That's No Uphill Struggle
A Glasgow-born African skier who only saw snow for the first time five years ago is the first Ghanaian to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, 33, nicknamed the Snow Leopard, said, "Even now, when I go to big events, there are people who refuse to believe that an African can ski."
FOOTNOTE: Go for cold.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Post Of The Day
Today's winners are Laughing Orca Ranch with Melancholy and The Things We Carried with The Rain Came In. The other top contenders were Not Quite Home On The Range With I Feel Like Charlie Brown; Nathalie with The Siege - Red Tents; Sandy Carlson with One Single Impression; Shrinky with A Stroll Round Craggy Isle; Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction with What Makes A Parent; Kat with Making It Real and Sniffles And Smiles with How To Raise Your Parent. Do pay them a visit and leave a comment if you have time.You can nominate a post too. Just leave a comment here with the URL or link - and tell us the name of the blogger you are nominating. Righty-o, then, it's over to you ....
Verse And Worse
Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime
Ahoy there me hearties, are you going to the parties?
D'you know if there are M&Ms or if there are Smarties?
Shall we roll out the cannons and clean all the barrels?
Or don party hats and set course for Carol's?
D'you know if there are M&Ms or if there are Smarties?
Shall we roll out the cannons and clean all the barrels?
Or don party hats and set course for Carol's?
After The Blessing Of Rain
Looks Like There's Been A Growth Spurt
Photographs copyright: DAVID MCMAHON
These photographs were talen a few hours ago, to show you a remarkable transformation. Through the long, hot, dry summer just past, our many roses continued to thrive. We had every colour imaginable, with a variety of scents. Maybe they were not as profuse as they have been in years where the drought has been tempered by some occasional rain, but there were roses on every bush nonetheless.
Then last month we had a three-day spell that was hotter than anything else in our history. Unrelentingly, the heat reached the 46C mark (almost 115 Fahrenheit and stayed there. On the first day, I showed the Authorbloglets several fresh blooms on the rose bushes across our property - and I pointed out that by midday they would all have withered.
Even the rose hips were burnt to a crisp. Normally, the hips form a beautiful head-tossing dance in a strong breeze, but few of them took on the orange-green hue that is common to their form. As you can see in this shot (above) taken a few hours ago, some of the rose hips in our garden looked like remnants in a fireplace.
At the end of that torturous hot spell, there were no flowers left in our garden. Then, last Saturday we had real rain. In a few days, the dun-coloured lawns and nature strips of Melbourne have turned green again. And sure enough, some of our rose bushes have burst into bloom once more.
Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.
Photographs copyright: DAVID MCMAHON
Then last month we had a three-day spell that was hotter than anything else in our history. Unrelentingly, the heat reached the 46C mark (almost 115 Fahrenheit and stayed there. On the first day, I showed the Authorbloglets several fresh blooms on the rose bushes across our property - and I pointed out that by midday they would all have withered.
Even the rose hips were burnt to a crisp. Normally, the hips form a beautiful head-tossing dance in a strong breeze, but few of them took on the orange-green hue that is common to their form. As you can see in this shot (above) taken a few hours ago, some of the rose hips in our garden looked like remnants in a fireplace.
At the end of that torturous hot spell, there were no flowers left in our garden. Then, last Saturday we had real rain. In a few days, the dun-coloured lawns and nature strips of Melbourne have turned green again. And sure enough, some of our rose bushes have burst into bloom once more.
Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.
Julius Pleaser
Beware The Ideas of March
A Cambridge academic has uncovered what is believed to be the world's oldest joke book. The third-century book of gags from the Roman Empire is written in Greek and entitled Philogelos, which translates as Laughter Lover. Professor Mary Beard says it debunks the popular myth that the Romans were "pompous, toga-wearing bridge builders".
FOOTNOTE: Gag order.
