Environmental Graffiti

Image via onpaperwings

Red, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink – we’re not talking about rainbows here but tulip colours that look like they’ve sprung from a painter’s palette. No wonder then that rows and rows of tulips and tulip fields look like impressionist paintings up close or like modern or abstract art from above. Beautiful for sure and a great way to celebrate summer.

Red tulip rows with poplars in the background, most likely in Japan:

Image: Nao

Did you know that the orderly tulip (Tulipa) as we know it has its origins in the rugged mountain ranges close to Islamabad in today’s Pakistan? From there, tulips reached China, Mongolia and then Europe but before the Dutch took over as tulip connoisseurs, this title belonged to the Turkish. They had a reputation as tulip cultivators as early as 1000 AD and were known for their skill throughout Persia and Asia.

Today, tulips are grown all over the world; here tulip fields at Table Cape, Tasmania:

Image: Martin Howard

The head gardener of the University of Leiden in Holland and botanist Carolus Clusius tried cultivating this wild flower in the early 17th century. He is credited today with starting the Dutch tulip tradition.

Tulip bulbs are truly tough cookies; they actually need a chilly winter before being planted, so gardeners advise placing them in the refrigerator around four weeks before planting. They should then be placed deep into the soil in a cool spot so that they don’t warm too quickly. Also, the deeper a tulip bulb is planted, the tougher the plant will be.

Like a carpet of tulips – tulip gardens at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in northwestern Washington:

Image: Ramanathan Kathiresan

Oh, and did we mention that tulips are truly social animals, er, plants? Looking at the pictures of rows and rows of beautiful tulips in all kinds of colours, they’ve literally come a long way from lonely mountain plant to abundant and hardy city flower. Well done!

A rainbow on the ground – another impression from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival:

Image: Ramanathan Kathiresan

Monet would have happily cast aside those boring water lilies:

Image: Julie Markee

Rows of red as far as the eye can see:

Image: Andrew Larsen

Another tulip mosaic:

Image via shophorne

My tulip heart beats for you:

Image via desktopnexus

Yellow, orange and red tulip fields at Keukenhof in Amsterdam:

Image: Ian Katz

An old barn and tulips in the Skagit Valley, WA, between LaConner and Mount Vernon:

Image: Divya & Deepak

Gentle waves of yellow tulips:

Image: Steve Voght

Red, white and blue like the Dutch flag – don’t miss the sailboats in the background:

Image: David Evers

Tulips as far as the eye can see:

Image: Amy Bonner

Red, purple and pink

Image: Lauren Elyse Lynskey

Not French lavender but purple tulip fields at the LaConner, WA Tulip Festival:

Image: Stephen Cochran

Source: 1, 2

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Image: Mariana Furquim via wikimedia

The wiktionary, which just happens to be the most complete compendium of English words known to man, defines squatting as: “The act or general practice of occupying a building or land illegally.” Squatters are generally regarded as miscreants accused of illicit acts, such as burning down abandoned buildings while attempting to create meth in disused janitor closets with bottles of generic Robitussin. In São Paolo, however, squatters are apparently free to squat where they like and occasionally are even tolerated, just like Lindsay Lohan.

São Paolo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in South America, and the seventh largest metropolitan area in the known world (undiscovered Antarctic penguin mega cities might eclipse it). The city is home to some 11 million privacy deprived people with an estimated 21 million in the greater metropolitan area. By comparison, the entire state of New York has only about 19 million people.

As with any mega-metropolis, there is an element of urban decay. Wikipedia (which, like its afore mentioned bastard son, also happens to be the most complete and most accurate source of all human knowledge, dreams, and oral traditions) mentions that urban decay “is a process by which a city, or a part of a city, falls into a state of disrepair.” Basically, as the microcosm economies of a cityscape fluctuate, areas that were once vibrant and profitable can become desolate and abandoned very quickly, creating large swaths of unoccupied buildings. Think Chernobyl without all the radiation and glowing fish.

The Prestes Maia is an abandoned highrise complex in São Paolo. In the twelve years since its abandonment, the building had become a home of filth and squalor, with crime, drugs and occasional loitering running rampant.

In 2002, a group known as the Downtown Roofless Movement (Movimento Sem Teto do Centro) moved in to clean things up. The group built a free library, autonomous educational facilities, workshops, and probably even a McDonald’s or two (participation with McRib specials unknown).

For four years the group lived and thrived in the Prestes Maia until 2006 when the original owners decided to pay a few bills and take the building back. At hearing news of the coming eviction, the “tenants” were displeased and for good reason. After all, many residents had finally found the perfect rug, which had really tied their respective rooms together.

Image: Alinefr via wikicommons

Protests were launched and demonstrations were staged; the squatters weren’t going quietly. Agreements were eventually reached and the “tenants” were relocated. The building now sits empty with concrete barricades blocking all entrances, exits, and doggy doors.

What follows are pictures from garapa.org, taken when the Prestes Maia was still occupied.

No security deposit? No problem!

This picture reminds us of The Ring. Just sayin.

Amazing photo of an elderly resident of the Prestes Maia.

Fire hazard.

