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Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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On the Road: Special Post for Alain on Monday, and On the Road Going Forward

On The Road

You are here: Home / Archives for Photo Blogging / On The Road

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 14, 20185:00 am| 16 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

This concludes (I think, perhaps I missed something) a bunch of great photos from JR in WV.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, and don’t let the focus on flowers, chocolate, jewelry, eating out, etc. crowd out the simple joy of being with and appreciating the one you love, who luckily loves you. That’s the gift, so appreciate it!

show full post on front page

Today, pictures from valued commenter J R in WV.

This is a set of photos from Two Grey Hills clan of the Navajo Nation. Also known as Toadlina, which is still the name of the local operating trading post, the Toadlina Trading Post. This trading post was closed and vandalized for a decade before a collector of Navajo fabric art bought it, restored it, and operates it as it was operated since 1897.

Two Grey Hills weaving is unique in that the colors in the weaving are not dyed colors, they are the colors of the wool as it grew on the actual sheep of the Two Grey Hills clan. When a shepherd / weaver developed a new color of sheep, a blond almost yellow shade when cleaned and carded, there was tension and anger, and the chapter house required her to sell some of the unique flock so that the jealousy would subside. Some colors are a blend of two sets of wool, and I suspect some black wool is dyed to make it more even.

The trading post accepts weaving from local artists from youngsters just beginning to weavers in their 90s. They issue credit to weavers for supplies, food, wool, tools, etc to be paid by delivery of new rugs, cloaks, or blankets.

Toadlina Trading Post

Taken on 2008-05-29

Two Grey Hills, NM

f/9.0 1/320 sec. 40mm

This is the restored Toadlina Trading Post, home of the well known Two Grey Hills rugs

Inside the front room of the Toadline Trading Post.

Taken on 2008-05-29

In the trading post’s front room

f/3.5 1/60 sec. 27mm w/flash

This room is where tools, food, snacks and weaving supplies are sold for cash or credit for weaving.

Toadlina Weaving Museum

Taken on 2008-05-29

The Museum vault of Toadlina Trading Post

f/4.0 1/60 sec. 27mm w/flash

One of the most important parts of this trading post is the private museum, showing weaving from beginners to advanced artists, from newly finished superior rugs to antique collectible rugs and blankets.

The two rugs on the right are at least a century old and include ancient Navajo symbols as most Two Grey Hills rugs do. I think the rug on the left is somewhat newer and less traditional.

Toadlina Museum

Taken on 2008-05-29

Toadlina Museum

f/4.0 1/60 sec. 27mm flash

This is a set of highly figured Two Grey Hills rugs, looms and photos of weavers. Most of these include some of the unique light brown wool developed by a Two Grey Hills shepherd. All modern rugs sold here include photos of the weaver, the rug with the weaver, and often the sheep that provided the wool. These artists are very proud of their heritage and ability to create such useful art essentially from nothing but their herd and their skill.

Kokopelli Rug

Taken on 2008-05-29

Toadlina Trading Post

f/4.0 1/60 sec. 29mm flash

This is a large Kokopelli rug. Kokopelli is a trickster god of fertility, agriculture and music. In this rug he is surrounded by livestock and other religious symbols I won’t attempt to explain, because i don’t understand them very well myself.

Navajo beliefs include many levels of mystical creatures, most of which have symbols which can be used safely in rugs and other household items. I think this rug is full of them.

Mother and Child Reunion

Taken on 2008-05-29

Two Grey Hills, New Mexico

f/14.0 1/640 sec. 105.0mm

This is the view East from the front porch of the Toadlina Trading Post. One of the Two Grey Hills is in the middle distance, with houses and a ranch view in the foreground, including a beautiful mare and her foal.

The background is miles of New Mexico’s dry plains with a rocky ridge on the far right hand.