A Cambridge academic has uncovered what is believed to be the world's oldest joke book. The third-century book of gags from the Roman Empire is written in Greek and entitled Philogelos, which translates as Laughter Lover. Professor Mary Beard says it debunks the popular myth that the Romans were "pompous, toga-wearing bridge builders".
FOOTNOTE: Gag order.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Verse And Worse
Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime
My boarding school buddy Peregrine Mac
Applied for the job of a brave steeplejack
He found the position by doing Google searches
Now he spends lots of time repairing old churches
Applied for the job of a brave steeplejack
He found the position by doing Google searches
Now he spends lots of time repairing old churches
Baby, It's Colt Outside
Don’t Try Taking Me For A Ride
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
See the horse in this photograph? No? Look carefully. Still can’t see it? Would you like a clue? Okay, here goes - it’s a white horse.
Still can’t see it? Trust me, it’s there. No, it ain’t a figment of my imagination. Yes, there is seriously a white horse in the frame. Would I lie to you?
Okay, I’ll give you a closer look. This second shot (below) which was taken from a different angle using a different focal length, shows you exactly where the horse is. Naturally enough, it was shot outside the City Hall in Whitehorse, capital city of the Yukon.
If you look really carefully at the second shot, you'll even notice the clearly-defined shadow on the exterior wall.
Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
See the horse in this photograph? No? Look carefully. Still can’t see it? Would you like a clue? Okay, here goes - it’s a white horse.
Still can’t see it? Trust me, it’s there. No, it ain’t a figment of my imagination. Yes, there is seriously a white horse in the frame. Would I lie to you?
Okay, I’ll give you a closer look. This second shot (below) which was taken from a different angle using a different focal length, shows you exactly where the horse is. Naturally enough, it was shot outside the City Hall in Whitehorse, capital city of the Yukon.
If you look really carefully at the second shot, you'll even notice the clearly-defined shadow on the exterior wall.
Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.
The Sunday Roast
Here's A Blogger Whose Life Is A Huge Canvas
The first of the standard questions. Why do you blog?
Blogging became a way to improve my communication with individual and society through presenting my view of certain topics in a global world through the Internet.
I started with ITC in 1968 (pioneer in data processing in Norway) and have professionally worked with system design, programming and man/machine interfaces for users of modern technology. I have through my work in HR and management searched for open communication in a global organization. I started to use Internet when staying in Singapore 1994-1996.
I have used photos to document my life and experiences since early 1970s and found after being disabled through heart and kidney failure and transplantation, that painting meant more than only buying and decorating my home. Through the Flickr system I discovered a way to show my paintings to others, and even more elegant after the blogging systems developed in that direction in 2003-04.
My first blogpost was published in March 2005 and have posted more than 750 posts since the start. More than 60.000 have visited my blog since I started. During the last six months I have had visitors from 110 countries. I feel that I still have something to tell the world about my life and have no plans for terminating my blogging activity.
What's the story behind your blog name?
I have always been open to show the world who I realy am, and have never used pseudonyms. That mean that my name is used as blogname, but should be read in connection to the ''Det er godt å leve'' (Living is great). That has to do with my simultaneous Heart and Kidney Transplantation in 1998. I was very, very sick, but got a possibility to prolong my life by organ donation from somebody that no medical assistance could help living.
I have been on necessary heavy medication every day since the operation (almost 11 years), and will do so for the rest of my life. I have gone through many of the side-effects these medications give, but the Gift for Life given by the donor has given me a good life, and living is great.
What is the best thing about being a blogger?
Having an area where family, friends and bloggers all over the world can be kept updated on my life, thoughts and doings, and be part of a global communication network. I can present views and opinions that Internet users find interesting, and being found through Google and other search machines as helpful for others work and learning.
What key advice would you give to a newbie blogger?
Find what YOU want to blog about and follow your path. Be known as the one interested in your specific meme, but use other memes as door openers to extend your fellowship. Accept that ''owners'' of memes have their own rules, and make up your own mind if these rules are acceptable for your goal. If not, find other fellowships to join. Never bend your own principles in the freedom of speaking (presenting) your own words, photos or videos to the word.
