#limestone support columns

[gallifreyfallsnomorre]

Pathway - Traditional Landscape Photo of a large traditional front yard garden path.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Monday's Musings: The Development of Biomineralization

William Buckland first noted the seemingly rapid appearance f fossils in Cambrian strata in the 1840's.

And Charles Darwin discussed the then inexplicable lack of earlier fossils as one of the main difficulties for his theory of descent with slow modification (natural selection) in his 1859 book which you've probably heard of.

This seemingly sudden appearance of fauna raised three big questions: was there actually a mass diversification of complex organisms over a relatively short time during the early Cambrian? What caused such rapid change? What does it imply about the origin of early animal life?

Edward Lhuyd, the curator of Oxford Museum in 1698, first discovered Cambrian fossils in the forms of trilobites. From that point on, trilobites became some of the most important fossils for dating Paleozoic rocks (these are called index fossils). Buckland recognized that a dramatic step-change in fossils occurred near the base base of the Cambrian thanks to trilobites and Adam Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison used them for dating Cambrian and Silurian strata.

Charles Walcott suggested that there was an interval of time prior to the Cambrian fauna that did not preserve fossils or was simply not in the fossil record (maybe the rocks had eroded away before Cambrian deposition).

Today, we have fossil evidence that the earliest like goes back 3.8 billion years ago. Rocks of that age in Australia contain stromatolites,

colonies of microorganisms called cyanobacteria.

Fossils of more complex eukaryotic cells called Grypania have been found in China and Montana in rocks dating 2.1 billion years old.

Rocks from about 600-541 Ma have also been found to contain fossils that we now call the Ediacaran Biota but that deserves a post all on it's own.

A reevaluation of the Burgess Shale fauna in the 1970's sparked a renewed interest in the explosion.

Harry B. Whittington realized that many of the animals Walcott had found were just as complex as modern animals but they were also very different. He noted that Marella was clearly an arthropod but not a member of any known class.

He also noted that animals like Opabinia and Wiwaxia were so different than anything alive that they must belong to their own phyla.

Now, we know that there was complex life at the end of the Proterozoic Eon so the Cambrian is not the "beginning of life" like we used to believe. So, why is the Cambrian explosion still so important?

Biomineralization. This is the time period where hard parts began to develop. This is the process by which living organisms produce minerals often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues. An example you probably don't think about is your own skeleton. Your skeletal tissues are made up of collagen and calcium phosphate. Other types of biomineralization include silicates in algae and diatoms (these often create chert in limestone) and carbonates (such as chalk) in invertebrates.

Why did hard parts start showing up in the early Cambrian and not before? One hypothesis is that atmospheric oxygen was finally high enough to allow metabolisms to work efficiently enough to create collagen, a protein made of amino acids that provides structural support in connective tissues.

Another hypothesis is an increase in the concentration of calcium in seawater. Animals that create hard parts from calcium carbonate do so in a very specific way. First, carbon dioxide gas must be dissolved in seawater. It then reacts with the water to create bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. That bicarbonate then reacts again with the water and creates carbonate and hydrogen ions.

Calcium is also an ion just floating about in the water column. Animals then absorb these ions.

The calcium ions bond with the carbonate ions to form calcium carbonate crystals inside the shell.

This increase in calcium could also have caused a high rate of erosion (a thought for another Monday).

A final hypothesis is that of predator-prey competition. There is evidence of predation in the Ediacaran fauna such as holes drilled into animals called Cloudina. While the appearance of predation wouldn't trigger hard part development, an increase in predators probably would. In the Burgess Shale alone there are dozens of carnivorous worms, anomalocarids and other arthropods, carnivorous molluscs, lobopods and early jellyfishes that would predate opportunistically.

Likely, it was a combination of all these things that led to the rapid development of hard parts. And hard parts stuck around too! Thank goodness or my job would be even harder than it already is.

Fossilize you later!

[ancientegyptdaily]

ANCIENT EGYPT BY TRAIN (2023) — 1.01 Alexandria

ROMAN THEATRE (Kom El Deka (كوم الدكة), Alexandria) The small Roman theatre was used for various forms of entertainment. It was constructed in the 4th century and ran until the early 7th century, with a remodeling around 500. Its early use may have been for city council meetings as well as entertainment. Graffiti in the seats from the 6th century shows support for the Blue and Green factions, popular teams of charioteers, though the theatre was not large enough for racing. The exact forms of entertainment at the theatre are unknown, but there is evidence for musical performances and wrestling. After the construction of the academic complex, the theatre may have also hosted academic activities such as public orations and rhetorical speeches. The construction of the theatre is an extended hemicycle with raked auditorium seats. The seats are made of marble recycled from older structures. The walls and vestibule are made of limestone. At its top are a row of unmatched columns, recycled from other structures. [x]

[blueiscoool]

Ancient Roman Forum Unearthed in Spain

A Spanish Farmer Long Believed a Roman Forum Once Stood on His Land. He’s Now Proven Right

Researchers have identified the Roman ruins in Ubrique as a large venue for public gathering.

In the late 1700s, Juan Vegazo, a farmer and amateur historian in Ubrique, in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz, had a grand theory: buried within the rock and dirt of a nearby hill lay the remains of an ancient Roman forum.

News from the excavations at Pompeii was reviving interest in Roman culture across Europe and inspired Vegazo to buy up the limestone hills and begin excavating. He uncovered inscriptions related to second century emperors, a name for the city, Ocuri, and laid the foundations for future archaeologists to uncover defensive walls, baths, and a mausoleum.

Still, Vegazo’s vision of the past remained incomplete. Until now. More than 300 years on, Vegazo has been vindicated by a team of archaeologists from the University of Granada. In coordination with the town of Ubrique, researchers have uncovered architectural elements in Ocuri that point to a large, public forum that would have served as place of gathering, socializing, and speechmaking. The finding infers that Ocuri was larger and more significant than previously believed.

Key to the discovery is a 50-foot-long wall that is believed to have enclosed the Roman forum as well as architectural elements of large and public buildings. Among these buildings is a large ceremonial site, as offered by the discovery of a monumental altar, column shafts and bases, and statue pedestals. Researchers believe the site supported religious practices related to water that mixed Roman and local customs.

“The excavations outline a space that is crucial for understanding the arrival and consolidation of the Romans in the southern Iberian Peninsula, as well as their hybridization with the communities that had already settled in the area,” the University of Granada’s Department of Prehistory and Archaeology said in a statement.

With its strategic hilltop position, it’s long been believed that a settlement pre-dated the Romans with researchers suggesting the absorption was both physical and cultural. Researchers now believe the site was inhabited until the end of the 4th century C.E. based on coins that were discovered—in particular, one marked with a Christogram, which is among the earliest forms of Christian iconography and was deployed by Constantine I in 312 C.E.

This continued presence in the southern reaches of Hispania, as the territory was known following its annexation in 19 C.E., was partly due to the trade advantages it offered, as it connected the coast to the interior parts of the province. Along with showing Ocuri’s size, the discovery of North African goods, including ceramics, suggests a strong and enduring (through the late 3rd century at least) economic links across the peninsula.

