Category: Photography

Your Sunday mystery.

Another brilliant Neil K. special.

Once you start watching, be sure to watch it all. You will NEVER get this one — until the end.

More beautiful world.

More fabulous pictures.

This is how I introduced the first set of pictures on the 22nd October.

Regular readers will have seen that Cynthia S. has contributed some lovely items to Learning from Dogs. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the support of so many readers and the contributions that regularly come to my in-box, I would have long ago stopped writing. Anyway, a couple of weeks back Cynthia forwarded an email to me that had a series of the most beautiful nature photographs. So I’m going to reserve showing these over a number of week-end days to serve as a very restful and peace-inspiring alternative to the crazy world that most of us ‘enjoy’ during the working week.

Here’s the first four pictures of those fabulous pictures,

“Be who you are and say what you feel….
Because those that matter…
don’t mind…
And those that mind… don’t
matter.”

Here are the next set of four.

A Home with a View!

A light distraction to the serious article yesterday!

My son mentioned the other day that a rather unusual property is for sale in North Devon, SW England. What’s unusual about it? Well the picture below answers that question!

Hartland_Point_Lighthouse — Hartland Point Lighthouse

Not a bad view, is it! The lighthouse, or rather ex-lighthouse, depending in which direction one is looking, has the start of the Bristol Channel off to the right, or the Atlantic Ocean directly ahead with the Island of Newfoundland being the next stop Westwards.

The island seen on the horizon in the picture is Lundy Island, a granite outcrop, three and a half miles long and half a mile wide. As an aside, I can recall a fly-in to Lundy many years ago. Went there in the Piper Super Cub and the landing and take-off were ‘interesting’.

Back to Hartland Point Lighthouse. Thanks to WikiPedia, we learn that,

Hartland Point Lighthouse is a Grade II listed building at Hartland Point Devon, England. The point marks the western limit (on the English side) of the Bristol Channel Atlantic Ocean continuing to the west.

Built in 1874 by Mr. Yerward of Wales under the direction of Sir James Douglass, the tower is 18 metres (59 ft) tall with the lamp being 37 metres (121 ft) above mean sea level. The light can be seen up to 25 miles (40 km) away from the coast. It is protected by a 30 metres (98 ft) long sea wall which was built in 1925 to prevent erosion of the rocks on which it stands.

It was blessed by Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, and the light was lit for the first time by Lady Stuckley of Hartland Abbey during the opening ceremony on July 1, 1874.

The tower was automated in 1984 and is now controlled from Trinity House Operations Centre at Harwich in Essex. Prior to automation the lighthouse was built with accommodation for four keepers and their families. The keepers’ dwellings have since been demolished to make room for a helipad to be constructed. This was necessary due to the precarious nature of the access road which is liable to frequent rock falls and landslips. Vehicular access is now very difficult and the gates tend to remain locked. The large concrete structures immediately to the south of the lighthouse were to provide the keepers with fresh water.

In the 2010 Aids to Navigation Review, by Trinity House, they proposed to discontinue the Hartland Point Lighthouse Station on grounds that the rocks that it sits on is eroding away.

So if you are looking for that really special room with a view, this could be it! The agency selling the Lighthouse are Smithsgore and the details, including a guide price of £500,000, may be found here.

Poetry in Motion

Once again, big thanks to Cynthia S. for sending me the links

I can’t add anything to these videos, so just settle down and watch.

and this one,

Our beautiful world

Regular readers will have seen that Cynthia S. has contributed some lovely items to Learning from Dogs. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the support of so many readers and the contributions that regularly come to my in-box, I would have long ago stopped writing. Anyway, a couple of weeks back Cynthia forwarded an email to me that had a series of the most beautiful nature photographs. So I’m going to reserve showing these over a number of week-end days to serve as a very restful and peace-inspiring alternative to the crazy world that most of us ‘enjoy’ during the working week.

Here’s the first four pictures of those fabulous pictures,

“Be who you are and say what you feel….
Because those that matter…
don’t mind…
And those that mind… don’t
matter.”

Rivers of ice

or should that be rivers of tears for our planet!

himalayan-glaciers — Our beautiful planet

A chance dip into the BBC News website a few days ago allowed me to come across an article about the vanishing glaciers in the Himalayas. It just about broke my heart. Here’s what it said,

Rivers of ice: Vanishing glaciers

Stunning images from high in the Himalayas – showing the extent by which many glaciers have shrunk in the past 80 years or so – have gone on display at the Royal Geographical Society in central London.

Between 2007 and 2010, David Breashears retraced the steps of early photographic pioneers such as Major E O Wheeler, George Mallory and Vittorio Sella – to try to re-take their views of breathtaking glacial vistas.

The mountaineer and photographer is the founder of GlacierWorks – a non-profit organisation that uses art, science and adventure to raise public awareness about the consequences of climate change in the Himalayas.

Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya can be seen at the RGS in London until 11 November 2011. Admission free.

All photos courtesy GlacierWorks and Royal Geographical Society. Map copyright Jay Hart. All images subject to copyright.