May be the best key advice is to have only ONE blog. Many bloggers have several blogs (for photos, videos, local stuff, flowers, animals, etc.) I recommend you to put everything you want to present in one URL. I am tired of going to blogger's additional sites finding out that no new post have been presented for weeks.
What is the most significant blog post you've ever read?
Very difficult to make priorities but here are some important urls: Blog Advice; Oldest Blog; Intro To Rec Humour. I hope nobody feels bad by not being chosen.
What is the most significant blog post you've ever written?
You Are Not Alone, which is my ''first'' blog in English after swapping from Norwegian text. Both my link to Mulitasking and my link to The Life Cycle of a Blog Post are also worth reading.
Today's Sunday Roast with Arne is the 60th in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.
This week's interview is with Arne,
who writes the blog Arne's Blog.
who writes the blog Arne's Blog.
The first of the standard questions. Why do you blog?
Blogging became a way to improve my communication with individual and society through presenting my view of certain topics in a global world through the Internet.I started with ITC in 1968 (pioneer in data processing in Norway) and have professionally worked with system design, programming and man/machine interfaces for users of modern technology. I have through my work in HR and management searched for open communication in a global organization. I started to use Internet when staying in Singapore 1994-1996.
I have used photos to document my life and experiences since early 1970s and found after being disabled through heart and kidney failure and transplantation, that painting meant more than only buying and decorating my home. Through the Flickr system I discovered a way to show my paintings to others, and even more elegant after the blogging systems developed in that direction in 2003-04.
My first blogpost was published in March 2005 and have posted more than 750 posts since the start. More than 60.000 have visited my blog since I started. During the last six months I have had visitors from 110 countries. I feel that I still have something to tell the world about my life and have no plans for terminating my blogging activity.
What's the story behind your blog name?
I have always been open to show the world who I realy am, and have never used pseudonyms. That mean that my name is used as blogname, but should be read in connection to the ''Det er godt å leve'' (Living is great). That has to do with my simultaneous Heart and Kidney Transplantation in 1998. I was very, very sick, but got a possibility to prolong my life by organ donation from somebody that no medical assistance could help living.
I have been on necessary heavy medication every day since the operation (almost 11 years), and will do so for the rest of my life. I have gone through many of the side-effects these medications give, but the Gift for Life given by the donor has given me a good life, and living is great.
What is the best thing about being a blogger?
Having an area where family, friends and bloggers all over the world can be kept updated on my life, thoughts and doings, and be part of a global communication network. I can present views and opinions that Internet users find interesting, and being found through Google and other search machines as helpful for others work and learning.
What key advice would you give to a newbie blogger?
Find what YOU want to blog about and follow your path. Be known as the one interested in your specific meme, but use other memes as door openers to extend your fellowship. Accept that ''owners'' of memes have their own rules, and make up your own mind if these rules are acceptable for your goal. If not, find other fellowships to join. Never bend your own principles in the freedom of speaking (presenting) your own words, photos or videos to the word.
May be the best key advice is to have only ONE blog. Many bloggers have several blogs (for photos, videos, local stuff, flowers, animals, etc.) I recommend you to put everything you want to present in one URL. I am tired of going to blogger's additional sites finding out that no new post have been presented for weeks.
What is the most significant blog post you've ever read?
Very difficult to make priorities but here are some important urls: Blog Advice; Oldest Blog; Intro To Rec Humour. I hope nobody feels bad by not being chosen.
What is the most significant blog post you've ever written?
You Are Not Alone, which is my ''first'' blog in English after swapping from Norwegian text. Both my link to Mulitasking and my link to The Life Cycle of a Blog Post are also worth reading.
Today's Sunday Roast with Arne is the 60th in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.
