Abstractly Speaking on Creative Arts Three Day Weekend
Expressing Myself
Woodland Stream
© A. Mac/A.G.
Otter Cliffs, Maine
© A. Mac/A.G.
RED BOX RULES: AN IMPORTANT REMINDER
From time-to-time, I should remind all members of NT, etc., that when posting photos, artwork, etc., it's important, when posting, that you own, and/or legally represent the licensing, copyright, etc., of what you post, and TO PROTECT YOUR WORK, TO INCLUDE YOUR COPYRIGHT SYMBOL/INFORMATION; and/or, WHEN POSTING COPYRIGHTED PROPERTY BELONGING TO PARTIES OTHER THAN YOURSELF, TO …
• BE SURE YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO POST, TRANSMIT, etc, SUCH PROPERTY, and,
• IF/WHEN SUCH PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED, TO PROPERLY AND CLEARLY ATTRIBUTE THE COPYRIGHTS TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNER(S).
VERY IMPORTANT … IN THE FUTURE, I WILL REMEMBER TO POST THIS CAVEAT REGULARLY.
Thanks, A. MAC
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Concrete work also accepted. It was hard to write that.
nice work, amac!
Really nice.
Concrete accepted?
Quite the solid image Buzz!
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." (Anthem, by Leonard Cohen)
I was just joking above.
I like your abstracts.
3 CSX locomotives wait in the snow in the Winchester, VA yard. The first locomotive is a Road Slug. It was rebuilt from an older locomotive and had its diesel motor removed, and it is semi permeably connected to the locomotive next to it and draws power from the Mother Locomotive. At low speed they have pulling power of 2 locomotives, at medium speed it's traction motors drop out and the mother locomotive runs regularly. CSX still uses them in local and switching service
When I was a kid I loved watching trains and would sit on a hillside for hours watching the trains shunting around that marshalling yard that was down the street from my father's factory. Then when I was in my 30s I went back and took this photo of it for the memories.
Arvo..love the sounds of diesel locos idling...we get the Wheat trains here coming from the Wimmera and Mallee up north to the Port to ship it overseas...
The mining trains in WA are massive...7.5 ks long and 682 trucks loaded with iron ore coming out of the Pilbara..would be a sight to see...
Not my photos..
When I was a young kid, and I'm talking 80 years ago, I spent my school summer vacations at my grandmother's beach summer cottage on Burlington Beach, the thin strip of land at the western tip of Lake Ontario. The TH&B (Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo) railway ran through that strip of land and at night I while half asleep I would love to hear the wail of the train's whistle in the distance -
WOO WOO WHAWOOooooooooooooo
Vanishing (© G. Gam)
Window (© G. Gam)
Light (© G. Gam)
very cool, G. did you enhance or alter that vertical crack in the block wall on the bottom "Light" picture?
Thanks, dev. I just enhanced thw contrast and color a bit for the whole image to make it pop. Also, this is a cropped part of a larger photo because I thought this looked cool.
the disturbed symmetry of the blocks with the light hitting it at an angle appeals to me ...
Cool
I really believe that the images that you're producing just HAVE to be prizewinners at LensCulture.
Thanks. Who knows what they might like? I didn't submit anything for their most recent contest.
I should have named the first image "My House Dissolving Into Clouds and Floating Away".
There is something Daliesque about it.
Great start everyone!
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Those are great. I especially like 2, 4 and 6.
Last Saturday we took quick trip to a local greenhouse that was advertising terrarium plants and supplies. Over $90.00 later... I had stuff to do. My worktable is cluttered with projects.
First I messed around with my terrarium. I removed the larger climbing plant and added a small ficus pamila lemon. It's a creeping fig and some small pieces of wood. I think it looks really nice.
A monterey cypress was too tall for the bottle terrarium so I replaced the potting soil in the little pot it came in with some aquarium soil and set it on the rock shelf in the back of the 2g riparium tank. I also moved all the plants around so the aquatic plants up front would get some light.
I didn't get to other projects I wanted, but hopefully I can get off work and start on those. In the meantime I noticed that this anubius coffeefolia flowered for the first time in the 40g waterfall tank. I'm wondering if this style is riparium or paludarium. It could be considered either.
great work. do you start off with a design plan, or just improvise with the materials you have available?
I do start off with a plan, but these things tend to evolve over time.
I was a minimalist with my aquariums 50+ years ago. fluorescent colored gravel with black lights in the hood ...
There are still people that like that look.
I also liked placing personal mementos in the tank, that would play hell with the ph. I still have a scar from putting a knuckle thru the glass of one 10 gallon tank while trying to stir up the baby guppies during a cleaning ...
I had an installer break a customers very large salt water tank when he knocked over a statue into it during an install. that was a real fun complaint call ...
my little sister's cat decided he wanted fish for lunch one day, jumped onto the aquarium hood, and electrocuted my BIL's large silver discus school inside ... ... how the cat suffered no injury was a mystery.
