Cleo De Nile might be my favorite character from anything, or in the top 5 at least, and it's largely been because she was so fully formed via the MH narrative while consistently putting out stellar showing in the doll department. Both of these elements converged in her Gloom & Bloom doll, a splurge alongside Jinafire's doll from the line via the last of my remaining tax return, that not only gave us a beautiful doll but gave us an intimate look into what makes her tick. Finally more people saw what I always did - a complex ghoul - but reading about her and how heavily it affected her character even now was a great reminder to me that my own story was not only rich but worthy of being respected & a large part of what makes me me. Thanks ghoul!!

 

–--------

 

In an effort to honor both my year & my 2015 top 5 I have each a solo shot & will talk about what the memory with each has taught me ✨ 💖 ✨

The lesser of the Lufthansa Group carriers, Brussels Airlines is an airline that has consistently received fewer investment compared to other carriers within the group. Even so, Brussels Airlines has been updating their fleet within the past 5 years ranging from both their short-haul and long-haul aircraft.

Late-2023 saw Brussels Airlines receiving their first brand new aircraft since their creation in early-2007; Brussels Airlines took delivery of 5 brand new Airbus A320neos which has allowed the carrier to replace their ageing Airbus A319/A320s. At present, Brussels Airlines are not expected in the near term to receive more Airbus A320neos although this could change with Lufthansa Group's large Airbus A320neo family order book.

Amongst the 5 Airbus A320neos, there is a 40% chance of seeing their Airbus A320neos in special colours, whilst the first example features a different variation of their standard livery promoting Less CO₂. Less Fuel. Less Noise. which has appeared on other Lufthansa Group Airbus A320neos, the second aircraft receives a new version of Tomorrowland colours. The remaining 3 Airbus A320neos feature their standard livery.

On a daily basis, Brussels Airlines operates 4 daily flights from their main Brussels-Zaventem hub to London Heathrow, all 4 flights being scheduled to utilise Airbus A320neos.

Currently, Brussels Airlines operates 36 Airbus A320 family aircraft, which includes 15 Airbus A319s, 16 Airbus A320s and 5 Airbus A320neos.

Sierra Bravo Delta is one of 5 Airbus A320neos operated by Brussels Airlines, delivered new to the flag-carrier on 12th June 2024 and she is powered by 2 CFM International LEAP-1A26 engines.

Airbus A320-251N OO-SBD on final approach into Runway 27R at London Heathrow (LHR) on SN2095 from Brussels-Zaventem (BRU).

Jas Per Photography

bauhaus building, dessau, germany, 1925-1926, architect: walter gropius

 

Gropius consistently separated the parts of the Bauhaus building according to their functions and designed each differently. He thereby arranged the different wings asymmetrically – in relation to what is today the Bauhausstraße and the Gropiusallee respectively. In order to appreciate the overall design of the complex, the observer must therefore move around the whole building. There is no central viewpoint.

 

The glazed, three-storey workshop wing, the block for the vocational school (also three storeys high) with its unostentatious rows of windows, and the five-storey studio building with its conspicuous, projecting balconies are the main elements of the complex. A two-storey bridge which housed, e.g., the administration department and, until 1928, Gropius’s architectural practice, connects the workshop wing with the vocational school. A single-storey building with a hall, stage and refectory, the so-called Festive Area, connects the workshop wing to the studio building. The latter originally featured 28 studio flats for students and junior masters, each measuring 20 m². The ingenious design of the portals between the foyer and the hall and a folding partition between the stage and the refectory, along with the ceiling design and colour design, impart a grandiose spatial coalescence to the sequence of foyer-hall-stage-refectory, shaping the so-called Festive Area. The façade of the students’ dormitory is distinguished in the east by individual balconies and in the south by long balconies that continue around the corner of the building.

 

The entire complex is rendered and painted mainly in light tones, creating an attractive contrast to the window frames, which are dark. For the interior, the junior master of the mural workshop, Hinnerk Scheper, designed a detailed colour plan that, by differentiating between supporting and masking elements through the use of colour, aimed to accentuate the construction of the building.

 

Like father, like son

George Augustus Handley was a crack shot who consistently performed well while competing as a volunteer with the Victoria Rifle Company during the late 1880s.

