Hey Mary, Congratulations, I Hear You Had a Boy!

A few nice negative effects images I found:

Hey Mary, congratulations, I hear you had a boy!

Image by kevindooley
Mary and Joseph must’ve been some cool dudes to have brought up such a fine gentleman. Merry Christmas all!

Diana+ medium format camera with Fujifilm Velvia 120 film, cross-processed. No other edits. The negative effect is had by developing E6 film in C41 chemicals. (Explore)

NYC – Bronx – Bronx Zoo: Rockefeller Fountain

Image by wallyg
This elaborate sculptural fountain has a long and controversial history. Known as the Rockefeller Fountain, after the benefactor William Rockefeller (1841–1922) who gave it to New York City. The fountain, which is now an official New York landmark, once stood in Como, Italy.

In 1860, the City of Como began filling in portions of the harbor along Lake Como not being used for commercial traffic, to create Piazza Cavour—a place intended as a respite for tourists and residents alike. The new piazza was a mixed success. Its original purpose was never fulfilled, and it was used more as a dusty military parade ground. In 1870, a Milanese trader named Sebastiano Mondolfo, a villa resident at nearby Borgovico, and president of Lariana Shipping, offered the City 20,000 lira to purchase a monumental fountain from the Palazzo Litta at Lainate, that would be used to beautify Piazza Cavour.

The town fathers rejected the original plan, believing that a relocation of such a work of art from an aristocrat’s private palace to a public space was unacceptable. Instead, Mondolfo used his offer in 1872 to hire a local sculptor named Biagio Catella to design a new fountain. In less than six months, Catella and a team of artisans completed the three-tiered fountain carved of Bianco Pi Italian marble, and composed of a central image of a swan surrounded by sea creatures and ornamental carving. On September 23, 1872, the fountain was turned on. Though supplied by a small aqueduct on Mount Olimpino, the fountain served a practical community function by providing fresh water. The aesthetic result was the subject of heated debate, and even ridicule.

Some prudish observers took exception to the nude female naiad figures and the negative effects they might have on the morals of young children. Others felt that the swan more closely resembled an ungainly goose. The sea creatures in general were perceived as imagery that did not relate to the adjacent fresh-water lake. Those situated in the higher elevations of town were worried that the waters needed to operate the fountain demanded too much pressure from their neighborhood water supplies. The community was divided between those who revered the fountain and those who opposed its creation (the “anti-fontanisti”).

Poor construction and fiscal mismanagement appear to have settled the matter. The waters of the lake had badly eroded the landfill foundation by 1890. A municipal budget crisis left the city without the resources to repair and run the fountain, and it was dismantled and placed in salvage in 1891. In 1899, a local exposition and disastrous fire further undermined the city’s financial viability, and in an attempt to alleviate the local debt, the City Council authorized the sale of the fountain for 3,500 lira (the estimated equivalent then of 7).

In 1902, William Rockefeller purchased the fountain and invested an additional ,000 to bring it to the City of New York, where it was installed at the Bronx Zoo in 1903. Later, the esteemed architectural firm of Heins and La Farge designed a new a ceremonial setting, and in 1910, the fountain was moved to its present location on the north side of the zoo at the Astor Court. In 1968, the fountain was designated an official New York City landmark, and is one of the few local monuments to be honored in this way.

eighteen_spots

Image by sillydog
Nineteen Spots
Permaculture notes, #00577

This non-native type of ladybeetle (or ladybird if you’re in the UK) is increasingly common in Oregon as a result of being introduced to control pests. Sounds like a good idea, except that its presence is causing a decline in the population of native ladybeetles.

Increased international shipping and climate change act in concert to increase the impact of such plant and animal species in climates this temperate. This particular one got its first foothold in the United States near Victorian New Orleans shipping docks. All lady beetles are voracious aphid destroyers. This sturdy specimen was heavily imported into the southeastern US during the 70s to control aphids on pecans, and as early as 1916 into California. They really do a good job, though far more so while in their larval stages.

Adult beetles have been collected en masse for the last 15 years or so, destined to be sold to consumers with organic gardeners. They figured their consumer base would like the appearance of the rounded adults in comparison to their spiky and lethal-looking larval selves. Adults are very easily captured in the mountains where they collect on rock faces to warm up in the morning. Their exothermic metabolism allows them to be shipped with refrigeration to your local garden centre.

Unfortunately, being adults, they’re ready to lay eggs and are not going to be very interested in eating the aphids off your roses. It’s a scam. They fly off, give you a very bad impression of bio-control and lay their eggs all over the place.

To sum up: It’s really hard to be good – having good intentions is not enough. You have to arm yourself with knowledge to fairly judge all plans. Even good ideas need to be implemented the right way. Otherwise you end up buying into yet another way of doing things, with poor results and negative effects, upon something other than merit.