Chinese face – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at somebody else. You are the one who gets burned”
” If you think that your boss is stupid, remember that you would not have a job if he was any smarter”.
A face from China for the photo today, and from high in the hills between the border between China and Tibet. China has a population of over 1.35 billion people, increasing by around 12 million people a year. Due to the one child policy the actual rate of population growth is around 0.5%, and the population density is about the same as in Switzerland or the Czech Republic. Around 9% of the population are ethnic minorities, such as Tibetans. The official language is Mandarin Chinese, and a knowledge of about 2000 characters is needed to be literate. Interestingly, all Chinese share the same written language, even if some simplified characters are sometimes used.
And another from the archives…..a housebus in New Zealand…..
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Faces 4 + 1, Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…..” To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail”
A photo from the harbourside market in Helsinki for the photo today. Nice comparison between the real face and the plastic models. Even in the depths of winter (when temperatures can easily fall to below minus 20 degrees C) and when the nearby sea is frozen, the harbourside market is still there. Finland is number one in the world for coffee consumption per capita, perhaps helped by the long, cold winters. Around the harbour in winter, people sit for coffee in heated tents, and occasionally fish through the ice using a saw. In the depths of winter, daylight is scarce (around 5 hours, although it remains gloomy all day) but around the middle of June, it is light almost 24 hours a day.
And one from the archive……sunset over the Baltic Sea.
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Edge of the Sahara – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” Do not limit your challenges, challenge your limits”.
” Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow” (Albert Einstein).
Did you read the news story that the Bolivian president, Evo Morales gave the UN president (Ban Ki-moon) a cake for his birthday made with coca leaves? The Bolivian president was earlier a coca farmer, and is an advocate of coca for its use in medicines and teas. He even pulled out a bag of coca leaves and began chewing on them during a meeting of the UN Anti Drug group in Vienna in 2012. Coca leaves are used in the production of cocaine, with Bolivia being the world’s largest producer of the drug.
The Sahara is the world’s hottest desert, and after Antartica, is the world’s second largest desert. The name actually comes from the Arabic (plural) word for desert. It has sand dunes up to 180m high, and its highest point is over 3414m high. In summers, temperatures can rise to over 50 degrees. Today’s photo was taken near sunset in Morocco, in a town on the edge of the Sahara.
and a photo from the archives…..Mt. Aspiring (3033m), South Island, New Zealand.
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Splash of colour – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”.
“Be nice to nerds. Chances are that you will end up working for one”. (Bill Gates).
Sometimes a simple photo works very well. Today’s photo is a simple flower shot, but the plain background and good lighting make this photo work. If you have not already discovered it, then the website http://www.dpreview.com is a great site to keep up to date with the latest developments in photography, as well as a being a good source of reviews and user reports on cameras and equipment. The photo below was taken with a Panasonic FZ-150, although this camera will shortly be replaced. After purchasing 4 Panasonic cameras in a row, I think that they are now slipping behind the competition (especially in regard to sensor size and resolution), so perhaps it is time to try another brand.
And a photo from the archives…..the Turning Torso tower in Malmo, Southern Sweden.
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When I’m Cleaning Windows – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Hate is like drinking poison and hoping that the other man dies”.
The photo today comes from the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, and captures 5 window cleaners at work on an office building. Slovenia became part of the European Union in 2004, and changed to the euro in 2007. Around 280 000 people live in Ljubljana, although the whole country only has around 2 million residents. The first car on the streets of Ljubljana, a Benz Comfortable, in 1898, became known as the ‘Red Bull’ because of the car’s high speed (up to 19 km/h !!). Slovenia has around 28 000 vineyards, or 1 vineyard for every 70 residents. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the record for cleaning 3 standard office sized windows is held by Terry Burrows (UK), who cleaned them in 9.14 seconds during the National Window Cleaning competition in Blackpool, UK in 2009.
No sign of any records in this photo though…..
And another photo out of the archives….a priest in Ethiopia….
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Ultimate Swiss army knife !!! – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement”.
” Happiness is a road to travel, not a goal to reach”.
Did you know that the original Swiss army knife was grey, not red? And in the beginning, when the knives were made for the Swiss army, they did not feature a corkscrew because soldiers were forbidden to drink whilst on duty. Apparently, on modern Swiss army knives, the corkscrew is the one part that is not made in Switzerland (it is manufactured in Japan instead). The Swiss army knife started life in 1897 after being developed by Carl Elsener. His idea was to manufacture something to stop emigration due to unemployment. The design has been so successful that it has even been used in the Space Shuttle. It is now possible to buy a Swiss army knife WITHOUT the knife part, so that it can be carried on flights (a knife-less Swiss army knife!) . Wenger, one of the two main companies producing the knives (the other is Victorinox) produces a knife known as ‘The Giant’, with some 87 tools included on it. And here is a photo of one…which was on offer in Switzerland for CHF 1200……
One strange or odd fact about the Swiss army is that they accidentally invaded the neighboring country of Lichtenstein in 2007 after getting lost in a rainstorm !!
And a photo from the archives, this time from Cuba….4 modes of transport in this shot…..
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Finals to land, colourful – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Those who forget where they came from, tend to get lost where they are going to”.
” Beauty might bring happiness, but happiness always brings beauty”.
Now it is part of everyday life, but only 111 years ago, flying was new. The Wright Brothers’ first flight could have been performed within the length of the cabin of a 747 jumbo jet. And before 1926, a person could fly an aircraft without a license. Soon after the first flying licenses started, Ellen Church became the first stewardess in 1930. Although an Airbus A320 is pictured below (from the Swiss company Edelweiss Air), the largest Airbus, the A380 is over 72 metres long and weighs around 590 tons. When flying, the 4 engines on an A380 have a working temperature of 3100 degrees, whilst the actual aircraft is made up of about 4 million parts. It also takes around 3600 litres of paint to paint one!
If you are wondering about the flower painted on the aircraft, the Edelweiss, it is normally found between 1700 and 3000 m altitude in the Alps, although some forms of Edelweiss are found much lower down in the Artic regions. It can be used to make an oxidant-rich tea, and also can be used as sunblock or moisturizer. And the flower was used in the Rogers & Hammerstein musical, Sound of Music.
And a photo from the archives…. a girl from Swaziland, Africa. Great neutral light for this photo, and a subject who was a natural.
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A Hot Summers Day, New Zealand – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell
Thought for the day…” A life without ambition is like a journey without a destination”.
” A problem is just a solution waiting to happen.”
Central Otago, New Zealand, for today’s photo, and a typical hot, dry summer day. Central Otago is a big wine-growing region, with most of the vineyards at around 300m altitude and surrounded by mountains. Pinot Noir is the main wine from this area, characterised by the smaller grapes that are used to make this type of wine (one reason why a good Pinot Noir costs more). Wine making in this region took off in the 1990s, whereas in the 1800s, it was gold that was the big industry here. In summer, temperatures here can reach 35 degrees, but in winter, parts of Central Otago fall to -15 degrees.
And one from the archives……a steam train in Uppsala, Sweden.
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