TYPHOON SUNSET at CAPE ZAMPA (14-Second Video Clip)
Image by Okinawa Soba
Here's the Video version of the still shot seen HERE :
www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/7393533530/in/photostr...
While shooting this short clip, I was soaked to the skin, and rain was slamming into the back of my head and neck like pins and needles.
About 100 miles away behind me is the swirling eye of nearby TYPHOON GUCHOL (Japanese Typhoon No.4 台風４号 - グチョル). It is a smaller "Category 2 Typhoon", with winds at the eye's wall gusting between 110 and 130 mph. The scale goes up to "Category 5" -- a "Super Typhoon". With apologies to the local farmers, that's the one I'm really waiting for !
However, things are much calmer here, and the real whirlwinds are just out of reach as the storm skirts us on its way to mainland Japan. By tomorrow morning this one will be gone, and our eyes will be on TYPHOON No.5 now moving up from the seas off Hong Kong.
I am mindful that my friends in the US Military are restricted to quarters until the Hurricane passes Okinawa, and the "All Clear" is sounded. The locals also have the common sense to stay inside as well --- I only passed about 20 other cars on my 30-minute jaunt to the edge of this cape. Normally, hundreds of cars would have been on the road to this place. My daughter was worried that I'd get blown out to sea.
In the meantime, as I hold on to my camera and aim to the west, the setting sun makes an unusual appearance between the bands of storm and rain clouds. That was something I never expected to see.
You will notice the swift bursts of light from the Lighthouse as its beam sweeps over this spot, along with the sun which is making its rare and momentary appearance.
More than the still photo, the above video allows you to get a better feel for the spot, and understand that, unless the eye of the storm really passes VERY CLOSE (or even right over you), things can remain relatively calm --- except for the rain being driven into the back of your head and neck like pins and needles !
残波岬
PHOTO NOTE : My water-proof camera is mounted on a near-useless monopod, as I could not find the head for my tripod prior to running out the door.
ON A CALM DAY AT SUNSET : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/6582809477/
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♦ ♦ ♦ POSTSCRIPT --- By midnight, the wind and rain of the passing Typhoon had ceased. Until morning, there was neither wind nor rain. All was calm. However, as the day began, and most everyone returned to work, the rains came. Rain fell hard and strong for most of the day. Throughout the northern part of the island, "Phantom Waterfalls" came alive, and the rivers roared to their banks. Most of the tourists stayed in their hotel rooms. The roads everywhere had slower traffic, and far to the north, the parking lot at Hedo Point remained deserted --- a rarely seen thing! Unfortunately, while Okinawa was experiencing only the falling rains, the Typhoon hit Mainland Japan straight on, and wreaked havoc there. One thing can be said about Okinawa --- we are built to take a hit from a Typhoon better than any other place in Japan or Asia. We hope Japan recovers soon.
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RANDOM SOBA : www.flickriver.com/photos/24443965@N08/sets/
Women in Crime Magazine (June 1948) ...The ballerina-turned-looter -- arrested in London sweep (August 12, 2011) ..
Image by marsmet463
A 17-year-old ballerina turned herself in after images of her looting were published in a newspaper and broadcast on TV, according to the Telegraph. The footage showed her taking two televisions from an electronics store.
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........*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors .......
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.....item 1).... Yahoo! News ... THE LOOKOUT ... Ballerina, Olympic ambassador arrested in London sweep
By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – Fri, Aug 12, 2011
news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ballerina-olympic-ambassador...
More than 1,700 people have been arrested in England after nearly a week of rioting that started Saturday, and courthouses have had to stay open overnight to deal with the flood of defendants, the AP reports.
Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed "swift justice" for those who participated in the riots, which were sparked by the police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan. Cameron has even proposed setting limits on the use of Twitter, Facebook, and BlackBerry's direct messaging service, which was reportedly used to organize the rioting. Some people have already been charged with inciting violence on social media, according to the AP.