 

Thank you so much J R in WV, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (16)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 13, 20185:00 am| 22 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

Today, a bit more from the Southwest, to be concluded tomorrow.

show full post on front page

Today, pictures from valued commenter J R in WV.

Along with the other photo sets from 2008, this is a visit to the Hubbell Trading Post National Park. Mr Hubbell bought this trading post in 1878, just 10 years after the Navajo People were freed to return to their native land. Hubbell and his family owned several trading posts, a stage line, a warehouse/wholesale business in Winslow.

The trading post in Ganado, Arizona hosted travelers and visitors, sometimes as many as 200 people were at the post and had to be fed. In 1967 it was sold to the National Park Service, and is still operated as a traditional Navajo trading post by the non profit Western National Parks Assoc. No flash photos are allowed and the harsh desert sun is kept out for the most part, so the photos are what they are. I have also rendered people unidentifiable.

Arriving at the main building of the Hubbell Trading Post

Taken on 2008-05-30

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
f/5.6 1/8000 sec 27mm Nikon D70s

This was a huge commercial enterprise, ranching, irrigation, farming, hospitality, buying and selling native art, just a ton of activity back in the 1800s and early 1900s. There are over a quarter million financial records associated with the Hubbell family’s business preserved in the Museum for research.

The Rugs, Books and Rifles room

Taken on 2008-05-30

Main Commercial building, Hubbell Trading Post

f/3.5 1/25 sec 27mm

This is one of the still operating commercial rooms at the trading post. Some of these artifacts are just that – museum exhibits Not For Sale, like the antique rifles. But most of the Navajo art is for sale, having been bought or traded for with the weaver, potter, or jeweler. Many of the art works are inexpensive, but just as many run more like the museum-grade artwork they are.

In the Hubbell Family Home Living Room

Taken on 2008-05-30

Hubbell Trading Post, in the family residence

f/5.6 1/6 sec 27mm

This is a large central room that runs completely through the large adobe and stone house. All the furnishings were those of the Hubbell family and most are original antiques from the 1800s.

The lighting is 60 watt bulbs, the sun is blocked by drapery, no flash is allowed, to preserve the fabric and basketry art, photos and paintings preserved from the 1800s and early1900s.

The rug is a modern woven duplicate of the original rug from the 1800s. The original hangs in the Museum. This rug is walked on by visitors all day, every day, and has been since it was woven in the mid 1960s. IIRC it took multiple weavers a couple of years to complete. It is vacuum cleaned every day when the historic site closes, and shows no signs of wear. It is, or course, a classic Ganado style rug.

A Hubbell Family home bedroom

Taken on 2008-05-30

Hubbell Trading Post family residence

f/5.6 1/5 sec. 27mm

This is a typical family bedroom, with a small wood stove, a sewing machine, two beds, art, and Navajo blankets and rugs. You can see at the very top of the photo the huge logs that support the roof, which is probably packed clay, perhaps with a modern membrane over the original building’s roof built with local material.

A guest bedroom, on the other side of the living room, wouldn’t have a sewing machine and may not have a stove.

Outdoor Brick Oven

Taken on 2008-05-30

Part of the outdoor kitchen of the Trading Post, used to feed the hundreds of visitors and travelers who passed through Genado AZ each year.

f/7.1 1/250 sec. 72mm

Mostly used to bake hundreds of loaves of bread each day, original photos show it taller than this

Hubbell Trading Post barn yard

Taken on 2008-05-30

Hubbell Trading Post farming operation behind the commercial sale building.

f/9.0 1/2500 sec. 27mm

This shows some of the corrals and horse-drawn equipment used to farm for the Trading Post. There’s lots more but you can only get so much into a photo. The barns and warehouses are large commercial sized buildings where a year’s supply of hay and feed for the trading post and the town of Genado could be stored.

 

Thank you so much J R in WV, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (22)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 12, 20185:00 am| 25 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

show full post on front page

Today, pictures from valued commenter Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes.

