June 14, 2026

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Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

“Fred” appears to have some unusual footwear on his right rear paw. Or there is a human hiding back there.

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
29 days ago

It’s a dog bootie. Really a real thing.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

A line of elephants leads the circus parade, followed by clowns, heading south on 8th Avenue at West 48th Street, NYC… ca 1915-1920.

I don’t think I want to be the last guy in the parade, if he’s doing what I think someone ought to be doing, after a line of elephants passes by in a city street.

Last edited 28 days ago by SusanSunshine
mr_sherman
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

Just like the little guy at the end of the parade in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cartoons.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  mr_sherman
28 days ago

Yeah, that image came to my mind too.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Enjoy the moment, Dave!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  JP Steve
29 days ago

I think he is “drinking it in” for all he’s worth.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

That face is pure bliss!

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Gandalf recruits the Hobbits…

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

Wow… I just had to disappear for a while, discovering this photographer and his amazing work.

His name is, or was, Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii. A Russian chemist and photographer, he invented a method of taking color photographs in the early 20th century, before color film existed.

Above is his portrait of a Jewish teacher with his young pupils in Samarkand, now part of Ubekestan, about 1910.

Day before yesterday, Nighthawks posted another of his photos, a boy in a red brocade-like robe and white turban, which attracted some speculation… I found out it’s another youth in Samarkand, this one sitting in the courtyard of a mosque, also well over 100 years ago.

What Prokudin-Gorskii did was take three b/w photos in succession, as quickly as possible, using a different filter over the lens for each shot… a red, a blue, and a green.

After developing, he projected the images onto a single screen, using the same color filters, so they overlapped, and created a color image in light.

They couldn’t be printed exactly like that… but some prints were made using a three step process with dots of red, green and blue ink, similar to color lithography, or maybe Ben Day dots (used in early comics).

Czar Nicholas discovered his work, and backed him on a long journey, taking pictures of the Russian Empire. He fled to Paris after the revolution, taking as many negatives as he could.
It’s only in the 20th century that those rediscovered negatives have been digitally combined into real color prints.

Last edited 28 days ago by SusanSunshine
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

Another….

“Russian peasant girls in front of traditional wooden house, in a rural area along the Sheksna River near the small town of Kirillov.”

What wonderful colors they wore.

russian-girls
Last edited 28 days ago by SusanSunshine
meadowmary
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

Wow, that’s pretty amazing!

Arfside
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

What’s also amazing is that he could get his subjects to hold the same pose for 3 different shots. I’m sure that he was frustrated many times by a twitch, a breeze or any other distractio…squirrel!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Arfside
28 days ago

Yes… I saw a dozen or so, and several had blotches of pure color, no doubt resulting from motion having caused misaligned negatives.

He probably had to make several attempts at some of them., causing grumbling on both sides of the lens.

But I think his subjects were told they were part of this great project for the Czar and for Russia, and were probably proud of it.

The film was also much faster by then, compared to the early days of tintypes and such, but exceedingly slow by modern standards.

I’d guess that’s why most that I saw were taken outdoors in bright sunlight, where exposure times were already down to under a second.

But they still had to allow time for changing filters and glass plates, and refocusing.

Last edited 28 days ago by SusanSunshine
DancingBuffalo
Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

From a technical standpoint, color me impressed!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

Me too!
I’m fascinated.

Just to think these pictures are ±115 years old is… Wow.

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Now you can guess
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a young Prince Charles at London Airport in 1951 or 1952

JP Steve
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Reply to  Arfside
29 days ago

The Not Quite and Future King…

Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

The fellow at the far right resembles Don Adams (Maxwell Smart).

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
28 days ago

He kinda does!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Ghosts!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Another beautiful photo from Edouard Boubat…

This is “Les Novices du beguinage de Bruges”…. Novices and their convent in Bruges, Belgium …. 1954.

A beguinage was a special kind of convent. The novices are “lay sisters”, who chose a somewhat monastic life, but didn’t take vows.

They usually didn’t spend the day in prayer like the nuns, but did jobs for them, inside or outside the convent. They were the ones who cleaned, cooked, raised the chickens, and did the bookkeeping, or worked in town to raise money.

Apparently, this system has faded away… this was one of the last beguinages. Now there’s a different form of lay sisterhood… they do take vows, but play a similar role, though they can be married and even live outside the convent.

