photographed in Glenview, Illinois on February 24, 2009

No room in the home so perfectly typifies the communism of a family, the true uniting in diversity of the individuals, as the sitting- room. It is the centre of the social life of the household. It is “mother’s room.” There she is oftenest found in her moments of leisure, ready to hear, to sympathize, to console, and to advise. Here the father frolics with his children; here they listen to song and story read aloud; here the troubles of the day dwindle and disappear, or are softened and lessened by united sympathizing and soothing surroundings; here nuts and mild jokes are cracked, and rosy apples and fragrant oranges lend their flavor and juicy richness to the homely scene, while without the wind blows, the rain falls, or the snow flies.

To make this room the ideal hearth-stone, its furnishings should contain elements that appeal to the tastes and pursuits of each of the members of the household. There should be room, if possible, for favorite chairs and for shelves or bookcases, and tables for each one’s choice of books and papers, and for undisturbed corners and cosey nooks, if each has only a chair and footstool, or portion of a drawer, or a curtained shelf. Places where the studious, the ambitious, or the thoughtful can work out their pet projects, or keep safely their treasured plans and possessions, ready for the sudden inspiration or the industrious mood, which quite as often seizes one amid the family chatter as in the solitude of one’s own room. To secure all this will require considerable outlay as well as much unselfish thought on the part of the home-maker. The outlay, however, can usually be modified, adding purchases from time to time as family growth and taste may show them to be desirable. Indeed, the true furnishing of such a room, after a certain point, must be a matter of growth.

Excerpted from The House Comfortable by Agnes Bailey Ormbsbee, chapter XIII, “The Family Hearth-Stone.” Harper & Brothers, 1892.

photographed in Altoona, Iowa on April 11, 2008

A self-portrait, as a projection of self, may have began with Fouquet’s hand held portrait but artists like Albrecht Dürer and Parmigianino are known for the detailed exploration of their own images. They paint themselves as they wish to be seen. Other portrait artists who also used the self-portrait as a projection of self did so to demonstrate wealth, social status, talent or religious beliefs.

Rembrandt, van Gogh and later, Kahlo used facial expressions, distinct brush strokes and lighting to portray their inner selves. Gustave Courbet, a leader in the Realist movement, was known for using the element of fantasy in creating his self-portrait. In his most famous work from 1855, ‘Interior of My Studio, a Real Allegory Summing Up Seven Years of My Life as an Artist,’ he enlists a host of props and people to help portray himself. In the painting he sits at his canvas surrounded by hunters, peasants and other representations of his life. There are several other self-portraits by Courbet where he assumes other relevant fictitious roles.

Excerpted from The Self-Portrait: A Modern View by Edward Lucie-Smith and Sean Kelly. Sarema Press, London. 1987. 

photographed on I-65 north of Indianapolis, Indiana on December 21, 2008

NYZ062-PAZ043-044-047-048-072-290145-/O.CON.KBGM.WW.Y.0006.000000T0000Z-090129T0300Z/
SULLIVAN-WYOMING-LACKAWANNA-LUZERNE-PIKE-SOUTHERN WAYNE-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…MONTICELLO…TUNKHANNOCK…SCRANTON…WILKES-BARRE…HAZLETON…MILFORD…HONESDALE
1243 PM EST WED JAN 28 2009

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING…

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING.

A MIX OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. IN VALLEY AREAS PLAIN RAIN MAY ALSO MIX IN. THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE BACK TO SNOW SHOWERS WEDNESDAY EVENING
BEFORE ENDING.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 6 INCHES IS LIKELY BY THE TIME THE ACTIVITY DIMINISHES TO SNOW SHOWERS. ICE ACCUMULATION AROUND ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH IS ALSO LIKELY.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL-HAZARDS OR YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE…OR VISIT OUR INTERNET WEB SITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/BINGHAMTON.

PLEASE REPORT SNOW OR ICE AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE AT 1-877-633-6772…OR BY EMAIL AT BGM.STORMREPORT@NOAA.GOV.

Excerpted from the National Weather Service, January 28, 2008.

photographed in Put-in-Bay, Ohio on August 31, 2008.

