deviantART: Popular Go Game Urban & Rural

A Game Less Played

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:56:24 PDT

Spin the wheel and pick a number,
Put one foot, in front of the other.
Don't pass go, lose a turn.
You're out of the game,
Past the point of no return.

When i thought of a comment to suit this i thought of this song by One Dollar Short - Boardgame.

weird..

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_{All rights reserved. This may not be used or reproduced in any way.
© Cain Pascoe.}

Go insane...

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:48:57 PDT

Once I had a little game.
I liked to crawl back in my brain,
I think you know the game...
I mean the game called "go insane".
This little game is fun to do.
Just close your eyes, I'm going too,
And I'm right here, no way to lose.
Release control, we're breaking through...

Theatrical props warehouse.

Enjoy!

Go Ravens!!!

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:58:05 PST

My beloved Baltimore Ravens are playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow!!! (For my friends abroad this is about American football.)

This is what Baltimore's Inner Harbor looked like when the Ravens were in the Super Bowl in 2001. I love the Marriott Hotel lights that read "Go Ravens."

No one in Baltimore, or Maryland will sleep well tonight in anticipation of this game! I have been a season ticket holder since the team came to Baltimore (my hometown) in 1996. So I get stressed out when they play big games. When I have to watch them on TV, I won't sit down for the entire game! I just pace back and forth, and I swear more than you could ever imagine! I even make up new swear words... I'm not proud of it, but that's how it goes!

Go Ravens!!!!!!!!!

The Silence of the Village

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:41:12 PDT

© Ben Heine || Facebook || Twitter || www.benheine.com
____________________________________________________

I captured this peaceful scenery in Saint Léon. It's a very quite
and beautiful place in the South West of France. A must see if
you ever travel in this region...
____________________________________________________

For more information about my artwork: info@benheine.com
____________________________________________________

The Deserted Village

A poem by Oliver Goldsmith

Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
Where smiling spring its earliest visits paid,
And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed:
Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, where every sport could please,
How often have I loitered o'er your green,
Where humble happiness endeared each scene;
How often have I paused on every charm,
The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm,
The never-failing brook, the busy mill,
The decent church that topped the neighbouring hill,
The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made;
How often have I blessed the coming day,
When toil remitting lent its turn to play,
And all the village train, from labour free,
Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree:
While many a pastime circled in the shade,
The young contending as the old surveyed;
And many a gambol frolicked o'er the ground,
And sleights of art and feats of strength went round;
And still as each repeated pleasure tired,
Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired;
The dancing pair that simply sought renown
By holding out to tire each other down!
The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,
While secret laughter tittered round the place;
The bashful virgin's sidelong look of love,
The matron's glance that would those looks reprove:
These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these,
With sweet succession, taught even toil to please;
These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed,
These were thy charms -But all these charms are fled.

Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn,
Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn;
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen,
And desolation saddens all thy green:
One only master grasps the whole domain,
And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain:
No more thy glassy brook reflects the day,
But choked with sedges works its weedy way.
Along thy glades, a solitary guest,
The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest;
Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies,
And tires their echoes with unvaried cries.
Sunk are thy bowers, in shapeless ruin all,
And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall;
And, trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand,
Far, far away, thy children leave the land.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed can never be supplied.

A time there was, ere England's griefs began,
When every rood of ground maintained its man;
For him light labour spread her wholesome store,
Just gave what life required, but gave no more:
His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.

But times are altered; trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain;
Along the lawn, where scattered hamlet's rose,
Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose,
And every want to opulence allied,
And every pang that folly pays to pride.
Those gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom,
Those calm desires that asked but little room,
Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene,
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green;
These, far departing, seek a kinder shore,
And rural mirth and manners are no more.

Sweet Auburn! parent of the blissful hour,
Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power.
Here as I take my solitary rounds,
Amidst thy tangling walks and ruined grounds,
And, many a year elapsed, return to view
Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorn grew,
Remembrance wakes with all her busy train,
Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain.

In all my wanderings round this world of care,
In all my griefs -and God has given my share -
I still had hopes my latest hours to crown,
Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down;
To husband out life's taper at the close,
And keep the flame from wasting by repose.
I still had hopes, for pride attends us still,
Amidst the swains to show my book-learned skill,
Around my fire an evening group to draw,
And tell of all I felt and all I saw;
And, as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue,
Pants to the place from whence at first she flew,
I still had hopes, my long vexations passed,
Here to return -and die at home at last.

O blest retirement, friend to life's decline,
Retreats from care, that never must be mine,
How happy he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease;
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly!
For him no wretches, born to work and weep,
Explore the mine, or tempt the dangerous deep;
No surly porter stands in guilty state
To spurn imploring famine from the gate;
But on he moves to meet his latter end,
Angels round befriending Virtue's friend;
Bends to the grave with unperceived decay,
While Resignation gently slopes the way;
All, all his prospects brightening to the last,
His Heaven commences ere the world be past!

Sweet was the sound when oft at evening's close
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose;
There, as I passed with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came softened from below;
The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung,
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young;
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool,
The playful children just let loose from school;
The watchdog's voice that bayed the whisp'ring wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind;
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade,
And filled each pause the nightingale had made.
But now the sounds of population fail,
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale,
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread,
For all the bloomy flush of life is fled.
All but yon widowed, solitary thing,
That feebly bends beside the plashy spring;
She, wretched matron, forced in age for bread
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread,
To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn,
To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn;
She only left of all the harmless train,
The sad historian of the pensive plain.

Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled,
And still where many a garden flower grows wild;
There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose,
The village preacher's modest mansion rose.
A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year;
Remote from towns he ran his godly race,
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his place;
Unpractised he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,
More skilled to raise the wretched than to rise.
His house was known to all the vagrant train,
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain;
The long remembered beggar was his guest,
Whose beard descending swept his aged breast;
The ruined spendthrift, now no longer proud,
Claimed kindred there, and had his claims allowed;
The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay,
Sat by his fire, and talked the night away;
Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done,
Shouldered his crutch, and showed how fields were won.
Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow,
And quite forgot their vices in their woe;
Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
His pity gave ere charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And e'en his failings leaned to Virtue's side;
But in his duty prompt at every call,
He watched and wept, he prayed and felt, for all.
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Beside the bed where parting life was laid,
And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed,
The reverend champion stood. At his control
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;
Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise,
And his last faltering accents whispered praise.

At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.
The service passed, around the pious man,
With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran;
Even children followed with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile.
His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed,
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed;
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in Heaven.
As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way,
With blossomed furze unprofitably gay,
There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule,
The village master taught his little school;
A man severe he was, and stern to view;
I knew him well, and every truant knew;
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laughed, with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned;
Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault.
The village all declared how much he knew;
'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too;
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
And even the story ran that he could gauge.
In arguing too, the parson owned his skill,
For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thundering sound
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.

But past is all his fame. The very spot
Where many a time he triumphed is forgot.
Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high,
Where once the signpost caught the passing eye,
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired,
Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired,
Where village statesmen talked with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.
Imagination fondly stoops to trace
The parlour splendours of that festive place:
The white-washed wall, the nicely sanded floor,
The varnished clock that clicked behind the door;
The chest contrived a double debt to pay, -
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day;
The pictures placed for ornament and use,
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose;
The hearth, except when winter chilled the day,
With aspen boughs, and flowers, and fennel gay;
While broken teacups, wisely kept for show,
Ranged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row.

Vain transitory splendours! Could not all
Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall!
Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impart
An hour's importance to the poor man's heart;
Thither no more the peasant shall repair
To sweet oblivion of his daily care;
No more the farmer's news, the barber's tale,
No more the woodman's ballad shall prevail;
No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear,
Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear;
The host himself no longer shall be found
Careful to see the mantling bliss go round;
Nor the coy maid, half willing to be pressed,
Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest.

Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain,
These simple blessings of the lowly train;
To me more dear, congenial to my heart,
One native charm, than all the gloss of art.
Spontaneous joys, where Nature has its play,
The soul adopts, and owns their first-born sway;
Lightly they frolic o'er the vacant mind,
Unenvied, unmolested, unconfined:
But the long pomp, the midnight masquerade,
With all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed,
In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain,
The toiling pleasure sickens into pain;
And, even while fashion's brightest arts decoy,
The heart distrusting asks, if this be joy.

Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen, who survey
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay,
'Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand
Between a splendid and a happy land.
Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore,
And shouting Folly hails them from her shore;
Hoards even beyond the miser's wish abound,
And rich men flock from all the world around.
Yet count our gains. This wealth is but a name
That leaves our useful products still the same.
Not so the loss. The man of wealth and pride
Takes up a space that many poor supplied;
Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds,
Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds;
The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth
Has robbed the neighbouring fields of half their growth;
His seat, where solitary sports are seen,
Indignant spurns the cottage from the green;
Around the world each needful product flies,
For all the luxuries the world supplies:
While thus the land adorned for pleasure, all
In barren splendour feebly waits the fall.

As some fair female unadorned and plain,
Secure to please while youth confirms her reign,
Slights every borrowed charm that dress supplies,
Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes;
But when those charms are passed, for charms are frail,
When time advances and when lovers fail,
She then shines forth, solicitous to bless,
In all the glaring impotence of dress.
Thus fares the land, by luxury betrayed,
In nature's simplest charms at first arrayed;
But verging to decline, its splendours rise,
Its vistas strike, its palaces surprise;
While, scourged by famine, from the smiling land
The mournful peasant leads his humble band;
And while he sinks, without one arm to save,
The country blooms -a garden, and a grave.

Where then, ah! where, shall poverty reside,
To 'scape the pressure of contiguous pride?
If to some common's fenceless limits strayed,
He drives his flock to pick the scanty blade,
Those fenceless fields the sons of wealth divide,
And even the bare-worn common is denied.
If to the city sped -what waits him there?
To see profusion that he must not share;
To see ten thousand baneful arts combined
To pamper luxury, and thin mankind;
To see those joys the sons of pleasure know
Extorted from his fellow creature's woe.
Here, while the courtier glitters in brocade,
There the pale artist plies the sickly trade;
Here, while the proud their long-drawn pomps display,
There the black gibbet glooms beside the way.
The dome where Pleasure holds her midnight reign
Here, richly decked, admits the gorgeous train;
Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing square,
The rattling chariots clash, the torches glare.
Sure scenes like these no troubles e'er annoy!
Sure these denote one universal joy!
Are these thy serious thoughts? -Ah, turn thine eyes
Where the poor houseless shivering female lies.
She once, perhaps, in a village plenty blessed,
Has wept at tales of innocence distressed;
Her modest looks the cottage might adorn,
Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn;
Now lost to all; her friends, her virtue fled,
Near her betrayer's door she lays her head,
And, pinched with cold, and shrinking from the shower,
With heavy heart deplores that luckless hour,
When idly first, ambitious of the town,
She left her wheel and robes of country brown.

Do thine, sweet Auburn, thine, the loveliest train,
Do thy fair tribes participate her pain?
E'en now, perhaps, by cold and hunger led,
At proud men's doors they ask a little bread!

Ah, no! -To distant climes, a dreary scene,
Where half the convex world intrudes between,
Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go,
Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.
Far different there from all that charmed before,
The various terrors of that horrid shore;
Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray
And fiercely shed intolerable day;
Those matted woods where birds forget to sing,
But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling;
Those poisonous fields with rank luxuriance crowned,
Where the dark scorpion gathers death around;
Where at each step the stranger fears to wake
The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake;
Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey,
And savage men more murderous still than they;
While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies,
Mingling the ravaged landscape with the skies.
Far different these from every former scene,
The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green,
The breezy covert of the warbling grove,
That only sheltered thefts of harmless love.

