Just walking the dogs....
GM
Touching grass this morning.... 
TGT......touch grass today....
Into the hills....
Pura vida.
❄️ Norway 🇳🇴 vs Finland 🇫🇮
Two of the world's most beautiful Nordic countries, Norway and Finland are famous for their breathtaking Arctic landscapes, high quality of life, and incredible natural wonders.
🇳🇴 Norway
📍 Capital: Oslo
👥 Population: ~5.6 million
📏 Area: 385,207 km²
💰 Currency: Norwegian Krone (NOK)
🗣️ Language: Norwegian
🌟 Why Visit Norway?
🏔️ Spectacular fjords and towering mountains.
🌌 One of the best places on Earth to see the Northern Lights.
🚢 Has one of the world's longest coastlines.
⚡ A global leader in renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption.
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🇫🇮 Finland
📍 Capital: Helsinki
👥 Population: ~5.6 million
📏 Area: 338,455 km²
💰 Currency: Euro (€)
🗣️ Languages: Finnish & Swedish
🌟 Why Visit Finland?
🌲 About 75% of the country is covered by forests.
💧 Home to nearly 188,000 lakes, earning the nickname "The Land of a Thousand Lakes."
🎅 Rovaniemi is widely known as the home of Santa Claus Village.
😊 Finland consistently ranks among the happiest countries in the world.
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🌍 Fun Facts
✨ Both countries are part of the Nordic region.
✨ They experience the Midnight Sun in summer and long polar nights in the far north during winter.
✨ Nature, clean air, and outdoor activities are central to life in both nations.
💬 Question:
Which Nordic destination would you choose for your dream trip: Norway 🇳🇴 or Finland 🇫🇮?
#Norway #Finland #Nordic #Europe #Geography #WorldFacts #Travel
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Arnis is Filipino culture in motion. Officially declared the Philippines’ national martial art and sport through Republic Act 9850 in 2009, .....
......Arnis is an indigenous fighting system built around sticks, blades, and empty-hand defense.
It is also known across communities as Eskrima, Kali, Garrote, and other regional names.
What makes it powerful is its practicality: the same principles can move from stick to blade to bare hands.
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Feast your eyes on the cockscomb nudibranch (Antiopella barbarensis)! Growing up to 1.97 in (5 cm) long, this tiny burst of color is also known as the Santa Barbara nudibranch and can be found off the coast of California.
Like other nudibranchs, this shell-less mollusc’s breathing system is outside its body. In fact, “nudi” means naked, and “branch” refers to the branch-like gills that cover these critters.
Photo: Robin Gwen Agarwal, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist
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Just found this beautiful bird in my garden ,must have flown into a window and died.
Such a shame....
Pura vida.
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“The subjects can run the gamut, but I will not sacrifice the beautiful patterns— and colors, shades, etc., Those things are essential to my work and it doesn’t matter if that’s what people notice right off, as long as they enjoy the painting. It’s like music. You don’t have to know why it grabs, you just know it grabs you.”
— Frank Frazetta
🎨 
🎨
🌄 Shaanxi Cave Dwellings – "Natural Air-Conditioned Rooms" on the Loess Plateau, warm in winter and cool in summer, with a kang (heated brick bed) connected to the stove, allowing for cooking and heating simultaneously.
📍Recommended: Mizhi Cave Dwelling Ancient Town, Yan'an Baotashan Cave Dwelling Homestay
🏯 Fujian Tulou – Family Fortresses Deep in the Mountains, with thick walls that can withstand cannonballs, round and square buildings resembling miniature cities, containing wells and granaries.
📍Recommended: Yongding Chengqi Building (King of Tulou), Nanjing Tianluokeng ("Four Dishes and One Soup")
🖌 Hui-Style Ancient Villages – White walls, black tiles, and horse-head gables, with courtyards symbolizing wealth and "four waters returning to the hall," like stepping into an ink painting.
📍Recommended: Hongcun, Xidi (over 300 Ming and Qing dynasty houses)
🏠 Beijing Courtyard Houses – Square and upright, with the north-facing rooms considered the most prestigious, and the southeast corner gate welcoming summer breezes and blocking north winds in winter.
📍Recommended: Nanluoguxiang, Shijia Hutong Museum
🌊 Xiangxi Stilted Houses – Wooden stilts support a semi-suspended structure, with living quarters on the upper floor and livestock on the lower floor; the night view of Fenghuang Ancient Town is stunning.
📍Recommended: Fenghuang Ancient Town, Furong Town (a thousand-year-old town hanging on a waterfall)
🌴 Dai Bamboo Houses – "Stilted houses" in the Xishuangbanna rainforest, moisture-proof and snake-proof, without a single nail.
