Thursday, December 30, 2010

Happy New Year (Bom Ano Novo)

All the best for everybody in 2011! As they say, hope should always be the last wish to disappear from our mind.


Tudo de bom para todos no ano de 2011! Tal como se diz, a esperança deve ser sempre o último desejo a desaparecer da nossa mente.

Martin Stuart Moore-'golden jubilee. London'-2002

Yacovb Gabay-'Vatican-Rome'

Charalampos Laskaris-'old street in Istanbul'

Patricia Clements-'cinema, cafe. New York'

Iconotec Stock-'Rio de Janeiro (Copacabana) showing a favela'

Milkmaid (Leiteira)

Human beings are fed on milk during the first months of life. Milk can be supplied by humans or by proper animals. Milk obtained from animals is also intended to make butter and cheese. Hand milking was usually performed by men, although animals living in stables or pastures near houses were milked by house servants.


Os seres humanos alimentam-se de leite nos primeiros meses de vida. O leite consumido pode ser de origem humana ou proveniente de animais destinados ao seu fornecimento. Aquele que se retira destes animais destina-se ainda ao fabrico de manteiga e queijo. A ordenha manual era normalmente realizada por homens, embora para os animais estabulados, ou a pastar próximo de casa, se utilizassem serviçais.

Karel Dujardin (1622-1678)-'woman milking a red cow'-oil on canvas-1650 Stockholm-Nationalmuseum

Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899)-'milkmaid'-oil on canvas-1860 London-Victoria and Albert Museum

Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533)-'milkmaid'-copper engraving on paper-1500 Stuttgart-Staatsgalerie (1510 Amsterdam-Rijksmuseum)

Winlow Homer (1836-1910)-'the milkmaid'-watercolor-1878 Washington-National Gallery of Art

Julien Dupré (1851-1910)-'milkmaids in the field'-oil on canvas Private collection

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

NASA's Terra Satellite Sees a Snow-Covered Ireland


The Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S. are not the only areas dealing with holiday snowfall. Ireland was recently swathed in white on December 22, 2010. When NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured a true-color image of the snow. The overnight arrival of 15 cm (6 in) of snow at the Dublin airport forced its closure. Combined with the closure of the City of Derry airport, travel became quite difficult.

MODIS images are created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The MODIS instrument flies onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.

Ireland enjoys a "temperate ocean climate" (Cfb) based on the Koopen climate classification system. Such climates normally enjoy cool, cloud-covered summers and mild winters. Ireland’s climate is also moderated by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, which flows off the western shore. Snow commonly falls only in the highest elevations; dustings may occur elsewhere a few times each year. Significant accumulations anywhere in the country are rare.

The winter of 2009-2010 was unusually cold and snowy. Called “The Big Freeze” by the British media, it brought widespread transportation problems, school closings, power failures and twenty five deaths. A low of -22.3°C (-8.1°F) was recorded on January 8, 2010, making it the coldest winter since 1978/79.

Although it has just begun, the winter of 2010-2011 threatens to be just as challenging. The earliest widespread snowfall since 1993 occurred on November 24, primarily affecting Great Britain and Scotland. Two days later snow began to cover Ireland, and the continuing severe weather has taken a toll. It has disrupted air, road and rail travel, closed schools and businesses, and caused power outages. Livestock and horses have had difficulty finding grass to eat, some relying on volunteer feeding efforts for survival. Local temperature records were broken, including a new record low for Northern Ireland of -18.7°C (-2°F) at Castlederg on December 23. As of that date, 20 deaths had been attributed to the winter weather and associated hazards.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/features/2010/ire-snow1210.html

I, Claudius: Claudius (radio adaptation)


For fuller details of the plot, see the TV reviews.

We pick up where we left off, with Caligula's continued descent into madness. The obsessive compulsive in me still really wishes the beginning and ends of reigns would come at the beginning and ends of episodes, though I can see why, with six episodes and four emperors, that could be quite impractical. Also, I presume that scenes and incidents were selected for inclusion according to their importance, rather than the episode schedule, and there would be almost no way to rearrange the material here so that reigns ended with episodes without losing half the series.

As with a number of outdoor scenes or crowd scenes, Caligula's attack on Neptune works rather well on radio, Claudius' narration and the sounds of splashing and soldiers starting to giggle providing an effective mental image of the ludicrous sight. Unfortunately, with the memory of the TV version strong, the scene of Caligula's dancing performance to a terrified Claudius and two fellow ex-consuls is not nearly as effective on radio, though Samuel Barnett's singing voice is good. The problem is that you just can't match John Hurt's fabulous expression and rather memorable costume from that scene in the TV series when you've only got voice to work with. It couldn't be left out, though, since this scene is also Claudius' introduction to Messalina - to poor Calpurnia's distinct chagrin.

Interestingly, it is Caligula's dangerousness, and his increasing tendency to execute people on the flimsiest of pretences that is really emphasised as the reason for his assassination here. The scenes leading up to the assassination in the TV series focus on the more absurd elements of his madness - the dance and the silly passwords he gave to Cassius to humiliate him. Here, however, it is the danger of his madness that, it is implied, leads to his assassination, making the assassins look rather more noble and wise and rather less cruel. Particularly effective is the very fast-paced scene in which Caligula nearly has Claudius executed for having too much hair, but Claudius convinces him that he said he wanted his hair chopped off, not his head. Barnett's delivery is perfect, escalating in tone, pitch and speed as he becomes genuinely confused.