Aside from Roman discoveries, researchers also found evidence of medieval defensive structures.

By Richard Whiddington.

[miscellaneous-art]

''Two monumental lions with a 2nd century Roman carving on reverse, c. 1200-1250, Central Italy. 58 x 92 x 30 cm (lion with carving on reverse); 60 x 85 x 29 cm (second lion); metamorphic limestone.

These two monumental stylobate lions are carved in a recumbent pose, their backs supporting bases that would have originally carried columns. Lions, without doubt the most widely depicted animals in Romanesque sculpture, were drawn from a broad spectrum of liturgical, textual, and visual sources. The menacing lions framing a large number of church portals were intended to banish the evil influences from the church.'' © 2024 Sam Fogg

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Common Acorn Barnacles on Call

Semibalanus balanoides, more commonly known as the common acorn barnacle or the northern acorn barnacle, is a widespread species of barnacle found all along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and the intertidal zone of Europe-- though it is notably absent from the Bay of Biscay. Its range is limited by the temperature of the water in which it breeds; in the winter, they require water as cold as 7.2 °C (45.0 °F), but throughout the rest of the year they can tolerate much warmer climates.

Like many barnacle species, S. balanoides is hermaphroditic, meaning it has both male and female reproductive organs. Once the water reaches the optimal temperature, typically in November or December, the barnacles begin to breed. An individual will reach out with a penis that can be up to 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in), and inseminate a nearby barnacle; this process may be repeated up to eight times between a single pair. After insemination, the penis disintegrates to be regrown the following year.

In the meantime, the fertilized barnacle will produce up to 10,000 eggs that are stored in a special sac within the shell cavity. The common acorn barnacle releases its eggs between February and April, in concert with warming waters and the spring algal bloom. The eggs then hatch into miniscule larvae, which spend several weeks feeding on plankton in the water column and going through a series of molts. Following the sixth molt, the larvae stops feeding and seeks out a suitable place on which to anchor itself. Once it has found a surface, the larval barnacle 'crawls' along the surface until it encounters one of its own species. At this point, they will attach themselves with a cement-like glue which is capable of supporting up to 3,200 kg (7,000 lbs) Here, a single northern acorn barnacle may live anywhere from one to seven years.

Adult S. balanoides are identified by the white, six-sided limestone casing with which they protect themselves. However, one unique feature of this species is the way in which they attach themselves to their chosen surfaces; unlike other barnacles, which have a hard calcified shell base, the northern acorn barnacle has a membranous base. Within their shells, they have rather soft bodies, including a set of feathered appendages called cirri with which they use to breathe and collect food.

The common acorn barnacle is a filter feeder, consuming microscopic plankton and bits of detritus from the water column. Though their hard shells deter most predators, adults are vulnerable to other predatory invertebrates like dogwelks, nudibranches, and sea stars, as well as fish like the shanny that are specialist feeders of barnacles.

Conservation status: The common acorn barnacle has not been assessed by the IUCN. The species is extremely common and very resilient, and in fact has been in existence since the Jurassic period. However, rising ocean temperatures may negatively affect their breeding period.

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Photos

Neil DeMaster

Oregon State Parks and Recreation

Kim Hanson via Wikimedia commons

[dabiconcordia]

The Trestle It was the perfect place for boys, the trestle, the faltering remains of stone columns that once supported the steel beams and rails of the Blue Jay Lumber Company Railway. Stones worn smooth on the edges, our own Sphinx slowly crumbling to sand in the currents of Beaver Creek. The velvety limestone tops served as diving platforms, sun-tanning lounges and classrooms, as older boys parted the sea of confusion and led the young. While others split the water with nut-crushers, I pawed through some shale, twisted it apart like an Oreo. Inside was an immaculate black fern. I cupped my hands over it and sniffed. I wanted to taste the same air as the dinosaurs. by Steve Meador

[sidhebeingbrand]

Dear @loving-the-cambridges - I'm so sorry that your gift is late! It got away from me in the planning stages, but here's a teaser, and I'll update with a link to AO3 as soon as it's posted with the rest (it got so long )

I chose 'Favorite flowers' -- it's hard to tell in this exerpt orz

Obi-wan’s vambrace comm crackles to life at the same time that Cody’s head lifts up.

“Report,” Cody says.

“Command, this is Davijaan. Recon squad has finished our second search pattern. Still no sight of the target. Should we fly a third?”

Cody’s helmet tips toward him. “General?”

“…The report did say that the comms array might be camouflaged in the canyon.” He says it like a riddle, turning the words over as he speaks as if they were the same as the stones and chips of loose scree around them.

“It’s got to have something above-ground, or it wouldn’t be much of a comms array,” Cody points out.

Obi-wan scans what is visible of the skyline.

They’re marching down a lip of one of the canyons that breaks through the dry land of this remote moon– a precarious jut of rock that can fit four men side by side, barely. When they first descended into the canyon, the path could support six abreast, and an AT-TE well in the rear. But the TE had been forced to climb back to the top of the rock walls an hour back, and ahead Obi-wan can see the path continuing to narrow….

Thin columns of glinting rock rise up from the ravine floor far below, knobby insets of harder rock supported by thin necks of the limestone. They look like ornaments. Or spikes at the bottom of a trap.

A scan should reveal a camouflaged comms array among them– should, and yet their intel suggested that the rocks had a way of baffling scanners.

And yet, this mysterious resource didn’t stifle the communications array?

He reaches out to the Force, and finds only unease and a sense of imbalance. Something is wrong, but something has been wrong since this war began. The Cosmic Force is vast, and so is its warning. It’s warning him of something larger than this one moon, this one speck in the void– it calls his attention out, out further than he can perceive, a divide between his mind and the body that is marching, hot, exhausted.

The moon feels like a dozen other dry battlefields, and he knows it is a distinct and thriving place but the sunlight through its atmosphere seems artificial and the richly colored layers of clay and stone feel flat. Plantlife clings to the canyon walls, stubby waxy vines and rockplants with defiantly bright colors that must attract the insects that drone past his ears, but all of it is half-real.

Even this seemingly barren landscape is rich in the Living Force– he knows that, but he can barely feel it.

Perhaps it is a small blessing, that he connects so much more easily to the one aspect of the Force than the other. Perhaps it is why he functions better in a warzone than so many of his contemporaries who are more in tune with the Living Force and the way war bends and distorts it.

“General?”

He jerks back to himself. “Your call, Commander.”

“Any bad feelings?”

“Unease. Something on the tip of my tongue…” he shoots a wry look sideways. “Nothing actionable.”

“I’ve learned to stop asking that,” his commander says wryly. He glances around and leads Obi-wan a few strides ahead out of casual earshot.

“Do you think there’s actually a secret Seppy comms station on this rock?” Cody pitches his voice down, low and soft through his vocoder. He’s become bolder about questioning the quality of their intel, but he’s too good a soldier to do it where his troops can hear.

“No,” Obi-wan sighs. “No, but I have no proof that it’s not. No justification to deny a priority order based on official intel.”