Guppies!🤣
At least put something decent in the tank like irukandji jellyfish or something..yeesh..
You only feel the pain for a few minutes then after that..you cark it..
Nope not my photo.. would not go near that one..
crickey, your home environment is trying to tell you something mate ...
I find fun little things to put in that are aquarium safe. I have a ceramic "no fishing" that used to be in my great grandfather's guppy tank.
terrarium, aquarium, riparium, anubius, paludarium... It's all Greek to me.
I just bought this cool device called Looking Glass, that turns photos into holograms. I’m not sure how it works but I’m guessing AI is involved in the processing. It’s basically a 6” digital photo frame. I stole your photo (1st photo) just to illustrate how cool this thing is. Notice how the skeleton guy and foliage has dimension to it when I take a picture from the left versus the right (2nd and 3rd photo). My plan is to document all my art collection in this device.
Interesting. Although it was around 7 decades ago I will never forget walking through a hologram image at the Hologram Museum in NYC.
That's cool!
I love a parade!
wtf? no carnage? philly fans must be getting soft ...
Was wondering about the riots or is that the ice hockey ferals that get carried away...
their type of carnage takes place on the ice, during a game ...
That would be pretty rare - it's common knowledge that riots happen about international football (soccer).
Morning...World champions??
Am I missing something??
How do they figure that one out?
US Champions yes, but hardly the World..
Come on shona1, you're as familiar with American bravado as much as I am.
Yeah I know..just got to let them think that..
Thats nearly as good as us saying we are world champions in cricket..
Ahh hang on a sec we are..
Only 2.5 billion follow cricket and 129 countries play it..
2nd most popular sport in the world behind soccer..
All native born Americans are genetically incapable of understanding cricket. Ask any American and there is not a single one of us who has the slightest understanding of the game, nor can we. It's not possible.
Got a better challenger anywhere in the world?
Interestingly, for my last two years of high school I switched to a British style boy's day school and learned to play cricket. Catching a fly ball with an ungloved hand (the ball is about the size of a MLB baseball and it feels like hardwood) is a real test.
It's mainly a game you mob play..
Now cricket is known by billions and played by millions..
That is regarded as a world sport..along with soccer etc..
The MCG..Melbourne Cricket ground playing cricket at night.. around 100,000 roll up for a game or if they are playing test can go for 5 days..
They also play footy on the same ground... just a tad bigger than your NFL playing field..
That's why our Aussie's can kick your footy nearly from one end of the ground to the other in one kick in the NFL..
yeah, anywhere in the world a british ship could still drop an anchor 200 years ago, save one country. bloody hell, if your original mob hadn't colonized india, you couldn't fill a bleacher with the rest of the world's cricket fans ...
what happens when there's an argument on the field? does the bench clear and they say rude things to each other and act impolite? neglect to trim the cucumber sandwich crusts and then serve it with lukewarm tea? how do they keep the fans from falling asleep during the match?
... not while they're wearing a plastic codpiece I reckon.
Ahh the British Commonwealth on which the sun never sets..129 countries play cricket...and the NFL??...crickets chirping!!!
We naturally hate the Poms, Indians, Pakis, Kiwi's its expected..fines, suspensions, dust ups...but we are more civilised and don't need to clear the benches...we let our blowers and batsman do the talking..
Cucumber sangas??...hell if you served that to us we would ram it down your throat..meat pies and sauce for us.. nothing less..
OMG!!! You reminded me of meat pie. I haven't had it or moussaka (the Greek equivalent) since I left Canada and now I miss it.
moussaka
Crikey...you mob wear that much padding you wouldn't have to worry about it..🤣
Ahh no our meat pies are nothing like moussaka..
Moussaka is more like lasagna..
You're right. You said meat pie, but what I really was talking about wasn't meat pie at all. It was Shepherd's Pie. That's what I miss, not meat pie.
Ahh yes we use to have that often...my mum just had it the other day at her care home...
My son discovered shepherd's pie at a local pub, and for a while, I had to make it nearly every week. A large pan of shepherd's pie, and I would get one serving, and had to guard my plate then. Teenagers.
Now I'm hungry again.
The day ain't over yet!
that explains no firetrucks in the parade ...
Arvo..dumb question..when you go to a servo (gas station) to put air in your car tyres, do you have to pay for that?
Saw something on YouTube with an American staying here saying how it's free here but you pay for that in America? Is that right?
Where I am, some places charge for air and most don't. Lowes (building supply store) put in a free air pump
Thanks charger..was just interested to know.. it's free everywhere here..
This guy is hilarious on YouTube compares everything from food to sport..and got a real American twang..no idea where he is from..
The main thing he can't get his head around is the price displayed is the price you pay..there is no add on tax that seems to apply there? It's all ready included..he thinks it's brilliant, I thought it was the same everywhere but apparently not...
No, in the US, you have to mentally add in the sales tax.
And that can be really tough to keep track of in some places. I grew up in WV, where sales tax was the same on everything, and there is only state sales tax. I think they might now exclude groceries, but I'm not sure.