Cassius' motivation, however, is still directly stated to be his humiliation at the passwords and nicknames, making him, as in previous adaptations, seem especially harsh. Claudius, meanwhile, feels extremely sorry for himself, both for having been left out of the plot and for having been on the death list as well (his tone sounds a bit like Cicero's letters to the conspirators against Julius Caesar, in which he whinges repeatedly that he wishes they'd invited him to the great feast on the Ides of March - though Cicero's main gripe was that he would have killed Antony too, and Claudius would hardly have suggested killing himself!).

Caligula's death itself is over rather quickly, and he cries out nothing but 'save me!', making him seem both more and less pathetic than if he were to cry out 'You can't kill me, I'm a god!'. Claudius' discovery in his hiding place is rather nicely done - it's hard to tell from the voices, but I think the implication is that the same soldier Claudius had earlier warned of Caligula's intention to decimate the army discovers him and recognises him as Germanicus' brother. Messalina's presence is also effective, providing a clear reason for Claudius' accepting the rule of emperor, though he still needs to be talked into it by Herod Agrippa as well. Best of all, though, is his sudden realisation that, as emperor, he could make everyone read his books - simultaneously very funny, exactly what all of us struggling writers would do given the chance, and a subtle foreshadowing of Nero's later use of the imperial rule to advance his theatrical career. It was with this rather touching bit of humour that Graves finished the novel - the rest of the series is drawn from the sequel, Claudius the God, which dealt with Claudius' own reign.

The process of Claudius' confirmation as emperor is, however, quite drawn out and we hear a lot of the Senate's wrangling and arguing on the subject. In fact, a full quarter of the episode is concerned with the fall-out from the assassination - Claudius' confirmation as emperor and his dealing with the conspirators. Towards the end of the episode, we see the beginning of Claudius' own reign and the way he leans on Messalina, though he does observe that he doesn't actually want her to be 'his Livia'.

What I was really surprised to find missing from all this was Claudius' speech to the Senate, in which he convinces them that he is not an idiot, observing that what a man says is more important than how long he takes to say it. I was so surprised, I went back to see if I'd missed it while looking at something else, and I still have a nagging feeling that might be the case. It's a very long time since I read Claudius the God, so I can't remember whether this speech appears in the book, or whether it was written for the TV series - obviously, if it was written for the TV, that explains its absence here. You do feel it though, since now there is no opportunity for Claudius to really sell himself to the Senate as emperor.

Claudius' arguments in favour of Livia's deification, to fulfil his promise, are rather nice and the episode ends with the parting of Herod and Claudius, both amusingly drunk, but Herod giving Claudius the very serious and important advice that he should trust no one - though here, he ends by saying 'forget I said it, I'm drunk'. Claudius ponders it though, and that's where the episode ends - with Claudius on the verge of being betrayed by both Herod and Messalina in the next episode.

This is an effective ending-point for the episode, setting up betrayal as what will presumably be a major theme of the next and final episode. I missed some of the particularly effective lines from the dying Caligula and new emperor Claudius from the TV in this episode (a wholly unfair criticism of an entirely separate series, but I can't help it), but Caligula's escalating madness was very effectively portrayed, particularly through his increasingly fast and high pitched delivery. Messalina, so far, is completely sensible-sounding (and doesn't have the soft, little-girl's voice she was given on the TV - she sounds much like the other women in the show) and there is no hint of the craziness to come apart from Herod's drunken warning, which really applies more to himself than anyone else (the implication being that he is already contemplating rebellion). I would imagine the final episode will be another episode in two clear halves, one half Messalina and the other Agrippinilla and Nero, and it will be interesting to see how the radio (at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we should remember) will deal with some of Messalina's activites, if at all...

John Hurt's memorable performance as Caligula in the dancing scene in the TV adaptation

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Medieval Banquet (Banquetes medievais)

Characterized by exquisite diners’ garments, the presence of roasted meat cut with a knife and eaten by hand, wine, usually drunk in bowls, and bread. Sometimes there were music performances.


Caracterizavam-se por vestuário requintado dos comensais, presença de carnes assadas cortadas com faca e comidas à mão, vinho geralmente bebido por malgas, pão. Realizavam-se com ou sem acompanhamento musical.

English unknown weaver-'banquet of the William I the Conqueror'-tapestry (wool embroidered on a linen background)-ca 1080 Bayeux-Musée de la Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde

Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Jean or Jannequin, Paul or Pol)-'January'-miniature-(1412-1416) Chantilly-Musée Condé (Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry, folio 2r)

Unknown-'State banquet'-woodcut Virgil; Georgics, Peacock, Lyon (1517)

Leonhard Beck after Hans Burgkmair drawing (ca 1480-1542)-'splendid banquet'-woodcut-(1509-1510) in The life and reign of Emperor Maximilian I

Albrecht Altdorfer (ca 1480-1538)-'banquet'-drawing

SOHO Spots 2000th Comet

As people on Earth celebrate the holidays and prepare to ring in the New Year, an ESA/NASA spacecraft has quietly reached its own milestone: on December 26, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) discovered its 2000th comet.

