Trailers for The Iron Lady and Albert Nobbs

Here at MadProfessah.com we have been covering the upcoming fight for the 2012 Best Actress Oscar between 2-time winner Meryl Streep and my favorite actress of all time, Glenn Close. Glenn is appearing in Albert Nobbs, where she plays a woman living as a man in 1800s Ireland. Meryl is appearing in The Iron Lady, a bio-pic about Margaret Thatcher. Meryl has made an amazing physical transformation to resemble the iconic British prime minister and what Glenn is doing in Albert Nobbs appears to be something which the word "acting" is too simple a word to describe.
Check out the competing trailers for Albert Nobbs versus The Iron Lady above. Which one do YOU think should win the Oscar?

Eye Candy: Flavio from MundoMais

I've previously introduced you to Filipe from MundoMais. Here is another MundoMais model, he is listed as Flavio. The site says that Flavio is 26 years old 1.89m and 95kg (that's 6 feet 2 inches and 209 pounds). That's a big hunk of Brazilian meat!

Glad I'm not vegetarian....

SUCCULENT SUNDAY: Dorstenia lavrani, one sex at a time

Also posted at SentientMeat.net

Dorstenia lavrani, too young to be sexually active
(no hypanthodia),  photo by Sentient Meat

After you read about the bizarre sex life of figs and fig wasps, you can't really say that the genus Dorstenia is much stranger than other members of the fig family, Moraceae. Still, you can't help but notice the bizarre blooms of Dorstenia called hypanthodia. They look like psychedelic set decorations from the original Star Trek.

Photo of Dorstenia hybrid hypanthodium by Josiah Hartzell
Ripe seeds are ejected and may land far from the mother plant

Dorstenia has about 100 species. Most are monoecious with bisexual hypanthodia, but today's focus, Dorstenia lavrani, is dioecious, meaning some plants are male and bear pollen, while others are female and bear ovaries and later, seeds. My young plant has not borne any hypanthodia yet, so I don't know its sex. I hope it's female.

Same Dorstenia lavrani pictured above

Legendary plant explorer John Lavranos discovered this plant variety in 1973, but it was circulated among collectors as a form of Dorstenia foetida -- a fascinating but much more common plant -- identified only by its locality, Taba'a Gap or Taba'a Gorge. It was finally described as a distinct species and named Dorstenia lavrani only in 2008.

Beautiful, prizewinning plant about 14 inches high
(not counting the Sideshow Bob topknot)
grown by Yvonne Hemenway, iPhone snapshot by Sentient Meat

Dorstenia lavrani mesmerizes me with its pale, wax-like skin and its helix of leaf scars running up and down each stem. Well grown plants are visually striking, magnetic to growers and plant show judges alike. Apparently animals also find it irresistible -- it was the first plant to be devoured off my deck. (The small plant pictured here is its replacement.) The first day I noticed a problem, only a nibble was missing. The next day all that remained of that plant was a crater in the soil.

Breeding female Dorstenia lavrani at Mike and Maureen Massara's growing grounds
photo by Bruce Brethauer, Columbus Cactus Club

Federer Wins Paris Masters Title Over Tsonga

PHOTO CREDIT: MIGUEL MEDINA

Roger Federer won his 69th ATP tour title in the Bercy suburbs of Paris (one week after winning his 68th in Basel) by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 7-6(3). Tsonga may have been slightly tired due to his thrilling three-set win against John Isner in the semifinals, while Federer has looked extremely sharp all week, becoming only the fourth player to win the tournament without dropping a set and the second, after Andre Agassi, to win both important tournaments played in Paris (Roland Garros and the Paris Masters).

It was Federer's 3rd title of the year and 69th of his career, playing in his 99th career final. It was the Swiss Great's 18th career ATP Masters title, one behind Rafael Nadal's 19 (which is the all-time record). In 2011, Novak Djokovic won 5 Masters events (the most anyone has ever won in a single season), followed by Andy Murray with two (Shanghai and Cincinnati) and Federer and Nadal with one each (Paris and Monte Carlo, respectively). It was Federer's first title in Bercy, and he has now reached the finals of all 9 Masters series tournament (but has never won in Monte Carlo).

