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COFFEE COUNTER
for week of
January 8th 2012
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Today In History
On this day in 1996, a cargo plane crashes in Kishasa, Zaire, (modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo) killing somewhere between 225 and 350 people and injuring another 500.
Africa Air was a private freight company that operated on the margins of legality. They were well-known for sometimes ignoring safety regulations, and enforcement of the rules was lax in Zaire. On January 8, the company went even further, sending its Russian Antonov AN-32B into the sky from N'Dolo Airport in Kishasa even though its certification for flying had been revoked. Making matters worse, the Russian crew members had loaded the plane with freight beyond its capacity. The plane was allegedly on its way to bring supplies to Jonas Savimbi's notorious rebels in Angola.
As the plane barreled down a runway on the sunny afternoon, the its engines smoked and then burst into flames. The plane could not attain any altitude and simply ran off the end of the runway, toward a marketplace filled with wooden and iron shacks. The plane crashed into the crowded market and exploded. Fires broke out everywhere and would-be rescuers were driven back by the intense heat and smoke.
In all, estimates of the death toll ranged from 225 to 350 people killed and approximately 500 seriously injured. Of the six crew members on board, four survived. The angry marketplace crowd attempted to lynch them but was thwarted by authorities. There was a second attempt while the crew was at a local hospital but it also failed. The crew members were extradited to Russia for prosecution and sentenced to two years in prison. Pilot Nicolai Kazarin stated during the trial "the market shouldn't have been there, so why should they be entitled to compensation?" Africa Air subsequently went out of business.
more~Quote Of The Day
"You cannot create experience. You must undergo it."
Albert Camus
Today's Trivia
What Is A Zither?The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music, most commonly in German-speaking Alpine Europe. Like many other stringed instruments, acoustic and electric forms exist; in the acoustic version, the strings are stretched across the length of the soundbox, and neither version has a neck.
The Willow FluteThe willow flute, also known as sallow flute, is a Scandinavian folk flute, or whistle, consisting of a simple tube with a transverse fipple mouthpiece and no finger holes. The mouthpiece is typically constructed by inserting a grooved plug into one end of the tube, and cutting an edged opening in the tube a short distance away from the plug.
From Our Forums
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CLIFF'S FOTOFUN #87,
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Welcome to our Mini Challenge #54
here at the Photography Cafe
"COMMUNICATION" This is our latest
mini challenge here at the
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WELCOME TO OUR Close-Up/Macro Challenge #8
here at the
"FASTENERS"
"FASTENERS--We all fasten things in one way or another, to make items secure. Be it an item of clothing, a door, a safe, right up to an Ocean liner.
How many interpretations can you show of the fasteners used to do it? "
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Welcome to our HDR Challenge #9
here at the Photography Cafe
"A subject of your choice!!!"
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Welcome to our Cafe Book Nook
here at the Photography Cafe
Photo Locations, Tutorials on Digital Techniques, Photo Techniques and Equipment.
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See who is appearing on Centre Stage this week
Willpower
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PHOTO OF THE MONTH
November 2011 "The Veil"
by Terry Cavner 
CONGRATULATIONS TERRY!Click on the photo to go to Terry Cavner's album and leave a comment.
We all love comments!
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The Judges of the Cafe Choice Award are pleased to announce the presentation of this highly rated award:
is awarded to memberBRANNYfor his image"CUDDY'S CRAG"
"Branny’s image shows us the rugged terrain of Hadrian’s Wall, a bleak landscape and an area seen by many but not in the light of a frosty morning in mid-winter.
The composition provides excellent foreground interest from the frosty grass on those stones and the contours of the wall lead us through the image from the warm sunlight on the wall into the bleakness of the misty fields and valleys in the distance. It's this change from front to back that makes the image special. The presence of two walkers in the middle distance provides the scale we need to comprehend the scene.
Congratulations, Danny!" * * * * * * *
Today's Chuckles
ImaginationSeveral weeks after a young man had been hired by an advertising agency, he was called into the personnel director's office.
"What is the meaning of this?" the director asked. "When you applied for this job, you told us you had five years experience. Now we discovered this is the first job you've ever held."
"Well," the young man replied, "in your advertisement you said you wanted somebody with imagination."
Successful InventorNeedless to say, one of the most successful inventors of all time was the man who invented the hay-bailing machine.
He made a bundle.
Quick Quotes
"Nothing happens unless first we dream. "
~Carl Sandburg
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"Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit. "
~Rita Dove
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"The only way to have a friend is to be one. "
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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More Chuckles
Amazing AnagramsDormitory == Dirty Room
The Morse Code == Here Come Dots
Snooze Alarms == Alas! No More Z's
The Public Art Galleries == Large Picture Halls, I Bet
A Decimal Point == I'm a Dot in Place
Eleven plus two == Twelve plus one
Contradiction == Accord not in it
A VERY BIG WELCOME TO ALL OUR NEW MEMBERS 
