~*~The Slide Show ~*~

This Spring, each morning and evening, I have been watching my one-year-old Thornbury Castle rose continue its growth, as I relax on my front porch rocker. Although there was a slight bout with aphids early on, which I sprayed with "House & Garden", the plant has been doing well. Today there are eight buds sprouted upon it, with color showing, and I snapped a portrait.

I have been so pleased with the progress of the little rose, that I ordered four more this spring from the same nursery. They seem quite expensive, especially with the hefty shipping charges, but I am having fun enough, so far, to justify the steep cost.

For my sunny front garden, a few yards away from the Thornbury Castle, I planted Margaret Merrill. Then on the side of my house we (me and my helper - Captain Cliff) dug up a climbing Queen Elizabeth that had never bloomed in the ten years since I planted it, and replaced it with Zéphirine Drouhin, a rose-pink large flowered thornless climber. Here's hoping that Ms. Douhin lives up to her name. She is now less than a foot tall - so has a long way to go to climb that trellis that is now being encroached by honeysuckle. Then at the border with the woodland I planted Lyda Rose; it has apple-blossom-like flowers and will bloom profusely in the shade, or so it is promised. We will see how Miss Lyda likes it there at the gateway to the Wild Wood.

Yesterday, I lost control, once again, of my plans to stop creating work for myself, and ordered another rose. This one is said to do well in a container, so I thought that I might give it a try in front of my garage. I usually plant a Mandeville there each Spring, but then in the Fall it is a bit of a chore to remove it and all of its woody vines. I decided to go for a rose that I can leave in the pot year after year. So now I am awaiting "Cream Abundance."

• Thronbury Castle Rose
• Margaret Merrill
• Zéphirine Drouhin
• Lyda Rose
• Cream Abundance

The image, Rosebuds, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Barneykin's account.

Visit Neddy's Archives for more of Edna's writings.

A bit later, I came across one of them again. It was standing perfectly still the whole time I was near. Now I am wondering if animals deliberately choose a camouflaged place to hide. And, I am wondering how often I look right at animals without seeing them. This one was still standing like a statue when I left it alone.

And only yesterday None else encountered the Wii.

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At this juncture is the tapeline in relation to quantified as respects scoop out-----
The Wii
Beets
Brussel Sprouts
Superintendency
Behavior pattern films
Indie Short score(look in foregoing blog)
“The epicarpal jean.”

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Striving subliminal self, maybe her, yourselves, wii, omneity about us single-mindedness be present redeemed. Stress what? Number one familiarize myself. What’s your incognito regenesis?

sundown, so with flash.

poppies, with verbana and growing larkspur's

Charge of the larkspur's

Cat tales.

His powerful demeanor is actually quite layed back, as we went back and forth about music, internet possibilities and creating... I've been lucky recently by having a good number of conversations with people who create.

All dancers must bow to the Queen of the Dance before each set.

Its a giant converse! Look OUT!!!

Converse and company has some very interesting shots of an old classic. He (she or they) have a set called Converse Giant with 6 shots. I like the shots and will try to follow the photo set if it gets updated.

If you wanna see all the Flickr shots I like (from sneaker, shoes, cars, rims, architecture and other interesting photography) then check my account on Flickr. If you guys don't have a Flickr account, you should get one.

John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama for President

John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator who bowed out of the presidential race last January, endorsed Senator Barack Obama at a rally that was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Wednesday night, May 14th. Officials announced the news shortly after Obama landed in Grand Rapids late Wednesday afternoon.

Barack Obama's campaign is hoping that it will be a big step toward the party's coalescing around Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee. The endorsement has ended many months of speculation about Mr. Edwards's preference in the Democratic nominating contest, during most of which he generally stayed silent and remained close to home in Chapel Hill (NC).

In his endorsement, Mr. Edwards voiced a theme of a nation that is presently divided, torn into parts by walls. He then went on to say "The reason I am here tonight is that Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I." Edwards concluded by declaring, "There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to tear down that wall and make one America, Barack Obama."

[wpvideo Vs7JFHqg w=450]

John Edwards' Endorsement Speech

[video 7126 w=450]

Yes We Can: An Emotional Song for Change

Please Remember Me and Bookmark This:

Every town has at least one Cat Lady (or man, but usually a lady - why?) - that person who puts out an old tin pan of food for the cats whom no one else is feeding.  Cats come and go as they wish.  If a door or window is open, sooner or later a cat is going to go through it.

