Bubble web

I'm still amazed at the photos on Pixdaus, especially some of the macro and stop-motion shots, including this one of a bursting bubble.

#65 Economic crisis

The current economic crisis still dominates the news, here are a number of resources to check out, to help us figure it out, free of political bias but with a very American bias.
15 Things You Need to Know about the Panic of 2008 brief couple of sdentences on each point.
The Subprime Primer a pretty simplified view, and I got bored clicking through 40 odd pages before I got to the language not for the faint of heart bit.
The Crisis & credit problems from Time.com.
Judy Woodruff interviewed George Soros in the New York Review of Books, but what they talked about makes a lot of sense now. Even the Senator Obama bit!
How can mortgage-backed securities bring down the U.S. economy? I found this the best explanation so far.
Of course, there are a few Wikipedia pieces: Subprime mortgage crisis and Proposed bailout of United States financial system.
Am I more informed - a little, am I glad Australia hadn't adopted the same practises as America - too right, do I wish the world wasn't so global - at times like this (with parallel importing & new copyright restrictions) yep.

Filming for real

Another post from WebUrbanist - Real-Life Locations Behind Out-of-this-World Films
When filming horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies, set construction is often necessary to achieve a believable effect. But, some real-life locations are a surprisingly perfect fit, from gritty abandoned power stations and mental hospitals to a town so impossibly perfect it played a film set, these locations have played prominent roles in movies.

The Stanley Hotel, ‘The Shining’



The hotel in Estes Park, Colorado hardly seems like it could serve as inspiration for ‘The Overlook Hotel’ in one of Stephen King’s greatest horror novels. It was during a stay there in the 1970s that King conceived of the basic idea for ‘The Shining’. The hotel is purportedly haunted, and King is said to have had some paranormal experiences during his stay. Contrary to popular belief, he did not write the novel while staying at the Stanley, nor was the Kubrick film version shot there – though parts of the 1997 tv series were.

Battersea Power Station, ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’


At one time, the Battersea Power Station was a gleaming symbol of human progress. It’s Europe’s largest brick building and boasted a lavish, Art Deco interior that has since deteriorated significantly. It appeared in the Beatles’ movie ‘Help!’ and is also pictured on the front of Pink Floyd’s album ‘Animals’. The station fell into disuse, though it remained one of London’s most iconic landmarks. In addition to ‘Children of Men’, ‘Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life’, ‘MacGuyver’, ‘The Dark Knight’ and an episode of ‘LOST’, and recently an episode of ‘New Tricks’, the Battersea Power Station was used as the external façade of the Victory Mansions in the 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell’s novel, ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’.

Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, ‘The Abyss’

Many of the scenes in science fiction thriller ‘The Abyss’ were filmed in eerie, claustrophobic underwater chambers at the Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant near Gaffney, South Carolina. Millions of gallons of water were brought in to fill existing unfinished structures on the site, making it the largest underwater movie set in the world. It was abandoned in 1983 after the Three Mile Island accident, but is now under control of Duke Power & Southern Co., who plan to redevelop the site for one of the first new nuclear power plants in over 30 years. The DVD of ‘Abyss’ has an interesting “making of” section showing how they used the Cherokee plant.

And finally, I haven’t seen this movie, but the utilisation of perhaps the most famous abandoned place in America - Danvers State Hospital as the bleak, creepy setting for the 2001 horror movie ‘Session 9′ makes me want to see it. In an unusual twist, Danvers didn’t just stand in for a fictional asylum, but actually appeared as itself. The hospital was closed in 1992 but stood abandoned until its demolition in 2005. It was reportedly the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium, which in turn inspired Arkham Asylum in the Batman comic book series.


Danvers seems so Essex Mountain Sanatorium (posted in May 2008).

Lego and Life

Here are a few photos from the WebUrbanist site of the use people have put Lego characters to.
 It wasn't intentional that I've chosen violent or military subjects. 