The dome of the United States Capitol may well be the most famous man-made landmark in America. It is such a fitting finale for the building it crowns, so familiar and dignified, that it seems surprising that its design and construction came late in the Capitol’s architectural evolution. Only the west front terraces (1884-1892) and the east front extension (1958-1962) are more recent additions to the Capitol than its dome (1855-1866). It was designed by the Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter, who was also the architect of the House and Senate extensions. Montgomery C. Meigs, a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers, was the principal superintendent of construction. Together they oversaw the creation of the Capitol’s most memorable and remarkable feature.

On December 16, 1854, Walter hung in his office a drawing of the Capitol as it would appear once the extensions were finished, but without the Bulfinch dome. Instead the drawing showed a new cast-iron dome with columns, pilasters, brackets, scores of windows, and a crowning statue. While it was only a suggestion of what a new dome might look like, the drawing caused an immediate sensation among Congressmen and Senators who visited the Architect’s office. Within 10 weeks, without committee hearings and after little debate, the House of Representatives appropriated $100,000 to begin construction of a new dome. The Senate agreed a few days later, and President Franklin Pierce signed the legislation on March 3, 1855.

Excerpted from The Architect of the Capitol by the U.S. government.

photographed in aSmall airport in the Bahamas on December 13, 2007

Most long-distance holiday travel, about 91 percent, is by personal vehicle, such as by car. The percentage of long-distance travelers who travel by personal vehicle during the holidays is not statistically different from the 89 percent who make long-distance trips by personal vehicle during the rest of the year. Only 5 to 6 percent of holiday trips are by air, while 2 to 3 percent are by bus, train, ship, or other mode.

Unlike Thanksgiving, which always falls on the fourth Thursday of November, the Christmas/New Year’s travel period, and the resulting travel pattern, varies depending on the day of the week on which the two holidays fall. In 2001, when Christmas and New Year’s Day fell on Tuesday, the Saturday and Sunday preceding Christmas and Christmas Day were generally the busiest travel days of the entire 17-day holiday travel period. The days immediately following Christmas were generally busier than New Year’s Day and the two following days. In 2003, the holidays are on Thursday, which no doubt will change the travel patterns during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday period.

Information excerpted from the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

photographed in Chicago, Illinois on August 19, 2007

Firecracker™: Watch out! These pops have such a delicious red cherry, white lemon and blue raspberry flavor, they may cause explosions of taste in your mouth!

Firecracker™ Exploding: Your taste buds are sure to blast off with Firecracker Exploding pops. Each of the mouth watering flavors of Blue Raspberry Bang, Cherry Collision and Cola Blast have a cherry flavored tip packed with popping candies and bursting with excitement.

Taken from the official Popsicle.com site.

photographed in Evanston, Illinois on August 24, 2008

Until the late nineteenth century, diamond production was limited to a few hundred pounds per year, with most of the stones being excavated from riverbeds in India and Brazil. Things changed in 1870, when huge diamond mines were found in South Africa, and the gemstones were being scooped out by the ton. Suddenly those financiers who’d invested in diamonds feared that the new abundance of stones would result in their investment being reduced to “semi-precious gem” status. The major diamond players decided to merge into one entity that would be powerful enough to control the world’s diamond supply. The result was the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., which quickly embarked on a marketing plan that would eventually control demand as well as supply.

Prior to 1938, engagement rings more often than not were comprised of a combination of the bride and her mother’s birthstones, which meant that sapphires, rubies, and emeralds were the order of the day. But in 1938, Harry Oppenheimer, the son of the DeBeers founder, approached a Madison Avenue advertising agency with the task of making diamonds appealing to a Depression-era America. The firm came up with the “a diamond is forever” campaign and managed to convince young American men that the only way to express true love and commitment was to present their girl with a diamond ring. Additionally, the “forever” part of the slogan encouraged buyers to hold on to their diamonds as heirlooms, and not release them back into the market.

The promotion worked. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” entered the realm of pop culture, as did Elizabeth Taylor and her impossibly huge diamond rings. It is estimated today that 78 percent of the engagement rings sold include at least one diamond.