The most prestigious tournament of the year starts Sunday November 20th with the top 8 players (Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer, David Ferrer, Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish) who qualified for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Federer is the defending champion (defeating Nadal last year) and enters the round-robin tournament on a 12-match winning streak.

Tsonga Saves 3 MPs Against Isner To Reach Paris Final

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France reached the final of the Paris Masters by saving three match points against 6'9" American John Isner and winning the match 3-6 7-6(1) 7-6(3). Tsonga had 7 break points on Isner's serve but was never able to convert, while Isner was able to break Tsonga in the 8th game of the first set and easily hold his serve again to take the first set.

As the match progressed, Isner's groundstrokes, which were hit with surprising authority on both wings, started to lose their bite and Tsonga began to win more of the baseline rallies. Still,with his booming serve, the American was able to keep the match close, and it took the rabidly partisan Parisian crowd to provide the last push to get their countryman into the victor's circle.

Tsonga will face Roger Federer, who demolished Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-3 in just 80 minutes and is in his first Paris Masters final. Tsonga won the tournament back in 2008. Federer and Tsonga have met 5 times this year so far, in some rather important matches. Federer leads their 2011 series 3-2 but lost 2 consecutive matches against the Frenchman at Wimbledon and then in Montreal this summer. Surprisingly, the two have never met in a final, where Tsonga has an excellent 7-3 career record, while Federer has an incredible 68-30, with his last title coming last week in Basel. Tsonga has never lost a 3rd set in Bercy but I suspect that streak will end on Sunday when Federer wins his 69th title.

PREDICTION: Federer.

REPORT: Over 50,000 Legally Married Same-Sex Couples

The Williams Institute of UCLA Law School issued a report this week, Patterns of Relationship 
Recognition by Same-Sex Couples in the United States, which details that over 50,000 couples have legally married in the United States and over 140,000 have entered into some form of governmental recognition of their relationship at the state level.

From the press release:

LOS ANGELES, CA – Over 140,000 same-sex couples have formalized their
relationship under state law in the United States.  Nearly 50,000 same-sex couples have
married.  These findings from a new Williams Institute study, Patterns of Relationship
Recognition by Same-Sex Couples in the United States, are based on state administrative
data from those states where same-sex couples can marry, enter civil unions or domestic
partnerships, or enter other legal relationship statuses.  The study also finds that same-sex
couples prefer marriage over other non-marital legal relationship statuses.   

“We see a lot of evidence that same-sex couples strongly prefer marriage over civil
unions or domestic partnerships. Same-sex couples marry at higher rates in the first year
they have the option than we see in civil union states, for example,” M.V. Lee Badgett,
Research Director of The Williams Institute and professor of economics at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst.  “Our findings are consistent with other research showing that
couples value marriage more for its social meaning than for its practical benefits.”   

The new study also provides a snapshot of the couples who enter legally-recognized
relationship statuses.  These couples are predominantly female, tend to be younger than
currently married different-sex couples, and tend to be older than newly-married
different-sex couples. When a state allows marriage for same-sex couples, couples will
travel to that state to marry from other states in which they do not enjoy that same
opportunity.  

“When we look at the residency of same-sex couples who marry, around 60 percent live
outside of the state where they got married,” said Jody L. Herman, Peter J. Cooper Public
Policy Fellow at The Williams Institute.  “Couples are much less likely to travel out of
state to enter non-marital legal statuses.  This is further evidence that same-sex couples
prefer marriage.”

The graphic at the top illustrates the impact of same-sex marriage in Iowa on the surrounding states in the midwest of the country. Currently, New York, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and the District of Columbia all allow legal same-sex marriage.

Which state will be next? Perhaps Maine or Maryland?

Djokovic Gives Tsonga Walk-Over in Paris Masters

Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Paris Masters tournament on Friday before his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, handing the Frenchman a walk-over into the semifinals, where he will face John Isner (who beat World #5 David Ferrer 6-3 3-6 6-3). Djokovic published a statement on his official website, NovakDjokovic.rs, which said (in Serbo-Croatian): "Sadly I have to inform you that I have withdrawn from the tournament. I have pushed myself to the limit by playing, and after the match yesterday my shoulder got worse."

