‘Hidden’ is this week’s photo challenge and hidden in this collection of farmyard characters from the Kalgoorlie production of Footrot Flats is our youngest daughter..not too sure how impressed Mum was to get a letter from her yesterday saying she had a new role in which she was “...docked, shorn and mounted regularly…”
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I’ve been sitting on this one for a while…just hadn’t got round to posting it which is sad because this is an artistic achievement worth noting…Peter Zorn is a designer and publisher of paper models. In the early 80s, he designed and released his original large scale model of the iconic (even if you only ever saw it in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!) Ford Trimotor.
In 1980/1981, when I started the design of the Ford Trimotor 5-AT, Steve Jobs was about 25 years old. Needless to say, “No computers were harmed while designing this model.”
For at least the last decade or so, it has been a hard-to-find collector’s item….cut forward to late 2010, as Peter Zorn tells it…
…one man (Ron40) sends another (Deckape) a 30-year-old book to build a paper model of an 80-year-old aeroplane. Then a dozen or so others chime in on the build thread, expressing interest in building one of their own.
After the build was complete, I chimed in with congratulations and kudos. It seemed that there was enough interest in scanning and making the original book available, so I gave permission. Another country heard from (Billy Leliveld) volunteers to do the scans and when he is finished there is more interest in having the model available in a working mode so individuals can color their own choice of liveries and… Yet another country heard from as (Rubén Andrés Martínez) takes on the monumental task of re-drawing the entire model and, as we are no longer bound by publishing signatures and can have as many pages as we care to print, has included almost all of the existing early liveries.
The nicknames refer to the identities of members of the Papermodelers.com forum, where the restoration and modern development took place…unfortunately Ron40 died just before the completion of the project that he had set in motion…
The final work of art is some 300+ pages (including a history of the model and the actual aircraft, detailed notes on each version and detailed instructions – each version only requires 30-40 pages to be printed) and includes liveries for eleven different aircraft including the aforementioned Trimotor from the early parts of Temple of Doom…plus full interiors for each version…
One of the things that constantly amazes me about the paper modelling community is its willingness to share its works and so, the restored Zorn Ford Trimotor 5-AT will cost you nothing but a little time to register at papermodelers.com, make one post in the forum; and then the bandwidth to download it – it’s only about 30Mb i.e. less than your average movie trailer…After that you need a printer, some paper/cardstock, and some time to dedicate to building something not often seen these days…
Something a bit different as I try to get back into two or more ‘non-challenge’ posts a week…enjoy…
Mr Pickwick's
Opportunity is the theme in this week’s photo challenge…as described, the opportunity that presents itself where your reaction is either of the ‘…wish I brought the camera…’ or ‘…naturally, I had the camera (and after I finished my reps)…’ variety…
We’ve long been in the habit of always having a camera handy – and keeping it bombed up with fresh batteries: no more rechargeables for the camera, just good old fashioned, environmentally-unfriendly lithiums for us – and so don’t have too many of those ‘…and I there was, the Yeti poised in front of me, when the flat battery alarm frightened it off…’ stories…with animals and small children here, there are too many opportunities too good to miss…
So for us, perhaps, opportunity and cameras go together in a different way…we love nothing more than to have the time when travelling to stop in some little place and spend an hour or two exploring some pokey (the pokier the better) antique or secondhand (often the distinction between the two is in the eye of the beholder) shop and we use to camera to record objet d’intereste, sometimes just for curiosity, sometimes to compare with another, and sometimes just as a memory-jogger as to where what was seen if we decide to go back for it…
We last visited Mr Pickwick’s in Christchurch over Christmas/New Year 09-10 – at the time they were unloading a lot of stock in preparation for moving to a new smaller location in order to better compete with the new business model coming from entities like TradeMe …they used to be along Cashel Street in Sydenham, about halfway between the now Red Zone and the foot of the Port Hills…hope that move went well for them and that few treasures were damaged or lost in the September and February quakes…
I can, I can, of course, I can…a steam engine climbs the Raurimu Spiral…
This week’s photo challenge leads off…
“As far back as I can remember, I have loved taking and looking at photographs of doorways, paths, windows, and roads – these kinds of images have always invited me in and encouraged my mind to wander. What’s beyond that ornate door? Whose window is that? Where would I end up if I continued on that road? These are what I call ‘pictures of possibility.’
I often do this…look at a side road or a farm track and wonder where it goes, what it might be like to explore one day , or maybe live along somewhere; or look at a window and wonder about the people who might live or work behind it…in this case, a steam engine on the Raurimu Spiral – commercial rail traffic here is all diesel-electric but occasionally a restored steam train will come along on a special outing – the steam plume is great for tracking the path of the Spiral which from here climbs through two tunnels and a complete 360 to emerge some one hundred and forty metres higher on the Central Plateau….in addition to the whole days gone by thing, I remember taking this picture and wondering about the people on the train…who were…where were they going…what little back stories filled each carriage…
Sometimes we come inside when we’ve left the TV on and there will be Kirk, perched in front of the screen attentively following every movement…He’s quite picky about what he watches, his favourites being ‘It’s Me Or The Dog!‘, ‘Country Calendar‘ and ‘The Dog Show‘ and only when there’s sheep or other dogs on the screen…he doesn’t get excited, just sits and watches…I often wonder what he’s thinking…what’s a Kirk’s-eye view of the world…?