Good Heaven! what sorrows gloomed that parting day
That called them from their native walks away;
When the poor exiles, every pleasure passed,
Hung round their bowers, and fondly looked their last,
And took a long farewell, and wished in vain
For seats like these beyond the western main;
And, shuddering still to face the distant deep,
Returned and wept, and still returned to weep.
The good old sire, the first prepared to go
To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe;
But for himself, in conscious virtue brave,
He only wished for worlds beyond the grave.
His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears,
The fond companion of his helpless years,
Silent went next, neglectful of her charms,
And left a lover's for a father's arms.
With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes,
And blessed the cot where every pleasure rose;
And kissed her thoughtless babes with many a tear,
And clasped them close, in sorrow doubly dear;
Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief
In all the silent manliness of grief.

O luxury! thou cursed by Heaven's decree,
How ill exchanged are things like these for thee!
How do thy potions, with insidious joy,
Diffuse thy pleasures only to destroy!
Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown,
Boast of a florid vigour not their own;
At every draught more large and large they grow,
A bloated mass of rank unwieldly woe;
Till, sapped their strength, and every part unsound,
Down, down they sink, and spread the ruin round.

Even now the devastation is begun,
And half the business of destruction done;
Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand,
I see the rural virtues leave the land:
Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail
That idly waiting flaps with every gale,
Downward they move, a melancholy band,
Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand.
Contented toil, and hospitable care,
And kind connubial tenderness, are there;
And piety with wishes placed above,
And steady loyalty, and faithful love.
And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid,
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade;
Unfit in these degenerate times of shame
To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame;
Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried,
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride;
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so;
Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel,
Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well!
Farewell, and oh! where'er thy voice be tried,
On Torno's cliffs, or Pambamarca's side,
Whether where equinoctial fervours glow,
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow,
Still let thy voice, prevailing over time,
Redress the rigours of th' inclement clime;
Aid slighted truth; with thy persuasive strain
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain;
Teach him that states of native strength possessed,
Though very poor, may still be very blessed;
That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As ocean sweeps the laboured mole away;
While self-dependent power can time defy,
As rocks resist the billows and the sky.

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

--> The poem appeared on [link]

Rio de Janeiro '07

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:57:41 PDT

Celebrating the Pan American games which is held this year in Rio de Janeiro, I'm uploading a panorama shot made with 2 different photos taken from the Cristo Redentor statue and then stitched with the RealViz stitcher program. Hope you enjoy. Go Brazil!

_{Copyright © Isac Goulart
This image is the exclusive property of Isac Goulart and is protected under the United States and International Copyright laws.
The image may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without the written permission of Isac Goulart.}

Up Up and Away

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:06:18 PDT

There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors. -- Jim Morrison

A 3 shot blend (-2, 0, +2). Taken in downtown Denver. I decided to go for a wander and take some pictures Soon after this, I decided to engage in a game of chess with the downtown homeless men-- I got my ass kicked. Lesson learned, stick to photography.

WANT TO BUY A CHEAP CANVAS PHOTO OF MINE? Check out my website at [link]

CHECK ME OUT ON FACEBOOK! : [link]

Nikon D90
Tamron 10-24mm

Featured: [link]

the spot

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 23:25:09 PDT

doing some commission work for an acquaintance for his game room. while i was getting my shots for him during the sunset, decided to finally go and get some shots from a very popular place to shoot nearby after i got what i needed above is one of the after shots.

never seen any details on where exactly this location is so will keep it that way and just say its on Beacon Hill, if you know the area, is not too hard to figure out..

around Beacon Hill, Seattle, WA

_{please dont use my images in any way without my permission..thank you

the game room piece for those interested}

YGO in Thailand

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:43:32 PDT

Long time no see~ Studying gonna suck my life. TTvTT

For this.... YuGiOh airbrush on a tourist bus.(Not made by me!) I saw this when I was going to the university. I almost choked to death when I saw.

Many tourist bus in Thailand were decorated by airbrush painting. Some are gradient, some are super realism and some are cartoon. Especially, Japanese cartoon.

And this artist is very skillful. (Although I don't like the green font face much.) I mean... this is a large scale picture. And I could realized this is Yami Yugi at first sight.

But I still not know who he the two girl in the background. (May be they were a character from Summoner Master deck, some kind of Thai card game. )

Optionality

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:47:27 PST

Kindly featured by:
[link] [link] Friday Feature: Issue 019A Collection of -
Recent Discoveries

:iconeintoern: :iconvinxibit: :iconeredel: :iconeuzhaphotography:
:iconawjay: :iconhugitsa: :iconnairon: :iconall17:
:iconelizarosca: :iconsilentland: :iconrezzann: :iconwinnipeg:
:iconvaldna: :iconkayjensen: :iconjurcic: :iconthenewblueblood:
Featured Artists
Other Entries

And a wonderful poem that wrote inspired by this picture:

Who can blame me
Who can blame me thinking:
Life is all the same.
Stairs go up and stairs come
Down, it's just a game.

They say, hurry, hurry,
Faster, faster, go!
Here's my secret trick: try
Fewer steps, and slow.

Echoes fade, it's quiet.
No one's looking? Stop.
Hectic, as a diet,
Makes a deathly drop.

Keeping up is easy:
Someone's coming? Pant.
Breathless, faint or queasy—
Fake ten watts, no amp.

Energetic people,
Jumping right past you,
Get rewards so lethal:
Steps to climb anew!

Round and round we go

Sun, 08 May 2011 09:20:03 PDT

So the Pima County Fair was here again and i got to take lots of pictures. This is one of my favourites ^^

Go Further

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:36:18 PST

I love how vivid this looks, personally. This was taken down a beautiful area, similar to the valley near my estate. I used to visit this place as a child too and play pretend games there and hold my clubs haha!

The Merry-Go-Round

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:13:40 PST

Nikon D50
Dhahran Mall, Saudi Arabia
January 2011

Day Is Done

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:49:36 PDT

_{One of the tombstones outside of Foxhall Church, Legan, Co. Longford at dusk.

One of the first shots I took in 2006, Taken with an Olympus FE100,X710.

I'm not looking for an critique so please don't give me any!!! This was along time ago. Thank you.}

Location: Foxhall Graveyard, Longford, Ireland.

More Foxhall Photos coming really soon so keep an eye out!!!

If you want a print just ask and I will upload to redbubble

_{View on my flickr here. it is much sharper.}

_{Nick Drake - Day Is Done

_{When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done.

When the day is done
Hope so much your race will be all run
Then you find you jumped the gun
Have to go back where you began
When the day is done.

When the night is cold
Some get by but some get old
Just to show lifes not made of gold
When the night is cold.

When the bird has flown
Got no-one to call your own
Got no place to call your home
When the bird has flown.

When the games been fought
You speed the ball across the court
Lost much sooner than you would have thought
Now the games been fought.

When the partys through
Seems so very sad for you
Didnt do the things you meant to do
Now theres no time to start anew
Now the partys through.

When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done.}}

_{"I give permission for *YoungPhotographers to display this in their community gallery"}

DO NOT USE MY PHOTOS IN ANY KIND OF WAY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

Indianapolis At Dawn Revisited

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:09:26 PDT

Afterwork: Adobe Lightroom 2.0. Man I love this program.

Indianapolis, Indiana.

Go here for the original post --> [link]

The first long-distance auto race in the U. S. was held May 30, 1911, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The winner averaged 75 miles an hour and won a 1st place prize of $14,000. Today the average speed is over 167 miles an hour and the prize is more than $1.2 million. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the site of the greatest spectacle in sports, the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 is held every Memorial Day weekend in the Hoosier capital city. The race is 200 laps or 500 miles long.

During WWII the P-47 fighter-plane was manufactured in Evansville, Indiana at Republic Aviation.

Marcella Gruelle of Indianapolis created the Raggedy Ann doll in 1914.

The first professional baseball game was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 4, 1871.

James Dean, a popular movie star of the 1950s in such movies as "East of Eden" and "Rebel without a Cause", was born February 8, 1941, in Marion, Indiana. He died in an auto crash at age 24.

David Letterman, host of television's "Late Show with David Letterman," was born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis.

Santa Claus, Indiana receives over one half million letters and requests at Christmas time.

Crawfordsville, Indiana is the home of the only known working rotary jail in the United States. The jail with its rotating cellblock was built in 1882 and served as the Montgomery County jail until 1972. It is now a museum.

Historic Parke County has 32 covered bridges and is the Covered Bridge Capital of the world.

True to its motto, "Cross Roads of America" Indiana has more miles of Interstate Highway per square mile than any other state. The Indiana state Motto, can be traced back to the early 1800s. In the early years river traffic, especially along the Ohio, was a major means of transportation. The National Road, a major westward route, and the north-south Michigan Road crossed in Indianapolis. Today more major highways intersect in Indiana than in any other state.

Most of the state's rivers flow south and west, eventually emptying into the Mississippi. However, the Maumee flows north and east into Lake Erie. Lake Wawasee is the states largest natural lake.

Indiana's shoreline with Lake Michigan is only 40 miles long, but Indiana is still considered a Great Lakes State.

More than 100 species of trees are native to Indiana. Before the pioneer's arrive more than 80% of Indiana was covered with forest. Now only 17% of the state is considered forested.

Deep below the earth in Southern Indiana is a sea of limestone that is one of the richest deposits of top-quality limestone found anywhere on earth. New York City's Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center as well as the Pentagon, the U.S. Treasury, a dozen other government buildings in Washington D.C. as well as 14 state capitols around the nation are built from this sturdy, beautiful Indiana limestone.

Although Indiana means, "Land of the Indians" there are fewer than 8,000 Native Americans living in the state today.

The first European known to have visited Indiana was French Explorer Rene'-Robert Cavalier sierur de La Salle, in 1679. After LaSalle and others explored the Great Lakes region, the land was claimed for New France, a nation based in Canada.

In the 1700s the first 3 Non-native American settlements in Indiana were the 3 French forts of Ouiatenon, Ft. Miami, and Ft. Vincennes. Although they had few settlers in the region, French presence in Indiana lasted almost 100 years. After the British won the French and Indian War, and upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the French surrendered their claims to the lower Great Lakes region.

Indiana was part of the huge Northwest Territory, which included present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, which were ceded to the United States by the British at the end of the Revolutionary war.

Ft. Wayne, Indiana's 2nd Largest city, had its beginnings in 1794, after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, when General "Mad Anthony" Wayne built Ft. Wayne on the site of a Miami Indian village.

Many Mennonite and Amish live on the farmland of Northeastern Indiana. One of the United States largest Mennonite congregations is in Bern. According to Amish ordnung (rules) they are forbidden to drive cars, use electricity, or go to public places of entertainment.

At one time Studebaker Company of South Bend was the nation's largest producer of horse-drawn wagons. It later developed into a multimillion-dollar automobile
manufacturer.

In Fort Wayne, Syvanus F. Bower designed the world's first practical gasoline pump.

Indianapolis grocer Gilbert Van Camp discovered his customers enjoyed an old family recipe for pork and beans in tomato sauce. He opened up a canning company and Van Camp's Pork and Beans became an American staple.

Muncie's Ball State University was built mostly from funds contributed by the founders of the Ball Corporation, a company than made glass canning jars.

Thomas Hendricks, a Democrat from Shelbyville, served Indiana as a United States Senator, a United States representative, governor, and as Vice President under Grover Cleveland. Indiana has been the home of 5 vice presidents and one president.

Peru Indiana was once known as the "Circus Capital of America".

Indiana University's greatest swimmer was Mark Spitz, who won 7 gold medals in the 1972 Olympic games. No other athlete has won so many gold medals in a single year.

In 1934 Chicago Gangster John Dillinger escaped the Lake Country Jail in Crown Point by using a "pistol" he had carved from a wooden block.

Before Indianapolis, Corydon served as the state's capitol from 1816-1825. Vincennes was the capital when Indiana was a territory.

East Race Waterway, in south Bend, is the only man-made white-water raceway in North America.

In 1862, Richard Gatling, of Indianapolis, invented the rapid-fire machine gun.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was organized in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1881.

Sarah Walker, who called herself Madame J.C. Walker, became one of the nation's first woman millionaires. In 1905 Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker developed a conditioning treatment for straightening hair. Starting with door-to-door sales of her cosmetics, Madame C.J. Walker amassed a fortune.

