you didn't hear- crazy amazingness happened this week (yes, that is a real phrase). I found out I won FIRST PLACE in National Geographic's Travel Photo Contest (insert scene of me running around the room with arms and hands flailing in air while yelling)!!! You can see details, writeup, and winning image and accompanying timelapse here:
intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/02/behin...
variation to description here:
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/pictures/110802-...
So, ....I'm still just blown away. I grew up reading National Geographic, and while in my globe-trotting backpacking phase- I devoured National Geographic's magazines as inspiration and window into the world at large. So, to win a photography competition for them is just shocking. Seriously, it may sound cheesy, but I'm really excited for me (yeah, that's right, I'll admit it) but, I'm excited for all of us because it means anyone can win those damn competitions. I didn't think anyone could win them. But, it turns out.. you can! If I did, then, with hard work and determination, next year's winner could be any of you reading this. That trips me out. And is exciting to me.
Thank you all for the incredibly kind comments and messages you've sent this week- man, I am just amazed at the support and encouragement that comes from all of you in the Flickr community :-) I'll be staying in this weekend working on some projects, and one of the things to do is get back to all of you with a thanks. So, till then, thanks again for the incredible support and inspiration that you've been to me, and we've all been to each other.
Cheers guys :-)
OH, also, this weekend there is a "Star Party" up at Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. For any Oregon/Washington locals, I'm going to head up there and check out the stars. Come on out and join if you're in the mood!
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Blog Post: His Demonic Bride
Deviant Art: His Demonic Bride
He will marry me...
NB.
All 'Hallow Manor' pink links will take you to the location of the booth you wish!
The Body Parts:
Head: LeLutka - Evo X - Zora 3.1 - BoM
Body: MeshBody - Legacy - Classic - BoM
Hair: MINA - Emilia - FLF Essentials
The Beautician:
Skin: .:Soul:. - [G3] Legacy F [H2] Toned - BoM
Face: .:Soul:. - [G3] Bailey [H2] No Brows - BoM - [We <3 RolePlay - October 2022]
Eyeshadow: REPULSE - Lilith eye Makeup Tattoo - [Hallow Manor - October 2022] [Exclusive]
Lipstick: [ Badwill ] - Venom Lipstain - [Hallow Manor - October 2022] [Hunt Prize]
At the Boutique:
Dress: Just Because - Bellatrix Dress - Fatpack - [FaMESHed - October 2022]
Time to Accessorise:
Orb: *Kwaii* - Magic Set - Orb Red - [Hallow Manor - October 2022] [Exclusive]
Horns: [AERTH] - Suru Horns - [Hallow Manor - October 2022] [Exclusive]
Hat: {Rosier} - Adelia Witch Hat - Fatpack - [Hallow Manor - October 2022] [Exclusive]
Setting the Scene:
Backdrop: ANTICA - Gothica - PhotoBooth
Pose: Luanes World - Love is like a Flower - Flowers are Happiness
Important Stuff:
Sorry! No writeups as I've been very ill with Covid.
Hallow Manor 2022
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October 14th - November 1st 2022
24 Hour Early Access was - October 13th (9am SLT) - October 14th (9am SLT)
To qualify for early access please make sure you are a member of either:
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Stars!!
Finally.
Check this out on the black screen :-)
I've posted a version from inside the bowl before, but, new with this posting is the FULL writeup concerning the events from this night. If you're in the mood for a literary adventure to match this eye candy, then indulge here
I'll keep from talking much about this night so you can hear about it all on the blog.
But, a few things before I'm done.
1, I'm going to focus on getting another tutorial on post processing of star shots. I've gotten an incredible response from the first tutorial, and many of you are asking, "What do I do with my noisy images?" So, that will be answered. Stay tuned.
2, Prints are available of most of my images. I will shortly be putting a rates list for buying prints on my website. Check there, or message me directly if you are interested in getting a star print. Purchasing a print is a great way to keep these crazy star shots in far places funded.