“Understood.” There’s an edge of irony that rings true through the helmet’s vocoder. It’s gone when Cody speaks again, back straightened and head tilted ever so slightly in the manner he uses to indicate to Obi-wan that he’s speaking on his helmet comms. “Davijaan, come in.”

“Sir?” says Obi-wan’s vambrace.

“Fly a third, and expand the perimeter by ten kilometres. Run a full topographical scan over the EM sensors. Keep an eye inward, but don’t look like it.”

“Yes sir,” Davijaan says. Looking again to the skyline, Obi-wan can just see a glint of what must be the survey shuttle turning above them.

“Speaking of official intel,” Cody says, that touch of irony back to his voice, “I note that the planetary scans were taken before this ridge started shedding material. We’re going to have a bit of a detour ahead.”

“Yes. I don’t like our options. I think this route will only get narrower, but the bottom of the ravine is an ideal ambush point.”

“Suggestion, sir?”

“Always, my dear.”

“Let’s call an early halt; we’ve got a little shade now, and the men could use a refuel. I’d like to send a couple troopers ahead under full stealth to do a recce on both paths, and re-establish our maps based on Davijaan’s scans.”

“We’re quite exposed here, Commander.” Obi-wan prods the Force again. …it feels less tight with unease now. “But… perhaps it will do. Yes, this will do.”

Cody is watching him intently. The dark visor may obscure his eyes but Obi-wan can feel his focus. His troopers are a constant in the haze of this war, alive and solid, and Cody is the brightest in a sea of bright lights.

“Something on your mind?”

“Well, sir. Let’s say I’ve got a good feeling.”

Cody steps back towards the men, relaying the orders, and morale rises like a river in the rain. Even without the Force, Obi-wan thinks he would feel it– could see it in the way that weary shoulders lift, and the smiles on the troops’ faces as buckets come off and ration packs start to come out.

He busies himself setting up the portable holoprojector. Hurry, from Engineering, sees him struggling with the one fussy tripod leg and trots over to offer his wordless support. Obi-wan smiles his relief at him as he holds the rig steady so that Obi-wan can straighten the reluctant joint, and is rewarded with an answering smile back. He’s so glad that they’ve all found the comfort to step outside the expectations trained into them of perfect soldiers every waking minute. That they are willing to include him into these moments of open camaraderie…

It is perhaps the only constant source of peace for him, anymore, however undeserved when he may be leading them to their deaths. They understand what happens in war. They forgive with the ease of trained Exploracorps Jedi teams, with more grace than the combatants Obi-wan has had to fight beside in his life before.

Cody has pulled two of the ARF teams into conference a few meters away from the rest. Waxer and Boil are putting away a ration-bar apiece between words, with practiced efficiency– Cato is standing a little too straight, still, in his new armor, and Ajax is all but bouncing on his toes with eagerness to get to it. It will be Ajax and Cato’s first solo mission as an ARF team since their return from training. Obi-wan spares a plea to the Force that it be an uneventful one. Let them be disappointed in their need for action, let them be bored-- they will have their fill of danger before the war is all over.

Beside him, he sees Hurry signal for Cato’s attention: when he has it, he straightens up and puts his chin in the air, striking a somewhat heroic pose. Cato glares daggers at him– for the moment before his Commander draws his attention again and he pulls himself together with desperate poise.

“Gentlemen– I have the updated planetary scans ready,” Obi-wan calls, beckoning them over.

Hurry starts back to the cluster of Engineers with his trademark speed, but Cody catches him with a word.

“Eat fast, trooper. I’m going to want descent guides for our walkers set up at that decline over there.”

To his credit, Hurry doesn’t flinch at being directly addressed. He tracks the eyeline that Cody carves out of the air with two fingers, squinting down at the terrain in question.

“All the way to the bottom of the ravine, sir? We’ll need to double-back to get our equipment. We left it about half a klick back… and we’ll need to reinforce the ridge as a transition point if we don’t want everyone and everything on the bottom of the ravine, too.”

“Then you’d better eat faster.”

“Yessir!”

Cody passes him a ration-bar as they’re mapping the scouting path, and pushes two more onto Ajax and Cato– “You’ll want them before you’re done, take them–” and then finger-skates a route over the new topography. He doesn’t use the tracing feature on the holoprojector, pointing to landmarks on the display instead. Obi-wan is far from scoffing at the caution.

Perhaps at the beginning of things he would have said it smacked of paranoia not to leave a digital record.

This has been… a very characteristic mission. They were given a simple objective, a rather over-specified plan of attack that required the objective being where the initial surveys placed it– and implied that if the 212th were as competent as their reputation, it should be an easy victory like so many disastrous missions before.

There is no objective here, may never have been, and they are operating on an unknown agenda. GAR command is not immune to the Senate funding committee’s whims, and the funding committee is… full of politicians.

What mining magnate might have wanted this moon and its useful mineral deposit under Republic control? Who might have needed attention in this system instead of another nearby? How petty is the reason his men have been set to thankless march, maybe to death if there are Separatist forces here? Who has been given access to their reports, their tactics?

No, there does not need to be a record of these small details.

Cato and Ajax opt to rappel down the cliff instead of taking the decline ahead– Boil and Waxer stroll ahead along the lip and vanish in the broken colors of the rock walls.

Obi-wan watches them both along until they are out of sight, and then sits against the rock wall to make an attempt at meditation. He can calm his body, his mind, but the Force is still hazy, distant from him. At least it’s a rest, and though he finds no guidance the Force does provide the strength to bear him up, to ease the ache in his feet and the dull pounding of his head that the heat and hours of direct sun brought on.

Cody holds the men back until they can see the Engineering corps starting work, AT-RTs repurposed for draft work bustling around at the top of the cliff.

He comes to to stand by Obi-wan, companionably, comming the survey team again; “All right, boys, if it’s all clear come set down by the Engineering Corps, lend a hand.” He clicks his back teeth twice, jaw pulsing, and casually adds: “You can power down; doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing action.”

Obi-wan pushes himself to his feet. “…Commander, that looked for all the world like a helmet control action.”

“Did it, sir?”

“Coincidence, certainly. Out of curiosity, which one?”

“Mute, sir.”

…hmm. Which might well mean disregard the orders following.

“Has anyone told you you’re untrusting?”

“Alpha-17 did, once.”

“I daresay he meant it as a compliment.”

“He did.” Cody gives him a tiny smile, a roguish little twist of his lips that’s there and gone.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

What do you think of the prolog for my 1st chapter, is it good?

link to the main fic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/56033533/chapters/142316074) in case you want to comment, TW for semi-sexual content:

It was a clear day in the Northern Isles, as the reddish-orange sun shone brightly on the cloud-covered, muted teal-gray sky. 