His son Charles could also handle a weapon, a talent he no doubt put to good use during World War One.

Sadly neither man ever got to know each other terribly well. George was just 26 when he succumbed to tuberculosis on August 21, 1980. Charles, his only child, was a two-year old toddler.

George had lived with his family at Arch Hill (a suburb at the back of Ponsonby) where he'd worked as a stone carver.

A memorial notice placed in the Observer newspaper by one of his volunteer soldier mates paid tribute after his death

"Poor old Gus Handley," it said, "...an erstwhile member who died of consumption ... he was of one the best shots in the Auckland province."

George's widow, Alice, married Edwin Barnes Walker six years later and had two more babies. But her second chance of domestic bliss was marred by the death of Athol, the youngest of the children, in 1898.

Charles grew up in Auckland where he wed Ethel Nelson in 1911. But their life was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914. Charles, possibly inspired by his late father's experiences, was quick to enlist as Sapper number 20898 with the New Zealand Engineers. He was shipped home among the wounded in 1918 and died in Auckland on August 5, aged 30. History repeated itself with yet another generation of Handleys left to grow up without a father.

Charles is buried with his dad and half-brother in the same plot at Waikumete Cemetery.

His mother outlived her second husband and died in 1944, aged 77. She is interred nearby.

source: Matthew Gray's book Tales from the crypt

 

There died at the Auckland Hospital on Saturday. Mr. C. A. Handley, well known in musical circles, and in connection successively with the Salvation Army, Helping Hand Mission, and lastly the Central Mission, of which he was a prominent member. He died in the prime of life of influenza and an internal trouble, and leaves a widow and two children. The funeral left his late residence, Rose Road, Ponsonby, for Waikumete, after a short service had been held by the Rev. H. J. Walker, assisted by Sister Howard and Mr. J. Wilson. there were present a large and representative attendance of the various mission workers, and of the Salvation Army, to show respect to the memory of an earnest and good man. The Central Mission band preceded the hearse and played the "Dead March" in "Saul." Mr. Walker officiated at the grave, and eulogised the deceased worker. Several hymns were sung, and the band played several selections. In the evening a memorial service was held in the Central Mission Hall, and was so crowded that many were unable to obtain admission. Mr. W. H. Smith, superintendent of the mission, paid a tribute to the deceased brother, whom he had known for 16 years, and Mr. Walker followed. The mission orchestra played Chopin's "Funeral March" with muffled drums. Sirs. J. H. Wood contributed a solo, with quartette chorus. Mr, J. Wilson, in a brief address, concluded the meeting.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19010930.2.24

  

Plot 48: George Augustus (Gus) Handley – Stone Carver – Tuberculosis

Athol Agnew Walker (4 months) 27/1/1898 – Cholera * mother Emmeline in N.D.C. R27, Pl 40

Charles Burgoyne Handley (30) 1918 – Returned Soldier – Consumption

Plot 50: Charles Ashby Handley (34) 1901 – Range Maker – Pneumonia – at Hospital

Mary Alice Handley (47) 1938 – Miss

 

In Memory

of

G. AUGUSTUS HANDLEY

who died 21st Aug. 1890

aged 26 years

For ever with the Lord

also

Pte CHARLES BURGOYNE

son of the above

died 2nd Aug. 1918.

aged 32 years

There is no death tis but transition

 

plaque

CHARLES B. HANDLEY

20898 1st N.Z.E.F. Spr.

Engineers

(fern)

(New Zealand)

Died 2.8.1918 Aged 30 YrsIn

Loving Memory

of

CHARLES

beloved husband of

Sophia HANDLEY

who died 28 September 1901.

Aged 34 years.

My heart is fixed Eternal God.

taxed on Thee.

And unchanging choice is made.

Christ for me.

 

plaque

Our ALICE

died 3 June 1938

aged 47 years

Resting

 

DEATHS

HANDLEY.—At his residence, Pollen-street, Surrey Hills, George Augustus, the eldest son of George Handley, and beloved husband of Alice Froude, Auckland ; aged 23 years.

Private interment.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18900821.2.38

 

HANDLEY.—At Auckland Hospital on September 28, 1901, Charles Ashby, the beloved husband of Sophia Handley; aged 34.