Light on the starch, please.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Little Miss Muffet; Unless otherwise stated, all images courtesy of Willard Wigan

Anyone who has lost a piece of work they have slaved over – a file erased forever, say – will know the word traumatic sometimes doesn’t put too fine a point on the experience. Yet what if the labour of love you had invested so much of yourself into was smaller than the head of a pin – yet more intricate than many artworks thousands of times its size? Enter the world of micro-miniaturist Willard Wigan, where sculptures stand a fraction of a millimetre tall, all but invisible to the naked eye.

Incredible Hulk

Wigan gives the phrase steady hands a whole new meaning. Using tools like a tiny surgeon’s knife, he carves figures out of materials including dust particles and sugar crystals, fragments of gold and grains of sand. He scrapes with immeasurable precision and uses a hair plucked from a dead fly’s back to paint his creations, sometimes spending months on end over a single piece. Such painstaking and emotionally sapping graft inevitably takes its toll.

Nine Camels

Yes, for Wigan, the work can be wretched. Incredibly, as he sculpts, he enters a meditative state, slowing his breathing and heart rate to avoid hand tremors that might prove disastrous. As he told the BBC: “You have to control the whole nervous system, you have to work between the heartbeat – the pulse of your finger can destroy the work”. He often toils through the night, when there is less chance of being disturbed by vibrations like those from traffic outside.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

With some of his pieces so infinitesimal they rest tenuously on the tip of a human eyelash, it’s perhaps small wonder that Wigan’s work has had its mini-catastrophes. He once lost a sculpture of Alice in Wonderland as he was moving her to a needle; she simply disappeared, inhaled perhaps in Wigan’s own breath. Yet there are also great highs in what he does – not least people’s astonishment when they see the miniscule fruits of his labour for their own eyes.

Simpsons

The picture Wigan paints of his childhood is not an entirely happy one. Born in 1957, he suffered from dyslexia and learning difficulties – and to this day cannot read and write. Struggling at school, his teachers made him feel insignificant, so that aged just 5 he sought a way to express himself safe from the criticism he was subjected to. He found it making houses and later shoes and hats for ants. It was a fantasy world, but his career as a micro-sculptor was destined to become a reality.

Henry XIII and His Six Wives

From his troubled childhood in Birmingham, England, Wigan would later become internationally renowned. In 2007 he was awarded an MBE for his services to art just months after selling a 70-piece collection of his life’s work for 20 million dollars – proof that there are sizable rewards for art so small. He also has his admirers – albeit baffled ones – in scientific circles such as medicine, and his cutting edge skills have been discussed by micro-surgeons and nano-technologists alike.

The Obama Family

Image via: Midlands Today

Wigan may have had his problems, and his work may be both physically and mentally gruelling, but the pieces he creates – which must be seen through a microscope to be not only believed but perceived – have quietly ushered in their share of clichés. Less can be more, small is beautiful, and something out of nothing are but a few. In Wigan’s own words: “Nothing doesn’t exist”. And he intends to take the sculptures he produces even smaller.

Willard Wigan is currently displaying his work at the My Little Eye Gallery, Bloomsbury, London and is also on tour with an exhibition in the US

Souces: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Image from WebUrbanist article, Banksy Art and Graffiti: The Ultimate Guide

Kurt Kohlstedt is a good friend of EG. As the founder of three awesome sites in the shape of WebUrbanist, WebEcoist and Dornob, he also knows where it’s at when it comes to making the web a place full of interesting and insightful content. In this interview, Kurt gives the backstory on himself and his endeavours and talks about the common threads and differences between his sites. He also reveals what he’s currently up to, muses over the rich variety of his work, and speculates on how his projects might evolve. Oh, and man is this guy articulate. Check it.

All images via: WebUrbanist, WebEcoist or Dornob

EG: You’re the creator of no less than three great websites focused on various aspects of design and culture, from the urban to the environmental. Tell us a bit about your background in blogging, and how you got WebUrbanist, WebEcoist and Dornob started.

Kurt Kohlstedt: Looking back, the path I took to what I do now seems simultaneously very strange and utterly unsurprising to me: strange because I did not know what a blog was until shortly before I started my first one… but also unsurprising because of my educational background in writing (BA in philosophy), architecture and design (M. Arch with a sustainable and urban design emphasis). In a way, these sites are all variations on a core passion for writing and interest in themes related to creative, innovative and sustainable art, architecture and design.

Image from WebUrbanist Favourite, Green Art, Design and Technology

WebUrbanist began quite simply as a series of themed collections published a few times a week around a given artistic approach or design idea, then rapidly rose in popularity and evolved as it did. While the site always had an environmental thread running through it, it struck me that an ideal sister website would carry that focus further. WebEcoist was thus created in part to explore the relationship of culture, art and design to the natural environment more directly. Dornob arose out of a desire to cover a more focused range of home-related designs (houses, interiors, furniture) though with a shared interest in all things amazing and offbeat. While some loyal readers follow all three sites, some gravitate to one or two over the other(s) because of the length, style or focus of the particular site.