Cameron's former adviser Danny Kruger wrote in the Financial Times that the riots are the "intifada of the underclass." But among those arrested are a straight-A Exeter University student whose family wealth makes it unlikely she would loot out of necessity, and a 24-year-old college graduate and aspiring social worker whose mother said, "She didn't want a TV. She doesn't even know why she took it," according to The Daily Mail.
Daniel Knowles at The Telegraph argues that, "Many of these criminals are no different from [liberal politician] Nick Clegg, who at the age of 16 narrowly escaped a conviction in Germany for setting fire to a professor's cactus collection for a 'drunken lark.' Or, for that matter, from the Bullingdon Club, of which David Cameron and [London Mayor] Boris Johnson were members, which goes around smashing up restaurants.
There is something deeply hypocritical about middle-aged politicians condemning teenagers as though these sorts of crimes have never happened before."
But London Mayor Boris Johnson said Londoners want to see "significant sentences" for anyone involved in looting or violence.
Here's a breakdown of some of the news-making arresting over the past few days:
---The Olympic ambassador
Eighteen-year-old Chelsea Ives, a volunteer ambassador for next year's Olympic Games, was turned in by her own mother who spotted her on TV footage of the riots. "How can you sit there and see that and say 'that's OK'? We were watching people lose their homes and businesses," Ives' mother told The Telegraph. "As parents we had to say; 'She can't get away with that.'" Ives, who previously met with London's mayor as part of her ambassador duties, now faces charges of throwing a brick at a cop car and burglary. She pleaded not guilty.
---The youngest suspect?
An 11-year-old girl was reportedly given a 9-month "referral order" after witnesses said she hurled rocks at two store windows during the riots, according to the Daily Mail. The girl lives in a foster home, and the Daily Mail says she refused to apologize to the judge who sentenced her.
---The ballerina-turned-looter
A 17-year-old ballerina turned herself in after images of her looting were published in a newspaper and broadcast on TV, according to the Telegraph. The footage showed her taking two televisions from an electronics store.
---The straight-A student
Laura Johnson, the 19-year-old daughter of well-to-do parents and a straight-A student at Exeter University, is accused of stealing electronic goods worth thousands of dollars in London. She pleaded not guilty but has a curfew of 7 p.m. and must wear an electronic tag before her court date, according to the Telegraph. Her parents run a marketing firm.
---The social worker
University graduate and aspiring social worker Natasha Reid turned herself in when she became overcome by guilt over stealing a TV from a electronics store while on her way to McDonalds during the looting. According to the AP, a judge told 24-year-old Reid she would probably face jail time.
---The violin thief
A 19-year-old aspiring musician grabbed a violin from a looted music store before being nabbed by the cops. According to the Daily Mail, he was sentenced to four months in jail.
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img code photo...Riot police in London on Monday (AP)
l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/8Gni1snxjQVSMO9HmETmKg--/YXBwaW...
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Piedmont Middle School, Monroe, NC
Image by Carla216
My school for 6th through 8th grades. The high school, which I did not attend, for we moved before 9th grade began, is right next door.
One good thing: all kids took a half-semester of shop, and a half-semester of some mishmash future career exploration class.
In the former, I made a latticed basket, a stool that will hold over 200lbs, a toy car that works...and my Dad has them all. The family joke about that is:
Carla: "Look what I made today in-"
Dad, with one swift motion, and a big grin: "I'll take that."
And he did. The stool is used to reach the high shelf upon which he keeps his vinyl record collection, the car is in his home study, and the basket is used to sort coupons. :D
As for the latter class...the one good thing that came from that mess was the darkroom. So, before I learned how to drive a car, I learned how to operate a jigsaw, and to develop my own film.
Other than that, middle school pretty much reeked, says the mature adult in hindsight.
TYPHOON SUNSET at CAPE ZAMPA
Image by Okinawa Soba
You would not know it by looking at the above photo, but I am soaked to the skin, and rain is slamming into the back of my head and neck like pins and needles.