Gone to be with Jesus, which is far better. The funeral will leave his late residence, Rose Road, Ponsonby, to-morrow. (Sunday), at 2 p.m. Friends please accept this intimation.

HANDLEY.—At Auckland Hospital on September 28, 1901, Charles Ashby, the beloved second son of George and Mary Alice Handley; aged 34. Also, George Augustus (Gus), who died August 21, 1890; aged 26; the eldest beloved son.

Submissive would we still reply, "Thy will be done."

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19010928.2.60

 

HANDLEY—On August 3, at his mother's residence, 53, Sea View Road, Remuera, Sapper Charles Burgoyne, dearly-beloved son of Mrs. A. E. White; in his 31st year.

The funeral will leave the above address for Waikumete this day at 2 p.m.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19180805.2.2.3

 

HANDLEY.—On June 3, at 6 Rose Road, Mary Alice, beloved daughter of Sophia and the late Charles Handley; aged 47 years.

Funeral will leave above address to-day (Saturday) at 2 p.m. for Waikumete.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19380604.2.6

 

View Charles' military personnel file on line:

ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...

 

View and/or contribute to Charles' profile on the Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph data base:

www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/recor...

  

Amber Valletta, Katy Perry

Amber Valletta, Katy Perry , Talent Manager Kathleen Checki at New Chanel Boutique opening and Charity Event hosted by Simply Consistent, Beverly HIlls

SIMPLY CONSISTENT INC.

 

May 29,2008

www.simplyconsistent.com/artist-management

www.simplyconsistent.com/

"-Chanel Boutique."

 

"-Kathleen Checki."

 

"-Checki."

 

"-Simply Consistent."

 

"-Simply Consistent Management."

 

"-Simply Consistent Charity Event."

 

"-Kathleen Checki Charity Event."

 

"-Kathleen Check."

   

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

Love represents a range of emotions and experiences related to the senses of affection and sexual attraction.[1] The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction. This diversity of meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

 

As an abstract concept love usually refers to a strong, ineffable feeling towards another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual. Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

 

Spiritual love, or longing for God, is highly valued and sought after by many religions of both Eastern and Western origin.

 

Definitions

 

The English word love can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts which English relies mainly on love to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love". Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition.[2] American psychologist Zick Rubin try to define love by the psychometrics. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring and intimacy.[3][4]

 

Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't "love". As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, though other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts. When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. narcissism).

 

In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, though the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.[5] Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to The Beatles' "All you need is love". Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value", as opposed to relative value. Theologian Thomas Jay Oord said that to love is to "act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being".[6]

 

A person can be said to love a country, principle, or goal if they value it greatly and are deeply committed to it. Similarly, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers' "love" of their cause may sometimes be borne not of interpersonal love, but impersonal love coupled with altruism and strong political convictions. People can also "love" material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with that item. If sexual passion is also involved, this condition is called paraphilia.

 

Interpersonal love

 

Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love which are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania.

 

Scientific views

 

Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the nature and function of love.

 

Chemistry

 

Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.[8] Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly-overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust exposes people to others, romantic attraction encourages people to focus their energy on mating, and attachment involves tolerating the spouse long enough to rear a child into infancy.

 

Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side-effects such as an increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.[9]

 

Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding which promotes relationships that last for many years, and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin than short-term relationships have.[9] In 2005, Italian scientists at Pavia University found that a protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these levels return to as they were after one year. Specifically, four neurotrophin levels, i.e. NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4, of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in love were compared with levels in a control group who were either single or already engaged in a long-term relationship. The results showed that NGF levels were significantly higher in the subjects in love than as compared to either of the control groups.

 

Psychology

 

Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives. Intimacy is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last and most common form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components.

 

Following developments in electrical theories, such as Coulomb's law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract". Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality; people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g. with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby which has the best of both worlds.[11] In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.

 

Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose works in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another", and simple narcissism.[12] In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling.

 

Comparison of scientific models

 

Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst.[citation needed] Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. There are probably elements of truth in both views — certainly love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love — sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate). Companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.

