One day in 1917, the commander of an ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) brigade camped at Codford, on the edge of Salisbury Plain, looked out of the window of his headquarters at Stockton House. He thought that he might leave a memento of the passing of his men by having a chalk figure, like the ancient White Horses, carved on the hillside opposite. But, it wouldn't be a horse; it would be the familiar ANZAC 'Rising Sun' cap badge, on which the Sydney Harbour Bridge is said to be modelled.

Of course, in those days, he didn't need, as modern commanders do, to conduct a Risk Assessment, or run his ideas past the Budget Manager. He just said 'Let There Be ...' and there was!

So, men of the 3^rd Training Battalion, AIF, were soon at work cutting the figure in the hillside. But, at first, they didn't just expose the underlying chalk. Their badge was bronze, not white, so they embedded empty beer bottles into it. Maintenance of the figure was often carried out as a punishment by the defaulters, so it became known as 'Misery Hill' ... the official name is Lamb Down.

The figure can easily be seen today from the A36 Salisbury to Warminster road. But, it's a bad place to stop, and rather hazardous to walk along. There is a car park and viewing area at Stockton, near where Brigade Headquarters was, but it's rather far off, and doesn't make for good photography.

Now, you'll note, in the following paragraphs, I say 'I went' rather than 'You should go', as I'm not sure if the lane I used is a public right-of-way or not. I don't want to be accused of ‘incitement to trespass' But, I don't want to be held responsible for a lot of corpses on the verges of the A36, either!

So, I climbed up Malmpit Hill, a tarmacked lane leading out of Codford. There were gaps in the hedge to the right that afforded some excellent views of the carving. There's a track to the right at the top of the hill, leading right to the top of the carving, but it isn't really worth it. The carving isn't recognisable from this angle, and there's nothing up here to tell you what it is, or how it came about.

To find that out, you should go to the ANZAC War Graves, outside St. Mary's Church, in Codford village. Here, you'll find an information board, which will tell you about the figure and the cemetery.

If you want to see the carving, but won't be in Wiltshire any time soon, you can see it clearly on Google Earth, at 51°09'13.50"N 2°01'28.16"W

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Hi Everyone,

A little something I took last weekend.   It was 8 images stiched together using the 50mm F1.2.   Again this was shot with Neal and Kirk and we got some awesome shots.    The best thing about being out and about on Sunday was that we got to see the most awesome sunset, in fact it was so good that I decided to just stand and absorb it all.  Was a great feeling.    We spent the Saturday and Sunday scrambling all over rocks and cliff faces so much so that I was struggling to walk until Thursday as I was that cramped up. 

Jamie Paterson

The book uses a number of shots from my Solitude project, as well as many others, and includes a fairly substantial amount of prose relating my experiences on the beautiful island.

Anyway, click the badge below to check out Solitude: A Winter on Hornby Island.  You can even buy a copy through the Blurb site (or through me I suppose).

*Edit: This theme deosn't like the Blurb badge, for whatever reason it took the thumbnail of the book cover and put it up there.  You can still click the badge to check out the book though...

Solitude: A W...

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In the post-World War II era, Willem de Kooning painted in a style that came to be referred to variously as Abstract expressionism, Action painting, and the New York School. Other painters that developed this school of painting include Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston and Clyfford Still among others.

Willem De Kooning's parents, Leendert de Kooning and Cornelia Nobel, were divorced when he was about 5 years old, and he was raised by his mother and a stepfather. Willem De Kooning's early artistic training included 8 years at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques. In the 1920s he worked as an assistant to the art director of a Rotterdam department store.

In 1926, Willem De Kooning entered the United States as a stowaway on a British freighter, the SS Shelly, to Newport News, Virginia. Willem De Kooning then went by ship to Boston, and took a train from Boston to Rhode Island, and eventually settled in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he supported himself as a house painter until moving to a studio in Manhattan in 1927. In 1929 he met the artist and critic John D. Graham, who would become an important stimulus and supporter. Willem De Kooning also met the painter Arshile Gorky, who became one of Willem De Kooning's closest and most influential friends.

In October 1935, Willem De Kooning began to work on the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Federal Art Project, and he won the Logan Medal of the arts. Willem De Kooning was employed by this work-relief program until July 1937, when he resigned because of his alien status. This period of about 2 years provided the artist, who had been supporting himself during the early Depression by commercial jobs, with his first opportunity to devote full time to creative work. Willem De Kooning worked on both the easel-painting and mural divisions of the project (the several murals he designed were never executed).