From 1900 to 1920 more than 200 different makes of cars were produced in the Hoosier State. Duesenbergs, Auburns, Stutzes, and Maxwells - are prize antiques today.

The Indiana Gazette Indiana's first newspaper was published in Vincennes, Indiana in 1804.

The state constitution of 1816 directed the legislature to establish public schools, but it was not until the 1850s that state government was able to establish a public school system.

At one time 12 different stagecoach lines ran through Indiana on the National Road. (Now U.S. Interstate 40)

In the 1830s canals were dug linking the Great Lakes to Indiana's river systems. The canals proved to be a financial disaster. Railroads made the canal system obsolete even before its completions.

Indiana's first major railroad line linked Madison and Indianapolis and was completed in 1847.

The farming community of Fountain City in Wayne County was known as the "Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad." In the years before the civil war, Levi and Katie Coffin were famous agents on the Underground Railroad. They estimated that they provided overnight lodging for more than 2,000 runaway slaves who were making their way north to Canada and freedom.

During the great Depression of the 1930's 1 in every 4 Hoosier factory hands was out of work, farmers sank deeper in debt, and in southern Indiana unemployment was as high as 50%.

In the summer of 1987 4,453 athletes from 38 nations gathered in Indianapolis for the Pan American Games.

The Saturday Evening Post is published in Indianapolis.

Comedian Red Skelton, who created such characters as Clem Kadiddlehopper, and Freddie the Freeloader, was born in Vincennes, Indiana.

The Poet Laureate of Indiana, James Whitcomb Riley was born in a two-room log cabin in Greenfield. He glorified his rural Indiana childhood in such poems as "The Old Swimmin' Hole" "Little Orphant Annie", and " When the frost is on the Pumpkin".

Albert Beveridge won the Pulitzer Prize in biography in 1920, for The Life of John Marshall. In 1934 Harold Urey won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of deuterium. Ernie Pyle won the Pulitzer Prize in foreign Correspondence in 1944. Paul Samuelson won the Nobel Prize in economics, 1970.

`lns

Celebration

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:28:03 PST

Canada won the mens Olympic gold metal hockey game, and boy did V-city celebrate! Crowsurfing through the streets, thats something you don't see everyday. It was really amazing.

Anyways I was playing with tilt-shift photography here.. I know its not great but its my first shot at it so whatever.

GO CANADA!

Leaving Sparkle Town

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 03:46:42 PST

Note the glow of lights in the middle of the city... thats England falling in a screaming heap at the SCG in the game of 20/20.
No HDR here just shadows and curves and a bit of tweeking in PS
Told you I'd go back and straighten out that bridge... post it tomorrow.. I liked the left field one tonight

Country Fields: Bordering The Wetlands

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:36:16 PST

PLEASE DO NOT CLAIM MY WORK AS YOUR OWN OR USE IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!

My entry for the Show Us Your Home! contest for

I think that my favorite thing about my hometown is that it is very rural and it is a great place to find many unique landscapes! I live in the middle of the State Game Lands which are a great area for wildlife and plants to thrive. This photo was actually taken at the end of my road where there is a little marsh area bordering these 3 divided fields owned by the Pennsylvania State Game Commission. I pass by this area every day when I leave the house and I have always enjoyed the view. Going by on my walks is so refreshing to hear all of the birdsong of the marshland-dwelling birds during the day and the sound of the crickets and frogs in the evening. What is so great is that most of the land around here is left almost undisturbed by humans and you can just sit back and enjoy the sound of nature undisturbed by the sound of traffic and housing developments. When I was younger and even still today I love just stepping off the back roads and spending the day exploring and finding new and beautiful sights!

Taken in Dillsburg, PA

Photo By: Me

If you like my work, add me to your to keep up with me! COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

Let's Play a Game

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:10:59 PDT

Same chess board as the last pic. I really like this layout and background though. I'm eventually going to turn this into a wallpaper, but no promises on when exactly.

geno's

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 18:07:05 PST

geno's steaks taken with my diana using fuji pro 400. i'm a pat's guy myself. in fact i took this while going to pat's for one wit whiz, i just couldn't get a good shot of pat's. not that one has better steaks than the other, there are better steaks in town. my dad was a pat's guy. i remember going to pat's from connie mack after the game with his friends. we would both have 2 wit whiz. my dads friends were amazed i could put 2 down and i loved those dryed out red peppers. i was just a kid. my point is it's the memories that makes me a pat's guy. there's nothing better than standing on passyunk at 2 o'clock in the morning eating one wit and talking big 5 trash with some hawk fan from mt. airy.

The go player

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 06:34:01 PDT

The peasant who would be a go player

Previous shots of the serie :
The bird, The cotton picker, The climate scientist, The jumping rider, The stoneworker, The napoleonean general , The upholsterer-decorator, The poet, The astronomer, The traveler, The dressmaker, The painter

Game Over

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:46:51 PST

_{Photography project at A level.
Got urban decay from journey, but I love this style of photography so I'm not going to complain.

I won't spam this account with photography but the odd picture will occur amongst the cosplaying, since I love to take photos <3

The whole idea of the picture was to style the picture in the same way as the subject, i.e here it needed to be kinda worn down and old.

Torn paper brushes downloaded offline.

Photo and edit - *ZOMBIEfurby

Related}

where were you

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:29:28 PDT

when i saw the great disasters. where were you. as the clock starts ticking faster. as they wallowed in their anguish. when they forgot their own language. as the wars had started burning. from a distance saw it coming. it was true. and i am just a fool to me. it's not where i want to be. it's just the space i fill. are you right outside my door. can't be up there keeping score. or i'd have lost by now. but i'd have to throw it all away. throw it out with all the mire. but the will it still seems to burn. come and walk for me for a while. until i get some rest. as the doubt was getting dense. as it began to make sense. and i hate to play this game. but at least i know you'll win. no matter what i do. and i fight against myself. give the enemy his wealth. we're going to take it back. but i'd have to throw it all away. throw it out with all the mire. but the will it still seems to burn. the faster i run the more i tire. and i build this wall too high. i know you'll make it over soon. do i tempt and ask again. can i leave it up just a little while. until i get some rest

The Waiting Game

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:17:46 PST

Waiting game sucks.

I had like an hour to wait for my train, all by myself, so I decided to play with my camera for a bit while I was sat on the concrete waiting.

I do not have liveview, so I can't see what I'm doing with shots like this xD I just have to point and hope.

---

I'm not trying to photograph concepts or ideas, not going for some high and mighty message - just moments that made me think, or provoked a smile from me.
© Jaz Cooper

Captain America Film Set

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:59:51 PDT

So just round the corner from my local gaming shop, the place i walk past to get to the train station has been turned into 1940s New York for the new Captain America film.

Which is kind of cool! The have not changed the area that much in some cases they have just added new shop signs and added new lamp posts. They have done some other cool mods though. I have a friend who is working on the set as a security guard, so i got a little tour, of there is going to be some pyro-technics here, there is going to be someone thrown though a window here etc. So that was cool!

I has also been told stories of what people have tried to do on the set, like some models tried to do a photo shoot and he also had trouble with some guys dressed as nazi's and heavy leather take pictures of them selves on the set. And he has also been asked 6 times to steal Captain America's shield! LOL!

Any way i thought i would share some of the set with you! Some of the less good ones i might put in my Scraps, but i am not sure yet. This was taken in Manchester UK BTW. I don't know how many good ones i have yet though!

GO

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:33:24 PDT

In South Korea the elderly people meeting in the afternoon playing chinese chess (象棋) but mostly Go (Chinese: 圍棋 wéiqí, Japanese: 囲碁 igo, Korean: 바둑 baduk) with a lot of passion ... i have to admit its a super complex game!!!

Bright Night

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:25:51 PST

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Super busy lately >_< I thought I should start uploading some of my photography though

This photo was taken in downtown Vancouver; it's all festive because it was taken at around Christmas time, haha. This was part of an urban photography assignment for photo class. I did this assignment before going to my very first hockey game >w< Canucks vs Flames

Thank you in advance for any favourites! I'm sorry I can't thank all of you individually.

[EDIT] This photo was featured in my school's yearbook under the arts section! I feel so happy ^.^

Duke of Lancaster

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 11:27:38 PDT

The Duke of Lancaster, North Wales. 01-11-12

The Duke of Lancaster is a railway steamer passenger ship that operated in Europe from 1956 to 1979, and is currently beached near Mostyn Docks, on the River Dee, north-east Wales. It replaced an earlier 3,600 ton ship of the same name operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway company between Heysham and Belfast.

Along with her sister ships the TSS Duke of Rothesay and the TSS Duke of Argyll she was amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator). She was a replacement for the 1928 steamer built by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, RMS Duke of Lancaster.

Built at Harland & Wolff, Belfast and completed in 1956, she was designed to operate as both a passenger ferry (primarily on the Heysham-Belfast route) and as a cruise ship. In this capacity, the Lancaster travelled to the Scottish islands and further afield to Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

From the mid-1960s, passenger ships such as the Lancaster were gradually being superseded by car ferries. Rather than undertake the expensive option of renewing their entire fleet, British Railways instead began a part-programme of conversion. In order to maintain ferry services whilst these modifications took place, the Lancaster's duties as a cruise ship ceased. On 25 April 1970 the ship returned to service, having had her main deck rebuilt to accommodate vehicles via a door at her stern. The ship now provided space for 1,200 single-class passengers and 105 cars, with a total cabin accommodation for 400 passengers.

The three ships continued on the Heysham-Belfast route until the service was withdrawn on 5 April 1975. The Duke of Lancaster was then briefly employed on the Fishguard-Rosslare crossing, before becoming the regular relief vessel on the HolyheadDún Laoghaire service until November 1978. The ship was then laid up at Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.

The Lancaster was sold to Liverpool based company Empirewise Ltd, who intended her to be used as a static leisure centre and market. She arrived at her new home at Llanerch-y-Mor, near Mostyn, on 10 August 1979. The ship was brought into a permanent dock and surrounded by a large tonnage of sand pulled out of the Dee estuary. Known as "The Fun Ship", it was also possible to visit her bridge and engine room. Conversion for use as a 300-room hotel did not appear to go beyond the preliminary planning stage. Its use as "The Fun Ship" was relatively short-lived and it was subsequently closed to the public because access to the ship is via a bridge under the North Wales railway line, which is too low for emergency vehicles. Over time, the vessel has become increasingly derelict.

The ship was later used as a warehouse by its owners Solitaire Liverpool Ltd, a clothing company registered to the same address as Empirewise Ltd. Despite rumours that the ship would be scrapped, the company stated that they have no plans either to sell it or to restore it and its current use is uncertain.

Despite having large amounts of its exterior paintwork covered in rust, the interior of the ship is in good condition. It was featured in the 2011 series of BBC2's Coast.

In early 2012 several local arcade game collectors made a deal with Solitaire Liverpool ltd and were able to purchase most of the coin operated machines left behind inside the ship at the time the fun ship closed. Removing the games required the use of cranes and other heavy lifting equipment. Also in 2012, Ashley Gardner, an enthusiast of the ship commissioned an enamel badge from W.O Lewis badgemakers of Birmingham of which only 100 were made and the mould destroyed.

Recently the Latvian graffiti artist "Kiwie" was commissioned to spraypaint a design on the ship.

Giant Tanuki

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:14:06 PDT

Tanuki are raccoon dogs in Japan. They are famous for their large bellys and large balls (which are sometimes shown as slung over their back like a backpack!). This - of course - is a shop that sells tanuki. People like to display them to supposedly bring prosperity even though they are often placed outside of noodle shops and shown as drunk and unable to pay their bill.

Wikipedia says:
A common schoolyard song in Japan (the tune of which can be heard in the arcade game Ponpoko and a variation of which is sung in the Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko) makes explicit reference to the tanuki's anatomy:

Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,
Kaze mo nai no ni,
Bura bura ...

(Roughly translated, this means "Tan-tan-tanuki's/Raccoon-raccoon-raccoon dog's testicles, there isn't even any wind but still go swing-swing-swing". It then proceeds to continue for several verses, with many regional variations. It is sung to the melody of an American Baptist hymn called "Shall We Gather At The River".)

