#pigeon pit illustration

[insolent-ram]

sketchy sketch for a spontaneous pigeon pit illustration. I’ve just been through a pretty ugly breakup and their music has been helping, a lot.

well, that’s your first post for 2024! hope your year will be better than my last year haha

#pigeon pit #pigeon pit illustration #lomes oleander #shut in #hot knives #fanart #folk punk #black and white #black and white illustration #tattoo artwork #digital art #sketch #acoustic guitar

[seaforth]

8 Shot Project - Observing A Space

This week, I was tasked with documenting a space.

8 Shot Project - Hosted on vimeo

Getting a feel for the environment we were filming in was critical and I wanted to document this same feeling in a visual sense.

We decided on the quay near my accommodation as due to it's close proximity I was familiar with the area and knew what I was looking to portray in the project video.

The building is the focal point of this shot, however we can spot individual elements of the crane transportation block, and the lamppost, which we later put a spotlight on.

The first thing we wanted to put a spotlight on was the presence of the crane, looming over the environment. I thought it would be important to further exemplify this focus when cutting to a new shot on the other side of the building, the crane's movement is still visible, despite the shot being taken later.

Up-close shot of crane operating and spotlight on balcony, we can the get a sense of the buildings scale.

Having this shot being present in movement was important to show the area is regularly populated.

Being able to have an upclose shot of the ground area was important too, as it represents how the quay is regularly full with tourists, cyclists, locals using it as a means to get to accommodation, fountain park etc.

Small discrepancies like abandoned cigarettes was something Sam in our group wanted to put a spotlight on. Pitting a focus on both the recently dropped cigarette along with another two which had fallen through a small crack was something we were hoping would illustrate longevity.

Another shot, this time focusing on the head of the lamppost but the crane still occupies part of the background.

I love the graffiti plastered around the construction areas of the quay, as it gives the place a stronger sense of character. I settled on this centred shot as it presents a government placed lifejacket holder, slowly surrounded and plastered with works and signatures from other creatives. Despite this it still stands in place, and you'd easily be able to visualise how it used to look.

Smaller detailed shot spotlighting one piece, showcasing the variety of artwork populating the area.

Final shot allowing the viewer to catch a glimpse of the environment as a whole, from eye level, whilst now being familiar with its feel and atmosphere.

This was a fun project, as I already enjoyed walking through the quay as it's neighbour, but there were many shots I didn't manage to fit within the 8 shot requirement.

Whilst it wasn't a requirement, if i had to do this project again I would've liked to have captured the sound of the space, being able to highlight the sounds of nature found in ducks and pigeons populating the surroundings, along with passerby chatter.

[Originally Posted As a Draft On The 12th Of November, 2023]

[sandersgrey]

in the kind of world where we belong

1k of pure fluff. You can also read it here on ao3!

"Did he do the thing back then?"

Ty turns the page. He's not really reading right now; mostly, he just likes the weight of the book on his lap, the comfort of familiar illustrations and familiar quotes. Kit is sprawled on the floor beside him, head pillowed on a folded arm. He's watching Ty. He's always watching Ty, these days.

"What thing?"

"You know", Kit gestures with his free hand, "the whole oh but I am not worthy of your hand thing. Jem seems like the type."

"You're the only one who calls him that."

"Not true. Tessa calls him Jem too, and you guys should probably start getting used to doing that. You didn't answer my question."

"I wasn't at the bridge", Ty hedges.

"Buuut?..."

"... But I overheard them talking later. I'm not sure if it counts, but he did seem to have done a…"

"A how could I possibly ask anything from you thing?"

Ty hides his smile behind his book.

"Yeah."

 "Always being incredibly right all the time is a burden, but somebody's gotta do it," Kit declares. 

Kit's not always right. He's never paid that much attention to Rosemary's demonology lessons, and it shows when they're discussing possible cases. His runes could use some work, too, and it's very clear he's only had one sparring partner his entire life. 

But he's brilliant when it comes to people. It's something Ty has never managed to get the hang of, probably never will. You don't need to, Kit had told him, that's what Livy and I are for. We're a team. 

The memory makes Ty tap his fingers on the spine of his book. 

"What do you think?"

"Of what? Always being right? I just told you."

"No", Ty says, "of the whole… I couldn't possibly ask thing."

Kit's eyebrows go up. He stretches out, not quite managing to make it look casual, and readjusts his arm.

"I don't know. I think there's respect in the asking."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Like, if you don't ask, you're kinda making the decision for the other person, right? When you ask, it means you respect them enough to know that they'll tell you the truth, and it won't affect your relationship."

"Would you? Ask?"

Kit laughs, scrunching his nose. 

It's kinda cute. When Kit laughs for other people, it's almost picture perfect; the ideal image of what a smile should be. A statue. Ty likes to make him laugh like this, with no thought as to what it looks like. 

"Nah," Kit finally says. "I'm too much of a coward for that."

"You're not a coward."

"That's not what Livy told me yesterday."

"You really do need to get over your fear of heights, but that doesn't mean you're a coward. It means you have a sense of self preservation."

Kit smiles, his eyes almost disappearing. "Mom would kill me herself if I didn't by now."

"That might be counterproductive."

"Maybe. What about you? Would you ask?"

Ty puts a finger between the pages, closes the book, and looks at Kit. 

It's only been two years since they first met. Only two years since Ty had gotten fed up with Tessa's excuses about her absences and followed her into someone else's house, slipping into a room to avoid being seen. Two years since he had held a knife to Kit's throat.

It's strange to think that his past self had been ready to hurt him if the need had arisen. Now Kit is as much a part of Ty as Livy is. Essential, like a limb or his own hearing. Part of Ty thinks he orients himself based on Kit's position, like pigeons and magnetic fields, and he hasn't found convincing evidence against the hypothesis yet. He finds himself off-balance whenever he can't hear Kit's footsteps beside his own.

Kit looks, lets himself be watched without the need to say anything. Ty slips down from his chair onto the floor.

"What would you say if I did ask?"

Lips part in surprise. Ty's gaze follows their movement, something like hunger in the pit of his stomach. Kit hurriedly sits up.

There's a red mark where his cheek had been pressed against his arm, and no matter how much Kit brushes his fingers through his hair, it's still a mess. There are bags under his eyes from staying up helping Ty study for the exams. Pink spreads across his face, climbing up onto his nose and ears, climbing down onto his neck. Ty wonders how far down it goes. If he's lucky...

Kit slowly smiles, a crooked canine peeking through his lips. It's the most beautiful thing Ty has ever seen. 

"I'd say yes ," Kit says. "For you, Ty, it's always a yes."

Logically, there is no way the amount of air in the room has changed. He finds himself breathless anyway. 

The book left aside on the floor, Ty drags himself to Kit, a hand hesitating in the air until the boy leans into his touch and then he's cupping Kit's face. It's soft. Ty's thumb caresses down, down, until he presses against the bottom lip.

Kit's breath is hot. Ty leans forward and tastes it himself.

It's a slow, gentle kiss, savoring the feeling. He cradles Kit's nape; feels warm, callused hands go up his shirt and settle on the small of his back. The rasp of his fingertips leads a shiver through Ty's spine. 

Something warm and heavy settles in the pit of his stomach, makes its home there. He can't help but smile against Kit's mouth.

Ty pulls away. Blue eyes stare at him with the kind of glazed, lost look he's not used to seeing directed at himself. Kit's lips are red- blood has flown there, Ty knows, due to the pressure. He gives in to temptation and leans in for another brief kiss.

"So", Kit says, an eternity later. "You didn't actually ask, you know."

Ty, who has a lapful of his now boyfriend, grins at him. He can't stop tapping out a beat on Kit's rib cage- neither of them seems to mind it.

"You said yes anyway."

"I'm easy like that", Kit agrees easily.

