Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Reflection on Blue Lake, adjacent to St. Bathans, Central Otago, New Zealand (© Colin Monteath/age footstock)

Great Court roof, British Museum in London, England (© D.V.A./age footstock)

Bridge of Arts in Paris, France (© Maurizio Rellini/SIME/4Corners)

Fishing village of Reine, in the Lofoten Islands, Norway (© Frank Krahmer/Corbis)

Commonwealth Place in Canberra, Australia (© Richard I'Anson/Lonely Planet Images)

FFF9 - MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA

Magnolia grandiflora is an evergreen tree which grows to a height of 10m and a width of 10m, native to South-eastern N. America - North Carolina to Florida and Texas. It has a moderate growth rate. In Australia, Magnolia grandiflora will flower in December to March with the seeds ripening from March to May. The large, showy, fragrant white flowers from this plant are hermaphrodite (both male and female reproductive organs) and they are pollinated by beetles.

The name magnolia was coined in recognition of Pierre Magnolia, the French Botanist (1638-1715). Magnolias are considered to be an ancient flowering plant bearing the largest individual flowers of any tree or shrub that can be cultivated in temperate climates.

Please join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below.




www.ExposeYourBusiness.com, www.ElPatronMexicanGrill.net, www.AjaxUnion.com

By going outside your own community or comfort zone, you can dramatically increase your visibility and get your company's name into the hands of the decision makers you need to reach. The most successful companies have realized the huge opportunities available in the markets of other cultures and have diversified their customer base. Studies show that businesses that overlook this strategy often do so because they lack the time and resources to make these connections in person which is still the most effective way to generate sales.
The NY Multicultural Business Expo will create these opportunities in one place at one time. Businesses looking to broaden their customer base will exhibit their products and services to a variety of businesses they may never have a chance to encounter.
I was invited to a business mixer at El Patron Mexican Grill194-01 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11358-3032

(718) 819-2121
ElPatronMexicanGrill.net‎ last night and I found it to be not just a little more than I expected.
Not your usual mixer where you shake hands with dozens of new acquaintances and swap business cards and elevator speeches, this one actually had content.  
Mark Neuwirt, Founder and President of Expos Your Business
Mark is a trade show veteran having produced several highly successful B2B events to date. He is a member of the Queens, Brooklyn & Melville Chambers of Commerce as well as an active member of more than 10 prominent networking groups from Staten Island to Suffolk. He has formed strategic relationships with regional and local media companies who have committed to supporting the first annual NY Multicultural Business Expo. He recently entered into a reciprocal co-marketing arrangement with Event Management, the producer of the NY XPO for Business held at the Jacob Javits Center. Mark is a hands-on professional who designed Expos Your Business to be a state of the art marketing company focusing on face to face as well as virtual interaction between businesses and customers resulting in significant revenue growth.
Contact: mark@exposyourbusiness.com or 718-813-8173 or 516-813-6155

  Those who attended got to meet new people, munch on some good food, hear great features of the NY Multicultural Business Expo and hear an amazingly information packed presentation on how to present your event through social media. Thanks again to Kalli Meisler, who is a fountain of information and energy, and to Ajax Union for providing her services. 
 


Revelstoke Dam, British Columbia, Canada (© Christopher Morris/Corbis)












Giant panoramic images from Google Earth©:





King Penguin colony on South Georgia Island (© Frans Lanting/Corbis)

Frosted bearberry bush on the tundra of Yukon Territory, Canada (© Peter Van Rhijn/Corbis)

Mantles of giant clams in Kingman Reef, Pacific Ocean (© Brian J. Skerry/Getty Images)

Fireworks at Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang, Malaysia (© Tan Lian Hock/Asia RM/Age footstock)

Ice climber ascending a frozen waterfall in Telluride, Colorado (© Brian Bailey/Getty Images)