I love tanuki :3

(pic taken by my daughter Heather)

We OWN this Game

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:53:16 PST

THIS is one of the reasons so many great hockey players come from Canada.
Hockey is part of everyday LIFE.
Outdoor rinks are everywhere.
An indoor rink is OFTEN the center of a town.
It certainly is in Keswick, it's called The ICE palace.
(GO Georgina ICE)
Whether you play it with shoes on, or with skates.
On the street, or on ice.
We play it in gymnasiums.
We play it with pennies on lunchtables, and now...
Video games.
As a kid, at recess, we would use a tennis ball, and our feet ( no hockey sticks allowed at recess....stupid rules)
In MOST countries, they would call this 'football' or 'soccer'.
We kids called it 'Foot Hockey' XD
When I walk past kids playing hockey, I can't help but watch.
Our NATIONAL game is Lacrosse, but the sport that is in our hearts, and minds...the sport that runs through our veins, is, as Stompin' Tom said, is "the good old Hockey game" [link]

Have a good one, eh? Keep your head up in the corners.

Le Passe Muraille

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:20:11 PDT

In Montmartre on the fourth floor of number 75½ Rue Orchampt there once lived a fine fellow named Dutilleul who had the remarkable gift of being able to pass through walls with perfect ease. He wore a pince-nez and a small black goatee and he worked as a level three clerk in the Registration Ministry. In winter he would take the bus to work, and come summer he would walk, wearing his bowler hat.

Dutilleul discovered his power shortly after he turned forty-two. One evening, the electricity went out briefly while he was standing in the front hall of his small bachelor apartment. He groped around for a moment in the dark, and when the power came back on, he found himself standing on his fourth floor landing. Since the door to his apartment was locked from the inside, this gave him pause for thought. Despite the objections of his common sense, he decided to return home in the same way he leftby passing through the wall. This strange ability seemed to have no bearing on any of his aspirations, and he could not help feeling rather vexed about it. The following day was Saturday, and since he worked a five-day week, he sought out the local doctor and presented his case to him. The doctor satisfied himself that Dutilleul was telling the truth, and upon examining him he discovered that the problem was caused by a helicoidal hardening of the strangular membrane of the thyroid gland. He prescribed intensive overwork and told him to take two doses a year of tetravalent pirette powder containing a mixture of rice flour and centaur hormone.

Dutilleul took one dose, then put the medicine in the back of a drawer and forgot about it. As for intensive overwork, his activity as a civil servant followed fixed practices which did not lend themselves to any excess. He spent his free time reading the newspaper and working on his stamp collection; these activities did not require him to expend an unreasonable amount of energy either. After a year then, he still retained the ability to pass through walls, but he never used it intentionally; he had little interest in adventures and he stubbornly resisted the impulses of his imagination. The idea never even occurred to him to enter his apartment any other way than by the door, and that after having duly opened it using the lock.

He might have lived out his life in his peaceable habits and never been tempted to put his gifts to the test if an extraordinary event had not suddenly disrupted his existence. Monsieur Mouron, the associate office director, left to take another position and was replaced by one Monsieur Lécuyer, who spoke in short, clipped sentences and wore a toothbrush mustache. From the very first day, the new associate office director was highly displeased to see that Dutilleul wore a pince-nez on a chain and a black goatee, and he made a great show of treating him as an obsolete nuisance or a slightly grubby antique.

Far more serious however, was his plan to introduce far-reaching reforms in the office; they seemed specially designed to disturb the peace of his subordinate. For twenty years, Dutilleul had begun all his letters with the following phrase: In reference to your esteemed correspondence of the 12th of the present month, and furthermore in reference to our previous exchange of letters, I have the honor of writing to inform you that... Monsieur Lécuyer replaced this with a turn of phrase that had a more American ring to it: In response to your letter of the 12th, I inform you that... Dutilleul could not adapt to these epistolary fashions. He couldnt help himself; he reverted to the traditional formula with a mechanical obstinacy that earned him the growing enmity of the associate director. He began to find the atmosphere at the Ministry of Registration oppressive. He felt apprehensive on his way to work in the morning, and at night in his bed he often lay awake turning things over in his mind for a full fifteen minutes before he could fall asleep.

Monsieur Lécuyer was disgusted by this willful backwardness which was threatening the success of his reforms, so he had Dutilleuls desk moved to a small dim closet next to his office. It was only accessible by a low narrow door which opened onto the corridor and still bore the inscription RUBBISH in capital letters. Dutilleul accepted this unprecedented humiliation with resignation, but at home, whenever he would read in the newspaper about some gory incident, he found himself daydreaming, imagining Monsieur Lécuyer as the victim.

One day, the associate director burst into his closet brandishing a letter and bellowing, Rewrite this stinking letter! You will rewrite this appalling piece of drivel which is dishonoring my department!

Dutilleul tried to protest, but Monsieur Lécuyer, in a thunderous voice, called him a hidebound cockroach and as he left, he took the letter he had in his hand, crumpled it up into a ball, and threw it in his face. Dutilleul was modest but proud. He sat alone in his closet, steaming, when suddenly he had an inspiration. He rose from his chair and entered the wall which separated his office from that of the associate director. He was careful to move only partway through the wall, so that just his head emerged on the other side. Monsieur Lécuyer was seated at his work table, his ever-twitching pen shifting a comma in the text an employee had submitted to him for approval. Hearing a quiet cough in his office, he looked up, and discovered to his unspeakable alarm the head (just the head) of Dutilleul stuck to the wall like a hunting trophy. Whats more, the head was alive. It looked over its pince-nez glasses at him with deepest hatred. And then it began to speak.

Monsieur, it said, you are a hoodlum, a boor, and a spoiled brat.

Gaping with horror, Monsieur Lécuyer couldnt take his eyes off this apparition. At last, tearing himself out of his chair, he leapt into the corridor and raced to the closet. Dutilleul sat in his usual place, pen in hand, looking perfectly peaceful and industrious. The associate director stared at him for a long moment, mumbled a few words, and went back to his office. No sooner had he sat down then the head reappeared on the wall.

Monsieur, you are a hoodlum, a boor, and a spoiled brat.

In the course of a single day, the dreaded head reappeared on the wall twenty-three times, and it kept up the same pace over the following days. Dutilleul became rather good at this game, and he no longer contented himself with shouting abuse at the associate director. He uttered veiled threats; for example, he would cackle demoniacally and wail in a sepulchral voice:

The Lone Wolfs on the prowl! Beware! (laughter)
No ones safehes everywhere! (laughter)

Whenever he heard this, the poor associate director grew a little paler and made a choking noise; his hair stood straight up on his head and the cold sweat of terror trickled down his back. He lost a pound that first day.

As the week wore on, you could practically see him melting away. He took to eating his soup with a fork and greeting policemen with a smart military salute.

At the beginning of the second week, an ambulance came to his residence and took him away to a sanitarium.

Now that Dutilleul was free of Monsieur Lécuyers tyranny, he could return to his cherished phrases: In reference to your esteemed correspondence of the 27th of the present month... And yet, he was unsatisfied somehow. There was an unmet demand inside him, a new, urgent need, which was none other than the need to walk through walls.

He could certainly indulge this need easily, at home for example, and he didnt waste the opportunity. But a man possessed of brilliant gifts cannot satisfy himself for long by exercising them on a mediocre subject. Walking through walls cannot really serve as an end in itself. Rather, it is the first step in an adventure, which calls for continuation, development, and, in short, a payoff. Dutilleul understood this fully. He felt within him a need for expansion, a growing desire to fulfill and surpass himself, and a certain bittersweet pull which was something like the call of the other side of the wall. Unfortunately, what he lacked was a goal. He sought inspiration by reading the newspaper. He paid special attention to the sports and politics sections, as these seemed to be honorable activities, but in the end, he realized that they really didnt offer any opportunities for people who could walk through walls. Thats when he settled on the police blotter, which turned out to be most suggestive.

Dutilleuls first burglary took place in an important financial institution on the Right Bank. He passed through a dozen walls and partitions and let himself into various vaults, where he filled his pockets with banknotes. As he left, he signed his work in red chalk, using the alias The Lone Wolf, underlined with a distinctive flourish which made it onto the front page of all the newspapers the following morning. Within a week, the name The Lone Wolf had gained extraordinary celebrity. Public sympathy was unreservedly behind this prestigious burglar who so thoroughly flouted the police.

Every night he distinguished himself with some new exploit; sometimes his target was a bank, other times a jewelry store or some wealthy individual. From Paris to the provinces, there wasnt a woman who, in her daydreams, didnt nourish a fervent desire to belong to the fearsome Lone Wolf, body and soul. After the theft of the famous Burdigala Diamond and the break-in at the Crédit Municipal the same week, this enthusiasm reached a fever pitch. The Interior Minister was forced to resign, and he brought the Minister of Registration down with him. Nonetheless, Dutilleul, now one of the richest men in Paris, remained perfectly punctual at work; there was talk of awarding him the national medal for service to education. Every morning at the Ministry of Registration, he took great pleasure listening to his colleagues discuss his exploits of the night before. That Lone Wolf, they would say, a great man, Superman, a genius! Dutilleul blushed with embarrassment to hear such praise, and he beamed with friendship and gratitude from behind his pince-nez on its chain.

One day this sympathetic atmosphere boosted his confidence so much that he thought he would not be able to keep his secret any longer. As his colleagues stood together around a newspaper reading about the burglary at the Bank of France, he studied them shyly, then announced in a modest voice, As it so happens, Im the Lone Wolf. Dutilleuls confession was greeted with loud and long laughter, and it earned him the derisive nickname The Lone Wolf. At night when it was time to leave work, he was the butt of endless jokes from his colleagues, and life lost some of its luster for him.

A few days later, the Lone Wolf got picked up by the night patrol in a jewelry shop on Rue de la Paix. He had affixed his signature to the sales counter and was singing a drinking song while smashing various display windows using a solid gold antique goblet. It would have been easy for him to slip into a wall and escape the night patrol, but in all likelihood he wanted to be arrested, probably with the sole intent of getting even with his colleagues; their disbelief was mortifying.

Indeed, his colleagues were most surprised the next day when the newspapers published Dutilleuls photograph on the front page. They bitterly regretted underestimating their brilliant comrade and they all saluted him by growing little goatees. A few of them were so carried away with remorse and admiration that they tried to get their hands on the wallets or heirloom watches of their friends and acquaintances.

Now you may well think that letting himself get picked up by the police to astonish a few colleagues shows a great recklessness unworthy of such an exceptional man. But although this act appears willful, his volition had very little to do with the decision. Dutilleul believed that by giving up his freedom, he was giving in to a prideful desire for revenge. In reality, though, he was simply sliding down the slope of his destiny. When a man is able to walk through walls, one cant really speak of a career until hes tried prison at least once.

When Dutilleul was taken inside the La Santé prison, he felt as though fate had smiled upon him. The thickness of the walls was a veritable treat for him. The very first morning after he was imprisoned, the astonished guards discovered that the prisoner had driven a nail into his cell wall, and from it he had hung a gold pocket watch belonging to the prison warden. He could not or would not reveal how this object had come into his possession. The watch was restored to its rightful owner, but the next day it was found again on the Lone Wolfs nightstand, along with the first volume of The Three Musketeers which he had borrowed from the wardens private library. The prison personnel were under great pressure. Moreover, the guards complained of receiving mysterious kicks in the behind which seemed to come from nowhere; it seemed that the walls didnt just have ears anymore, but feet as well. The Lone Wolf had been in jail for one week when the warden found the following letter on his desk upon entering his office in the morning.

Dear Monsieur the Warden,

In reference to our exchange of the 17th of the present month, and furthermore in reference to your general instructions of May the15th preceding, I have the honor of informing you that I have just completed reading the second volume of The Three Musketeers and that I expect to escape tonight between 11:25 and 11:35 p.m.

Most respectfully yours,
The Lone Wolf.

