A puff of wind

THEME DAY: BRIGHT COLORS • The outdoor Sunset Bar of Sofitel Manila has a small platform for performances and cultural presentations. The row of satin banners which serves as its backdrop is reminiscent of the colorful sail of the traditional Mindanao Muslim boat called the vinta. Quite appropriate since the hotel is right beside Manila Bay.



The colors of the rainbow—and more—from CDP bloggers around the world. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Mystery Contest

Its Saturday morning, and time for the mystery person contest. I post the picture, you have to figure out who it is. 

Illusion Graffiti: Graffiti Art On The Wall

Graffiti art on the wall of illusion

Just call him Fr. Jojo

July 31 is the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. Last year, I introduced the order's Superior General, the Very Reverend Adolfo Nicolás, SJ. This year, let me introduce the head of the Society's Philippine Province, Rev. Jose Cecilio J. Magadia, SJ. His official title is Provincial Superior though his continued humility belies the exalted position. Every now and then, I see him walking from the Province House in Loyola Heights to the Ateneo de Manila University—alone, in t-shirt and jeans.

Taft, California Oil Field

This picture was taken in 1910, and shows the oil fields in Taft California. If you click on the image, you will get a better look at the details. This really looks like the classic old Western boom town. I wonder if Taft ever became a real city, or just died away after the oil boom.

MOZE

SIMS

RWAN

Graffiti Street Art Of Creating Illusions

Graffiti street art of creating illusion. Original paintings on the street is similar in nature

GRAFFITI STICKER

OSTER

SIREZ

Friday Finds at the Bookstore: A Family Affair by Caro Peacock

Pub date: June 2010

Format: Paperback 464 pp

Synopsis (From the Publisher):

"At the request of Queen Victoria's prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, Liberty Lane is dispatched to Brinkburn Hall in search of answers. The deranged aristocrat Lord Brinkburn is nearing death, with his elder son, Stephen, eagerly waiting to inherit his title—until Lady Brinkburn's startling announcement that the heir is illegitimate. Chaos ensues.

The rivalry between Stephen and his younger brother, Miles, heats up dangerously. Liberty's arrival only stirs an already volatile mix, and she is greeted soon after by the odd disappearance of one brother . . . and by a shocking murder within the family's circle. Secrets and scandal run rampant throughout the cold and loveless Buckinghamshire estate far from the polish of London's aristocracy—as the plucky young investigator races to separate truth from falsehood, villains from victims, before death takes up a more permanent residence."

For us?

Quezon City Hall has a brand-new civic center building. I was on my way elsewhere and didn't have time to check it out though. I hope I can go back soon to find out what it's all about. I've heard of civic centers in American cities and towns, but it was the first time I saw one in my own city and I'm wondering if it will be offering similar services.

Texas Oil Patch

This picture was taken in 1917, and presents a view of the classic Texas Oil Patch. If you click on the picture, you will get a more detailed view. The picture is of the Goose Creek oil field.

Graffiti Stack | Graffiti Street Art | Graffiti Alphabet

Illusion Graffiti

Stack graffiti street art graffiti on the wall

3D Illusion Graffiti Creator

3D illusion creator of hip hop graffiti

3D Graffiti Alphabet: Graffiti Street Art

3D Graffiti Street Art

Basketball-crazy

The 73rd season of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) games began last month. Since the Philippines is a basketball-crazy country, many of the basketball games are held in the Araneta Coliseum, to accommodate the large number of fans who watch. One of several restaurants on the periphery of the stadium is Café Bola, with its circular logo and light fixtures.




Talk about thematic: even Café Bola's food is spherical! This is their Seafood Bola with Parmesan Cream & Ham sauce.

What's New Wednesday: A Look at Next Weeks New Releases.

Publish Date: August 3, 2010

Format: Hardcover 400pp

Synopsis (From the Publisher):
"Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort never surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler of England and that she has a great destiny before her. Her ambitions are disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI fails to recognize her as a kindred spirit, and she is even more dismayed when he sinks into madness. Her mother mocks her plans, revealing that Margaret will always be burdened with the reputation of her father, one of the most famously incompetent English commanders in France. But worst of all for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother is sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales.

Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the cost to herself, to England, and even to the little boy. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of York’s daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift, Margaret charts her own way through another loveless marriage, treacherous alliances, and secret plots. She feigns loyalty to the usurper Richard III and even carries his wife’s train at her coronation.

Widowed a second time, Margaret marries the ruthless, deceitful Thomas, Lord Stanley, and her fate stands on the knife edge of his will. Gambling her life that he will support her, she then masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of the time—all the while knowing that her son has grown to manhood, recruited an army, and now waits for his opportunity to win the greatest prize.

In a novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, number one bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of history."

Publish Date: August 3, 2010

Format: Hardcover 416pp

Synopsis (From the Publisher):
"In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.

Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordan Composeo defies all convention to claim for herself the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul.

Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends."

Drilling on California's Coastline

This picture is from 1944, and shows drilling rigs on California's coastline. I am not sure what part of California, but maybe someone familiar with the state could speculate from the terrain. I would have to say things have changed a lot since 1944.

A river runs through it

Another of TriNoma mall's numerous water features, which I've already featured several times, including a regular fountain, leaping jets and a pond which surrounds a Starbucks branch. This one mimics a river which ends in a cascade, with the added bonus of small leaping water jets. As the Ayala Malls' tag line says: "Lov'emall!"

Natural or man-made, take a refreshing dip in Watery Wednesday.

My Favorite Colorwork Book

Laurie asked me a week or two ago what my favorite colorwork pattern book is.  I think my favorite colorwork pattern book is Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia. It definitely is my most abused book as you can see from the photo below.

I think I've knit more items from the book than any other book. I did a little photo montage of some of the projects I've done from the book below - there were more but some were finished long before I had a blog. It seems so weird now to even think of knitting something and not getting photographs of it, doesn't it? Actually most of the images aren't even photographs - when I first started this blog many years ago I didn't have a camera so I just shoved everything in the scanner. You can click on the photo to see a larger version.

Even though I'm probably done knitting the projects, I still consult Folk Knitting in Estonia on a regular basis. She included all sorts of technique goodness like different kinds of braiding and multi-colored cast ons. I keep hoping she does another colorwork book very, very soon.

Making Connection

Today's picture was taken in the Seminole Oil Field in Oklahoma in 1939. It shows another shot of roughnecks "making a connection". You can see the top of the old piece of drill stem sticking up from the round disk, which his the rotary platform. This is the long drill string that goes way down in the ground. You can see drilling mud flowing out of the top of the drill string. The roughnecks are adding another 30 foot section of drill stem to the string. I mentioned yesterday that large tongs are used to tighten the bottom of the new piece of drill stem into the top of the drill string going down into the well. It would take too long to screw the new piece in this way . . . the tongs are just used to tighten it the last few inches. To get the stem screwed in most of the way, a cable or chain is "thrown" around the new drill stem to make it wrap around a make a coil, as seen in the picture above, The other end of the cable is connected to a motor, and the driller activates the motor to pull the cable. This screws the drill stem into the drill string. You can see the roughneck holds the opposite end of the cable. This is very dangerous, as there is a tendency for his hand to be pulled into the drill stem. This is one of the common ways roughnecks lose fingers.