Excerpted from Mental Floss.

photographed in Blacksburg, Virginia on October 5, 2008

So you’ve been roped into coaching your sons youth football team, you haven’t played in years and you don’t want to “blow it”. Maybe you’ve been coaching for awhile and you just can’t seem to get over the hump, we’ve all been there. No one want’s to be “That Guy” the one the parents talk about behind his back because his football practices are disjointed or his football plays or defense just don’t seem to work for the kids he has. No one wants to be the guy that has some talent on his team yet the team underperforms or has kids that are quitting because he doesn’t teach great fundamentals or have fun practices.

Despite what many say, you can compete at a very high level and even dominate, have fun and teach great fundamentals. We show you how to do it the “Winning Youth Football” way. It’s a simple detailed step by simple step program that shows you how to build a competitive youth football team while having fun doing it. Our unique progression teaching method and practice methodology keep the kids interested and begging for more.

Exerpted from ‘Winning Youth Football‘ by Dave Cisar. 

photographed on I-80 west of North Platte, Nebraska on October 10, 2007

Category 1 – Traffic-Influencing Events

1. Traffic Incidents – Are events that disrupt the normal flow of traffic, usually by physical impedance in the travel lanes. Events such as vehicular crashes,breakdowns, and debris in travel lanes are the most common form of incidents. In addition to blocking travel lanes physically, events that occur on the shoulder or roadside can also influence traffic flow by distracting drivers, leading to changes in driver behavior and ultimately degrading the quality of traffic flow. Even incidents off of the roadway (a fire in a building next to a highway) can be considered traffic incidents if they affect travel in the travel lanes.

2. Work Zones – Are construction activities on the roadway that result in physical changes to the highway environment. These changes may include a reduction in the number or width of travel lanes, lane “shifts,” lane diversions, reduction, or elimination of shoulders, and even temporary roadway closures. Delays caused by work zones have been cited by travelers as one of the most frustrating conditions they encounter on trips.

Excerpted from the report ‘Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Trends and Advanced Strategies for Congestion Mitigation,’ prepared for the Federal Highway Administration on September 1, 2005.

photographed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 1, 2008

Evacuating from a hurricane involves more than just getting into your car and driving away from the coast. Of the estimated 120 deaths associated with Hurricane Rita, 107 of them were related to the mass vehicular evacuation rather than the storm itself.

Assess Your Risk Hurricanes rarely appear out of nowhere and modern forecasting technology typically gives citizens days to prepare. If you live in an area on or near the Atlantic Coast or the Gulf of Mexico, it’s possible that you are at risk. If you live hundreds of miles inland, like in Oklahoma, you don’t need to worry. Michigan? Yeah, probably not an issue for you either. Check with your local Office of Emergency Management or state government for information about whether your house is within an evacuation zone.

Excerpted from ‘How To Escape A Hurricane By Car,’ from jalopnik.com. 

photographed somewhere in Georgia on January 15, 2005

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens–while as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground–the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed.

Taken from the book of Genesis 2: 4-8, New American version.

photographed at Lollapalooza, Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 2008
and the Congress Theatre, Chicago, Illinois on November 8, 2008

From wired.com: In the modern laptop era, any monkey with Pro Tools can make a mashup. But Pittsburgh-based computer maestro Girl Talk (known to the IRS as Gregg Gillis) has turned the cut-and-paste process into a jams-packed jigsaw puzzle. His latest album, Feed the Animals (released digitally in June with hard copies out September 23), brims with 300 song snippets in just over 50 minutes (compared to around 250 in his previous effort). “People want to see the bar raised,” Gillis says.

From waxy.org: There are 14 tracks on Feed the Animals, with a total of 264 sampled songs. “What It’s All About” and “Like This” have 26 sampled songs each, tying for the most, while “Don’t Stop” has the fewest at 11 songs. Overall, the album averages 19.8 songs sampled per track.

photographed in Garden of the Gods, Colorado on July 19, 2007

Rock climbers have a history of shunning organization. They have their own rules, their codes of conduct, but face the outside world somewhat defensively. According to climbers, too many people don’t comprehend that climbing is, in the words of Steve Young, the executive secretary of the American Mountain Guides Association, “a complicated activity with many substrata.”

Four branches are ice climbing; mountaineering (as in Mount Everest); competition climbing within a time framework, and wall climbing on the artificial indoor walls that are popping up in urban areas as exercise devices. Each has its special techniques, equipment, lore and devotees.

People are introduced to rock climbing through friends mostly, possibly by a college outdoors club, an adventure oufitter, climbing schools and guides.

