_"By Hook or by Crook!"The Cromwellian Forces Attack Upon Redmond Castle, on The Hook Peninsula in County Wexford Ireland, July 1642.================================================ _Modern day Lofus Hall built on the site of the 1300's Redmond Castle. It was an English Victorian manor in the 1800's, a convent and then a hotel in the 1900's, and is now owned by Bono of the U-2 rock band, as of 2009.===============================================ARGOS THE GUARDIAN ETERNAL:In ancient Greek mythology Argos was the watcher of the earth and skies, over everyone and everything.And, without a doubt, he remains so even today..... ================================================H I S T O R Y :Swedish viking Varangians rowed their ships down the Volga River in the 800's and 900's. They sailed across the Caspian Sea and raided Persia. The Slavic peoples called them Rus, from which the name for Russia originates.===============================================Vi king Age Rune Stone=============================================- - - - The Battle of Lake Peipus in Estonia. The German forces of the Livonian Order of the Teutonic Knights were led by Prince Hermann von Buxhoveden. They attacked the Russian forces of Prince Aleksandr Nevsky of Novgorod, in April 1242. ===============================================The Zaporozhian Cossacks along the Dniepr River of the Ukraine in 1676. (Painted by Ilya Repin in 1891)===============================================King Karl XII of Sweden and his victory over the Russians, at the Battle of Narva in Estonia, in November 1700.(Painted by Gustaf Cederstrom in 1910) ================================================- - - - - - - - King Karl XII of Sweden in 1706================================================The Swedish Army of King Karl XII advanced far into the Ukraine. They fought against the Russians, under Tsar Peter the Great, at the Battle of Poltava in June 1709.================================================King Karl XII was killed in battle at Halden, and the Swedish Army retreated carrying his body, in December 1718. (Painted by Gustaf Cederstrom in 1878) ================================================The French Army of Emperor Napoleon invaded Russia, in June 1812. They fought their largest battle at Borodino on the Moskva River. The Russian Army retreated, and the French then captured Moscow, in September 1812.================================================Napoleo n's French troops occupied and looted Moscow, while the Russians burned and evacuated it, in October 1812.================================================Napoleo n was informed that there would be no official reply from Tsar Aleksandr in Saint Petersburg, and that Russia would not agree to any peace treaty.================================================Emper or Napoleon of France, abandoning a completely destroyed Moscow and withdrawing from Russia, in November 1812. (Painted by Ernest Meissonier in 1814)================================================In the First World War the Battle of Tannenberg was decisive on the Eastern Front. The German army of General Paul von Hindenburg surrounded and destroyed the Russian army of General Aleksandr Samsonov, in August 1914.================================================"Nicht kleckern. Sodern alle Klotzen!"Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (1888-1954). During the Second World War the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, in June 1941. Guderian's panzer army almost took Moscow - winning the war for Germany, in November 1941.===============================================German panzer units advanced deep into southern Russia, in 1942. They reached as far as the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian seas, with the Soviet forces retreating before them.===============================================- - - The German 5th SS "Wiking" Panzergrenadier Division was composed of volunteers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. They advanced furthest to the Terek River, flowing from the Caucasus Mountains to the Caspian Sea, in October 1942. ==============================================- - - F A N T A S Y :Tiger Girls in a Tiger I (Mark VI) Tank ===============================================Olivia Munn as Princess Leia================================================_Almost Enough Princess Leias at a Star Wars Convention ===============================================DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?_ A Modern Mata Hari ===============================================_Pierre-Augus te Renoir's "Les Baigneuses" (1887) ================================================_Colorful Poolside Chat============================================ Entertaining the Troops ============================================A Good Read ===============================================Only the Very Best of Friends! =============================================== -Gothess===========================================Big Burly Bruno Brown Bear, and Big Brewed Beer Beverage ================================================Only the very best of dental care, at all times!================================================The Russian folk tale of Sadko the Bard of Novgorod, in the Underwater Realm of Lake Ilmen. (Painted by Ilya Pepin in 1876)================================================ __ Piano Tuner Fine Tuning============================================ Bareback Riding======================================== _Annual Fertility Festival in Kawasaki Japan ===============================================Altar Totem Dedicated to the Shaman Ewenki in Changchun China================================================A REALLY Big Game Hunting Safari Expedition!!!=============================================== =Modern Lady Godivas at Hyde Park in London England================================================ _Almost Enough Art Models================================================Sleepi ng Bear Dunes and Lake Michigan Shoreline================================================_Mo dern Mystical Mermaids =============================================== Back Seat Driving ================================================ Lake Michigan Shore===============================================[Histori cal note: The humanoid females displayed on this website, clothed or otherwise, are believed to have all existed in physical form for at least eighteen Earth years. It is intended that they continue to express themselves, as equal and independent individuals, in such open and natural ways as here. Also remaining free of all restrictions and repressions, while being safely respected and admired, as possible]