As it happened (from my Journal archives)

June 26, 2007

Tuesday 9:09 pm - I've moved the 100 Puzzles Project puzzle up as the next puzzle.

June 28, 2007

Thursday 12:31 am - OK past midnight June 27. Another long day. Lot of time just focused on administrivia, and emails - turned down several more orders. I did ship #739 and I began cutting #740, this month's eBay puzzle. Cutting going well. I changed the style from Long Round to Swirl Curl. I got off to a late start (had to complete the large "sanding station" and then sand the Wedding Reception puzzle; also had to leave early in order to ship the Wedding Reception puzzle and attend a dance class. For #740, I did the initial cutting (border and subdivision) and cut maybe 80 pieces.

Thursday 5:20 pm - Continued work on #740 today, cutting over 200 pieces, cutting continues to go very well. I will complete the puzzle tomorrow morning and launch the auction sometime in the afternoon.

June 29, 2007

Friday 7:37 pm - Auction launched. Was delayed a bit today while I patiently slogged through the throng of webbers at Apple's website and placed an order for an iPhone!

June 30, 2007

Saturday 8:37 am (another photo added 11:39 am) - I have been doing some research on the Internet regarding the picture in this month's eBay puzzle. I have found that the Internet is so remarkable now as I have found numerous pictures of the area shown in the puzzle. Michael was incorrect to title the image "Ponte de Barca". There is a "Ponte da Barca" to the east of the area shown; the area shown in the puzzle's photo is in "Ponte de Lima", Portugal, I have found at least five photos proving this. There is a very similar bridge in Ponte da Barca, and with another old church, but clearly different.

From the auction description:

This puzzle, Ponte de Lima, Portugal - Fall 1991, features an excellent photograph by master photographer Michael Seewald, the photographer whom I've featured several times before within the 100 Puzzles Project. This image was removed from one of Michael Seewald's limited edition art calendars (the April page from year 1995), of which 499 were printed. This puzzle is a limited edition of ONE, I will not be purchasing any additional year 1995 calendars nor accepting commissions from others for this image. Calendar purchase information is here.

The puzzle includes two figurals: the country of Portugal and a UFO; my signature piece (signed, numbered and dated on the back) and five "Egg" pieces. I also marked a second piece on the back (the Portugal piece), indicating the puzzle belongs to the 100 Puzzles Project.

This puzzle is cut in my Swirl Curl cutting style with small pieces. There is no color line cutting. The extensive relatively monochromatic sky is an interesting exercise in the exploration of the Swirl Curl cutting style. Eggs pieces occasionally show up in my more elaborate Creative cutting style puzzles; appearances in my Swirl Curl style puzzles are very infrequent.

So what's with the UFO appearance? It first appeared in a puzzle I made earlier this month, another Seewald puzzle ordered by a customer. Here are some notes (edited) I made at the time: The Observer paid a visit to my shop today! He said that the day in the early 1990's when Michael Seewald took the photo, there were reports of a UFO sighting. Of course the UFO is not in Michael's photo, but the mysterious enigmatic Observer said that the UFO really was in the picture, just that it had activated "countermeasures" at the time! To my astonishment, when I cut the puzzle, a UFO appeared in the sky! I asked the Observer if he had any idea how it was flying, and could he explain its curious shape. He said it flew via a "focused Tesla energy device". "Energy is focused by a gravity funnel to the bottom center where it then channelled up to a central sphere which then spreads the energy to the outer ring where it reacts with external fields". Oh. "And the landing gear has dual use as it also serves as a disguise for some mean heat ray cannons". Oh. I told the Observer not to send any emails about this as I really don't need goons knocking on the door at 4am confiscating my computers!

At for Ponte de Lima, Portugal, Michael wrote:

Here in the mists of early morning after a full night of drizzling rain, we have an almost magical aura through which to see an interesting set of contrasts: between a strong foreground and an ethereal background, and between the old church and the modern power line towers. At the same time, the contrasting elements are subtly tied together by the reflection of the church in the water of the foreground. (This image won first place at the 1994 Carlsbad-Oceanside Art League competition.)

Note: at the time the calendar was published, the picture was incorrectly attributed to the Ponte de Barca location.

Printed by Continental Litho

© John S. Stokes III - Puzzle Crafter & Webmaster