Saturday, July 21, 2018

Trompe , trees, plants and flowers on buildings


Trompe l’oeil plants and flowers on buildings in Estepona, Spain, 
photographed  by Pedro Silmon.↩︎ This Isn’t Happiness
A comparison of street orientations—i.e., north-south-east-west layouts—of cities around the world↩︎ Geoff Boeing
The 2018 Audubon Photography Awards
The National Audubon Society has announced the winners of their ninth annual photography contest. The winning photos, which “evoke the splendor, resilience, and ingenuity of birdlife”, were drawn from over 8000 entries from all over the US and Canada.
The photos above are a great grey owl by Steve Mattheis, a long-tailed tit by Diana Rebman, and a flock of cobalt-winged parakeets by Liron Gertsman. Gertsman swept the youth category with the winning image and both honorable mentions. Here’s what he had to say about the parakeets:
Three days in a row I waited in a blind near a clay lick that Cobalt-winged Parakeets and other birds of the Amazon frequent. When hundreds of the birds finally descended from the tree canopy to the mineral-rich forest floor on the third morning, I was ready. I used a slow shutter speed to accentuate the blues in their wings. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight of the birds or the deafening roar of parakeet chatter.

A lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens…”The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them…”


Via The Atlantic: “The winners of the the ninth annual Audubon Photography Awards competition have just been announced.  Photographers entered images in three categories: professional, amateur, and youth. More than 8,000 images depicting birdlife from all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces were judged



Why Are We Condescending To Theatre Newbies? It’s Counterproductive


“The lesson here, if there is any: there is always the type of theatregoer that defines themselves by excluding others. You could write musicals, and they’ll still try to make you feel like you don’t belong. Don’t you dare let ‘em. You love theatre? You belong. Welcome.” …Read More

Cold River lines around world boast hints of ancient humans who gathered traveled along edges of world where land meets sea - Hakai Magazine – Where Our Human Ancestors Made an Impression: “Human tracks encode a startling amount of information, enough for scientists to create a brief, but illuminating, biography of a person or group of people. The average person takes an estimated 224,000,000 steps over the course of a lifetime.

Our homes don’t need formal spaces Curbed. Kate Wagner– creator of McMansion Hell.
The Keyboard Is the Only Thing That Matters About the New MacBook Pros Motherboard. Crapification! I know the plural of anecdote is not data, but I have personally had two keyboard fails on MacBook Pros purchased since 2012– and neither is the model that Apple concedes has problems

Outside – This article certainly has helped my mood – I am a long time follower of BirdsRightsActivist “Barely English, but understandable because it’s written by a bird who fights anti-bird sentiment, and is running for president.” I am adding several more of these recommendations to ensure that I always can check-in while the collies are with me as a blog.