The Hoi An area was stunningly photogenic…

Market Day

Taken on 2018-01-11

Hoi An, Vietnam

There was a gorgeous street market

Home Shrine

Taken on 2018-01-11

South of Hoi An, Vietnam

We took a bicycle tour of the river villages a few miles south of Hoi An. We visited homes, artisan shops, basket boat weavers, sleeping mat weavers and an artisanal rice wine distiller.

The lady is in her 90s

Taken on 2018-01-11

South of Hoi An

She and her son are the last ones in the village making sleeping mats. Once they are gone, mats will have to come from other villages

Piggies

Taken on 2018-01-11

South of Hoi An

These piglets are still nursing. Mom and Dad are fed the rice mash left over from the making of rice wine, about 5% alcohol by volume.

They are all REALLY happy pigs that only have one bad day.

Finished Basket Boat

Taken on 2018-01-11

South of Hoi An

The voids are filled in with fibrous buffalo dung, and then protected with a tree resin for waterproofing. Later, I got to incompetently ride one in the river.

Boat Building

Taken on 2018-01-11

South of Hoi An

This was an awesome moment – these boats take about 6-8 weeks to build by hand. In the background, we heard monks chanting from across the river.

Night in Hoi An

Taken on 2018-01-11

Hoi An

The lanterns come out at night…

 

Thank you so much Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes, do send us more when you can.

There are many more submissions from this trip that we’ll run soon. I’ve even got a few old submissions from months ago we’ll save for a rainy day!

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (25)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 9, 20185:00 am| 24 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

Once again, if it’s Friday, it’s otmar, do prepare to gasp – I warned you!

Next week, more great stuff as I work through so many great submissions from JR in WV and Le Compte and many others.

Have a great weekend everyone!

show full post on front page

Today, pictures from valued commenter otmar.

This week we hosted a small international conference in Vienna’s city center. In order to spice up the day, we organized a guided tour to the state hall of the Austrian national library.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_National_Library for the Wikipedia entry.

This library started as the Hapsburg’s court library, but was accessible to all citizens. The main building is part of the Hofburg complex, the residency of the emperors. Most of the pictures below show the baroque “Prunksaal / State Hall” which was finished in 1723.

Entering the hall.

The oldest book in the collection: from 1368.

The emperor had a statue of himself put in the center of the hall: in a Roman general’s uniform, with Baroque hair, larger than in reality, with a boastful inscription.

Guess what my association was when the guide described this statue?

Frescos in the central cupola.

Book. Lots of books. The big ones in the lower rows, the smaller ones higher up.

Once more the center of the hall.

The new wing of the Hofburg also houses parts of the library but also a different museum.

 

Thank you so much otmar, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (24)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 8, 20185:00 am| 14 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

show full post on front page

Today, pictures from valued commenter Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes.

This set of photos was taken in the vicinity of Hoi An, south of Da Nang and Hue. Hoi An is an old city situated on a river a few miles from the sea. It is known as a city of lanterns, and is loaded with bars and restaurants. At night, the place is magic as the lanterns are lit and boat tours are done. It is very walkable, and there is also a great street market.

River and Connecting Canal

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

This was the morning view from our room

3 in 1 Coffee Packet

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

The Vietnamese love their sweetened coffee (as is demonstrated by cà phê sữa đá). In the hotel rooms we stayed in, they didn’t have dedicated coffee makers in rooms – they had water boilers and packets of instant coffee. This product was fairly common – it had sugar and some powdered milk included, and was much better than expected. What I loved about it was the imagery on the packet – clearly if you drink it, you get a nice suit, a beautiful woman and a helicopter (either that, or you help the company honcho get a beautiful woman and a helicopter).

Seems so Communist, LOL.

Lanterns from a Cyclo

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

These were hanging everywhere

People Really Wear Them

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

The hats were very prevalent outside major cities. They are apparently very functional, as my experience with one later on in Laos will attest.