 

Studies have shown that brain scans of those infatuated by love display a resemblance to those with a mental illness. Love creates activity in the same area of the brain that hunger, thirst, and drug cravings create activity in. New love, therefore, could possibly be more physical than emotional. Over time, this reaction to love mellows, and different areas of the brain are activated, primarily ones involving long-term commitments. Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist, suggests that this reaction to love is so similar to that of drugs because without love, humanity would die out.

 

Persian

 

Even after all this time

The sun never says to the earth "you owe me".

Look what happens with a Love like that!

- It lights the whole Sky. (Hafiz)

 

Rumi, Hafez and Sa'di are icons of the passion and love that the Persian culture and language present. The Persian word for love is eshgh, deriving from the Arabic ishq. In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life. Over seven centuries ago, Sa'di wrote:

 

The children of Adam are limbs of each other

Having been created of one essence.

When the calamity of time afflicts one limb

The other limbs cannot remain at rest.

If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others

You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man".

 

Chinese and other Sinic cultures

 

In contemporary Chinese language and culture, several terms or root words are used for the concept of "love":

 

* Ai (愛) is used as a verb (e.g. Wo ai ni, "I love you") or as a noun, especially in aiqing (愛情), "love" or "romance." In mainland China since 1949, airen (愛人, originally "lover," or more literally, "love person") is the dominant word for "spouse" (with separate terms for "wife" and "husband" originally being de-emphasized); the word once had a negative connotation, which it retains among many on Taiwan.

 

* Lian (戀) is not generally used alone, but instead as part of such terms as "being in love" (談戀愛, tan lian'ai—also containing ai), "lover" (戀人, lianren) or "homosexuality" (同性戀, tongxinglian).

 

* Qing (情), commonly meaning "feeling" or "emotion," often indicates "love" in several terms. It is contained in the word aiqing (愛情); qingren (情人) is a term for "lover".

 

In Confucianism, lian is a virtuous benevolent love. Lian should be pursued by all human beings, and reflects a moral life. The Chinese philosopher Mozi developed the concept of ai (愛) in reaction to Confucian lian. Ai, in Mohism, is universal love towards all beings, not just towards friends or family, without regard to reciprocation. Extravagance and offensive war are inimical to ai. Although Mozi's thought was influential, the Confucian lian is how most Chinese conceive of love.

 

Gănqíng (感情), the "feeling" of a relationship, vaguely similar to empathy. A person will express love by building good gănqíng, accomplished through helping or working for another and emotional attachment toward another person or anything.

 

Yuanfen (緣份) is a connection of bound destinies. A meaningful relationship is often conceived of as dependent strong yuanfen. It is very similar to serendipity. A similar conceptualization in English is, "They were made for each other," "fate," or "destiny".

 

Zaolian (Simplified: 早恋, Traditional: 早戀, pinyin: zǎoliàn), literally, "early love," is a contemporary term in frequent use for romantic feelings or attachments among children or adolescents. Zaolian describes both relationships among a teenaged boyfriend and girlfriend, as well as the "crushes" of early adolescence or childhood. The concept essentially indicates a prevalent belief in contemporary Chinese culture that due to the demands of their studies (especially true in the highly competitive educational system of China), youth should not form romantic attachments lest their jeopardize their chances for success in the future. Reports have appeared in Chinese newspapers and other media detailing the prevalence of the phenomenon and its perceived dangers to students and the fears of parents.

 

Japanese

 

In Japanese Buddhism, ai (愛) is passionate caring love, and a fundamental desire. It can develop towards either selfishness or selflessness and enlightenment.

 

Amae (甘え), a Japanese word meaning "indulgent dependence", is part of the child-rearing culture of Japan. Japanese mothers are expected to hug and indulge their children, and children are expected to reward their mothers by clinging and serving. Some sociologists have suggested that Japanese social interactions in later life are modeled on the mother-child amae.

 

Ancient Greek

 

Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word love is used. For example, Ancient Greek has the words philia, eros, agape, storge and xenia. However, with Greek as with many other languages, it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agapo being used with the same meaning as phileo.

 

Agape (ἀγάπη agápē) means love in modern day Greek. The term s'agapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a "pure", ideal type of love rather than the physical attraction suggested by eros. However, there are some examples of agape used to mean the same as eros. It has also been translated as "love of the soul".

 

Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as "love of the body".