Djokovic has only lost 4 times all year, compared to 69 wins. His 69th win was a come-from-behind win against Viktor Troicki. By playing in Paris even though his shoulder injury is clearly not recovered from his shocking loss to Kei Nishikori last Saturday in Switzerland, the World #1 won a $1.6 million bonus from the ATP for playing in the Paris Masters as part of an incentive for the top players to play all 8 Masters tournaments in a year. Djokovic had already wthdrawn from the Shanghai Masters so if he withdrew from Paris his potential $2 million bonus for winning the most Masters series titles in 2011would have been reduced to nothing. Djokovic's 2011 winnings are well above $10 million because he has won 3 Major titles and 5 Masters series titles so far. His financial haul could increase even more if he does well at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals which start on Sunday November 20th in London.

Meanwhile back in Paris, World #4 Roger Federer is the highest remaining seed left in the only Masters tournament he has never won in his long storied career. He will face Tomas Berdych (who eliminated World #3 Andy Murray) in one semifinal while Isner and Tsonga face off in the other. A Federer-Tsonga final on Sunday in Paris would be an incredible moment.

Federer Wins 800th Tour Match

The Paris Masters tournament is heating up and Roger Federer made history by winning his 800th ATP tour match by defeating Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3 7-5 to reach the semifinals. There he will face Tomas Berdych who ended World #3 Andy Murray 17-match, 3-title winning streak with a thrilling, nail-bitingly close 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 win.

Federer's 800th win puts him at #7 on the all time list, which is headed by Jimmy Connors at 1,242.

1,242— Jimmy Connors
1,071— Ivan Lendl
923— Guillermo Vilas
875— John McEnroe
870— Andre Agassi
806— Stefan Edberg
800— Roger Federer

Anyone think Rafael Nadal will get to 800 wins? I'm sure one of Federer's goals is to get into the Top 5 on this list, but I think getting past Agassi and McEnroe will be difficult, especially if Federer retires at the end of 2012, which I suspect will happen.

Celebrity Friday: Theo James

Every once in a while I am channel surfing and come across the show Bedlam on BBC America. I always stay and watch it for awhile, hoping for glimpses of stunningly gorgeous British actor Theo James who plays Jed. According to his Wikipedia page, Theo James was born Theo Taptiklis in December 16, 1984, which makes him 26 years old.

He apparently has decent role in the next Underworld movie and was recently named a "Star of Tomorrow." Remember where you saw him first!

Senate Judiciary Passes DOMA Repeal Bill!

Today the United States Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Respect for Marriage Act by a party-line vote of 10-8 with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against. Think Progress has video clips of the absolutely insane things the Republican opponents said to defend their increasingly tenuous and arbitrary defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.

President Obama endorsed the bill in July and the White House issued a statement after the vote which said:

President Obama applauds today’s vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve the Respect for Marriage Act, which would provide a legislative repeal of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act.” The President has long believed that DOMA is discriminatory and has called for its repeal. We should all work towards taking this law off the books. The federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections afforded to straight couples.”

Very important result. It will be interesting if they can even get a vote on the bill on the Senate floor

IOWA: Democrats Retain Senate Majority, Saving Marriage Equality

Another happy story from Tuesday's elections is the fact that Democrats retained control of the Iowa State Senate, which means that the only mid-west state which enjoys marriage equality will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Democrat Liz Mathis defeated Republican Cindy Golding in a special election in Iowa on whose result control of the State Senate depended:

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) extended his congratulations to Mathis Tuesday night.

“As Iowa’s newest State Senator, Liz Mathis will ensure that our state continues to be a place where business can grow and prosper, a place where we can raise our families and a place where our children have access to every opportunity,” he said.

Sue Dvorsky, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, also congratulated Mathis and extended her thanks to the candidate and the party’s “countless volunteers and community leaders.”

“This election reaffirms Democratic commitment to creating jobs and strengthening education in the state of Iowa. Voters in Senate District 18 know that Democrats are the best choice to continue moving Iowa forward, and made their voice heard tonight at the polls,” Dvorsky said.

But in addition to being a victory for state Democrats, the race was also welcomed as a victory for LGBT Iowans. If the outcome had been different, a possibility existed that a House Republican plan to begin a constitutional amendment process would move forward.