Despite being under close surveillance that night, Dutilleul escaped at 11:30. When the news hit the streets the following morning, it was greeted everywhere with great enthusiasm. Nonetheless, once Dutilleul had carried out a fresh burglary which raised his popularity to new heights, he didnt seem very concerned about hiding, and he roamed freely through Montmartre taking no precautions at all. Three days after his escape he was arrested in Rue Caulaincourt at the Café du Rêve a little before noon, as he was enjoying a glass of white wine and lemon with friends.

Dutilleul was taken back to the La Santé Prison and triple locked in a dingy solitary cell; he escaped from it that same evening and spent the night at the wardens apartment, in the guest room. The following morning around nine oclock, he rang for the maid to bring him his breakfast. The guards were summoned, and they seized him where he sat in bed, putting up no resistance. The warden was outraged; he posted a guard at the door of Dutilleuls cell and placed him on bread and water. Around noon, the prisoner went off to have lunch at a restaurant near the prison, and when he finished his coffee, he phoned the warden.

Hello! Monsieur the Warden, I hate to bother you, but just now when I went out, I neglected to bring along your wallet, and now here I am at the restaurant and Ive come up short. Would you be so good as to send someone along to settle the bill?

The warden showed up in person immediately and lost his temper, shouting threats and insults at Dutilleul. Dutilleuls pride was wounded; he escaped the following night, never to return.

This time he took a few precautions. He shaved off his black goatee and traded his pince-nez on its chain for a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. A billed cap and a checked suit with golf trousers completed his transformation. He settled into a small apartment in Avenue Junot; he had moved some of his furniture there along with his most prized possessions long before his first arrest.

He began to grow tired of his newfound fame, and ever since his stay at La Santé Prison, he had become rather blasé about the pleasure of walking through walls. Even the thickest and most imposing walls now seemed to him nothing more than simple folding screens, and he dreamed of plunging into the heart of some massive pyramid. So while he developed his plan for a trip to Egypt, he was leading the most peaceable of lives, dividing his time between his stamp collection, the movies, and long walks through Montmartre. Clean-shaven now, and wearing his horn-rimmed glasses, his metamorphosis was so complete that he could pass by his best friends without being recognized. Only the painter Gen Paul, who would never fail to notice any sudden change in the countenance of a longtime neighbor, finally unraveled his true identity. One morning he found himself nose to nose with Dutilleul on the corner of the Rue de lAbreuvoir, and he blurted out in his rough slang:

Hey daddy-o, I dig the new drape and sky piece! Youre togged to the bricks! With threads like that you must be stachin so you dont get tapped by the fuzz. Which means, more or less, I see that you have adopted an elegant disguise so as to escape the attention of the police detectives.

Ah, murmured Dutilleul, youve recognized me! This made him uneasy and he decided to move up his departure for Egypt. On the very same afternoon he fell in love with a blonde beauty whom he met in Rue Lepic twice in the space of fifteen minutes. He immediately forgot about his stamp collection and Egypt and the pyramids. As for the blonde, she looked at him with great interest. Nothing captures the imagination of young women today like a pair of golf pants and horn-rimmed glasses. That movie producer look sets them dreaming about cocktail parties and Hollywood nights.

Unfortunately, Dutilleul learned from Gen Paul that this beauty was married to a violently jealous man; moreover, he led a rough-and-tumble existence on the streets of Paris and spent his nights on the town. Every night he would abandon his wife from ten at night to four in the morning, but before he would leave, he always made sure to double-lock her in her room and padlock the shutters. During the day he kept a close eye on her; sometimes he would even follow her through the streets of Montmartre.

Hey, I see youre still chasin that skirt. Take it slow, daddy-o. That chick is fine dinner, but her main on the hitch gets evil if he focuses some cat tryin to score his barbecue.

But Gen Pauls warning only inflamed Dutilleuls passion further. The next day he saw the young woman in Rue Tholozé. He boldly followed her into a dairy, and while she was waiting in line, he told her that he loved her respectfully and that he knew about everythingthe cruel husband, the locked door and the shuttersbut that he would be in her bedroom that very night. The blonde blushed; the milk bottle trembled in her hand and her eyes grew moist with tenderness. She gave a muffled sigh. Alas Monsieur, that is impossible.

The evening of that glorious day around ten oclock found Dutilleul standing like a sentry in Rue Norvins, watching an imposing garden wall; he could only see the weather vane and the chimney of the small house which sat behind it. A door in the wall opened, and a man stepped out. He carefully locked the door behind him and walked off towards Avenue Junot. Dutilleul waited until he was out of sight, until he was all the way down at the bend in the street at the foot of the hill, and then he counted to ten. Then he rushed forward and strode like an athlete into the wall, running straight through the obstacles until he penetrated the bedroom of the lovely recluse. She greeted him ecstatically and they made love late into the night.

Unfortunately, the next day Dutilleul had a terrible headache. He was certainly not going to let something so trivial make him miss his rendezvous. Nonetheless, since he discovered some tablets scattered at the bottom of a drawer, he took one in the morning and one in the afternoon. By evening his headache was tolerable, and in his intense excitement he forgot about it altogether. The young woman was waiting for him, full of impatience aroused by her memories of the previous night; that night they made love until three oclock in the morning. When he left, Dutilleul passed through the walls of the house and felt an unusual rubbing sensation against his hips and shoulders.

He didnt think it merited much attention though. In fact, it was only when he entered the garden wall that he felt a definite resistance. He felt as though he were moving through some gel-like substance that was still fluid but was growing thicker; it became firmer the more he struggled. Once he was entirely embedded in the thickness of the wall he realized that he was no longer moving forward. Terrified, he remembered the two tablets that he taken that day. He had thought they were aspirin tablets, but in fact they contained the tetravalent pirette powder that the doctor had prescribed the year before. The effect of the medication combined with intensive exertion produced quite a sudden reaction.

Dutilleul was immobilized inside the wall. He is there to this very day, imprisoned in the stone. When people go walking down the Rue Norvins late at night after the bustle of Paris has died down, they hear a muffled voice which seems to come from beyond the grave; they think its the sound of the wind whistling through the streets of Montmartre. Its Lone Wolf Dutilleul lamenting the end of his glorious career and mourning his all too brief love affair. Sometimes on winter nights the painter Gen Paul takes down his guitar and heads down to the lonely, echoing Rue Norvins to console the poor prisoner with a song. Its notes take flight from his numb fingers and penetrate to the heart of the stone like drops of moonlight.

-A story by Marcel Aymé (1943) , translated by Karen Reshkin

Circle Game

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:11:45 PST

"And we go 'round and 'round in a circle game"

I seriously love these things

Falkirk Wheel

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:27:54 PST

Photographer: David Kane

For college we were asked to do a 'hotomerge' photograph. I like the panoramic ones but wanted something away from Glasgow. On a gaming weekend in Larbert I got the chance to go to the Falkirk Wheel and take a series. This is 11 images stitched together.

2008 © David Kane

Please understand that this image is copyrighted and that unauthorized use is prohibited.
No permission to manipulate this image will be given.
If you wish to use the image commercially or in publishing, please contact me!

Hope

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:27:48 PDT

yeah i dont know where this might go

anyways, this was taken while watching Mexico vs Argentina here at Qualcomm Stadium June 4th. Look at all those hopefuls; waiting to see when mexico was going to beat Argentina.

...Awfull game. 4-1 loss

Facts:

Mexico fans in stadium: 65,364
Argentina Fans in stadium: 2,582

im just guessing

The actual size of the picture is 1224 x 1632

Canada Day Fireworks

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 23:37:44 PDT

I spent a solid hour trying to find out where or if there were fireworks in Calgary for Canada's 138th birthday. Finally someone told me after the football game they were going to shoot some (which had more to do with the season opener than celebrating national pride). My parents are partying in Ottawa on parliment hill, those lucky bastards... This is my first time shooting fireworks and I went through at least 30 snap shots before I acually got something worth showing. The damn things are almost as hard as shooting lightning.

Paris - The merry-go-round

Mon, 17 May 2010 06:04:59 PDT

Paris - The merry-go-round

Skyway

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:22:25 PDT

Another successful year of State Fair photography!

Where Video Games Go To Die...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:07:52 PDT

Found at Southpoint Market in Columbus, OH

A Farm by Sunset

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:50:20 PDT

so my lovely and i were taking a walk today - i'm currently staying with him and his family until tomorrow when i head home, but since we were stuck inside most of the day because of the wonders of computer games, the two of us decided to take a walk about 6 kilometres out and down to a large river. we walked alongside a railway yesterday on one side of town, so we figured we'd go teh other way today.

this time i remembered to bring the camera ^^

i got some pretty nice photos - the sunset really great but i'm not sure how great the camera was, but most of the photos came out nicely ^_^

this particular shot was when we had just left the highway that led through Allanson (Collie, West Australia), and i saw this field through some trees - this photo was taken looking over the corner of the wooden-post and barb-wire fence into teh field - i saw the shed in teh distance and figured it might look good in a photo - good thing the camera wasn't as bad as i thought it might have been! XD

AAAANY how; i haven't done any photography in aaaages, but this plus a few more i'll be uploading soon are from teh walk that and i took today. ^_^

photo:

Get Yoouur Tiiicketss Heeeree

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:13:09 PDT

I saw image : [link] and it inspired me to dig through my images and tweak this one ♥

nothing beats going with friends and/or family to the county fair, knowing that every ride is cheesy and most of the games are fixed! But, the yummy food, the loud music and the carnies yelling at all the passerby'ers .... laughter when you goad your boyfriend in spending his last $20 on a game and you walk away with a palm sized teddy.... the memories are what last a lifetime ♥ ♥

so thank you *Trippy4U for making me think about these days

and to the carnival people, Tufano Amusement: [link]

Linger

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:29:33 PDT

_{If you, if you could return, don't let it burn, don't let it fade.

I'm sure I'm not being rude, but it's just your attitude,
It's tearing me apart, It's ruining everything.

I swore, I swore I would be true, and honey, so did you.
So why were you holding her hand? Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time? Was it just a game to you?

But I'm in so deep. You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger, ah, ha, ha.
Do you have to let it linger? Do you have to, do you have to,
Do you have to let it linger?

Oh, I thought the world of you.
I thought nothing could go wrong,
But I was wrong. I was wrong.
If you, if you could get by, trying not to lie,
Things wouldn't be so confused and I wouldn't feel so used,
But you always really knew, I just wanna be with you.

But I'm in so deep. You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger, ah, ha, ha.
Do you have to let it linger? Do you have to, do you have to,
Do you have to let it linger?

And I'm in so deep. You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger, ah, ha, ha.
Do you have to let it linger? Do you have to, do you have to,
Do you have to let it linger?

You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger, ah, ha, ha.
Do you have to let it linger? Do you have to, do you have to,
Do you have to let it linger?}

Master

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:52:41 PDT

You want to play a new game,
You put on this blindfold.
You do what we tell you,
You do as you're told.
Used to be the leader
Now comes the time to serve,
Maybe we'll show some mercy,
Maybe you'll get what you deserve.
Countdown to the end, but make it go faster,
This is your disaster.
Countdown to the end, but make it go faster
It's time to meet your master...

Abandoned distillery.

HDR made of 7 shots.

Enjoy!

Let's play a game...

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:27:21 PDT

Turn the wheel. Lucky day ? You can go safe. Otherwise, you're trapped forever.

Last day, Guillaume [link] was our guide to this place. Thanks man for sharing this nice location in the Lille area.

Explored with Guillaume, Ahmed (our guides) , Aline, Aurélie, Xavier, and Christophe

Wrigley Scorecard Vendor

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:58:41 PDT

He was a surly fellow . . .

Most of my friends here on dA live outside the US, so this photo needs explanation. I was going back to see a baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, for the first time since I was in college. Wrigley Field is one of the cathedrals of baseball in the US. I got goosebumps getting off the 'L' (the Metro) at Addison Street . . .

I was SO excited to be back at Wrigley Field for a baseball game! The Cubs actually lost that night. usually they win when I visit!