 

Philia (φιλία philía), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. Can also mean "love of the mind".

 

Storge (στοργή storgē) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring.

 

Xenia (ξενία xenía), hospitality, was an extremely important practice in Ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and their guest, who could previously be strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was only expected to repay with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout Greek mythology, in particular Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

 

Turkish (Shaman & Islamic)

 

In Turkish the word "love" comes up with several meanings. A person can love the god, a person, the parents or the family. But that person can "love" just one person from the opposite sex which they call the word "ask". Ask is a feeling for to love, as it still is in Turkish today. The Turks used this word just for their romantic loves in a romantic or sexual sense. If a Turk says that he is in love (ask) with somebody, it is not a love that a person can feel for his or her parents; it is just for one person and it indicates a huge infatuation.

 

Ancient Roman (Latin)

 

The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word 'love'.

 

Amare is the basic word for to love, as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense, as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come amans, a lover, amator, 'professional lover', often with the accessory notion of lechery, and amica, 'girlfriend' in the English sense, often as well being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is amor, which is also used in the plural form to indicate 'love affairs' or 'sexual adventures'. This same root also produces amicus, 'friend', and amicitia, 'friendship' (often based on mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to 'indebtedness' or 'influence'). Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship (de Amicitia) which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria (The Art of Lovers), which addresses in depth everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents.

 

Complicating the picture somewhat, Latin sometimes uses amare where English would simply say to like; this notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by placere or delectare, which are used more colloquially, and the latter of which is used frequently in the love poetry of Catullus.

 

Diligere often has the notion 'to be affectionate for', 'to esteem', and rarely if ever is used of romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun diligentia, however, has the meaning 'diligence' 'carefulness' and has little semantic overlap with the verb.

 

Observare is a synonym for 'diligere'; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun 'observantia' often denote 'esteem' or 'affection'.

 

Caritas is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean 'charitable love'. This meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan Roman literature. As it arises from a conflation with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.

 

Religious views

 

Christian

 

The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman, eros in Greek, and the unselfish love of others, agape, are often contrasted as 'ascending' and 'descending' love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing. [13]

 

There are several Greek words for Love that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.

 

* Agape - In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love seen as creating goodness in the world, it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.

* Phileo - Also used in the New Testament, Phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "brotherly love".

* Two other words for love in the Greek language, Eros (sexual love) and Storge (child-to-parent love) were never used in the New Testament.

 

Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life (the greatest commandment of the Jewish Torah, according to Jesus - c.f. Gospel of Mark chapter 12, verses 28-34). Saint Augustine summarized this when he wrote "Love God, and do as thou wilt".

 

Paul the Apostle glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poem in 1 Corinthians he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." - 1 Cor. 13:4-7 (NIV)

 

John the Apostle wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." - John 3:16-18 (NIV)

 

John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." - 1 John 4:7-8 (NIV)

 

Saint Augustine says that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an over indulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, “I was in love with love.” Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as, “jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention.” According to Saint Augustine to love God is “to attain the peace which is yours.” (Saint Augustine Confessions)

 

Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves.

 

Benedict XVI wrote his first encyclical on God is love. He said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice love: to give himself to God and others (agape), by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.[14]

 

Buddhist

 

In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish.

 

Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom, and is necessary for enlightenment.

 

Adveṣa and maitrī are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from the ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex, which rarely occur without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others' welfare.

 

The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. The strongest motivation one has in order to take the path of the Bodhisattva is the idea of salvation within unselfish, altustic love for all sentient beings.

 

Indic and Hindu

 

In Hinduism kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools it is the third end (artha) in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugarcane and an arrow of flowers: he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kaama and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chenna Keshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kāma.

 

In contrast to kāma, prema or prem refers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term meaning 'loving devotion to the supreme God'. A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti which can be found in the Bhagavatha-Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada) distinguishes eleven forms of love.

 

Arabic and Islamic views

 

In a sense, love does encompass the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood which applies to all who hold the faith. There are no direct references stating that God is love, but amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud or 'the Loving One', which is found in Surah 11:90 as well as Surah 85:14. It refers to God as being "full of loving kindness". All who hold the faith have God's love, but to what degree or effort he has pleased God depends on the individual itself.