Drilling is a lot safer now than it was back in the day, but it is still a very dangerous job . . . probably among the most dangerous jobs in the world. You can see that there are many ways to lose fingers. Besides the cable pulling a hand into the wrapped coil, when the new drill stem is placed onto the drill string, it is lifted by the Kelly, which is controlled by the driller. If a roughneck puts his fingers under the drill stem to try and help get it aligned with the drill string, and the driller then drops it into position, the roughnecks fingers are cut off. Also, all types of ways to get the fingers smashed in the big tongs. There is a lot going on overhead. One roughneck is the "derrick man" and he works up on top of the rig, helping to get the drill stem aligned from the top side. He is about three to five stories up, and has all types of tools. It is easy for something to get dropped from his work area down onto the roughnecks below. In addition, rigs use a lot of very high pressure air, which is routed around in large high pressure hoses. The hoses are lined with steel windings. These hoses degrade from the inside out, and eventually they fail, and blow up, throwing shrapnel  worse than a hand grenade. Another way people get hurt of killed is with the chains and cables running from the driller's motors to the drill stem. When not in use, the chains and cables lay on the rig floor. When the driller activates them, they pop up into the air very quickly. If a roughneck is walking along the rig floor and is stepping over a chain or cable when the driller pops it, it comes up and can literally split a roughneck in two. There are a lot of high voltage lines running around to lights and equipment, so electrocution is a big risk. Then, when you are drilling, there is always a chance of drilling into a gas pocket, and then natural gas comes out of the top of the drill string when making a connection. This is easily ignited, causing a blowout. Modern rigs have blowout preventers, but they do not always work. 

So, working on a rig is dangerous business. Someone asked yesterday if I was a petroleum engineer . . . no, I am an electrical engineer, but I worked on oil rigs in the summers when going through college.

Illusion Graffiti | 3D Art Graffiti Alphabet

3D Graffiti Alphabet

Not Guilty Graffiti Zine

A new issue of the magazine "Not Guilty" is out now. Among the many photographs of trains and subways, some pictures of Belgian trains including FE Crew and Adam's fish. Other pictures of Not Guilty # 3 on order via Notguiltymag.com. (Photo : Not Guilty)



And still no Belgian graff magazine, should we not have the intellectual capacity required ? (Copyright Yves Leterme, Belgian Prime Minister). Your opinions and information on existing magazines are welcome.

A sense of place

It is sometimes tough to get a sense of a place when all you see of it are specific buildings or interiors. So come and join me at Philcoa, a major transportation stop in my part of Quezon City, so called because the landmark government building at the corner of the Quezon Memorial Circle is the Philippine Coconut Authority. The south side of the road, one fork of which leads to the University of the Philippines, has two strip malls. Behind the nearer building is the baratilyo which I love walking through for its bargain clothes.




This is the western end of the strip mall, closest to the Quezon Memorial Circle. Vendors are no longer allowed on the sidewalk, though one still managed to set up her potted plants against the wall. But she's not obstructing pedestrian traffic flow so it's okay. There is a gap between Citimall and another building at the corner, so a few fruit and vegetable vendors have their stalls there.




The green overpass below is where I took the first two pictures from. All these jeepneys are going to northeast Quezon City. GT (Garage to Terminal) Express is another form of public transportation. Mostly Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), they travel fixed routes from one specified station to another specified station and cannot—or should not—load or unload passengers between their two stops. And yes, the guy in the blue shirt inside the jeepney was smiling for me; in fact, he was quite insistent that I include him in my photo.




The gap between Citimall and the corner building is caused by a small creek which runs at the edge of an extremely dense urban poor neighborhood. It used to be choked with garbage, but the community finally learned its lesson when it flooded badly during last year's typhoon Ketsana. It is now relatively clear of solid waste but, unfortunately, not of liquid waste. The stench is still quite bad and, as you can guess from the water's color, the creek is definitely dead.




The street around the corner is lined almost entirely by small enterprises; some are franchises but most are single proprietorships where the seller, repairman, cook or seamstress is the owner. This is also where my tricycle terminal is, so this is where we'll end our walk for now.

And That's My World!

Roughnecks

Today's picture was taken in 1944, and shows roughnecks "making a connection" on a rotary drilling rig in Southwest Oklahoma. Notice that two of the roughnecks are not wearing hard hats. The pipe coming out the rig floor is the drill stem. Each stem is about 30 feet long. So, after drilling each 30 feet, they have to lift the entire drill string, and put another section of pipe on. The large implements connected to the drill stem are the tongs. They are like enormous pipe wrenches. The end of the tongs are connected by chains to a motor. The "driller" operates the motor to pull the chains. The roughnecks keep the tongs on the drill stem. The driller and roughneck work the tongs together to either loosen or tighten the drill stem. It takes about 30 minutes to drill 30 feet, and so this operation has to be done a couple times an hour. When making a connection, there are lots of heavy objects moving around under a lot of force, and the roughnecks are right in the middle of it. As you can imagine, a very dangerous job.

