Well....if nobody wants to play Conkers with me...I'll eat em instead...:O))))

Well....if nobody wants to play Conkers with me...I'll eat em instead...:O))))

Image by law_keven
Highest Explore Position #380 ~ On October 27th 2008.

Squirrel - St James Park, London, England - Saturday October 25th 2008.
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Well, the weather has been Bobbins here in London today, so it's just as well I had to work all weekend...the opposite of making hey whilst the Sun Shines..lol
So...it's gonna have to be Archived images for the rest of next week, I am afraid...then on Friday, I am heading on a road trip Ooooop North to Scotland, where I will be staying with friends for 4 days...coming back on November the 4th...:O))
I'll be seeing if I can shoot and catch the Mythical beastie that is the Haggis....lol..:O))))
They have one leg longer then the other you know....because they live on a Hill..:O))))

Anyhoo...I'm off to watch the Mighty Hammers get a beating by Arsenal...prediction West Ham 0 v Gooners 6....:O((((
Either that or prey for a miracle..:O))

One last thing...Good luck to Double Agent Redknapp...who has today embarked on his mission to take down and relegate the Evil hmmm..."Empire" of North London....Good Luck Harry...may your reign be swift...and Upton Park awaits your return next season...a seat in the Dug out awaits our undercover secret agent...lol...:O))))

For those that don'r know what "Conkers" are...see below...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ Conkers is a game traditionally played by children in Britain, Ireland and some former British colonies using the nuts of horse-chestnut trees – the name conker is also applied to the nut and to the tree itself. The game is played by two players, each with a conker threaded onto a piece of string: they take turns to strike each other's conker until one breaks.
Origin of name ~ The name comes from the dialect word conker, meaning hard (related to French conque meaning a conch), as the game was originally played using snail shells. The name may also be influenced by the verb conquer, as the game was also called conquerors. Conkers are also known regionally as obblyonkers, cheggies or cheesers.
The game ~ A hole is drilled in a large, hard conker using a nail, gimlet, or small screwdriver. A piece of string is threaded through it about 25 cm (10 inches) long (often a shoelace is used). A large knot at one or both ends of the string secures the conker.
The game is played between two people, each with a conker.
They take turns hitting each other's conker using their own. One player lets the conker dangle on the full length of the string while the other player swings their conker and hits.
Scoring ~ The conker eventually breaking the other's conker gains a point. This may be either the attacking conker or (more often) the defending one.
A new conker is a none-er meaning that it has conquered none yet.
If a none-er breaks another none-er then it becomes a one-er, if it was a one-er then it becomes a two-er etc. In some areas of Scotland, conker victories are counted using the terms bully-one, bully-two, etc.
The winning conker assimilates the previous score of the losing conker, as well gaining the score from that particular game. For example, if a two-er plays a three-er, the surviving conker will become a six-er.
Variations ~ A player is allowed to keep taking shots at the opponent's conker until they miss. When the player misses, the roles swap. If a player just slices the opponent's conker (i.e. does not get a clean hit, often because wind causes the opponent's conker to sway), then both players quickly shout "tips" and the one who in the opinion of onlookers shouted it first, gets to take shots.
The rules played at the world conker championship state that each player has three swings at the opponents conker before the roles are reversed.
If a player should let go of the string when the hit occurs (which often results in the conker travelling quite some distance), whosoever gets to it first wins it.
If a conker should come off the string, but is otherwise undamaged, the attacking player may shout "stampsies" and attempt to stamp on the defending player's conker before they are able to retrieve it.
In some areas, a rule is played whereby if a player takes his shot and the two laces become tangled, the first player who shouts "clinks", "strings", "snags" or "jinks" (depending on the region), gets to take shots. In the Midlands in the 1950s the cry was tingle-tangle five knocks which allowed the fouled player five free knocks and in Dublin "tanglies tanglies one-two-three" allowed the first to take three free shots.
History of Conkers ~ The first recorded game of Conkers using horse chestnuts was on the Isle of Wight in 1848 – the horse chestnut tree is not native to Britain, but was introduced from the Balkans in the late 16th century; it was not widely planted until the early 19th century. Previously, children played with snail shells or hazelnuts.
In 1965 the World Conker Championships were set up in Ashton (near Oundle) Northamptonshire, England, and still take place on the second Sunday of October every year. In 2004, an audience of 5,000 turned up to watch more than 500 competitors from all over the world.
1976 was the first time that a non-British contestant won the Men's World Conker Championship. The Mexican Jorge R. Ramirez took the place of a contestant that was unable to arrive on time at Ashton, and defeated the 1975 champion at the finals. The Men's champion has been British in every other year except 1998 when Helmut Kern from Nauort, Germany, won.
In 1993 ex-Python Michael Palin was disqualified from a Conker Championships in the United Kingdom for baking his conker and soaking it in vinegar.
In 1999, the British charity ActionAid applied for a patent on hardening conkers, in protest at the patenting of life forms by large companies.
2000 saw the first Ladies' champion from outside the UK. Selma Becker, originally from Austria, took the title. Again, the queen of conkers has stayed in the UK, except in 2001 when Frenchwoman Celine Parachou won.
In 2000 a survey of British schools showed that many were not allowing children to play Conkers as head teachers were afraid of the legal consequences if children were injured while playing the game. In 2004 a headmaster was reported to be outfitting pupils with goggles to play the game. This in turn prompted DJs on BBC Radio 1 to start their own Radio 1 Conker Championships. The TV programme Top Gear later staged a game of conkers using mobile homes suspended from cranes. After putting on safety goggles, presenter James May commented "I now feel perfectly happy about being hit in the face by a caravan." Top Gear, along with other media commentators, mistakenly stated that the wearing of goggles during the game was due to an official Health and Safety Executive edict when it was in fact an initiative which the schools themselves had put in place independently.
In America the nuts are simply known as chestnuts or as buckeyes, and the game is not currently played. It was, however, played with great enthusiasm during the late 1950s and early 1960s, by children, in "the Amalgamated" a small Bronx, New York neighbourhood, adjacent to Van Cortlandt Park. The contests, referred to as "Chestnut fights", would take place in the fall when the nuts fell from trees in the park.