Close Your Eyes And Think Of England
There Goes The Neighbourhood (Literally)
An entire English village including 22 cottages, a cricket club, a blacksmiths and a manor house has gone up for sale with a £25m price tag. Picturesque Linkenholt in Hampshire, includes 1,500 acres of farmland and 450 acres of woodland. The only thing not included is the 12th century village church.
FOOTNOTE: Don't pillage the village.
An entire English village including 22 cottages, a cricket club, a blacksmiths and a manor house has gone up for sale with a £25m price tag. Picturesque Linkenholt in Hampshire, includes 1,500 acres of farmland and 450 acres of woodland. The only thing not included is the 12th century village church.
FOOTNOTE: Don't pillage the village.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Verse And Worse
Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime
She should have secured a much stronger knot
The better to tether her million-dollar yacht
When it went with the tide and arrived in Florida
She said her predicament could not have been horrider
The better to tether her million-dollar yacht
When it went with the tide and arrived in Florida
She said her predicament could not have been horrider
All Roads Lead To Chrome
That's One Very Hot Rod
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
The Authorblog clan is accustomed to the fact that I often trail several metres behind them as I habitually wander off with my camera at the ready. These images were shot in December 2006, when we stopped at the tiny hamlet of Dadswells Bridge on our way back to Melbourne from Adelaide.
If you blink on the Western Highway, you’d miss the sign for Dadswells Bridge, but it’s been one of our favourite stops for more than two decades.
I spotted this yellow roadster parked by the side of the café and, just as the family expected, I announced that I would be held up for a couple of minutes while I shot some quick frames. The owner was nowhere to be seen, but how on earth could I ignore a gleaming hot rod with bright chrome under a flawless blue sky?
Yes, the sky really was an amazing blue. Want to see proof? Look at the next photograph and you'll see it reflected in the headlamp.
In the first frame, I deliberately chose an unusual composition, allowing the convex shape of the left headlamp to become a mirror for the car’s chassis. There is a certain balance between the bright yellow paintwork and the flawless chromium-plated lamp, but more importantly the metal surface reflects the vehicle in a distorted manner reminiscent of a gimmicky fairground full-length novelty mirror.
The last shot (below) is a bit of a red herring. Or maybe I should say it’s a yellow herring.
On first glance it looks as though the exposed engine block (this is a hot rod, remember) is painted yellow to match the chassis. But it isn’t. It’s chrome plated. Examine the image really carefully and you’ll see the overwhelming impression of yellow comes simply from the reflection in the shiny chrome.
Visit TNChick's Photo Hunt. Today's theme: "Yellow".
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
The Authorblog clan is accustomed to the fact that I often trail several metres behind them as I habitually wander off with my camera at the ready. These images were shot in December 2006, when we stopped at the tiny hamlet of Dadswells Bridge on our way back to Melbourne from Adelaide.
If you blink on the Western Highway, you’d miss the sign for Dadswells Bridge, but it’s been one of our favourite stops for more than two decades.
I spotted this yellow roadster parked by the side of the café and, just as the family expected, I announced that I would be held up for a couple of minutes while I shot some quick frames. The owner was nowhere to be seen, but how on earth could I ignore a gleaming hot rod with bright chrome under a flawless blue sky?
Yes, the sky really was an amazing blue. Want to see proof? Look at the next photograph and you'll see it reflected in the headlamp.
In the first frame, I deliberately chose an unusual composition, allowing the convex shape of the left headlamp to become a mirror for the car’s chassis. There is a certain balance between the bright yellow paintwork and the flawless chromium-plated lamp, but more importantly the metal surface reflects the vehicle in a distorted manner reminiscent of a gimmicky fairground full-length novelty mirror.
The last shot (below) is a bit of a red herring. Or maybe I should say it’s a yellow herring.
On first glance it looks as though the exposed engine block (this is a hot rod, remember) is painted yellow to match the chassis. But it isn’t. It’s chrome plated. Examine the image really carefully and you’ll see the overwhelming impression of yellow comes simply from the reflection in the shiny chrome.
