Saturday Scenes

On 25 July 1909, French aviator Louis Bleriot became the first person to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel, travelling from Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.

Now we fly long distances all the time but if you want to see the world, there’s a simpler solution. You can save time and money by following SatScenes and as seeing all the different places spotlit on Twitter every Saturday.

Exactly 100 years later on 25 July 2009 we have the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Wales, Israel, the U.S., Ireland and Spain all conveniently placed here in one simple location:

While most of us were lazing about, ColinBrooks (shown above with Blogography and katili) spent Saturday taking part in a 24-hour blogathon. As a part of the festivities, he’s given away a flickr pro upgrade to promote Saturday Scenes. And we have a winner: poppycede has a Flickr pro account and hopefully she will start taking photographs on Saturdays to share with all of us! Thanks for the promotion, Colin!

Please take a moment to visit all of our wonderful contributors:

• ingridf
• michrueg
• redalexred
• pixelfreund
• Pewari
• akrabat
• elibrody
• mousewords
• StacyJMT
• Elshahawk
• 7of12
• tradingnothing
• adhon
• capo42
• Vaxanta
• drewbenn
• akaSylvia
• CliffStanford
• ColinBrooks

It’s easy to take part!

1) Take a photo on a Saturday and upload it to a site like Flickr or Twitpic
2) Twitter the url for your photograph to @SatScenes
3) Watch for the next post on Twitter Blog to see a great set of all the photographs together.

I’m looking forward to seeing your scenes!

Many exciting things have happened on the 18th of July:

July 18 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• 390 BC – Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia – a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
• 64 – Great fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control.
• 1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
• 1656 – Polish-Lithuanian forces clash with Sweden and its Brandenburg allies in the start of what is to be known as The Battle of Warsaw which ends in a decisive Swedish victory.
• 390 BC – Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia – a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
• 64 – Great fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control.
• 1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
• 1656 – Polish-Lithuanian forces clash with Sweden and its Brandenburg allies in the start of what is to be known as The Battle of Warsaw which ends in a decisive Swedish victory.
• 1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
• 1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving definite status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
• 1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes his personal manifesto Mein Kampf.
• 2005 – Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, first public joint statement by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then U.S. President George W. Bush.

And on 18 July, 2009, we had a total of twentyfour scenes posted for your viewing pleasure. Check it out:

These wonderful scenes were brought to you by the following wonderful contributors. Go tell them they are wonderful:

• Dramagirl
• rauchy
• adhon
• Mattyboy500
• michrueg
• akrabat
• wolfgang
• pixelfreund
• redalexred
• ElshaHawk
• embee
• vitalybe
• Chuckyf
• ColinBrooks
• LukaIsntLuka
• tartanink
• StacyJMT
• yintercept
• tradingnothing
• 7of12
• elibrody
• ingridf
• akaSylvia
• LannaGirl

Usually I look for historical information to do with the date but this time I thought I’d be a bit more daring and look to the future.

On 11 July, 2010 there will be a total eclipse of the sun

On 11 July, 2011 we’ll be exactly two months away from Elliot’s prediction that a one-day Disney World ticket will cost $100

On 11 July, 2012, American “strip malls” and middle-of-nowhere casinos will be ghost towns

On 11 July, 2013, gaming consoles will be at the end of their lifespan.

On 11 July, 2014, most people will know someone who is having quadruplets

And then, on 11 July, 2015, it will be a Saturday again and we will have wonderful scenes from all over the world. I can’t wait!

Just remember, you heard it here first.

Meanwhile, here are our photographs firmly rooted in the present: 11 July, 2009

Shall we take a bet on how many of these people will submit in 2015?

• pixelfreund
• Elibrody
• michrueg
• capo42
• pewari
• UKMelia
• ElshaHawk
• StacyJMT
• ColinBrooks
• tradingnothing
• sparc
• tartanink
• ingridf
• 7of12
• akaSylvia
• redalexred

Shouldn’t you save a photograph of your day-to-day life for posterity? It’s easy!

1. Take a photograph on a Saturday
2. Upload the photograph
3. Send a tweet to @SatScenes with the url
4. Leave URL for future descendants to find

I’m looking forward to seeing your photograph in the next edition!

July 4 is the 185th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of the year. Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

Nothing else really jumped out at me from the “On this day in history” pages.

:D

OK, so eventually I found this little snippet:

Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776, “Had a Declaration…”

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Hey, as far as predictions go, he wasn’t far wrong. What’s a day or two between friends?

Happy Independence Day to all of our SatSceners from the United States! Meanwhile, onto the gallery:

Take a moment to say hello to our contributors:

• Dramagirl
• akaSylvia
• tradingnothing
• elibrody
• akrabat
• vaxanta
• pixelfreund
• Wolfgang
• Pewari
• ingridf
• StacyJMT
• redalexred
• Chuckyf
• ElshaHawk
• hdevilbiss
• drewbenn
• LannaGirl
• sparc
• 7of12
• UKMelia

Also, if you want a trip back in time, take a look at the first collection of Saturday Scenes posted on the 5th of July 2008.

I want to take the chance to say thank you to all of the contributors who have made this past year a lot of fun. At the beginning, I almost didn’t see it through but elibrody nagged me to keep it up and I’m glad I did!

It’s easy to take part. Simply snap a photograph on a Saturday and then tweet it to @SatScenes! The following week, your photograph will be immortalized here. I’m looking forward to seeing many more scenes from Saturdays all around the world.

Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut (1823-1886) was a South Carolina author who kept a detailed diary during the American Civil War. You can read the entire Diary from Dixie online. It’s well written and gives a great insight into the politics and attitudes of the time.

Here is the start of her entry from June 27, 1861

RICHMOND, Va., June 27, 1861. – Mr. Meynardie was perfect in the part of traveling companion. He had his pleasures, too. The most pious and eloquent of parsons is human, and he enjoyed the converse of the “eminent persons” who turned up on every hand and gave their views freely on all matters of state.

Mr. Lawrence Keitt joined us en route. With him came his wife and baby. We don’t think alike, but Mr. Keitt is always original and entertaining. Already he pronounces Jeff Davis a failure and his Cabinet a farce. “Prophetic,” I suggested, as he gave his opinion before the administration had fairly got under way. He was fierce in his fault-finding as to Mr. Chesnut’s vote for Jeff Davis. He says Mr. Chesnut overpersuaded the Judge, and those two turned the tide, at least with the South Carolina delegation. We wrangled, as we always do. He says Howell Cobb’s common sense might have saved us.

Two quiet, unobtrusive Yankee school-teachers were on the train. I had spoken to them, and they had told me all about themselves. So I wrote on a scrap of paper, “Do not abuse our home and house so before these Yankee strangers, going North. Those girls are schoolmistresses returning from whence they came.”

Soldiers everywhere. They seem to be in the air, and certainly to fill all space. Keitt quoted a funny Georgia man who says we try our soldiers to see if they are hot enough before we enlist them. If, when water is thrown on them they do not sizz, they won’t do; their patriotism is too cool.

Well, just looking at this week’s collection of photographs, I think you can tell you that all the contributors to SatScenes sure do sizz!

That, and we have plenty of water of our own.

Take a look at the collection from 27 June, 2009:

• wolfgang
• capo42
• pixelfreund
• Vaxanta
• rauchy
• tartanink
• redalexred
• sparc
• TimmyTenga
• DomR
• akaSylvia
• tradingnothing
• UKMelia
• ElshaHawk
• stacyJMT
• drewbenn
• elibrody
• Pewari
• akrabat
• ruhi
• ColinBrooks
• LukaIsntLuka