It’s that time of year again! April 23rd is that time when we come together around a sweet, deep-fried piece of heaven. Check to see where people will be gathering near you, and if you’re in the SF Bay Area there are even rumors that Team Flickr will be celebrating these caloric marvels.

Photos from aqui-ali, hvhe1 , and Ashok A Menon.

From clay, straw, and thousands of liters of paint, the artist Leonard Knight created Salvation Mountain in the vicinity of Niland (California). Knight lives a spartan life in an old truck right next to the mountain and spends his time on it’s maintenance and expansion to convey his message that “God Loves Everyone”. In 2002 Salvation Mountain was entered into the U.S. Congressional Record as a national treasure.

Photos from Lee Otis, Caveman 92223, rouseville, .elsie*cake., woodcreeper and LostSouls.
More in the "Salvation Mountain" Clusters or try a tag search for "Salvation Mountain".

Recently, for some of his images like those above, Dustin Diaz has been posting a picture showing the setup along with the final image. Check out his Strobist info set for a glance behind the scenes.

The Library of Congress has uploaded an additional 182 images into their gorgeous collection of Photochrom Travel Views. Where in the world are we now? Scotland.

With a brief search, I found a few examples of “then” and “now” views. If you enjoy photo sleuthing as I do, please share your discoveries in this discussion topic that zyrcster has begun in the Flickr Commons Group.

“Now” photos from joevl, _Anima_, Linsey Rhodes Photography, FotoFling Scotland, keiththrn, rob_fuel, and egregor46.

Photos from artistofmimicry. View more in his Evolution is Convenient set.

Come join Team Flickr as we (somewhat belatedly) celebrate Flickr’s 5th birthday.

If you’re in or around San Franciso on Saturday May, 9th, we’ll be gathering at 111 Minna Gallery between 4 – 8pm. Please RSVP here — we wouldn’t want to run out of cupcakes.

And, whether your near or far, we hope you’ll share a photo that we can project at the event. More about that in the Flickr 5.25 Group.

Photo from our birthday last year from monkeywobble.

We’d like to welcome the D.C. Public Library to the Commons on Flickr. The District of Columbia Public Library is a center of activity in the U.S. capital and this 7 set, 145 photo sampling from its collection features historic images of D.C.’s buildings and federal memorials, the Arlington National Cemetery, historic houses, and street scenes. Also featured are portraits of past presidents and other prominent Americans.

We look forward to your comments, notes and tags!

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2009 will be celebrated around the world on Sunday April 26th. If you’ve never pinholed, check out the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day site for a workshop near you.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2008 photos from luciano_sampaio, firda, and heyoka.
View more photos tagged with “pinhole” or in our pinhole clusters.

Photos from AndWhyNot, fjny, and David John Harris.