The Game Of Autumn Leaves

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:01:29 PST

vrtuljak. weeee

The Room to End All Rooms

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:23:55 PDT

Download it to actually get a good look at it.

I've wanted to make a photo tour of my room for quite some time now, months actually. Finally decided to get to it tonight, putting it into this one big piece took longer than it should've haha. I've been really busy, obviously, lately and haven't had time for DA. Don't really have much true art to put up but I HAVE been working on art and working hard during my leave. Trust me, and as an added bonus tonight I am gonna make a piece of fan art for a certain game. That'll be fun!!!!!!!! <3

Well to all those people that enjoy the "long" descriptions I occasionally make then oh boy is this the piece for you. Let's make it happen cap'n!

In Box Numbah One standing in this corner at 100x69 pixelsdlk;fmkasld Okay Picture 1 and 2 is where we will begin our tour (sorry but all the audio tours are broken, eaten by Arons). This is my desk, this is where I work my magic yall. And for once the laptop actually is on the desk, I always have it on my bed. Much more convenient just lean to the side from my desk and Ive got it. You can see my MagicJack next to it too. If youre wondering whats next to it its my second copy of Tomorrow Never Lies, I mean Dies. You can also see E-Gamma-Beta-Zeta-409er (as seen on ESS!) At the top of the desk is my giant litter of stuff, actually some of you whove been with me for awhile might find it familiar.

[link]

[link]

You can see where I keep my N64 games right above the printer. Above that is one of the many shelves I keep drawings in. You can also see some of my PC games but most are in a drawer in my restroom. Inbetween the games is the shelf where I keep my Copic supplies. And multiple books to the right.

Move on to Box 3. Now we are getting into poster territory, there are many well spot on our tour so keep your cameras out! The NatGeo Planet of the Dinosaurs poster steals the show, contains some humorous cg renditions of a Paralititan, a Spino (COOPER!!!) an Afrovenator, a Nigersaurus, a Majungasaurus, a Masiakasaurus, a Leaellynasaura, a Carnotaurus, an Amargasaurus, and of course ladies and gentlemen our newest addition to Jurassic Park Carcharadontosaurus. Duuundunduuuundunn.

There is a long winding Christmas card I found at school that depicts the twelve days of Christmas, its awesome it sorta satiated my desire to have a wallet that drops tons of pockets like in movies. There are some nametags, stickers, General Grievous tattoo, a Gears of War 2, thing I found in a dumpster, my Life Path with creepy Gumby and Pokey poking out, a Cowboy Bebop wallscroll, a diploma holding Chick graduate, Kirby SSU, a framed male Cardinal, a Ninja Gaiden poster, Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia, Puto Shark (as seen on DA!), NRA card that I actually dont know how I have given I am not in the NRA.. I forgot thats even there, a Mushroom Men poster, evil Leprechaun as seen on DA, Megaman, cartoon drawing of my handsome face, a nailed wrapper of a BIG STICK Sasquatch beef stick from Jack Links (did you know my X-Box 360 menu is Messin With Sasquatch themed?), colorless blenders, and a Freshwater Fish Placemat.

Moving on to Number 4! FOUR! My buddy shelf full of my stuffed and plushie friends! Chewie, Yoda, bear, bear, Bucky from Peter Piper Pizza, doggie, BUNNY, Hooters, Jackrabbit, Sea Turtle, Dog2, Froggy, Bad Dragon, Rocky the Rockhopper (as seen on ESS!), Jack Skellington, cute talking hug bear that was a gift, and more Jack Skellington, also my fur hat and my DS and copy of White Version are out there. You can also see my window sill adorned in crap, Furbies, old shoes, a Mosasaur tooth, paper mache monstrosities, Starscream, ICarly toy found in a science class, Reshiram (ironic that right when I typed that the video I was listening to said Yin and Yang.) the Robot (as seen on ESS!) and Mr. Bill. There are also some old drawings from middle school as well as speculated Brawl rosters from the Dojo Days.

Moving on to Number 5! The newly installed sh*t-section, miscellanea. Here is mostly storage space due to my diminishing amount of it. On the left is a letter to Santa from second grade, to the right is a Mario Kart Wii poster, and then a Chrono Trigger poster, the notorious artwork that depicts Marle with too many fingers. Then a Barney poster, and then a Sea World poster. On the ground is art supplies, a pencil sharpener, socker boppers, napkins, 20 Q, the Deadly Mantis, charger cables, Beaver, Froggy3, Reindeer, Camera, empty container that once held my portable games and handhelds, now they are in that mini treasure chest that I opened for you beautiful people. You can see some of my DS games, the gba gb and gbc games arent visible however. And my SP, DS Lite, and two GBAs are there, also my E-Reader. Also you can see my Sunset Sarsaparilla star Festus gave me.

NUMbER SiX! Posters galore baby! Monsters of the Deep from NatGeo depicting Shonisaurus, Archelon, Temnodontosaurus, Nothosaurus, Thlassomedon, Tylosaurus, Kronosaurus, and the one that had just been discovered at the time of the magazine, Godzilla. Yall better believe I loved that when he was found. A firefighting Gundam, a bulletin board that was abandoned quickly, SMG1 poster, Paper Mario Whale poster, A New Hope poster, Revenge of the Sith poster, Godzilla VS Ebirah poster, Hands of God poster complete with signatures of the cast and crew, a Dilbert comic, Hello Kitty thing. A polygonal kitty thing. A birthday card, a birthday gift, another birthday card, the Complaint Department, a cherry salmon, Cheerleading tryout poster, plush Bulbasaur, Globe, Brawl poster, Plankton stealing a Krabby Patty, Happi Robot, framed seal, Mushroom Men Classification Chart, Wind Waker poster love that one, Peter Piper Pizza poster with mariachi Bucky, Sonic Chronicles poster, Green and Brown plush Godzilla from a claw machine, colors make me wish they were Sanda and Gaira instead. Copper Manta Ray Girl, Little Shop of Horrors school play poster, old gingerbread man monster, LEGO Clone Turbo Tank, box with Teto, camera in GBA case, another calendar, Jeff poster, bottles, zombie bunny from Gamestop dumpster, trophies (the useless ones not the PS3 ones), a Tamagotchi plush, Texan Armadillo, Battle Revolution poster, Cat Fancy posters, skeleton poem, and the tree. Notice Biollante in the foreground that brings us to!!!

NUMBER SEVEN! Biollante perching over my bed, where she protects me every night. In the foreground is my Bowsers Inside Story poster, really like it, also a Godzilla sticker, and a sticker from Rizzy. Some Bird of Paradise flowers peeking in the frame, my old Pokemon blanket.

Number 8. One of those excavate yourself dinosaur bone things, framed above my restroom door. Also Drell are now called ASSASSes.

Number 9. What I like to call the Tree of Lifelessness. A potted tree, brimming with animals as well as the previously mentioned Bird of Paradise. At the bottom are where most of the animals in the jungle are An Animal Crackers box HAAAAHAAAAHAAA Theres also a Ty Anteater on the flower stem. Mooooneeeeeeeeeeey. A stuffed Sloth, a Coatimundi, and a Sugar Glider. Note the not visible previously lava lamp, license plate, and pant size stickers on the door frame.

Number 10. Above my room door. SMG1 poster, Bangai-O Spirits poster, L<3VE, Geological chart, Vote for Popple and Rookie! Tigerman and talking parrot.

Number 11, a shot from the restroom. Stop sign from my friends house we drew on ages ago, underneath a Paranormal Activity 3 poster.

Number 12. Where the REAL magic is made baby <3

Number 13. The front door of my room. Ruby and Sapphire Pokemon chart, Elesa, Count Olaf wanted poster, Chick Fil A, Stamps, H.R. Giger calendars, Capital Wasteland map, machine gun, Plaza Film Festival playbills, old poster AS SEEN ON DA! COOPER AS SEEN ON DA! LAVOS AS SEEN ON DA! And a Starbucks menu on the door, note the lack of a door knob.

Number 14! The area that I look at when I go to sleep. More posters as well as a card and movie ticket board, adorned with REDRUM and the mummy as well as George Bush and drumsticks capped with my old pinky bandage complete with dried up blood. A newspaper article from when I saw the Star Wars musical concert, an old drawing from elementary school, Elite Beat Agents, more Elesa, legal tender Santa dollar, George Bush dollar, Star Wars poster, love that Phantom Menace poster so much, LoTR poster, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, Chick Fil A, Chalk the Block, Chuggington, Mr. Man, Aliens poster.

Number 15!! Heres where it gets fun kiddies, the VHS collection part of our tour begins here, we will start with the kids movie section, i.e. the clamshells. Here you can find Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, Hey There Its Yogi Bear!, Jurassic Park, Hercules, Batman, Pinnochio, Dumbo, the Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, A Goofy Movie, The Lion King, Dinosaur, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Inspector Gadget, Homeward Bound, Snow Dogs, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Angels in the Outfield, Happily Ever After, Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Story of Christmas, Rudolph, Babe, Babe Pig in the City, The Land Before Time, The Land Before Time II, The Land Before Time III, Big Fat Liar, Jumanji, Cheaper By the Dozen, Chicken Run, Were back! A Dinosaurs Story, The Parent Trap remake, Casper meets Wendy, Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue, Pokemon the First Movie, Pokemon Mewtwo Returns, Pokemon 2000, Pokemon the Movie 3, Pokemon the Movie 3, Spirited Away, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Black Hole, *batteries not included, Dexters Laboratory Ego Trip, Wall Street, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles We Wish You a Turtles Christmas, The Iron Giant, Pearl Harbor, Frantic, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Home Alone 3, National Lampoons Vacation, Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Top Gun, WarGames, Short Circuit, Stealth, Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Dolittle 2, Lassie, Excalibur, Twister, Liar Liar, Why Me? Its a Wonderful Life, Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring, Wolf, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Brainwaves, Miracle on 34th Street, Final Destination. Notice the Knuckles toy, Chomper plush, Cookies n Cream Pop Tarts and Lambchop puppet.

Number 16. Time for more fun!!!! MY VIDEO GAME SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That TV right theres been with me my whole life, you can see all my X-Box, X-Box 360, Wii, Gamecube, and PS2 games scattered about, my consoles are visible all except for the PS3 which is downstairs, we recently bought an hd tv and I hooked it up and its still there. Look at my Pokemon toys in front of the Gamecube and my crab from San Franciscos Aquarium!!

A Slim Jim snacksize box thats filled with pens, Metroid Prime 3 poster, Pollution chart.

NUMBER 17!!!!!!!!!!! Here he is The reason we all are here The Golden One, the one light to light them all The one who guards all my heavenly possessions, my pet.. My Precious

Number 18! Nothing can top the Golden One.. Why even bother continu-OMG OMG!!! MORE VHS TAPES!!! In my cabinets that have A Boy and His Blob and Okami posters. Uh oh here he goes again listing the movies. Here it goes!!!! Air Force One, George of the Jungle, Beavis and Butthead Do America, Veggie Tales Are You My Neighbor?, Suburban Commando, The Island of Dr. Moreau remake, Rear Window remake, Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Planet of the Apes Burton remake, Highlander, Highlander Directors Cut, Highlander 2 The Quickening, Highlander the Final Dimension, Metropolis, The Wizard of Oz, Abraxas, Sonic the Hedgehog movie, Dirty Harry, Banjo-Kazooie vhs trailer, The Patriot, Braveheart, Mission Impossible, Mission Impossible 2, A Night at the Roxbury, A Beautiful Mind, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Other Stories, Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, Army of Darkness, The Exorcist, Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III The Season of the Witch, Friday the 13th, Critters 2, Bats, Alien Seed, Alien Nation, The Colony, Xtro 2, Lifeform, Ghosts of Mars, The Ring, Red Dawn, Apollo 13, Dune, Robin Hood Men in Tights, Waynes World, Cyborg, Timecop, The Santa Clause, A Christmas Carol, Muppet Sing Alongs, Muppet Sing Alongs 2, Jeepers Creepers 2.