Also, while I may have founded them, I would be remiss not to also mention that many partners, colleagues, friends and fellow publishers deserve a great deal of credit for how far these sites have come in a few short years (though to list them all by name would take pages). These publications would not have the millions of monthly readers, quality of content or integrity of design they do without vital assistance each step of the way. The sites are particularly fortunate to have a dedicated and talented team of highly creative writers, editors and other supporters who continue to help them grow on a daily basis.

Image from one of the Top 10 Weburbanist Articles of 2008, 10 Most Awesome 3D Graffiti Artists in the World

EG: Are there are any particular experiences that have helped fashion the way your life and interests have turned out?

Kurt Kohlstedt: Being the child of two professors, I ended up spending a good deal of my young life in various places as my parents travelled to research or teach. Early experiences in locations around Australia, Germany, Japan and other countries engendered an interest in the built environments of places – the physical frameworks that evolve within countries and cultures. Coupled with this I loved to read, write and sketch. For a long time I expected (and planned) to become a designer myself, a shaper of structures and spaces.

As I neared the end of my graduate program in architecture I started to become interested in the world of online publishing and freelance writing. When I submitted my thesis I faced a choice: secure a conventional job in a design field or move forward on the internet and see if I could make a living writing, editing and/or publishing online. I chose the latter and discovered that it was challenging and involved complexities I had never expected but that it was also more rewarding than I could have guessed. Despite long hours spent on many individual, joint and freelance projects, I greatly enjoy the creative and physical freedoms that online work affords me – as well as the feeling of being on a new media frontier.

Image from one of the Top 10 Weburbanist Articles of 2008, 24 Tales of Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities

EG: What is it that you think makes each of your sites individually special spaces online?

Kurt Kohlstedt: As I see it, the common link between them is their focus on the extraordinary, unusual, innovative and creative people, places and things of the world – many of the topics covered fall far from the beaten paths within their particular niche. However, each of the sites has things that set it apart including approach, style and content covered.

WebUrbanist was intentionally designed to be a place where articles were in-depth, thorough and well-sourced – a reaction, in part, to the ever-growing tide of multiple-article-daily blogs that I felt did not go the distance when covering a particular topic. In short: it was created as a site where readers could expect each article to be fresh, detailed and full of related links and additional information. As new writers have come on board the topics have likewise evolved from the core art, design and travel focus to a broader set of subjects revolving around visual culture, innovative technology and more.

Image from WebEcoist Favourite, 20 Epic Fails of Green Technology

WebEcoist was created with a parallel once-daily-at-most approach but has a balancing emphasis on the environment (not opposed to but certainly not quite parallel to the urban focus of the first Webist Media site). Much like WebUrbanist covers alternative and unconventional urban art and design, WebEcoist features not just standard sustainable news and design but also articles on natural wonders and other oddities of the world – content for the all-around environmental enthusiast.

Dornob was created in part to be as much a highly-organized database of designs as a daily publication. Each new design article is carefully filed under a set of six overarching topics and over fifty carefully considered subcategories. Dornob is both liberated and limited as a result of these differences – the site freely covers and archives individual designs related to architecture, interior, furniture and other categories but does so on a case-by-case basis around core themes. However, anything related to built environments including interactive fashion, installation works, architectural photography and other physical arts are covered as well.

Image from 2009 Dornob article, 80-Foot-Tall Tower House & Office Has Amazing Views

EG: Describe your typical day for us – if there is such a thing. How do you manage what to some might seem the juggling act of running three separate sites?

Kurt Kohlstedt: Perhaps I am a workaholic or a glutton for punishment… because I actually keep pressing myself beyond those three publications into various one-off projects and consult for other online publishers in addition. Currently, I am also occupied with developing a sort of social switchboard to more effectively connect publishers to one another within niches and areas of interest. Maybe, though, balancing between these diverse endeavours is part of how I manage to enjoy work despite long hours and late nights.

As for a typical day: sometimes I wish there were such a thing, other times I am glad for the every-changing variety show that is my online occupation. On a good day, I feel fortunate to be able to sit back and write a bit or look at the big pictures and collaborate with online colleagues. On a more typical day, I probably spend most of my time brainstorming, troubleshooting, optimizing, putting out virtual fires and answering too many emails. I think many people gloss over the complexities of working online. When they idealize online occupations, not everyone realizes that even what appear to be digital dream jobs often come with the same layered everyday complications that impact offline professionals and business owners.

Image from Classic WebEcoist article, A Brief History of the Modern Green Movement in America

EG: What’s in store for WebEcoist, Dornob and WebUrbanist? Where is your journey taking you?

Kurt Kohlstedt: Given the surprising twists and turns of the last few years it is very hard to say for sure. I prefer to have short, medium and long-term goals but to always remain open in our ever-changing new-media environment. For now, I hope to keep pushing everything forward in whatever way seems most functional, natural and engaging for myself and users/readers. As time goes on I expect to remain involved in design and media. Perhaps someday I will end up working in a more conventional office setting or a more formal teaching role.