Ty leans in, presses a kiss against his pink cheek. It's summer and the freckles won't stop showing. They're convenient targets.

"You wouldn't stop looking at me."

"Well, I'm sorry to say this was not the way to dissuade me from looking."

"Good", Ty assures him. "I like looking at you too."

Even after they spent a good half an hour making out, this still makes Kit go pink and duck his head. He does this thing when he notices he's gonna smile, where his nose crinkles and his lips press together, where the smile inevitably comes out anyway.

"Good", Kit says.

#alex wont shut up #alex's arty #kit herondale #ty blackthorn #kit x ty #tda #tsc

[man-creates-dinosaurs]

SPOOKY PALEONTOLOGY: THE (OC)CULT OF NESSIE One reason I haven’t been blogging as much here is that I’ve been busy with various academic projects including two book chapters, submissions for conference presentations, serving as a member of the steering committee for this year’s Religion and Monsters panel at the AAR, getting the long awaited second installment of Scholars Talking Toku up, and preparing to start applying for PhD programs at the end of the year.

One of the books I recently contributed to is tentatively titled “Paranormal and Popular-Culture” and should be coming out from Routledge early next year. The volume was conceived and edited by Darryl Caterine and John W. Morehead. My contribution was a chapter on the intersection of cryptozoology and science-fiction in which I endeavored to show that the central aims and obsessions of cryptozoology (i.e. the discovery of monstrous creatures alive in the world today) can be found to have originated in the realm of fantastic fiction.

My original draft for this chapter was over 11,000-words and had to be drastically reduced at the behest of the publisher (actually the entire book had to be shortened apparently). So I decided I could make use of some of that research here on my blog and just in time for Halloween. In this case I want to talk about lake monsters. Spooky lake monsters. Specifically the Loch Ness Monster.  

Though reports of a monster living in Loch Ness don’t begin until 1933 the idea of such a creature dwelling somewhere within the British Isles can be found in The Lair of the White Worm; a horror novel by Dracula author Bram Stoker originally published in 1911 by Rider and Son of London with interior color illustrations by Tarot Card artist Pamela Colman Smith. In 1925 an abridged version of the novel was issued, losing more than 100 pages and 12 chapters.

Set in Derbyshire, England The Lair of the White Worm concerns Australian transplant Adam Salton who has traveled to meet his great-uncle, Richard Salton, as Adam is destined to become the heir of the family estate. As Adam quickly learns, however, high strangeness of various kinds is at work in the surrounding countryside including the death of livestock, mysterious black snakes slithering about, a child with vampire-like bite marks on her neck, hostile pigeons, and the mysterious Arabella March who lives nearby in a house located in Diana’s Grove; an area known to have once been the center of pagan religious rites.

Eager to get to the bottom of these various mysteries, Richard introduces Adam to his friend Sir Nathaniel de Salis; who fulfills the Van Helsing role in this novel of occult scholar. In Chapter 5, “The White Worm,” Sir Nathaniel fills Adam in on the various legends concerning Diana’s Grove including that it is the lair of a monstrous albino serpent or dragon; what the Anglo-Saxon’s called a ‘wyrm,’ hence the novel’s title. When Adam displays some skepticism about such tales Sir Nathaniel informs him that…

“A glance at a geological map will show that whatever truth there may have been of the actuality of such monsters in the early geologic periods, at least there was plenty of possibility.  In England there were originally vast plains where the plentiful supply of water could gather.  The streams were deep and slow, and there were holes of abysmal depth, where any kind and size of antediluvian monster could find a habitat.  In places, which now we can see from our windows, were mud-holes a hundred or more feet deep.  Who can tell us when the age of the monsters which flourished in slime came to an end? There must have been places and conditions which made for greater longevity, greater size, greater strength than was usual.  Such over-lappings may have come down even to our earlier centuries.” (p. 187 in Penguin Classic’s Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Tales, 2007)

Here we see that Sir Nathaniel is something of a proto-cryptozoologist and like his 20th-Century contemporaries advances the idea that the menacing white worm, like Nessie, is a prehistoric holdover who has somehow managed to survive for millions of years in the supposedly “abysmal depths” of the United Kingdom’s many lakes and lochs. Of course, the novel ends with the revelation that the worm is real and dwells in a pit beneath Arabella March’s home in Diana’s Grove where March worships and feeds the beast who in turn appears to endow her with evil supernatural powers. Ultimately, Adam is able to dispatch the monster via the handy combination of dynamite and a well-placed lightning bolt.

In 1988, English filmmaker Ken Russell (1927-2011) filmed a theatrical adaptation of The Lair of the White Worm. Russell’s version actually puts more emphasis on the story’s latent paleontological elements. Rather than being set in the early 20th-Centrury the story is moved up to the present day (i.e. 1980s) and Adam Salton is recast as Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi; the Twelfth Doctor); a Scottish archaeologist excavating the site of a Roman era Christian convent in Derbyshire. Among the ruins Flint discovers what appears to be the skull of a dinosaur! The locals connect the skull to the legend of the d'Ampton wyrm, said to have been slain in Stonerich Cavern by John d'Ampton, the ancestor of current Lord of the Manor, James d'Ampton (Hugh Grant of Four Weddings and a Funeral [94] and Bridget Jones’s Diary [2001]). Flint attends a party at d’Ampton Manor where he meets James and the audience is treated to a rocking rendition of the legend of the d’Ampton wyrm (based on the real-life legend of the Lambton Worm).

Stonerich Cavern is connected to the home of the enigmatic Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) who steals the skull from Flint and also abducts his girlfriend Eve. While a symbiotic relationship between Marsh and the White Worm is only hinted at in Stoker’s novel, it is explicit in Russell’s film with Marsh assuming the form of a silver-skinned serpentine vampire who’s appearance I would have to guess was inspired by the look of a similar monster seen in Hammer’s The Reptile (1966, dir. John Gilling). It is soon revealed that Marsh is the immortal priestess of an ancient pre-Christian snake god named Dionin whose next sacrifice is going to be Eve. In order to rescue his girlfriend and expunge the evil from the countryside Flint enlists the aid of James and the two mount an assault on Marsh and Dionin.  

For most cryptozoology enthusiasts, Nessie is believed to be an extant plesiosaur which somehow survived the K–Pg extinction event some 66-million-years ago. As a result the idea of Nessie being related to anything like the subject of Stoker’s The Lair of the White Worm – with its occult evil, secret cults, human sacrifice and vampires – may seem strange indeed. However at least one noted Nessie research drew just such a circle of connections around the Loch Ness Monster. That man was Fredrick William Holiday (1921–1979).

Like most Nessie researchers, Holiday started out proposing that Nessie was a prehistoric survivor. Not a plesiosaur but rather a Tully Monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium); a genus of soft-bodied bilaterian that lived during Late Carboniferous period some 323.2 million-years-ago to 298.9 million-years-ago and whose fossil remains were discovered in Illinois in the late 1960s. The exact nature of the Tully Monster is actually a source of great paleontological controversy which you can learn about here. Like all cryptozoologists expounding prehistoric survivor paradigm theories Holiday was at a loss to explain how the warm water Tully Monster had survived hundreds of millions of years in a cold lake on the other side of the world. He also had the not insignificant problem that the fossils of Tully Monster indicated that its maximum size was about 14-inches, pretty puny for the Loch Ness Monster. Nevertheless, Holiday put forth his Tully Monster theory in his 1968 book The Great Orm of Loch Ness; “orm” being another variation on “wyrm.”

