THE BIG PICTURES 2010
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
A layer of fog floats into Victoria harbor in Hong Kong late on March 15, 2010. (RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images)
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
A dancer performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 16th Asian Games on November 12, 2010. (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
To view all 40 BIG PICTURES click here:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/12/2010_in_photos_part_1_of_3.html
LOOK OUT! HERE COMES CHINA.
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
City Lights: This striking photograph features two of China’s most populous cities--Beijing and Tianjin--both located in the northern part of the country near the Bohai Gulf. The United Nations estimated 2010 population for the Beijing metropolitan area is approximately 12 million, with the population of the Tianjin metropolitan area estimated to be over 7 million.
Taken at night time by the Expedition 26 crew, the image dramatically illustrates the extent of both metropolitan areas. The smaller city of Langfang, located midway between Beijing and Tianjin, also is clearly visible, as are several other smaller developed areas to the northeast. The dark regions surrounding the well-lit urban areas are mainly agricultural fields, with wheat and corn being the major crops. Beijing is one of the recognized ancient capital cities--and the current capital--of the People’s Republic of China. The regular grid pattern of the city is clearly visible at lower upper right; concentric rings of major roadways around the city center have been added as the metropolitan area has expanded. Tianjin is a major trade center with connection to seaports on the Bohai Gulf. The city was established following the integration of the Grand Canal of China, a major artificial waterway extending from Beijing southwards to Hangzhou. Image Credit: NASA
IT'S TIME TO END OBSTRUCTIONISM
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
First, the rise in filibusters is just shocking. And this doesn't even count all of them. It only counts those filibusters that the majority actually tried to do something about. Plenty more filibusters get threatened, but cloture doesn't get filed because the issue isn't important enough or the votes aren't present.
Second, note how many filibusters get broken.It's not all, but it's a far cry from none (and it's more than you see in this graph, as filibusters that get withdrawn don't end through cloture). Some get broken by overwhelming majorities. But that doesn't mean the filibuster failed. A dedicated filibuster takes about a week to break even if you have the votes. That's a week of wasted time in the Senate. If your preference isn't merely to delay one vote but to threaten the majority with the prospect of getting less done overall, then launching a lot of fruitless filibusters makes perfect sense.
CHRISTMAS CRIMES
For more criminal behavior:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/melismashable/25-examples-of-christmas-decoration-abuse
ADDICTING INTERNET SITE OF THE MOMENT
Try playing this game and you'll find you can't stop!
http://isleoftune.com/
And here's Michael Jackson's "Beat It"
http://isleoftune.com/?id=819
A SOLSTICE GIFT
A RAINBOW STAR APPEARED OVER CONGRESS
AND MADE HISTORY
R.I.P.D.A.D.T
R.I.P.D.A.D.T
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
HIS HEADSTONE SAYS IT ALL
Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich (July 7, 1943 – June 22, 1988) was a Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Matlovich was the first gay service member to fight the ban on gays in the military, and perhaps the best-known gay man in America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause célèbre around which the gay community rallied. His case resulted in articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, numerous television interviews, and a television movie on NBC. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally. In October 2006, Matlovich was honored by LGBT History Month as a leader in the history of the LGBT community.
Mills Extraordinary Silent Bell 25 Cent Slot Machine
American1933
The Mills Extrordinary Silent Bell was developed for the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair, whose motto was the "Century of Progress". The advanced cityscape design was uniquely modern in gaming design, and is one of the only pure Art Deco slot machines today. Ours also has an original encased floor stand, rarely seen on slots of this period. Add to these elements that it is a 25 cent machine, and you have a real "jackpot" of a slot. Quarter machines are the most desirable now, as the lesser valued coins don't produce much of a payout, and higher valued coins are not found in most pockets. The machine is all original, with keys, and works wonderfully.
Price
$5,500
$5,500
Condition*
Nice Original Working Condition
Nice Original Working Condition
Measurements
height: 5 ft.
depth: 14.75 in.
width/length: 20.5 in.
height: 5 ft.
depth: 14.75 in.
width/length: 20.5 in.
Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: Metals and Woods
Creator: Mills Slot Machine Co.
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: Metals and Woods
Creator: Mills Slot Machine Co.
Photography
provided by Off The Wall Antiques
provided by Off The Wall Antiques
Location
Off The Wall Antiques
7325 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
USA
Phone: 323-930-1185
E-Mail: weirdstuff@earthlink.net
Ref. : U10121381201114
Off The Wall Antiques
7325 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
USA
Phone: 323-930-1185
E-Mail: weirdstuff@earthlink.net
Ref. : U10121381201114
WHY THERE'S A GLEEM IN HIS EYE!
A usually staid weekly Papal audience was spiced up this week with an acrobatic performance by a troupe of topless men. The four performers dressed in white suits walked across the stage towards the Papal throne and surprised the Pope by whipping off their shirts before beginning an acrobatic performance on Tuesday. The Pope looked on as the men hoisted each other into the air, one on top of the other, three high. From a YouTube comment: The Princes of the Church are showing themselves to be more .....Queens then Princes.
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAK
Imagine walking into your bathroom and finding a squirrel swimming in your toilet. That's what an Edmond, Oklahoma woman found yesterday.