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO

Darcy, even in her teenage years, bore the unmistakable mark of otherworldly grace. Her skin was a canvas of stark duality; half cloaked in the deepest vantablack that swallowed light whole, and the other half radiant with a pulsating white light that seemed to defy the very essence of shadow. This contrast was not just skin deep—it mirrored her nature, a being balanced between the cosmic and the human. Her youthful features softened her appearance, yet even then, she carried a regal air, her every movement and glance hinting at the profound power she was destined to wield. Her short hair was made of living flames, styled half black-and-white. She wore a black jacket, a white-and-purple striped shirt, and ankle boots. Most of her other features noticeable when she is an adult were either not there yet or hidden.

She rode on her Siamese cat palisman and out of the sky into a cobblestone street in the middle of a snowy forest. A zeppelin with a steampunk aesthetic zoomed overhead. 

The school building is a Gothic structure that is easily recognizable due to its distinct pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses. It features ornate stonework, which includes tracery on the windows and decorative finials at the pinnacles. The façade of the building is adorned with a series of tall and narrow lancet windows with pointed tops, which is typical of Gothic architecture. It can be assumed that the building has gargoyles or grotesques serving as waterspouts projecting from the roof. There is a cloister-like covered walkway supported by columns with capitals featuring intricate carvings, likely floral or foliate designs, which lead down to an arched portal. The roof is steeply pitched to aid in water runoff, and it is possibly covered with slate tiles, which was common in such structures. 

The building has several levels, with the upper floors likely containing a gallery or clerestory windows, which are designed to bring light into the interior. The buttresses are robust, providing structural support to the walls, allowing them to reach impressive heights and maintain large windows. The masonry work suggests the use of cut stone, possibly limestone or granite, which were frequently used in Gothic architecture for their durability and workability. Each stone would have been carefully shaped and placed, contributing to the intricate patterns and textures on the building's surface. 

The school has a parking lot for all staff in case they aren't needed for the lessons, and the walls are perpetually colder than the inside of a medieval fort so students must wear thick clothing to stay warm... unless they're learning ice magic.

She parked her palisman in a nearby rack and pulled out her bag for the day, she chewed on a maroon-colored candy bar that melted in her mouth.

“Hey Dorkcy!” A snobby voice called.

Darcy mentally groaned. Ugh, not HER again!

The girl in question stepped forward with an air of confidence, introducing herself as a witch with fair skin and a stature of medium height. Her vibrant ginger hair was neatly braided into playful pigtails, adding a touch of whimsy to her appearance. Freckles sprinkled across her cheeks like constellations in the night sky, enhancing the mischievous glint in her eyes. As she spoke, her eyelashes fluttered down to the bottom of her eyelids, framing her gaze with an enigmatic allure. A subtle gap in her top teeth peeked through her smile, hinting at a hidden depth behind her seemingly innocent demeanor.

Her name was Maggie, and to Darcy… she was a pain in the arse.

“Whatcha eatin'? A magical goop bar?” Maggie jeered, her voice dripping with mock curiosity. She leaned in closer, her eyes scanning Darcy’s snack as if it were an alien artifact rather than a candy bar. “Or is it one of those special treats from the dark side of the fridge?”

Darcy rolled her eyes, the flames in her hair flickering slightly with her irritation. She kept her voice cool, almost icy.

“It's not a goop bar, Maggie. It’s a bocadillo, a traditional snack made of guava jelly and panela.” She started smiling,  “Mom made it for me ‘cause it's my birthday!” She proudly announced. 

Maggie deadpans, “Oh, well happy birthday.” 

Before giving a mean smile, “GIMME THAT!” She tries to pull the snack away. 

“Get your own mom to make you a nice treat, Maggie,” Darcy retorted sharply, trying to fend off the bully, her grip tightening on the bocadillo. “This isn’t for sharing, especially not with you.” Her words were punctuated by a slight tug, pulling the snack closer to her chest.

They continued tussling until a voice rang out, distinctly male and sharp.

“Hey, Margo!” 

Rock music filled the air as a teenage Blitzo, sporting braces, a black tank top emblazoned with the word "Mammon" in bold yellow letters split into "Mam" on top and "Mon" on the bottom, a spiked collar, green-yellow pants, heeled black boots, and a leather jacket adorned with spikes. He had his hands on his hips and looked at the fight with a glare.

"Leave her alone!" he growled, glancing back to see a student seated in the bleachers of a nearby courtyard. The student had stylishly dyed purple hair that partially covered his face.

Blitzo smirked, "Nice guitar solo, by the way."

"YEAH!" yelled the student, who flashed a rocker sign in response to Blitzo's comment.

Maggie blushed a darker shade of red, as she retorted to Blitzo. “Or else what?!”

“Or else you can forget to come to an awesome pool party in Temperance next week, Archangel Raphael and everyone is going to be there, ” She turns her face to clearly fake upset, even checking midway through that Maggie is falling to her will, “It'll be really sad when the whole class is enjoying the party,” Blitzo almost seems to enjoy his game with his shit-eating grin.

“Without you~,” He said in a sing-song voice.

Maggie felt defeated as she realized that Darcy was of Morningstar royalty, being the daughter of God, the Radio Demon, and the Root of all Evil. If this little scandal ever got out, especially if Blitz told the Elders of Heaven who are Darcy's older siblings, Maggie could face a penalty, warning, or detention for a few days.

“Jeez Blitzo, I was just playin’,” She gave him an awkward smile before returning the snack to Darcy, punching her in the stomach. “Here you go… clumsy bitch.” She growled and went into the entrance of the academy, not before saying: “Have fun with your private clown dancer!” 

Ignoring the comment, Darcy looked at Blitzo and smiled. “Thanks for the save, Blitzy.”

"No worries," Blitzo replied, his tone lightening as he glanced at Maggie retreating into the school building. "You just gotta speak their language." He gave a mischievous smirk, then changed to a warmer, more genuine smile. "But never mind that. Happy birthday, girl!"

The two burst into delighted squeals, Blitzo twirling Darcy around in a spontaneous celebration and showering her freckles with kisses. Their joyful moment was abruptly cut off by the sharp ring of the school bell, signaling the end of their brief respite and the start of another day at the academy.

The duo walked inside and were thrust with a wind of cold air as a manner of different cryptids walked around, the hallway later opened to an atrium, numerous students walking around.

As the bell's shrill echo screamed through the halls, signaling the imminent start of classes, Blitzo grabbed Darcy's hand, a mischievous glint in his eyes. With a swift movement, he pulled her towards an empty locker, and they quickly ducked inside, the metal door shutting them away from the chaotic rush of students.

Inside the cramped, dimly lit space, Blitzo's face was inches from Darcy's, his breath warm against her cool skin. His eyes sparkled with excitement, the close quarters amplifying the intensity of the moment.

"Guess we're playing hooky on your birthday," Blitzo whispered, his voice low and playful. His hand gently brushed a strand of her flaming hair behind her ear.

Darcy's heart raced with the thrill of the moment and the proximity to Blitzo. She smiled, her eyes lighting up with affection and a hint of daring. "Best birthday gift," she murmured, reaching up to trace the contour of his cheek with her fingertips.

Blitzo leaned in closer, the small space between them charged with anticipation. "I could stay here all day," he confessed, his tone softening.

