Random Photos

[Janus]

Moss can Spell!

 

[jtbell]

One of those bails killed the ELO violinist in a freak accident.

So maybe they've jumped bail and are on the lam.

Hmmm... they were in front of a bank. Note the green TD logos at the left. Maybe they were plotting how to score some getaway money!

 

[BillTre]

A nice picture of little things:

 

[jtbell]

So maybe they've jumped bail and are on the lam.

I walked past the site this afternoon, and they're gone now. Just a couple handfuls of hay are left on the sidewalk. They're probably in Georgia by now.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One of my projects...for the Mossad. I spent an entire summer in the cockpit. And there were always a couple of guys with automatic weapons to keep me company.

 

[pinball1970]

One of my projects...for the Mossad. I spent an entire summer in the cockpit. And there were always a couple of guys with automatic weapons to keep me company.

View attachment 320986

Really!?

You guys make such obscure science and maths jokes i can never tell when you are kidding.

 

[pinball1970]

So maybe they've jumped bail and are on the lam.

Hmmm... they were in front of a bank. Note the green TD logos at the left. Maybe they were plotting how to score some getaway money!

Spelling. Got it.
That’s good.
I thought you were making a joke about a 62 old man being crushed to death by a 600 KG bale of hay ; )

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Really!?

You guys make such obscure science and maths jokes i can never tell when you are kidding.

Really! I get to do some pretty cool stuff. I've worked on two rocket programs as well.

I was also held hostage for 24 hours in Peru... so it can be a mixed bag.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The second program was experimental. It was actually testing the concept of rail launch systems [to reduce fuel consumption and weight significantly]. The first launch spun out of control a bit after the launch due to a motor failure. They were planning a second launch when Covid hit.

When this was happening, I was sitting here with a VPN connection to the launch control system in case anything went wrong. No pressure there!!! We had verified everything onsite but I watched the launch from my couch. So cool!!!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One of my girlfriends and I out for a ride one day.

View attachment 320923

We were riding in a remote area near Tamarack Springs, Washington, when we came across a grave with a stone marked "White Woman Grave".

The Park Service had constructed a simple barrier around the grave to protect it from observers. And you can see the original stone has been placed in a cement frame for protection. But we had no clues as to the story behind the grave.

We were on ATVs, but we ran into a number of people either walking or on bicycles, who were lost. After we ate our lunch and continued on the trail, we too got lost. And I mean REALLY lost! Cell communications dropped out. The "map" we had purchased from the ATV rental only showed a simple trail to follow, and not the hundreds of other trails intersecting our trail. There was no way to know what was what! We were in low, rolling hills, with areas of trees, that seemingly went on forever. We finally managed to get a cell signal and called to have the ATV company come and get us for a modest additional fee of something like $500. Clearly they did this regularly - hence the useless map.

But later I learned the story of the White Woman Grave. I don't recall their names, but a poor fellow and his young, pregnant wife, were traveling through those same hills around 1875, IIRC. They too got lost and roamed the hills for days. Finally, they encountered a native American who directed them to the settlement they sought. They were so excited that they started to run the horses. But the young woman was thrown from her horse. She and the baby died on the spot. Her husband buried her and marked the grave as that of a white woman so grave robbers would leave it alone. They only robbed from native American graves.

 

[morrobay]

Chinese herbs shop & massage friend.

 

[morrobay]

Aways South , Na Jomtien. Get out of Dodge

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A GF and I doing I Fly. So fun!!! IFLY has proven to be a fantastic date activity. I've taken 3 women and they all loved it!

Below that, check out what the experts can do.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Two of my childhood friends showing off their new stick-shift, five-speed bikes, Christmas day.

 

[jack action]

Two of my childhood friends showing off their new stick-shift, five-speed bikes, Christmas day.

View attachment 321479

I had the purple one when I was 6 y.o. ... and I still have it! It's a three-speed though.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The story of my life.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Mom and Dad

 

[DennisN]

Sunrise at the beach (in August last year):

(21 stitched photos taken with Canon nFD 50mm f1.4)

(21 stitched photos taken with Canon nFD 50mm f1.4)

 

[DennisN]

I'm scanning some old photos from a travel I did in the UK with a friend.
It was around the year 2000, I can't really remember exactly when at the moment.

I remember that journey fondly, we visited a lot of interesting historical places in England, Wales and Scotland. E.g. I particularly remember 1) west Scotland (which was one of the most beautiful places I've seen) and (2) the Orkney Islands which I really liked.