In 1938, probably under the influence of Gorky, Willem De Kooning embarked on a series of male figures, including Two Men Standing, Man, and Seated Figure (Classic Male), while simultaneously embarking on a more purist series of lyrically coloured abstractions, such as Pink Landscape and Elegy. As his work progressed, the heightened colours and elegant lines of the abstractions began to creep into the more figurative works, and the coincidence of figures and abstractions continued well into the 1940s. This period includes the representational but somewhat geometricized Woman and Standing Man, along with numerous untitled abstractions whose biomorphic forms increasingly suggest the presence of figures. By about 1945 the two tendencies seemed to fuse perfectly in Pink Angels.

In 1938, Willem De Kooning met Elaine Marie Fried, later known as Elaine de Kooning, whom he married in 1943. Elaine also became a significant artist. During the 1940s and thereafter, he became increasingly identified with the Abstract Expressionist movement and was recognized as one of its leaders in the mid-1950s. Willem had his first one-man show, which consisted of his black-and-white enamel compositions, at the Charles Egan Gallery in New York in 1948 and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina in 1948 and at the Yale School of Art in 1950/51.

In 1946, too poor to buy artists' pigments, he turned to black and white household enamels to paint a series of large abstractions; of these works, Light in August (c. 1946) and Black Friday (1948) are essentially black with white elements, whereas Zurich (1947) and Mailbox (1947/48) are white with black. Developing out of these works in the period after his first show were complex, agitated abstractions such as Asheville (1948/49), Attic (1949), and Excavation (1950; Art Institute of Chicago), which reintroduced colour and seem to sum up with taut decisiveness the problems of free-associative composition he had struggled with for many years.

Willem De Kooning had painted women regularly in the early 1940s and again from 1947 to 1949. The biomorphic shapes of his early abstractions can be interpreted as female symbols. But it was not until 1950 that he began to explore the subject of women exclusively. In the summer of that year he began Woman I (located at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City), which went through innumerable metamorphoses before it was finished in 1952.

Willem de Kooning, Woman III, (1953), private collectionDuring this period he also created other paintings of women. These works were shown at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1953 and caused a sensation, chiefly because they were figurative when most of his fellow Abstract Expressionists were painting abstractly and because of their blatant technique and imagery. The appearance of aggressive brushwork and the use of high-key colours combine to reveal a woman all too congruent with some of modern man's most widely held sexual fears. The toothy snarls, overripe, pendulous breasts, vacuous eyes, and blasted extremities imaged the darkest Freudian insights. Some of these paintings also seemed to hearken back to early Mesopotamian / Akkadian works, with the large, almost "all-seeing" eyes.

The Woman' paintings II through VI (1952-53) are all variants on this theme, as are Woman and Bicycle (1953; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York) and Two Women in the Country (1954). The deliberate vulgarity of these paintings contrasts with the French painter Jean Dubuffet's no less harsh Corps de Dame series of 1950, in which the female, formed with a rich topography of earth colours, relates more directly to universal symbols.

From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Willem De Kooning entered a new phase of nearly pure abstractions more related to landscape than to the human figure. These paintings, such as "Bolton Landing" (1957) and "Door to the River" (1960) bear broad brushstrokes and calligraphic tendencies similar to works of his contemporary Franz Kline.

In 1963, Willem De Kooning moved permanently to East Hampton, Long Island, and returned to depicting women while also referencing the landscape in such paintings as Woman, Sag harbor and Clam Diggers.

Willem de Kooning was diagnosed with, in all probability, Alzheimer's disease. After his wife, Elaine, died on February 1, 1989, his daughter, Lisa, and his lawyer, John Eastman were granted guardianship over Willem De Kooning. As the style of his later works continued to evolve into early 1989, his vintage works drew increasing profits; at Sotheby's auctions Pink Lady (1944) sold for US$3.6 million in 1987 and Interchange (1955) brought $20.6 million in 1989.

There is much debate over the relevance and significance of his 1980s paintings, many of which became clean, sparse, and almost graphic, while alluding to the biomorphic lines of his early works. Some have said his very last works, most of which have never been exhibited, present a new direction of compositional complexity and daring color juxtapositions. Some speculate that his mental condition and attempts to recover from a life of alcoholism had rendered him unable to carry out the mastery indicated in his early works, while others see these late works as boldly prophetic of directions that some current painters continue to pursue. Unfortunately, gossip has tainted the scant critical commentary afforded these last works, which have yet to be seriously assessed.

