Thursday, November 18, 2010

Abraham Bloemaert: The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

PD Image: The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis (1638), oil on canvas painting by Dutch painter Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651), dimensions 193.7 cm x 164.5 cm (76.26 in x 64.76 in), located at the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Peter Paul Rubens: The Three Graces

PD Image: The Three Graces (1620-1624), oil on panel painting by artist (s) of the workshop of the Dutch painter and sculptor, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), dimensions 119 cm x 99 cm (46.85 in x 38.98 in)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Young women posing in swimsuits, 1940s

Public Domain Photo: Young women posing in swimsuits on sand dune, 1940s, physical description: glass transparency: applied color ; 8 x 10 in, DER glass lantern slides, found at State Library and Archives of Florida, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA.

Source for this public domain photo: http://ibistro.dos.state.fl.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5?library=PHOTO&item_type=PHOTOGRAPH&searchdata1=Ep05

Blood Lily (Scadoxus multiflorus)

Public Domain Photo: A visitor photographs a blood lily (Scadoxus multiflorus) at the Fairchild Tropical Garden, located in the south of Miami on an 83-acre site between historic Old Cutler Road and Biscayne Bay. The Garden is internationally renowned for its collections of palms, cycads, and other tropical plants, including many rare and endangered species of plants.

Blood Lily (Scadoxus multiflorus) is also known by names such as Football Lily, Powderpuff Lily, Poison Root, Fireball Lily, etc. The Scadoxus, having close affinities with Haemanthus from which it has been separated only recently, is a genus of 9 species native to tropical Africa. As a garden plant, or indoor plant, it is cultivated in many parts of the world, notably in North America, Europe and some parts of Asia. The plant can live in the most neglected conditions, with the least care. The ideal climate is tropical, and it may not withstand extreme cold conditions. Mostly one bulb produces a solitary bunch of flowers consisting of up to 200 individual flowers in a season, or annually. The size of the flower can be as big as a football, and it is interesting to watch as a stalk may come up from a dormant bulb from below the ground and produce a bunch of flowers, and a few leaves may grow up, mostly after the flowers wither away.

More public domain photos of Blood Lily flowers and a plant with a bud and leaves are below.





Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lt. Kelly Lanning and his wife Megan O'Brien enjoy a Pedi Cab ride

Public Domain Photo: Lt. Kelly Lanning and his new wife, Megan O'Brien, enjoy a Pedi Cab ride following their wedding, New York, June 11, 2009.

Lt. Kelly Lanning and his new wife, Megan O'Brien, enjoy a Pedi Cab ride following their wedding ceremony on Military Island in Times Square. They joined four other military couples pledging their love and commitment for each other as well as the country in a ceremony covered widely by the New York media. A small number of family and friends were on hand to witness the ceremony coordinated by WE TV and the USO of Metropolitan New York.

Source: U.S. Air Force photo by Cpt. Angela Webb

Rembrandt: Simson, an der Hochzeitstafel das Rätsel aufgebend

Public Domain Image: Simson, an der Hochzeitstafel das Rätsel aufgebend (a 1638 painting depicting Samson's marriage feast in which he delivers the puzzle), oil on canvas painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), dimensions 126.5 cm x 175.5 cm, located at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany.

Dimensions: 2560×1817 pixels, , size: 493 KB

When Samson (also spelled as Shimshon, Simson, Shamshoun or Sampson) grows up to adulthood, he leaves his hills people to see the cities of the Philistines, where he falls in love with a Philistine woman and he decides to marry her. On the way to her house to ask for the woman's hand in marriage, Samson is attacked by a lion but he easily grabs it and rips it apart as he is blessed with divine powers, and reaches the Philistine's house and wins her hand in marriage. On his way to the wedding, Samson notices that bees have nested in the carcass of the lion and have made honey. He drinks some honey and gives some to his parents. At the wedding feast, Samson offers the puzzle, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet", to his thirty Philistine groomsmen, and promises them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, if they can solve it. The puzzle relates to his eating honey, on his second encounter with the lion (carcass). Failed and infuriated, the 30 Philistines tell Samson's wife to discover the answer and tell them, and threatens to burn her and her father's household if she does not do so. On the tearful imploring of his bride, Samson tells her the solution, which she reveals to the thirty groomsmen.