I think the UK is a treasure trove when it comes to historical places; within a not too big area of land there is a lot to see. I will probably post some more photos from this journey here later.

(I notify @pinball1970 and @Astranut of the UK too )

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No, this is not Venice. It's the Bridge of Sighs in Cambridge.
(and I now saw there was someone that saluted me in the front gondola )

I remember I really enjoyed Cambridge, it was quite a cosy place.

A nice street in Cambridge:

(a bit weird colors here though, I have to fiddle a bit with color correction of the scans, I think)

St John's College:

(a bit weird colors here too)

Cambridge and St John's College chapel from somewhere higher up:

I don't remember from where at all. I looked on Google maps, and I might have taken the photo from Castle Mound (Cambridge Castle)). It seems to fit with this photo taken by someone else from Castle Mound.

And here are some rocks I've been told are quite famous:

I remember that it was quite fun when we arrived at Stonehenge.
We had rented a car and I was driving in the right seat in left-hand traffic for the first time, which I remember was a bit unsettling. When we arrived in the vicinity of Stonehenge it was pitch-black, and
we drove around trying to find the monument. After a while we gave up and just parked the car beside a small country road.

We decided to look for Stonehenge in the morning instead, and we then slept in the car.

When I woke up I took a look outside the right window of the car and saw a beautiful view of Stonehenge in the morning about 200 meters away .

Another view of Stonehenge from a bit of distance:

A sunset somewhere in south Wales:

 

[pinball1970]

I'm scanning some old photos from a travel I did in the UK with a friend.
It was around the year 2000, I can't really remember exactly when at the moment.

I remember that journey fondly, we visited a lot of interesting historical places in England, Wales and Scotland. E.g. I particularly remember 1) west Scotland (which was one of the most beautiful places I've seen) and (2) the Orkney Islands which I really liked.

I think the UK is a treasure trove when it comes to historical places; within a not too big area of land there is a lot to see. I will probably post some more photos from this journey here later.

(I notify @pinball1970 and @Astranut of the UK too )

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No, this is not Venice. It's the Bridge of Sighs in Cambridge.
(and I now saw there is someone that saluted me in the front gondola )

View attachment 321534

I remember I really enjoyed Cambridge, it was quite a cosy place.

A nice street in Cambridge:
View attachment 321535
(a bit weird colors here though, I have to fiddle a bit with color correction of the scans, I think)

St John's College:
View attachment 321536
(a bit weird colors here too)

Cambridge and St John's College chapel from somewhere higher up:
View attachment 321537

I don't remember from where at all. I looked on Google maps, and I might have taken the photo from Castle Mound (Cambridge Castle)). It seems to fit with this photo taken by someone else from Castle Mound.

And here are some rocks I've been told are quite famous:
View attachment 321538

I remember that it was quite fun when we arrived at Stonehenge.
We had rented a car and I was driving in the right seat in right-hand traffic for the first time, which I remember was a bit unsettling. When we arrived in the vicinity of Stonehenge it was pitch-black, and
we drove around trying to find the monument. After a while we gave up and just parked the car beside a small country road.

We decided to look for Stonhenge in the morning instead, and we then slept in the car.

When I woke up I took a look outside the right window of the car and saw a beautiful view of Stonehenge in the morning about 200 meters away .

Another view of Stonehenge from a bit of distance:
View attachment 321539

A sunset somewhere in south Wales:
View attachment 321540

All beautiful places.

Everyone in England should make an effort to go and see what is essentially on their own door step, especially city people.
I have never been to Stone Henge, this is one for my bucket list.
You have been much further north than me also! Aviemore from memory.
I did a gig in the lakes two weeks ago and all the hills were covered with snow as we approached the venue in Cockermouth, stunning.
I will see if Astranut has anything he can post, he tends to stay fairly local with bird watching and photography.

 

[DennisN]

I have never been to Stone Henge, this is one for my bucket list.

Believe it or not, it was not the oldest place we visited (considering the rocks themselves, that is).

Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was constructed from around 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.

We went to Orkney Islands mainly beacuse we wanted to see the small Neolithic village Skara Brae;

The site [Skara Brae] was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC and is Europe's most complete Neolithic village. Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four sites making up "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney". Older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza, it has been called the "Scottish Pompeii" because of its excellent preservation.

We visited Skara Brae on a very nice morning with beautiful weather. And we were all alone at the site . It must be the oldest place I've ever visited.