Keep visiting: www.lifechums.com more Celebrities featuring Shortly .............

The European white birch has always been the focal point of our garden in Washington Heights. Each leaf, of course, represents a day in our past, and for this reason might seem more valuable if there weren’t so many.

--The Gay Recluse, November 13, 2007

Me ne sono accorta oggi, tornando a casa, quando ho letto un numero sulla portiera di una macchina e ho istintivamente pensato....529....ok, si approssima a 53! E ti dici che sì, che ci sei dentro, che sei felicemente coinvolta in un percorso che senti tuo. Me ne sono accorta eccome; questa è la mia vita. E quello che faccio, quello che studio, è quello che amo studiare.

Sono felice oggi, ecco tutto. Felice e basta. Com'era? 7+7=15?? Beh, che dire, per una volta i conti tornano, e va bene così :D

Retezat National Park is the oldest National Park in Romania; it was established in 1935 and it's mai objectives were to conserve the landscape and the endemic flora found here. Altitudes vary between 794m at the park entry on Râu Mare valley and 2509m at Peleaga Peak.

Retezat Mountains have some of the most beautiful landscapes in South-Eastern Europe. The massif is crossed by many tourist trails on which hikers can admire the landscape and enjoy the wilderness of this area. The more trained climbers can find some climbing areas, of which Colţii Pelegii is one well known. Camping sites, cabins and refuges in and around the park are attractive and waiting to accommodate tourists.

Flora is known to be very rich, with almost 1200 plant species from about 3600 found in Romania. Having a third of the Romania flora present here was one of the main reasons to designate the area as a National Park.

Fauna is also very rich, mainly because of the diversity of habitats found here, but also because the human impact is still small. There are no permanent settlements inside the park.

At the end of 2006, the Park Administration successfully concluded the BCMP project funded by GEF through WB. We also begun the implementation of the Life/Natura project LIFE05 NAT/RO/000165 (Conservative Management of the Alpine Area in the Retezat National Park as a Nautura 2000 Site).

you know, there's few time in your life that true friend will stop by your side and "teman" you do some crazy stuff. no..not that kind of friend that go yam char once a while, is the friend that willing to step out for u anytime and those will fight with you and not running away. i consider my self lucky cos in my 25 years i found few of them.

i dun have picture of them all, i only got recent 1( cos i just got my camera mah!!). back in the early days, my best pal was erle stanley, still is just diff path now, then my UNI life was the 8 "tai ling ngong". ( reeve, ronnie, harvey, alex, eric, maxwell, peter) .did so many stuff with them but now everyone going somewhere as work at the different place.

and...now the latest friend who used by me to fill my empty schedule will be this few guys. XD

# Rachael( my darling!)

rach...my gf and my best friend, she will teman me go anywhere and do anything. haha. hard to find girl like her now. she go jog,sailing, bbq and she is those stay in home and read book type, that why i really appreciate what she did with me.

pic: i make her go keras for around 2 minit to try my shutter spend, and taken with out tripod. abit blurry .

#Anson

This guy(anson) use to be so cute and innocent untill he meet us the bad guy, even before i knew rach, me and roc always bully him and bring him go out at night and come back home late. crash into his bed room and sleep.haha. We even bring him visit those night club. now he not more innocent but still cute tho. single and available !!!! ladies.!! what you waiting for!!

pic: he hold him self for 5second just to let me take this picture.

# ROC

This is raphael, he is the youngest among us, and the paling kin panas among us all. You can hardly understand what he has in his mind.chat in msn can trus gone with out say anything. But he and I manage to "upgrade" anson .haha...my partner in crime.

PIC: make him keras for around 3 second(both picture) ..haha, testing my shutter speed and lighting effect.

#Pius

This is pius, rach's uncle. ( i make this black and white cause his face was red from sun burn and he sure not happy bout it, see pius, i care for u so much...lol) he is another hantu, my drinker friend. another guy who can tahan with me.haha

Pic: taken from anson, i just make it go BW

the palce we hang out

Not there, there is another shed( the place i took this picture from)

what a long entry, well, they are those who can tahan with me, as we always got this sudden urge to do something over the week end. so far we did bbq( many many time) , make friend drunk( roc), Rami night,lekor night, fishing !!!!, Bah kut teh !!!.... and soon road trip!!!!!!

