Pachinko Players, Shinjuku, Tokyo, originally uploaded by blather.

Pachinko Players, Shinjuku, Tokyo. The noise from theses places is incredible - I don't know how the people inside can deal with it. Seems like a bit of a national addiction!

There are several kinds of pachinko machines and parlor regulations, but most of them conform to a similar style of play. Players purchase metal balls which are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. The pachinko machine has a digital slot machine on a large screen in the center of its layout, and the objective is to ge three numbers or symbols in a row - striking the jackpot.

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Shinjuku Skyline, Tokyo, originally uploaded by blather.

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Shinjuku Skyline, Tokyo's skyscraper district. I took this from a 12th floor apartment belonging to a friend. Shinjuku is Tokyo's ommercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world (Shinjuku Station), and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.

Posted by Dave at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Parade with shrine during 2008 Kanda Matsuri festival, Tokyo., originally uploaded by blather.

Parade with shrine during 2008 Kanda Matsuri celebrations, Tokyo carrying a golden mikoshi or shrine. While the parades during even numbered years are nowhere near the magnitude of the odd numbered years, these partipants - born in bred in Kanda (or central Edo, as Tokyo was once known), are known as Edokkos, and they are proud to be known as an energetic, high-spirited community.

The festival is also known as Tenka Matsuri - the Shogun Festival. It is one of the three biggest festival in Japan.This festival was permitted to enter the Edo Castle (the Imperal Palace)in Edo period.

During the festival lots of Mikoshi or portable shrines, are carried by crowds of local people and paraded throughout Kanda and Nihonbasi towns.

Mikoshis are beautiful gold and black lacquer portable versions of the shrine's kamis or deities, taken out on a march through the streets of the town, so that blessings - in the shape of luck and prosperity are given to the area and the people who liver the. The more the mikoshi is shaken, the more blessings the god will give!

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Braided river, Denali National Park, Alaska, originally uploaded by blather.

Braided river, Denali National Park, Alaska

In the central plain, seen from Polychrome mountain.

A braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load. Braided channels are also typical of environments that dramatically decrease channel depth, and consequently channel velocity, such as river deltas, alluvial fans and peneplains.

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Tolkat River, Denali National Park, Alaska, originally uploaded by blather.

Tolkat River, Denali National Park, Alaska, a braided river of glacial deposits. Taken near the ranger station, having hopped off the shuttle bus.

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Get high resolution version: Mute Swan nesting on the Tolka River, Dublin, originally uploaded by blather. Look underneath the swan - you can see the eggs!

Mute Swan nesting on the Tolka River, Dublin, near Ballybough Bridge or Luke Kelly Bridge, on the road to Fairview. Not sure if this was the male or female - they share the nesting work, tho the male usually stands guard while the female sits. The previous day I had seen both at the nest, but the light wasn't good. There was a batch of large eggs in the clutch - they produce around six eggs, sometimes up to ten or eleven. It takes about 35 days before they hatch - lets hope these ones will be safe from cats and globshitey humans.

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Get high resolution: Wave breaking over Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Wave breaking over Iceberg in the Southern Ocean. That's a couple of petrels you can see flying by the lower part of the berg, gives a sense of scale.

Posted by Dave at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Get high resolution version: Polychrome Mountain, Denali National Park, originally uploaded by blather.

Polychrome Mountain, Denali National Park, Alaska

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Get high quality version: Lonely Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae , originally uploaded by blather.

Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae - in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica. In 1830, French explorer Dumont d'Urville named them for his wife, Adélie.

Continue reading "Lonely Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae" »

Posted by Dave at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Black browed Albatross, Southern Ocean, originally uploaded by blather.
Get high resolution photograph of endangered black browed albatross »

Black- browed Albatross or mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys in front of a Southern Ocean wave. Yet another albatross on the World Conservation Union's Red List - listed as endangered

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Grey Headed Albatross, originally uploaded by blather.
Get high resolution photograph of the Grey Headed albatross »

Grey Headed Albatross, Thalassarche chrysostoma, Southern Ocean, 21st December 2007.

