Image of the Day….

 

Stairway to heaven

“I saw this stairway leading into the Milky Way and figured I would give it a try.”

Photo by Wesley Liikane, aka Cowboy with a Camera.  Visit him on Facebook.

Wesley Liikane caught this shot on the last weekend in June, when he hosted a photography workshop at a very dark site, Algonquin Park in central Ontario, Canada. He wrote:

… at the second location I saw this stairway leading into the Milky Way and figured I would give it a try. I used multiple exposures, as I did not want to have light ruining the others night vision. One exposure was 155 seconds to let the natural light bring out the foreground while the other image was a 35-second exposure.

You can see the result here. Beautiful. Thank you, Wesley.

More photos by Wesley Liikane, aka Cowbody with a Camera

 

Source::::Earth Sky News

Natarajan

Joke of the Day… “but ten dollars are ten dollars… ” !!!

Stumpy Grinder and his wife Martha were from Portland, Maine. Every year they went to the Portland Fair and every year Stumpy said, “Ya know, Mahtha, I’d like ta get a ride in that theah aihplane.” And every year, Martha would say “I know, Stumpy, but that aihplane ride costs ten dollahs .. and ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”

So one year Stumpy says, “By Jeebers, Mahtha, I’m 71 yeahs old, and if I don’t go this time I may nevah go.” Martha replies, “Stumpy, that there aihplane ride is ten dollahs … and ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”

So the pilot overhears then and says, “Folks, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say ONE WORD, then I won’t charge you. But just ONE WORD and it’s ten dollars.”

They agree and up they go… the pilot does all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word is heard. He does it one more time, and there is still no word… so he lands.

He turns to Stumpy as they come to a stop and says, “By golly, I did everything I could think of to get you to holler out, but you didn’t.”

And Stumpy replies “Well, I was gonna say something when Mahtha fell out … but ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”

 

Source::::Joke a day.com

Natarajan

Message For the Day…”Nothing Can be More Powerful Than Character …”

It is often declared that knowledge is power. No! No! Character is power. Nothing can be more powerful on earth than character. Riches, scholarship, status, authority, etc. are all frail and flimsy before it. There is no dearth of books today; nor is there lack of gurus. Educational institutions spread knowledge everywhere. The Sun of Knowledge (Jnaana Bhaskara) is showering His rays in plenty to all alike. But, one can hardly find those who have imbibed the nectarous wisdom thus offered and are dwelling in the ecstasy it can confer. The mountain range with lust, anger, hatred, envy and pride as the peaks, shuts out the splendor of the Sun. Charity, compassion, fortitude, sympathy, and sacrifice, arise from the higher levels of consciousness while opposite tendencies breed in the lower levels. Remember, a strong virtuous character cannot be earned from any book; it is earned only through intimate involvement with society.

Sathya Sai Baba

Jokes of The day… ” Midnight Come Here… ” !!!

“Have you got any kittens going cheap?” Asked a customer in a pet shop.

“No, sir,” replied the owner. “All our kittens go “Meow.

“Please keep your dog beside you, sir,” a woman said crossly to the man sitting opposite to her on the bench at the park. “I can feel a

flea in my shoe.” “Midnight, come here,” replied the man. “This woman has fleas.”

These bear hunters were sitting around the cabin the night before the hunt bragging about their passt hunts.
The cabin boy was listening and went over and said “you guys make it seem pretty hard on capturing a bear”.
They all laughed and said “it is hard; do you think you could bag one”?
“I can go out and bag you 2 if you will skin them, and I will bet each of you $100.00.
They agreed and off he went out into the night.
Soon he spotted a big grizzly; he waved his arm and started hollering the big bear started after him and he started running for the shack. When he got close to the shack he started yelling. “Open the door he yelled”.
They looked out and saw the bear chasing the boy. Just as he got to the door they opened it and he stepped aside and the bear went in. He slammed the door and locked it and shouted. “OK skin him I’ll go and get the other one”.

