The People's Patriotic Party (Line)**+

This purple sign in Cryllic (Eastern) alphabet roughly proclaims the

Patriotic People's Party, one of two vying for this Spring's

election runoffs in Ukraine. This particular party, I am told,

adheres more to the party that favors following Putin's Russia,

rather than the reformists and hence follows the Russian party

(line). Is the man, foreground, also following a 'party line" (pun

intended)? Photo taken near a train station (vauxall) and bazaar

(market). Your ratings and critiques are invited and most

welcome. If you rate harshly or very critically, please submit a

helpful and constructive comment/please share your superior

knowledge to help me improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

This was clearly marked 'street' when posted, but possibly a cursor bounced and somehow it got bounced into 'wedding and social'. Rather than take it down and suffer a 24-hour bar, I'm going to leave it up, and appeal to the Administration to change its category.

John (Crosley)

As I write this, I'm in Ukraine also, and in the middle of the 'failed revolution' as I am told that 'National Geographic' has called it in an article I haven't read but been referred to. And now the party that was voted out overwhelmingly in the last election (after the rigging was unrigged) stands a good chance of being voted a majority, leading potentially to a Balkanization of politics in Ukraine . . . .?

Oh, well, I just take photos.

And as to his face, this is an after-dark photo, and even if not, it's probably better it be anonymous as tends to lend itself to a graphic element instead of a 'detail' element. The detail was NOT there in any case for this photo, and he was moving (trying to get out of the way of my camera).

Have fun voting.

Maybe you'll vote for the prettiest (the candidates of Julia Timoshenko who has photomodel beautiful looks, but who has alienated many and has appropriated International Women's Day symbols for her own or so it seems?)

Again, I'm just an onlooker with NO axe to grind.

John (Crosley)

Anyone who has viewed American cartoons (or Europeans ones), is familiar with the 'thought balloon' above cartoon figures.

Is this man talking about this political party, and is this purple emblem, emblematic of what he is talking about? In other words, is this purple emblem a 'thought balloon' for this man, in cartoon terms?

(See my photo and almost endless commentary, 'Don't Look Back, I Think We're Being Followed' featuring two people being followed by a school of salmon (with a salmon occuping the place of a 'thought balloon' above the men.)

John (Crosley)

This photo has remarkably strong composition and ultimately is 'clickworthy', despite quite low ratings, hovering just over 4/4.

As of this writing it has roughly one-third higher 'views' than its neighboring photos with much higher ratings, in the same folder, which is inexplicable if one is to posit that the ratings system indicates the 'clickworthiness' of a photo, over the long term.

But although that is sometimes the case, it is not always. Some would have removed this photo, in a quest for high ratings, but by keeping it posted, I have been rewarded by high 'views'.

The same applies for a discrete number of other photos scattered through out my folders and portfolio, all of which got poor or low ratings but have received an 'outsize' number of 'views'. For those particular photos, the rating system simply fails and the photographer, in choosing which photos to post, must rely either on dumb luck, his taste, or his intuition. I prefer to think of it a good taste and good intuition.

John (Crosley)