However, as Holiday continued to research the Loch Ness Monster he began noticing strange things happening to him. This included his camera always malfunctioning whenever he tried to take a shot of Nessie, glimpses of mysterious orbs of light, apparent UFO sightings and experiences of missing time. As a result by the early 1970s Holiday ceased promoting the idea that Nessie was a Tully Monster and started claiming that it was a supernatural entity that was both the basis of ancient dragon legends and somehow connected to UFOs; hence the title of his second book: The Dragon and the Disc (1973). This trend in Holiday’s research continued and by the late 70s Holiday was apparently wrapped up in all kinds of occult phenomena and evidently claiming that Nessie was the object of reverence of a secret dragon cult practicing human sacrifice hidden in the surrounding Inverness environs. All this prompted Holiday’s final book The Goblin Universe (published in 1986, after his death) which was co-authored with sci-fi writer Colin Wilson; author of The Space Vampires (1976), which was later turned into the film Lifeforce (1986) directed by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) and scripted by Dan O’Bannon (Alien). You want a crazy Halloween double-feature? Watch Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm and Hooper’s Lifeforce back-to-back.   

#loch ness monster #nessie #cryptozoology #cryptid #bram stoker #vampire #the lair of the white worm #ken russell #ted holiday #lampton worm #peter capaldi #hugh grant #lake monster #colin wilson

[wordslikewax]

Thanksgiving

I’ve been watching this show called “How To with John Wilson,” where, in each episode, he investigates a social phenomenon and illustrates it along the way with video footage. The concepts that he discusses can become very abstractly and poetically linked, heartbreaking and hilarious. I highly recommend checking it out. Anyway, the aspect of the show that is most inspiring to me is how the narrative pushes Wilson to interact with the world, actively seeking out strange people, black sheep, entering their private spaces and talking to them. In order to do this, he must have to remove the armor that many Americans subconsciously wear as a way of keeping ourselves, our individual worlds, our personal routines and agendas, fully preserved. We have been conditioned over the course of many generations, to believe that anyone too different from us is a threat and that we ought to avert our stride. 

 This is reminiscent of what ensued when the European colonizers first stamped their boots on what they thought was Asian sand. Columbus wrote of the Arawak Indians who swam to greet his ship as it sailed ashore, “They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”  When Columbus promised “as much gold as they need and as many slaves as they ask,” the second voyage to the New World was provided with seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men. Two hundred of the five hundred natives they attempted to transport back to Spain, died en route. In Haiti, all natives fourteen years or older were ordered to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months, which was impossible as there was not that much gold, and when they failed to do so, they were killed. “In two years, through murder, mutilation or suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead.” 

This genocide continued for the next four centuries. In 1790, most of the 3.9 million Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. By 1830, the population had more than tripled and huge swaths were crossing the Appalachian Mountains in search of land that wasn’t hoarded and controlled by the wealthy minority, the same group of men that devised the constitution as a plot to consolidate and reinforce their power. Battles were fought with many casualties on both sides but the Indians were ultimately outnumbered. Treaty after treaty was signed that promised the Indians land if they moved further west only to have this land taken from them again and again. On their voyages they suffered enormous losses from sickness and starvation, from heat and from cold. Andrew Jackson, said to be the greatest enemy of the Native Americans, designed a treaty in 1814 which “granted Creek Indians individual ownership of land, thus splitting Indian from Indian, breaking up communal landholding, bribing some with land, leaving others out--introducing the competition and conniving that marked the spirit of Western Capitalism.” Today, Native Americans make up only 2 percent of the nation's total population. 

How, you ask, does this have anything to do with “How To with John Wilson” on HBO? Is there any purpose in dwelling on the horror that is this nation’s birth, other than so that you might lose your appetite? Yes. The purpose is to remind us just how historically American it is for each of us to consider our own selves as so distinctly valuable, worth protecting at all costs, while viewing our engagements with other human beings as predominantly transactional; what can this person do for me? What might this person be trying to take away from me? How will this person impact my life? 

Recently, I was sitting on a park bench in Bay Ridge when I began to hear a man whistling loudly. He was also pacing around, waving his arms above his head and shaking a small container of something. Twenty or thirty feet away was a monument crowded with pigeons, and he seemed to be trying to get their attention. At first I was annoyed by the sporadic loud whistling, but then I thought of John Wilson. By now he would be filming a conversation with the man, with seven minutes of great footage already in his video camera. So I decided to go talk to him, and as we spoke, the tension I was holding began to evaporate. As we said goodbye, I felt nothing but an easygoing kinship towards Gregory, the Pigeon Meister. It occurred to me that I would like to talk to as many people as I possibly can, to observe the funny idiosyncrasies, to exchange something with a stranger, even if it is just a word, because it feels like an electrical current, charging my heart with energy. 

In a country whose leadership still prioritizes the wealthiest and most capitalistic individuals, and attempts to divide the rest of us against one another as a way of remaining in power, the refusal to be divided is an act of radical resistance. Although it is much harder now to connect through masks, through distance, through wifi, perhaps moving forward, we can deem Thanksgiving a day upon which we hold ourselves accountable; Have we been complicit in systematic division? Have we been pitting ourselves against some “other”? Do we assume we can’t relate to this person or that one? Why? Because they are too young? Too old? Because they don’t speak English very well? Because they are too religious? Because they’ve been to jail? Because they are Trans? Because they are...too different? Have we been looking people in the eyes? Have we been stopping to ask the man at the Deli how he’s doing? Have we been curious? Compassionate? Open-minded? Generous?

(All of the information about colonization comes from “A People’s History of the Unites States” by Howard Zinn) 

[ezatluba]

Respect the Hustle of Soda Can Raccoon and Murder Cat

Pizza Rat is not the only resourceful city critter. A look at the endlessly entertaining (and slightly dangerous) world of urban wildlife.

By Dave Taft

Nov. 20, 2019

Consider Pizza Rat.

“New York City rat taking pizza home on the subway (Pizza Rat),” the viral YouTube clip, follows the exploits of one resolute rat as it tumbles down subway steps while dragging along an entire slice of pizza.

The video’s appeal is as complicated as it is universal. Few New Yorkers — few humans — love rats. But this is one resourceful rodent, and who isn’t just a little beguiled by his determination?

Like Pizza Rat, the animals in these photographs are immediately recognizable as fellow New Yorkers — co-conspirators doing those things we’d perhaps all like to do but really shouldn’t. Who isn’t inspired to gluttony by seeing an English house sparrow surrounded by a gold mine’s worth of greasy fries? We know they’re not good for the bird, any more than they’d be good for us, but what great good fortune!

So we cheer for animals we might otherwise abhor. You might be repulsed by Rattus norvegicus, but you have to respect the hustle.

Naturalists often speak of nature persisting as cities expand. But what exactly are we calling “nature”? And what if some of this nature isn’t just persisting, but actually thriving?

Both cities and nature are ever-changing and adaptive. The nature we most often think of — the kind with tundra swans and cheetahs, sun-drenched grasslands and alpine lakes; the kind steeped in morning dew, lavish music and Sir David Attenborough’s mellifluous voice-over — belies an overlooked and equally valuable nature found in our backyards.

The photos here capture the feral cats, pigeons, and ants swarming in sidewalk cracks. But lying just beyond these urbanites is what many find surprising: the bald eagles, red bats, fringed orchids, sensitive ferns, and coyotes that also make their homes among us. Falcons hunt over Broadway, deer cross the Bronx River, Luna moths orbit door lights, comb jellyfish fluoresce along our shorelines. Who knew?

Nature in New York City is still ecologically important. Scavengers scavenge, predators predate, decomposers decompose. Water still courses through streams and seeps into aquifers, bees still pollinate our roof-deck zucchini plants, and an inestimable number of raccoons and opossums thrive in perpetual gratitude for our uniquely human habit of throwing garbage into convenient dispensers lining the sidewalks.

This natural plenitude may be surprising to many city residents; nature was something you drove elsewhere to see. But until recently, it was largely ignored by naturalists as well.