Hopefully each of the sites I work on will continue to evolve as new technological, networking and content creation possibilities become available – without losing the offbeat, edgy and eccentric vibe that makes them resonate with readers. Webist Media may expand beyond WebUrbanist and WebEcoist but only time will tell. Misnamed Media might become more than Dornob but for now it is the only content-publishing site planned. There are many possibilities for extending the reach, scope and capabilities of each site but these are hard to plan – online development is as much about adaptation as it is about abstract ideas.

Image from WebEcoist Favorite, 13 Incredible and Huge Sinkholes

Outside of these core publications, my own path is likewise uncertain. I have different hopes on different scales for different projects and try to keep a balance between small, medium and large as well as personal, partner and contract projects. I could see taking a more regular (but still design-and-new-media-related) job at some point or seeking venture capital or angel funding for a larger-scale endeavour. For now, however, I am more than content to work on multiple fronts and to largely be my own boss. I hope that if one thing remains consistent it is my ability to work with creative people, explore new ideas, develop novel projects and to implement them in the wonderfully rapid way the web allows us to do.

EG: Thank you Kurt for being part of EG’s Movers and Shakers series!

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Photo: belgianchocolate

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but the ones collected here make you ponder whether they lead straight to the stomach. Still, staring back at you, they also show that bloodthirsty can be beautiful – like this shot of a crocodile’s eye close up. Check out the detail in the croc’s iris. It’s like gazing at a landscape from above, with the pupil an opening into an abyss.

That’s one piercing gaze

Photo: Steve Jurvetson

You’ve heard the expression “watching you like a hawk”. Well there’s a reason for it. Birds of prey – like the red-tailed hawk whose piercing stare is captured here – have exceptional powers of vision. These hook-beaked marauders of the skies hunt primarily on the wing, using eyes packed with sensors that give them eyesight many times more acute than ours. Hawks can see spiders and beetles from great distances and are said to be able to spy a mouse from a height of one mile. That’s some set of eyes.

Look into my eyes

Photo: Opo Tersa

Although their web-bound relatives are a bit on the short-sighted side, relying on sensitivity to vibrations to detect prey, active hunting spiders like this guy have very good vision, which they use to locate intended meals before chasing them down. The jumping spider’s eyesight far exceeds the dragonfly’s, which has easily the best vision among insects, and is not all that poorer than our own. Those deeply coloured eyes can create a focused image on the multiple layers of receptor cells at the back of the eye, the retina. Just don’t stare for too long.

Eyes shining brightly

Photo: pointybird

It might be hard to think of the eyes of cats as bloodthirsty, but bloodthirsty they are. It’s only size and dab of domestication that separates them from larger carnivorous cousins like lions. Although their vision in daylight is not so hot, the night vision of our feline friends is superior to that of humans. This is partly due to a reflective layer behind their retinas, which makes them shine like, well, cat’s eyes. The eyesight of cats is binocular – meaning they see in 3D – and is designed for detecting motion, so it’s handy for hunting. Meow.

Got its beady eye on you

Photo: Shark Pictures

This next beast’s eye is surely recognisable to anyone who has seen a certain film and been afraid to go in the water. Yes that cold, black peeper belongs to a shark, albeit a not so deadly porbeagle shark rather than a great white. Generally, a shark’s eyes are well adapted to dark marine environments, and when it strikes prey it can protect its eyes – in the great white’s case by rolling them backward. Since they have a range of other senses, the importance of sight to shark hunting behaviour varies. Wouldn’t want to find out first hand.

Don’t be fooled by its tears

Photo: belgianchocolate

Crocodiles are legendary for their tears, though this doesn’t mean they cry like babies or tell porkies; just that the fluid helps to clean and lubricate their eyes. And sharp eyes they have too, placed on top of their heads so they can see well almost 180 degrees above water as they wait, all but submerged, for unsuspecting prey to ambush. Crocs have good night vision too because their vertical pupils can open wider than our round ones to let in more light. Best to stay out of sight of these snap-happy chappies.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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Image via Coolfunpics

Whoever doubts that the humble bicycle is the world’s most versatile vehicle will have to rethink upon seeing these pictures. Regardless whether in China, South America or India, people use bikes not only to get themselves from Point A to Point B, but also a whole load of other stuff. Here are a few pictures of impossible bicycle loads that seem to defy gravity.

Especially if the load is light, bulkiness seems to be of no concern. According to the motto, as long as there are two wheels, there’s a way. And you thought transporting a case of beer on your bike was a big deal…

Can we carry it? Yes, we can! – Watched too much Bob the Builder again?

Image via bikerumor

Here’s a great example of how a bike can become a mobile stall for anything under the sun: plastic containers in all sizes, stools, hangers, toilet brushes, dusters, even clothes. Very enterprising indeed. We wonder if there’s an improved version for rainy days…

Household articles, anyone? There’s nothing this friendly neighbourhood vendour doesn’t have:

Image: Kimi & Martin

Make sure to look closely at the next image or you might miss one important item of the rikhshaw’s load – the mother (presumably) of the young man steering the cycle, perched precariously on top of what looks like bags of vegetables. She looks quite comfortable though, maybe because her husband is steadying the load from behind. Oh, and don’t miss the fact that none of the other people in the picture even give them as much as a glance. Just business as usual in Jaipur…

Fully loaded family outing in Jaipur, India:

Image: amanderson2

One can’t fail to notice that it’s often recycling items that are transported on bikes. Kind of like being green all around… Here’s a cycle rickshaw, for example, seen on the streets of Lima, Peru, loaded to the brim with cardboard and probably other recyclable items. The owner has given up the idea of cycling and is pulling the rickshaw from the front, not an easy task for sure. Don’t miss the dog scurrying over on the otherwise deserted streets.