"Wouldn't that be a sight?" Darcy teased, her breath hitching slightly as she felt his lips just a breath away from hers. "The feared Blitzo and Darcy, hiding out in a locker."

"Feared, huh?" Blitzo's lips curved into a sharp-toothed smile just before he closed the distance, his kiss capturing hers in a gentle, yet impassioned embrace. The world outside the locker seemed to fade away, leaving only the sound of their synchronized heartbeats and the quiet rustle of their close contact.

They began to move closer and closer together...

Darcy's fingers inched up Blitzo's tank top, revealing his chiseled chest. Her cheeks flushed: the dark side of her face glowing white and the white had her cheek going darker to a shade of ebony, and her words tangled on her tongue. She covered her face with her ears, giggling softly in disbelief. Blitzo couldn't resist; his toothy grin widened as he leaned in, his breath warm against her ear.

"What's the matter, princesa~?" he crooned, using one of Darcy's native languages (along with Hebrew/Yiddish for God & Creole/French for Alastor), used by her mother Roo, most of the time. To top it all off, he said it in a perfectly smooth accent.

His voice dripped with playful mischief. "Never seen a devilishly handsome imp before?"

Darcy stammered, peeking through her fingers as she tried to steady her voice. "Y-You're too much," she mumbled, her wings instinctively flaring up to hide her face. She resembled a Seraphim from ancient human paintings, shrouded in the elegance of her heavenly plumage. Her tail wagged a little, Blitzo did notice but was indifferent.

Blitzo laughed lowly, droplets of sweat trickling down his face and dripping onto her. He gently traced the contours of her neck, his fingers sliding down to the edge of her blouse. "Let's see how much you can handle," he murmured, slowly pulling off her shirt and revealing her glowing dual-toned skin.

Darcy's wings fluttered, and she shuddered in bliss. Her laughter was breathless and sweet as she struggled to keep her composure. "Blitzo," she gasped, unable to finish the thought, just drawing out the 'o' in the Harlequin-Pierrot's name, though that type of clown didn't exist in the circus he came from—and where they met, they had made it a reality together... when Blitz started doing performances for her in their sleepovers, clumsily tripping over his props just for her.

And her alone.

She could feel his breath against her collarbone, his touch igniting every nerve as he loomed over her, his shadow casting her in darkness. Faint red symbols and dark electric energy enveloped his aura... framing him like a halo of darkness. 

That's odd... no one could have the sort of dark and chaotic aura unless— She was cut off with a buttery voice, that sounded like a hypnotic cadence... yet, they'd never do that sort of thing, it was always an idea... but, it would be saved for later...

"And what about that authority of yours, angelic princess?" The imp's tone grew softer but no less teasing, his gaze piercing into her as he leaned in closer. "How's it feel to be at the mercy of an imp? That your kind could so easily defeat." With a firm yet careful grip, he threw Darcy down onto the cramped space, bags, and piles of paper acting as a sort of "mattress" for her, his weight pressing her down as he loomed over her, looking gigantic, almost god-like in the dim light.

Darcy writhed beneath him, her breath hitching in delight as her wings curled around his shoulders. "Blitzo," she whined, her voice thick with wanton need. Her tail wagged even more, and in an effort, she transformed her fluffy black-and-white scut (deer tail) into a long, vantablack devil's tail. This tail is distinct, extending long with seven spikes culminating in an arrowhead tip, decorated with a glowing white diamond in the center, as it coiled around Blitzo's tail.

Blitzo only chuckled, his lips brushing against her ear. "Relax, sweet little angel," he said softly. "Blitzy's got you." He leaned back, his sweat-slicked chest glistening as he gazed down at her, a playful smirk curling on his lips, bucking his hips against Darcy. "Now, let's see what you're made of, hmm?"

As they prepared for the next part, the sound of clicking heels appeared to grow louder as they stopped and did their best to try and clean themselves and put their clothes back on, spraying themselves with deodorant and Darcy's exotic perfumes, that her Father made for her, in case she wanted to attract any men or women, or BOTH!

It was Headmistress Bouvier herself, and she was in a bad mood today. She had bright yellow skin, and tall blue hair in a tall beehive hairstyle and usually wore a tube-style black funerary witch dress, ankle boots with heels, and a red pearl necklace that glowed as she walked.

A diminutive demon was spotted strolling through the deserted hall. She is a petite round white demon sporting large blueish eyes set in a yellowish sclera, a notably prominent nose, and long red hair. Additionally, she possesses two off-white buck teeth. Essentially, she appears as just a head without a body, her limbs extending directly from her head.

She saw the Headmistress, who said to her, “You should be in class, young lady!”

The diminutive demon's whimpering voice broke through the tension, echoing off the stone walls as she produced a crumpled hall pass from her side. "But Headmistwess, I have a hall pass..." Her large eyes brimmed with tears, her voice quivering with fear.

Headmistress Bouvier, however, was not swayed. Her face remained stern, and with a flick of her wrist, black inky arms erupted from a hole in the floor. The small demon shrieked as the arms tangled around her, dragging her screaming into the abyss below. The Headmistress simply snorted a disdainful "Hmph!" and continued her patrol.

Upon encountering Blitzo and Darcy, the usual strict demeanor of Headmistress Bouvier softened unexpectedly. Her voice, always hoarse-voiced, took on a surprisingly gentle tone despite its rough, rhotic accent. "Well, well, what do we have here? A little birthday celebration in a locker, eh?" Her voice carried a warmth that contrasted sharply with the scene she had just left behind.

She leaned closer, her tall blue hair almost brushing against the locker's top. "I ought to make this little escapade of yours into a movie and show it to the whole school," she teased, her voice laden with mirth rather than malice. "Imagine the hit it would be, eh?" Her smile was genuine, and it was clear she held a soft spot for these two despite their rule-breaking.

Blitzo and Darcy exchanged nervous glances, their earlier anxiety melting away under her unexpectedly kind demeanor. Blitzo managed a sheepish grin. "That'd be one blockbuster I'd rather not star in, ma'am."

Marge chuckled, the sound raspy but affectionate. "Just make sure you two keep out of trouble, at least for the rest of the day. And Darcy," she added, her tone turning tender, "Happy Birthday, dear. Make it a good one."

With that, she straightened up, her necklace glinting as she turned on her heel and strode away, leaving a trail of echoing clicks from her ankle boots as she disappeared down the hall. The sound of her laughter echoed softly back to them, a reminder of her unexpected leniency and the small joys she still found in her role.

The duo of teenagers managed to run into their classes and get ready for another day in their lives… well, at least before Blitzo had to go back to the circus to keep up appearances.

Eventually, they would pause their relationship after Blitzo had a crush on Fizzarolli, later on, but had a mutual breakup with Darcy and had always kept her and the hidden secrets of Heaven and the Omniverse a secret from then on, no one, even the one who thought they knew him dared have a clue of the secrets he held… that not even the truth gas could reveal.

~Though who is to say if these two have to stay apart for long, am I right?~

Also, which would be better in your opinion, Stoliz or this couple?

Awesome. It's better for this couple to happen.