Urban spaces had long been considered by researchers as environmental wastelands. At best the city was derided as a breeding ground for trouble — the port of entry for destructive insects, ground zero for an ever-increasing list of nonnative plants and animals, its woodlands and shorelines besieged by unfamiliar new creatures establishing themselves among the remaining natives.

This slowly began to change over the past several decades, and now you could argue that humanity has never been more enthralled with the natural world. New York City bats, beetles, even whales, occupy entire Facebook pages, and tweets about rare bird sightings occupy the imaginations of thousands of New Yorkers.

Recently, a male painted bunting drew crowds in the thousands to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Weekend whale watch excursions from the Rockaways are booked solid (dolphins and whales almost guaranteed!), and alewife herring restoration in the Bronx River has become a spectator sport.

Researchers are examining the genetics and behavior of the urban coyote, like the one spotted in Central Park last weekend. The role of whitetail deer in the ecology of urban woodlands has become an unexpected necessity; other researchers and citizen scientists study population dynamics of urban diamondback terrapins (one of the largest populations of these turtles on the entire East Coast).

Urban plant-life truly illustrates the truth behind one of the world’s oldest adages: Nature abhors a vacuum. The smallest sidewalk crack will support plants and, given enough time, animals.

All over New York, you will encounter many wild-looking animals that are captive or domesticated: a scarlet macaw jauntily riding his owner’s shoulder, a lizard visiting the beach on a leash, a lemon-yellow python slithering over asphalt. These pets are animals worth appreciating in the city, but they will hopefully never run wild.

The myth of alligators thriving in New York City’s sewers is just that, a myth. In actuality, life in the streets for lost or abandoned pets is generally short and brutal. Most will not live to see the end of their first winter. Feral cats are an exception in only one respect: Many remain effective predators, capable of killing native birds and small mammals. They become the bane of park managers and, often enough, of their human neighbors. The green-eyed cat behind the car tire, dangling its most recent catch, is testament.

Of course, our delight in these animal city dwellers doesn’t excuse foolishness. Note to New Yorkers: Do not offer your camera to passing raccoons, and don’t offer peanuts to squirrels unless you want to get bit.

As a park ranger, I cannot look at the photo of a young woman delighted by a baby armadillo without noticing how close its burrowing front claws are to her face — especially when you notice the scratches on the forearm of the man offering her the creature.

Do not, it goes without saying, step into the lion pit.

And if I can keep my park ranger hat on for a moment longer, let me say that feeding any wildlife — even wildlife on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk — is a bad idea. It does the animals no favors — not even humans have fully evolved to eat highly processed fast foods. And sooner or later, the squirrel you’ve encouraged to eat peanuts from your lap will find someone far less appreciative of this kind of rodent familiarity.

Without exception, it is best to keep sharp mammal teeth a safe distance from your fingertips. Raccoons are cute, but they do not like to be petted.

In the end, perhaps it is best to appreciate these photos as wordless parables.

A 21st-century Aesop might title a fable: “Why the Rat Dragged His Pizza Onto the 14th Street Station Platform.” The rat would offer his friend the pigeon sage advice, then dart off to find another opportunity as wonderful as the slice on the stairs.

What the moral might be remains unclear. You may have to draw your own conclusions.

[ntrending]

Changes to conservation policy could put the future of migratory birds up in the air

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/changes-to-conservation-policy-could-put-the-future-of-migratory-birds-up-in-the-air/

Changes to conservation policy could put the future of migratory birds up in the air

The Trump administration has announced a position on protecting migratory birds that is a drastic pullback from policies in force for the past 100 years.

In 1916, amid the chaos of World War I, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and King George V of Great Britain signed the Migratory Bird Treaty. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) wrote the treaty into U.S. law two years later. These measures protected more than 1,100 migratory bird species by making it illegal to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell live or dead birds, feathers, eggs, and nests, except as allowed by permit or regulated hunting.

This bold move was prompted by the decimation of bird populations across North America. Some 5 million birds, especially waterbirds like egrets and herons, were dying yearly to provide feathers to adorn hats, and the passenger pigeon had just gone extinct. Fearing that other species would meet the same fate, national leaders took action.

Now the Interior Department has issued a legal opinion that reinterprets the act and excludes “incidental take”—activities that are not intended to harm birds, but do so directly in ways that could have been foreseen, such as filling in wetlands where migrating birds rest and feed. Why? For fear of “unlimited potential for criminal prosecution.” As the argument goes, cat owners whose pets attack migratory birds or drivers who accidentally strike birds with their cars might be charged with crimes.

But the MBTA has not been enforced this way. It is applied to cases of gross negligence where potential harm should have been anticipated and avoided, such as discharging water contaminated with toxic pesticides into a pond used by migratory birds. This new reading of the law means that companies will escape legal responsibility and liability for actions that kill millions of birds every year.

Pollution, development and habitat loss kill birds

Purposeful killing is only one of many threats to migratory birds. Habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, and collisions with buildings take heavy tolls on many species. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, every year more than 40 million birds are killed by industrial activities or structures such as power lines, oil pits, communication towers, and wind turbines. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed more than 1 million birds in a single event.

Seventeen former Interior Department officials representing every presidential administration from Nixon through Obama have written a memo expressing deep concern about the new policy. As they explain, the MBTA has given industries a strong and effective incentive to work with government agencies to anticipate, avoid and mitigate foreseeable death or injury to birds.

For example, it prompted energy companies to install nets above pits where they store waste fluids from oil drilling. Because these pits look like water sources, birds often land on them and can become trapped and die. Installing nets over the pits has cut annual bird deaths from roughly two million birds yearly to between 500,000 and one million. Not perfect, but a meaningful improvement.

Global citizens, global consequences

Because migratory birds don’t recognize international boundaries, the consequences of reinterpreting the MBTA may be felt across borders. In one year, an individual warbler may spend 80 days in Canada’s boreal forests, 30 days in the United States at resting and refueling sites during migration, and over 200 days in Central America.

At the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we have constructed maps and animations using data collected by volunteers for eBird, the world’s fastest-growing biodiversity database. These references illustrate how migratory birds connect countries. Many spend the year in locations that span the Western Hemisphere.

The eastern-breeding magnolia warbler, for example, spends winters in areas in the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America that are fractions of the size of its breeding range. Seeing how densely these birds are clustered in their winter habitat shows us that each acre of that territory is important to their survival.

Similarly, most populations of the western-breeding western tanager overwinter in Mexico. By identifying where bird populations winter in this way, we can better target conservation actions to protect species throughout their annual cycles.

Still at risk

Today we know much more than early conservationists did about the value of birds. Healthy bird populations pollinate crops and help plants grow by dispersing seeds and preying on insects. Migratory birds also contribute billions of dollars to economies through recreational activities like hunting and birdwatching. And they connect us with nature, especially through the dazzling spectacle of migration.

Conserving migratory birds requires effective protection both in the United States and through international agreements and partnerships. The most important threats are loss and degradation of habitat, which can be caused by land conversion—for example, clearing forests for farming—or by climate change.

In the 2016 State of North American Birds report, an international team of scientists assessed the conservation status of 1,154 birds across Canada, the United States and Mexico. They found that over one-third of all North American bird species are at risk of extinction without meaningful conservation action.

Birds associated with oceans and tropical and subtropical forests year-round are in the most dire straits. More than half of North American seabirds are declining due to pollution, unsustainable fishing, energy extraction, pressure from invasive species, and climate change. Birds that rely on coasts, arid lands, and grasslands also are in serious decline.

There are no easy solutions, but new science is supporting responses. Transformational citizen science projects like eBird are developing vast data sets to help pinpoint where conservation action should focus. Bird conservation groups and government agencies have formed international teams to eradicate invasive predators on islands that are critical to breeding seabirds and drafted multinational agreements to clean up large floating mats of garbage in our seas that can choke, trap or poison seabirds and other animals.