Drawing on help from citizen scientists around the world, SOHO has become the single greatest comet finder of all time. This is all the more impressive since SOHO was not specifically designed to find comets, but to monitor the sun.

"Since it launched on December 2, 1995 to observe the sun, SOHO has more than doubled the number of comets for which orbits have been determined over the last three hundred years," says Joe Gurman, the U.S. project scientist for SOHO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Of course, it is not SOHO itself that discovers the comets -- that is the province of the dozens of amateur astronomer volunteers who daily pore over the fuzzy lights dancing across the pictures produced by SOHO's LASCO (or Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) cameras. Over 70 people representing 18 different countries have helped spot comets over the last 15 years by searching through the publicly available SOHO images online.

The 1999th and 2000th comet were both discovered on December 26 by Michal Kusiak, an astronomy student at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Kusiak found his first SOHO comet in November 2007 and has since found more than 100.

"There are a lot of people who do it," says Karl Battams who has been in charge of running the SOHO comet-sighting website since 2003 for the Naval Research Lab in Washington, where he also does computer processing for LASCO. "They do it for free, they're extremely thorough, and if it wasn't for these people, most of this stuff would never see the light of day."

Battams receives reports from people who think that one of the spots in SOHO's LASCO images looks to be the correct size and brightness and headed for the sun – characteristics typical of the comets SOHO finds. He confirms the finding, gives each comet an unofficial number, and then sends the information off to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass, which categorizes small astronomical bodies and their orbits.

It took SOHO ten years to spot its first thousand comets, but only five more to find the next thousand. That's due partly to increased participation from comet hunters and work done to optimize the images for comet-sighting, but also due to an unexplained systematic increase in the number of comets around the sun. Indeed, December alone has seen an unprecedented 37 new comets spotted so far, a number high enough to qualify as a "comet storm."

LASCO was not designed primarily to spot comets. The LASCO camera blocks out the brightest part of the sun in order to better watch emissions in the sun's much fainter outer atmosphere, or corona. LASCO’s comet finding skills are a natural side effect -- with the sun blocked, it's also much easier to see dimmer objects such as comets.

"But there is definitely a lot of science that comes with these comets," says Battams. "First, now we know there are far more comets in the inner solar system than we were previously aware of, and that can tell us a lot about where such things come from and how they're formed originally and break up. We can tell that a lot of these comets all have a common origin." Indeed, says Battams, a full 85% of the comets discovered with LASCO are thought to come from a single group known as the Kreutz family, believed to be the remnants of a single large comet that broke up several hundred years ago.

The Kreutz family comets are “sungrazers” – bodies whose orbits approach so near the Sun that most are vaporized within hours of discovery – but many of the other LASCO comets boomerang around the sun and return periodically. One frequent visitor is comet 96P Machholz. Orbiting the sun approximately every six years, this comet has now been seen by SOHO three times.

SOHO is a cooperative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. The spacecraft was built in Europe for ESA and equipped with instruments by teams of scientists in Europe and the USA.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/soho/comet-2000.html

Thomas & Friends ~ Wobbly Wheels & Whistles! ~ GIVEAWAY!!! ~ Ends 01/10




Meet ALL-NEW Engine Friend, Scruff !! Yes a new friend on the Island of Sodor! That's always exciting for Julien. This Christmas he got a few new engines to add to his train set. Now we'll have to be on the look out for Scruff!

We're watching Wobbly Wheels & Whistles! right now as I post this. Toby's learning that it's ok to ask for help. Thomas is one of our favorites and I never mind having it on. Thomas & Friends always teach without sounding preachy and the trains are wonderful real toys.

In Wobbly Wheels & Whistles! -  riding the rails with preschool pal Thomas, you’re always in for a good time!  Come aboard for four “fun”-tastic new episodes and meet new engine friend “Scruff” in Thomas & Friends™: Wobbly Wheels & Whistles­, coming to DVD, Digital Download and On Demand January 4, 2011 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. Along with host Driver Perkins (who can be seen ONLY on DVD) engaging kids with interactive dialogue and extra fun, this all-new DVD will bring miles of smiles to young engineers everywhere.

Travel along with Thomas for a wonderfully wobbly and wheel-spinning good time! The No. 1 blue engine has bridges to cross and tracks to uncover in these exciting adventures. When Victor gets overloaded with too many tasks, can Thomas help him let out steam? And while trying to get Scruff as clean as a whistle, will Thomas have to get his own wheels dirty? Just when things seem to be rolling along, will Ol’ Wheezy make a wobbly mess of Thomas’ special delivery? Hold on for exciting surprises waiting to be delivered just for you!



Episodes include:

· “Jumping Jobi Wood”

· ”Thomas and Scruff”

· “Victor Says Yes”

· “Toby and the Whistling Woods
 
BUY IT:
 
Released January 4th you can purchase this title online at Amazon or at a retailer near you
 
WIN IT!!!
 