Recycling and green transportation:

Image: Nicoloas Nova

Technically, one could say that in the picture below, the bike is not loaded at all, just the trailer, but one got to admire the spirit! The bicycle owner must’ve thought, better two wheels than none, and really went for it. He shoved eight bags full of empty bottles onto his cart when even one would have been one heck of a load… Luckily, he’s not attempting to cycle, which might have been a traffic hazard.

Taking recycling to the extreme:

Image via swobo

In the case of the next picture, we’re not sure if the bike was found as it is and then exploited for an ad (for tape) or if the whole load was recreated simply for advertising purposes. In view of the creativity of recent ads and commercials (or lack thereof), we tend to believe the former but in either case, the picture is stunningly beautiful.

Reed baskets, anyone?

Image via Scaryideas

The next picture reminds one of the old trick question children are often asked: What is heavier, 1 kg feathers or 1 kg lead? (Not quick to catch on, my reply was always 1 kg lead…) If you load up enough Styrofoam, its weight will add up, eventually.

Is styrofoam really weightless? A hardy cyclist on Chongming Island, Shanghai:

Image via winterson

This cycle rikhshaw, spotted on the streets of India, seems to be carrying a bulky but luckily light load for some company. One wonders if business is so bad that they can’t even rent a truck for the transport.

That’ll be one passenger and five bags. And make it quick:

Image: Sam Greenhalgh

The next picture is great for playing I Spy because it looks like this guy has loaded anything under the sun on his tricycle. There are several broken chairs, planks of varying sizes, plastic tubs, probably some bottles for recycling but hey, where’s the cyclist?

A shoulder to cry, er, lean on:

Image via Coolfunpics

Here’s another marvel from the packing world: A cycle in China loaded to the brim with styrofoam bags. But hey, that didn’t really seem like a challenge so they added a cart and loaded that up too.

Could this be any more loaded?

Image: Vinnie

Last but not least, this is easily the winner because of the picture’s unintended humour. Just as one wonders how the guy on the right will make it with all his boxes hanging more than askew, one spots the guy on the left, casually cycling with only one of those boxes, duh! Spotted in Guangzhou, China.

Lots of load bearing but no load sharing:

Image: Roger Price

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Image: icultist

In the west, the phenomenon that is the monsoon is hard to grasp because unless seen with one’s own eyes, so much rain at one time is just hard to imagine. Monsoon tourists describe it as a wall of rain or a sheet of rain – think of a giant tap suddenly being turned on to drench parts of the world. And mull over the fact that one good monsoon day in Mumbai, for example, can mean dousing the city in 800 mm of rain – Munich’s annual rainfall! Here’s the spectacle in pictures.

A rain-swept road in Bangalore:

Image via paintedstork

The Asian Monsoon is the best known among the world’s monsoons because it dwarfs the North American and African Monsoon in terms of intensity and the number of people affected by it.

Encyclopaedia Britannica defines the monsoon as “a major wind system that seasonally reverses its direction” caused by “different warming trends over land and sea.” In other words, the huge land mass that makes up South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) starts heating up around the beginning of April and reaches temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and over. The surrounding water bodies, namely the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, stay much cooler at around 25 degrees (77 degrees F) maximum, causing a temperature difference between land and sea of up to 20 (36) degrees!

Monsoon clouds over the Vindhya mountain range in west-central India:

Image: Gerald Anfossi

As the pre-monsoon heat builds up over the land mass, less dense air rises up, thereby forming areas of low pressure, especially over North India and the Himalayas. At the same time, the air over the ocean is cooler, and denser air remains at the surface, thereby forming high-pressure areas.

Similar to a pressure cooker, this pent-up pressure has to be released, which is why air starts moving from the oceans to the land masses, bringing with it moisture-rich southwest winds that fork at the tip of the subcontinent – one arm moving up from Sri Lanka along the Arabian Sea, the other moving up along the Bay of Bengal into northeastern India and Bangladesh.

A diagram of the monsoon moving up India’s eastern and western coastline:

Image via National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Interestingly but comprehensibly, this energy imbalance can be felt by humans and animals alike during the monsoon built-up. Many people, apart from feeling hot, report feeling restless, uneasy yet also excited before the onset of the monsoon as if waiting to be charged with new energy themselves.

So it is that the onset of the monsoon is celebrated anew every year, and serious rain dances before and raucous dances during the first rains can be witnessed throughout South Asia.

Dressed for the occasion – Indian children playing in the rain:

Image: Vijay Shah

Life goes on – shoppers on Linking Road in Mumbai:

Image via student-direct

Though dancing in the rain is surely innocent fun, walking through waterlogged areas is not. Poisonous snakes, invisible holes ready to suck in the unsuspecting and water-borne diseases wreak havoc each monsoon season.