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Wandering Albatross, Southern Ocean, originally uploaded by blather.
High resolution photograph of the wandering albatross»

Massive 3m+ wingspans on these guys - the biggest wingspan of any bird. And really difficult to get a satisfying photograph of...

They're listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN - this is mostly caused by long line fishing.

wildlife; seabird; albatross; southern; ocean; bird; nature; Diomedea exulans; antarctica; antarctic; range; circumpolar; polar; great; flight; animals; icun; vulnerable

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National Geographic Traveller's Intelligent Travel blog have just used my Blue Ice photo in an article about
Antarctica's White Noise

Scientists at the Perennial Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean understand this concept, and have bottled the sounds of the Antarctic for the world to appreciate with "an acoustic live stream of the Antarctic underwater soundscape."

Posted by Dave at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Suburban reflections, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Canal and apartments near Heemstedestraat, Amsterdam. I spotted this while walking from the Greenpeace office in Amsterdam. My colleague, Brian, told me "go photograph Amsterdam, you always see it differently to me", but I don't think anyone was expecting that I'd find my photograph just the other side of the Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol airport line from the office.

Posted by Dave at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tom Park Fountain, Napier, New Zealand, originally uploaded by blather. Download the high resolution version »

Tom Park Fountain, Napier, New Zealand. Napier is New Zealand's Art Deco town - completely rebuilt in 1931 after an earthquake. Tom Parker owned a men's outfitters shop in Hastings Street and was a colourful town character who made many gifts to worthy causes and to the city.

On one of his regular visits to Britain he was impressed by a modern, illuminated fountain at Bournemouth. On returning to Napier he donated £1,000 for a similar fountain which was built on an area previously occupied by a children's playground.

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ANZAC War Memorial, Sydney, Australia,, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

ANZAC War Memorial, Sydney, Australia. Finished in 1934 after designs and art by C. Bruce Dellit and sculptor Rayner Hoff, it commemorates the Australian War dead of World War One.

Many of the original sculptures didn't make it in the memorial, thanks to censure by the Catholic church, and its bishop, Michael Sheehan.

Continue reading "ANZAC War Memorial, Sydney, Australia" »

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Tap Taipei 101, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

From a brief stopover in Taipei last year. This is the top of the famous Taipei 101 - it took forever to walk to it!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This 101 floor skyscraper, over 500m high, is in Taipei, Taiwan. As of November 2007, it was the world's tallest completed skyscraper. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, it can be seen from all over Taipei and it is built to withstand typoons and earthquakes. The Burj Dubai in Dubai will soon overtake the Taipei 101 for height.

The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each. In Chinese-speaking cultures the number eight is associated with abundance, prosperity and good fortune. In cultures that observe a seven-day week the number eight symbolizes a renewal of time (7+1). In digital technology the number eight is associated with the byte, the basic unit of information.

The repeated segments simultaneously recall the rhythms of an Asian pagoda (a tower linking earth and sky, also evoked in the Petronas Towers), a stalk of bamboo (an icon of learning and growth), and a stack of ancient Chinese ingots or money boxes (a symbol of abundance). The four discs mounted on each face of the building where the pedestal meets the tower represent coins. The emblem placed over entrances shows three gold coins of ancient design with central holes shaped to imply the Arabic numerals 1-0-1.[9]

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Mirror Lake on the road from Te Anu to Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand, originally uploaded by blather.. Get the high resolution version »

Mirror Lake on the road from Te Anu to Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand.

This is an old photo from four years ago, shot on my old Sigma SD-9 - terrible camera, this one of the half decent shots though.

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Doubtful Sound, Fjordland, New Zealand, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Doubtful Sound, Fjordland, New Zealand - named by Captain Cook, has he was unsure that he could navigate it by sail - and he worried that if he entered, he might not get back out.

Without doubt (pun?), one of the coldest places I've ever been in my life. It was July, so Southern Hemisphere winter, in a region that gets 8 metres of rain a year, and I was wearing seven layers on my upper body. Yet, I couldn't get warm.

But mindblowingly beautiful.

Photo made July 2004

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Young acrobats practicing in Peace Park, Taipei, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

This was a surprise - instead of just "hanging out" on the weekends, young taiwanese acrobats throw each other up in the air in the Peace Park, Taipei- and no safety net!