One lucky winner will receive a copy of Thomas & Friends ~ Wobbly Wheels & Whistles! on DVD
 
MAIN ENTRY:
 
Comment on Thomas & Friends and become a friend @ Wishing Penny via Google Friends Connect. Both parts are mandatory to win - thanks :)
 
EXTRAS:
 
*Like/Fan Thomas & Friends at Facebook ( 3 bonus entries )

*Like/Fan Me @ Facebook ( 3 bonus entries )

*Follow me @jamaise at Twitter & Tweet this :  RT @jamaise #GIVEAWAY #WIN - A copy of Thomas & Friends: Wobbly Wheels & Whistles on DVD http://bit.ly/fumfkS ends1/10 tweet each day for one entry each !

*Blog about this giveaway & leave me the link ( 5 bonus entries)

*Grab my holiday button & tell me where to find it ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect ( 3 bonus entries )

*Enter any other giveaway here for one entry each


That's 9 entry methods with tons of bonus & a chance for unlimited entries with daily tweets!


Giveaway will end on January 10th at 11 :59 am EST. Winner will be selected using Random .org. I will email the winner & you will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner . Please remember to leave me your email address if it is not visible on your profile so that I can contact you if you win. Good luck to everyone :)


Disclaimer:  HIT Entertainment provided me with all information and product to review. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Turbie Twist ~ Hair Towel Wrap ~ GIVEAWAY!! ~ Ends 1/10





Turbie Twist® is the Original Super Absorbent Twist and Loop hair towel that Stays in Place! Featuring a unique tapered design, the Turbie Twist® allows for a perfect fit on all head sizes making it great for Kids and Adults! The lightweight design also reduces neck strain. Through savings in laundry and blow drying time the product practically pays for itself. Less blow drying = healthier hair!

I use my Turbie Twist daily! It's just a part of my shower routine now. I used to wrap my hair in what ever shirt I was wearing to try and cut back on washing so many towels. I knew that was kinda gross, but I was sick and tired of all the towels I was having to wash - one for my body & one for my hair. The Turbie Twist has saved me from that habit.

I received a two pack so I just hang them on the towel hook and I always have one dry & ready. Because they only get exposed to my clean hair, I don't have to wash them much at all.

The Turbie Twist is absorbent & easy to use. I really like mine!


BUY IT:

You can purchase a Turbie Twist online at http://www.turbietwist.com/

WIN IT!!!

One lucky winner will receive a Turbie Twist 2 pack!

MAIN ENTRY:

Tell me why you'd like a Turbie Twist & become a friend @ Wishing Penny via Google Friends Connect. Both parts mandatory to win - thanks :)

EXTRAS:

*Like/Fan TurbieTwist at Facebook ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow @Turbie Twist at Twitter ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow me @jamaise at Twitter & Tweet this : RT @jamaise #GIVEAWAY #WIN - a Turbie Twist Hair Towel Wrap 2 pack! http://bit.ly/hPAixd Ends 1/10 tweet each day for one entry each !

*Blog about this giveaway & leave me the link ( 5 bonus entries)

*Grab my button & tell me where to find it ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect ( 3 bonus entries )

*Follow me via Networked Blogs ( 2 bonus entries )

*Enter any other giveaway here for one entry each


That's 9 entry methods with tons of bonus & a chance for unlimited entries with daily tweets!


Giveaway will end on January 10th at 11 :59 am EST. Winner will be selected using Random .org. I will email the winner & you will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner . Please remember to leave me your email address if it is not visible on your profile so that I can contact you if you win. Good luck to everyone :)


Disclaimer: Turbie Twist provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. These views are my own.

Giveaways @ Mom to Bed by 8

Win a super cute little ditty from Pink Chicken @ Mom to Bed by 8 :) Ends 01/11

Win a Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Monitor from Geothermal Genius  Ends 01/03

Do You Need Anti Aging Face Cream? Giveaway @ Savey Spender

Are you interested in trying PerriconeMD for free? Just pop over to Savey Spender and enter to win!!

Last Station | Ajith C Herath



(A watch worn by a passenger who perished in the train wrecked by the Tsunami at Paraliya had stopped at 9.25am)

‘The train shall now recommence its journey.
Passengers are requested to return to their seats ... Calling at all stations!’

Does someone
turn back time from 9.25 am
bidding the enraged
dark waves to return to
some unseen abyss,
long away from the shore,
as a telephone rings ceaselessly,
unanswered at the last station
before death?

Time has stopped with a train,
between the waves and
a graveyard,
an indelible print of eternal regret .

Laughter and banter
still seem to echo
with the dying notes
of a blind beggar’s fiddle,

as a child is looking steadily
towards the far horizon.
After that moment no further chatter,
only the interminable search,

mine, for my dead ...
yours, for your dead ...

You must be careful, where you step,
as bodies are laid out.
One false move, even a diary
beneath your feet may weep in pain.

The mechanical arm of a JCB
digs deep through
the hearts of the undead
searching for their departed souls
with each breath.
Time starts moving once again
in some parallel universe
and a whistle is blown
for the journey to resume.

‘The train shall now recommence its journey.
Passengers are requested to return to their seats … Calling at all stations.’

Passengers, arise from your sodden graves,
take each other’s swollen hands
and board the train.
Your loved ones await you
at the last station.