[dumpsterrentmo]

dumpster.rent

Nestled in the heart of Missouri lies Columbia, a vibrant city renowned for its rich history, diverse culture, and bustling community. Founded in 1821, Columbia has evolved from a small frontier town into a dynamic hub of education, healthcare, and entertainment.

Columbia's history is intricately linked with the growth of education in the United States. Home to the University of Missouri, established in 1839, the city boasts a strong academic tradition. The university's picturesque campus, adorned with historic columns and red-brick buildings, stands as a centerpiece of Columbia's cultural landscape.

Beyond academia, Columbia thrives with a vibrant arts scene. The North Village Arts District serves as a haven for artists and creatives, showcasing galleries, studios, and vibrant street art. Each year, the True/False Film Festival draws cinephiles worldwide, celebrating documentary filmmaking amidst Columbia's eclectic downtown backdrop.

Surrounded by rolling hills and scenic vistas, Columbia offers abundant opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. Stephens Lake Park, featuring a tranquil lake and scenic trails, is a beloved spot for picnics and family outings. The Katy Trail, a 240-mile rail-trail passing through Columbia, provides cyclists and hikers with a picturesque route through Missouri's countryside.

South of the city, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is renowned for its natural beauty and geological wonders. Visitors can explore limestone caves, sinkholes, and the iconic Devil's Icebox, a natural tunnel system formed by underground streams.

As Missouri's fourth-largest city, Columbia thrives as an economic center. In addition to its educational institutions, the city hosts major healthcare providers, including the University of Missouri Health Care system. Its diverse economy spans manufacturing, technology, and agriculture, reflecting Columbia's role as a regional hub for commerce and innovation.

What truly distinguishes Columbia is its strong sense of community. Throughout the year, the city hosts a plethora of festivals and events, from the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival celebrating local cuisine to the Heritage Festival highlighting cultural diversity. Residents take pride in Columbia's welcoming atmosphere, actively supporting local businesses and initiatives.

In conclusion, Columbia, Missouri, offers a distinctive blend of history, culture, and natural splendor. Whether exploring its historic downtown, partaking in a festival, or hiking through scenic parks, Columbia warmly invites visitors to experience Midwestern hospitality in a setting that embraces both tradition and innovation.

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[sehetep-shenwer]

Em hotep y'all,

My birthday was fun and I was proud (pun fully intended) to have helped my friend @lainbike013 at a pride event doing tarot readings. So now I wish to devote this poem/hymn/whatever you'd like to call it to the Gods and Goddesses I hold dearest to my heart:

As the moon waxes while I lay in bed,

My soul at ease after a rejuvenating day.

I reflect on my time with my earthly friends,

Knowing I'll see them again soon, hopefully.

And then, I begin to thank my netjeru,

My divine protectors and guardians.

I am too weak to cry tears of joy right now,

But if or when I do, I shall weep for them.

Weep because I couldn't be more blessed,

More lucky to be in such gracious company.

I let my mind drift to a pristine temple,

Limestone columns support it's roof.

Just as I have ate and drank with friends,

I wish to do the same with the Gods.

For many of them are masters of merriment,

And are not afraid to indulge themselves.

I shake a sistrum with the gorgeous Hathor.

Dua Hathor!

I dance playfully with the kind Bastet.

Dua Bastet!

I devour meat with the mighty Sobek.

Dua Sobek!

I drink wildly with the fierce Sekhmet.

Dua Sekhmet!

I exchange dreams with the mystic Neith.

Dua Neith!

I muse on tales with the wise Thoth.

Dua Thoth!

I crack jokes with the mischievous Set.

Dua Set!

I breathe sacred air with the proud Horus.

Dua Horus!

I reflect on life with the protective Anubis.

Dua Anubis!

This may only be a visualization to me,

But I owe it to my Gods and Goddesses.

I devote my birthday to Them with praise,

And sing my thanks for Their love!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

behind the scenes shots ft. akd as the adjudicator, from this article about the cinematography

“In Hollywood, action filmmaking was kind of looked down upon until The Matrix, and then people realized that action could also be part of the story,” [director] Stahelski notes. “I come from a place of loving dance and theater and fine art — action can be all of those things — and one of my favorite painters is Caravaggio.” When he was looking for a cinematographer for John Wick: Chapter 2, Stahelski recalls, “I asked myself, ‘Who paints with light?’ The answer is Dan Laustsen.” In strictly cinematographic terms, Parabellum functions less like an action movie and more like a Hollywood studio musical. The film’s first battle is a close-quarters knife fight in an antique weapons shop, where the camera cuts from wide shot to wide shot, sustaining the action in long takes so that the audience can better appreciate the physical prowess of Reeves’ performance — an elaborate fighting style that combines Japanese judo and jujitsu, Brazilian jujitsu, Russian sambo, Filipino kali, and Muay Thai, more for the benefit of show than for self-defense.  “Ninety-nine percent of high-level stunt work is dance — not pirouettes, but how you move your body,” asserts Stahelski, who continues to train stuntpeople with Leitch through their company 87eleven. “I love the aesthetic of motion. A lot of our shots [in Parabellum] are lifted straight from Singin’ in the Rain and West Side Story. We’re mixing Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin with Hong Kong cinema from John Woo, Jackie Chan and the Shaw Brothers.” “We wanted to go wider than Hollywood action films normally do and really show off the choreography,” Laustsen agrees. “When the camera, lighting and actors are all moving together, it really is a dance.”

“After we made Chapter 2,” Laustsen notes, “we discussed how we could make 3 even more visually powerful. The main setting was still New York, but we wanted to bring out the city even more forcefully. We decided to shoot all at night, with rain as much as possible. Rain is fantastic because it gives a third dimension to the picture, but it is a challenge to do it, especially in a city like New York.”

The Master Anamorphics’ low-distortion design also prevents dramatic, streaking lens flares, and so the technicians at Arri Rental in Secaucus, N.J., fashioned a flare filter — comprising three strands of nylon fishing line stretched across an empty filter frame — for the XT’s and Mini’s Internal Filter Modules. When a front-of-lens filter produces a flare, Laustsen observes, it “just looks like the light is catching on a piece of flat glass in front of the lens. It’s more beautiful when the flare comes from the lens itself” — and that’s the effect that was replicated with the behind-the-lens nylon lines. “With the filters inside the camera,” the cinematographer adds, “it was also easier for first assistant Craig Pressgrove to do the lens changes.”

The exterior of the Continental was shot in lower Manhattan, but the hotel’s interiors were filmed in downtown Brooklyn, in the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower — which now serves as an event space —whose glass-and-wrought-iron front doors open to a 128'-long vaulted banking hall with limestone facing, marble floors, carved teller stations, and a 63'-high ceiling supported by Romanesque columns. For its role as the Continental’s lobby, the hall was furnished by Kavanaugh with two round settees crowned with statues of the Roman war gods Bellona and Mars, a fully-stocked bar, and a lounge on the mezzanine. 