I scored this idea from Children’s Books & More – perhaps a clue to the blogger is in the URL ‘passion 2 read’ – after they liked my Comfort post… Bookworm Traits I think that 46 traits is probably too much for one hit but here it goes…
1. People often find your nose in a book spending hours at the library or bookstore.
2. Amazon.com is bookmarked and frequently used when you can’t get to the library or bookstore.
3. Who cares about the next DVD release? When can I get the latest book release?
4. Books are on your Christmas or birthday list.
5. You’d rather read a book than watch television.
6. You argue that the books are always better than any movie based off a book.
7. You get a thrill when you open the book for the first time and feel its pages with the promise of a next favorite.
8. You smile when you see children reading rather than playing video games or watching television.
9. You cringe when you see watermarks, torn pages, and vandalism to books.
10. It’s normal to leave the house with some reading material.
11. It’s not a vacation unless you have a supply of books. (If not, you can always visit the town’s bookstore.)
12.You listen to more audio books than the car radio.
13. You dish out recommendations and welcome any in return.
14. You constantly add books to your to-read list.
15. You stay up past midnight to finish a great book.
16. After you finished the great book, you wish you slowed down to savor it.
17. You imagine meeting your favorite book characters.
18. You’d like to jump into your favorite book to fully experience it.
19. You don’t have enough shelves to hold all your books.
20. You analyze and discuss books with fellow bookworms.
21. You look forward to school and library book sales.
22. You ‘browse’ books in a bookstore and come back each week.
23. You read The New York Times’ Bestseller List for new books to read.
24. You have a bookstore membership for book rewards.
25. Rainy days are good reading weather days.
26. You enjoy any reading, even what some consider ‘junk mail’.
27. You feel lost without a book to read.
28. You love hearing stories read to you.
29. A long flight, car ride, or train journey is the perfect time to read a book.
30. You keep a journal of the books you’ve read and plan to read. (record books on goodreads)
31. You remember quotes and passages from your favorite books.
32. You compare individuals to characters in your book.
33. You have an endless supply of bookmarks and battery replacements for book lights.
34. You’re not afraid to laugh or cry while reading.
35. You read the book that made you laugh or cry again.
36. You spread the word to everyone to read a book.
37. You take literary trips that connect to your book. (Blog post about a children’s literature tour in New York, abroad a train for Agatha Christie’s Orient Express, visit Forks, Washington, for Twilight, explore Concord, Massachusetts, for Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, or even visit Hogwarts at Universal Studios)
38. You cook dishes similar to foods in books. (Blog that relates books and food)
39. You try skills and hobbies as characters in books.
40. You’re sadden when bookstores and libraries close.
41. You have difficulties picking just one favorite book.
42. You know that reading will never die, even with more e-readers and technology.
43. You feel bad for those who don’t enjoy a good book.
44. You wish you could talk to the author after finishing a book.
45. You attend book signings and author discussions.
46. You know that reading is your ticket to anywhere your heart desires.
This image sprang to mind immediately when I saw the title of this week’s photo challenge. The back story to it is in Jacks where I first used this image a couple of years ago. Kirk is a canine who very much likes his home comforts…most of the time he is just a big sooky-nana….
Dubai
No theme or commentary today – work is very busy at the moment…but I do have this very cool photo, graciously shared with me by a friend who works for an airline and who recently snapped this great view of Dubai on a recent flight…the sort of image that begs for a story to be written around it…I half expect to see an airship moored at one of the buildings every time I look at it…
I guess the trick in this week’s challenge is to know whether a pic is really sunset or someone slipping in a dodgy sunrise…
But Sunset has another significance for soldiers, more than simply the going down of the sun and the closing of the day but a time to remember those who have gone before and sometimes to also mark the end of an era…here Sunset is a sad but beautiful tune played during Beating the Retreat as the flag is lowered…
This photo was taken on July 20, 1989 at the closing ceremony for the home of the First Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, at Dieppe Barracks in Sembawang, Singapore. The following month, in our own version of East of Suez, the battalion and its supporting force, began its relocation back to New Zealand, ending 32 years of continuous service in South East Asia.
As the battalion marched off that parade ground, a place of so many memories, for the last time, the roll of honour of those who had not gone home was read – a particularly sad moment for many of us as we had lost a number of friends through accidents in that last tour…remembering is particularly poignant here at the moment with the news on Wednesday of the death in combat of a second NZSAS soldier near Kabul…
Michael Yon wrote this on 24 September after a young soldier from his tent in 4-4 Cav was killed…
This whole tent is empty now. Chazray is gone and his buddies must be checking their emails in another tent. There were two more KIAs who were shot and so the internet was blacked out. One was shot in the chest and the other in the stomach. Very saddening. Families have been notified and so the internet is back on. It’s strange to see Chazray on the news and then look over at his empty cot and see his picture taped to the door. The video says he ran over the IED but he actually stepped on it but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he is missed by so many people.
While a soldier can always be replaced – no one is ever indispensable – the gap they leave is a different story altogether…the empty bed space, the position in the Prezzies rugby team, that spot in the bar where they always sat, the spot in family photos where Dad should be…
I didn’t know LCpl Leon Smith who was killed during a pre-emptive operation against insurgents near Kabul last week. I did know Cpl Doug Grant who was killed a few weeks earlier while doing the business against insurgents in Kabul. I remember him as a young soldier, third from the right in the back from of this photo, quiet and professional with the burning desire to learn demonstrated by many young soldiers of that period – when the camp library was shifted to a new building around that time, someone did some analysis of library loan patterns and found that the large proportion of professional military book loaning was done by JNCOs and soldiers, creating more than few ripples in the pond – the sort that so often answer a higher calling and earn the sand beret and winged dagger…in Dougie’s case, going back for a second time…
We are the Pilgrims, Master…We shall go always a little further…It may be beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow…Across that angry or glimmering sea…
Sunset can mean so much more than the simple disappearance of a ball of burning hydrogen and helium…
MacChick Academic
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