Sinhalese original, Jan. 2005 by Ajith C Herath
[English version by Hiranjaya]

******

[සුනාමි රළ පහරින් පැරෑළියේදී අනතුරට පත් දුම්රිය අසල තිබූ මළ සිරුරක වූ අත් ඔරලෝසුවක කටු 9.25 දක්වමින් නතර වී තිබිණ.]

"දුම්රිය තව මෙහොතකින්
යළි ගමන් අරඹනු ඇත....
සියළු මගීන් නැවත
තමන්ට නියමිත මැදිරිවලට පැමිණෙන්න.
ගමනාන්තය දක්වා
සෑම දුම්රිය ස්ථානයකම නවත්වනු ඇත..."

9.25 සිට
කාලය කරකවයි
පසුපසට කිසිවෙකු
වියරු කළු රළ පෙළ
වෙරළ වෙත නෑවිදින්
ආපසු ඇදී ගොස්
නොපෙනෙනා ඈතක
නතර වන ලෙස

මරණාන්තයෙන් මෙපිට
අවසාන දුම්රියපළේ
දුරකතනයක් නාද වෙයි.
නොනැවතී
නාද වෙයි…
කිසිවෙකුත් නැත.

කාලය නතර වී ඇත.
රළ පෙළක්
හා
මිනී යායක් අතර
දුම්රියක් නතරව තිබේ.
සදාකාලික පසු තැවීමක
සදා නොමැකෙන
සිතුවමක් ලෙස....

මැදිරියෙන් මැදිරිය
පිය තෙපුල් සිනහ හඬ නැගෙයි.
අඳ වාදකයාගේ ළසෝ ගීයට මුසුව
සිතාරයේ අවසාන සත්සර බිඳී යයි.

කවුළුවෙන් පිටත
ඈත සිතිජය දෙස
සිඟිත්තෙකු නෙත් යොමයි.

ඒ නිමේෂයෙන් පසු
පිළිවදන් පසුවදන් ඇවැසි නැත.

මා මගේ මළවුන් සොයා යනු මිස…..
ඔබ ඔබේ මළවුන් සොයා යනු මිස….

මළමිනී ගොඩ දමන විට
සීරුවෙන් ඇවිද යා යුතුය.
පයට පෑගෙන දින පොතක් වුව
වේදනාවෙන් ඉකිබිඳිනු ඇත.

බැකෝ යන්ත‍්‍රය ඇවිත්
නොමළවුන්ගේ පපු කැනැති හාරයි.
ආත්මය හිස්ව ගොස්
නොමළවුන්
අවතාර ලෙස සැරිසරයි.

සමාන්තර විශ්වයක
කාලය යළි සෙමින් ගලා යයි.
දුම්රිය යළි පිටත් වීමේ
සංඥා නළා හඬ නාද වෙයි.

"දුම්රිය තව මෙහොතකින්
යළි ගමන් අරඹනු ඇත....
සියළු මගීන් නැවත
තමන්ට නියමිත මැදිරිවලට පැමිණෙන්න.
ගමනාන්තය දක්වා
සෑම දුම්රිය ස්ථානයකම නවත්වනු ඇත."

සියළු මළවුනි
තෙතැති පස් තට්ටු බිඳ
මිනී යායෙන් නැගිට
ඉදිමී ගිය අතින් අත අල්ලගෙන
ඇවිත් මෙහි ගොඩවන්න
මිළඟ නැවතුමට වී ඔබේ නෑසියන් බලා හිඳී.

[නිම්තෙර| හිරු| 2005 ජනවාරි 3]

Ajith C Herath | අජිත් සී හේරත්


Monday, December 27, 2010

Baalbec

Its origin dates back to the legends of Baal, “the controller of human destiny”. This ancient Phoenician city is located in the Lebanese Bekaa valley. It was conquered by the Romans during Emperor Augustus’ government. The acropolis keeps vestiges of Roman temples built from the time of Antoninus Pius (138-161) till the time of Antoninus Caracalla (211-217).


A sua origem remonta às lendas de Baal, 'o controlador do destino humano'. Esta antiga cidade Fenícia localiza-se no vale Libanês de Bekaa. Foi conquistada pelos Romanos no tempo do Imperador Augusto. A acrópole conserva vestígios romanos dos templos construídos da época de Antonino Pio (138-161) à de Antonino Caracala (211-217).

Layout of the Baalbec

David Roberts (1796-1864)-'the gateway of the Great Temple of Baalbec'-oil on panel-1841 Private collection

David Roberts (1796-1864)-'ruins of the Temple of Bacchus' Liverpool-Walker Art Gallery

David Roberts (1796-1864)-'ruins of small Temple of Baalbec'-oil on canvas Private collection

David Roberts (1796-1864)-'ruins of the Temple of Sun at Baalbec'-oil on canvas-1861 London-Royal Academy

Decorating the Sky


mosaic image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, features three nebulae that are part of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud--the Flame nebula, the Horsehead nebula and NGC 2023.