About 100 miles away behind me is the swirling eye of nearby TYPHOON GUCHOL (Japanese Typhoon No.4 台風４号 - グチョル). It's a smaller "Category 2 Typhoon", with winds at the eye's wall gusting between 110 and 130 mph. The scale goes up to "Category 5" -- a "Super Typhoon". With apologies to the local farmers, that's the one I'm really waiting for !
However, things are much calmer here, and the real whirlwinds are just out of reach as the storm skirts us on its way to mainland Japan. By tomorrow morning this one will be gone, and our eyes will be on TYPHOON No.5 now moving up from the seas off Hong Kong.
The eye of the closer typhoon -- No.4 -- has winds gusting at 110-130mph around the wall....but not so bad where I am. However, the edge of the ragged, coral cliff in front of me is only a few feet away, and if I'm not careful, an unexpected gust could blow me right over the edge.
I am mindful that my friends in the US Military are restricted to quarters until the Typhoon passes. The locals also have the common sense to stay inside as well --- I only passed about 20 other cars on my 30-minute jaunt to the edge of this cape. Normally, hundreds of cars would have been on the road to this place. My daughter was worried that I'd get blown out to sea.
In the meantime, as I hold on to my camera and aim to the west, the setting sun makes an unusual appearance between the bands of storm and rain clouds. That was something I never expected to see.
I took a few shots, but couldn't get a satisfactory photo showing the swift burst of illumination from the Lighthouse as its beam swept over me. If you want to see the Lighthouse in action, see the VIDEO HERE :
www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/7393551422/
THE VIDEO gives you a better feel for the spot, and helps you understand that, unless the eye of the storm really passes VERY CLOSE (or even right over you), things can remain relatively calm --- except for the rain being driven into the back of your head and neck like pins and needles !
残波岬
PHOTO NOTE : My water-proof camera is mounted on a near-useless monopod, as I could not find the head for my tripod prior to running out the door.
ON A CALM DAY AT SUNSET : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/6582809477/
*
♦ ♦ ♦ POSTSCRIPT --- By midnight, the wind and rain of the passing Typhoon had ceased. Until morning, there was neither wind nor rain. All was calm. However, as the day began, and most everyone returned to work, the rains came. Rain fell hard and strong for most of the day. Throughout the northern part of the island, "Phantom Waterfalls" came alive, and the rivers roared to their banks. Most of the tourists stayed in their hotel rooms. The roads everywhere had slower traffic, and far to the north, the parking lot at Hedo Point remained deserted --- a rarely seen thing! Unfortunately, while Okinawa was experiencing only the falling rains, the Typhoon hit Mainland Japan straight on, and wreaked havoc there. One thing can be said about Okinawa --- we are built to take a hit from a Typhoon better than any other place in Japan or Asia. We hope Japan recovers soon.
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RANDOM SOBA : www.flickriver.com/photos/24443965@N08/sets/
The Singing Ringing Tree
Image by tj.blackwell
This structure is one of a series of Lancashire Panopticons; a diverse range of sculptures scattered discreetly throughout high ground amid the locality's Pennine mountain foothills. The Singing Ringing Tree is a wind powered sound sculpture cast in the shape of a strange geometrical plant. It is situated on a promontory of land known as Crown Point, far above the town of Burnley.
Constructed from pipes of galvanised steel stacked in layers, this particular Panopticon gets its name from the way it harnesses the wind to produce a slightly discordant and penetrating choral sound whenever a swift breeze lends it a voice.
Wayne and I stopped to ask for directions when nearing the place. Winding down the car window, we asked some random pedestrians as to "where the Singing Ringing Tree could be found." They hadn't heard the name before, so the initial response was a rather confused pause as they apparently tried to figure out whether we were under the influence of some exotic narcotic substance. Thankfully we knew the name of a Pub near the intended destination; which is common navigational knowledge to all and sundry in this part of the world! With explanations and thanks, we were pointed in the right direction at last. The views were worth it.
Click here to see a video of the sculpture in action; with a full wind vibrating through the pipework. The noise of unearthly humming and moaning vaguely reminds me of the famously eerie "Monolith" scenes in Kubrick and Clarke's silver screen classic '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Albeit without the apes or astronauts.
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