Hardening conkers ~ The hardest conkers usually win. Hardening conkers is often done by keeping them for a year (called laggies in many areas or seasoners in Ireland), baking them briefly, soaking or boiling in vinegar, or painting with clear nail varnish.
Such hardening is however usually regarded as cheating. At the British Junior Conkers Championships on the Isle of Wight in October 2005, contestants were banned from bringing their own conkers due to fears that they might harden them. The Campaign For Real Conkers claimed this was an example of over-regulation which was causing a drop in interest in the game. In the World Conker Championship contestants are also restricted to using the conkers provided.
One factor affecting the strength of a conker is the shape of the hole – a clean cylindrical hole is stronger, as it has no notches that can begin a crack or split.
On the television show Brainiac: Science Abuse an experiment took place to see how to best harden one's conker. The best contender was a conker that was rolled around in hand cream – it was suggested that this softened the impact.

Christmas Cottage

Image by Biczzz
Merry Christmas!

A seasonal MOC, made for a contest at Comunidade 0937.

It's a cottage decorated for Christmas. Created using basic bricks and tiles, it's one of my rare buildings.

It was a big effort to create such a thing. My parts collection is oriented to the creation of vehicles, not houses.

Also it doesn't have minifigs, although it is minifig scale. The contest rules would not allow it. Besides, my minifigs are mostly city workers, mechanics and race car drivers.

Inspiration came from many photos and postcards I found on Google.

I wish I could put a V8 and some big tires in there... :D

More photos:
Brickshelf
Picasa

The other entries so far:
Comunidade 0937's MOCs page

Christmas Cottage

Image by Biczzz
Merry Christmas!

A seasonal MOC, made for a contest at Comunidade 0937.

It's a cottage decorated for Christmas. Created using basic bricks and tiles, it's one of my rare buildings.

It was a big effort to create such a thing. My parts collection is oriented to the creation of vehicles, not houses.

Also it doesn't have minifigs, although it is minifig scale. The contest rules would not allow it. Besides, my minifigs are mostly city workers, mechanics and race car drivers.