Visit TNChick's Photo Hunt. Today's theme: "Yellow".
Green Feat
Here Endeth The Lesson
A 62-year-old woman hit a hole-in-one in Florida - with her first ever swing on a golf course. Norwegian Unni Haskell achieved the feat in St Petersburg and said, "I didn't know it was that big a deal.'' She had taken two months of golf lessons before deciding she was ready to hit the course.
FOOTNOTE: Who's yo caddy?
A 62-year-old woman hit a hole-in-one in Florida - with her first ever swing on a golf course. Norwegian Unni Haskell achieved the feat in St Petersburg and said, "I didn't know it was that big a deal.'' She had taken two months of golf lessons before deciding she was ready to hit the course.
FOOTNOTE: Who's yo caddy?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Post Of The Day
Today's joint winners are Get A Bigger Cup with Corned Beef Without The Corn; Leslie with I Is For Ice Rink and Moannie with Farm Boy Made Good. The other top contenders were Cheshire Wife with Changing Home; Zip N Tizzy with We’ll Weather The Whether; Merisi with Losing Oneself In A Cup Of Coffee; The Girl From Cherry Blossom Street with Words; Jen's Jingle with My Epiphany; Joy Is My Goal With Sunsets And Sunrises; Are We There Yet with Tuesday Songs On Wednesday; New England Living with St Paddy's Day Stroll; and Lew with Sun And Lilac Buds. Do pay them a visit and leave a comment if you have time.You can nominate a post too. Just leave a comment here with the URL or link - and tell us the name of the blogger you are nominating. Righty-o, then, it's over to you ....
Tree’s Company
Must Be Time For The Mardi Grass
Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON
This shot was taken in the first week of January, while we were on the west coast for a family wedding. Kings Park in Perth is a place I had first read about as a child, and as this was my first visit to the west, I was determined to spend some time there.
It was a scorcher of a Sunday and even though I sweltered, I shot about 100 images during our brief stay in the 400-hectare park that is named after King Edward VII. We were actually on our way back to the car when I spotted this shadow of a huge palm tree.
Even as I marvelled at the fresh green grass that was so different from our scorched earth here in Victoria, this sight caught my eye.
Emblazoned on the billiard-table green parkland was the perfect shadow of a towering palm tree whose fronds were being caressed by the breeze. Because it looked as if it had been stencilled onto the grass, I had to pause for a few seconds while I lined up this shot.
I guess it might seem like an easy image, but I had to position myself very precisely to compose the shot so that it did not include any of the many people soaking up the sun while they lay on the grass.
Judging by this photograph, you might think the park was deserted, but believe me, it never is. The official website of the West Australian government shows that it attracts more than five million visitors a year. That might not seem like a lot to North Americans – but five million is a quarter of our national population.
In retrospect, the clarity of the shadow worked so well not just because of the quality of the light, but also because of the long, graceful shape of the fronds.
Visit MamaGeek and Cecily, creators of Photo Story Friday.
Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON
This shot was taken in the first week of January, while we were on the west coast for a family wedding. Kings Park in Perth is a place I had first read about as a child, and as this was my first visit to the west, I was determined to spend some time there.
It was a scorcher of a Sunday and even though I sweltered, I shot about 100 images during our brief stay in the 400-hectare park that is named after King Edward VII. We were actually on our way back to the car when I spotted this shadow of a huge palm tree.
Even as I marvelled at the fresh green grass that was so different from our scorched earth here in Victoria, this sight caught my eye.
Emblazoned on the billiard-table green parkland was the perfect shadow of a towering palm tree whose fronds were being caressed by the breeze. Because it looked as if it had been stencilled onto the grass, I had to pause for a few seconds while I lined up this shot.
I guess it might seem like an easy image, but I had to position myself very precisely to compose the shot so that it did not include any of the many people soaking up the sun while they lay on the grass.