Parabellum’s stages were located at Gold Coast Studios in Long Island, N.Y. The first of the production’s two notable stage-bound sets is the Continental’s terrace, for which the Rockefeller Center rooftop garden was used in Chapter 2. The schedule didn’t allow for much time to shoot Parabellum’s scene, which takes place at sunrise. “You cannot make the sun rise [for] a movie,” Laustsen notes wryly. “It’s one or two shots, and then you have daylight, and then you’re fighting to control the light.”  So, for more control, the scene was moved onstage, where the set was surrounded with a sectional 45'x350' bluescreen lit with SkyPanel S120s; a 120' black velour curtain was used to control blue spill coming from off-camera. Early-morning ambience was provided by 176 overhead SkyPanel S60s, and the light of the rising sun was simulated by a 20K tungsten Fresnel and a 24K Dino light with medium bulbs, both gelled with 1⁄2 CTS. The other key set built at Gold Coast was the “manager’s office,” a labyrinthine two-story glass-and-steel structure meant to represent the top floors of the Continental, with a 270-degree view of the adjacent skyscrapers. It’s in this space that Wick and Zero ultimately face off mano a mano. “The concept was to create a space where everything is exposed, a place where there are no secrets,” Kavanaugh explains.  To help him integrate the lighting into the design of the set itself, Laustsen worked with a virtual-reality computer model based on Kavanaugh’s design. “Chad, Kevin and I had discussions about color — cool lights inside, warm light outside,” says the cinematographer, who wanted what he describes as an “organic” light element for both spaces. The art department therefore added a 35'x14' LED wall to the set’s second floor and a 28'x12' LED billboard to the rooftop; the latter was positioned between the glass structure and a 40'x440' Rosco SoftDrop that was backlit by 150 SkyPanel S60s through Magic Cloth sourced from The Rag Place.  Almeida and his rigging crew installed more than a mile of LiteGear Chroma-Correct RGB-Daylite LED LiteRibbon into the glass and steel set, using aluminum profile and plastic diffusers provided by Kavanaugh’s art department. Cues were orchestrated from an ETC Ion Xe console operated by Kent Arneson; Laustsen took advantage of that control to increase the intensity of the light over time — until the very end of the fight, when the two combatants are photographed primarily in silhouette against the LED walls. 

Wick literally fights his way through the set — alternately smashing his opponents and being smashed through glass pedestals, walls and floors — until he comes face to face with his nemesis. “We filmed this sequence with a [Chapman/Leonard Hustler IV] dolly and a Libra head, a Steadicam, and a couple of crane shots [with a MovieBird 45 and Aerocrane jib],” Laustsen details. “We didn’t want to go handheld because of all the straight lines. It would be a much more powerful look for the film if the frame was always parallel to the set.” “When we did bring in lights for the close-ups, we used Arri SkyPanel S60s and Astera AX1 LED tubes that we could attach virtually anywhere using magnets and clips,” Almeida adds. “The Astera tubes worked out great because they’re easy to hide, and if you saw a reflection, it just looked like the lighting that was built-in already.”

[ultraheydudemestuff]

St. Mary's Church and Rectory

82 E. William St.

Delaware, OH

St. Mary's Catholic Church is a historic Catholic parish church located at 82 E. William Street (U.S. Route 36) in the downtown area of the city of Delaware, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1880s, this grand building is home to a congregation established in the middle of the nineteenth century. Its grand style has long made it a community landmark, and it was named a historic landmark in 1980 when the church and its rectory were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places.

Delaware's first Masses were celebrated by travelling priests in the homes of the city's few Catholics, most of whom were Irish or German immigrants. The first of these was likely said in 1835 by a French missionary priest in the home of Adam Mueller on Park Avenue. The members built the first St. Mary's Church, a small plain frame building that was a mission church of Holy Cross Church in 1854, and were ministered to by traveling priests including future bishops Caspar Borgess and Edward Fitzgerald.

However, six years passed before Archbishop Purcell appointed the first priest to serve as the pastor on December 1, 1856. This man, Casper Wiese, quickly founded a parish school and bought a piece of land for use as a parish cemetery. A series of short-tenured pastorates followed Wiese's four-year time; the longest, that of Henry Fehlings, ended during the process of regional reorganization following the creation of the Diocese of Columbus. Fehlings' pastorate saw the parish expand outward from its small frame building. A brick addition to the church was constructed in 1865, a nearby store was purchased and converted into premises for the parish school, and a nearby house was purchased and converted into a rectory. By 1880, the parish had reached a membership of approximately seven hundred. In 1886, the present house of worship, made of brick trimmed with sandstone and ornamental terra-cotta began to be constructed on William Street near downtown. The cornerstone was laid in 1887 and the church was solemnly blessed by bishop John Watterson in October 1888.

St. Mary's is a brick structure supported on a foundation of limestone and covered with a slate roof. Designed by Adolphus Druiding, the building is a Gothic Revival structure dominated by a pair of towers on the facade. The towers sit on either side of the gabled main portion of the building; the tower on the right, as seen by a person facing the building, is substantially taller than the tower on the left. Six ogive windows pierce the side, one per bay, while individual and paired windows are placed on various heights in the towers; clocks are set in the taller tower, and both are topped with tall spires that can be seen throughout Delaware. Extensive and ornate detailing is present, including numerous wood carvings, elaborate stained glass in the windows, and decorative placement of bricks. Inside, columns separate the nave from the side aisles, and the two altars are built of wood that has been both painted and carved. The extensive artisanship of the church makes it differ greatly from the rectory; although three stories tall and built of brick, it is far plainer than the church.

On May 23, 1980, St. Mary's Church and its rectory were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying because of their historically significant architecture. They together comprise one of seventeen National Register-listed locations in the city of Delaware, along with places such as the downtown Delaware County Courthouse and Selby Field on the Ohio Wesleyan University campus. Today, St. Mary's remains an active component of the Diocese of Columbus. It is one of three parishes in Delaware County, along with St. Joan of Arc in Powell and St. John Neumann in Sunbury.

[faroukomar2910]

Uncovering the cemetery of the ancient city of Marsa Matruh during the Roman era

The Egyptian archaeological mission, led by Qutb Fawzi, Head of the Central Administration of Northern Egypt and Sinai Antiquities, has made an amazing discovery—a Roman-era necropolis in the ancient city of Marsa Matrouh. This important discovery was unearthed during the whole work at the Umm Al-Rakhm archaeological site in Matrouh Governorate, further enriching the experience of those who go on Egypt Classic Tours to explore the country’s deep-rooted history.

Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, highlighted the importance of this discovery, pointing out that it illustrates Marsa Matrouh’s role as a trade hub in the Mediterranean region. This historical importance extends outside the Roman time, making it an attractive destination for travellers looking to include it in their Egypt Tours Package to comprehensively explore Egypt’s past.

Among the special findings, the mission uncovered two rock-cut tombs designed in the Catacomb style, characteristic of the Roman era. These tombs house 29 burial niches, various glass tear vials, intricately carved and decorated offering tables, a statue of a man dressed in a traditional Roman toga, a ram statue, a bust of an unknown woman, and several bronze coins. Such discoveries add immense value to Egypt Day Tours, offering visitors a glimpse into the funerary traditions of ancient cultures.