Monday, November 15, 2010

An F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Wisconsin Air National Guard

Public Domain Photo: An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter-bomber aircraft from the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard sits on the runway in Madison, Wisconsin on June 28, 2008, during an American Independence Day celebration and fireworks display - DoD photo by Joe Oliva, U.S. Air Force. Dimensions and size: 3000×2300 pixels, 597 KB.

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Sunday, November 14, 2010

Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, SNP


Public Domain Photos: Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, Sequoia National Park in California

The Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park in California so that visitors can drive their cars through it. The tunnel is 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and 17 feet (5.2 meters) wide. In December 1937, a sequoia tree, 275 feet (83.8 meters) tall and 21 feet (6.4 meters) in diameter, fell across the Crescent Meadow Road due to natural causes. In the following summer, a Civilian Conservation Corps crew cut a tunnel through the tree.

Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand

Public Domain Photo: Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand. Dimensions and size: 1746×1176 pixels, 121 KB

Klong Phrao Beach is in Ko Chang Island (or Koh Chang), the second largest island of Thailand located on the east coast, 310 km away from Bangkok, near the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a mountainous island known for several waterfalls, coral reefs and rainforests. Ko Chang, surrounded by 51 other islands, has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade. About 85% of the island is part of the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park. Besides its seafood, Ko Chang has plenty of spas comprising of various forms of massage, aromatherapy, herbal scrub, and reflexology. Koh Chang nightlife and bar scene have become popular tourist attractions.

There are plenty of white sandy beaches dotted with hotels and resorts. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a variety snakes, deer, stump-tailed macaque, the small Indian civet, the Javan mongoose, and over 60 birds species. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, kayaking/ canoeing, diving, jungle hiking, mountain biking, and elephant trekking. Hat Kai Bae, a sloping and long stretch of beach connecting with Klong Phrao Beach, is suitable for swimming.

John Klatt flies the Staudacher S-300D aerobatic stunt plane


Public Domain Photos: Major John Klatt, a pilot from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing and a civilian aerobatic pilot, flies a Staudacher S-300D, a world class aerobatic stunt plane crafted by John Staudacher (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Don Nelson, 115 FW/PA).

Major John Klatt is a pilot from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth, Minnesota. Klatt partners with the Air National Guard to assist in their recruiting efforts at air shows across the United States. In addition to his performances at the air shows, Maj. Klatt provides incentive flights to recruiters and Guard volunteers to promote the Air National Guard. When Maj. John Klatt is not flying the C-130 turboprop transport aircraft around the world or the F-16 Fighting Falcon in air support and combat operations for the U.S. Air Force, he serves as a first officer with a major U.S. commercial airline. Each year ‘The John Klatt Air Show’ participates in 18 to 20 air shows contracted by the Air National Guard (ANG).

The Staudacher S-300D (in the photos above), which is capable of pulling more than 20 G’s, which is twice the load of the F-16C Fighting Falcon, is a world class aerobatic airplane, and each plane is differently crafted to suit the pilot’s requirements by John Staudacher in the Bay City, MI area.

Piazza Carlo Alberto (Carl Albert Square), Turin, Italy

Public Domain Photo: Piazza Carlo Alberto (Carl Albert Square) is in Turin (Torino), a major city which is a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch. Before 1842 Piazza Carlo Alberto was the garden of the Palazzo Carignano, and in 1842 a park was opened here for the general public. The monument dedicated to Carlo Alberto stands at the center of the square. Piazza Carlo Alberto also houses the famous National University Library.

Dimension and size: 2592×1944 pixels – 1230 KB

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