Inspiration came from many photos and postcards I found on Google.

I wish I could put a V8 and some big tires in there... :D

More photos:
Brickshelf
Picasa

The other entries so far:
Comunidade 0937's MOCs page

Day 95/365 Happy Bench Monday!

Image by Makena G
This is shot in the public tennis courts at the condo where we live.
Raven and I had to pull the bench into the middle of the court so we could get the light and the sunset clouds.

I used the on camera flash, and also my strobe. This time my strobe/speedlight had a little attachment called a slave on it, and i can work that better then 'Commander flash mode'.

Vote here! I was asked by gummyworldlover to share with you all that her photo is in a contest. XD So go an vote!! The photo she chose was really cute. :)
A shot slightly different .

PS it's 10:26 maui time right this very second, and this was shot on a monday, just wanted to make sure all you people at bench monday know i didn't break any rules. XD

ETA: on the 5th of april GMT time my stream/sets/photos were viewed 1,075 times! Thanks so much!

Photocontest for rl and SL

Image by Alice Mastroianni

Colors of Life for Pangea ONLUS in SECOND LIFE
slurl.com/secondlife/WDT%20Planet/47/115/54

The Gallery Art & Design is a space dedicated to art with a singular proposal that deliberately inserts itself into avant-garde trends. After operating in Mexico City and Milan, The Gallery opens its doors in Richmond. In this new effervescent environment of intense cultural activity, The Gallery, closely tied to the conceptual movement, operates as a gathering point for young talented American and international artists.

The Gallery is appreciated by a demanding public for the excellent quality and contemporaneousness of its artists. Focused on the content as well as the high quality of the artwork, The Gallery responds to the aesthetic concerns of a dynamic city by giving a voice and a space to the problems and uncertainties of the different trends that arise in the world of contemporary art.

Colors of Life enters now SECOND LIFE thanks to WDT PLANET



Colors of Life opens its first virtual gallery at WDT PLANET with an exhibition of a selection of the best pictures from the previous two editions of the photo contest.

Photographs on display will be available for purchase in SECOND LIFE with LINDEN DOLLARS and funds collected will be entirely devolved to PANGEA ONLUS, a not for profit Italian organization that works since 2002 to assure valuable and decent conditions of living to women in needs and to improve their own economic and social environment with different instruments such as: education, instruction on human rights, professional training, health education and micro credit to offer them tools and opportunities for concrete recovery.

Vai al sito di Fondazione Pangea

But it's not ended yet!

Colors of Life International Photo Contest opens its doors to all the Second Life's artists. Even virtual photography, in Second Life world, will be eligible to participate to the photo contest, like a real photograph!

The new edition of the photo contest, is diverted, starting from the success of the two previous editions, on two different kind of scenarios: the European one, with its apex in the Milan exhibition and the the USA one.

Call for entries, March 1st 2009 - May15th 2009.
The work of the participants selected by The Gallery will be submitted to a jury of leading international gallery owners, academics and artists in the field for the selection of the Competition winner and the first and second runners-up and two honorable mentions in the Competition.

Funds collected from the sale of the 50 finalists photographs (except for the part due to the arist and possible additional expenses in the evenience those will not be covered by sponsors) will be devolved to Pangea to support Project Jamila.

The collection of the 50 finalists pictures could be used after explicit request by whoever will make a request, to be exhibited in art fairs and private collections or private or institutional cultural associations of the high and undisputed artistic value aiming to support and promote philantropy and not for profit organizations.

First, second, third price and two honorable mentions will be chosen and selected by the official jury and one of the two honorable mentions will be explicitely chosen from the submissions coming from Second Life if the total number of those will be equal or greater than 50 at least.

THEME
"Emotions, Dreams and Thoughts of Humanity"

REGISTRATION

For subscription, entry fee, rules and conditions and all other valuable informations reguarding the photo contest please check colorsoflife.org/photocontest

NOTE: Please remember to specify in the enrty form when submitting your pictures that the photographs have been made in Second Life.


INFORMATION

in Second Life
Yortz Conacher
Alice Mastroianni

mail: photocontest09@colorsoflife.org
info@colorsoflife.org