To be avoided – walking on waterlogged roads, here in Kolkata:

Image via indiamike

Knowing the exact onset of the monsoon is important for South Asia’s farmers as they need to time the sowing of crop accordingly. No wonder that come late May/early June, the respective meteorological institutes in each country are bugged for predictions on a daily basis.

This year, no low-pressure area developed over the Bay of Bengal to pull the monsoon northward, causing rainfall 45% less than normal in June. This is cause for concern because reservoirs and lakes are near empty, already causing water cuts in many areas. Plus, agriculture provides a livelihood for many; almost 60% of India’s population of 1.1 billion and about 60% of the net sown area depend on rains. An erratic monsoon like this year’s affects crops and in many states farmers are already facing large-scale crop losses.

Wanted desperately: lush green landscapes with waterfalls; here in Khandala:

Image: Anil R.

Already, experts are predicting a monsoon that’s below normal, with rainfalls of up to 81% less in certain areas. This could affect agricultural output and push up food prices. Said Mridul Saggar, chief economist at Kotak Securities, in Thursday’s Hindustan Times: “If you see a poor monsoon heading for a 10 per cent deficiency, you might see a 1 percentage drop in GDP.”

Even during the monsoon, predicting daily rainfall and timings as accurately as possible is crucial because as seen in Mumbai and Maharashtra in July 2005, heavy rainfalls can be deadly. On 26th July, heavy rains caused by a cloudburst coincided with high tide in Mumbai, meaning that the excess water had nowhere to go as the tide was pushing in. This caused a deluge in Mumbai that left millions stranded and hundreds dead.

The Mumbai deluge on 26th July 2005:

Image via desiprimeminister

To prevent such a disaster in the future, the powers that be in Mumbai decided to buy a Doppler radar system for $2 million that would allow accurate monsoon predictions to be made. It finally arrived at the South Mumbai offices of the Indian Meteorological Department in April this year, imported from China. Unfortunately, this is where it will stay during this year’s monsoon – safe and sound in its boxes. No accurate predictions for you, Mumbai, again. Why? one may rightfully ask.

According to RV Sharma, deputy director of the Indian Meteorology Department (western region), quoted in Hindustan Times on 23 June, because “the installation can only be done by specialised technicians. We do not have a timeline as of now.” And said specialised technicians are still in China – where they will be until the timeline arrives. Furthermore, that would be after the monsoon because the long-awaited rains finally arrived in the city on Wednesday.

Source: 1, 2, 3

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From the book A Lion Called Christian

Anyone interested in lions has heard the name George Adamson, a legend even called the “Father of Lions” who lived with them for decades in Kenya. Best known through the award-winning documentary Born Free, which recounts his rehabilitation efforts of the lioness Elsa, Adamson managed to treat lions as equals, resulting in reciprocal buddy behaviour from the beasts. See for yourself how Adamson achieved this astounding level of human-animal trust.

Hey Buddy, chill – George Adamson with Boy:

All images courtesy of Father of Lions unless otherwise noted.

Though it’s been almost 10 years since his violent death on 20th August 1989 – Adamson was shot by Somalian bandits at Kora Reserve – the fascination with George Adamson is still very much alive. People just can’t seem to comprehend how any human being could live so intimately with wild animals for so many years.

And Adamson’s beginnings did not point to a life in the midst of animals at all. He was born on 3rd February 1906 in Dholpur, Rajasthan in what was then British India. From there, he came to Kenya, first as an 18-year-old in 1924, and later tried his hand at various jobs like gold prospector, goat trader and professional safari hunter. Only in 1938, at the age of 32, did Adamson join Kenya’s game department and became Senior Game Warden of the Northern Frontier District – a job he held for 23 years, until 1961 when he retired at the age of 55.

An early picture of Adamson working for the Nairobi to Arusha mail service:

It was this job as a game warden that brought him close to Kenya’s wildlife, lions especially. In 1956, he shot the lioness whose cub Elsa he decided to raise together with his wife Joy and later released into the wild. This feat was well documented in the feature film Born Free (1966), which was based largely on his notes, turned into a book of the same name by Joy.

George Adamson with Elsa in 1956 (top) and with his wife Joy in 1970 (bottom):

Image via Marion Kaplan

After retirement, Adamson devoted himself completely to “his” lions and moved to Kora National Reserve in northern Kenya in 1970 where he continued the rehabilitation of captured or orphaned lions into the wild.

“Girl” trusted Adamson enough to let him be around her cubs:

Here’s a video of George Adamson in 1967 with the lions Boy and Girl, featured prominently in Born Free. Bill Travers, who plays George in the movie, narrates how Adamson was teaching them to live in the wild and his own encounter with the magnificent beasts.

Probably the most spectacular rehabilitation of a captive lion into the wild was that of Christian, a lion bought in London and brought to Africa. Described by George Adamson as the “cheerful, mischievous and courageous lion from London,” Christian came to the Kora National Reserve in 1970 and was released into the wild in 1973, where he lived for five years – a tough feat and ripe age for any lion male.