3, I am chomping at the bit to get clear skies and star pictures for 2011, but cloudy skies will have Oregon buried for a good bit. In the meantime, I am keeping myself busy and practiced with other photo projects. So, don't be surprised if you see fire dancers and other crazy stuff. And rest assured, star shots will be in the mix, and a fresh wave once the stars come back to play.
4, I've got one last link for you. An incredible help and support to me is my girlfriend. She keeps me going and on a somewhat focused path, as I am usually zigzagging all over the place. She is a photographer also, and I think you should take a look at her pics. You wont be disappointed.
Valorie's pics here
Check my profile to find my website for more information, tutorial on shooting stars, and anything else.
Feedback is always appreciated!
“The term (political correctness) first appeared in Marxist-Leninist vocabulary following the Russian Revolution of 1917. At that time it was used to describe adherence to the policies and principles of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (that is, the party line).” – Encyclopedia Britannica
The communists killed millions and millions of their people in order to create a utopian society based on equality. In communism, one must be “politically correct.” If you say something wrong you might disappear in the night, never to be seen again. Of course, self-censorship and voluntary compliance are preferred by the regime. Indoctrination keeps an individual within the proper ideological bounds of the state.
“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” – William Douglas
Many cannot recognize the threat of censorship, because they are ignorant of the crimes of communism. The public is more aware of the atrocities of the Nazis, as opposed to the atrocities of the communists. This is what happens when universities are bastions of Marxism, and professors are fond of Karl Marx. (Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto). My grandpa, who went through the Great Depression, used to say, “People go to university to become socialists.” So this stuff is nothing new! This is what leftists call the “long march through the institutions.” The plan was to infiltrate the institutions of the West in order to transform them from the inside out. The Long March of the 1960s sowed the doctrines of critical theory (neo-Marxism). (Critical theory came out of the Frankfurt School). These seeds produced various kinds of critical theory: critical race theory, queer theory, postcolonial/decolonial theory, feminist theory, critical environmental theory, and critical pedagogy. Our children are being taught these subversive ideologies, even though they are rooted in evil. The fruits of these ideologies have produced mass death and misery. They gave us Stalin’s Great Purges and Mao’s Great Leap Forward. Indeed, the communists regulated speech, and millions died.
“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” – Potter Stewart
Regulating hate speech is undemocratic; it is rooted in totalitarianism. Regulating hate speech is a way of enforcing the politically correct doctrine of the day. It suppresses free speech, and it suppresses open dialogue. It suppresses critical thinking, and it suppresses creativity. And it will eventually lead to the criminalization of ideological opposition.
“Misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and other risks to the information ecosystem are fueling conflict, threatening democracy and human rights, and undermining public health and climate action.” – United Nations
The West is losing its freedom of speech. People in England are being arrested for social media posts. In Germany, they are trying to ban a political party. We saw Western governments colluding with big tech to censor dissenting views during COVID-19. Various politicians want to fight misinformation and disinformation. The European Union also wants to crackdown on what it deems as misinformation and disinformation. What they are doing, however, is fighting against freedom of speech—against freedom.
“The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation threatens to erode the credibility of public institutions and limit their capacity to implement policies that enhance public well-being.” – World Bank
When central bank digital currencies and social credit scores are implemented, you better watch what you say or do. If you say or do the wrong thing, you will have your money frozen. You will be like the Canadian truckers, who had their bank accounts frozen during COVID-19. With quantum computing, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-driven technologies, a surveillance apparatus is being built. This Beast system will be an authoritarian dystopia like the world has never known.
“In this case wisdom is needed: Let the person who has understanding calculate the total number of the beast, because it is a human total number, and the sum of the number is 666.” – Revelation 13:18
Although the Industrial Revolution increased life expectancy, it also produced many negative consequences. As a result, we live in a society that has lost much of its roots and moral grounding. Therefore, we live unfulfilling lives. As technology continues to advance, we will witness more social disruption. We now live in an industrial-technological system, which we will not be able to turn back. As this system marches forward, we will lose our dignity and freedom—even our humanity.