Number 19! Above the closet, here you see the skeletal remains of a croc I once wrestled and consumed. Dolphin poster, cafeteria food poster, Brawl poster, ocean net with lobsters crabs and fourpi, also Luigi got stuck in it fighting a Blooper, DANJO!!! Look its Danjo from ESS!!!! Hes so FUNNY its freaking DANJO!

Hes also next to my Dark Knight pizza box, yes I have an old pizza box on my wall, but hell its so high-tech I couldnt just dump it! Raptas, Super Mario Strikers poster, and the spot where my Mama Luigi for Criminal District Judge poster should be if it didnt always fall off Twilight Princess and a CoD tourney poster. HOOPz!

Number 20. Oh god Oh no.. He isnt, he is oh God he is MORE VHS TAPES!!!!!!!! Oh you poor people Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, House of Wax, the Tingler, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Fly, Return of the Fly, The Day the Earth Stood Still, It Came from Outer Space, The Angry Red Planet, The Giant Gila Monster, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, Reign of Fire, Starships Troopers, Mad Max, Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior, Blade Runner, Dreamcatcher, Dr. No,You Only Live Twice, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, Diamonds are Forever, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough (Yeah I REALLY need to boost my Bond collection bad), Austin Powers International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Agent Cody Banks, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles!, Spaceballs, Galaxy Quest, MIB, MIB, MIB II, Alien Autopsy (RIZZ), ID4, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Ghostbusters 2, Jaws Collectors Edition, Close Encounters Special Edition, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Young Indiana Jones the Peacocks Eye, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, Jurassic Park Collectors Edition, The Lost World: Jurassic Park Collectors Edition, The Making of Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park ///, Saving Private Ryan Special Edition, Inner Space, Back to the Future Part 1 2 and 3, Forrest Gump, Walking With Dinosaurs, Allosaurus, Carnosaur, Dinosaurs!, Deep Impact, Deep Star Six, Deep Blue Sea, Deep Rising, The Abyss, Event Horizon, Bram Stokers Dracula, The Thing, Christine, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead remake, Psycho, The Hitcher, Terminator, Terminator 2 Judgement Day, Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines, True Lies, Commando, Eraser, The Sixth Day, End of Days, Total Recall, Akira, Die Hard, Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Escape from New York, Escape from L.A., Gamera VS Barugan, Gamera VS Gyaos, Gamera VS Zigra, Daimajin, Gorgo, King Kong, Gappa the Triphibian Monster, Tommyknockers, Species, Species II, Alien, Aliens Alien3, The Making of Alien3, Alien Resurrection, AVP, Predator, Predator 2, Star Trek The Motion Picture, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, Star Trek V The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek First Contact, Star Trek Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis, The Dark Crystal, The Faculty. Then theres my Godzilla shelf which I know isnt full yet it gets additions every few months. Also theres my dvd collection Ill spare you the list for that you lucky devils, OH I forgot theres a vhs on the tv, its Pink Flamingos, and Supernova is under the tv. Theres my vhs tv by the way, only used for the vcr, god is it a piece of junk. Princess Squish Ace and Cephie plush!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Naruto plush and ancient train toy, awesome Star Wars poster, 80s Robot Magnatron, Roboraptor, Vader Voice changer, more Star Wars toy, Bionicles, Xenomorph toy, Ceasar glaring at you, Heartgold box, Destoroyah, Scraggy plush, Kermit puppet.

Number 21. Zoom in, youve been spared this time.

Number 22. BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! YOU POOR SOULS! Trust me this is the last of the vhs. Here we have from the top shelf moving to the right; Stargate, the Animatrix, Movies Money Murder, The Chinese Connection, Fists of Fury, In the Line of Fire, Hannibal, The Expanding Universe, Romero, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Roadhouse, Swordfish, Murder My Sweet, Kazaam, The Wedding Winger, Saving Silverman, The Sixth Sense, Teen Sexuality, Jules Verne, Bill Nye The Science Guy: Marine Mammals, Ocean Life, and Cells, Road Trip, Spiderman, Battlefield Earth, Scream, Scream 2, Dark Harvest, Rooster Cogburn, The Dawn Rider, The Magnificent Seven, Wind of the Wasteland,Tombstone, Dances with Wolves, the human FACE, The Andromeda Strain, Leapin Lizards, Totally Tropical Rain Forest, Meet the Parents, Big Daddy, Happy Gilmore, Mr. Deeds, Black Knight, Star Wars Episode IV, Star Wars Episode I, Alien Empire, Alien Empire, The Island, Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Signs, We Were Soldiers, Patton, Platoon, The Day After Tomorrow, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Good Morning Vietnam, The Big Lebowski, The Turbulent End to a Tragic War: Americas Final Hours in Vietnam, The Vikings, Stuck on You, Because of Winn Dixie, Coaching the Dutch 4:3:3 Dutch Soccer School Part 5, Dragonball Z The History of Trunks, DBZ Androids, DBGT Annihilation, The Karate Kid Part III, TMNT, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Enemy of the State, The Atomic Bomb Movie, KABOOM!, Titanic, Kill Bill Volume 2, The Punisher, Scooby Doo, Satchmo, Titan A.E., Mission to Mars, Lost in Space, Food a Multicultural Feast, Czechoslovokia, Biotechnology: Friend or Foe?, How to Grow FLOWERS, How to Grow ROSES, How to Grow PLANTS IN SUNSPACES, How to Grow and Cook FRESH HERBS, How to Care for Your LAWN, How to Grow and Cool Weather VEGETABLES, Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind, Viruses, Japan Reaches for the 21st Century, Malcolm X, Pokemon Fighting Tournament, Pokemon Seaside Pikachu, Pokemon Wake Up Snorlax!, Pokemon Trading Card Game TRAINER VIDEO, Pokemon Pikachus Winter Vacation, Bionicle Mask of Light, Cold Sweat, X-Men, X2, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Phonebooth, French Impressionists Part I II III & IV, Jesus Christ Superstar, Frank Sinatra, Anaconda, Boa, Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Robocop 2, West Side Story, The Nutty Professor, The Nutty Professor 2 The Klumps, American Pie, American Pie 2, National Geographic Ocean Drifters.

And with that.. No More VHS.. For now at least.

Number 23! Restroom again aye puchi! Area 51 sign, T-Rex Crossing, Jolly Roger Towel, Little Joe y mi Familia.

Number 24. Some more stuff in the restroom, Godzillas Revenge poster, Baboon painting by a friend, and the Crabulon tag.

Number 25! Were almost done! More restroom, the toilet paper roll, Crimson Chin, Buddy the Elf, San Andreas poster, and Pokemon dish.

Number 26! Hop in bed with me hunnies, getting tired out by this here tour, ah poop Elder Scrolls Scrolls is in the bed nevermind Hes my roommate and bro, he plays Wii Sports with me, see! Hes holding a Wiimote!

Number 27 reveals the front part of my bed, the squid plushie, the photo frame, the clay and pillow gifts, King Ghidorah, Biollante, Miami Seaquarium cup, UglyDoll, and Snivy stylus.

Spending My Time

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:52:44 PDT

Spending my Time - Roxette

What's the time, seems it's already morning
I see the sky, it's so beautiful and blue
The tv's on but the only thing showing is a picture of you

Oh I get up and make myself some coffee
I try to read a bit, but the story is too thin
I thank the Lord above you're not here to see me
in this shape I'm in

Spending my time
Watching the days go by
Feeling so small, I stare at the wall
Hoping that you think of me too
I'm spending my time

I try to call but I don't know what to tell you
I leave a kiss on your answering machine
Oh help me please is there someone who can make me
wake up from this dream?

spending my time
watching the days go by
feeling so small, I stare at the wall
hoping that you are missing me too

spending my time
watching the sun go down
I fall asleep to the sound
of "tears of a clown"
a prayer gone blind
I'm spending my time

my friends keep telling me hey life will go on
time will make sure I'll get over you ooh
this silly game of love - you play, you win onlyto lose

I'm spending my time
watching the days go by
feeling so small, I stare at the wall
hoping that you think of me too

I'm spending my time
watching the sun go down
I sleep to the sound
tears of a clown
a prayer go blind

I'm spending my time...

Merry-go-round.

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 06:45:09 PDT

It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colors will bleed
All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't need
I lust for after no disaster can touch, touch us anymore
And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before.

@Iasi , Romania .
*Photo : Me.
*Edit : Me.

An Afternoon Game

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:01:45 PST

The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.~Exerpt from Lewis Carrolls' Alice in Wonderland.

[An Afternoon Game. BACKLOG. August 14, 2011]

Inside Super Potato 2

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:04:43 PST

This girl had a huge list and was going through all of the original Famicom games, filling up a basket.

Fun and Games

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:05:47 PDT

Part of a friends birthday present, their whole garden was decorated with lots and lots of balloons, a few days later when they started going down this was the result

Haifa sunset III

Thu, 14 May 2009 01:58:25 PDT

Lag BaOmer
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Lag BaOmer
Official name Hebrew: ל"ג בעומר‎
Observed by Jews and Judaism
Type Religious
Significance 33rd day after Pesach
Begins Iyar 18
2008 date May 23
2009 date May 12
2010 date May 2
Related to Pesach, Shavuot, Counting of the Omer
Lag BaOmer[1] (Hebrew: ל"ג בעומר‎, also known as Lag LaOmer amongst Sephardic Jews, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer which is on the 18th of Iyar.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Origins
3 Customs and practices
3.1 Bonfires
3.2 First haircut for children
3.3 In Israel
4 Dates
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Etymology
Lag BaOmer is Hebrew shorthand for 33rd of Omer (Lag, or L"G (Hebrew: ל"ג‎ is the Hebrew numerals for 33). It falls on the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, as counted from the second day of Passover until the holiday of Shavuot. This corresponds to the 18th day of the month of Iyar. An omer is a measure of barley. In Biblical times, on the second day of Passover, it was a commandment to bring barley the size of an omer to the Temple in Jerusalem. Then, fifty days later, on Shavuot, or Pentecost, it was a commandment to bring the first offering of the wheat harvest.

Sephardic Jews have the custom of calling this holiday Lag LaOmer, which has been claimed to be more accurate according to the rules of Hebrew grammar.[citation needed] Lag La'Omer means the thirty-third day "of the Omer", as opposed to BaOmer - "in the Omer." In reality, Sephardim who follow the "Mechaber" or Rav Yosef Karo (Shulchan Aruch) celebrate "Lad BaOmer," or the 34th day of the omer.[citation needed]This has been disputed with the argument that in Hebrew, the prefix used when counting is "B'" or "Ba", as in Tu BiShvat, Tisha B'av, etc. The "Ba" prefix in Hebrew can mean "relating to", as opposed to "la", which denotes "belonging to".

[edit] Origins
The 33rd day of the counting of the Omer is Lag BaOmer. The origins of the Omer count are found in the Torah itself, in Leviticus 23:15-16, which states that it is a commandment to count seven complete weeks from the day after Passover night ending with the festival of Shavuot on the fiftieth day. The 49 days of the Omer correspond both to the time between physical emancipation from Egypt and the spiritual liberation of the giving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai on Shavuot, as well as the time between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest in ancient Israel. There are a number of explanations for why the 33rd day is treated as a special holiday.

The Talmud (Yevamot 62b) states that during the time of Rabbi Akiva 24,000 of his students died from a divine-sent plague during the counting of the Omer. The Talmud then goes on to say that this was because they did not show proper respect to one another, befitting their level; they begrudged each other the spiritual levels attained by their comrades. Jews celebrate Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the count, as the traditional day that this plague ended. This is the view recorded in the legal code of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, 120:1-10. Another possible interpretation of this legend is that the students died as part of the Roman attempt to wipe out Judaism after the Bar Kokhba revolt.