With his white beard and lined face, Adamson’s features are a bit lion-like; here with Christian:

Remarkable is the journey of a man who started out as a mercenary, trying his luck at anything the land had to offer – gold, goats and game – before being the one who was captured by the animals’ way of life.

Adamson, though close even at mealtimes, didn’t get the lion’s share:

What could better sum up the dedication of the Father of Lions than his own words? In a letter written on 1st February 1983 from his “Kampi ya Simba” at the Kora National Reserve, Adamson writes about the progress of the lion population, especially their offspring, words that read like the description of friends’ behaviour:

“‘Naja’ is an excellent and selfless mother. Without her help, none of ‘Koretta’’s’ cubs would have survived… At one time I entertained the suspicion that ‘Blakatan’ was responsible for the loss of ‘Koretta’s’ first litter of four beautiful cubs and that he might have killed and eaten them and I thought seriously about getting rid of him but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was as well that I did so, as he has turned out to be a model and indulgent father, allowing the cubs to rough-house him, pull his tail and bite his ears.”

Walking the walk – George Adamson with his lions:

Source: 1, 2, 3

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Photo: Lodgepole

OK, we’re not going to bore you with every last entomological detail about these hairy critters. You all know the story: caterpillar becomes cocoon; cocoon becomes moth; moth lays eggs; eggs hatch into caterpillars. Yes, caterpillars. And hairy ones. The hairiest. The kind you’d ask if you can see their barber – so you can go and punch him in the chops. Bad hair days abound among this lot, though some may beg to differ and see some pretty raging styles on display.

Note: The names of some of the species eluded us. If anyone can fill us in, be our guest.

1. Slick salon spikes

Photo: Chrissie 64

Is this a yellow tail caterpillar? It’s hard to tell much from this angle, when about all that’s in focus is that visor-like visage and those just-stepped-out-of-the-salon spikes. The hairs on all caterpillars are actually more accurately referred to as setae, bristles that appear on an range of living organisms, from earthworms to geckos’ feet.

2. Rastafari mon

Photo: Fernando Peon

No positive ID on this guy – and again it’s a bit close to tell – but what a great macro capture by the photographer. The caterpillar was discovered in the beautiful Oyambre Nature Park in northern Spain, and all we can say is that it looks as laid back as they come. The hairs on many caterpillars form part of cryptic colouring designed to resemble and blend in with the plants on which they feed.

3. Cute fuzz monster

Photo: Adrian Shepherd

This cute looking fuzzy thing crawling its way along a stone is the caterpillar of the drinker moth. Found in gardens, mainly in the Great Britain where they are fairly widespread, these large, hairy caterpillars like to munch on coarse grasses and reeds, and are themselves eaten only by cuckoos. Drinker moths get their name from their adorable and long-recognised habit of drinking drops of dew from plants.

4. Mohawk surprise

Photo: slideshow bob

This cool, hairy caterpillar will grow up to be the rather less exciting vapourer moth, but until then it’s got some pretty amazing mohawk action going on up top – and paintbrushes might take tips too. Vapourer moth caterpillars are known for being particularly spectacular specimens, with humps, horns and a tail in a mix of yellow, red and grey. These wild childs of the urban and woodland jungles feed on a wide range of shrubs and trees, and can reach pest proportions in forests and cities.

5. Loud punk rocker

Photo: kanocpapa

This fella looks like a close cousin of the vapourer moth above, and may even be one itself, considering it’s also flaunting some fine clumps of setae and an colourfully styled hair arrangement all round. With those tufts, this dude almost certainly belongs to the tussock moth family, which boasts thousands of species spread throughout much of the world. Needless to say, the whole rocking lot of them are pretty darn hairy.

6. Rosy-cheeked gem

Photo: AnnuskA

This little darling is a tussock moth caterpillar too, a banded tussock moth to be exact. It’s covered all over in hairlike clumps of setae, and like the vapourer moth caterpillar sports long hair pencils at both its front and rear. In many tussock moth species, the hairs break off easily and can be extremely irritating to the skin of larger animals predators trying to fool around with these fur balls. It’s a highly effective defence mechanism. Don’t mess.

7. Funkenstein dude

Photo: Modo Frodo

Another tussock moth caterpillar wethinks, this wild hairy guy is a find straight out of the 70s, and one the photographer had a hard time capturing too. Yes, moving along, and with those crazy clumps sticking out obscuring its colorful skin and bright orange eyes, this hair monster proved quite the difficult subject. Looking at a caterpillar as twig-like as this reminds you again that disguise against predators is often one of the incentives behind their sense of style.

8. Totally syc style

Photo: od0man

The next few models on our catwalk seem to take the opposite stance, figuring that brightly displayed hair dos are the way to deter would-be predators. This extraordinary little specimen is a sycamore moth caterpillar, known for its distinctive appearance: thickly covered with exceptionally long yellow and orange hairs, and white spots outlined in black along its back. It feeds on horse-chestnuts among other trees, before turning into a decidedly more dull grey adult.