Additionally, the excavation team discovered a well-preserved Roman bathhouse. This structure includes reception halls, seating areas for bath visitors, bathing chambers, water reservoirs, and an advanced drainage system. Such an architectural masterwork is a must-see for those aspiring immersive Egypt Day Tours from Cairo, as it showcases the cultured engineering of ancient Egyptian and Roman societies.

Dr. Khaled expressed his delight at this groundbreaking discovery, emphasizing that it aligns with the Egyptian government's efforts to support national archaeological missions. His statement aligns with the goals of Egypt Tours, which aim to bring travellers closer to the charming secrets of Egypt’s history.

Dr. Ayman Ashmawy, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, provided further insight into the tombs. He described how the two Catacomb-style burial sites include staircases leading to a vestibule before the entrance to the main room. The main burial chamber is square-shaped with a vaulted ceiling and contains several rock-cut burial places(Loculi), all sealed with limestone unions. This level of protection makes the site a hidden gem for those seeking exclusive historical experiences through Egypt Shore Excursions.

The primary burial location within the tombs was sealed with a false door, its sides adorned with two prominent Doric columns. In the center, a double-leaf door was depicted, crowned by a decorative Doric frieze featuring a distinctive tooth motif. Below this was a limestone offering table, which further illustrated the burial customs of the time. Such discoveries make Egypt a prime destination for travellers, especially those planning Egypt Easter Tours, as they can witness firsthand the wonders of ancient craftsmanship.

With every new archaeological find, Egypt continues to prove itself as an exceptional travel destination. Whether through Egypt Classic Tours or short yet insightful Egypt Day Tours, visitors have the opportunity to witness the grandeur of ancient civilizations. This recent discovery in Marsa Matrouh further solidifies Egypt’s reputation as a treasure trove of history, attracting lovers from around the world eager to include such sites in their Egypt Tours Package.

[galaxyexports123]

Exploring the Finest Marble Varieties in India for Every Budget

When it comes to crafting structures that exude elegance, durability, and timeless beauty, few materials can rival natural stone blocks. From ancient wonders to contemporary masterpieces, these versatile building materials have been a favorite among architects and designers for centuries. In this guide, we delve into the world of natural stone blocks and explore how they can transform your architectural projects. Whether you're an architect envisioning grand facades or a designer looking to enhance interiors, natural stone blocks offer unmatched appeal.

Why Choose Natural Stone Blocks?

Natural stone blocks are not just materials; they are pieces of history. Each block carries the unique story of its geological formation, showcasing patterns, textures, and colors that are impossible to replicate artificially. Their versatility allows them to be used in various applications, from structural components to aesthetic enhancements.

Here’s why natural stone blocks are an exceptional choice:

Durability and Strength Natural stone blocks, such as marble, granite, and quartzite, are known for their durability. They withstand extreme weather conditions, making them ideal for both indoor and outdoor use.

Timeless Aesthetics The beauty of natural stone blocks lies in their timeless appeal. Their natural patterns and hues elevate any space, adding a touch of luxury that never goes out of style.

Sustainability Natural stones are eco-friendly, as they are sourced directly from the earth without requiring extensive chemical processing. This makes them a sustainable choice for green architecture.

Versatility Whether you’re designing intricate sculptures, majestic columns, or minimalist interiors, natural stone blocks can be tailored to suit your vision.

Applications of Natural Stone Blocks

Natural stone blocks are a favorite in both traditional and contemporary architecture. Their applications include:

Structural Elements From load-bearing walls to foundation stones, natural stone blocks provide unmatched strength and support.

Facades and Cladding Stone facades create a striking first impression, combining beauty with functionality by offering thermal insulation and weather resistance.

Flooring and Paving The durability and elegance of natural stone blocks make them perfect for flooring in luxury homes and commercial spaces. Galaxy Exports, a trusted name in the industry, offers the best marble in India for flooring solutions that stand out.

Landscaping and Outdoor Design Enhance outdoor spaces with natural stone blocks used in garden walls, pathways, or as decorative elements in water features.

Monuments and Sculptures Throughout history, natural stone blocks have been the material of choice for iconic monuments and intricate sculptures.

Choosing the Best Natural Stone Blocks

When selecting natural stone blocks for your project, consider the following:

Type of Stone The type of stone you choose—be it marble, granite, limestone, or quartzite—will depend on the application and the desired aesthetic. For instance, marble offers a luxurious look, while quartzite provides rugged durability.

Quality and Finish The quality of the stone block is crucial for ensuring longevity. Look for blocks with minimal cracks and uniform patterns. Galaxy Exports specializes in providing premium-quality natural stone blocks with exquisite finishes.

Supplier Reputation Sourcing from a trusted supplier ensures authenticity and quality. As one of the leading exporters, Galaxy Exports is renowned for supplying the best marble in India and other premium natural stones.

Budget and Availability Consider your budget and the availability of the stone in your region. Natural stones are an investment, and choosing a reliable supplier like Galaxy Exports guarantees value for money.

Tips for Architects and Designers

Integrate with Modern Materials: Combine natural stone blocks with materials like glass and metal for a contemporary look.

Play with Patterns and Textures: Use the natural veining and textures of the stone to create focal points in your designs.

Prioritize Functionality: Ensure the stone type matches the functional requirements of your project, such as slip resistance for flooring or weather resistance for outdoor applications.

Collaborate with Suppliers: Work closely with suppliers like Galaxy Exports to understand the properties of different stones and choose the best fit for your vision.

Why Galaxy Exports?

As a leader in the natural stone industry, Galaxy Exports has built a reputation for excellence. With a vast selection of high-quality natural stone blocks, including the best marble in India, Galaxy Exports caters to diverse architectural and design needs. Whether you're looking for elegant marble flooring or robust quartzite for outdoor spaces, Galaxy Exports ensures unmatched quality and reliability.

Their commitment to sustainability and innovation makes them a preferred partner for architects and designers worldwide. With Galaxy Exports, you’re not just purchasing natural stone blocks; you’re investing in timeless beauty and enduring quality.

Conclusion

Natural stone blocks are more than just building materials—they are a testament to nature’s artistry. For architects and designers, they provide endless possibilities to create spaces that inspire and endure. By choosing the right stone and collaborating with trusted suppliers like Galaxy Exports, you can bring your architectural visions to life with elegance and precision.

Whether you’re designing luxurious interiors or resilient exteriors, natural stone blocks are the key to achieving unparalleled beauty and functionality. Explore the diverse offerings of Galaxy Exports today and elevate your projects to new heights.

[evolutionofgreekart]

Theodoros and Teleicles

Temple of Hera

Ca. 550 BCE

Limestone

80’ x 170’

Paestum, Italy

Temples were built in dedication to the gods and goddesses during Ancient Greece. The architects of the Temple of Hera emphasised the importance of geometric harmony by placing columns equally distant from each other to support the entablator; the beam, decorative section, and border of the roof.