Judging by this photograph, you might think the park was deserted, but believe me, it never is. The official website of the West Australian government shows that it attracts more than five million visitors a year. That might not seem like a lot to North Americans – but five million is a quarter of our national population.
In retrospect, the clarity of the shadow worked so well not just because of the quality of the light, but also because of the long, graceful shape of the fronds.
Visit MamaGeek and Cecily, creators of Photo Story Friday.
Verse And Worse
Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime
You were never so callous before you lived in a palace
You were always so famous for your absence of malice
But with your nose in the air it seems you don’t care
So I’ll reveal to the world you rub guano in your hair
You were always so famous for your absence of malice
But with your nose in the air it seems you don’t care
So I’ll reveal to the world you rub guano in your hair
Greased Lightning
Not Your Normal Sundowner
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
There is always a solution to a problem. And when a photographer does not have enough light, there can be no greater problem than that.
I was in a hurry as I walked into the 2009 Australian International Air Show late on Friday evening, because I had a very long walk ahead of me and the late-evening light had suddenly turned murky as the clouds rolled in across the horizon and visibility began to close in.
In theory, I should have had about 75 minutes of pure light until sunset - but that rule applies only in a cloudless sky. Haze had developed and there was now a thick blanket of cloud on all points of the compass. To my disappointment, the sun was sinking rapidly into the greying haze, like a brilliant gold doubloon being submerged into an acid bath.
As soon as I had passed through the turnstiles, I got my camera out of my bag and shot the first frame (above). It was an interesting sky, with distinct layers across the horizon, each with a different saturation of colour.
I still had a long way to go to the area where the larger jets and the warbirds were parked and I knew the sun would have vanished by the time I got there, leaving only the last vestiges of weak, diffused light before darkness.
I knew that I would not get a single shot of an aircraft with the setting sun in the background. Accordingly, I doubled back a couple of hundred metres to where the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter was parked, to utilise the light conditions before they deteriorated any further.
The fighter has an interesting story behind it, because it was the product of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme across several partner countries. It is also called the Lightning in honour of the World War II-era fighter, the P-38 Lightning. I also seem to recall that one of the names under discussion was the Spitfire II, after the famous British fighter created by Reginald Mitchell.
I was able to stand on tiptoe to shoot above the heads of other patrons and because I was using my long lens (a 70-300mm Sigma) I was able to compose a very tight frame with the cockpit canopy and the setting sun in perfect alignment.
It's always great to have a flash of Lightning at sunset.
For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
I was in a hurry as I walked into the 2009 Australian International Air Show late on Friday evening, because I had a very long walk ahead of me and the late-evening light had suddenly turned murky as the clouds rolled in across the horizon and visibility began to close in.
In theory, I should have had about 75 minutes of pure light until sunset - but that rule applies only in a cloudless sky. Haze had developed and there was now a thick blanket of cloud on all points of the compass. To my disappointment, the sun was sinking rapidly into the greying haze, like a brilliant gold doubloon being submerged into an acid bath.
As soon as I had passed through the turnstiles, I got my camera out of my bag and shot the first frame (above). It was an interesting sky, with distinct layers across the horizon, each with a different saturation of colour.
I still had a long way to go to the area where the larger jets and the warbirds were parked and I knew the sun would have vanished by the time I got there, leaving only the last vestiges of weak, diffused light before darkness.
I knew that I would not get a single shot of an aircraft with the setting sun in the background. Accordingly, I doubled back a couple of hundred metres to where the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter was parked, to utilise the light conditions before they deteriorated any further.
The fighter has an interesting story behind it, because it was the product of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme across several partner countries. It is also called the Lightning in honour of the World War II-era fighter, the P-38 Lightning. I also seem to recall that one of the names under discussion was the Spitfire II, after the famous British fighter created by Reginald Mitchell.
I was able to stand on tiptoe to shoot above the heads of other patrons and because I was using my long lens (a 70-300mm Sigma) I was able to compose a very tight frame with the cockpit canopy and the setting sun in perfect alignment.