Japanese Bridge

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

This is a centuries old bridge. Flooding in the area is common during the rainy season, and the water very nearly reaches the rafters.

Sculpture in a Chinese Temple

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

This is a sculpture in an animist temple dedicated to a goddess of the sea.

One of Many Shrines

Taken on 2018-01-10

Hoi An, Vietnam

There were multiple shrines inside

 

Thank you so much Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (14)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 7, 20185:00 am| 59 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Space

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

So, that SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch was something else. Can you imagine – it all worked, and this electric car, space suit, and David Bowie music, will be speeding around the Sun, intersecting Mars’s orbit, and otherwise being around for millions-to-billions of years. It beggars the mind.

This is real, folks – this really did happen, and this is a real picture from space. Just…wow – a piece of our current reality is now practically timeless, for our descendants or aliens to discover. Tears streamed down from my face as I watched the launch, separation, return, and payload, all with my wife on the phone as she watched on her work computer. We cheered and gasped and ooh’d and ah’d.

Mid-event, I remembered that when the Moon landing happened (before I was conceived), my dad was working on the North Slope in Alaska, and had planned months ahead to have the time off. He was in a hotel in Anchorage, and my mom was visiting her folks in Oklahoma and they spent many hours over the days and, mostly, nights: on the phone, each watching those amazing events on their small screens in low-res, flickering, rounded-screen B&W television. It was nice to experience my own take on that, though a bit less exciting because people weren’t involved, but it was amazing in HD and available through Wi-Fi or mobile data. I hope we get more footage from the Tesla and Starman as they travel.

Charlie Pierce was right, it is magic that we can hold something in our hand, at home or office or out and about, on top of a mountain or on the water or waiting for someone, and see live video and images from space or elsewhere on this planet. We truly live in amazing times.

I remember first feeling that way while I watched the Hong Kong turnover on a handheld portable TV my mom bought me in Japan earlier that year. It wasn’t awesome, but I sat outside for my planned lunch break in Arlington, Virginia, smoking my Dunhills and watching history unfold, live, while I was outdoors and with birds wandering around the grounds near me and with the sun shining bright. Seeing the Falcon Heavy launch was like that – on my tablet. It really was exciting, nice to see something I’ve been getting excited about for months succeed. It feels like things are different now in the “space game”, some trajectories have been changed, and that’s exciting!

No matter who succeeds, I hope we soon see a day when we again point up at the another planetary body in the sky with people on it, even if they’re just visiting.  It looks like that might be sorta soon – China’s exciting efforts to the Moon, our renewed national program looking at the Moon and Mars, Europe, Russia, India, and numerous private initiatives – there’s a bunch of neat, exciting things happening. There’s even a space mining syndicate – no joke – that’s planning on sending robotic mining ships to nearby asteroids to mine huge amounts of high-grade ores. That kind of resource creation – outside of Earth’s gravity – would mean other planets could be colonized much easier than if we had to lift all that metal and stuff off the planet!

And don’t get me started with Elon Musk with his space launch, solar power, power storage, electric tech, electric vehicles, crewed space tech, mining/tunnel boring tech, etc. companies and initiatives, it’s not like they all go together to make for making an off-world colony in a decade or two or anything.

Really, it’s been too long and we need to renew our optimistic vision of the future to get through this nastiness and inspire us to grow through our new challenges of climate change, resource depletion, and falling into terrible, comfortable tribalism.

I will post more on Space as so many exciting and interesting things are happening, and good news is in need. I’m thankful Adam was here to post Tuesday’s landmark event. If you get a chance, do watch the Falcon Heavy launch and separations and returning to launch pad of the twin rockets (their synchronized landing was amaze-balls). It sounds like the central rocket ran out of fuel and so missed the autonomous drone ship and pancaked into the water 100m away. It showered the ship with shrapnel, so we’ll find out more details about what happened and if there’s footage of the whole event, as soon as they can share that information.

