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Does anyone out there know of any application that will rotate a video? I took some video of performers at Pennsic, with the camera turned sideways because it was a better shot, not even thinking about the implication. Now I have some videos that are really lovely if you lie down on your side before viewing. Any ideas how to get them upright?

Also, I didn't see Wolgemut perform once while I was there. Were they performing in the marketplace at all this year or just at private concerts and at the performing arts tent? Or did they not make it this year?
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As I said in my last post, tonight's experiments went extremely well. I tried layering the clear purple over white, and while it still isn't what one would describe as "royal purple", it is still definitely, visibly purple now. I imagine it will look even better under natural light.

The long skinny beads are more of my Viking household series (house colours are red, black and a bit of gold). Nice because they are quicker to bang out than the spotty beads I've been doing. Bad because I'm sure the striping and marvering isn't period (maybe each individually, but I don't think I've seen them combined). If you have evidence of textured, multicoloured beads, I'd love to see your sources.

I'm really impressed to death with my triangular bead. It is really, very obviously a triangle, and not even a wonky triangle either. It's a little small, but I'm not going to get picky.

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playing with levels )
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Photo of the week, a little taste of Edmonton. Last Friday (the 22nd if memory serves) downtown Edmonton got taken over by the country. There was a stage with live country music, a beef barbecue (that was mighty tasty) and free samples of all kinds of genuine Alberta Beef products (jerky, pepperoni sticks and the like). And the center-piece of this pro-beef rally...




Driving 100 head of cattle down a main street of Edmonton's downtown. Don't believe me? Here are the pics to prove it.


This guy was our mayor at the time (or so someone on the street next to me said). He has since been voted out as we had an election some time this past week. Not that I cared since we weren't allowed to vote in it anyway (you had to be here since April to vote).



I love how prominently I managed to get the Holt Renfrew sign in the background and how perfectly the Canadian and Albertan flags were fluttering. Follow the point on the shield of the Albertan flag and you'll be able to spot the former mayor in this shot too.



And finally, here comes the beef. I had to admit, they were a little smaller than I expected. Probably for safety reasons. They're mighty cute when they're just big-dog sized. However, being the carnivore that I am, I also have to say that they are mighty tasty too.



There, lots of pics, and bizarre pics at that.
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Yeah, I'm getting these things up further and further apart, I know. Really, I just post when inspiration strikes I guess.

Anyway, this week's gem, in light of the recent yicky turn in the weather, is a shot taken on the HOTTEST day in Malta. We nearly melted into the sidewalk, and I have never polished off an entire bottle of pop as fast as I did after this wander through the ruins. And never still been thirsty for more either. Since I'm late with my photo of the week, I guess I'll make it a big post to make it worth your while eh.


The Mnajdra Temple


The HagarQim Temple


These babies are located out in the middle of nowhere on the island of Malta, on a cliff overlooking the sea. They are the oldest man-made structures ever found. They pre-date Stonehenge, the pyramids and anything else cool and old you can think of. Originally, they had roofs and likely doors that could be barred from inside. They contained useful things like basins for holding water for hand washing and a nifty system of holes in the wall that served to amplify the voice and act as a kind of intercom between rooms. They are filled with phallic symbols and inverted triangles, indicating female genitalia, and were probably the focus of a fertility cult. They were used only for ceremonial purposes, though it is likely that the priests also lived inside. Or that's what the tour guides tell you anyway. My belief on the accuracy of archeology on a culture this ancient is tenuous at best. I mean, really, any long, skinny thing archaeologists find they seem absolutely dying to call a phallic symbol. Sometimes a column is just a column boys. I figure they could just as easily have been a large communal home, or maybe the house of the local rulers. And all the carvings, and "altars" could have simply been interior decor. But what do I know eh?

What I can say with absolute certainty about the site is that the stones were both impressively huge, and nicely decorated. The originals, of course, have been moved indoors to a museum where the ravages of tourists and the sea-salt breezes won't destroy them, but I got the idea anyway. The really interesting thing is that these "windows" are NOT post and lintel construction like one would first think on casual observation. They are in fact carved out of one solid block. Now, whatever else you might think about these "temples", that alone is a pretty impressive feat. And for them to have held up a ceiling and not been crushed, well, that is also pretty awesome. The size of the stones themselves is also pretty awe-inspiring, especially if you stop for a moment and consider what they must weigh and how hard it would have been, with bronze-age technology, to get them carved and upright in the right positions. Below is a shot of Jason in the doorway of one of the HagarQim temples.

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It's been a week - a whole week since my last photo - Ack! I can't believe how fast time passes. More fabulous Maltese architecture today:



This is an interior courtyard of the Grand Master's Palace in the new capital of Valletta. While this was the seat of government during the time Malta was ruled by the Knights of St. John, it is still the seat of the modern, elected, post-separation from England parliament today. I actually got to go into the rooms where parliament sessions take place. It was surprisingly small and dark and entirely filled, floor to ceiling on every wall, with tapestries.

Specifically, this is a shot of the courtyard as taken from the "yo, don't enter here unless you work here" entrance with the guard watching me warily and thinking "like, hey, tourista, that means you". The things you do for the perfect shot...

And, for your viewing pleasure, I submit a link to a cool daily photo site, and most of you will recognize some of his subjects, or today's subject at any rate:

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/
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It's been a week, where's my photo? It's comin', it's comin'...



Mdina, my favourite place in Malta. An ancient city, the once-capital that was abandoned in the renaissance for newer, cooler, sea-side digs in Valletta, that has gone pretty much unchanged since then. Narrow, winding streets and alleyways, massive town squares, and everything close and paved, making best use of the space within the walls. The sound of the horses, pulling carriages, trotting past us as we walked into the city, the sounds of their hooves echoing off the stone walls of the houses and palaces lining the streets and off the interior of the city gate really took me back. This was one place where I really wished I'd brought garb, friends and some good musicians :)
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Idea blatantly ripped off from Ashendari

Only I'm not quite as prolific a photographer as him, so I think I'll make mine photo of the week, or maybe twice a week, we'll see. Anyway, I'm posting photos I've taken that I think are cool for some reason or another. We'll start with Maltese shots since I have a smackload of these.



Cathedral Bell in Sliema

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