Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 51

19 June 2021 - NEW SPECIES OF TURTLE FOUND IN GALAPAGOS

 

NEW SPECIES OF TURTLE

 FOUND IN GALAPAGOS

 

G'day folks,

A new species of Galápagos tortoise living on Santa Cruz Island within the Galápagos was discovered in 2015.  For years, it was believed that the island had only one species of tortoise - Chelonoidis nigra - known as the Galápagos tortoise. However, a team of researchers found a group of 250 tortoises living on the island that were genetically distinct from the rest of the island’s tortoises.  
DNA testing finally confirmed that they represent a separate species: Chelonoidis donfaustoi. More than appearances, there is a clear geographical separation between these two tortoise species inhabiting the same island.  The discovery of Chelonoidis donfaustoi opens the door for exciting research and understanding how different it is from Chelonoidis nigra.

Clancy's comment: Wow. Another survivor!

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22 June 2021 - PATRICK COMMECY'S FRENCH STREET ART

 

PATRICK COMMECY'S

 FRENCH STREET ART

 

G'day folks,

Patrick Commecy is THE man to call when you're in France and you want to liven up your house or building. He turns boring old building facades into works of 3D art rarely seen, which often play tricks on your eyes and are definitely stunning works of art. Please enjoy some of the most recent artworks of this talented French artist. 





 


Clancy's comment: Some people are so gifted. Go, Patrick!
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7 June 2021 - WOOLWORTHS 'GREAT FIVE CENTS STORE' OPENS IN NEW YORK - 1878

 

WOOLWORTHS 'GREAT FIVE CENTS

 STORE' OPENS IN NEW YORK - 1878

 

G'day folks,

February 22, 1878 — The first “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store” was opened on this day in New York. But although the company would go on to become one of the greatest retail success stories of the 20th century, the original Big Apple business failed. 

It was not until a new store was opened in Pennsylvania the following year that the wonder of Woolworth began to take off.

The man behind it all was Frank Winfield Woolworth who, as a 15-year-old in 1852, gave up working on his father’s farm for a job in a shop. He was soon put in charge of display and stock management and set up a table on which everything cost five cents.

The idea proved so popular that he branched out on his own and the five-cent store was born. Ten cent lines were added in 1881, creating the first Five and Ten Cent store chain.

At the height of its success, the company owned 3,000 stores across the world generating a vast fortune for Frank Woolworth who was able, in 1914, to pay cash for the 792-foot tall Woolworth Building in New York, then the highest building in the world.

Frank said that he could trace his roots back to Cambridgeshire in England and was very keen to expand his retail empire into the old country. This he did in 1909, opening his first store in Liverpool, later to become famous as the home of the Beatles. The UK operation proved to be even more successful and profitable than the US parent and by the mid-1920s a new Woolworths store was opening in Britain every 17 days. 

But the emergence and growth of self-service supermarkets after the Second World War and a management decision to move away from the five-and-ten-cent philosophy proved to be the ultimate death-knell for the chain. By the 1960s, the new retailers were eating into its market share and the decline continued until the 1990s when the US stores were either sold off or shut down. The UK operation outlived its US parent but its collapse in 2008 was far more dramatic. It went from normal trading in 800 stores to complete shutdown in just 41 days.

The latest hit records were always one of the popular products available at any Woolworths store and it is noteworthy that as Frank Woolworth chose the 22nd February to make his mark on the world, so did another legend. On that day in 1956 Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel entered the charts and began its rise to the top.

 

Clancy's comment: And I'm still going to 'Woolies'. Amazing, eh?

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6 June 2021 - COVID 19 OBJECTS MADE INTO ART

 

COVID 19 OBJECTS 

MADE INTO ART

G'day folks,

I have previously covered the work of Japanese artist Tanaka Tatsuya, who crafts miniature scenes out of everyday objects. 

 

His ongoing Miniature Calendar series features a tiny scene for every day of the year - sometimes it’s broccoli plying as a tree or rice balls as mountains. The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced new everyday objects into our lives, like masks and rubber gloves, which used to be strange but are now a completely ordinary part of life. To mirror this “new normal” Tatsuya started incorporating them in his work.

In one image the artist turns a disposable mask into a swimming pool and in another, descending lengths of toilet paper are transformed into ski slopes. These virus-related objects, which usually put us in a serious mood, are turned into fun, exciting landscapes at the hands of the talented Tatsuya.

Clancy's comment: Brilliant. Go, Tanaka Tatsuya!

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3 June 2021 - ISE JINGU - SHINTO SHRINES, JAPAN

 

ISE JINGU 

- SHINTO SHRINES, JAPAN -

 

G'day folks,

Known as "the soul of Japan," Ise Jingu includes 125 Shinto shrines dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu.  While it’s extremely popular, the place is never too crowded and always provides a relaxing and tranquil environment. Every year, more than 1,500 rituals are conducted here to pray for the imperial family and for the peace of the world. Also referred to as the home of the Japanese spirit, you can feel the origins of Japan in this sacred site. Ise Jingu has been a place to correspond with nature for more than 2,000 years and the location attracted tourists from the days before railways and cars.  
With the cedar trees and a clear running stream in the shrine complex, you will find very few environments in the world as soothing as this. Even a short stroll around the place is sure to make you feel calmer and more focused.    Clancy's comment: A peaceful place to chill out.
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11 June 2021 - THE ENCHANTING SHILIN STONE FOREST

 

THE ENCHANTING 

SHILIN STONE FOREST

 

G'day folks,

South China is known for having the most complex and fascinating karst landscapes in the world.

