“…The Cave Rescue Organization, the oldest cave-rescue group in Britain, says it has responded to 2,927 episodes since its founding in 1935. Of those, 745 were in caves; the rest were on mountains and in disused mines or other locations.
“The all-volunteer group says the episodes involved 4,193 people and hundreds of animals, including 252 lambs, 226 sheep, 79 dogs, nine cows, nine ducks, one rabbit and one cat.” (NYTimes)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
Dinosaur Feathers!
A dinosaur with feathers? Well I’m sure!
The spectacle’s more than I can endure.
Next, mules are born with earrings, snakes have knees,
And furry goldfish populate the seas.
I can just as well believe those things
As that a dinosaur ever had wings.
Oh, dear! Now I must eat my words. Here goes:
One dinosaur had quills, the record shows.
It found the nerve, it seems, to fly around.
Who knew a dinosaur could leave the ground?
The fellow flapped and soared, knew how to glide
With help from feathers poking from its hide.
Its moniker is Archaeopteryx.
It was the granddaddy of ducks and chicks,
Of all our feathered friends, the ones that fly,
And those that only walk when they go by.
Archie had a look that was absurd:
Some three-fourths reptile and one quarter bird.
He had a wishbone, teeth and claws and tail,
A set of feathers like a coat-of-mail.
They have deduced that Archie dressed in black,
Supposing that it helped avoid attack.
I’m glad that I have met this crazy coot,
Whose featheredness I thought was such a hoot.
I daydream now about an ancient throng
Of bird-o-saurs endowed with dino-song.
Reference
http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Dinosaur-bird-had-black-feathers-20120124
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
“As an attitude…, epistemic skepticism consists in always second-guessing your own judgments — about yourself, other people and situations; always monitoring those judgments to make sure you’re seeing clearly, have the facts right, aren’t making any unfounded inferences or deceiving yourself, etc. Women are particularly skilled at this because their judgment, credibility and authority start to come under attack during puberty, as part of the process of gender socialization… But the benefit is precisely this self-critical attitude — of careful review of and reflection on the adequacy of one’s own thought processes.”
(Adrian Piper, quoted by Lauren O’Neill-Butler, “Adrian Piper Speaks! For Herself,” NYTimes)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
Bake bread and break it.
Give kids an uphappy bringing.
Untied we stand.
“Magna Farta” (Oliver Cromwell)
“…Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness….” (Deuteronomy 32:15)
“A dream sullied is not a lie.” (David Brooks)
“Free your mind and your ass will follow.” (George Clinton)
“People take pleasure in giving power to the indecent.” (Seneca)
“One very important condition of writing a novel is not to try to understand everything. It’s best to observe the facts without necessarily having a theory.” (Michel Houellebecq)
“… The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way.” (John Ruskin)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
The District Education Improvement Committee Meeting
Her purse is propped against the leg
That folds beneath the table’s end.
The purse is not adjacent to
Her folded arm, her lotioned hand.
She props her glasses on her nose,
She palms her chin and furrows brow.
The sup’rintendent makes his point:
“Here’s what I want.” She questions how.
A finger rises to require
Attention from its fellow hands.
The super finds a place to pause.
The finger asks how much he spends.
The secretary takes her notes,
The members doodle on their pads.
The meeting lasts, and lasts some more,
Like a parade of millipedes.
Attrition takes a grievous toll.
This one, that one, they take their leave.
A matter presses, duty calls —
For now it’s done, what they improve.
The ones remain who stand and stretch,
Who faced the grim agenda down.
Theirs be the praise, the accolade,
Defenders of the cap and gown.
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
My first reblog. Still learning. I like your approach. Great pictures.
This is my first blog post. I try to do simple and honest photography with very little manipulation of the images. I hope you enjoy them. I am not criticizing others who use a great deal of manipulation with their images such as photo-shop; for me it is important to try to see and capture the image as true and honestly as possible. This is why when I take photos of people, I prefer candid shots over posed. Candid shots capture true feelings and can tell a real story about those people. Too many memories can be lost by posed shots.
In my landscapes I also hope to capture the reality of the space as I see it. The most I will ever do to an image is cropping. I hope the physical nature of the image and its story comes through in my pictures.
A Bridge On The St…
View original post 15 more words
Convergence1, JMN, photo. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
THE BOOK OF JOB
The Job is hard.
Do the Job.
Convergence2, JMN, photo. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
PERMUTATIONS
I don’t pretend to know how you don’t understand me.