Last time I was in Rome I noticed there were a lot fewer cats than the previous visit.  Perhaps there is a cat control policy there now - I hope so.  Anyone know?

I've been addicted to taking photos of cats since we moved here.  No matter what the scene, a cat seems to make it more picturesque. Over on the right in Links you'll find Cats of Italy - click on it (if you dare!) and you will be whisked away to a web album of part of my collection.  I really DID edit some of them out - honest.  (It took a lot of self-control not to put all of Luciano's portraits in.)  I recommend using the Slideshow option if you really are going to look at all those cats.

[Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, a disclaimer is in order (my first on this blog): the main character involved has been disguised by the imaginary name of X, no pronouns will be used to refer to this person's gender, and I will not answer any questions asked me, here in the blogosphere, or in my real life (hello, Friends!), as to this person's identity.]

It is a touchy subject... But I feel I must address it.

Yes, it's true. There is malice in our dear Tangoland.

There are many instances of back-stabbing, name-calling, betrayal, ignorance, trickery, knife-thrusting, grumpy grump, stubborness, lying, and overall general drama in our beloved realm. And all this has been foreseeable, though regrettable, and in perfect accordance with the natural Order of the Universe. Afterall, our Tangoland is a part of the Real World, too.

But it hurts very much when a friend has gone over to the Dark Side, and this friend doesn't even realize it.

I have such a friend, or, someone who used to be a friend, named X, who in the beginning of our story, seemed to be a vastly different person from the one revealed to me over time.

X has become a tiresome person. There are two things that make X tiresome... First, a persistent prejudice against certain members of our community, and second, the ignorance of racism. In the first offense, X is only harming X. And in the second offense, X is harming others.

This person X is quick to put certain members of the community into little categories all made up in X's mind, and labelling one particular category with snide, unflattering appellations such as "The Group", and "The Stuck-Ups".

It is hurtful, since these kind, sweet people are fast becoming my friends.

These are the people who danced with me when no one else would. These are the people who watched me spin myself into a cocoon, and are continually delighting in my budding (albeit wrinkly) wings. These are the people who encourage me to continue, and take care of me when I am sitting alone at milongas or festivals. And who protect me from unwelcome advances. These are people who will dance with beginners and encourage them to keep coming back. And X refers to these people as "The Stuck-Ups". Which is simply not the case, in my experience. The injustice of it makes me angry, especially when said to my face.

Don't get me wrong -- I, myself, have been terrorized by tan-egos and tan-egoistas, and horrible tangorillas, and individuals who are just so incredibly, consistently stuck up, that it is a torture to even have their glance turn in my direction. I still avoid these people. I run across one or two new ones, occasionally. Sadly, little does X know that X has become one of the people X claims to despise, and doubly sadly, I now find X just as horrible a tangorilla as this one, or this one, in male, or female form.

Another personality quirk that X has, is to dismiss the non-Argentine teachers, dancers, and milonga hosts in our community as unworthy of attention or praise. "I will stick to my Argentine teachers, if you please," X says. Upon watching performances by revered non-Argentines, X exclaims, "What a crock of mierda. These Americans/Europeans have no idea what tango is about." (Actually, the Argentines say "carajo", not "mierda", to refer to crap). And undoubedly, X, who also happens to be non-Argentine, feels that X is an expert in "what tango is all about."

I don't mean to sound so politically correct. I'm not trying to, honestly. But it is just common sense that just because a teacher/dancer is Argentine, doesn't mean he is a great teacher/dancer. Conversely, just because a teacher/dancer is not Argentine, doesn't mean he is not a great teacher/dancer. Just because the Chinese didn't invent Western classical music, doesn't mean Yo Yo Ma isn't a great cellist. Just because DJ Krush is Japanese and hardly speaks English, doesn't mean that he isn't one of the greatest composers of hip hop the world has ever seen. Just because photography was invented by the French, doesn't mean that Garry Winogrand isn't a great photographer.

X works in the (insert any craft here) industry. I just want to scream at X: "Well, (insert any country here) didn't invent the (insert any craft here) -- what makes you think a (insert person of X's nationality here) such as yourself can excel at it?"

Where is this blind racism coming from?