No one recommends that you start on your own.

Excerpted from ‘Rock Climbing: The Experience is the Thing‘ in the New York Times, published September 28, 1991.

photographed in San Francisco, California on September 24, 2006

After two decades of progress, the campaign to control smog from cars and trucks is now losing ground because of an enormous increase in the number of vehicles on the road. Experts believe that new anti-pollution strategies may be needed to hold hazardous exhaust emissions in check.

Engineers are already conducting research on small demonstration projects to improve catalytic converters, to prevent gasoline vapors from escaping into the air at the pump, to make engines more efficient, and to develop alternative fuels that are cleaner than gasoline and diesel fuel.

But even these measures may not be enough. Some experts believe that the internal combustion engine must eventually be replaced by cleaner electric power if air pollution is to be brought under permanent control.

Technical innovations in the United States in the past two decades have substantially reduced some of the pollutants to which city-dwellers are exposed. Since 1970, when the Clean Air Act was passed, emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide from the average car have been lowered by 90 percent, and nitrogen oxides by 75 percent. The chief tools in controlling automobile emissions have been the catalytic converter, which transforms dangerous gases into less harmful ones, improved engine designs and reduction of the lead content in gasoline.

Excerpted from ‘New Tactics Emerge In Struggle Against Smog‘ in the New York Times, published February 21, 1989.

photographed in Kraemer, Louisiana on October 4, 2008

The camouflage systems in the natural world are an important mechanism in maintaining the complex balance between species. Many such systems have evolved, largely because they are effective at all levels of the food chain, benefiting both predator and prey. For the hunted, protective strategies such as concealment allow individuals to remain inconspicuous and avoid life-threatening confrontations (defensive camouflage). Hunters, on the other hand, require a stealthy approach for successful attack, and remaining undetected greatly improves their chances of catching their next meal (offensive camouflage). 

Vision often represents the front line is predator/prey identification and is therefore the primary target for deception. By blending into the surrounding environment through ‘cryptic coloration’ or ‘mimicry’, through ‘obliterative shading’ schemes such as ‘countershading’ (see pages 74 to 75), or by utilising ‘disruptive patterns’ which serve to break up sharply defined outlines and distort shape and depth, many animals remain obscured and unidentified. 

Excerpted from DPM Disruptive Pattern Material: An Encyclopaedia Of Camoflage: Nature, Military, Culture by Hardy Blechman, published 2004.

photographed in Hays, Kansas on September 30, 2006

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Georges Claude, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at 48 Rue St. Lazare, Paris, in the Republic of France have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systems of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

In the specification annexed to a French patent filed in the name of Mr. Georges Claude on the 7th March 1910 and which relates to lighting by luminescence of the rare gases of the atmosphere and especially of neon it has been pointed out that the properties of these gases are very largely attenuated by the presence of traces of other gases and especially of nitrogen. Consequently (and with the exception, in accordance with one of the characteristics of the prior invention referred to above, of the method of separate scavengings with a specially prepared and absolutely pure gas) it is necessary to employ an exceedingly efficacious purification process on the spot in order attain a high degree of purity of the neon which fills the tubes notwithstanding the liberation of the gases occluded in the walls or in the electrodes during the “formation” of the said tubes.

Some particulars as to the formation will be given here and it will be recalled or observed that the essential feature of the process consists of providing the tubes a with receptacles b filled with wood or cocoa nut charcoal which at the temperature of the liquid air will absorb the impurities of the rare gases employed or the air introduced owing to defective manipulation, or the occluded gases in proportion as they are liberated. 

Excerpted from United States patent #1,125,476, “System of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes,” by Georges Claude. Patented Jan. 19, 1915. 

photographed in Goodland, Kansas on September 29, 2008

Van Gogh loved art with passion, and with an equal passion he also loved literature. Pictures and books, beyond all else, were the spiritual powers which gave a meaning to his existence. The problem for him was how to combine them.

During the first ten years of his development, the picture and the book represented two magnetic poles to which he, by turns, felt attracted. His home, the vicarage, for natural reasons, was a distinctly bookish environment, and his bent in that direction must have been accentuated by his schooling. But even in those early days his incipient interest in pictures is discernible: some drawings made by van Gogh during his school-days after reproductions of well-known paintings have recently come to light …

“I have,” declared the newly-fledged artist, “a more or less irresistible passion for books, and I want continually to instruct myself, to study, if you like, just as much as I want to eat my bread.”

