I had an attack of nostalgia. From the Rats Past files, Chas and Alfie, two of the smartest and best boys ever.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
I had an attack of nostalgia. From the Rats Past files, Chas and Alfie, two of the smartest and best boys ever.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
Pamplona (Shutterstock)
A Spaniard died and two other men, including a Japanese man, were gored in bull-runs in Spain on Saturday, as the San Fermin festival in the northern town of Pamplona entered its third day.
The 28-year-old died after a bull’s horn pierced his lung and heart during a run in the southeastern village of Pedreguer near Valencia, a spokesman for the regional government said.
The bull caught him as he was trying to help another runner in the annual event. Story.
Víctor Barrio is rushed to the hospital (Twitter)
Spaniards were faced with a horrifying sight on Saturday when a famous bullfighter, Víctor Barrio, was gored in the chest and killed live on television, NBC News reports.
The 29-year-old Barrio was in the ring with a bull named Lorenzo in the town of Teruel when the bull caught him with a horn that pierced his chest.
The fight was being broadcast live on television, where Lorenzo could be seen soaked in his own blood from lances that were thrust into him, which occurs during the process of a bullfight. The matador generally slaughters the bull with a sword at the end of the fight. Story.
It’s long past time that these relics of toxic masculinity die, rather than people. It’s time to stop the bull, literally.
This is so very cool. Everyone knows how beautiful cephalopod eyes are, but they are more amazing than anyone thought, they can see in colour! Click on over to Pharyngula for an explanation. Friday Cephalopod: They can see color?
Thank you, rats.
River helps herself to a rare treat. The second photo is River’s Do you mind? face.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
An ex-military photographer, Aaron Ansarov retired from the Navy in 2007, transforming his skills to create commercial work for magazines and focus on his own practice. Fascinated with marine life since his days growing up in Central Florida, his series “Zooids,” focuses on detailed images of Portuguese Man o’ War. Ansarov photographs the creatures on a homemade light table while alive, then immediately releases them back into the wild where they were found.
Once shot and the Man o’ War are returned, each image receives minimal manipulation, as Ansarov makes only slight adjustments to the photograph’s exposure, contrast, and vibrancy to highlight the vivid details of each venomous siphonophore. The completed works are otherworldly, appearing like alien illustrations rather than portraits, with deep blues, purples, and pinks unfurling in every direction.
As if that wasn’t impressive enought, Ansarov does some amazing work with humans, too, which you can see after the jump, because naked people. NSFW.
From Kengi. Aaaaaaaaw.
And from last September:
© Kengi.
A beautiful three toed Box Turtle and a Speyeria Aphrodite on milkweed, from D. Gregory. Click for full size.
© D. Gregory. All rights reserved.
The 2016 PIHRA races are off to an exciting start, and even more exciting, the finals will be taking place in Billings, Montana, which is close enough for us to go, so it looks like we’ll be taking a week in September. Maybe two, if we make wacipi earlier in September. From Lakota Country Times:
According to the PIHRA website “Indian relay is America’s oldest sport. It dates back over 400 years to when the horse was first re-introduced to the native cultures of the America’s. Lakota culture insists that this was in fact the second coming of the horse and its reintroduction and in fact the relationship to the plains cultures and the horse is perhaps much older than that is realized. Archeology seems to support that view.”
The PIHRA would add, “It appears that Indian relay developed independently amongst the Indian nations. Different cultures have different oral histories of its origins and most likely they are all true representations. To one tribe relay was used as war games, to another a relay to hunt the buffalo, to another a way to outrun the wild horses to enable their capture,” said the PIHRA.
The Modern version of the sport is currently experiencing a time of rapid growth and has over 50 teams currently vying for one of thirty spots in this year’s World Championships set to be held in Billings, MT on September, 22, 2016.
During the relay portion of the race Riders and Holders line up and await a starting gunshot. After the start riders leap on horses and race three laps exchanging horses after each lap. Fifteen horses and 20 warriors are on the track at the same time working for that seamless exchange. Each team consists of a rider, an Exchange Holder who holds the horse the rider mounts, a Mugger who catches the horse the rider jumps off, and a Back Holder who’s job it is to secure the extra horse during horse rotation.
The PIHRA requires team members to be dressed in tribal theme oriented regalia or traditional ribbon shirts while the rider’s regalia will display moccasins, breechcloths and/or leggings. All horses will be marked with traditional tribal war paint and decorations in colors determined by team tradition which may include medicine and feathers and any distinguishing personal symbol, mark and color.
There’s much more to read and see at Professional Indian Horse Racing Association. Check the schedules, if you’re going to be in the areas this year, grab a ticket.
A pile of girls and a sigh.
© C. Ford.
From Saad, seen on travels. :) Click for full size.
© Saad. All rights reserved.
River investigates why I’m disturbing her delicious breakfast of corn.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
A very young Fox squirrel, willing to scold and fight me over what he felt was his right to the sunseeds on the deck. I was half way out the window taking these, so perhaps not as good as they could be. He was bouncing on the branch, flicking his tail, and going into a repeated “I’ll fight!” stance. Little asshole. 1500 x 996, click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.