Source::: Joke a day .com

Natarajan

Image of the day… A Drone Flies Thro Fireworks !!!

Jos Stiglingh captured this stunning video with a GoPro Hero 3 Silver, showing the view from a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter flying in and above a fireworks display. He filmed it in West Palm Beach, Florida. Jos said:

Be sure to watch in HD!

Not everyone agrees flying a drone through fireworks is a good idea. Gregory S. McNeal said today (July 4, 2014) on Forbes that flying a drone through fireworks might land you in prison:

There’s no doubt that [Stiglingh’s] HD video is stunning. It’s also dangerous and likely unlawful (at least if it occurred in the United States). The flight is unsafe as the existence of the drone in the airspace above the fireworks display creates an increased risk of hazardous debris (from the fireworks or the drone) falling into spectator areas. There is also the possibility that a firework colliding with a drone may divert the pyrotechnic downward into spectator areas, causing it to detonate where it otherwise should not.

McNeal later adds that Steglingh’s drone might have been directed through a safety zone over the ocean, established by the coast guard.

Bottom line: Don’t try this at home! Jos Steglingh has captured a video of a drone flying through fireworks that many are viewing today. No wonder. It’s stunning.

 

 

Source:::: Earth Sky News

Natarajan

Message For the Day…” Dedicate Yourself to the Progress Of Society and Your Country …”

You must regard the prosperity and joy of others in the community as your own. Only then will India or any other country deserve prosperity and joy. Your happiness is bound up with the happiness of Society. Your physical, mental and intellectual strength and skills have to be dedicated, not merely to your own progress, but equally to the progress of Society. You must try to benefit yourself and the Society through such service. Use the strength, skills, and spirit of service for such work. A machine gets rested if it is not put to use; the human machine too gets rusted if it is not put to constant meaningful work. The pulse is not the correct indicator of your being alive; work and activity is the evidence and the value of real living. Your role is to translate your strength into activity along the path of duty.

Sathya Sai Baba

Joke of the Day…” What did the Chicken do … ? “

So there’s this man with a parrot. And his parrot swears like a sailor, I mean he’s a pistol. He can swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself.

The trouble is that the guy who owns the parrot is a quiet, conservative type, and this bird’s foul mouth is driving him crazy.

One day, it gets to be too much, so the guy grabs the bird by the throat, shakes him really hard, and yells, “QUIT IT!” But this just makes the bird mad and he swears more than ever.

Then the guy gets mad and says, “That’s it. I’ll get you.” and locks the bird in a kitchen cabinet.

This really aggravates the bird and he claws and scratches, and when the guy finally lets him out, the bird cuts loose with a stream of invective that would make a veteran sailor blush.

At that point, the guy is so mad that he throws the bird into the freezer.

For the first few seconds, there is a terrible din. The bird kicks and claws and thrashes. Then it suddenly goes very quiet.

At first the guy just waits, but then he starts to think that the bird may be hurt. After a couple of minutes of silence, he’s so worried that he opens up the freezer door.

The bird calmly climbs onto the man’s outstretched arm and says, “Awfully sorry about the trouble I gave you. I’ll do my best to improve my vocabulary from now on.”

The man is astounded. He can’t understand the transformation that has come over the parrot.

Then the parrot says, “By the way, what did the chicken do?”

Source:::: Joke a day.com

Natarajan

Stunning Aerial Photos of Brazil”s Soccer Fields …

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

The community surrounding ‘The Beautiful Game’ is huge, and is a unifying force for countries all over the world. All that soccer requires is a ball, a couple goals, and some players—that’s part of what makes it so brilliant.

As many cities in the World Cup’s current home country are occupied by the most famous soccer players in the world, Brazilian photographer and journalist Renato Stockler’s photo essay Terrão de Cima captures the pure democratic essence and simplicity of the soccer fields ensconced in Sao Paulo neighborhoods.

Stockler says in the project’s description that the fields he photographs, “Are a breath for the hard daily life of those who live in the outskirts of Sao Paulo. These fields show the urgency for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fight for leisure in a city as Sao Paulo.”