I don’t understand how you pretend not to know me.
I don’t know how you pretend not to understand me.
I pretend not to understand how you don’t know me.
I understand how you don’t pretend not to know me.
Convergence3, JMN, photo. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
PLAINT
Trolls behind stalking horses: personal bêtes noires. It’s hard to get your bearings when you’re awash in fake mendacity — impressions disguised as opinions, innuendo pretending to be rumor.
Convergence4, JMN, photo. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
DIRECTIONS
Gated Snootery —>
<— Elysian Minefields
Scenic Rout —>
<— Extant Volcano
Beach Retreat —>
Convergence5, JMN, photo. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
BONS MOTS
“Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it. Repeat.” (Jasper Johns, “Notebook”)
“Paul Klee saw drawing as a way of taking a line for a walk.” (Colm Toibin)
“Find the middle tones, lay in the dark accents, and then, finally, the highlights… What’s not indispensable is useless.” (Carolus-Duran, Sargent’s teacher)
“What you see is what you see… A flat surface with paint on it — nothing more.” (Frank Stella)
“Don’t show me your soul. I want to see your foot.” (Balanchine)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
A sliver of Sir Alistair Chichester’s estate lies choked with brome and cocksfoot between the waste water treatment facility of Chichesterton-Upon-Hogg and the ancient Roman quarry. Known to locals as Rumpstone Fallows, the plot has served as a squat for birders and pikies in the past.
The Reverend Llewelyn Bidley-Spaulding, however, in his role as spiritual and temporal counselor to the great man, has sensitized Sir Alistair to the tax benefits of canny philanthropy on the part of persons encumbered with inherited wealth.
In a fit of charity pursuant thereto, Sir Alistair has donated the Fallows to the village for exclusive use as a polo field. Coal miners, barmaids, shopkeepers, petty tradesmen, redundant laborers, errand boys, indeed, bleeders, blokes and berks of every ilk may get a whiff of the sport of kings on a pauper’s budget.
The cost to punters will be only the day’s rate, generously discounted by Sir Alistair, of a stick and pony let from Chichester Stables: twenty-five pounds on Saturdays, thirty-five on Sundays.
Take as a specimen the average miner. From his month’s wage, the ensuing discretionary income is some one-quarter of a Saturday’s polo gear. How long must a chap scrimp in order to realize his dream of joining a quartet for six chukkas on a Sunday? Use fractions.
(Social Math — UK. Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
Not:
Serious —>
<— Kidding
Really —>
<— Ever
Now —>
<— Likely
Hardly –>
Context/Favor/Fashion/Office/Sight:
In —>
<— Out Of
Skinless —>
<— Skinned
Boneless —>
<— Boned
Dead Start —>
<— Small Finish
Smoothies —>
<— Roughies
Rapids —>
<— Calms
-Eyed Coots:
Shifty —>
<— Cock
Cross —>
<— Wall
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
EthicalDative 
Juicy Mystery
My local newspaper has a regular feature entitled “Food Service Inspections for Week Ending <date>.” I scan it devotedly. Food purveyors from all around are assigned demerits, from zero to one hundred.
My newspaper clarifies, helpfully, that “Zero” is the best score.
Infractions are listed in hypnotic detail: “Date-label sausage with seven-day use-by date”; “Keep soap and paper towels at hand sink”; “Employee drinks need lids and straws”; “Wear hairnet or ball cap in kitchen”; “Lift all paper goods off ground”; “Label sugar container”; “Dispose of any used sticky traps”; “Mop sink not being utilized”; “Store raw meats under cooked foods”….
I’ve noticed one admonition that crops up insistently for a stubbornly high number of eateries: “Need bodily fluid clean-up kit.”
I’ve reached a juncture where I need to know what a bodily fluid clean-up kit is, and why so many food places need one. And why, after all this time, do they still not know this? And while we’re at it, what bodily fluids, specifically, are we talking about? My interest has evolved from casual to acute.
On another front, I’m humbled and gratified to learn in today’s report that a nearby town has an establishment called “Bebotyboo, LLC dba Andy’s Quick Stop.”
I pride myself on crafting whimsical names. In my wildest flights of fancy I could not improve on “Bebotyboo.” You’ll be glad to know that the place got only six demerits: “Document times on food out at room temperature and sausage in warmer. Wash hands when entering kitchen and before applying gloves.”
Hats off to Bebotyboo, and Andy, too!
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)