Music courtesy KPM Music. Audio slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 11 October 2011.

Then follows a 3:59 film made by David Breashears that is so beautiful as well as so upsetting. I don’t have a way of linking to the film directly but it’s easy to watch, just click here and be very moved.

David Breashears has his own website, from where one can learn that,

David Breashears is an accomplished filmmaker, adventurer, author, mountaineer, and professional speaker. Since 1978, he has combined his skills in climbing and filmmaking to complete more than forty film projects.

In 1983, Breashears transmitted the first live television pictures from the summit of Mount Everest, and in 1985 became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice.

In the spring of 1996, Breashears co-directed and co-produced the first IMAX film shot on Mount Everest. When the now infamous blizzard of May 10, 1996 hit Mount Everest, killing eight climbers, Expedition Leader Breashears and his team were in the midst of making this historic film. In the tragedy that soon followed, Breashears and his team stopped filming to provide assistance to the stricken climbers. After returning to Base Camp, Breashears and his team then regrouped and reached the summit of the mountain on May 23, 1996, achieving their goal of becoming the first to record IMAX film images at Earth’s highest point. Breashears has said that if there is a lesson to be learned from the May 1996 tragedy, it is that for him, success that year was not to be found in reaching the summit, it was that everyone on his team returned safely. The film, titled EVEREST, premiered in March 1998.

As was written in that BBC item, David is the founder of GlacierWorks which is full of beautiful, albeit tinged with sadness, images of the glaciers featured in that BBC item. As the GlacierWorks website explains on the home page,

The Mighty Himalayan Glaciers are Vanishing.

The rate of recession is unprecedented, accelerating and, without some remedy to the problem of climate change, unstoppable. GlacierWorks is a non-profit organization that uses art, science, and adventure to raise awareness about the consequences of climate change in the Greater Himalaya.

Read that first sentence again, “The rate of recession is unprecedented, accelerating and, without some remedy to the problem of climate change, unstoppable.” [my emphasis]

There are a number of videos on YouTube if you search for David Breashears, none up to the beauty of the slide show in the BBC item so don’t miss that at all. However, the following is also worth watching,

OK, a change of topic but one that connects with the underlying message about the disappearing glaciers. This was an article in the American The Nation newspaper written by Naomi Klein, following her speech to the demonstrators at Occupy Wall Street. The article really should be read in full but I wanted to highlight just the following words from Naomi,

The point is, today everyone can see that the system is deeply unjust and careening out of control. Unfettered greed has trashed the global economy. And it is trashing the natural world as well. We are overfishing our oceans, polluting our water with fracking and deepwater drilling, turning to the dirtiest forms of energy on the planet, like the Alberta tar sands. And the atmosphere cannot absorb the amount of carbon we are putting into it, creating dangerous warming. The new normal is serial disasters: economic and ecological.

We all know, or at least sense, that the world is upside down: we act as if there is no end to what is actually finite—fossil fuels and the atmospheric space to absorb their emissions. And we act as if there are strict and immovable limits to what is actually bountiful—the financial resources to build the kind of society we need.

The task of our time is to turn this around: to challenge this false scarcity. To insist that we can afford to build a decent, inclusive society—while at the same time, respect the real limits to what the earth can take.

Thanks to Bill Mitchell of Billy Blog for linking me to the Naomi Klein speech.

We can afford to build a decent, inclusive society and we must – not tomorrow but now. Start with your local community, think about transition. Some of our grandchildren will be mountaineers – let them see the beautiful rivers of ice.

After George comes Brutus

Big thanks to Cynthia S. for forwarding this to me.

Before writing about Brutus, did you read yesterday’s item about George, the rescue dog, and the wonderful effort to raise funds for more life-saving efforts? If not, read it here. Whatever you can spare, please donate to this super cause.

Now to Cynthia’s item, that has been fairly widely spread across the internet.

How to hug a baby

Thought you might like to know about this dog and his history, I especially like the ending, Cynthia.

The dog above is Brutus, a military dog at McChord.. . He’s huge, part Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff, and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler took the picture and explains, “Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he’s slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn’t stop, but he did.”

Brutus was the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq. His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents. Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant ‘go away but come back and find me’. The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door. He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an
old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped. Brutus is the first dog to receive this honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. If he knows you’re ok, he’s a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap. Enjoys the company of cats..

Instructions for properly hugging a baby with Brutus

(A quick Google search found that the words accompanying the same pictures on Daniela’s website, The Daily Tail, were perfect, thus they have been used.)

Step One – Place the baby on a flat, uncluttered surface. Important: Do not attempt this without the assistance of a qualified parent.

Step Two – Conduct a sniff test to verify the specimen is actually a baby. The scent of baby powder is usually sufficient evidence.

Step Three – Carefully adjust the baby’s position until its head faces the mother’s camera. Note: Babies have two ends. The end covered with a hat or hair is the head. The end covered with a diaper is the butt. Babies do not have tails.