JP Steve
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

It immediately reminded me of the “Ave Maria” sequence in Fantasia

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

Mexican Folklorico dancer.

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Nighthawks, I’m wondering why you chose this one? Am I missing something? It looks similar to my kitchen, but the colors are different and we have a microwave over the stove.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Arfside
29 days ago

Just a touch of poorly planned carpentry.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

You just have to be careful not to make anything smoky or smelly too far to the right on the stovetop. 🙂

Actually, the burners seem to be centered under the hood, anyway. I’m not sure why they’re not closer to the edges of the stove, but in this case I guess that’s good.

I do wonder why the builder didn’t notice the misalignment long before the cabinetry was finished and the stove installed.

Last edited 29 days ago by SusanSunshine
Arfside
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

I guess I was too focused on the stove and the cabinets that were so like ours before the flood from a water pipe leak. The house was built in 1973.
We had to redo that entire side of the kitchen from floor to ceiling. Homeowners insurance covered most of it, and we did all our cooking and eating out on the patio for months.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

I’m sure they’ll be a big hit at the barn dance next Saturday.

Greyhame
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

And there was the chicken doing the Chicken Reel and the muskrat rambled on

The old cow did the Cow-Cow Boogie and the rooster crowed a song

A mouse came out of his hiding place and he danced on one leg

The old hen got so tickled that she almost laid an egg (♪♫)

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Oh, good! Still a couple of years for that jar in the back of my pantry!

Last edited 29 days ago by JP Steve
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
29 days ago

Or even a couple thousand.

JP Steve
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

You don’t know me very well…

Tigressy
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

Opened or unopened?

Arfside
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

Could be both, as long as it was reasonably covered to keep out excessive dirt. The Egyptians didn’t have Mason jars during the times of the pyramids.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

Yes, honey doesn’t spoil or support mold growth, any more than a bag of dry, crystalized cane sugar.

Moisture on top can spoil, like scum on a pond. The honey underneath would be good but it might be hard to trust getting rid of every bit of the liquid.

So you want to keep it clean and dry, in a clean container, preferably with a nice, tight lid.

A local beekeeper and honey seller I know told me long ago that he sterilizes the jars, but doesn’t process them after filling, the way he does his fruit jams.

Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
27 days ago

(sigh)

Arfside
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Reply to  Tigressy
27 days ago

And you were probably thinking about an opened jar of honey not lasting very long around your house. I guess that I didn’t read your mind the way that you expected me to. Oh well…. {^¿^}

Tigressy
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Reply to  Arfside
27 days ago

It was a joke!

Arfside
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Reply to  Tigressy
27 days ago

Yup. Apparently there were two different answers. As I responded, I didn’t get it at first, and I took you seriously. Now that I read your mind, I get that it was a joke. There are quite a few things around our house that don’t last long once they’re opened, too.

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

I thought so!
Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn chatting backstage at the 28th Academy Awards in 1956

JP Steve
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Reply to  Arfside
29 days ago

WOW!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

Their chat doesn’t seem very chatty.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

My Sharpshin could do worse! Though I didn’t quite lose my thumb…

Last edited 29 days ago by JP Steve
Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

A Franklin Booth aficionado.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
28 days ago

He does seem to be an influence.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
28 days ago

By Bernie Wrightson, 1987.

Search was a little confusing because links kept leading to the wrong pictures… but this may be one of his illustrations for Stephen King’s “The Stand.”

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Sorry, I only found one of them.

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
29 days ago

Got it!

More_Cats_Than_Sense
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28 days ago

Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Portree-Isle-of-Skye-Scotland
More_Cats_Than_Sense
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28 days ago

Peanut eating a dandelion, for Bunday.

Peanut-eating-a-dandelion
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
28 days ago

Peanut looks like he takes no prisoners.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
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28 days ago

Scarlet Macaw at Luna Lodge near Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.

Scarlet-macaw-at-Luna-Lodge-near-Corcovado-National-Park-in-Costa-Rica
Tigressy
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28 days ago

.

GoslingsShoes
Tigressy
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

.

FamilyLake
Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

Are they:
a) about to untie his shoes, or
b) untie them, then tie both sets of shoelaces to each other?

Tigressy
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
28 days ago

One of them tried a).

JP Steve
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

LoL!

JP Steve
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Reply to  Tigressy
28 days ago

Don’t trip!