Excerpted from Van Gogh and Literature by Carl Nordenfalk. Copyright 1947 the Warburg Institute. 

photographed in Bellevue, Nebraska on September 27, 2008

“There are only two alternatives,” General Steele said. He paused and looked round the long table. The President, at the head of the table, was inclining slightly forward to listen. The Secretaries of State and Defence were at his right and left hand respectively, and between them and the service chiefs the intervening seats were occupied by the heads of Atomic Energy Commission, Central Intelligence Agency, Civil Defence, and F.B.I.. It was almost, but not quite, a full meeting of the National Security Council. Only two or three members were missing, and they were out of Washington …

“Tell him this,” the President said, his words coming slowly and distinctly. “Tell him in an hour and a quarter from now his major cities, including Moscow, will be taken out. He’ll be available.”

“Taken out?” the aide queried.

“Taken out, destroyed, obliterated, phrase it how you like. The words don’t matter. The cities and the people do.” He paused, considering carefully what else there was to be said. “Tell him also,” he continued very quietly, “I’m greatly afraid I won’t be able to prevent it.”

Excerpted from Red Alert by Peter Bryant, which inspired Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. 

photographed in Hollywood, California in 1949

AP – 10:27 AEST Thu Dec 1 2005. Gregory Peck’s Hollywood star is reborn. Gregory Peck’s star was reborn on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after the original was cut out and stolen by someone with a cement saw and “very good taste,” as one official said.

A replacement of the world famous pink star set in a black square was unveiled on Hollywood Boulevard by Hollywood’s honorary mayor, Johnny Grant, who appealed for the original to be returned.

Grant, a former radio and TV star who is now chairman of the Hollywood Historic Trust, said the star that had honoured Peck for more than 40 years had disappeared sometime in the last two weeks.

“It was somebody who knew how to use a cement saw and was probably dressed as a construction worker,” Grant said. Whoever it was had very good taste. You know now you can’t sell it,” Grant said in a message to the mystery thief.

“This has become a worldwide story. If you’ll just bring it back and leave it right here, I’ll forget the whole thing happened.”

Peck’s star is the fourth to be stolen since the Walk of Fame honouring film, TV and radio celebrities was begun along a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard in 1960. Those of Gene Autry, Jimmy Stewart and Kirk Douglas all disappeared during construction projects several years ago.

There are more than 2,000 show business figures with stars on the Walk of Fame which snakes across Hollywood Boulevard as a major tourist attraction.

Peck, who died in 2003 at the age of 87, was one of Hollywood’s best-loved stars, known for his quietly heroic roles. He won an Oscar for his performance as lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and appeared in Roman Holiday and The Guns of Navarone.

As reported by 9News.

photographed in Hebron, Kentucky on October 30, 2005

Gasoline is one of the major fuels consumed in the United States and the main product refined from crude oil. Consumption in 2007 was about 142 billion gallons, an average about 390 million gallons per day and the equivalent of about 61% of all the energy used for transportation, 44% of all petroleum consumption, and 17% of total U.S. energy consumption. About 47 barrels of gasoline are produced in U.S. refineries from every 100 barrels of oil refined to make numerous petroleum products. Most gasoline is used in cars and light trucks. It also fuels boats, recreational vehicles, and farm, construction, and landscaping equipment. While gasoline is produced year-round, extra volumes are made and imported to meet higher demand in the summer. Gasoline is delivered from oil refineries mainly through pipelines to an extensive distribution chain serving about 167,500 retail gasoline stations in the United States.1 There are three main grades of gasoline that are based on octane levels: regular, mid-grade, and premium. Premium grade is the most expensive; the price difference between grades is generally constant at about ten cents per gallon.

As noted in the picture, a gallon of regular, 87-octane gasoline was $2.299 on October 30, 2005. The United States average for the week ending October 31, 2005, was $2.438. Bringing us to the current day, for the week ending October 13, 2008, the average country-wide price was $3.109 and, for the period from October 31, 2005 through October 13, 2008, the average price was $2.851.

Data and explanation taken from the Energy Information Administration of the United States.