 

Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism. Sufis believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks" at itself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices to see the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of Love. God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through Love humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being "drunk" due to their Love of God hence the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music.

 

Jewish

 

In Hebrew Ahava is the most commonly-used term for both interpersonal love and love of God. Other related but dissimilar terms are Chen (grace) and Hesed, which basically combines the meaning of "affection" and "compassion" and is sometimes rendered in English as "loving-kindness".

 

Judaism employs a wide definition of love, both between people and between man and the Deity. As for the former, the Torah states: "Love your neighbor like yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). As for the latter, one is commanded to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5), taken by the Mishnah (a central text of the Jewish oral law) to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one's life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all one's possessions and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity (tractate Berachoth 9:5). Rabbinic literature differs how this love can be developed, e.g. by contemplating Divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature.

 

As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: "See life with the wife you love" (Ecclesiastes 9:9). The Biblical book Song of Songs is considered a romantically-phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading reads like a love song.

 

The 20th century Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point-of-view as "giving without expecting to take" (from his Michtav me-Eliyahu, vol. 1). Romantic love per se has few echoes in Jewish literature, although the Medieval Rabbi Judah Halevi wrote romantic poetry in Arabic in his younger years (he appears to have regretted this later).

SHADOW HILLS - The Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to a Major Emergency Structure Fire early Wednesday morning, where a large blaze involved a commercial building and several vehicles.

 

One-hundred eleven LAFD Firefighters responded to the 10900 block of West Randall Street beginning at 2:31 AM on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, where a large commercial building showed flames shooting through the roof. The fire consumed multiple nearby vehicles, vegetation and debris, and threatened several buildings. Firefighters established heavy streams from the exterior of the building (defensive operations), including aerial ladder pipes. Firefighters flowed copious amounts of water to quench the intense heat fueled by a heavy load of combustibles inside the structure, labeled as a party rental warehouse.

 

The building sustained heavy damage under hours of intense heat exposure, making it dangerous for firefighters to make entry, which eventually led the roof to collapse. LAFD's robotic firefighting unit, Thermite RS3, was dispatched to make entry by remote control to allow more penetrative hose stream access without unnecessarily putting firefighters at risk. After many hours of consistent suppression efforts under the command of Assistant Chief Guy Tomlinson, firefighters have controlled the flames (although an official "Knockdown" was not called due to smoldering hot spots beneath the rubble, which firefighters will continue to pursue). The long and persistent efforts of the firefighters on scene spared all neighboring businesses from becoming involved, protecting them from damage.

 

There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

 

© Photo by Mike Meadows

 

LAFD Incident 102222-1156

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

After all these years his agenda remains consistent. For outsiders not in the know, this message takes on a whole different tone in Chicago, esp. Little Village. Almighty Latin Kings’ hood, 30th/Sawyer, “Redrum City” on the MOS wall. May 2022.

February 18, 2025

Started omeprazole for the heartburn. Hoping the consistent headache goes with it.

With the boyfriend away for the weekend I was all set to catch up on some reading and housework, when m'buddy (a fellow photographer, DJ and engineer) mentioned he'd planned to attend the Pride event in Cologne, and would I like to come along?

 

Reading can wait.

 

I'd been to Cologne before of course, admiring its beautiful Dom cathedral from without and within, though I remember it having a lot more scaffolding around it. I hadn't visited the city during a time when it saw not one but two important public events: the Pride celebration of diversity and equality and love and all that good stuff, and an apparently historic football match between Germany and Italy.

 

The latter dominated Saturday evening. Bars were crowded but quiet, occasionally surging with excitement that ebbed crescendoed as goals were attempted, missed, completed and then equalized, culminating in sudden-death overtime that went on a surprisingly (and evidently thrillingly) long time.

 

Germany won. Cheers and jeers rose throughout the city, beers were clanged, strangers were hugged and kissed and for the first time in my life I found myself surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of people in a nighttime city intersection, all headbanging in delirious ecstasy to an unannounced houm-pah-pah marching band playing Rage Against The Machine on brass and drums.

 

A gaggle of orange-shirted Dutch football fans celebrated with their Eastern brethren by chanting "Alle Duitsers zijn homo's" to which the Germans responded with "Alle Niederländer sind Homo's" in good spirits, accurate rhythm and surprisingly consistent key.