Graffti Illusion: 3D Graffiti Art

Graffiti 3D illusion above is from Japan. 3D graffiti is graffiti art as an example of interior design houses, graffiti on the illusion of design created by Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nakano.

3D Graffiti Art

Everyday

Catharanthus, popularly known as araw-araw (everyday) in Tagalog, abounds in contradictions. It is at once delicate and hardy. The gentlest tug will uproot the entire plant for its roots are very shallow, yet it can survive the strongest of typhoons for its stem is so flexible that it will bend to the ground in the face of gusty winds. Because of its light and shallow roots, it can grow anywhere, even between the cracks of pavements. This particular plant was growing between the gutter and the asphalt street.




Araw-araw is also very prolific. Plant one and in a couple of weeks your entire garden will be overrun, whether you like it or not. Even if you uproot all of them, they will be back, year after year after year. (PHOTOS BY DOGBERRY)

Oil Field

Welcome to Wildcatter week here at OPOD. We will look at pictures from the early days of the oil industry. The picture above shows the oil boom in Burkburnett, Texas in 1919. The picture was taken 8 months after oil was discovered. It reminds me of the movie, There Will Be Blood. That is the type of movie I usually really like, but I did not like that particular movie. It could have been a real good movie, but the story was not that great. Also, I did not like the part where he beat the guy with the bowling pin. 

Domestic Update:

I made lots of progress on the greenhouse this last week, but it does not show that much in the picture. I got the end walls built, and the aluminum glazing put on. The glazing is the aluminum channels connected to the arches, which will hold the polycarbonate cover in place. I have been working out there 10 hours a day, and it has been over 100 degrees every day. It is really a very hard job. I would say that it is just almost impossible to build this thing. There are errors in the construction manual, and errors in the blueprints. Then you get confused if what you are seeing is an error in the plans, or if you just don't understand the plans. Anyway, the good news is that they have a person that knows how to build it, and you can email him with questions, and he usually responds within an hour or so. So, slowly but surely I am getting it done.

I have four more pieces of glazing to connect, and then I should be pretty close to putting the polycarbonate cover on. That will be the moment of truth, as all the dimension have to be precise in order for the polycarbonate sheets to fit properly. I have been very careful, and hope they fit.

Also, I am happy to announce that Handsome Jack and Miss Kitty had two baby peacocks. Handsome is turning out to be a veritable paterfamilias. They ended up with two baby peacocks. There were four eggs. The first egg hatched, but that little guy died in the first our. I am not sure what happened. Then one egg was a dud, and then two hatched healthy babies . . . Elvira and Jumping Jack Flash. I can already see that Jumping Jack Flash is going to be a fine peacock when he grows up. We got them in the peacock palace to protect them for the first month or so.

So, this summer Handsome and Lovie had two babies, Handsome and Elly May had three babies, and Handsome and Miss Kitty had two. That gives us 7 new peacocks, and a total of 13 all together. 

Graffiti Alphabet Is An Illusion: Odeith

Graffiti Street Art


Graffiti art alphabet is an illusion on the wall by Odeith

Rosy moment

The delicate pink stained glass windows of the Chapel of St. Thomas More in the Ateneo Professional Schools do not have obviously religious images unlike those in other Catholic churches and chapels I've seen.

Urban or rural, natural or man-made, take a sightseeing tour of our world's diverse scenery!

Illusionist Graffiti Alphabet

Graffiti Street Art

Graffiti art alphabet Illusionist

Mystery Contest

OK, let the contest begin!

Magandang umaga!

Good morning! Pinoy breakfast favorites: tapa (dried or cured beef), tocino (cured pork) and longganisa (sausage, chicken in this case). With garlic rice and eggs (I like mine scrambled). Everything fried. Not the healthiest breakfast, I know, but oh so yummy! Don't forget the vinegar, garlic and siling labuyo (bird's eye chili) dipping sauce.