SpaceX is well known for embracing failure and learning what went wrong, and then improving, so this is actually good, not bad. Their footage of explosions and other failures are amusing, and encouraging – failure is part of the plan and they measure everything so well that they almost learn more from failure than from success. They are not afraid to show failure because it improves them.

My theory is that they’ll figure out that it was a fuel issue – as in, Falcon-9/Heavy engines get their extra oomph from super-cold fuel, and the longer the fuel sits in the rocket before takeoff, the warmer it gets and the less dense it is. I think some is even vented, so there’s less in the tanks the longer they sit before takeoff. Since the launch was near the end of the launch window, the fuel was comparatively warm, and the center core had an extra minute or so of burn after the first two disengaged. Ergo, not enough fuel for the last 5-10 seconds of landing and so it missed the drone ship and hit the water HARD.

It seemed to me that, after landing, the two successful cores vented fuel/fuel vapor once they were settled and so, since they had enough fuel to power just a small puff, it’s quite possible that the central core didn’t have quite enough fuel to stick the landing. I’m thankful they use drone ships for these landings and nothing manned, let me tell you!

In light of this amazing progress, something fun and celebratory is in need. Again, apologies for running this so late, but it always errored out previously. Majorx4’s fix works well, so many thanks to him.

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Today, pictures from valued commenter brendancalling.

My lovely girlfriend and I are in Mexico City for Independence Day. If you’ve never visited CDMX, you are missing out. So much history. So much art. So much FOOD.

El Castillo de Chapultepec

Taken on 2017-09-14

Ciudad de México

El Castillo de Chapultepec was home to Emperor Maximilian and was later a military school where child cadets fought the invading US Army. Spoiler: the kids lost.

Pulque

Taken on 2017-09-14

Pulque is a low alcohol drink made from mezcal, but fermented not distilled. These are flavored with guayaba, papaya, and melón.

At the Frida Kahlo House

Taken on 2017-09-15

No explanation necessary other than that my girlfriend is a LOT prettier than me and I am a VERY lucky grizzled old bastard.

May your love be as interesting as Frida & Diego’s! ;)

Thank you so much brendancalling, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (59)

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  February 6, 20185:00 am| 17 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

More from Le Comte.

FYI, watch the TV or internet or what-have-you for the 1:30 PM EST launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. This should be amazing – I expect success, or it could be an amazing explosive and fiery failure. Either way – dramatic!

 

I can’t promise I’ll be online to post a thread, but I’m sure someone else will. Fingers crossed for a 100% successful launch and subsequent planning of heavy exploration/colonization missions.

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Today, pictures from valued commenter Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes.

More of my January trip to Southeast Asia

Angkor Wat

Taken on 2018-01-15

Siem Reap, Cambodia

This was a nice reflection shot. A few minutes later I dropped my phone and cracked the crap out of my screen.

Angkor Wat

Taken on 2018-01-15

Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia

A thousand years ago, the Khmer Empire swung back and forth between being Hindu and being Buddhist, and the temples reflected this religious struggle. While Vietnam was very East Asian and used Chinese style ideograms until the Jesuits spread modified Roman characters, Khmer and Lao were very Indian influenced and use a Sanskrit based script.

Sunset at Angkor Wat

Taken on 2018-01-15

Siem Reap

The Light was stunning

Ta Prohm

Taken on 2018-01-16

Siem Reap

Cottonwood trees grow out of the ruins

Elephant Gate

Taken on 2018-01-16

Siem Reap

I just loved the face

Bayon

Taken on 2018-01-16

Siem Reap

The scope of Angkor is stunning. When it was capital of the Khmer Empire a thousand years ago, 1.3 Million souls lived here. There is a lifetime of work for archaeologists

Us…

Taken on 2018-01-16

Siem Reap

This is at Elephant Terrace, and close to where our youngest daughter worked

 

Thank you so much Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

On the Road and In Your BackyardPost + Comments (17)

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