 

Prescient in a way, because on Sunday that very much seemed to be borne out. I've visited and enjoyed Amsterdam's annual Canal Pride many times (our parade floats actually float, y'all) but hadn't yet seen a street parade, and I'm so glad m'buddy cajoled me into tagging along.

 

In the spirit of togetherness and diversity and exuberance I'd brought along my little photo printer. I sneakily befriended various couples and groups by giving them a portrait to take home, and in exchange was easily allowed to sneak to the front for a better view of the parade.

 

In one case, when a lady tried to give me two euros for the print and the only way I could demur was to ask for a peck on the cheek instead, the leather-clad beardo standing next to her proudly told me she was her daughter and that, by Westphalian law, I was now betrothed to marry her.

 

Soooo I'm rather glad I'm home and if anyone is well-versed in EU law, please let me know how far David and I will need to emigrate to escape the looming threat of that shotgun wedding, thanks in advance, please help, for real though please help thank you please.

 

The parade of course was more, shall we say, colorful than the wholesome and family-friendly joie-de-vivre here depicted, but I leave it to your delicate imaginations to picture how the great city of Cologne celebrates Pride!

 

— Alex "Khaki" Vance.

 

I'm @khakidoggy on Twitter; see more event photography at www.flickr.com/photos/alexfvance/albums/

Consistent with the old saying, "Mackerel in the sky, three days dry," there was no rain for many days after this beautiful morning.

(BEST READ LARGE !!)

 

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARCH 8TH- WELL STACKED OTHER WOMEN

 

I generally don’t categorise female writers as a gender but for International Women’s Day I thought I might put together a small representative compilation of some of the books written by learned ladies whose fiction I’ve found inspirational over the years. If there’s a consistent theme it’s that these writers create female characters that are strong, capable, determined and, more frequently than not, more than able to hold their own against and alongside the larger than life blokes that characterise the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction genres that most (but not all!) of these adept writers grace.

 

That or the feisty novelists themselves could be classified as “Arse Booting Sheilas”, as we say Downunder.

 

Along with the never to be underestimated ladies intersecting my life (including my formidable Flickr chums!) , it’s writers like these who’ve formed my ideal of what women are and can be. This is not, incidentally, a complete list. I just didn’t have regular paperback sized editions of the works of some equally fine favourites that would fit into the stack!

 

From the top down:

 

JANE AUSTEN- It is a truth universally acknowledged that centuries later Jane’s still one of the wittiest! PERSUASION was her last published novel, which was released posthumously.

 

MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY- It’s her Arthurian themed MISTS OF AVALON that I like the most of all her books, but the copy I’ve got is a hardcover and wouldn’t fit into this little compilation. HUNTERS OF THE RED MOON is one of her Science Fiction books.

 

SUSAN COOPER- THE GREY KING is one of Cooper’s THE DARK IS RISING Arthurian themed sequence. Okay, I tend to encounter a lot of female genre writer’s first in their Arthurian writings...which will become increasingly obvious.

 

LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD- A master of slick but amusing heroic space opera, in particular her famous tales of the adventures of the resourceful if somewhat physically fragile Miles Vorkosigan. This book, KOMARR, belongs to that series.

 

DIANE CAREY- One of my all time favourite writers of Star Trek spin-off fiction. She has an excellent feel for the character ensembles matched only by her ability to instil in her stories a strong nautical flavour that perfectly suits the idea of Star Fleet being a continuation of planetary surface naval traditions. BATTLESTATIONS ! was the sequel to her equally worthy DREADNOUGHT !

 

C.J.CHERRYH- Second only to Larry Niven when it comes to cat aliens. THE PRIDE OF CHANUR is the cat’s meow of feline E.Ts.

 

LINDSEY DAVIS- I’m a fan of historical themed detective fiction and naturally admire this writer’s Marcus Didius Falco/ Helena Justina novels, set in Vespasian’s Roman Empire. THE COURSE OF HONOUR isn’t about Falco, it’s Vespasian’s story, which Davis wrote first, but didn’t see published until well after the Falco series had otherwise made her name.