Birds are a shared resource among nations. Where governments have acted, they have successfully protected migratory birds and the habitat they depend on. In my view, the Trump administration’s shift would abdicate U.S. leadership on migratory bird conservation and undermine public good for private profit.

Amanda Rodewald is a Professor and Director of Conservation Science, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University. This article was originally featured on The Conversation.

Written By Amanda Rodewald/The Conversation

#Animals

[alissaflick4421-blog]

Christianity Contents.

Though it might be unexpected to some, toothpaste as well as floss have actually each been actually around given that old opportunities, though not in their current form. The early Chinese really loved and cherished flowers a lot that they maded fresh slice florals in their temples, as well as developed art works illustrating blooms on scrolls, silk textile, vases, layers as well as things of embroidery. The details in guide is too explosive to repetitive listed here, and I would underestimate to their information through quoting segments from guide. I very recommend this book to any person wanting an introduction of the Levant in the bronze and also iron ages. Definition: Of or associating with times long past, especially those just before the fall of the Western side Classical Empire (A.D. 476). The Gnostics concerned very the old Greek philosophers to have been accountable in shaping their spiritual identity, rather than the intelligences and also minds of those which have actually countered their classic ideas. When they have a particular duality from character and also character about them, the early theorists had the intriguing tip that individual beings are simply definitely ever contented and alive. Historical Greek home furnishings work marvelously properly for virtually any sort of room from your home. That pays attention to a fantastic ancient unit from clairvoyancy that uses thrown earth as manner from divining by carefully analyzing its own arrangement and purchase based upon a person's lifestyle, individuality and also his past, present as well as, future events. The old theorists, nevertheless, possessed a different perspective on character as well as personality. There is actually evidence coming from the burial place art works that the early Egyptians often took along cheetahs they had subjugated. Words Druid" is actually originated from dru" suggesting truth" or a person submersed in knowledge." The Greeks were the initial to document the word Druidae" going back to the 2nd century BC. The a variety of clans possessed their very own sacred plant, crann bethadh, or Plant from Life" standing as an emblem during their area. Historical knowledge, paired with origins of metaphysical as well as theological in attributes, in addition to the understanding idea of ancient greek, the manners of an unique metaphysical thoughts science that just the Druze Brotherhood can profess to be their own. Situation: Excavators are aiming to discover these old people by digging in the damages to discover artefacts. Other blossoms that were actually well-liked during old Egyptian opportunities featured the papyrus vegetation and the hand tree. Common porcelains such as glasses and also blocks are still produced through ancient procedures. Far coming from the picture very most have the retribution of God is actually being actually really felt throughout the world as our company move toward the end opportunities. Hence, the historical Greeks might possess felt their fallacies were demonstrating events that actually took place. All those Kalas (terrific magnificent capabilities), grandeurs and also important guidelines that appear in Brahma or The lord can be accomplished by our company through the channel from noise or even word energy. John 1: 3, in many models, states that the Messiah (or even the Word) is actually the inventor. Berlin indicated that they are actually the Periclean as well as Aristotelian worths from the historical polis - values that get a secure political neighborhood. After a plan specifically aimed for Youngster's IQ Advancement, analysts have actually found that youngsters IQ can easily range from 55 to 145 on the range, this is actually 3 times variance under as well as over the method. Since historical times, natural herbs have been used to really good results for managing stones in renals. As the fossilized continues to bes from historical birds are fragmented and also certainly not effectively preserved, their usage in establishing this transformative modification has certainly not been actually practical. Quran is actually the last publication from direction which was actually disclosed on Our True love Predictor Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). Discover numerous one-of-a-kind, antiquities such as Inca, Peruvian, Egyptian, Greek and also Classical at our on-line early outlet. If you have any thoughts regarding where by and how to use yellow pages uk (elfuturo.mx), you can call us at our own web site. BM Medical care comprehend that despite the fact that 1000s after lots of people count on nappies everyday, most possess a far better hint regarding exactly how range of motion motorbikes were actually cultivated than they carry out about the past history from nappies and various other urinary incontinence items This is regrettable, due to the fact that the tale behind nappies is actually rather interesting. Whether this is actually the new bride from historical time lugging herbs to fend off evil spirits or even today's modern-day new bride lugging a brilliantly colour as well as complex made arrangement, the wedding ceremony bouquet is one wedding ceremony custom that is actually fated to remain a part of our wedding tradition. Find out about life in city places as well as areas of numerous societies of the globe at various times in their past. The fact that Mandarin lifestyle is a complicated one also shows that the gold colour has a form of twin meaning and also it is actually the mourning colour made use of by Mandarin Buddhists. Flight angling in the modern times came from the streams from Northern England and Scotland. The early Greeks with their affluent bring ins from various areas included an exotic elements and also seasonings to the Italian dishes. In historical Mexico, turquoise was actually scheduled for the gods as well as can certainly not be worn by mere individuals. Naturally as an Egyptologist Redford relates the background from the Near East from the angle from Egyptian task and also notion, starting coming from pre-dynastic opportunities and also going through to Assyrian empire, concentrating mainly on Egyptian sexual intercourse with Syria-Palestine, whether that reside in the type of its own command over its peoples, business relationships along with all of them, or even animosity towards all of them. That pays attention to an outstanding ancient system of clairvoyancy that utilizes thrown the planet as manner from divining by cautiously assessing its arrangement and also order accordinged to an individual's way of living, individual as well as his past times, present as well as, potential celebrations. The early philosophers, however, had an other viewpoint on personality and also personality. There is actually documentation from the tomb paintings that the old Egyptians in some cases took along cheetahs they had actually tamed. The toy came to be prominent when Gruber licensed Disney characters to make still, 3-D pictures from Disney films and television systems. The ancient Greek hides adorning you house, a fire pit, some buddies and also delicious Classical food items would certainly merely be actually things for a genuinely respectable party! My child as well as his spouse, each of which are actually Ph.D. excavators focused on the Levant, suggested this manual to me as vital to my investigating a collection from stories. The words, probably coming from homing pigeons, means to move towards an intended, however that does not make a considerable amount of sense so you can easily see why an identical phrase, polish", indicating to hone or develop, is typically replaced. Currently you can easily view several analyses this early design elegance outdoor patios, pool, gazebos, gardens, decks, and decks throughout the nation. The Ace from Diamonds by itself anticipates funds or even an interaction for the customer. Far from account most have the retribution from The lord is actually being really felt throughout the world as our team move toward completion opportunities. Therefore, the ancient Greeks may possess felt their beliefs were reflecting activities that truly took place. All those Kalas (terrific divine capabilities), grandeurs and also vital guidelines that exist in Brahma or God may be acquired by us through the medium of audio or even word electricity. John 1: 3, in the majority of variations, states that the Messiah (or words) is the inventor. Stonecutters, servants and civil servants were actually paid off in a sort of beer named 'kash' - which is where the word 'cash' emerged. This internal truth of life, and also the knowledge from ways to utilize that transcendental field from pure imaginative intellect deep within oneself and utilize this, has actually been recognized and protected by secluded Himalayan Vedic Professional since one of the most early of your time. Circumstance: That is why Contru Rampache, the old lama, has actually come below to the historical village of Mustang.

[thebackroadtourist]

My Week in Bosnia: Belgians, Yoga, and a Homophobe.