We also visited the Ring of Brodgar. I remember being very surprised at the dialect on Orkney. To me it sounded like Scandinavians speaking English. But they have a close historical connection to Scandinavia, if I remember correctly (edit: yes, Norwegian Vikings ruled the islands once).
I will post more photos later.

You have been much further north than me also! Aviemore from memory.

In Scotland we went to Loch Ness, Eilan Donan (a gorgeous place!) and we thought about going over to Isle of Skye, which we had heard good things about. But we skipped Isle of Skye since we were a little short of time so we had to prioritize. I remember when we were driving back to Edinburgh we passed Fort William, and I remember that I thought the surroundings there were stunning (actually, there were many places in west Scotland I thought were stunning!). But we were short on time so regretfully we did not stop there. I've often thought of going back to that place sometime.

I will see if Astranut has anything he can post, he tends to stay fairly local with bird watching and photography.

That sounds good .

 

[collinsmark]

Sunrise at the beach (in August last year):

View attachment 321529
(21 stitched photos taken with Canon nFD 50mm f1.4)

View attachment 321530
(21 stitched photos taken with Canon nFD 50mm f1.4)

Nice!

Btw, @DennisN , which stitching program are you using? I'm looking around for a new one; preferably one that can do 360 deg panoramas.

 

[Ibix]

Cambridge and St John's College chapel from somewhere higher up:

I don't remember from where at all. I looked on Google maps, and I might have taken the photo from Castle Mound (Cambridge Castle)). It seems to fit with this photo taken by someone else from Castle Mound.

The tower is Great St Mary's, and the long building to the right with the spikes is Kings College Chapel, with the dome on St John's just to the right of it. I think the grey roof in the foreground must be St Giles' Church. And yes, you either took that from Castle Mound or a helicopter - nowhere else has the elevation for that shot...

 

[DennisN]

Btw, @DennisN , which stitching program are you using?

Kolor Autopano Giga (version 4, I think).

 

[DennisN]

A colorful flower group in late afternoon sunlight:
(from August 2021, I'm currently going through unprocessed old photos)

Some may ask: why the vivid colors here?

I'd say it's mostly due to the afternoon sunlight coming in sideways from the left
(and the flowers themselves, of course).

And then the lens, probably one of my Canon FD lenses.
And I may have used a CPL filter too, I don't remember.
And I lowered the gamma correction in Photoshop, which often can give interesting results.
But I didn't do any saturation nor vibrance boost, actually.

 

[Andy Resnick]

In Chicago for a talk:

Haven't been here since "The Bean" sculpture was installed, so I made a point of checking it out. It can look very alien, a metallic blob plopped down in the middle of a city:

Here's your tour guide:

but the really weird optical stuff happens when you walk under it and look up:

 

[DennisN]

In Chicago for a talk

Cool photos!

The first location looks like it could be a nice place for long exposures when it's dark (ca 2+ s).
(I'm thinking of really long light trails from traffic)

I have tried doing a few of those, but I haven't found a particularly good spot yet.

 

[Ibix]

but the really weird optical stuff happens when you walk under it and look up:

I love the way it looks like you're surrounded by people in that last shot, but then you notice how many of them have a pushchair (I think) with a checked cover.

 

[DennisN]

I raise the flag of UK and good ol' Rome here, @pinball1970 & @Astranut ...

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What have the Romans ever done for us? (inspired by this, of course)

"The amphitheatre?"

The Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon, Wales (ca 74–75 AD/CE), with me standing in the center.

"Well... yes... but it's a bit sloppily built, wouldn't you say?
A good start, but they never quite finished it, did they?""But this entrance to the amphitheatre looks nice..."

One of the entrances to the amphitheatre.

"Are you serious? Clearly crappy handiwork.
Just look at it... it's simply a bunch of stones put together.
There are no AC outlets, no USB ports and most likely no Wifi.
Substandard.""Well... how about this long wall?"

Hadrian's Wall (begun in 122 AD/CE)

"See? Another good example of what I'm talking about!
Just look at it! They just laid the foundation and didn't even bother with the rest."

"But they even built additional fortifications here..."

Hadrian's Wall, additional structures

"But it's not finished! How was that supposed to stop the barbarians of the North?
No wonder the Roman empire fell apart."

By the way, look at the change in elevation of the wall here:

I remember that the countryside here was lovely too.

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Sidenote: I remember we went to Bath (Somerset) too, partly because there are Roman-built baths there (Aquae Sulis). But for some reason I did not take any photos of them. Maybe my camera was full.