Let me be frank: I am fully aware of tangueros and tangueras who dance only for a couple of years, and then (to our chagrin) decide they are ready to teach and perform. But a clueless tango grasshopper is clueless no matter what nationality. And these non-Argentine teachers and dancers that X scoffs at, and passionately tells people to avoid, spend half their lives travelling away from home, to be immersed in Argentine culture. They learn the language. They study the dance, and the music. They may dance a different sort of tango that may not be agreeable to some, but it is not difficult to recognize excellence, genius, and emotion, when one is face-to-face with it, in a class, or a milonga. To dismiss artists such as Jennifer Bratt and Ney Melo, or Korey and Mila, just because they are non-Argentines -- now, that is a crock of carajo.

This racism of X extends to the milongas and practicas hosted by non-Argentines in our community. I am sure the Argentine hosts and hostesses around the city appreciate X's patronage, and undying loyalty to the people of Argentina. But it is unnerving to find that X loudly, and verbally discredits and disrepects the events held by others. And yet I see X often frequenting the milongas and practicas maintained and DJed, with painstaking effort, by these same non-Argentines who X despises.

Let me tell you about New York City: Unlike Buenos Aires, Dancing is not a natural state of being over here. I am living in continual fear that there will be no place to tango in my homwtown... That the gestapo city government will shut down these spaces... The city has already restricted the cabaret license into a choke-hold. For example, street photography is dying because the city regulates the use of tripods on the street, and photographers need a permit to photograph in many places where there is open sky -- basically almost everywhere. What makes us think that the milongas are safe?

And does X even realise the difficulty of securing places for social dancing in a paranoid city such as this one, where the only way to even step on the beat in the street is to hold a massive peaceful demonstration so huge, that the police will give up and stand by watching?

These non-Argentines are the people who bring us some of the most beloved milongas this city has to offer. Sure, they may not be Argentine... Some may not even be incredible dancers - although some are. Some don't even teach, some do, and are some of the most revered in the country. And they are responsible for the great effort it takes to keep tango alive in this city -- not the revered Argentines who live in Buenos Aires, as much as we love them for their magic, and definitely not people like X who continually complain about the deplorable situation of the "Americans destroying Argentina's tango." Perhaps some are, but I know many are not. I'm just thankful there are places to dance, and that is more than one should expect from people who are doing all the work for us, so that people like X can go out and criticize what they're doing. Sure, they are making some money by doing this, but I don't know of a single milonga host who makes a living out of hosting milongas.

It's as if a friend had died, or had moved to another country. No, worse -- as if the person I had enoyed talking to and sharing some precious moments with, has never even existed -- that the whole friendship was a figment of my imagination.

There is a saying in Argentina, I have learned recently -- it is also in a tango called "Niño Bien":

"Estás mostrando la hilacha."

Which bascially means: "You are showing your true colors."

It is heartbreaking when I discover that most everything I knew about a person was a lie, that someone I had once considered a dear friend, I had never known at all. I guess none of this is very new... Friends drift apart all the time, and the people who we think we know show their true characters with time.

But it's still sickening, nontheless.

I love it! I've been submitting as much as I can and I've found some great other photographers around the world. Jody Surgue in Canada's pics are great!

see you at 10:15!

Jamie

The last ten days have been so hot and so enjoyable, visiting lakes that once were frozen when i arrived here. Biking with Anna to the A3 which is a huge lake and many thousands of dutch and belgium people visit and soak up the sun in the summer months. Relaxing with family in the garden sharing laughs and eating and talking amongst eachother, het was zoooooo Gezellig !! Its been so special.....  yeh.. im pretty speach-less now, but its home time for now, mum is where its at. Thunderstoms today so it seem like im taking the good weather with me.

Tot ziens Nederlands (see you later Holland)

love Nina

I thought I'd share them with ya'll.[gallery]

Simple objects, complex scenes, animations - all recreating the real world that surrounds us and more.

And have you ever had this weird feeling, that it is not sure, whether the picture that you're looking at is real, or maybe it is a 3d render.

If not and if yes, I proudly present Mr. Alex Roman from Spain and his portfolio on CGsociety.

Especially two of his magnificent works took my breath away:

Forest Refuge Project

BCN auditorium

It is not the fact that all you can see in those pictures was rendered that kicks ass.

It is this illusion that one is looking at trully art photographs. Every frame is picked carefully. Lighting, composition, focal distance, bokeh.

Were you misleaded?

Device

"A model diorama at the Bazar Al Sharq restaurant in Aleppo, Syria.
This guy was actually about 12cm high."

:)

LINK: www.mancheung.com and http://pictureoftheday.mancheung.com