The Shilin stone forest has been a major attraction for thousands of years, and a source of local myths and legend. It is an amazing place to visit, and sees many tourists eager to see the majestic rock formation 'growing' out of the ground. The area is full of caves, springs and underwater streams and rivers to explore.

Imagine a forest full of trees. Now imagine all the trees are actually rocks, 'growing' out of the ground, some of them as old as 270 million years, over an area of 96,000 acres.

The Ashima rock is the most famous formation in the stone forest. An ancient legend claims that the forest is the birthplace of Ashima, a beautiful girl of the Yi people. She had fallen in love but was forbidden to persue it, and instead was turned to stone in the forest that still bears her name. Each year, on June 24th, the locals celebrate the 'torch festival', which includes folk dancing and wrestling competitions.

Karst rock is made of limestone, and this rocky landscape is filled with secret caves and sinkholes, due to undergrounds streams slowly eroding the rock and creating fascinating new structures, so no rock is like the other.

The South China Karst has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site since 2007.

Clancy's comment: Looks like an enchanting place.

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2 June 2021 - THE BLUE CITY OF CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

 

THE BLUE CITY OF 

CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

G'day folks,

Chefchaouen is probably the bluest place in the entire world, and that doesn’t mean that Muddy Waters and B.B. King set up home here! Rather, virtually everything that can be has been painted blue by the locals.

The blueness that sets this city apart from all others has a very curious history. During the 15th century, many Jews were expelled from or fled Spain. Some came to Chefchaouen in Morocco, where they established themselves and began the tradition of painting their homes blue.

For those medieval Jews, blue signified their heavenly Father. It’s amazing to think that even after so many centuries this marvelous tradition has been maintained by the locals.

With the historic founding of Israel shortly after World War II, almost all of the city’s Jewish population took the chance to wave goodbye to Chefchaouen and start a new life back in their true fatherland. However, the city has kept up the Jewish tradition anyway.

It’s the blueness that has made Chefchaeouen one of Morocco’s most famous places, despite being a small city of 43,000 inhabitants. Naturally, the local council make sure the locals have enough paintbrushes to keep the place looking so blue. Yet there is more than just color to see here…

The town center is where you’ll find the city’s old fortress. This was built around the time of the town’s foundation (1471) to protect it from the Portuguese.

Because Chefchaouen is built on a hill, walking around here can really take it out of you, especially during the sunniest and hottest months of the year. However, this is one day well spent, as you can see from these wonderful photographs.

Clancy's comment: Enchanting place, and excellent for photographers.

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14 June 2021 - EXECUTION OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSINS

 

EXECUTION OF 

LINCOLN'S ASSASSINS

 

G'day folks,

After the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, there was a national manhunt for his killers and those involved in the conspiracy to kill the president.

 John Wilkes Booth, the man who pulled the trigger, was killed in a shootout with government troops 12 days after the murder.

Four of the eight people put on trial by a military tribunal for their part in the conspiracy to assassinate the president were sentenced to hang. They were Mary Surratt, whose boardinghouse had been frequented by the conspirators and her tavern had been visited by Booth and David Herold after killing Lincoln; Lewis Powell, who had been tasked with killing Secretary of State William H. Sewardon the night of the assassination; George Atzerodt, who was assigned to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, but lost his nerve; and Herold, who was also tasked with killing Seward.

The conspirators were executed on July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. Mary Surratt thus became the first woman to be executed by the United States government, though after her conviction five jurors recommended clemency; President Andrew Johnson claimed he never received the letter. Her son, John Surratt, was the only person on trial who was not convicted and released.

Clancy's comment: Interesting story. A sad way to die.

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5 June 2021 - ANCIENT TERRACOTTA ARMY FOUND

 

ANCIENT TERRACOTTA 

ARMY FOUND

G'day folks,

In 1974 local farmers digging a well near the Chinese city of Xian came across one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made.

 

 The discovery of a clay warrior figure soon revealed many more by state archaeologists. In fact there may be 8,000 terracotta figures in total, each individually modelled and purposely arranged in three pits to guard the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi HuangDi (246-210 B.C.)

Contemporary court documents indicate the mausoleum was started soon after Emperor Qin took the throne in 246 B.C and continued until unrest in 209 B.C. 

 

Remote sensing and ground-penetrating radar has revealed the whole tomb complex to be almost 38 square miles (98 square kilometers) with the unexcavated Emperor's tomb at the centre.

 

Clancy's comment: The size of this tomb is astounding - 98 square kilometres!

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10 June 2021 - BRILLIANT LIFELIKE ART FROM ARTIST LENG JUN

 

BRILLIANT LIFELIKE ART

 FROM ARTIST LENG JUN

 

G'day folks,

They say the camera changed forever the need for portrait painters to paint realistically, since man is incapable of matching the technology. 

But, when I saw this art work from Chinese painter, Leng Jun, I realized that man can indeed imitate nature as far as the eye can see. Just look at these pictures and try to imagine the deftness of touch and the incredible skill needed to produce them.

Jun, born in 1963 in Sichuan, China, is a modern day master at shadowing. Just like I fondly picture the ultimate creator having done, it seems Jun can create darkness and light from his paintbrush.

Clancy's comment: Stunning detail.

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