Columns in Court of Amenophis, Luxor Temple, Luxor, Egypt (© Ian Cumming / Axiom)

www.SICTV.org



A dragon is a legendary creature. All legendary stories about Chinese dragons are from the sky, which means heaven in China. The image of dragon is blurred, misty, mystic, occulted, noble and untouchable. For China, it is the symbol of power from heaven. The Chinese emperor was considered the son of heaven. An emperor has the authority to send command to Dragons. One Chinese story mentioned an emperor killed a dragon in his dream. After 581 AD, Chinese emperors began to wear imperial robes with dragon symbols. During the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), the dragon can be seen everywhere on the roofs, doors, pillars, bridges, utensils in the forbidden city. The most powerful dragon is the five-clawed dragon. It appears only on the yellow imperial robe. Because of this, Dragon is one of most auspicious animals in China.
They say that Dragon has nine sons. People didn't know too much about the Nine Dragons until Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). However, there is more than one version of the Nine Dragons story. One story is the following.
The Dragon sent its nine sons to help the first emperor of Ming Dynasty to conquer China. After completing the mission, nine dragons were preparing their journey to return to heaven. But the emperor wanted them to continue to help the Ming Dynasty. The nine dragons wouldn't stay and the emperor couldn't stop them. However, the emperor decided to play a trick on the most powerful dragon, the 6th son. He tricked the sixth dragon son to carry a magic stele with a carved inscription, which could suppress any ghost, spirit or evil creature. The 6th dragon couldn't move under the magic stele, and all of his other brothers wouldn't leave without him. However, they wouldn't work for the emperor anymore. They decided to no longer show their dragon identities and turned themselves into evil creatures. Since then, the nine dragons have stayed in China.


The Year of the Dragon holds special importance for the Chinese as it is considered to be the luckiest of Chinese years which brings happiness and success.
According to Chinese culture, the dragon is the most auspicious and powerful animal in the Chinese zodiac which is also associated with prosperity.

And since this lunar year is the year of water dragon - occurring only in 60 years - it is considered even more auspicious to the Chinese.
 The dragon year will possibly bring a slight boom to the housing market in China. Many people who subscribe to the Chinese zodiac are expected to wed this year and purchase a house.
Tens of thousands of couples are preparing to marry under what is considered an auspicious sign. To win over a bride in a country undersupplied with women, it helps a lot if the aspiring groom first proves his worth by buying a home.


FFF10 - PROTEA NERIIFOLIA

A bouquet of Protea neriifolia x susannae "Pink Ice" for today. Protea neriifolia is part of an ancient plant family, the Proteaceae, which had already divided into two subfamilies before the break-up of the Gondwanaland continent about 140 million years ago. Both the Proteoideae and the Grevilleoideae occur mainly in the southern hemisphere. This is the hardiest of all proteas, and well suited to low maintenance, low water use gardens. These spectacular blooms are useful in floral arrangements, fresh or dried.


Please join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and leave a comment once you have done so!





Stromatolites at dawn in Shark Bay, Western Australia (© Frans Lanting/Corbis)

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park in St. Paul, Minnesota (© Joe Mamer/Age footstock)



Interior of Marble Caves, General Carrera Lake, Chile (© Danita Delimont/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Detail of a banana leaf, Mainau Island, Germany (© Egon Bömsch /Age footstock)

Marismas del Odiel Biosphere Reserve, Huelva Province, Andalusia, Spain (© Martin Ruegner/Getty Images)

Aurora borealis over Vee Lake near Yellowknife, Canada (© Michael Ericsson/Getty Images)

www.HeadshotsPhotos.com

I am happy to say that many people still believe in the power of photography and go to a professional photographer to get their portraits done.   Of course maybe they are just taking advantage of the super discounts I am now offering as specials to announce the launch of my new site www.HeadshotsPhotos.com.  I'm glad that most of my subjects are asking for more of a portfolio rather than just the one look headshot (but we still do many of those)  but it is a no brainer to get enough photos done at one time so that you will have images for years to come...
  www.HeadshotsPhotos.com is going to be my home base for these type of sessions and for a limited time I will go to you for the same price as you you were coming to me.   Hey why not save some money, call me at 917 273 7883 today!