Brecon Beacons, Wales ‘A great view of Llyn y Fan Fach. This is a truly spectacular landscape in which to cleanse the mind, body and soul. A rinsing for the spirit, you might say. Sitting here, drinking in the natural grandeur, it is impossible not to feel a surge of awe coursing through one’s veins.’ Photograph: Alexis Dimyan Source link
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The cherry tree AMANDA SELLEM FOR LE MONDE The countdown began on January 10, when experts from Japan’s private weather company JMA issued alert number 1. A pink cloud will spread like wildfire across the country, rising from south to north between March 20 and April 30. The first explosion is expected in the Nagoya region, while Sapporo will be hit five weeks later. On its website, JMA informs that it will “provide updates in due course,” as Sakura is under close surveillance. The blossoming of its cherry trees is a phenomenon of the utmost importance in Japan, capable of moving crowds and highly symbolic. ‘Allegory of life’ “We wait for it for weeks, then it suddenly arrives, explodes and goes away,” said Yoko Nakamura, a Japanese fashion and lifestyle consultant based in France. “It’s like an allegory of life, reminding us that it’s beautiful, short and that we have to make the most of it.” In the Japanese archipelago, on D-day, trainees are instructed to go and reserve a place under a somei yoshino, …
Much like the spindly Charlie Brown Christmas tree that sparked new life into a listless holiday season, the little tree that could has become a sort of Washington icon as the warmth of spring rekindles its sparse branches and pink flowers emerge. As word about Stumpy’s fate has gotten out, many fans have made their way to the Tidal Basin to see it one last time. “In each succeeding year, we have seen more and more people come down asking for Stumpy, lining up to get pictures,” said Mike Litterst, a park service spokesman. “Of course, this year, it’s through the roof.” Next month, the park service will take clippings from Stumpy and the other cherry trees scheduled for elimination and use them to grow more Stumpies and more of its less famous brethren. Then the dead trees will be turned to mulch that will be spread around those still standing on the National Mall. The cherry tree affectionally nicknamed “Stumpy” in Washington on Monday.Frank Thorp V / NBC News “If we wanted to, we …
The scraggly cherry blossom tree known as Stumpy on March 15 in Washington, D.C. At high tide, the base of the tree’s trunk is inundated with several inches of water. Jacob Fenston hide caption toggle caption Jacob Fenston The scraggly cherry blossom tree known as Stumpy on March 15 in Washington, D.C. At high tide, the base of the tree’s trunk is inundated with several inches of water. Jacob Fenston WASHINGTON – The famed cherry blossoms around D.C.’s Tidal Basin are in peak bloom this week, but for 158 of the trees, it will be their last bloom. The trees will be cut down later this spring as part of a project to rebuild and raise the seawalls around the basin. Daily flooding threatens trees, inconveniences visitors Millions of people flock to Washington, D.C., each spring to take selfies among the cherry blossoms — some even get engaged. That’s what Jody Axinn did some 20 years ago. Now, Axinn says, the romantic spot she remembers is unrecognizable. “The part that we got engaged in is …
This unique Mophie limited-edition 3-in-1 Travel Charger with MagSafe can power up your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods or AirPods Pro all at once. And it does so quickly, with a 15W fast-charging capability. You’ll find that this charger is not only a nod to a beautiful tradition of the Blossom Festival but also a robust piece of technology that can keep up with your lifestyle. If you are an Apple enthusiast, will enjoy how this charger can simplify your life. Eliminating the need for multiple cables and adapters by allowing you to charge three devices simultaneously. The days of waiting around for your gadgets to charge are over. With this charger, you can quickly get back to what matters most, whether it’s making calls, listening to music, or staying on top of your schedule. But this charger isn’t just about speed and convenience; it’s also about traveling smart and supporting the environment. The design is foldable, making it easy to pack, and it comes with a compact travel case that even has a pocket …
There is a particular queasy disquiet that comes from looking at blossom in January. Or daffodils just weeks after Christmas. At seeing catkins dangling from trees that are still bathed in dark from about 4.30pm. It is an uncanny sense that something here isn’t right. I get it, too, in August, when the blackberries have already ripened into dust, before the new school term starts. Or when I hear birdsong under a yellow streetlamp. Perhaps this is just the outdoors equivalent of moaning about Easter eggs being in the shops in January. As in, it happens every year but we are somehow shocked anew each time. Maybe daffodils have always pushed up their spears as students fill in their Ucas applications. Maybe there have always been blackberries in July. Maybe it’s just my memory playing tricks on me. But I do feel it. During a walk through a nature reserve this week I felt something like dread, licked by something like hope, as I saw pink blossom on a bone-grey tree. I was recently introduced …
Vespa.ai, the big data serving engine that just a few weeks ago spun out from Yahoo (full disclosure: TechCrunch’s parent company) into an independent venture, has raised a new round of funds. Blossom Capital led a $31 million investment in Vespa — money that Vespa CEO Jon Bratseth says will be put toward growing Vespa as a standalone business, strengthening the company’s engineering functions and “delivering more features faster to all Vespa’s users.” “In particular, we’ll speed up the development of features that’ll make it easier for developers to create apps that combine AI models with proprietary data sets,” Bratseth told TechCrunch in an email interview. “Vespa has been around for over 20 years, and we’re set up to be around for a lot longer.” Yahoo created Vespa back in 2005 after acquiring paid search service provider Overture, and, through it, a Norwegian search engine called AlltheWeb.com. Working with the e-commerce division within Yahoo, the AllTheWeb team retooled its search tech into a more general-purpose tool that Yahoo developers could use internally to compute over …
With a name akin to a character from Roald Dahl’s stories and an equally naive singing voice some labelled as childish, Blossom Dearie hardly exuded star quality. “She was definitely not an entertainer,” admits Arlene Corwin, a friend and jazz singing contemporary of Dearie’s in mid-century nightclubs. “But her piano was great, her songs so beautifully polished and jazzy. And, of course, that little voice – pitch perfect, modest, unembellished.” Now, 14 years after her death aged 84, the maverick New Yorker’s music is being re-evaluated: Kylie Minogue and Feist are self-professed fans, R&B star Ravyn Lenae has namechecked her, Jack White’s label is reissuing her work, Fugees and De La Soul have sampled her and Dearie songs can be heard everywhere from Call the Midwife to Starbucks playlists. “It was the whole combination,” says mod icon Georgie Fame of his one-time friend and mentor. “The unique sound of her voice, her way of playing and accompanying herself, her choice of unusual material. It’s the presentation of all those things.” Singing with Woody Herman and …
Netherlands-based Instruqt has a product allowing companies to more easily test how a new software would run inside their organization. After bootstrapping its way to growth, it has now raised €15 million in a Series A round led entirely by Blossom Capital. It’s much easier to sell a software product into a company if they can see how it will run inside the organization in a live manner. So some startups have appeared where they run their SaaS product inside a sort of Sandbox, so that the client company can see how it might work, without having to be fully deployed. Instead of brow-beating buyers why they should purchase their products, the platform puts buyers in the driver’s seat to experience a product hands-on. This mean the client gets a working demo of the product, without needing to commit a lot of time and resources, or perhaps even signing a contract. That’s a much more powerful way of selling a product compared to a theoretical “demo” which might look and sound good, but may end …