It's always great to have a flash of Lightning at sunset.
For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.
A Piece Of The Auction
Scotty Should Have Beamed Him Up Too
A US motorist pulled up for speeding at 110mph (almost 180km/h) told police he was racing home to catch the end of an eBay auction. Officers said the man didn't say what he was bidding on but the state trooper who stopped him said the man’s car was full of Star Wars action figures.
FOOTNOTE: eBuy.
A US motorist pulled up for speeding at 110mph (almost 180km/h) told police he was racing home to catch the end of an eBay auction. Officers said the man didn't say what he was bidding on but the state trooper who stopped him said the man’s car was full of Star Wars action figures.
FOOTNOTE: eBuy.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Post Of The Day
Today's winners are Rune With I Is For Icon and Brookville Daily Photo with Rainy Days Of Summer. The other top contenders were Your EG Tour Guide With Puddle Reflection; Dad’s Interpretation Of Things with When Life Hands You Lemons; Kym with Inadequacy; Fort Lauderdale Daily Photo with Mailbox; The Brit with Thank You and Slouching Mom with Entitlement. Do pay them a visit and leave a comment if you have time.You can nominate a post too. Just leave a comment here with the URL or link - and tell us the name of the blogger you are nominating. Righty-o, then, it's over to you ....
Verse And Worse
Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime
Kiss me, Hardy and pass the Bacardi
The quartermaster’s been ever-so tardy
He loaded the muskets and loaded the shandy
But completely forgot that rum would be handy
The quartermaster’s been ever-so tardy
He loaded the muskets and loaded the shandy
But completely forgot that rum would be handy
Gate Expectations
What The Dickens Is This?
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
These are, quite literally, the gates that never close. They are gates in name only, for they never swing shut on their huge metal hinges,
As you walk up the main stairwell at Southbank here in Melbourne, the overwhelming impression is that of a wide open space. In a brilliant architectural marriage of design and natural light, you are presented with a broad expanse in front of you, leading to a high glass atrium and an arcade which in turn takes you through to an open-air courtyard en route to some famous workplaces.
But I'm tipping that I could show these photographs to many people who work in the area or who visit it frequently - and a certain percentage of them would not recognise the unique figures in these images.
These are the famous Southbank gates and each is about a metre and a half long. They are located near the top of the stairwell, just where the walls are painted a rich ochre that is redolent of the Outback.
Just for the record, the gates are never closed. And precisely because of that, some folk never really pay attention to the little figures atop each spike on the gates. If they had to walk through or around these pieces of art, people would remember them. But because they are in the background, they more or less form a mural, rather than a potential barrier.
I don't know who created the gates or how he or she forged each figure. But rest assured that when I do, you'll be the first to know.
For earlier posts in this series, check out The Doors Archive.
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
These are, quite literally, the gates that never close. They are gates in name only, for they never swing shut on their huge metal hinges,
As you walk up the main stairwell at Southbank here in Melbourne, the overwhelming impression is that of a wide open space. In a brilliant architectural marriage of design and natural light, you are presented with a broad expanse in front of you, leading to a high glass atrium and an arcade which in turn takes you through to an open-air courtyard en route to some famous workplaces.
But I'm tipping that I could show these photographs to many people who work in the area or who visit it frequently - and a certain percentage of them would not recognise the unique figures in these images.
These are the famous Southbank gates and each is about a metre and a half long. They are located near the top of the stairwell, just where the walls are painted a rich ochre that is redolent of the Outback.
Just for the record, the gates are never closed. And precisely because of that, some folk never really pay attention to the little figures atop each spike on the gates. If they had to walk through or around these pieces of art, people would remember them. But because they are in the background, they more or less form a mural, rather than a potential barrier.
I don't know who created the gates or how he or she forged each figure. But rest assured that when I do, you'll be the first to know.
For earlier posts in this series, check out The Doors Archive.
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