 The original photos (mostly from Life magazine) were utilised as they were considered easily recognisable. And the Kill Bill ones 'cos David Carradine died the other day (He was married 5 times!!)

Harry in print

Back in March 2008, I was inspired by the blog WWII: the experiences of an English soldier.
The blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War. The letters were posted exactly 90 years after they were written. It was the brainchild of Harry's grandson Bill Lamin. Here's the link to Harry's blog
It led me to post my own historical material in real time, especially as it was 125 years since the diary was written. The diary is a ship-board journal of Emily Ann Foster sailing from Glasgow to Bundaberg in 1883. Emily was my Great-great-grandmother, and I just added photos, maps and some explanatory comments to her story.
Now the popularity of Harry's story has moved from an internationally acclaimed blog, through media interviews, a world tour, a commemorative stamp issue, to now a book.

I'm endeavouring to obtain a copy, but it is only released in the UK and US, not Australia at this stage, may have to resort to the Internet to secure a copy.

Fire to ice

Here are a couple of photos by Craig Borrow, taken at Marysville after the recent cold snap.
I followed the links from the library wiki Bushfire Affected Communities

Climate change

These photos show the change in the ice coverage of the Matterhorn after a 45 year period (1960 to 2005). Just the thing to point out when the outside temperature is dropping towards zero!
And does this make it easierto climb? less danger of avalanches, or more difficult - slick ice versus snow?

Bridges to nowhere

Bridges that should be abandoned:- here are some of the most dangerous rope hanging or suspension bridges around the world

Real Indiana Jones stuff, as you'd expect in the jungle

More at this site

Hence the term "only a mountain goat"

From Moscow to Maldon

The first three photos are from a site that has devoted several pages to abandoned places, buildings, lighthouses, machinery etc. in Russia, often as a result of the Soviet downfall.

This giant excavation device was used for the exploitation of a phosphorus-field somewhere near Moscow and abandoned after the collapse of the USSR.

(Check out the car balanced on the gantry)

Not on the same scale, but I photographed a similar dragline near Maldon.

This one was used in the gold mining area around Porcupine, and was abandoned next to a dredge.

The winch gear inside the cabin

#64 One hit wonders

This Thing involves evaluating the following websites
CopyPasteCharacter.com
You find the character you need and copy and paste it into your document. I just use the symbol option in the drop-down box in Word, its especially good when I have to Tick √ those PDF forms

Kuku Klok
An online alarm clock that promises to work even if your internet connection goes down. (The alarm will go off until you flip back to that page and make it stop, great if you’ve chosen the military trumpet – a hit with the neighbours). I prefer having my sound system programmed to start playing from my Ipod and it also turns itself off.

Stormpulse
Tracks Atlantic & some Pacific tropical storms and hurricanes. There were no 'active', but a 'potential' storm >30% in the Pacific basin off Guatemala on the map. Even Queensland was cloud free, though there were some swirly bits down near Antarctica. Cyclone Tracy didn’t rate a mention in their Archives.

Pixadus
Social-ranking of nature photography, you post a photo; other users rank it. Unfortunately it is slow to load, but I love it, found a heap on beautiful lighthouses. I’ve added some themes to this post, namely Winter and Autumn (the detail & resolution looks better when you click on the image), will keep doing more I think.

Fake Name Generator
There's times you need a fake ID on the Internet, maybe it's the upteenth time you've signed up for an email account because they keep changing the process, maybe you just want to hide your real self. No matter what your reason, Fake Name Generator sets you up with a fake name and details. Seems a lot of effort, I might just stick to using themes like all the Beatrix Potter characters – Mr Jeremy Fisher & Miss Jemima Puddleduck, lots more fun.

PicApp
Search for photos (artsy or news-related) to use in your blog posts, all perfectly legal. You can create an account, but there's no need to unless you want to create a lightbox to save your favorites into. I prefer the look & quality of Pixadus, but PicApp having the embedding code is a good idea.