9. Costa rico grande

Photo: Pro bug catcher

This red and black bad boy is another unidentified specimen that makes the, erm, cut, just because it looks so cool with those bunches. This caterpillar wasn’t found wanting in size either, described by the guy who took its picture as ‘not quite as long… but longer than the width of my hand’. This Costa Rican giant is surely living, crawling proof that whenever you see a creature advertising itself with recognisable danger markings like black and red, it’s a sign saying ‘Hands off’.

10. Dread to think

Photo: Jose Bernardo

This little style-god looks as though it wants to go for dreadlock-like tufts but doesn’t have the hair to make it happen. If, as suspected, this is the larva of the flannel moth, then that would make it a puss caterpillar, which grows to look like a cotton ball with its long hairs. These bugs have venomous spines that can cause a nasty sting and inflammation lasting for days, sometimes leading to symptoms like headaches and nausea. Read the warning signals.

11. Wrapped up warm

Photo: Anne Elliot

This fluffy critter is commonly known as the banded woolly bear – an apt name given its long, thick fur-like setae, black at both ends, with a band of yellowy red in between. The caterpillars of the Isabella tiger moth, woolly bears are renowned for being able to survive winter freezes, though it’s more to do with a substance they give off than their furriness, in spite of much myth. Despite its look, the woolly bear’s setae are not actually toxic, though they can still cause a spot of dermatitis. Nice.

12. Bad old timer

Photo: Mean and Pinchy

What might look like a grizzled old fellow on its last legs, and in serious need of a comb, is actually in all likelihood a walnut caterpillar. Forget the ‘Just for Caterpillar’ hair dye jokes, when these guys get together they can cause serious damage in hardwood forests in the eastern US. They frequently strip host trees such as walnuts and pecans of their leaves – though the hardy arbours are able to withstand several consecutive years of defoliation before they die.

13. Grey and thinning

Photo: Avneyon

To human eyes, this caterpillar is another that gives the impression of being slightly aged, what with the off-white colour and sparsely growing quality of its setae. It was photographed in Israel but its identity remains a mystery; do those cute little orange prolegs offer anyone a clue? It definitely needs to rethink its hairdo; we’re thinking a buzz cut might be the only safe option.

14. Hey glam rocker

Photo: Lodgepole

The wig lover of the bunch, this caterpillar’s mug shot was taken in Southern Ontario, Canada. With a set of spikes that would make a shoe brush proud, it looks as though it might be the offspring of the tiger moth – like the woolly bear featured above – but again we were unable to get a positive ID on it. Great spikes though.

15. Down with those spikes

Photo: silly frog

Last on the list, but by no means least in the hair style stakes, it’s the softly spiked milkweed tussock caterpillar, known for its ability to skeletonise whole leaves, leaving just their lacy remains behind. These fluffy little fellows wander about the place, and may appear either alone or in small clusters, sporting those tufts of black, white and orange setae. Lovely stuff.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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Image: Photographer unknown via Niagara Falls Public Library

It’s an amazing snapshot – so amazing that many have been quick to cry fake: North America’s most iconic falls, apparently frozen mid-flow – but what moment in time is frozen in sepia within this frame? One might think the answer would be simple, but with the origins of this photo veiled in a mist of uncertainty like the spray produced by the falls themselves, nothing is guaranteed.

It seems claims of Photoshop frolics are misguided in this case; yet while the shot looks authentic, because its photographer is unknown, we can’t be sure precisely when it was taken. 1911 has been the date aired most on the web, but it could just as easily be 1912, when much of the surrounding Niagara River was frozen. The other point here is that in the photo the falls are not entirely frozen over, with several small spouts of water visible gushing out from beneath the crust of ice crystals.

American Falls frozen over, probably 1936

Image: Photographer unknown via Niagara Falls Public Library

According to historical records, during only one year, 1848, has freezing weather caused the thousands of cubic feet of water per second flowing over the Niagara Falls to run dry, an event thought to have been caused by ice jamming and damming upriver. Ice bridges spanning the Niagara River from bank to bank have formed as a result of various other colder winters, and in 1936, when the photo above was probably taken, the American Falls are said to have frozen over completely.

Great mass of frozen spray and ice-bound American Falls Niagara, 1902 or 1890

Image: Photographer unknown via Niagara Falls Public Library

The years 1909, 1938 and 1949 are others in which the water usually rushing over these famous falls may have been reduced to a trickle – if not over the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the border the Niagara Falls straddle, then at least over the shallower American Falls. Meanwhile, back in 1912, an ice bridge broke apart as several people were crossing it, sending three to their deaths as the ice on which they stood plunged them into oblivion.

Cave of the winds in winter niagara falls, date unknown

Image: Photographer unknown via Ellishouse

To conclude, if there is one specific day when the Niagara Falls might be said to have frozen solid in recent history, it most likely took place in 1848, and even so, the news reports of the time were patchy on detail. More likely, we are looking at several days over the course of a century and a half when the falls gave the appearance of having fully frozen over, when in fact they only did so partially. One thing’s for sure though: it hasn’t happened in some considerable time. Nobody say climate change.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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