We have become a society of leisure; we have become decadent. As a result, we have become bored, hedonistic, and demoralized. An individual must have meaningful goals in life, which they can ‘autonomously’ work toward—goals with real adversity and reward. In accomplishing such goals, a person finds fulfillment. In our modern society, we have lost much of our autonomy. We have been trained to be obedient to the system. We must follow ever-increasing bureaucratic rules and regulations. Nowadays, experts tell us what to do and how to think. We are cogs of the machine—we are under the direction and control of the system. Yet this is not healthy for human beings. We must have our own independence, so that we can build our lives by our own initiative. If there is little room for a person to exercise autonomy, they will feel insignificant. If they have the autonomy to attain meaningful goals, they will gain self-confidence. A society that cannot make/create/set or fulfill meaningful goals will become demoralized; they will suffer from low self-esteem and feelings of inferiority; they will suffer from depression, anxiety, and guilt; they will become frustrated, hostile, and unfriendly; they will become bored and pursue hedonistic pleasures in order to cope.
Many young people today lack goals. They cannot see themselves attaining enough financial stability to marry a spouse or raise a family. They cannot see themselves owning a house or having a future to look forward to. This results in demoralization and defeatism.
In the past, people had to truly survive. This took serious effort. They had to make tools and weapons. They had to hunt down an animal, kill it, butcher it, get it home, cook it, and eat it. How manly and satisfying! A man would find fulfillment in a lifetime of roaming and exploring the land, hunting wild game for his family. He would have many adventures. Yet in our modern society, it takes minimal effort to attain one’s basic needs. Today, we work dead-end jobs that are unsatisfying. They provide us with a paycheck, but they don’t provide us with real fulfillment. We then try to find fulfillment in hobbies and other leisure activities, which will not bring us real fulfillment. What is worse, we spend our spare time sitting around staring at screens. The human body is not built to live a sedentary life. The human brain is not built to doomscroll. Living sedentary lives and doomscrolling obviously leads to unhappiness. Such activities are less satisfying than accomplishing meaningful goals such as buying land, clearing the land of trees by hand, using the trees to build a house by hand, carrying ones wife over the threshold, raising a family, working the land and raising livestock, thus conquering the land and continuing ones posterity. This in itself is Biblical. Why do you think, when Christ returns, He will divide up the land among the people (as it was done in the Old Testament)? It is so that man will work his ‘own’ land. Then man will work in nature, where he will be happiest. God made nature for man, not man for nature. The goal of the globalist agenda is to further divide man from nature; it is an antichrist agenda. Their goal is transhumanism, which will dehumanize mankind and further divide him from nature. Moreover, transhumanism will divide man from God.
A pre-industrial society is predominantly rural. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the population of cities vastly increased. A technological society changes rapidly, thus there is less stability. These changes affect all aspects of society and cause the breakdown of traditional values. Breaking down traditional values causes the breakdown of societal bonds. An individual’s loyalty changes: it must not be first to their family or community, but first and foremost to the system. Indeed, individuals must be tools of the system. This makes us less independent and autonomous, because we become reliant on the system. The system is constantly changing, and we are taught to obey its changing rules and regulations. Yet these regulations are laid down by others. We have little to no input in the making of these rules. They are made by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, corporations and organizations. This makes us feel powerless, which gives us a sense of hopelessness. Can you see why society has become so frustrated, insecure, humiliated, and angry? The more unfulfilled a society becomes, the more restless it becomes. Restlessness causes friction, and friction causes factions. Thus, a society breaks into factions. A society of impoverished relationships makes for a toxic society. Science will give us the tools to alter the material world, but our relationships with one another and with nature will be destroyed.
As society advances technologically, we lose more freedoms. People can’t even put down their phones, let alone toss them away to fight the system. People don’t want to sacrifice what they have become addicted to and dependent on. Yet they will replace their current technology with something more advanced. They will go from cell phones to wearable technology to microchips. With the promise of eliminating diseases and gaining super intelligence, much of society will give up freedom to be genetically engineered and microchipped. Even though, such a step will never be reversed. Humans will be modified to suit the needs of the system. They will become one with robotic technology.