"Fisk Kamp Shore", oil on 9x12 canvas board, by Rog Lyngaas, 21jul08.

This scene reminds me of the fish camps in northern Ontario and northern Wisconsin.  In summer you can fish for and live on Walleyed and Northern Pike.  There the lakes can be so still, clear, and beautiful you may believe the dream.

Upon placid water is lain fisk line into depths of flourescent seaweed. A Dardevelet tumbles down with it's three prongs waiting their use. Areeling in a 2 second pull with a 5 second reel; it takes calm, silence, and patience. Is it the red and white stripe of it's convex side or silver of the concave side seen? It twirls back and forth tricking tricky eyes to see double; with vibrating fin action. Sudden test of reel drag alerts the man that his Molsen will now fall into water as he relishes to hold his wrist tight to keep the tip up. Now the three prongs are one, for two have broken off from gnashing of teeth. If these teeth swallow ducks whole, surely a hook may be devoured via breath. But the 2 pound test line holds as the reel drag passes the test, because man held the rod tip up and his wrist tight; as the bottle gently slipped into the depths pouring out golden Molsen nectar, blessing the sea. Two sets of teeth gnash now as the man grips hard and the formally lit cigar now falls into water that needs nutrients as such. Line strips off reel quickly as a run ensues. Deeper goes the pike and now under the boat. With the tip still up the man wonders what has happened as the line goes limp. Gathering senses he gathers line quickly only to feel the sudden tug and straight shot to the air, the glory, the jump of flailing back fin dancing upon water. It is the man's dream fight, he is fighting a water dancer. Will fisk find escape, or will man will it's capture? Line is limp again as fisk stretches man's imaginative boundaries -- his lucid dreams are now real and what has happened to his trophy? Oh it's their in the depths, diving under the boat once more, only this time to realize which side of the boat has the motor. Man feels the turn as fisk aims to breakoff the line of fight by spinning round outboard's prop. But installed upon this motor mount is a quick release, so decisive man executes his loss prevention program.  Now the engine splashes to the deep. This lake needs more minerals he thinks as he knows now that he has outsmarted the smart one, the fisk of the century. So fisk drives towards the now missing motor for another run now to the cold springs of his home. Saying "I don't care" like the man; fisk drives a longer yet slower run -- further than before, where is he going? The tightness of the line lessens and the man gently reels in a now tired log of fisk towards his prop-less boat. Exhausted fisk rises to water's surface showing his size yet hiding his strength. "You win", fisk says as he approaches now 50 feet away. Man is smarter than this gesture though, as he opens his knife to cut anchor cord. Once long ago this fisk broke off on the anchor cord after the fight was basically over and man will not live with that same regret again. For it is a 20 pound wonder that is his fisk reward; his heart's desire. Man turns his head to find large net. Never used till now, it has waited for this occasion, patiently rotting away. His son sees this look, and helping father he grabs the net ready to swirl it round dad's trophy dream. Fisk has arrived to starboard side; son swirls and lifts net as father holds tip up. There lain upon the boat deck is the 20 pound wonder fisk, 4 feet of snake and one foot of teeth. Man says "grab him!" Son looks at the teeth in awe, starring at what will bite him good. Seeing that fear, man drops pole, to join it's friends the anchor, the motor, the cigar, and the beer -- and lunges for the fish which flips once to avoid the grasp, twice to dance upon the deck, and thrice to flip o'er boat's edge. Splash and its over; for there is no pole to grasp now, no line to reel in. There the two are, up the lake without a motor. Only oars for the 5 mile return trip. And the lake now returns to silent lucidity; where dreams live.

Greens!

This one is of the field out beside the church.

This one is of the field in front of the church, showing the looming storm that hit about an hour ago.  I did this one a little more surreal than the rest cause it looked better that way.

The church steeple...obviously.

My Jeep, parked in the handicapped (VIP/J-Lo) parking at the church.

I captured this image this morning in Lofthus, one of the major tourist destinations in Western Norway. Maybe it's just me, but I thought the sharply defined cloud layer looked very beautiful against the mountains. It clearly shows the "lifting condensation level", the exact height where the stratified air is cold enough for the water vapor in the air to condense. The picture was taken handheld with my Canon 40D and a Canon EF 24-105 f/4L lens. I used four frames of the same scene to create the panorama image in my banner.