The tequila bottle steadily made its’ way around us as the European fir trees towered over our petite wooden shack. 90’s hits blared from my iPhone as the mosquitos danced to the rhythm of ‘Here Comes The Hotstepper”. Outside our hut the Tara river flowed gracefully as the cold night breeze kept us huddled inside. The rafting boats sat still in the night as the stars reflected their light off the Balkan cliffs that surrounded us. It was midnight. Early the next morning we would journey on a 5 hour rafting trip through Bosnia and Montenegro. Around the tequila went, each mouth taking turns cupping the lip of the bottle until we reached the bottom. Instinctual dancing ensued, creating a ripple of energy in the calm setting of the remote village we were in. We didn’t care, because who were we in that moment? Just a trio of humans randomly selected by the universe and placed in virtually the middle of nowhere. No wifi signals could distract us, no job could stress us, no school could dread us, and nothing in our environment could cease our human nature to laugh, dance and be free in that moment. Little did I know these young and adventurous tequila companions of mine would become like family for me in the following days.

I had met the Belgians 3 days ago as I stumbled off the 14 hour night train From Serbia to Montenegro. We shared a taxi together to the bus station in Bar, where they had planned to stay as I caught a bus to Budva. They had mentioned they were headed to Budva the next day, but I never saw them there and had not been expecting to see them. 

If there is one thing I’ve learned throughout my travels, it’s that the backpacking community is small - very small. An Indian guy I met in Spain was on the bus with me from Slovenia to Croatia. A Portuguese Girl I briefly lived with in Costa Rica bumped into me in Colombia. Two Dutch guys I befriended in Belgrade were at my hostel in Sarajevo. A girl I rode a ferry with in Albania ran into me in Tirana and traveled with me to Macedonia. The list goes on and on. It’s easy to bump into each other by random because the destinations are quite similar and paths often cross.

We awoke early the next morning, geared up and prepped to set out on the Tara river. We had an hour to kill and one of the girls requested we do yoga. I had mentioned the night before that I was a certified yoga instructor. We lay our wetsuits on the wooden staircase attached to our hut and found a flat surface on the campground to practice. They had never done yoga before. I guided them through the basics and was impressed at how quickly they picked my cues despite the slight language barrier. They even understood “Down-dog” “Warrior” and “Pigeon”, raising my skepticism that it was indeed their first time, along with their flawless technique. Halfway through our flow I heard “My grandma wants me to teach her what you teach us.” I paused, those unexpected words riddled my mind for a minute. And for that moment I felt kind of cool. Cool because somewhere in the world there will be a Belgian granny busting out Mike Ryan yoga moves. I laughed at the image of a grandma doing headstands with her granny-friends and leaving a Mike Ryan yoga trail amongst grandmas in the country of Belgian. We ended the session with a child’s pose before we threw on our life vests and hit the waters. 

That night we took a bus to Sarajevo, the muslim dense capital of Bosnia where thousands of civilians lost their lives in a devastating 44 month war just 20 years ago. You could feel the energy of the town - damaged yet on the rise. Bosnia is relatively safe, yet known to be the sketchiest of all former Yugoslavian countries; the one country in the Balkans where a few backpackers have shared stories with me of hearing a gun shot, getting pick-pocketed or experiencing a conflict of some kind let alone a mean stare. The bus arrived at dusk, 15 kilometers outside the city center so we scanned for a taxi. After several attempts, I flagged one down and negotiated a semi-decent price to our hostel. The cabby had an attitude and was not the most welcoming guy, maybe in part that I fought to get his price lowered. With myself in the front seat  and the Belgians in the back, we made our way out of the Sarajevo boondocks, the lights of the city center upon us in the distance. We were half way to our hostel when one of the Belgian’s realized she had left her iPhone on the bus. Shit. Despite the odds of never seeing her phone again, they kept calm - like yogis. We called her phone and a Bosnian guy answered without a lick of English was spoken. We put him on the phone with our cabby as I gestured to our driver to speak with him. He looked extremely annoyed at this point, with not a lick of English spoken from his mouth either. He said a few words with the man from the other end and passed the phone back to the Belgian girl before whipping the car around in a U-turn and as he muttered the words “bus garage”. We accelerated towards the way we came, towards the apparent “bus garage” to retrieve the phone, so we assumed. We had no choice but to trust the universe on this one. It was dark now and the cabby sped with authority through the poverty-ridden residential neighborhoods and other unfamiliar sights as we passed many dead-end street signs along the way. At this point I think the three of us were experiencing horrific ransom-like images in our minds as the bald-headed broad-chested stoned-faced cabby winded through the shadows of the night, the mountains in front of us now, the lights of the city behind us. A few more disconcerting turns later and we arrived to our destination: A group of Bosnian men standing there, waiting for us in front of what appeared to be a house. My heart hastened as the men creeped towards us in unison like a pack of gorillas. The lead man knocked on my passenger side window. I rolled it down just a quarter way to be safe. My eyes darted from man to man, and then - the iPhone! I spotted it! It glistened off the moonlight in the hands of one of the men. The man with the phone then reached toward the opening of my window with a smile and in a soft tone said “Here is your phone” as he handed it to me. I thanked him profusely as he smiled and waved as we drove off, back towards the center of town. I thanked God, or Allah, or whoever was in charge that day for letting us keep our possessions, and kidneys for that matter. Supposedly organ hunting is a thing in this part of the world, though extremely rare - it can happen. 

Alas, the night wasn’t over yet. We approached the hostel, worn out from our long day of rafting, traveling and timid cab rides. As we entered inside the first people we saw were my dutch friends from Belgrade, completely out of nowhere! How random. What had intended to be a night of sleep escalated into a rejoice with the Dutchies, enthused with our spontaneous reunion. Chevapi, beers and bars with live music proceeded until the Dutchie’s went back to catch an early morning bus to Split. And finally, after nearly 24 hours of an action packed day, we laid our heads down to slumber. 

The town of Sarajevo was beautiful, Sarajevo meaning “Palace in the Valley” a name given by the Ottoman Empire just 500 years ago when the town was discovered. An “new” town, for European standards. Despite a stifling 40% unemployment rate the town was quite welcoming, with the beauty of over 200 mosques and unique architecture which stretched long down the river that split the town into two. Turkish food, markets, and Muslims occupied most of the town, but one small vegetarian restaurant stood out so we decided to try it. With so much meat in the past few days, weeks even, we were all craving some veggies.

The ambience was calm and inviting, decorative painting of colorful fruits and vegetables covered the walls of the cafe, a little tacky looking but light-hearted.   Our waiter seemed nice at first, poking fun with us and being the charming guy that he came off to be. Then half way through our entree he walked up to our table, turned towards me and said “You man, you are SO handsome!” I laughed and thanked him, unsure of where he was going with this. “Are you heterosexual? You’re with all these beautiful women!” He continued to ask more questions, some quite personal, until I humorously interjected “Bro are you hitting on me?” The Belgian girls giggled as his face turned red. 

“No man, I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t gay. Because that would be such a waste. I can’t understand how some handsome guys are GAY! It’s sad,” he pointed to his head and shook it in disgust. The laughter at the table ceased as our smiles came to to a halt. I cleared my throat. “You know man, maybe you should be gay - you would get laid a lot more. Gay guys really know how to have a good time. In fact, they are the funnest people in the world to be around.” With an astonished look on his face he frowned, realized that we weren’t a force to reckon with and he walked away. Moments later he dropped our check on our table without stopping and not a word came out of him. It was a shock to hear this guy openly admit his homophobia to a group of foreigners. Nonetheless, it was an experience that illustrated where some countries and their people are on the progression scale.

We arrived back to our hostel that night and the 3 of us hugged and bid our farewells. It was 5 days of adventure through Bosnia together, and that night I would take a 9 hour bus ride to Ulcinj. I knew I would miss these girls. I wanted to take them with me but as with all travel relationships, abrupt endings are inevitable. The Belgian girls left an impression on me, and inspired a future pit stop to Belgium for my next Euro-trip. I just hope they hold on to their phones.

#travel #travelmore #travel adventures #solobackpacking #Adventure #explore #exploretheworld #wander #wanderingsoul #nomadiclife #gyspysoul #globetrotter #europe #eurotrip #Yugoslavia #balkans #backpack #travelinglife

[antonpizzey2-blog]

Historical Times & The Greeks.