Many people are not concerned about these dystopian scenarios. Yet technologies such as robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology pose a great threat to humanity. These technologies will be used as tools to redesign the world. Self-replicating technologies will cause great damage to the biosphere. In the end, self-replicating technology will be impossible to control.
Artificial Intelligence will replace human creativity. In the future, the internet will be accessed only by your personal AI assistant. You will ask your AI assistant questions, and it will surf the internet for you. You will not go on Youtube to watch videos. You will ask AI to make the kind of videos you desire to watch. There will be no human content creators. Get used to AI art, AI videos, AI music, AI articles, AI slop! That is what you will be fed. Many who want to fight the system will eventually become passive, and they will no longer resist. They will be sucked into the system and become zombified. They will become docile slaves of the system. It desires complete control over everything on earth, both man and nature. Humanity will then be reduced to the status of domestic animals. Of course, this will be for the good of the planet!
If university students are using AI to write papers, AI will replace them in their future jobs. If teachers and professors are using AI to write curriculum and mark papers, AI will replace them. If the younger generation has no work ethic, they will be replaced by subsidized foreign workers, then both will be replaced by AI. If generation Alpha can’t read, then AI will replace them. The (dangerous) foreign semi-truck drivers on our roads will be replaced by AI self-driving trucks. AI in the schools, AI in the hospitals, replace, replace, replace. The politicians make many terrible decisions, thus they will be replaced by AI.
Moving on! The more society moves away from the traditions of marriage and family, the more unfulfilled and unhappy society will become. Radical leftists feel the least fulfillment, because they long to destroy society and its traditions. How happy can one be if they want to destroy their roots? They are constantly deconstructing themselves, it’s the Maoist way—how else can you brainwash yourself? Therefore, they feel guilt and self-hatred. They gain an inferiority complex. They have a love-hate relationship with themselves. On one hand they loathe themselves, but on the other hand they selfishly desire power. For this reason, they are self-loathing narcissists. They feel unfulfilled and powerless. Therefore, they seek power to bring about fulfillment. They feel weak and helpless, so they desire to feel strong and competent. It’s a coping mechanism. They also hate anything that appears strong, moral, and successful. They hate America, Western civilization, capitalism, the family, patriarchy, whites, males, heterosexuals, the rich, the middleclass, and even rationality. They despise all who are more beautiful, talented, intelligent, or successful than them. Envy does not equate to fulfillment or happiness. Side note: social media causes much envy and unhappiness.
The far left wants society to take care of them, because they are lazy and lack confidence. They feel strong only as a member of a large group or movement. They like to be abusive to those who disagree with them, because they have masochistic tendencies. The Marxist ideology is an authoritarian ideology, which is masochistic in nature, because it revolves around revolution. The far left may act empathetic, but they are apathetic. Indeed, a study on this topic found that radical leftists were apathetic and narcissistic. Their goals revolve around revolution and power. Their insecurity causes them to feel hostile, and their revolution helps them to vent their hostility. They don’t care about diplomacy, so they act hostile. With them, it is all or nothing: they want revolution, they want power. How can you have a rational conversation with individuals who don’t want dialogue? They use minorities as an excuse for revolution. They hide behind minorities, using them to shield their intentions of revolution. They go into poor black communities to fight for poor black people, yet they burn down black businesses and ruin their local economy. The communist must fight for the revolution, for everything opposed to the revolution is a sin. The communist tries to find fulfillment in the act of rebellion; he tries to find fulfillment in the act of revolution. He, however, is never satisfied. Thus, the revolution moves onward.