Step Four – Lay your body down over baby. Do not apply pressure. While gently placing your paws around the baby’s body, lick your lips to condition them for the kiss (essential part of the hug).

Step Five – Lean in toward the baby and let your heart melt. Repeat as necessary until the parent finds the camera and takes a perfect picture.

Thanks Cynthia for this lovely story.

Please Help a George

A canine charitable opportunity that deserves wide support.

The details that follow strike a chord with me, strike a chord in a big way. When I first came to live with Jean back in 2008 it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a normal relationship. Why? Because, at that time Jean had 12 dogs living with her in San Carlos, Mexico and my arrival, together with my Shepherd dog, Pharaoh (see home page for a picture of him), took that number to 13. Jean’s dogs were all Mexican rescues; she also ran her own local humane society in San Carlos and over the years had found homes for literally dozens of dogs.

One of those Mexican rescues was a dog called Loopy, who had been terribly treated by local Mexicans. The consequence when I arrived, a stranger in the middle of Loopy’s life with Jean, was that Loopy was very aggressive towards me; my hands have small scars to bear witness to the number of nips Loopy launched in my direction.

It took over a year before I was able to just let my hand ‘accidentally’ brush her side. Slowly Loopy’s trust in me built up until now I can press my face to her face and cuddle her for ages. (To underline the love that Loopy bestows on me, I will get Jean to take a picture and publish that before the end of the week.) So with that in mind, let me turn to the details recently sent to me by friend and colleague, Dapinder Singh, from England.

———————

This is George. He was in an English dog pound and condemned to death.

He had been very badly abused, one eye blinded by what was thought to be a kick, he trusted no-one and had rejected all human contact. He was desperate and in despair.

After an exhaustive search for anyone who take on the rescue of George, we (as in Doris Banham) took him into our care just a day before he was due to be euthanased. His veterinary problems were easier to deal with than the mental ones. His eye was damaged beyond repair causing him constant pain so it had to be removed, teaching George to trust again was much harder.

That journey back to trusting humans was long, George had suffered severe and terrible abuse, but there was no question of giving up on him and slowly but surely he began to live again as we fought to undo the wrongs that had been done to him. After some months with us, a wonderful family came to the rescue and offered George his ‘forever’ home where he found the love that he so deserved. His family are completely devoted to him.

His story, however, could have been a very different one were it not for the work of the team at Doris Banham’s. Below is an extract written by the lovely family who adopted him and from our fantastic volunteer, Sheila, who helped bring George back to life again.

“Hi, Sheila. Here is a shot of George in his new garden. He is settling down very well and seems to be very happy. I will keep you posted as to his progress. All the best Liz and Ian.”

There were a number of photographs sent to Sheila, however I have taken editor’s liberty and moved them to the foot of the article – I want you to stay with this to the point where you can see how to help. Here’s Sheila’s reply,

“WELL THESE BOUGHT ME TO TEARS , OUR GEORGE , THIS IS TRUE RESCUE , THIS IS ALL DOWN TO YOU DORIS BANHAM NOTHING ELSE TO SAY …” SHEILA X.

Are there other Georges out there? You bet! Far too many of them, right across the world. So let’s all do something to help these special creatures, who show us humans just what unconditionally love feels like.

Friday 4th November, 7.30pm – Come to the Hellaby Hall Hotel, Old Hellaby, Maltby, Yorkshire, S66 8SN

Call for tickets now to the Pound Dog Ball telephone number (UK) 07772 538513 or email pogpublications@yahoo.com Full details here.

Please help all the Georges out there by supporting this Charity Fundraising Event: Black Tie, Dinner/Dance at Hellaby Hall, Rotherham, 7.30pm, on Friday 4th November. It’s a don’t miss night…..3 course meal, live entertainment all night and dancing ’til late!!!! It’s going to be a great night.

If you can’t make the Ball but would like to send in a donation then please post a cheque, made out to Pound Dog Ball, to the following address:

c/o Jennifer Smith

Clumber Lodge,

50 Hemingfield Road

Wombwell, S73 0LY.

Or if you prefer an electronic donation, further details are:

Pound Dog Ball

A/C 31542265

Sort 40-45-29 (HSBC)

The account is a charity account, set up only for this event. Once the money has been paid to the charities the account will be closed.

All monies raised will be shared between http://www.dogsos.co.uk/ (Doris Banham) and http://www.barnsleyanimalrescue.org.uk/ (Barnsley Animal Rescue Charity)

I know that Dapinder, and everyone else involved in helping these precious animals, sends you their heartfelt thanks.

Finally, more photos of George enjoying life as all dogs should. What a wonderful story, an honour to be able to publish it, and promote the Ball, on Learning from Dogs. Please help.

Be entranced

Our beautiful planet home; the only one we have.

With great thanks to Dan G. for sending me the link.

Science educator James Drake built this amazing timelapse video from the perspective of the International Space Station as it flew over North and South America. He created this video by downloading a series of 600 photographs that were available online at theGateway to Astronomy Photograph of Earth, and then stitching them together into a complete video. You can see more of James work at his blog: infinity imagined.