Despite its name, there is no fire roaring in the Flame nebula. What makes this nebula shine is the bright blue star seen to the right of the central cloud. This star, Alnitak, is the easternmost star in Orion's belt. Wind and radiation from Alnitak blasts away electrons from the gas in the Flame nebula, causing it to become ionized and glow in visible light. The infrared glow seen by WISE is from dust warmed by Alnitak's radiation.

The famous Horsehead nebula appears in this image as a faint bump on the lower right side of the vertical dust ridge. In visible light, this nebula is easily recognizable as a dramatic silhouette in the shape of a horse's head. It is classified as a dark nebula because the dense cloud blocks out the visible light of the glowing gas behind it. WISE's infrared detectors can peer into the cloud to see the glow of the dust itself.

A third nebula, NGC 2023, can be seen as a bright circle in the lower half of the image. NGC 2023 is classified as a reflection nebula, meaning that the dust is reflecting the visible light of nearby stars. But here WISE sees the infrared glow of the warmed dust itself.

Color in this image represents specific infrared wavelengths. Blue represents light emitted at 3.4-micron wavelengths, mainly from hot stars. Relatively cooler objects, such as the dust of the nebulae, appear green and red. Green represents 4.6-micron light and red represents 12-micron light. This image was made from data collected after WISE began to run out of its supply of solid hydrogen cryogen in August 2010. Cryogen is a coolant used to make infrared detectors more sensitive. WISE mapped the entire sky by July using four infrared detectors, but during the period from August to October 2010, while the cryogen was depleting, WISE had only three detectors operational, and the 12-micron detector was less sensitive. This turned out to be a good thing in the case of this image, because the less-sensitive detector reduced the glare of the Flame portion of the nebula enough to bring out details of the rest of the nebula.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1830.html

KATZ Bakery ~ Huge Winter Giveaway!!! ~ Ends 01/06


Katz Gluten Free, known for its delicious Gluten Free Breads and Baked Goods, has just came out with 2 new yummy treats! They have added a vanilla flavor to their unique Rugelach. They are also introducing Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes, sure to delight everyone!

We love Katz. Fresh baked goodness - you can't even tell it's Gluten- Free. Yumm!

Juju's favorite is the Cinnamon Rugelech. When we get Katz, it's all for Ju since he's completely gluten free, but he likes to share and always insists that I have a piece of whatever he's having. I like everything I've tried. It's all really good and tastes homemade.

We recently tried the new products - Vanilla Rugelech & Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes with Colored Sprinkles. As you can expect from Katz, everything was delicious.



The Vanilla Rugelech are simple with a nice vanilla flavor and work well with breakfast or as a dessert. While Juju still likes the cinnamon better, I think the vanilla flavor was a smart choice in new flavor, as it is simple and goes well with everything.


Now the cupcakes got him all excited! I think anything with sprinkles is exciting around here. We had tried the unfrosted chocolate cupcakes and were pleased. The cake closely resembles wheat flour cake and is more light & airy than most GF cake. The new frosted variety is the same cake with a ganache type frosting. Yumm!

These treats were great to have around for the holiday season. While I baked plenty of GF goodies, having these premade & ready was great for gatherings where I knew there would be things to eat.  I could just take them from the freezer and know that Julien could snack like everyone else - made it easy.

Along with rugelech & cakes, you can find rolls & breads, cookies & muffins, and pizza crusts.

Currently Katz is hosting a huge Winter giveaway @ their site. The grand prize is a prize pack including one of each of their products + 10 more items to have a second taste of! That is an awesome prize pack! ENDS 01/03 - http://bit.ly/BoxofKatz

BUY IT:

You can purchase Katz products online @ http://www.katzglutenfree.com/

WIN IT!!!

One lucky winner will receive a Katz sample pack - just leave me a separate comment for each entry you do

MAIN ENTRY:

Visit Katz & enter the Winter Giveaway! and become a friend @ Wishing Penny via Google Friend Connect (left side) both parts mandatory to win - thanks :)

EXTRAS:

*Like/Fan Katz Gluten Free at Facebook ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow @Katz Gluten Free at Twitter ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow me @jamaise at Twitter & Tweet this : RT @jamaise #GIVEAWAY #WIN - a Katz Gluten Free Bakery prize pack & enter the Grand Prize http://bit.ly/ejIGKj Ends 1/6 SO YUMMY tweet each day for one entry each !

*Blog about this giveaway & leave me the link ( 5 bonus entries)

*Grab my button & tell me where to find it ( 2 bonus entries )

*Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect ( 3 bonus entries )

*Follow me via Networked Blogs ( 2 bonus entries )

*Enter any other giveaway here for one entry each


That's 9 entry methods with tons of bonus & a chance for unlimited entries with daily tweets!


Giveaway will end on January 6th at 11 :59 am EST. Winner will be selected using Random .org. I will email the winner & you will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner . Please remember to leave me your email address if it is not visible on your profile so that I can contact you if you win. Good luck to everyone :)


Disclaimer: Katz Gluten Free provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. These views are my own.

Spanish Cities (Cidades de Espanha)

Due to the diversity of culture, language and landscape of several regions in Spain, cities are very distinctive.


Devido à diversidade de cultura, língua e paisagem das várias regiões de Espanha as suas cidades são muito características.