To the people from a lot of ancient societies, the worlds were believed to be deities. BM Health care recognize that although that thousands after 1000s of folks rely upon nappies each day, most have a much better hint concerning just how flexibility personal mobility scooters were cultivated compared to they perform concerning the background of nappies as well as other incontinence items This is too bad, since the tale responsible for nappies is actually rather intriguing. This early burial ground holds a few of the planet's earliest proof from canine domestication It additionally revealed the regard these ancient dogs were actually given up primitive societies. Certainly not just the skeletons and their other bodily components of the early folks are recognized, yet also the nature as well as level from development of each of the arts that could be maintained by interment. This method has actually been in usage considering that the ancient times for really good as well as bad objectives both. Given that ancient times, schools as well as universities have been actually taken into consideration as temples from know-how. Consume this combination observe along with one cup of milk 2 opportunities each day prior to eating just about anything (when your tummy is actually vacant). It is actually meaning has actually given importance to garnet as a present from passion's tourist attraction, a present from quick gain or even as a present of estranged love. One of the lengthiest and most widely grown from these old plants was actually the ordinary grain, a bean valued as much for its durability as its own flavor and nutrients. Historical understanding is certainly not a remedy for the foreign-policy challenges ahead. The plaything ended up being preferred when Gruber certified Disney personalities to create still, 3-D pictures off Disney movies and television courses. The historical Greek hides embellishing you house, a fire pit, some close friends and delicious Classical meals would just be actually the many things for an absolutely excellent party! My child and also his other half, both from who are actually Ph.D. excavators concentrated on the Levant, suggested this publication to me as essential to my exploring a set of novels. As additionally found earlier in historical Egypt the Greeks additionally believed in Divine beings like fairies that settled grottoes and also streams. Marital relationship, like a lot of the transactions in historical Rome was actually controlled through agreements. This Lion symbolism has been utilized in backyard water functions off historical times with to the here and now day. Our team view it in motion pictures and occasionally its depicted in commercials, as discussed above, however its still restricted, a minimum of in the United States. Cologne was at the centre of aesthetics as well as therapies for each males and females in Historical Egypt. If you currently recognize which style in order to get, it does not indicate you do not have to take much more right into the definition of the design first. No food items preserves its own beauty if readied the same evening after night, however, as well as there are actually few storehouses from recipes serving a focus on the historical vegetable, also in the present grow older from details. If you are you looking for more information in regards to yellow pages residential listings uk (like it) check out our website. This was a design which was based on ornamental designs as well as genuine household furniture kinds of historical Greece and Rome. One of the most current is actually For Sales Purpose Meditate through Vincent J. Daczynski (offered through ). This manual is about motivating salesmen from within on their own. In Ancient Greek and Rome both the bride and groom put on crowns around their back. If one term is chanted in a stepwise fashion, tunefully and also with suitable rhythm in poetic gauge continually, a cyclic motion is made. She likewise illustrated salad dressings for different flies made use of at a variety of times from the year. The words, most likely off homing pigeons, suggests to removal towards an aim at, however this doesn't make a ton of feeling so you can easily view why an identical term, polish", indicating to hone or develop, is frequently swapped. Currently you could find numerous analyses of the ancient layout grace patios, swimming pools, platforms, backyards, decks, and also decks throughout the country. The Ace from Diamonds on its own forecasts cash or a communication for the customer. The Gnostics concerned very the old Greek theorists to have been responsible in shaping their religious identification, instead of the intelligences as well as thoughts of those who have actually countered their ageless theories. The historical philosophers possessed the interesting tip that humans are actually simply truly ever before delighted and to life when they possess a specific duality of personality and character concerning all of them. Ancient Classical home furnishings operate marvelously properly for virtually any sort of room of your house. The old Roman historian Pliny was actually so relocated due to the emerald green's lush colour he wrote, absolutely nothing is actually extra rigorous than the dark-green from emerald as well as attraction is actually revitalized and rejuvenated by looking after this stone Observing his recommend, Roman empress Nero used emerald sunglasses to see the gladiators. These giants present an outstanding graphic ... massive, heavy, early microorganisms relatively undestroyable yet-their survival relies on pair of small varieties from squirrels as well as beetles who climb beyond the reach from step ladders to giant branches, where they fracture available huge yearn conoids, and also dispersed the redwood seeds all over the forest flooring. That was throughout middle ages times that the principle from consuming with each other while put together at dining-room tables came from. The thinkers that are going to direct our team through these uncomfortable yet rarely prophetic opportunities will be those which show us the best ways to discern unpleasant facts in the midst of problems and effective ways to act with both care as well as cunning. Nonetheless a considerable amount of chroniclers have actually proved that the secret indicators of astrology are fairly older going back to the very early opportunities from individual writing. The Code of Hammurabi of historical Babylonia (c. 1750 B.C.) declared that a tradesman may be killed for weakening beer. This misrepresentation and also over-emphasis on licentiousness frequently pulled crowds to the stages from historical Greece. In present day opportunities when this concerns songs, the genre of sexiness, or even sexual activity songs, has actually certainly not however been totally examined or even experimented. In historical opportunities poachers would certainly play the harp in to purchase to catch and catch deer. Herbs have actually been actually used considering that ancient opportunities to heal weak points as well as conditions which hinder regular method from obtaining erection in a guy. In the course of among the early Greek durations, there is a file of the hair needing, chin-length in addition to curly. Correctly, the Universal Mind is actually the communicator to the Universal Soul, which in turn receives The Word. Over self pleasure is just one of the primary factors creating Damp Dreams When a guy masturbates incredibly regularly such as various opportunities in the course of a time, at that point the male organ carries out certainly not get sufficient remainder in between successive masturbating treatments, creating this to get stressed. The historical Greeks as well as Romans thought they were actually rips from the Gods and also splinters off dropping stars. In historical times, dining tables were actually created off various materials and also in unique concepts coming from today: for example the Egyptians used wood or even stone as well as their tables were formed like platforms, whereas the Assyrians made use of steel. Show pupils pictures or on the web reproductions of wall art works from ancient worlds that show facets of lifestyle as this was actually lived in old opportunities. Tribe tattoo design layouts have actually remained popular throughout the ages, since they were first utilized in the early times. In an American slow put together there such a rail was viewed whose equipment worked with the manner from broadcast communication body. The flowers used for the arrangements created due to the historical Egyptians were actually properly selected inning accordance with their emblematic meaning, along with an emphasis put on religious meaning. The Greeks and Romans are one of the most knowledgeable to our team, and our team have all found images or even motion pictures from Caesar wearing a laurel garland, which was actually how very most flowers were actually displayed. Old thinkers understood this possibility, and generated designs for individuals to try towards.

[papaculture]

Ivor the Engine

There is a moment in most parents’ lives when their children discover trains. Having been a budding trainspotter myself — and briefly, if less glamorously, a bus-spotter — I’m at a loss to fully explain the magic that things on wheels possess. To be honest, I’m still slightly magicked.

Most magical of all trains is, of course, the steam engine. With its belly of fire and snout of steam (the mechanics of which appear reasonably and appealingly explicable to a young ‘un), it’s the closest most kids will get to coming face-to-face with a mythical beast.

Trains are also all about rules. While cars and trucks are unwieldy and unpredictable, capable of going anywhere, a train (and to a lesser extent, a bus) is confined to a fixed course. I suspect there is a comfort in that.

Signals and junctions and forks and turntables provide kids with a whole language of control. As a six-year-old, I used to plot extravagant courses with marker pen and butcher’s paper and run my Matchbox trains to a strict timetable. Clearly, I had issues.

