70 Comments Posted by Raymond

Take away the castle, and the power lines, leave the rest. That's what the atmosphere of Jupiter will look like from an exploration vessel that will be sent into it's atmosphere in the next 10-20 years. All turbulence and wind and hydrogen sulfide clouds.

is it the most scareact place

There are many abandoned buildings around Xi'an, Shaanxi that we used to hold live-fire exercises and hostage rescue situations, I came upon this picture again and it reminded me of a building we used not too long ago. Our unit and two PLA Counter Terrorism Special Forces fire teams entered in an exercise to flush out imaginary snipers. These exercises are held in preparation for the Beijing Olympics 2008.
We ran from room to room with QBZ-95 bullpup rifles and fired at popup targets that raised into the air. It was sheer adrenaline, the jaw-cracking adrenaline of combat, live ammunition was used so it was just like World War II Anti-Japanese guerilla fighting in the mountains.
One of the rooms looked almost just like this, and my unit kicked in the door, in a mock hostage rescue attempt in case of a Munich style standoff that happened in 1972, and for almost a hour, we lie right outside, not moving, not uttering a sound. The sheer excitement of a soldier's life.

Actually this pan is a utility pan, not a puke pan. Sorry to declare you wrong, but during my service in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, every soldier is given one of these. And they are green, they are for every man to put his toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, razor and other toiletries. When I was stationed at Shaanxi, the guys in my unit would use these pans to collect wild herbs growing around our base, and add them to our daily supper rice and vegetables. We also have drinking cups of the same color.

Funny thing, though, I never expected to see these same pans being used in the USA.

Resembles the view into the courtyard from Qing Emperor Kangxi's palace. Just imagine two Qing imperial guards standing outide the doors with their blue robes, red hats, and holding spears with red lace wrapped around the base of their blades.
Kangxi was the last great Emperor of China, unified almost all of the country, defeated two Mongol invasions, one in 1675 and another one in 1710. After his death in 1750, corrupt monarchs would open the country to Western imperialism, extortion, drug trade, and sex trade during the 1800s, followed by capitalist revolution in 1911, a devastating invasion by the Japanese Empire in 1937, finally a People's Revolution from 1946-1949, and the Communist Party finally established control and order again.
Makes me wonder, so many people sacrificed themselves to install a powerful Republic, Kangxi was the last greatest ruler until the People established an agrarian and industrial republic in 1949.

I instantly recognize the plant, Nasturtium, garden salad variety, New England type.

Once again.....If I don't know about this picture, I would definitely assume this is China again, it looks exactly like an apartment building in Chiu'Shu, suburbs of Pudong distrct, Shanghai City. Especially the buildings around Loyang Road, the main highway that connects the city with Pudong International Airport.

It really resembles the buildings in my hometown of Shanghai China, in the Szechuan Road District, filled with wonton soup restaurants, and electric trolley cars. Only thing missing from this pic is the trolley cables, and the wonton shops, and the hot summer haze.

Motts, if you have a few guys, dress them up in slouch hats and long winter coats, add a girl wearing a bonnet, with the men carrying heavy books, you can name this picture: "Puritans heading to Church, New Haven, Connecticut,1632"

This one looks like a Currier & Ives lithograph from the 19th century.

Give yourself a pat on the back for such a piece of good work!

Motts, you should have placed a beautiful girl just behind that lighted arch with her facing the viewer. That would make the photo more surreal.

Imagine that is a train coming......

This picture should be called "Trinity"

I'll congratulate the first person who understands what I am getting at.

Damon, if you know how to make spare parts for your projector, you can keep it running infinitely. Parts are easy to build, especially for these old devices that require no circuit boards or things like that.

I see the island of Iwo Jima.
To the bottom is the ocean, a span of green island above that, and behind the chair, I can see the airfield, built in 1944 to allow B-29 bombers to make emergency landings and takeoffs.

While looking at this pic, read HP Lovecraft's "Cthulhu"