The reddish dirt and uneven patches of grass that make up most of the fields are a harsh contrast to the soft greens that soccer fans are accustomed to watching. All the same, Stockler says that when the hard day’s work is at an end, it’s easy to find tight knit communities of players, friends, and family gathered around the sparse field to blow off steam.

Terrão de Cima, which loosely translates to, “The Ground from Above,” is a love letter to the rugged fields of Stockler’s home, which are fast disappearing due to land speculation.

Aerial photography is the perfect medium for the task, since it shows the incredible variance in color, shape, and texture of local soccer fields, yet also captures the players as a single unit—a culture, rather than just a bunch of people. We’re still not sure we’d want to slide tackle anyone on these fields, but we’re more than ok with ogling them from above.

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators

Source:::: Business Insider .com

Natarajan

Read more: http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/see-the-soccer-fields-of-brazilian-favelas-from-up-in-the-clouds#ixzz36RuRAOD2

Message For the Day…” Who Is God … ” ?

What or who is God? When the answer to this question is sought, one discovers that God is the glory immanent in Nature. The earth rotates on its axis at a speed of thousand miles an hour. As a consequence, we have alternations of day and night, which helps us to live on this globe. Besides, it moves around the sun at the rate of 66,000 miles an hour, causing the seasons which bring rains for crops and vegetation which sustain human life. The earth does not profit in the least by these rotations but human beings survive, enjoy life and prosper on account of them. Nature must indeed be laughing at the sterile frenzies, the endless pursuits, and the countless miseries to which human beings submit themselves to, in their search for achieving the unachievable! You must search in Nature the sacred lessons it holds for you; then, you will understand how deep and how everlasting is the Truth that it conveys to you!

Sathya Sai Baba

Image Of the Day… Upside-Down Rainbow !!!

 

upside-down rainbow. What is it?

Circumzenithal arcs have been described as an “upside down rainbow” or “a grin in the sky.” They’re wonderful! See photos here.

Duke Marsh caught this circumzenithal arc on October 3, 2012 from New Albany, Indiana.  Thanks, Duke.

People who look up a lot may occasionally see the rainbow-like arcs depicted in the photos on this page. They’re called circumzenithal arcs, and they’re not really rainbows. Instead, they’re caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. These arcs are related to the frequently seen halos around the sun or moon. Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics says of these graceful and colorful arcs:

The circumzenithal arc, CZA, is the most beautiful of all the halos. The first sighting is always a surprise, an ethereal rainbow fled from its watery origins and wrapped improbably about the zenith. It is often described as an “upside down rainbow” by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to “a grin in the sky”.

Look straight up near to the zenith when the sun if fairly low and especially if sundogs are visible. The centre of the bow always sunwards and red is on the outside.

Les says that the most ideal time to see a circumzenithal arc is when the sun is at a height of 22 degrees in the sky. Look here to see Les Cowley’s illustration of the various kinds of halo phenomena, related to circumzenithal arcs. And enjoy the photos below, contributed by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed.

Dan Szulewski captured a circumzenithal arc from Hermiston, Oregon on June 22, 2014.

Julie Gurnhill caught this one on February 27, 2013.

John Gravell captured this circumzenithal arc from Boston on October 17, 2012.

Rene Pennings captured this circumzenithal arc on May 21, 2012.

A lovely circumzenithal arc amidst high clouds by Dudley Williams on December 18, 2011.

Andrew R. Brown saw a jet pass in front of a circumzenithal arc, from Ashford Kent in the UK, on November 19, 2010.

Here's that same circumzenithal arc from Andrew R. Brown again, minus the jet!

Bottom line: When you see an upside-down rainbow in the sky, you are likely seeing a circumzenithal arc. It’s related the halos often seen around the sun or moon, caused by ice crystal in the upper atmosphere. The photos here are by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed!

Gallery: Rainbows around the world

Source::::: Deborah Byrd In Earth sky news site

Natarajan