For the radical, activism is a vent for their pent-up emotions. Activism produces unity among the young militants, creating a bond between like-minded people. Losers can feel accepted, like they belong. Many of these communist agitators are from middle and upper middleclass homes. They have had an easy but unfulfilling life. They are the most radicalized, because they feel the most unfulfilled. They have become so demoralized that they have become nihilistic. Their life seems to have no meaning. They have lost their moral compass. They rely on emotions rather than on reason. They rely on feelings rather than on facts. “Their political activism is thus only a reaction to the more basic fear that the times are against them, that a new world is emerging without either their assistance or their leadership.” These activists will gradually accept more deviant subcultures as they further divorce themselves from reality. “The supreme irony of that loose and volatile sociopolitical phenomenon of contemporary middleclass America named the New Left is that it is itself the creation of the technetronic revolution as well as a reaction against it.” “The New Left was able to draw on the deep-rooted traditions of American populism, Quaker pacifism, and the pre-World War II largely immigrant-imported socialism and communism.” (The ‘New Left’ refers to the leftist movement of the 60s).
Paying for your child’s first car, college tuition, wedding, or house down payment will give them little sense of accomplishment. Giving children everything not only spoils them but also makes life boring. There must be ups and downs for life to be interesting. Bad times can produce growth and maturity, that is, if a person desires to learn from life. Especially if they want to build a strong moral character. The rewards of being cogs in the system produce great boredom. These middleclass kids have a self-indulgent lifestyle that contradicts their professed anti-materialism. Their material existence tends to depend on their parents. Their ideological infantilism stems from obsolete nineteenth-century criticisms of capitalism. They are spoiled kids who are rebelling against middleclass society. These activists offer no real response to the dilemmas of our age. Their revolutionary movement is really an escapist movement. It is a way of coping with their unfulfilled lives. They supposedly desire to change society, but they really want to create a refuge (safe space) from society. Their activism is a psychological safety valve, in which they can blow off steam. They escape their boring lives through activism, so they can feel a sense of freedom and self-gratification. They pat each other on the back, because they are supposedly fighting against their capitalist enemy. However, this is really a form of group therapy.
The woke activists on the ground are the canaries in the coal mine. They are indicators of the problems of our society as a whole. Through them, we have the best lens on society’s anxiety, uncertainty, vulnerability, and dissatisfaction. Side note: we can see the incoming collectivist system through the lens of the United Nations. They want to eradicate poverty. Yet they hide behind poverty, using it to shield their intentions of ruling the world. With communism, it’s all about gaining power. Communism is meant to go worldwide. Collectivism seeks to bind together the entire world (both man and nature) into a unified whole.
Neo-Marxism went through the dialectic with postmodernism and produced wokeism. Some think that post-postmodernism will have a more spiritual element to it. I think that wokeism will go through the dialectic with some sort of religious spiritualism, which will produce antichristism. Wokeism is authoritarian in nature, yet it has a quasi-religious character. Post-postmodernism will lead to an authoritarian system with a spiritual flavour. Man must be grounded to a one-world religion to be grounded to a one-world government. Woke socialism must have a spiritual awakening, so to speak. Wokeism must awaken further in its social enlightenment in order to transcend to the next level of social consciousness. This dialectic enlightenment will mix socialism with a spiritual experience. It will lead to transhumanism. The coming socialist leader—the antichrist—will combine socialism, religion, and transhumanism. Modernity, with its globalization, technology, and social(ist) change, has produced a society that lacks fulfillment. Although technology will bring less fulfillment to humanity, the technological system will lead it forward on a leash. I can see one of the marketing strategies for the Mark of the Beast: we live in stressful times, take the microchip and become numb to the stresses of reality. The soma of the Brave New World Order will give you fulfillment. You will be modified to suit the needs of the system. Warning: do not follow the world system!
Revelation 18:4 “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.’”
1 John 4:4 “Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].”
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Romans 8:7 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”
In a sinful world, no individual can experience perfect fulfillment. When I’m in eternity with the Lord, I’ll know perfect fulfillment!