In fact, several regional and national social conservative organizations that object to same-sex marriage made independent expenditures in support of the GOP candidate. Just days prior to the election, a series of robocalls featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were issued by Citizens United on behalf of Golding. The National Organization for Marriage, The Family Leader and Family Research Council Action drove the “Values Bus” into the district on Monday in order to rally voters to support Golding based on cultural issues.

Troy Price, executive director of One Iowa, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group, heralded the election results as “a great victory for Iowans.”

” Voters in this district clearly rejected the mean-spirited and misleading attacks of our opposition that we saw right up until the polls closed on election day. Instead, voters elected the candidate they felt would best move our state forward. We are so proud of our volunteers, staff, and supporters who helped make this victory possible. We know that Liz Mathis will be a great senator, and we look forward to working with her in the coming legislative session.”

WATCH: LGBT Equality Caucus Says "It Gets Better"

BOOK REVIEW: Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson

Robert Charles Wilson's Spin is one of the great science-fiction reads of the past decade. It is the first book in a trilogy of books with similarly succinct titles such as Axis and Vortex. Unfortunately, the latter books of the trilogy were unable to match the brilliant heights reached by the first book in the series, though they are above average reads and I am glad that I read them.

The world of  Spin is one in which mysterious aliens, dubbed The Hypotheticals, have placed some kind of membrane around the entire planet Earth which causes the stars to disappear from the sky. eventually we discover that time outside of the membrane is passing by at orders of magnitude faster than time on Earth, and that the membrane is also protesting the Earth from the Sun's increased radiation as it accelerates its lifecycle as a star. Spin resonates with the reader because of its amazing premise: One night the stars disappear. How would humanity react? The various characters respond differently but happen to be intimately involved in finding out the cause of the phenomenon (which happens decades after the event).

More amazing events happen,  but the most significant result is the creation of gateways which allow humanity to move from Earth to other planets (which also have Spin membranes surrounding them). Axis, the sequel to Spin takes place primarily on one of these new planets, with characters related to the ones introduced in Spin. Wilson primarily organizes his books around these characters and how they react to the incredible events and circumstances.

One of the main problems is that the characters get progressively less interesting in the later books. For example, in Vortex the main characters are a psychiatrist named Sandra Cole, a police officer named Bose and a mysterious drifter (and patient of Sandra's) named Orrin Mather. These characters are interestingly set in the same time period that the events of Spin occurred in, while simultaneously there is a another storyline which is set more than 10,000 years in the future which involves Turk Findley (a character which appeared in Axis) and another new character named Allison Pearl who may or may not be a figment of the imagination of a character named Freya.

Other people had a more positive reaction to Wilson's characterizations but I think there is universal agreement that neither of the sequels to Spin do not match the unvarnished brilliance of that masterwork. Vortex is probably worth reading if you have already Spin, but if you haven't I would say you could just read Spin and save yourself the disappointment of a lack of a satisfying resolution of all the many issues raised in Spin.

Title: Vortex.
Author: Robert Charles Wilson.
Paperback: 336 pages.
Publisher: Tor.
Date: July 5. 2011.

OVERALL GRADE: B+ (3.33/4.0).


PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: B.
WRITING: A-.

Ha-Ha! Author of SB-1070 Gets Recalled

Ha,ha! This was the most encouraging election result in a night full of heart-warming election results (rejecting Mississippi's zygote personhood amendment, repealing Ohio's anti-union law and rejecting Maine's voter suppression law): the xenophobic author of multiple pieces of immigrant-bashing legislation (but most notably SB 1070), Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce was recalled by voters on Tuesday night.

KPHO reports:

Voters have ousted state Sen. Russell Pearce in an unprecedented recall election, a first for an Arizona legislator.

With a majority of the precincts reporting, the top vote-getter, Republican Jerry Lewis, steps into the District 18 legislative seat for the second year of a two-year term.

Lewis claimed victory at 9 p.m.  "Our opponent was the most powerful politician in Arizona and one who had deep-pocketed and powerful interests from outside our district backing him, as well as the entire muscle from our state Republican Party," Lewis said.

