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July 26, 2007

UFOs over Shakespeare's birthplace? Rice paddy art; Not your ordinary cat photo

Over 100 see UFOS over Stratford, comes from the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald -- yes, that Stratford, Shakespeare's hometown -- which, unhelpfully, suggests we buy the paper for the "full story."

This is too rich.

STRATFORD was the scene of an unexplained multi-sighting of unidentified flying objects on Saturday night—witnessed by more than 100 people near the town centre.

Four bright objects appeared in formation above the Warwick Road area, and were later joined by a fifth, at around 10pm.

The formation—which appeared without any sound—lasted 15 minutes and baffled those watching from the ground before fading away.

Witness Tom Hawkes saw the lights along with 15 other people celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday at the One Elm in Guild Street.

...Mr Hawkes captured the remarkable images on video, as did other customers at the One Elm. He is planning to send his clips to relevant agencies to be examined.

The Daily Mail ended up with Hawkes's video, and streams it with UFO sightings bring town to a standstill:

Sceptics dismissed the UFOs as nothing more than hot air balloons, fireworks or even lanterns which had broken loose from a local rugby club.

Others, however, claimed the speed and agility of the objects was unlike any known aircraft and said the odd movement, lack of noise and the length of time in the air discounted any man-made explanation.

And, in case you were wondering, people who weren't in the bar saw them, too.

I'm speculating they're time travelers from the future, tourists who wanted to see the Bard's hometown through the ages.

Rice paddy art: Like Peru's Nazca Lines, the rice paddy art of Japan seems meant to be viewed from above. From Pink Tentacle, where you'll find several other examples,

Each year, farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aomori prefecture create works of crop art by growing a little purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru-roman variety.

The results are spectacular.

It's not Photoshopped, or sprayed on. They plant in a pattern.

More images at this Japanese site..

The vet's back room:

At Chips Quinn Scholars:

La Shinda Clark, photographer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and 1995 (Chips Quinn) Scholar, won third place for feature photos in the National Press Photographers Association 2003 Best of Photojournalism contest. In the photo, volunteer Cameron Tarzwell, 13, cleans loose hair that has been shaved from an anesthetized cat, Princess, in preparation for an operation. Tarzwell has been assisting a veterinarian for four years. The photo was one in a picture story on a spaying and neutering program in Chester County in Pennsylvania.

I'm glad I never saw my cats crucified like that. I guess I thought they just went limp and that was good enough.

About Chips Quinn Scholars: How it began: Program a memorial to editor who embraced diversity. Chips -- John C. Quinn Jr. -- died in an automobile accident in 1990 at the age of 34, having left the Journal to become managing editor of the Poughkeepsie Journal. The program aims to develop what he couldn't find then -- a network of journalists of color. There have been 1,080 Scholars since 1991. About the program

That photo was one of the rare sightings of Chips in a tie.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 3:21 AM | Permalink