Thomas the Brown Noser

For Child One, the train obsession really took off when she was two. It sprang from her early love of books. We found a beautiful volume of Thomas The Tank Engine stories in a Chapel Street op shop, which tickled her bibliophilia and my nostalgia bone. While One enjoyed the stories (except the distressing one where Henry was bricked into a tunnel), it didn’t take me long to realise the Thomas stories are pretty seriously unpleasant.

Leaving aside the issues around gender representation (the later books attempt to redress this somewhat, but even then it’s often a female engine a) causing trouble or b) trying to prove she’s almost as good as the boys), there’s a real well of nastiness to Thomas.

The engines are constantly bickering and attempting to “pay each other out”. Their sole purpose to is to become “really useful engines” — rather literal cogs in the machine. The Fat Controller is a cruel headmaster figure, frequently delivering extreme scolding and punishments.

If you went to an English boarding school in the 1950s, it would likely feel grimly familiar. Likewise if you went on to work in a bullying corporate environment. I quite enjoyed a recent theory that argued that the Isle of Sodor is actually set in a dystopian parallel universe.

Ivor the Engine

Looking to cater to One’s new obsession with steam, I remembered Ivor The Engine. As a child, I’d had two Ivor books — The Elephant and The Dragon. Written by Oliver Postgate and illustrated by Peter Firmin (the duo behind Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog and Clangers), these lyrical tales are a perfect antidote to Thomas’s brutal world of bureaucracy, backbiting and workaholism.

In one of the stories, Ivor and his driver take the day off to go fishing. When Thomas tries his hand at angling, it nearly kills him and he learns to keep his mind on the job.

Ivor doesn’t have a face or a voice. He doesn’t even have a name (Ivor is a nickname because “the  Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited… was a long name for a little engine”). But through his whistled interactions with driver (and interpreter) Jones the Steam, he is given more depth and humanity than any of Awdry’s trains.

Ivor lives in rail shed attached to a railway in the top left-hand corner of Wales, a branch line that is described as being neither long nor important. When he proves himself useful, it’s as a member of the local community rather than through ruthless efficiency. He helps lure pigeons from a villager’s roof, assists a wounded elephant, saves lost sheep and runs packages to the needy up and down his branch line. When hunters threaten the lives of a local family of foxes, Ivor and Jones effect a clever escape.

While Thomas and “friends” are in constant competition to prove themselves the fastest, prettiest or most efficient worker, Ivor instead takes pleasure from his surroundings, his friends and, well, just being alive. There's mindfulness for you.

POOP POOP POOPETY-POOP went Ivor’s whistle as they rounded the bend above Llaniog. He wasn’t whistling a warning. He wasn’t whistling a signal. He was whistling for the joy of being alive and steaming, for the joy of seeing the cows in the fields and the sheep on the hills and the big wheel of the Pit spinning in the sunshine.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to see a touch of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milkwood to the writing here, which embraces its Welsh setting through a conversational style peppered with colourful turns of phrase. Even if a parent isn’t bold enough to attempt a Welsh accent, these books are a joy to read aloud.

Rail Against The Machine

Bureaucracy is often the enemy here. In the first story, Ivor decides he wants to join the local choir, so Dai the Station has to check if it’s against regulations. (Head office ultimately sign off on it.) In The Dragon (star Idris is “not one of your lumping great fairy-tale dragons… [but] a small trim, heraldic Welsh dragon, glowing red-hot and smiling”), Dai tries to force Ivor’s scaly new friend out of his firebox and into the “proper container for carrying livestock”. Later, Idris is forced to flee from the railway after an “investigation” is launched into his existence.

“NO!” cried Idris. “No! Dragons are mythical! No, I must not be investigated! No! No! No!”

Thankfully, the local community come together to shield Idris from the excoriating gaze of authority.

Most frighteningly, Ivor himself is threatened when the owners of his railway decide to sell off to a national company that plans to replace him with a diesel. (Not quite as frightening as when Thomas’s cronies are threatened with the scrapyard.) His salvation comes not by proving himself a vital asset to the functioning of the marketplace, but rather as repayment for his past kindnesses.

There is a joy and a magic to these tales that doesn’t undermine the background texture of social realism — the mines, the gasworks, the fish and chip shop. Thomas might depict society as it often is, but Postgate and Firmin offer a glimpse of community as it should be. People who delight in their interactions, who tolerate eccentricity and who find pleasure in their work but are not crushed by the weight of material aspirations.

Compassion and Contentment

The real star, Ivor aside, is Jones the Steam. He is a man in his element, happy in himself and his work and seemingly wanting nothing more. He doesn’t aspire to be a station master or to run his own railway. Although he enjoys performing his errands, Jones’s greatest pleasure is making his morning cup of tea from Ivor’s boiler.

He is compassionate and sensitive, always keen to help, and blind to his own quirks. It’s left to us to decide whether Ivor has an intelligence (I think he does) or whether Jones merely ascribes one to him. Other characters rib him for talking to Ivor, but affectionately so. There is no cruelty here. Only once do we see Jones lose his temper, when dealing with a truculent elephant.

I first encountered these stories as books, without realising they were sprung from a television series that originally screened in the 1950s and 1960s. (The books are far from the usual afterthought cash in, each story lovingly rewritten and reillustrated by the original team.) 

The colour episodes are available on DVD and were some of the first television we showed to Child One. There is an enchanting simplicity to the cut-out animation and a leisurely pace to the storytelling that makes them feel very much like a picture book brought to gentle life.

Postgate does most of the voices himself. He is a perennially comforting, sedate presence. As Charlie Brooker once wrote: “there is no more calming sound in the world than the voice of Oliver Postgate. With him narrating your life, you'd feel cosy and safe even during a gas explosion. It floated above all these stories, that voice; wound its way through them.”

The episodes are also available (in pretty terrible quality) on YouTube and, thanks to Postgate’s tender narration, make for delightful audiobooks if you leave the screen off. By a stroke of luck, I recently found a copy of ten of the stories on vinyl.

BOOKS

The Ivor books are all out of print, but readily available via eBay or Abe’s Books.

Ivor The Engine Storybook (published 1982). This is the perfect starter, containing four tales. The First Story, Snowdrifts, The Elephant and The Dragon. Hardbound. Each story takes about 10 minutes to read.

The First Story

Snowdrifts

The Elephant

The Dragon

Ivor’s Birthday

The Foxes

All released in hardback in the early 1990s.

DVD

The Complete Ivor The Engine (Universal Pictures, 2006, 186 minutes)

All the colour episodes of the classic Sixties and Seventies children's series. Enjoy once again the adventures of Welsh steam engine Ivor, Jones the Steam and the good people at the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company - not to mention the dragon and his chestnut barrow!

AUDIO

Ivor The Engine And Pogles Wood by Vernon Elliott

Not sure how much the kids will enjoy this, but it’s pretty delightful. Woodwind and brass score, which (like the sound effects from the TV show) has the benefit of being easily imitated by non-musical parents

MERCHANDISE

Not a lot. There’s a board game I haven’t played, some resin models of Ivor and — perhaps most tempting — a plush Idris the Dragon (not baby safe). Etsy has a few handmade treasures.

THE SHORT STUFF

Age and stage: 2+

Gender stuff: not great. There's a female vet, female shopkeepers and a batty old woman or two, but that's about it. I tend to read the dragon as female, but he's described as being male.

Drama: minimal, with few moments of tension. When younger, Child One was only distressed by the fox hunting sequence in The Foxes (spoiler: the fox lives).

Outdated bits: leaving aside the old school tech and above-mentioned gender issues, it's hard not to feel uneasy about the stereotyped Indian elephant keeper. There's otherwise a distinct lack of diversity.

Themes: community, individuality, compassion, anti-bureaucracy, mindfulness, tolerance, contentment, mythology, the wonder of steam.

#ivor the engine #oliver postgate #peter firmin #smallfilms #parental guidance #kids books #review