RECENT ENTRIES |
- • Flooding in Britain - 02.14
- • Sochi 2014 Olympics: Reaching the podium - 02.13
- • The 2014 Westminster Dog Show - 02.10
- • 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Soch - 02.07

Translate into:
(Hint: Use 'j' and 'k' keys to move up and down)
January 15, 2010 |
Fire and Ice
For today's entry, an exercise in contrasts: Fire and Ice. Fire can be a life-sustaining, constructive element, or, at worst, a powerfully destructive force - something we humans continue to use, play with, and struggle to control. Ice is closer to the natural state of the universe, cold, still and lifeless. Earth's orbit lies in a "Goldilocks zone" where we may seasonally experience icy environments, but never freeze completely. Collected here are several recent alternating photographs from around the world of both Fire and Ice. (40 photos total)

A ball of fire erupts within a thick cloud of smoke on December 19, 2009 in Somalia's capital Mogadishu after a petrol station caught fire in the K5 area. AU peacekeepers and Somalia government forces rallied to secure the area and, assisted by locals, attempted to extinguish the blaze whose cause was reportedly linked to insurgents. (ABDURASHID ABDULLE/AFP/Getty Images) #

Fire rages through a forest in Valparaiso city, 121 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, Chile on December 26, 2009. More than 1,200 acres of land were burned due to multiple fires near Valparaiso city but with no reported cases of deaths or injuries, local authorities said. (REUTERS/Eliseo Fernandez) #

An employee works as molten metal flows for the first time at the new Hyundai Steel mill in Dangjin, about 123 km (76 miles) southwest of Seoul, South Korea on January 6, 2010. Hyundai Steel's first-ever integrated blast furnace has an annual production capacity of 4 million tons of steel products, Yonhap News Agency reported according to the company.(REUTERS/Hyundai Steel) #

Sled hockey player Nikko Landeros, of Berthoud, Colorado (right), takes part in a scrimmage with Tyler Carron in the Boulder Valley YMCA in Lafayette Colorado on January 2nd, 2010. Three years ago, high school wrestlers Landeros and Carron lost their legs when they were hit by a car while changing a flat tire. It didn't take long for Landeros to pick up sled hockey, and he'll be competing in Vancouver in the Paralympics. Carron is on the junior national team. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) #

A house on Richhill Street in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, is engulfed in flames early Monday, Jan. 11, 2010. A coroner has confirmed that two children died in the house fire, though a woman escaped as did two other children who jumped off a roof into the arms of a police officer. (AP Photo/Observer-Reporter,Bob Niedbala) #

Firefighters put out a fire which erupted after Thursday's explosion at a petrochemical plant in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China on January 8, 2010. Five people were confirmed dead and one still missing since Thursday in the explosion at the plant belonging to China's top state-owned oil firm CNPC, Xinhua news agency reported. (REUTERS/China Daily) #

Thousands of anglers cast lines through holes created in the surface of a frozen river during a contest to catch trout in Hwacheon, 120 kilometers northeast of Seoul, South Korea on January 10, 2010. The contest is part of an annual ice festival which draws over 1,000,000 visitors every year. (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images) #

Hundreds of people holding lit flares aloft gather to submit a petition outside the residence of Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson in Reykjavik January 2, 2010. Iceland's president said on Thursday December 31, 2009 that he would delay signing an amended bill to repay more than $5 billion lost by savers in Britain and the Netherlands when the island's banks collapsed. (REUTERS/Ragnar Axelsson) #

Crowds gathered at the 7th Annual Christmas Tree Bonfire watch as the trees are engulfed in flames January 6, 2010 on Dead Horse Beach at Salem Willows Park in Salem, Massachusetts. An estimated 2,500 trees were collected by the Salem Department of Public Services for the fire. (Erik Jacobs/Boston Globe) #
More links and information
Sledge (sled) hockey - Wikipedia entry