the 1927 jasper tornado on lp covers

It was only recently that it was pointed out to me on another blog or tweet (I can't remember where), that the photograph of the 1927 Jasper Tornado, taken by Lucille Handberg and on one of my favourite albums, Deep Purple's Stormbringer, was the same one on used on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, plus Siouxsie and The Banshees Tinderbox. It's blown my mind, as l'd never noticed before, and l have been looking at the Deep Purple and Miles Davis albums for years.
Sometimes l amaze myself at how stupid l can be.
Below is the famous photograph, captured 8th July 1927 in Jasper, Minnesota, plus drawings of the other two photographs she took before and after. There's also an article from The Milwaukee Sentinel about it, plus the album covers mentioned.
More information about the tornado and the photographs can be found here (and also here).
A large blow up of the news story in The Milwaukee Sentinel can be found here

Here's something from the albums







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wildlife photographer of the year 2017

I've had these photographs for quite a while now. They are my favourite ones from The Natural History Museum's 2017 Wildlife Photographer Of The Year, but I never got around to posting them.
Until now!

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nikolai tolstyh photographs / papercuttings

This is a simple idea, and has no doubt been done many times in the past, but l'm impressed by these papercuttings / photographs by Nikolai Tolstyh, which have cut out animals, coloured in by being held over colourful backgrounds, mainly from nature.
Simple yet very effective. Check out his instagram page, where there are plenty more to be seen.

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ten hours of bird songs - just add an idiot

I was playing this recording of ten hours of bird songs to Mr Parrot the other night, trying to confuse him.
Serves me right that l then went to bed, leaving the computer on and forgetting about it, only to be woken by the bird noises as they got louder, with me thinking that l had a birds nest by the bedroom window that was the cause of all the noise.
I was leaning out of the window and scanning the outside of the house for a good half hour before l eventually realised that the noise was coming from the computer.
I'm a bloody buffoon, and l hadn't even been drinking!

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the sky on the way home from work

The rather impressive sky during my drive home from work this evening.  It's the end of days!!!!

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the mantis shrimp

This is a great informative cartoon strip about the Mantis Shrimp.  Fascinating little creatures with psychedelic eyesight that can more than hold their own in a scrap.  I was only saying to the FPO the other day about creatures having different eyesight than humans, and having a completely different perception of the world, but 16 colour receptive cones is taking the piss.
Check out the complete strip here (where you can also buy posters and goodies).

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microscopic photographs

A broken human hair

Dust

Human eyelashes

A louse on a human hair

A Mosquito face

Rust on a nail

A vinyl record groove

I found these photographs on the top design mag site (there are more there) and they are taken from the book Microcosmos, by Brandon Broll.
I'm fascinated by  microscopic photographs, so l've blown the pictures up larger than l usually would, but  they also freak me out, and make me want to start scratching myself, imagining all the creepy crawlies running amok on and around me.  Little gits.

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miami university's underwater photography competition winner

This is the photograph that has won the 2013 Underwater Photography Competition at the University of Miami.  Taken by Kyle McBuurnie.
It's not bad, not bad at all (and rather spooky looking).

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more spiders to be worried about

While l was watching some of Sir David Attenborough's series featuring the Galapagos Islands last night, something disgusting was revealed to me.  No, my pants hadn't suddenly fallen down, and l didn't pass by a mirror.  I wish it had been one of those options.  Instead, I saw some Amblypygi, (which are half spider, half scorpion) for the first time.  I'm scared of spiders, but not scared of crabs or anything else, but these look just as frightening as the spiders l already detest.  What is the bleeding point of them, if not just to add to my phobias and prevent me visiting certain places? Bloody hideous things.  As usual, I blame God.

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living by the countryside (part 583)

This is the view a mere 5 minutes or less from my bedroom, and by car, not jet pack or aeroplane.
I like being able to get to the A1 within 5 to 10 minutes, and therefore head out to Leeds, Newcastle, York or Middlesbrough within the hour (which l can), but the countryside and it's lack of other people is still handy to have nearby.

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some cows - today

Some cows we saw while out and about today.  The joy of living by the countryside (although l've still got cow spittle on my hands after letting them lick me).

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