What to do? She called 911 and reported an intruder. When Officer Derek Kennedy arrived he assessed the situation and called for backup.
After about five minutes the team of police officers were able to not only catch the intruder but managed to get the rescue on cell phone video.
The good news is the squirrel was alive and well -- just wet from head to tail. The officers released the squirrel in a nearby park and I imagine he scurried away up a tree. Good squirrel.
Note: My brother experienced a similar situation when when he was around 9 yrs old, finding our pet squirrel Skippy after we returned from Sunday mass . I'll never forget him walking out from the bathroom holding him with his pants down! Skippy survived too.
What to do? She called 911 and reported an intruder. When Officer Derek Kennedy arrived he assessed the situation and called for backup.
After about five minutes the team of police officers were able to not only catch the intruder but managed to get the rescue on cell phone video.
The good news is the squirrel was alive and well -- just wet from head to tail. The officers released the squirrel in a nearby park and I imagine he scurried away up a tree. Good squirrel.
Note: My brother experienced a similar situation when when he was around 9 yrs old, finding our pet squirrel Skippy after we returned from Sunday mass . I'll never forget him walking out from the bathroom holding him with his pants down! Skippy survived too.
A RARE JEWEL
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
Rare Pietra Dura And Gilded Bronze Mirror
ItalyRome, mid-seventeenth century
Literature: Page 105 Repertorio Della Cornice Europea, Robert Lodi & Amadeo Montanari Edizione Galleria Roberto Lodi
Various furnishings were produced in the beginning of the 16th century of pietra dura “commesso” work (the joining together of hard stones). In Rome, the stones were measured on the Moh’s scale devised by Frederick Mohs (1773-1830). The harder the stone the more difficult to cut, and the higher the prestige associated with the work. These pieces proclaimed the owners’ nobility and his collecting acumen. The first artisans using these materials had been trained as jewelers which can be attested to with the extremely fine lapis and jasper sections and the metal filets and gilt bronze mounts on the mirror shown here. The hard stone materials had mostly been abandoned in the late 3rd century A.D. on the banks of the Tiber as imports slowed (due to a shortage of slaves and crises in politics and economics, which caused the work to be prohibitively expensive) – only to be taken up by artisans in the 16th century.
The Roman elite of the 16th century were very interested in pietra dura work of fine workmanship – much of the materials were from excavated ancient sources. The works were mostly non figural, the technique spread to Florence, after Rome via the Medici’s who were in Rome, Piero (1416-1469) and Cosimo. The commesso technique was first revived in the 16th century due to the reawakened archeological enthusiasm which swept the city. By the second half of the century the Romans had used it for architectural purposes.
Bindo Altovitto, the Florentine banker and merchant living in Rome was an early enthusiast of pietra dura which then became a favorite of the de’ Medici’s, who founded the Galleria dei Lavori in Florence, taking on this and many other artistic endeavors. The design of this frame became very popular in Rome as well as in Florence.
Price
$46,000
$46,000
Condition*
Excellent Antique
Excellent Antique
Measurements
height: 13 1/2
width/length: 11 1/4
height: 13 1/2
width/length: 11 1/4
Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: Hard stones, gilded bronze, original mirror glass.
Creator: unknown
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: Hard stones, gilded bronze, original mirror glass.
Creator: unknown
Photography
provided by L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur Inc
provided by L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur Inc
Affiliation
The Art and Antique Dealers League of America
Location
L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur Inc
36 East 73rd Street
New York, NY 10021
USA
The Art and Antique Dealers League of America
Location
L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur Inc
36 East 73rd Street
New York, NY 10021
USA
BIG KAHUNA
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
The small open star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the NGC 6357 nebula in Scorpius, about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. The brightest object in the center of this image is designated Pismis 24-1 and was once thought to weigh as much as 200 to 300 solar masses. This would not only have made it by far the most massive known star in the galaxy, but would have put it considerably above the currently believed upper mass limit of about 150 solar masses for individual stars.
However, Hubble Space Telescope high-resolution images of the star show that it is really two stars orbiting one another that are each estimated to be 100 solar masses.
In addition, spectroscopic observations with ground-based telescopes further reveal that one of the stars is actually a tight binary that is too compact to be resolved even by Hubble. This divides the estimated mass for Pismis 24-1 among the three stars. Although the stars are still among the heaviest known, the mass limit has not been broken due to the multiplicity of the system.
The images of NGC 6357 were taken with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
ImageCredit: NASA, ESA, and J. Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain)
LIVING LEAN
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
Håkan Dahlström got this delightful shot of one of San Francisco's steeper hills, turning his camera so that the road (and not the houses) were at level to convey the extent of the slope.
THE BIG PICTURE CONTEST
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
National Geographic's Photography Contest 2010
PROOF
Nature.com brings us this fascinating news:
American white ibises (Eudocimus albus) from south Florida that consumed methylmercury (MeHg), the most toxic and easily absorbed form of mercury found in the environment, were more likely to engage in same-sex pairings — a phenomenon unknown in wild populations of this species with no exposure to the pollutant.
Now if only we knew what causes homophobia in loons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)