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Digital Leica CL + Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 ASPH
Weronika, Poland
Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 - As Seen on YouTube! - youtu.be/Znar4ifNWgw
Full writeup - mrleica.com/voigtlander-ultron-35mm-f1-7-review/
I believe this is a female desert forktail. The females are tough, at least for me, but that's my best guess.
Check out all of my Species a Day writeups here.
Shot with a Canon 5d camera on monopod, extended over bride and groom. Remote slave speedlight set to 1/2 power with red gel. Assistant is holding flash aimed at the floor, seen in upper middle right side of photo, facing away from subjects. Bounce light on camera to fill subjects with Canon 580. Full writeup at: www.flashflavor.com/2007/08/31/112/ive-got-a-hotstick.html
Late day sunlight lights up the trees (Red Alder and Paper Birch) and wetland plants next to Katzie Marsh in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada.
More photos from this location in my writeup here: www.mrussellphotography.com/blog/katzie-marsh-loop-part-2/
©2024 Michael Russell
Check out the Film Shooters Collective website (link below) for a little writeup I did on my Canon 7 and Ferrania Solaris 200
September 2018
Ashland, Oregon.
Canon 7 rangefinder
Canon 50/2.2 LTM
Expired Ferrania Solaris 200
Epson V750
Long-tailed tits feeding chicks at Millers wood.
More photos and writeup on my blog at www.johnstantonphotography.co.uk/long-tailed-tits-feeding...
Please take a look, thank you.
This little gal is named Wakanda. When I visited she was very shy although interested in the outside. Apparently she has some very distinct likes and dislikes - which last (according to the shelter writeup) includes teens and tall men. She was a very good mother to her kittens and has shown affection in the past, although she's still a bit jittery. She's looking for a home where she can have a little time to become more confident - and she found it 8 August 2018.
(She was in explore at 470... got dropped off, but did make the explore group. Since she never made it into any groups or anything spammish, my guess is she just didn't make the permanent 500 cut. Apparently it wasn't search engines finding "Wakanda" because the stats show all of the references yesterday being via Flickr, not external. I sure hope this helps her find a home though ;-) )
The Australian Mountain Boarders Group were at the Berwick Show recently doing some performances and demonstrations, see the pictures and a full writeup.,
I love and am passionate about photography but my limited knowledge/skill is obtained by learning from others, the Internet and other sources. I am keen to continue to grow and develop my skills to be the best photographer I can, however to do that I need YOUR help :).
If you think something works, let me know. If you think it does not work also let me know (and why). Any constructive feedback or tips you can offer is always appreciated and helps me develop my skills more and grow as a passionate photographer. Whilst I appreciate the favorites, if you think I can do it better let me know how in the comments!
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Website: www.TravisHale.com
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Yellow-backed desert spiny lizard, Sceloporus magister uniformis. I took this yesterday, saved the file yesterday, and then fell asleep. Long weekend. This totally counts for yesterday.
Check out all my Species a Day posts, with writeups, here.
Winter sunset at Castle Hill Lighthouse. Got as close to the water as I could and shot as wide as possible.
I prefer this side of the light in Winter for sunset as the location of the sun is different than Summer. If you look at my last posted photo, it was taken from the other side of the light.
I did a writeup on photographing from this Lighthouse in Rhode Island for the Photographers Trail Notes website. Writeup describes the seasonal aspects. See link below:
photographerstrailnotes.com/castle-hill-photographers-guide
Part of the Eccentric Cycles Exhibit at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. One of many eccentric cycles built and ridden by the Steinlauf's. Good bit of info on them in the web, including videos on YouTube. Besure and look at original size to see the writeups on the bikes.
This one by my son, David, who keeps asking to contribute. He actually took this a little while ago on our windowsill. I'm way behind on sharing his shots. More soon.
Check out all my Species a Day posts, with writeups, here.
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Digital Leica CL + Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 ASPH
Nicola, Poland (Apartment 2 lighting setup as shown on Patreon)
Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 - As Seen on YouTube! - youtu.be/Znar4ifNWgw
Full writeup - mrleica.com/voigtlander-ultron-35mm-f1-7-review/
Here's the recipe
What I like about this is a sentence in the introduction, how awfully difficult it is, to get a writeup from your mum or granny, because they don't work this way - they just do it.