 

[DennisN]

but the really weird optical stuff happens when you walk under it and look up

The last photo is really weird, and cool!
Is the "top" of the sculpture solid, or?
I mean, is there a hole or not in it "upwards", so to say?

 

[epenguin]

I raise the flag of UK and good ol' Rome here, @pinball1970 & @Astranut ...

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What have the Romans ever done for us? (inspired by this, of course)

Sidenote: I remember we went to Bath (Somerset) too, partly because there are Roman-built baths there (Aquae Sulis). But for some reason I did not take any photos of them. Maybe my camera was full.

Ah well, maybe I can make up for it. Bath, bath, here is water flowing into

the bath.

After another thousand + years, others thought they could affirm their presence, beliefs...

but still

Oh, yes.

 

[DennisN]

Ah well, maybe I can make up for it. Bath, bath, here is water flowing into

Lovely to see!
When I saw your photos I got a strong desire to return to UK.

 

[pinball1970]

Ah well, maybe I can make up for it. Bath, bath, here is water flowing into

View attachment 321678View attachment 321679View attachment 321680

the bath.

View attachment 321681

After another thousand + years, others thought they could affirm their presence, beliefs...

View attachment 321682

but still

View attachment 321683

Oh, yes.
View attachment 321684

Amazing. You and @DennisN putting me to shame. My son and niece both went to Bath and text me with the history.
My response was apoplectic, 'I am your father of course I know the bloody history!'
Son. "ok. But I am here."

Like I said Brits need to forget sun and sand and see these things.

 

[dlgoff]

Spy balloon is over northeast Kansas from https://www.kshb.com/news/local-new...balloon-spotted-over-parts-of-kansas-missouri:

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Spy balloon is over northeast Kansas:
View attachment 321701

Did you take that shot?

 

[dlgoff]

Did you take that shot?

No. Found it on the internet. I was trying to find the site I got it from so I could edit the post and reference it, but couldn't find the site again.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No. Found it on the internet. I was trying to find the site I got it from so I could edit the post and reference it, but couldn't find the site again.

I was going to say that was quite the catch!!!

 

[dlgoff]

I was going to say that was quite the catch!!!

Okay, I found the site where I found the photo. I edited the photo post above. Here's the reference where I found it:
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-new...balloon-spotted-over-parts-of-kansas-missouri

 

[berkeman]

Spy balloon is over northeast Kansas

No, no, no... It's not a Spy Balloon. It's just a Chinese weather balloon that got blown a little off course while over China...

 

[dlgoff]

No, no, no... It's not a Spy Balloon. It's just a Chinese weather balloon that got blown a little off course while over China...

I'm hearing on the news that they don't want to shoot it down because of falling debris. I'm wondering if there's something inside that could be really bad.

 

[berkeman]

I'm hearing on the news that they don't want to shoot it down because of falling stuff. I'm wondering if there's something inside that could be really bad.

My impression was that they didn't want the debris falling where there could be people. Not to mention the fighter jet's cannon fire going through the balloon and strafing some poor campers on the ground miles away. It seems like there should be some way to bring it down in a reasonably controlled way, but it's really high up right now, so we don't have any simple bow-and-arrow ways to start deflating it. Maybe it's time for the Skunk Works to do a quick killer weather balloon project...

 

[berkeman]

Okay, it looks like we will let it traverse the US and then use it for target practice when it crosses the Atlantic coast...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Okay, it looks like we will let it traverse the US and then use it for target practice when it crosses the Atlantic coast...

View attachment 321706

That is stupid unless they plan to retrieve it. As former Sec of Defense Leon Panetta stated earlier, we need to bring it down and figure out what information they might have collected. It flew over many areas of the US where we have sensitive defense secrets.

 

[Borg]

But wait, there's more!
Another Chinese 'surveillance balloon' is flying over Latin America

 

[Borg]

Not to mention the fighter jet's cannon fire going through the balloon and strafing some poor campers on the ground miles away.

Ice-based shrapnel or a fuel dump over the ballon followed by flares maybe.

 

[morrobay]

 

[pinball1970]

Ice-based shrapnel or a fuel dump over the ballon followed by flares maybe.

Is it too high for a drone to have a go at it?

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 321729View attachment 321730View attachment 321731

Crane? @Astranut can help?

 

[Borg]

Is it too high for a drone to have a go at it?

I think it's too high. Somewhere around 60,000 feet.