After the death of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, he taught just five students, among them Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The latter went on to become the greatest teacher of Torah in his generation. The day of Lag BaOmer is also celebrated as the Hillula or Yahrzeit, the anniversary of the death, of bar Yohai,[2] who is purported to have authored the Zohar, a landmark text of Jewish mysticism. According to tradition, on the day of his death, he revealed the deepest secrets of the Kabbalah. Indeed this day is seen as a celebration of the giving of the hidden, mystical Torah through Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, as a parallel to Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the revealed Torah through Moses. Indeed there is a source in the Kabbalah that Moses was reincarnated as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai to give this mystical element of the Torah to the Jewish people.[citation needed]

Many Jews make a pilgrimage to bar Yohai's tomb in Meron on Lag BaOmer.

There are those who dispute that Lag BaOmer is indeed bar Yohai's Yahrzeit on the basis that it appears that in the original texts of Shaar HaKavanot by Hayyim Vital it refers to Lag BaOmer as being 'Yom Simchato' ('Day of his happiness'.[3] However, the day of death of a saint or tzadik is generally considered a day of celebration so this appellation is not surprising, especially given the fact that the Zohar tells the story that bar Yohai revealed a vast amount of mystical teaching at that time. The Ben Ish Chai, and the Chida both confirm that bar Yohai did not die on this date – additionally the Chasam Sofer discouraged the idea of celebrating on the day even if it would in fact be his Yahrzeit.[4]

Lag BaOmer has another significance based on the Kabbalistic custom of assigning a Sefirah to each day and week of the Omer count. The 33rd day is the 5th day of the 5th week, which would be the day of Hod, or Majesty, within the week of Hod. As such, Lag BaOmer represents the level of spiritual manifestation or Hod that would precede the more physical manifestation of the 49th day, Malkhut within Malkhut, which immediately precedes the holiday of Shavuot.

Some say the holiday marks the temporary victory of Bar Kokhba's men over the Romans.[5] The holiday became a symbol emphasizing the struggle for national liberation and freedom. The bonfires and the archery games coincide with Bar Kochba's revolt.

[edit] Customs and practices

The Grave of Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai in Meron on Lag BaOmer.Lag Ba’omer is special in that the prohibitions of the Omer period may be suspended for the day, or cease, according to custom. It is a time of dancing and singing. Families go on picnics and outings. Children go out to the fields with their teachers with bows and (rubber-tipped) arrows, and bats and balls. Tachanun, the prayer for special Divine Mercy on one's behalf is not said, because when God is showing one a "smiling face," so to speak, as He does especially on the Holidays, there is no need to ask for special mercy.

During the Middle Ages, Lag BaOmer became a special holiday for rabbinical students and was called the "Scholar's festival." It was customary to rejoice on this day through various kinds of merrymaking. As restrictions of mourning are lifted on this 33rd day of the count of the omer, weddings, parties, listening to music, picnics, and haircuts are commonly scheduled to coincide with this day. In Israel, many Orthodox Jews traditionally delay cutting a boy's hair until after his third birthday; the upsherin hair-cutting ceremony is often held on Lag BaOmer in the area near bar Yohai's tomb.

In Meron, the burial place of Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai and his son, Rabbi Elazar bar Simeon, tens of thousands of Jews, if not more, gather to celebrate on the "Yahrzeit," (or more properly, the Hillula) the anniversary of the death of the "Godly man," the great scholar who lived in the immediate aftermath of the Second Temple. With torches, song and feasting, the Yahrzeit is celebrated. This may seem somewhat odd, but was a specific request by Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai of his students. It is a custom at the Meron celebrations, dating from the time of Rabbi Isaac Luria, that three-year-old boys are given their first haircuts or Upsherin, while their parents distribute wine and sweets.

[edit] Bonfires
The most well-known custom of Lag BaOmer is the lighting of bonfires. Some say that as bar Yohai gave spiritual light to the world with the revelation of the Zohar, bonfires are lit to symbolize the impact of his teachings. It is also Jewish custom to light a candle in honour of the deceased on the day of the Yahrzeit. As his passing left such a 'light' behind, many candles and/or bonfires are lit. The Bnei Yissoschor cites another reason for the lighting of bonfires. On the day of his death Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said "Now, it's my desire to reveal secrets...The day will not go to its place like any other, for this entire day stands within my domain..." Daylight was miraculously extended until Rabbi Shimon had completed his final teaching and passed away. This symbolized that all light is subservient to spiritual light, an particularly to the primeval light contained within the mystical teachings of the Torah. As such, the custom of lighting fires symbolizes this revelation of powerful light.

[edit] First haircut for children
It has been proposed that originally pilgrimages for an Upsherin were made to the Tomb of Samuel the Prophet on the 28th of Iyar (his Yartzeit). He was a Nazirite bound by oath not to cut his hair, and as such the location of his tomb more appropriate for the occasion. However at some point towards the end of the Middle Ages, the area had become prohibited to Jews – it is around this same time pilgrimages began to be made to Meron, location of the tomb of Shimon bar Yochai whose Yartzeit is the 18th of Iyar (Lag B’omer). Possibly the tradition of Upsherin during this period was thus transported to a new location and date. Bolstering evidence for this theory is that Sefardic minhag prohibits hair cutting until the 34th day of the Omer, as such Upsherin at Meron would be in contradiction with the tradition of segments of the Jewish community on this basis it seems more likely that the Upsherins were originally held on the 28th of Iyar – a more universally tenable date as it is past the 34th day of the Omer.[6]

[edit] In Israel
In Israel, Lag BaOmer is a school holiday. Youngsters and their parents light bonfires in open spaces in cities and towns throughout the country. Students' Day is celebrated on the campuses of the various universities. Hundreds of weddings are held on Lag BaOmer, adding to the festive character of this holiday.

In Israel, one knows that Lag BaOmer is drawing near when children begin collecting wood boards, old doors, and anything made from wood that can burn. This happens from 1 to 2 weeks before Lag BaOmer. As Lag BaOmer approaches, building contractors employ extra night watchmen to make sure that wooden planks and scaffolding are not carried off by youngsters.

A Haredi custom is the giving of Chai Rotel.[citation needed] Chai (literally life, but equivalent to 18 in gematria) Rotel (a rotel is a liquid measure of about 3 liters; 18 rotels equals 54 liters or about 13 gallons). It is popularly believed that if one donates or offers 18 measures of liquid sustenance to those attending the celebrations at the Hilula of R' Shimon bar Yochai in Meron on Lag BaOmer then the giver will be granted miraculous salvations. R' Ben Zion Halberstam, the second Bobover Rebbe, is alleged to have written to one of his acquaintances in 1912 "I heard from the holy sages of Eretz Yisrael that they have a kabbalah that barren women (God forbid) should donate Chai Rotel on the yahrzeit of R’ Shimon bar Yochai."

[edit] Dates
2008: Thursday night/Friday 22-23 May
2009: Monday night/Tuesday 11-12 May
2010: Saturday night/Sunday 1-2 May
2011: Saturday night/Sunday 21-22 May
2012: Wednesday night/Thursday 9-10 May

[edit] References
^ Lag BaOmer Jewish Agency for Israel
^ ben Shimon, AsherLag B'Omer and Rashbi Arutz Sheva. May 18, 2003, accessed April 30, 2007.
^ Machon Shilo A Fresh Look at Lag B'OmerAudio lecture by Rav David Bar-Hayim
^ Esser Agaroth Um,...Hello?! RaShB"I Didn't Die on Lag b'Omer Essay by Yaaqov ben Yehudah
^ Israel Ministry of Tourism
^ The Twenty Eighth of Iyar Aish

[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lag Ba'omer
'Omer, Lag Be- Jewish Encyclopedia

Great American Ballpark

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:58:52 PDT

Go Reds!

Location: Newport, KY on the levee overlooking Cincinnati
Equipment: D7100 + 35mm f/1.8G + Circular Polarizer filter
Editing: I added extra motion-blur in the water.

Go straight

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:13:25 PST

now, if you don't live in italy probably you won't understand.

or maybe you will, soccer is a world wide sport.

my boyfriend plays soccer, he's quite good. so sometimes (no, not sometimes. often. too often) i follow him in his matches. i have to take pictures if i don't want to fall asleep on the floor.

i mean.

i can't stand soccer!

Comerica Park

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 17:02:58 PDT

In honor of the 2012 MLB Postseason starting today, I'm submitting this photo of Comerica Park before the game begins. Nice stadium.

Go Tigers!

Location: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan, USA

The Whole Place to Your Self

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:08:51 PST

The Selfish Giant

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden.

It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. "How happy we are here!" they cried to each other.

One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

"What are you doing here?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

"My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.

TRESPASSERS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED

He was a very selfish Giant.

The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. "How happy we were there," they said to each other.

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden," they cried, "so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. "This is a delightful spot," he said, "we must ask the Hail on a visit." So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.

"I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."

But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. "I believe the Spring has come at last," said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.

What did he see?

He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. "Climb up! little boy," said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.

And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out. "How selfish I have been!" he said; "now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's playground for ever and ever." He was really very sorry for what he had done.

So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.

"But where is your little companion?" he said: "the boy I put into the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.

"We don't know," answered the children; "he has gone away."

"You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow," said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.

Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. "How I would like to see him!" he used to say.

Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. "I have many beautiful flowers," he said; "but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all."

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.

Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, "Who hath dared to wound thee?" For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

"Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant; "tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him."

"Nay!" answered the child; "but these are the wounds of Love."

"Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

~ Oscar Wilde

One night in Bangkok II

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 09:39:15 PST

another shot from this view ---->Colour of Transportation
another shot with this name --->One night in Bangkok

F/8
40 sec.
ISO-100
CPL filter
ND filter

One Night In Bangkok

_{THE AMERICAN:

Bangkok, Oriental setting

And the city don't know what the city is getting

The creme de la creme of the chess world in a

Show with everything but Yul Brynner

Time flies - doesn't seem a minute

Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boards in it

All change - don't you know that when you

Play at this level there's no ordinary venue

It's Iceland... or the Philippines... or Hastings... or... or this place!

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster

The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free

You'll find a god in every golden cloister

And if you're lucky then the god's a she

I can feel an angel sliding up to me

THE AMERICAN:

One town's very like another

When your head's down over your pieces, brother

COMPANY:

It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity

To be looking at the board, not looking at the city

THE AMERICAN:

Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town...

COMPANY:

Tea, girls, warm, sweet, sweet

Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite

THE AMERICAN:

Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist

[One Night In Bangkok lyrics on [link]

Whose every move's among the purest

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

Not much between despair and ecstasy

One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble

Can't be too careful with your company

I can feel the devil walking next to me

THE AMERICAN:

Siam's gonna be the witness

To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness

This grips me more than would a

Muddy old river or reclining Buddha

And thank God I'm only watching the game, controlling it

I don't see you guys rating

The kind of mate I'm contemplating

I'd let you watch, I would invite you

But the queens we use would not excite you

So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage parlours

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster

The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free

You'll find a god in every golden cloister

A little flesh, a little history

I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

Not much between despair and ecstasy

One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble

Can't be too careful with your company

I can feel the devil walking next to me}

by Murray Head (1984)

Sunset

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:15:52 PDT

Photograph taken on the Watar Hazard level of Half-Life 2 with the graphics on "high" and HRD lighting set to "on." At the rate in which PC gaming is going, within the next 5 years it will be impossible to tell video games from reality. I bet if I didn't tell you this was from Half-Life 2, you never would have guessed.

Aerial-View City Tiltshift

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:01:49 PDT

A friend of mine, 17, just recently got his private pilot's license (PPL). I have always loved flying, so I was really excited when I got to be his third passenger (after his parents haha) to fly around the city! We flew over my house, his house, friends' houses, interstate highway, our high school, another city's high school (it was the first football game of the season against our rivalry team; photos of that to come!), and more! We did a few landings/touch-and-go's, and I had a really great time! I cannot wait to go with him again sometime and get some more awesome shots!

So this is a rival city, as seen from a Cessna 152, run through a faux-tilt shift filter for fun.

_______
_{©2012 =Mulsivaas - Don't take my work or do anything stupid/illegal. Permission for use is given on per-situation basis. Thanks!}

Let's Go Mets

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:34:50 PDT

Taken at Shea Stadium at Game 6 of the NLCS 2006.