Lewis, 54, a charter school executive, has been a resident of Mesa for nearly 30 years.  His victory now forces the Senate's majority Republicans to pick a new leader for the chamber.

People on both sides of the debate said that removing Pearce would send a powerful message to the Legislature that uncompromising stances on immigration and other issues will not be tolerated by voters.

Pearce, a 64-year-old conservative Republican from Mesa, outspent his challenger by more than a 3-to-1 ratio and painted the recall advocates as liberal outsiders who targeted him because of his immigration stance.

Pearce was unabashedly racist and an asshole and it's a good riddance of bad rubbish. However, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Governor Jan Brewer are still elected officials in Arizona and should be removed from office by voters as well.

Godless Wednesday: Americans' Discomfort With Atheist President

The Friendly Atheist has a great post up today discussing the new poll results from the Public Religion Research Institute which demonstrate that Americans would be more uncomfortable with an atheist President than a Mormon President or a Muslim President!

Friendly Atheist takes a closer look at the graphic above and provides the following analysis:

67% of all voters would feel somewhat or very uncomfortable with an atheist president.80% of all Republicans, 70% of Democrats, and 56% of all Independents feel the same.So Democrats would be more uncomfortable with an atheist president than a Muslim president.
Republicans — not surprisingly, a higher proportion of them than Democrats — would be equally uncomfortable with both an atheist president and a Muslim president.
Overall, though, a non-theistic presidential candidate has a bigger hurdle to overcome than a person of any faith at all. It’s unbelievable that in this day and age, America still has this much of a hangup over a leader who would put more weight in evidence and logical thinking than in an imaginary god and ancient books.

Hear, hear! Friendly Atheist also notes that 31% of Americans would be somewhat or very comfortable with an atheist president while 33% of Americans would be somewhat or very comfortable with a Muslim president.

His suggestion to change these numbers is to encourage more people (and people who run for office) to come clean about their lack of faith and their belief in free-thinking instead of wishful thinking.

This is my first post in what is hopefully going to be a weekly series focusing on atheism and agnosticism and the foibles and failures of faith. I'd love to hear feedback from readers about Godless Wednesdays. Suggestions for a better title would be welcomed!

POLL: Americans Supports Trans Equality

There is excellent news about a new poll which bolsters the case for strong transgender civil rights protections.

The Public Religion Research Institute concluded:

Overwhelming majorities of Americans agree that transgender people should have the same general rights and legal protections as others.*

·              Approximately 9-in-10 (89%) Americans agree that transgender people deserve the same rights and protections as other Americans.

·                     Overwhelming majorities of all major religious groups agree that transgender people should have the same rights and protections as other Americans, including approximately 8-in-10 (83%) white evangelical Protestants, and roughly 9-in-10 Catholics (93%), white mainline Protestants (90%), and the unaffiliated (95%).

·                     Overwhelming majorities of Republicans (86%), Independents (94%), and Democrats (92%) also agree.

·              More than 8-in-10 (81%) Americans agree that legal protections for gay and lesbian people should also include transgender people.

Approximately three-quarters of Americans both say Congress should pass employment nondiscrimination laws to protect transgender people, and favor Congress’s recent expansion of hate crimes legislation to protect transgender people.

·              Three-quarters of Americans agree that Congress should pass laws to protect transgender people from job discrimination.

·                     Solid majorities of every major religious group agree that Congress should pass laws to protect transgender people from job discrimination, including nearly two-thirds (65%) of white evangelical Protestants.

·                     A majority (55%) of Republicans agree that Congress should pass laws to protect transgender people from job discrimination, as do overwhelming majorities of Independents (79%) and Democrats (86%).

·              Approximately three-quarters (74%) of Americans also favor Congress’ recent expansion of federal hate crime laws to include crimes committed on the basis of the victim’s gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, compared to only 22% who oppose.

·                     Solid majorities of every major religious group favor Congress’ recent expansion of hate crimes legislation to include gender identity. White evangelical Protestants demonstrate the lowest support, but nearly two-thirds (64%) of this group favor including gender identity in hate crimes laws.

·                     A majority of Republicans (56%) and approximately 8-in-10 Independents (79%) and Democrats (84%) also agree.