📍Recommended: Xishuangbanna Dai Ethnic Garden, Manhena Ancient Village
🚣 Jiangnan Water Towns – Living along the river, with pavilions extending over the water, covered walkways providing shade and shelter from the rain, and each house having a stone-stepped dock.
📍Recommended: Wuzhen (floating waterside pavilions), Xitang (kilometer-long covered corridors), Nanxun (waterside dwellings)
Images @Xiaohongshu📕
#ChinaTravel #TraditionalDwellings #CaveDwellings #FujianTulou
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Glen Martin Taylor is a contemporary American artist whose practice mixes sculpture, ceramics, drawing, installation and mixed techniques.
Educated at California State University in Fullerton, he has been developing a work of art, humor and everyday poetry for several decades.
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KHON: From Thailand’s Royal Court to the World
Khon is Thailand’s finest classical masked dance drama, originating in the royal court and inspired by the Ramakien, Thailand’s national epic. It blends elegant dance, music, literature, and exquisite craftsmanship into one remarkable performance.
Recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2018, Khon represents the beauty, wisdom, and artistic heritage of Thailand.
Discover the timeless elegance of Khon—where centuries of tradition continue to inspire the world.
🇹🇭 Khon: A Living Masterpiece of Thailand.
#Khon #ThaiCulture #UNESCO #Thailand #IntangibleHeritage #VisitThailand
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Cave Paintings of the Cosquer Cave, France.
The Cosquer Cave (Marseille, France) was discovered in 1985 by a diver, Henri Cosquer, deep under the sea (the original entrance is about 115 feet below present-day sea level) but its paintings were not mentioned until 1991 after three divers died in the cave when they got lost.
The gallery slopes up for about 360 feet under water before reaching a huge chamber that partly remained above the sea and where many prehistoric paintings and engravings are preserved on the walls, as well as remains on the ground (charcoal from fires and torches, a few flint tools).
This is the only painted cave in the world with an entrance below present-day sea level where cave art has been preserved from the flooding that occurred when the seas rose after the end of the last glaciation.
The number of hand stencils (some of them with incomplete fingers) is 65.
The animal paintings and rock engravings can be roughly clustered to two periods - one around 19,000 BP and the other around 27,000 BP.
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👨🎨🎨✒️ John Kenn Mortensen is the artist behind the cult-hit 👻"Sticky Monsters",...
..... which has sold thousands of copies around the world and is published in the UK, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, and Italy.
He has a huge international fanbase with over 320,000 followers on social media.
Mortensen is recognized for creating detailed, nightmarish illustrations on small, yellow 3x3-inch sticky notes and he blends Nordic folklore with gothic, cinematic horror, often featuring a blend of whimsical and terrifying elements.
The artist works exclusively with fine-liner pens, employing detailed cross-hatching to build depth.
Mortensen's art is frequently compared to the works of Edward Gorey due to its dark whimsy and intricate inkwork.
John Kenn Mortensen (born 1978) works as an illustrator, author, and film director.
His debut came in 2011 with the award-winning "Sticky Monsters" which has become an international bestseller.
He has illustrated the Danish editions of Neil Gaiman's "Hansel and Gretel" and Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "The Witches", and furthermore produced concept art for DreamWorks Animation.
🏆 Awards & Recognition
• Pingprisen Winner: He won the prestigious Danish comic award Pingprisen for Best Debut in 2012 for 'Post-it monstre'.
• Ministry of Culture Shortlist: His picture book "Natteræd" was nominated for the Danish Ministry of Culture's Illustrator Prize.
• International Presence: His work has featured in international exhibitions, including at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in the US.
John Kenn Mortensen lives in Copenhagen with his wife and twins.
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On This Day Eagles Fell Apart: How One Concert Ended America's Biggest Band!
On the evening of July 31, 1980, the Eagles walked onto the stage of the Long Beach Arena as the biggest rock band in America.
By the time they walked off, the group that had sold tens of millions of records, dominated FM radio, and defined the sound of Southern California had effectively ceased to exist.
The audience heard flawless harmonies and polished musicianship. What they couldn't hear were the whispered threats passing between guitarist Glenn Frey and guitarist Don Felder, each counting down the remaining songs until they planned to settle their differences with their fists.
Rock history remembers it as the "Long Night at Wrong Beach." It wasn't simply the end of a concert—it was the breaking point for a band that had spent nearly a decade climbing to heights few artists have ever reached.
The Eagles' rise had been astonishing. Formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner, the group emerged from the fertile Southern California music scene surrounding Linda Ronstadt. Their seamless vocal harmonies and blend of country, rock, folk, and pop transformed them into one of the defining acts of the 1970s. Albums including One of These Nights, Hotel California, and The Long Run produced an extraordinary string of classics—"Take It Easy," "Lyin' Eyes," "New Kid in Town," "Hotel California," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Heartache Tonight," and dozens more. By the end of the decade, the Eagles had become less a rock band than an American institution.