François-Antoine Bossuet (1798-1889)-'Procession in Sevilla'-oil on canvas-1873

Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (1870-1945)-'Maurice Barrès before Toledo'-oil on canvas 1914 Nancy-Musée Lorrain

Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo (ca 1612-1667)-'view of Saragosa'-oil on canvas-1647 Madrid-Museo del Prado

Antonio Joli (ca 1700-1777)-'Royal palace in Aranjuez'-oil on canvas

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923)-'view of Avila'-oil on canvas

Sunday, December 26, 2010

NASA Railroad Keeps Shuttle's Boosters on the Right Track


For nearly three decades, the NASA Railroad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida has kept the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters on track.

The mighty boosters fly in pairs and generate a combined 5.3 million pounds of thrust at ignition, pushing the shuttle assembly past the grip of Earth's gravity during the critical first two minutes of flight. Stacked within each of the 15-story-tall, reusable boosters are four solid rocket motor segments packed with a hard, rubbery cocktail of propellants.

Getting the 12-foot-wide, 150-ton segments to the launch site is only possible by rail. The segments are loaded by manufacturer ATK at a plant in Promontory, Utah, then shipped in customized train cars on a seven-day trip to Kennedy.

Every single booster segment used in the Space Shuttle Program has arrived at Kennedy the same way.

"The railroad is a lifeline in and out of this center," said Chris Bryant, a locomotive engineer and mechanic with URS Corp. Bryant is one of 11 team members in the URS railroad shop who operate and maintain the railroad's cars, tracks and facilities.

At the Wilson's Corners junction at the northern end of the space center, the NASA Railroad splits into two nine-mile stretches of track. Kennedy's mainline runs south, past the Vehicle Assembly Building and other Launch Complex 39 facilities before reaching the center's Industrial Area. To the east, a second line of track extends to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Each incoming shuttle-booster segment rests on a cradle in a custom-built railcar. A clamshell-like cover, hinged at the top, protects the hardware throughout the journey. Fully loaded, a single segment car weighs 513,000 pounds.

The cross-country route involves commercial rail companies such as Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, CSX and Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). FEC handles the final leg of the trip, pulling the hazardous cargo into NASA's Jay Jay railroad yard north of Titusville, Fla.

That's when the Kennedy railroad crew takes charge, starting with a thorough inspection.

"When loads come in, you have to inspect every car," explains Will Eriksen, part of the URS team and a three-decade veteran of the Kennedy railroad operation. "You want to make sure you're not going to drag anything in that's going to cause a hazard to the commodity."

Although the train has to traverse a drawbridge spanning the Indian River, the bridge is not strong enough to hold a train with so many heavy cars. The solution: Empty "spacer" cars are added between the segments to distribute the weight over the individual spans of the bridge, so the weight on the bridge is manageable.

The NASA locomotive pulls the train across the river to Wilson Yard, just west of Wilson's Corners junction, where the spacer cars are removed.

"Once we're done and have (the segment cars) all gathered up, we bring them into Suspect Siding," Bryant says, referring to an isolated staging area on the northeast side of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The segments stay there until ATK technicians are ready for them in the booster Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where they are rotated to vertical and prepared for stacking.

Although the Kennedy rails are built to withstand mainline track speeds of 60 mph, when the booster segments arrive at Kennedy, the weight and the danger involved require more caution.

"Our track speed is 25 miles an hour -- and normally, we don't reach that," Bryant says. "Normally, our speed is no more than 10 to 15 miles an hour. When we come up to crossings, sometimes it's even slower than that."

"When we're hauling in, we're hauling 4 to 5 million pounds of explosives," Bryant points out. "Through the crossings, too. It's not something to sneeze about, you know."

Kennedy's rail system was activated in 1963 when FEC added a 7.5-mile connection from its mainline across the Indian River to the space center. At that time, the spaceport was in the midst of a construction boom as facilities were built for the Apollo program, and the railroad provided a means of hauling heavy building materials into the center.

"The railroad was built to accommodate the freight cars of that time, which were mostly 50 and 70 ton capacity. It was a very adequate railroad for the cars of the time," says David Hoffman, who managed the NASA Railroad at Kennedy for 13 years until his retirement in 1996.

But by the time the Space Shuttle Program was beginning, the railroad was in sad shape after years of exposure to the salt air and moist, tropical climate. The wood crossties were rotting, rust had eaten away at the hardware, and the rail itself needed to be strengthened. FEC was contracted to upgrade the system.

"We put in the heavy rail (with) welded joints, which are stronger than a bolted joint, and (requires) virtually no maintenance," Hoffman recalls. "And we went to the concrete crossties. You're looking at a 50 or 60 year life of the crosstie instead of 10 or 12 or so for wood in Kennedy's subtropical climate, which means we put it in place and basically walk away and forget it. A lot of that track out there has been in place now since the late 80s, and it has not been touched except for weed spray."

NASA bought that portion of the railroad line from FEC in 1983, two years after the shuttle began flying, and today the skilled Kennedy crew maintains the system.

"It's just not running the railroad. We take care of all the maintenance: electrical, the air systems, mechanical, painting, fabrication, welding," Bryant says. "We are allowed to work on any government-owned rolling stock, locomotives and railcars."