And of course we improvised cooking this recipe. A yolk for the base and three whole eggs in the filling? Make that two and the white. Didn't have enough almonds - replaced a part of that with buckwheat (Buchweizen) to keep the nutty taste. The tarte was awesome, Marie did a really good job!
Toy Project Day 2901
Please go to Around the Grid for Harper's writeup on these tops, and a little tribute to Sydney, Australia.
You can see our "together" shot, as well as Harper's two solo photos, in her group.
Result of a late night photoshoot in the center of downtown Paris. Unsatisfied with the first couple shoots with Pyrotechnician Andrey Das, we got together one final time the night before we left France to do an epic shoot in front of a church with flaming ropes and an impressive 5 gallons of fluid.
The challenge was once again to do the entire shot in camera and blend flashes, multiple exposures and fireballs all without using photoshop. I'll be doing a writeup quite soon upon my return back to Montreal on how multiple exposures can really get you some great results straight out of camera!
We're currently in spain right now and will be shooting our final subject Cecilio Castrillo Martinez in less than 5 hours...
For those of you interested in hearing what we've been up to - http://www.vonwong.com/blog/week-3/
Three vintage bipropellant engines from the space race. Each of them was used for maneuvering in space, and each has a simple solenoid valve assembly, which allows the fuel and oxidizer to spray into the combustion chamber. These particularly noxious hypergolic chemicals have the valuable property that they ignite spontaneously upon contact, in a vacuum, with no spark required.
From left to right:
• Gemini SE-6, provided attitude and maneuvering control for the Gemini spacecraft. Pitch, roll, and yaw torques were obtained by firing these engines in pairs. Sixteen SE-6 engines made up the Reentry Control System (RCS) in the nose of the Gemini spacecraft. Made of steel and an ablative nozzle by Rocketdyne, these engines produced 25 pounds of thrust.
• Apollo Command Module SE-8: A set of 12 of these Rocketdyne RCS engines provided the Command Module with rotation control, rate damping, and attitude control after separation from the Service Module and during re-entry. The engine has had several test firings. Described in detail when it first arrived. 93 lbs. of thrust.
• Apollo Lunar Module R-4D: The most difficult to find, clusters of four of these engines were an iconic external feature of the Lunar Module and Service Module. I’ll post some photos below from the moon. This one is still fully functional and came directly from the manufacturer (Marquardt Corp.), where it was test fired. Molybdenum nozzle, radiation cooled, 100 lbs of thrust. Part Number 228686-501. Test fired four times in Apollo LM testing. I posted a detailed writeup on this particular R4D, and some pretty pictures, in the comments below
The fuels are similar, but the valves become more complex for the main Lunar Module Descent Engine and Ascent Engine.
Portraits Of Seattle #2: Animator/Director Sean Pecknold
Click the Link to read my writeup/Andrew Matsons 3 Questions
Part of the Eccentric Cycles Exhibit at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. One of many eccentric cycles built and ridden by the Steinlauf's. Good bit of info on them in the web, including videos on YouTube. Besure and look at original size to see the writeups on the bikes.
Check out my writeup on this area on my blog at:
carriecolephotography.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/hike-to-si...
My first post from visiting La Jolla a couple of weeks ago... Many thanks to friends that helped point the way to this spot and a special thanks to Flickr friends Eric Gail and David Colombo for coming out to shoot on that Saturday evening. Eric has a much better and longer writeup on that evening and it was great to meet a couple of Flickr friends...such a great community here. So...the obvious...I didn't get a "great" shot of the potholes, but I'll post it eventually. I ended up liking this composition at the reef as much as any that I had (Thx to Eric for quickly pointing it out). The forecast didn't look great for us...but these clouds kept rolling through all evening. A big blast of color never came...but for a first visit to La Jolla...I'll take it :-)
I'm heading to the NC mountains for a family getaway this weekend....and crossing my fingers to slip out for some Milky Way or sunrise shots.