When I moved to Virginia, there are different sales taxes on different goods. One for non-food items, one for groceries, and one for prepared foods. And then each locality might add its own sales tax, so if I get a burger in one town, the total price will be different from the same burger at the same restaurant in a town five miles away.
Morning...that would drive you nuts adding tax on everything..so things aren't as cheap as it appears there when we see films etc from the States..
I mainly look at fruit and veg prices and petrol and compare..
That's rather astounding having to pay for air for your tyres etc..here you don't even have to be a customer can just drive in blow them up and go..no one bats an eye because it's free...
There are some free ones, but the closest was several miles out of my route, so I opted to pay.
For nothing.
The tax thing leads to some weird policies. If we go to Walmart or Costco and get a rotisserie chicken for 5 bucks, we'll pay higher tax than if we get a take-and-bake pizza, because the pizza still requires cooking.
Agree with charger - some charge, and some don't.
I was really mad one day when I was starting on a long trip, and my tire (or tyre) needed air. I put 2 dollars in that damn machine, and still had low tire pressure. It was pumping just enough to make a racket, but not enough to actually get air in the tire (or tyre).
I remember the days when you pulled up to a pump to get gas, an attendant would pump it while another would check your oil and wash your windshield, and of course air was free.
I remember doing that job
those $2 compressor in a tiny metal box air stations are basically just noise makers. if the tire sensors light up on my dash, I just drive to a discount tire store and they inflate/check all 4 tires for nothing and I don't even have to get out of my car ...
Until maybe 7 or 8 years ago, there was still a gas station with an attendant in my hometown. And it charged the same for gas as every other station. I'd go there when the weather was bad, and tip the attendant. They didn't check oil or tire pressure, but the did clean the windshield.
Morning Vangy...I assume you do check your spare every now and then for its tyre pressure?
Not much good if you need it and it's flat or the pressure is low..🐨
I can't ever remember having somebody fuel my vehicles, even when there were gas station attendants. we always had at least one self service island at most stations and it was usually a couple pennies less per gallon. what I do remember were "gas wars" at the corner stations and the least I ever paid was 19¢ per gallon. thinking about being able to fill up your tank for less than $5 back then, compared to what it costs now, keeps me a real fan of big oil ...
The one at the Sheetz gas station is free, but is sometimes out of order.
The one at the next Sheetz heading south once overinflated my tires so I had to stop and bleed them.
I honestly don't know if the tire places around here offer free air.
My son has an air compressor that runs off a car charger, but it's pretty slow.
F that noise. I worked in a tire shop when I was 16 and changed enough tires for the next 50 lifetimes. I just carry 2 cans of fix-a-flat in the boot mate, and then let a professional pull whatever caused the puncture out of the tire ...
any compressor with small pistons is going to need lots of strokes to inflate an SUV tire up to 35psi. the closer the compressor gets to that number, the harder it works, just to exceed the back pressure as the tire equalizes.
I'm assuming that's what happened to the broken compressor that charged me. It WAS moving air. But not at enough pressure to counter the air pressure in the tire, which was low, but not terribly low. Like 26 psi or so.
That "little extra" service is what builds customer loyalty.
Salutations de Bora Bora, Polynesie Francoise.
Bon jour!
Well would you looky there....
I was starting to wonder where you were.
Nice...water looks great..
all the pictures of the half naked surfer girls didn't upload, try again ...
The harbor at Papeete,
Straddling the artistic line separating ABSTRACT vs. REPRESENTATIONAL
Coreopsis Flowers
© A. Mac/A.G.
oh yeah ...
Morning...rather elegant....
We are currently having crazy weather. The wind is nuts - our US flag grabbed our MD flag holder and ripped it out by the screws. The symbolism is scary.
It's bad here, too. Power outages and downed trees.
Although extreme environmental events do happen here as much as elsewhere, I've been fortunate to have experienced only one in all my years here. A sudden massive wind blast during a storm blew the rain sideways, broke down a tree near the entrance to our apartment and one of our casement windows that was only very slightly open was caught by that wind blast and whipped all the way around to flat against the outer wall. A workman from our building had to pull it closed, it was so tightly jammed.
Morning...just shows how quick the Australian bush regenerates after a bushfire...the fire went through three weeks ago and already it is sprouting new growth..
Plants will spring up that haven't been seen for decades and new growth will be everywhere..go back in 12 months and it will be hard to see where the fire has been...
brilliant. the land of oz, where every creature is a killer and anyone with a box of matches is a gardener ...
Funny.
Ahh...mother nature started this one..dry lightning...so no human hand involved for a change...
We have an exciting life down here with nature.. actually my friend was in her veggie patch y'day came across a brown snake..they are deadly..it was dispatched with a spade.. problem solved..
One more … all the way to "abstract".
Acrylic Paint on Canvas, 2023
© A. Mac/A.G.
Looks a bit like a hurricane brewing.
Back Thursday night. Thanks to all.