NASA uses switcher locomotives, which are brawny machines that move a lot of weight over relatively short distances. The first locomotives used by NASA were three Alco S2 locomotives obtained surplus from the U.S. Army. Built in the early 1940s, they worked well until the loads required to support the Space Shuttle Program proved beyond their capability. So Hoffman initiated the procurement process to buy the space center three EMD SW-1500 locomotives built between 1968 and 1970.

The 1,500-horsepower locomotives used today "have a lot of backbone," according to Bryant. "When we bring in the segments and the spacer cars, we've got probably close to 4 1/2 to 5 million pounds that we pull with one motor."

In addition to more familiar hopper cars and gondola cars, Kennedy's rolling stock includes cars modified or designed here. For example, Hoffman designed the booster structures car, capable of hauling additional shuttle booster components such as frustums and aft skirts. There are only two such cars in the world -- both in the space center's main rail yard.

"We've rebuilt the Air Force locomotives. We've built railcars. We've done painting," says URS Lead Mechanic Mike Stephens. He gestures behind him to the No. 3 locomotive, recently refurbished and topped with a new blue-and-white paint job. "I mean, this locomotive here, you can see how much better it looks than the other two. We're a pretty diverse group and we stay busy."

That expertise is essential, considering the dangerous commodities the railroad system so often has carried. In addition to the shuttle boosters, the NASA Railroad has carried nitrogen tetroxide, an oxidizer used as rocket propellant; Air Force Titan rockets; Navy Trident missiles; and the shuttle-based booster segments for the Ares I-X flight test.

One of the simpler tasks is hauling spent solid rocket booster casings over to Jay Jay, to be sent back to ATK. With no additional paperwork to handle and no inspections to perform, the task takes about half the time required to bring a loaded set in.

The final set of space shuttle booster segments arrived in May 2010. As the Space Shuttle Program draws to a close, members of the NASA Railroad team all express pride in their contributions, especially their stellar track record for safety.

"No safety issues and no real problems ever, since day one," Stephens says. "It's been a great working operational feat, that's for sure."

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/railroad.html

Childhood (Infância)

According to St. Matthew the Evangelist (19, 14) Jesus Christ said “Let the little children come to me”. Children are the adults of tomorrow. We must look after them and prepare them for the following phases of their life.


De acordo com o Evangelista São Mateus (19, 14) disse Jesus Cristo “deixai vir a mim estas criancinhas”. As crianças serão os adultos do futuro. Há que cuidar delas e prepara-las para as fases seguintes da sua vida.

Eser Afacan (1953- )-'breakfast'-oil on canvas

Fritz Zuber-Bühler (1822-1896)-'young girl holding a doll'-oil on canvas-1885

Charles Sillem Lidderdale (1831-1895)-'petulance'-oil on canvas Private collection

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky (1839-1916)-'little Sharmanshiki'-oil on canvas

Carl Timoleon von Neff (1805-1876)-'the small girl carrying water'-oil on canvas-1840

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Silliness



My all-time favourite Christmas movie is The Muppet Christmas Carol. It's the most faithful adaptation of A Christmas Carol I've seen (seriously - two Marley brothers notwithstanding) and there's something about A Christmas Carol that works much better with Muppets than with just people. It's a really, really sugary sweet fable that needs to be treated as a story, rather than given the more 'realistic' treatment we usually employ for movies and TV, and Gonzo as Charles Dickens the narrator is the perfect way to achieve this. Also, it's completely hilarious ('Even the vegetables don't like him!).

During the schoolroom scene, when Scrooge is taken to see his younger self by the Ghost of Christmas Past, we pan across a shelf full of gorgeous Muppet busts of Aristotle, Dante, Moliere and Shakespeare (with Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat on the end, of course).


The beautiful Muppet bust of Aristotle



Inevitably, the shelf collapses and the busts go for a burton

It's an interesting selection of busts, in which Aristotle rather stands out, being a philosopher rather than a writer of more imaginative literature - though he makes a good pair with Dante, of course. I think personally I'd have been inclined to go for Plato or Socrates, or for a writer, maybe Virgil, but Aristotle works as a representative of the Classical world, and the selection definitely needed some Classical representation!

That's not really why I wanted to talk about this though. I actually brought this up so I could share a silly observation I made earlier this year. When I moved to Oxford a few months ago, I took a few tourist-type photos around the town, including these of the busts that sit near the entrance to the Museum of the History of Science on Broad Street.


View across the street from Blackwells book shop



A closer view of the busts - click to enlarge further

Don't the Oxford busts look weirdly like like the Muppet ones?! It's their weird googly eyes that mainly reminded me of the Muppet versions. I can't remember who they all are, but this is outside the Museum of the History of Science, so it's a pretty safe bet that Aristotle is among them.

If you haven't seen The Muppet Christmas Carol, go forth immediately and get hold of a DVD or find when and on what channel it's showing this Christmas. You won't regret it.

A few more Christmas/Saturnalia posts from the archives:
Joyeux Noel
The Roman Mysteries: The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina
Chelmsford 123: Peeled Grapes and Pedicures
Discworld: Hogfather

Happy Christmas everyone!*

*Or whatever holiday greeting you prefer.