Approximately two-thirds of Americans both report being well informed about transgender people and issues, and generally understand what the term “transgender” means.

·              Two-thirds of Americans agree that they feel well informed about transgender persons and issues, while 3-in-10 disagree.

·              In order to determine whether Americans understood the term “transgender,” PRRI conducted a follow-up survey in September 2011 that asked respondents to report what the term “transgender” meant to them in their own words. Among the 91% of Americans who report that they have heard of the term transgender, 76% give an essentially accurate definition. Thus, overall, more than two-thirds (69%) of Americans are able to identify what the term “transgender” means without any assistance.

·                     Forty-six percent define a transgender person as someone who switches from one gender to another, either generally (39%) or through a medical procedure (7%).

·                     Eleven percent define a transgender person as someone who lives like the opposite gender (6%) or identifies more with the opposite gender (5%).

·                     Ten percent describe a transgender person as someone who is born the wrong sex or born in the wrong body.

·                     Nine percent define a transgender person as someone who has identified with both genders.

·              The following are examples of verbatim responses:

·                     “A person who feels like they are more like the other sex”

·                     “It’s someone born one sex, and they think they’re another”

·                     “Generally someone who thinks they are in the wrong body”

·              Eleven percent of Americans say that they have a close friend or family member who is transgender, compared to 58% who say that they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian.

POLL: Support for Marriage Equality in Maine

Well, well! Despite being rejected at the polls on election day 2009 when Maine's Question 1 (voiding that state's recently passed marriage equality law) was approved by voters 53% to 47%, marriage equality is now enjoying majority support in the state as the 2012 federal elections approach, and Equality Maine considers going back to the ballot with a marriage equality measure.

A new poll from PPP shows that 51% of Maine respondents think that same-sex marriage should be legal, but before one gets too confident, I would point out that this is within the margin of error of ±3.8 percentage points of this poll (673 voters contacted between 10/28-10/31/2011).So, it is true that more Maine voters support marriage equality than oppose it, but the poll does not indicate majority support for marriage equality in Maine yet. Hopefully, that will be the case one year from now, on election day 2012!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

OBAMA 2012: "What If?"

Eye Candy: Antonio Vizcaino (reprise)

Andrew Vizcaino is a handsome model who has been featured as an Eye Candy model before. There are more pictures of Antonio at Male Model Scene.

SUCCULENT SUNDAY: Avonia buderiana: tiny stems covered with papery white scales, tipped with fragrant white flowers

Also posted at Sentient Meat blog

Avonia recurvata ssp buderiana, new addition to Sentient Meat container garden
grown and sold by Woody Minnich of Cactus Data Plants

Which plants bewitch you? Which traits arouse the most passion? Even if pressed, I can't narrow my favorite plants down to just 10 or even 100, but I can tell you which traits amaze me. I am endlessly fascinated by plants which don't look like plants... or in some cases, don't resemble living things from the planet Earth.

Avonia buderiana is just such a plant. Its tiny branches reach upwards in haphazard, coral shapes (coralliform) covered with bizarre, overlapping, white, papery scales. These scales are actually modified leaf parts (stipules) which protect the tender branches and minute green leaves from heat, sun, and dehydration. Some Avonia live in quartz sands where their papery white scales blend visually with their habitat. All Avonia are dwarfs; A buderiana stems reach at most 80mm or scarcely over 3 inches in height.

The ephemeral white flowers sprout from the tips of the stems, usually 1 per stem. They open briefly in the heat of the day but are usually closed like tiny, out-worldly pincers.

Avonia buderiana grows wild in Helskloof, Richtersveld, in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Dirt road and horizon, showing arid habitat
Helskloof, Richtersveld, Northern Cape, South Africa
photo by Sakkie on Panoramio

--
Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park, South Africa official site

Court, Doreen. (Third Edition, 2010). Succulent Flora of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers. ISBN-10: 1770075879. ISBN-13: 978-1770075870.

Photo from Spain plant vendor Cactus Serrano www.cactuserrano.es

View from Maerpoort with Rosyntjieberg in the background, Richtersveld National Park
Photo by Lex Hes, courtesy of, and copyright, South Africa Tourism, a department of the government of South Africa.