Facebook...'Like' this for future shoots and content
Check out www.alexDPhotography.com for writeups from my shoots, high-def wallpapers, videos and other content.
Sakura, cherry blossoms at ARK hills Roppongi. reflected in traffic mirrors on pavement detailed writeup and other snaps japantourist.jp/view/sakura-festival-at-ark-hills
Today's post was actually inspired by the contents of tomorrow's post, but I felt like this one should go first. I made three different versions of Black Lightning! I was going to make five, but one was this costume from the 90s that I had trouble making and the other I couldn't remember once I started building.
Left to right:
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Mexican amberwing dragonfly, Perithemis intensa, at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve.
Check out all of my Species a Day writeups here.
So, I've been sitting on this one, ever since the night of the super moon, mainly because I didn't want to upstage everyone else's super moon photos and make them feel bad, since, you know, this is so awesome.
While everyone else was busy shooting the moon over to the east, as it was rising above the shipyards, I took four steps to the right, which completely changed the angle, and I was able to get the moon directly over the city. What a difference four steps makes, huh?
It's also practically SOOC. All I did was desaturate everything but the moon, to give it some pop. Now, I could explain why some clouds are actually going behind the moon, and what that big black cloud is in front of the moon. And why the moon is so huge and isn't casting a reflection on the water. But I won't bore you with the technical details. It's a lot of physics and math.
There's nothing I like better than a cookie pile. I wish these didn't look so much like a rolled pancetta, though...Writeup of the cookie swap I baked these for is here!
This spider was spotted during a "caterpillar safari" in Maryland. I've put a big writeup about their fascinating hunting technique under the next photo, but wanted to show this spider out in a nicer setting than the other, which I found just outside my door, anchored to a big Rubbermaid potting shed. In this photo, she has gotten herself into position, awaiting prey. The photo linked in the first comment was taken before this one, as she was maneuvering herself into position.
25 Arachtober 2023, 2 of 2
Triangle Weaver, Hyptiotes cavatus
Gillis Falls Recreation Area, Woodbine, Carroll Co, MD
10 September 2023
Loaded ballast extra, Middlefield Hill. June 27, 1982
On one of my outings with the Buck family. Unfortunately, only Kenneth is left now. I still have his 'Interesting Railfan 4-8-4', a satirical take on the Freeman Hubbard writeups in Railroad Magazine.
I found this startrail sequence from May 6, 2012, which included a spring "moonbow". I hung out with my dear friends Doug and Patti after the crowds from the day before had left and we had time to do a startrail sequence before the rising of the full moon. Now, this is just 33 exposures of 30 seconds each (from that sequence, after the moonlight struck the falls), layered in Photoshop. The opacity is changed to give the trails a "cometlike" effect, and then one last blast with a plugin called "StarSpikes" to create the spike at the beginning of some of the brighter trails. Thanks to David Kingham and Tim Kerr for their writeups on this technique.
Thanks everyone for following along on our journey to the Nuns Veil! Your comments and interest are much appreciated. Hopefully you have enjoyed the journey and through the photos and writeup have felt at least a bit like you were there with us.
Over the past few months I have been training for my first Ultra Marathon as well as working extra days and as a result have just had less time to post and write up the trip. The story trickled out a little slower than usual but thanks for hanging in there and coming along on the journey. These four days have gone on for long enough and it's time to bring it to a close.
We made the final walk back to the car park and dropped the packs relieving our shoulders for the final time. Now looking back over to the Nuns Veil it was hard to imagine that it was less than a day ago we were standing up there. It's one of those nostalgic moments when you realise that we were so privileged to have been there at that time and yet, in all likelihood we would never see those places again. Nevertheless the sun was now shining down on the peak almost like God's hand was bidding us farewell. We packed our gear in the car, took that last look on the mountain, and turned our eyes to the road.