Success, however, carried a price. The perfectionism that produced timeless records also created relentless pressure. Recording sessions stretched endlessly. Every guitar solo, vocal harmony, and lyric became the subject of heated debate. Personnel changes reflected the growing tensions: Leadon departed in 1975, replaced by Joe Walsh, while Meisner exited two years later, with Timothy B. Schmit taking over bass duties. Each lineup change made the Eagles musically stronger, but personally more volatile.
By the time the band completed The Long Run in 1979, relationships had deteriorated dramatically. Glenn Frey and Don Henley increasingly functioned as the band's leaders, while Don Felder often felt marginalized despite co-writing "Hotel California" and helping define the Eagles' signature twin-guitar sound. The recording sessions were notoriously exhausting, with disagreements over everything from songwriting to creative control.
Then came Long Beach. The concert was a benefit for California Senator Alan Cranston. Before the performance, the band participated in a reception with Cranston and his wife. According to Don Felder's later memoir, he muttered an offhand remark after greeting the senator's wife that Glenn Frey interpreted as disrespectful. Frey exploded backstage, confronting Felder before the show had even begun.
Once the band walked onstage, professionalism kept the music intact—but only just.
Between songs, and sometimes while they were performing, Frey and Felder hissed threats at one another through clenched teeth. According to Felder, Frey repeatedly reminded him exactly how many songs remained before the beating would begin.
"Only three more songs before I kick your ass, pal."
The audience remained blissfully unaware. They heard pristine harmonies on songs such as "Hotel California," "Heartache Tonight," "Life in the Fast Lane," and "Take It Easy." Behind the smiles, however, the Eagles were disintegrating in real time.
Backstage, the confrontation continued. Accounts differ on precisely what happened, but there is broad agreement that Felder smashed a guitar in frustration rather than escalate the confrontation into a full-scale fight. Glenn Frey's sarcastic response reportedly was, "Typical of you to break your cheapest guitar." It would be the last Eagles performance for nearly fourteen years.
Ironically, contractual obligations prevented the band from disappearing immediately.
The Eagles still owed Elektra Records a live album. Rather than celebrating their remarkable career together, the production of Eagles Live became another symbol of the band's collapse. Frey and Felder reportedly refused to work together, completing overdubs and mixing from opposite coasts because neither wanted to be in the same studio—or, according to band lore, even the same state—as the other. The album reached No. 6 on the Billboard chart, but behind the polished performances lay one of the most dysfunctional recording projects in rock history.
The breakup officially became permanent in 1982.
Each member launched solo careers with varying degrees of success. Glenn Frey scored major hits including "The Heat Is On," "Smuggler's Blues," and "You Belong to the City." Don Henley became one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of the 1980s with "The Boys of Summer," "Dirty Laundry," and "The End of the Innocence." Joe Walsh continued his solo career, while Timothy B. Schmit and Don Felder pursued individual projects.
For years, reunion rumors surfaced only to be dismissed. Don Henley famously joked that the Eagles would reunite "when hell freezes over."
In 1994, hell did exactly that.
The band reunited for MTV's Hell Freezes Over, a clever nod to Henley's remark. The accompanying album and tour became one of the biggest live events of the decade, proving that audiences had never stopped loving the Eagles, even if the band members sometimes struggled to love one another. Yet the underlying tensions never completely disappeared. Don Felder departed the group again in 2001 following legal disputes over finances and management, ending his association with the Eagles permanently.
Looking back, the Long Beach concert has become one of rock's defining cautionary tales.
The Eagles represented extraordinary musical excellence, but they also illustrated the enormous personal cost that often accompanies perfectionism. Few bands have written a richer catalog of American songs. Fewer still have achieved that greatness while navigating such profound internal conflict.
The irony remains striking. Onstage, the Eagles sounded effortless, delivering immaculate harmonies that suggested complete unity. Offstage, they could barely stand to occupy the same room.
For one summer night in Long Beach, both realities existed simultaneously. The audience witnessed one of the finest live bands in rock history. What they didn't realize was that they were also witnessing its funeral.
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De Jiří Slíva (born July 4, 1947 in Pilsen)
Czech artist and poet...
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Touch grass today......
Title: The 3 Most Important Trade Routes That Keep the World Running 🌍🚢
Caption: Did you know that around 90% of global trade travels by sea? These three maritime chokepoints—the Suez Canal, Strait of Malacca, and Panama Canal—keep the global economy moving. If any one of them is blocked, shipping delays, higher costs, and supply chain disruptions can affect countries around the world.
Hashtags: #WorldMap #TradeRoutes #GlobalTrade #Geography #MapAnimation
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