Posted by Dave at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terry, protestor at Rath Lugh camp, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Terry, activist from Cork, standing beside a stream that now runs under the partly built M3 motorway that is controversially cutting through the national monument of Rath Lugh, an ancient promontory fort that was a defensive position for the Hill of Tara, the sea of the High Kings of Ireland. Behind Terry is a large mound of construction rubble. The trees in the photograph will be cleared by the motorway construction.

Posted by Dave at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The woods at Rath Lugh, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

The Woods at Rath Lugh, near Skryne or Skreen Co. Meath. These woods on the the esker and beside the promontory fort of Rath Lugh that are currently being threatened by the construction of the M3 motorway between Dublin and Navan.

Posted by Dave at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Woods at Rath Lugh, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

The Woods at Rath Lugh, near Skryne or Skreen Co. Meath. These woods on the the esker and beside the promontory fort of Rath Lugh that are currently being threatened by the construction of the M3 motorway between Dublin and Navan.

Posted by Dave at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tara activist JP Fay in his hut at Tara, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Tara activist JP Fay in his hut at Tara. Fay, from Trim has been one of the long-term activists in fighting the M3 motorway's path through the Tara area. He and other proposed an alternative route that was turned down, and was one of the "Tara Four" jailed for refysing to bail conditions to stay away from the construction site.

Posted by Dave at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Poet and Tara protestor and poet Kieron Murray, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Poet and Tara protestor Kieron Murray, also known as Kyrie Murray, reading poetry in a hut at the Hill of Tara.

Posted by Dave at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny at The Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, originally uploaded by blather.Get the high resolution version »

The Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny at The Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland until the 6th century AD. This standing stone is on the Inauguration Mound, and in legend it was the Coronation Stone for Irish High Kings into the 6th Century AD.

The Hill of Tara is located near Dunshaughlin and Navan, and the River Boyne.

Also in legend, the stone was supposed to have been brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé Danann - a magical race who once ruled Ireland. The Lia Fail itself was supposed to have magical properties - when a rightful king put his feet on it, it would roar for joy, and would rejuvenate a king to give him a long reign.

Cúchulainn split it with his sword when it failed to cry out under his protegé, Lugaid Riab nDerg, and from then on it never roared again, except under Conn of the Hundred Battles and Brian Boru.

You've got to admit though, it's a bit of a phallic symbol - author Michael Slavin suggests that the king had to wed the Goddess of Sovereignty. However, it appears she was wearing a strap on!

Posted by Dave at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

The Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland until the 6th century AD. It's located near Dunshaughling and Navan, and the River Boyne.

Posted by Dave at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

The Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath Co. Meath, ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland until the 6th century AD. The Mound is an ancient passage tomb, from between 2500 and 3000 BC, and has impressive spiral artwork inside. Facing directly east, the door is matched with sunrise on both equinoxes. Despite being quite small, some 250-500 bodies were buried inside, this continued right up to 1600-1700 BC.
Bizarrely, the mound was dug up in the early 20th century by the British Israelites, we thought that the Ark of the Covenant was buried inside!

Posted by Dave at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »Get the high resolution version »

of Tara, Co. Meath

The Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath Co. Meath, ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland until the 6th century AD. The Mound is an ancient passage tomb, from between 2500 and 3000 BC, and has impressive spiral artwork inside. Facing directly east, the door is matched with sunrise on both equinoxes. Despite being quite small, some 250-500 bodies were buried inside, this continued right up to 1600-1700 BC.
Bizarrely, the mound was dug up in the early 20th century by the British Israelites, we thought that the Ark of the Covenant was buried inside!

Posted by Dave at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Security men on the slope of Rath Lugh, where the M3 Motorway cuts through it, originally uploaded by blather. Get the high resolution version »

Security men on the slope of Rath Lugh, where the M3 Motorway cuts through it. Rath Lugh is an ancient bronze age promontory fort currently tagged for considerable damage destruction by the construction of the M3 motorway between Dublin and Navan. Protestors are camped in the woods, in oposition to the construction work.

Posted by Dave at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)