DancingBuffalo
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28 days ago

I believe the universe is telling me I need a new hobby. Perhaps ice sculpture. Starting with my mom’s freezer:

freezer
Tigressy
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

Oh the humidity!!!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

Here’s a thought: For Christmas, or her next birthday, buy mom a frost-free freezer.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

I’ve never seen a side-by-side that wasn’t frost-free. This looks like a real malfunction.

I dunno whether this is really your Mom’s freezer or just a funny(not if it’s your mom’s!) picture you found on the innerwebs…

But if it’s hers, maybe you can answer my burning question: why is there a ream of copy paper in there?

DancingBuffalo
Reply to  SusanSunshine
28 days ago

Heh…mom’s filing system, I suppose! Most likely a box full of pre-packaged hot dogs or something.

It really is Mom’s freezer. It’s a standalone upright, and most standalone units of that era aren’t frost free. Even my two small chest freezers aren’t.

She’s 92…has a serious food hoarding problem. I found three or four bottles of unopened ketchup on the pantry shelf that were so old they were nearly black and chunky.

The door seal is damaged. I totally forgot about that until she told me yesterday she couldn’t get the door open. (I had offered to repair the door seal about a decade ago.)

Mom had her gall bladder removed about three weeks ago. She says that she must not have got the door closed right about then, but there’s no way that much frost could develop in three weeks. Three years maybe.

Anyway, I’ve (obviously) been spending a lot of time over there – yard work, hose repairs, faucet repairs, and one “plugged up, overflowing, chunks everywhere” toilet repair. I nearly lost it cleaning that one up and fixing the unit.

Up until now, she’s pretty much refused my help with taking care of her place. But that’s gonna change…

mr_sherman
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

I’m sure that whatever is in that box on the bottom is no longer ‘Jam Free”.

JP Steve
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

You’re a good son! (or daughter?)

DancingBuffalo
Reply to  JP Steve
28 days ago

Thanks…being a guy, I don’t have much of a caretaker personality. The other day I told Mom that since all my caretaking experience has been with the dogs, I’ll have her chasing squirrels really soon!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

Plenty of guys are caretakers, and plenty of women aren’t!

I see now that it’s a stand-alone… And yeah, side by sides are the ones that are usually newer, and frost free.

Years ago, I bought an upright freezer from a thrift store… It was already old when I got it. Maybe late 1940s model.

Solid shelves (I think the coolant ran through them, so I’m not sure how air circulated, but it worked great. For a while.

I froze a huge harvest from my garden (I miss that garden, and the energy I had back then to do it), then went to Mexico for a week.

Came home to dripping, stinky puddles of rotten tomatoes, meat, and other stuff. I wished I had a gas mask… It was horrible.

Tigressy
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
27 days ago

Ours is nearly 21 years old.
Once – close after defrosting it – I didn’t shut the door properly. Only overnight. It was humid, and the interior looked worse than before defrosting…
Three weeks would have put a glacier to shame.

Arfside
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Reply to  DancingBuffalo
28 days ago

When we had an old hand-me-down freeezer like that, I found a hair dryer was pretty handy at getting some areas loose enough so that I could use a hard plastic spatula to loosen it more without damaging the coils. I’ve done it many times before we could afford to buy a frost-free refrigerator freezer. That original refrigerator probably lasted 30 or 40 years. None of the next ones have lasted more than 10 years.

DancingBuffalo
Reply to  Arfside
28 days ago

Yeah, that’s why Mom has held onto it. It’s decades old, but keeps on working.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Arfside
28 days ago

I understand.

My fridge that died about a year and a half ago was 42 years old.

The previous owner left me all the paperwork. I always planned to replace it, but never did till it gave up.

When I moved in here, it was 2 years old, but a low-end model, with a tiny freezer that needed constant defrosting.
I never used a hairdryer, but did boil a small pot of water and set it inside, so the ice came off in big pieces.

I’d had a beautiful fridge that I had to sell before I moved here… Now I finally have a frost free freezer compartment again, that will even keep ice cream. Yay!

Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
27 days ago

That’s how I do the defrosting, too. Takes time, but minimal effort.

Arfside
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
27 days ago

That’s a good idea. Now if Dancing Buffalo can just find a way to squeeze in a small pot of hot water….

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Arfside
27 days ago

I never could either, till I chopped or melted a way to get in, sometimes muscling out a stuck package while it was still frozen hard, to make a hole.

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