 

BARBARA HAMBLY- One of my absolute favourite writers. Adeptly crosses genres from Science Fiction to Fantasy to Historical Detective fiction. TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD is one of her superb genre defining vampire novels, but I equally love her Benjamin January (If they ever did a television series Avery Brooks would be perfect to play the role!) New Orleans detective stories as well as her Star Trek, Star Wars and sword and sorcery books.

 

ZENNA HENDERSON- Henderson’s generally gentle stories of The People, alien refugees who quietly became colonists on Earth without all that spectacular mucking around with invasions, had a big influence on me. THE PEOPLE: NO DIFFERENT FLESH, is a collected anthology of those tales.

 

ROBIN HOBB- Robin’s fantasy stories are wonderfully detailed and peopled with fascinating characters. SHIP OF MAGIC is book one of her Liveship Traders series. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview her twice now, and thoroughly enjoyed the privilege to gain an insight into her marvellous imagination and writing process.

 

PHYLISS ANN KARR- Another writer whose Arthurian work I treasure, starting with THE IDYLLS OF THE QUEEN, which features the much neglected Sir Kay, to her authoritative reference work THE KING ARTHUR COMPANION. I got to meet Phyliss at an S.F convention, where we were on a panel about, what else, King Arthur.

 

GABRIEL KING- Her Wild Road books, co-written with M. John Harrison, are masterpieces of anthropomorphic ‘talking animal’ fiction. Up there with Kenneth Grahame, Wiliam Horwood and Richard Adams. Her real name is Jane Johnson and she’s also a powerhouse editor....

 

TANITH LEE- Tanith Lee’s work is wickedly lyrical, reminding me of Ray Bradbury’s considerable output. Lee is almost equally prolific. NIGHT’S MASTER is one of her unique fantasy novels.

 

URSULA K. LE GUIN- One of the world’s best Science Fiction writers. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is of course one of her most famous and influential novels.

 

ANN MCCAFFREY- Although I’m not a big fan of her dragon novels some of her other books have made me sit up and take notice, like TO RIDE PEGASUS, an enthusiastic exploration of what implications psionic powers might have.

 

VONDA N. MCINTYRE- Another great Star Trek spin-off fiction writer whose work beyond that field is equally acclaimed. THE ENTROPY EFFECT was the first of her Trek novels, she also wrote particularly expansive novelisations of three of the movies that went well beyond the confines of the scripts.

 

ELIZABETH MOON- Her Deed Of Paksenarrion Fantasy books are where I first encountered this former U.S Marine’s work, but I’ve learnt to appreciate her Science Fiction as well, particularly the singleton novel, Remnant Population. OATH OF GOLD is the third Paks book.

 

ANDRE NORTON- One of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy, she was also incredibly prolific, especially in the Young Adult category. MERLIN’S MIRROR happens to be one of her Arthurian themed novels. Most genre fans I encounter seem to have read one of Norton’s books somewhere along the way.

 

NAOMI NOVIK- Instantly became one of my favourite writers with the release of her remarkably clever Temeraire series, set in an alternate universe Regency where the Napoleonic Wars are fought with the addition of dragons! Dead clever, and her stories read like a happy cross between the works of Bernard Cornwell and C.S Forester. THRONE OF JADE is the second book in the series. The Peter Jackson movie adaptations are going to be something to see and then some!

 

ELLIS PETERS- Peters elegant Brother Cadfael stories, set in the 12th Century, were key elements in me becoming keen on the Historical Detective genre. THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST is the 14th chronicle in the cunning monk’s adventures. I would have loved to have interviewed Ellis Peters, but never got the chance. I did, however, revel in the opportunity that I got to interview Cadfael, that is to say, Sir Derek Jacobi, who played the character in the television series based on the books.

 

LAURA JOH ROWLAND- Her Sano Ichiro/ Reiko samurai detective stories take place in 17th century Japan and are evocative, richly textured masterworks of the Historical Detective genre.

BLACK LOTUS is one of the series.

 

JESSICA AMANDA SALMONSON- Her TOMOE GOZEN female samurai series is a fantasy spin on the adventures of the real life warrior woman of 12th Century Japan.

 

ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH- THE HEALER’S WAR is her Fantasy novel set in Vietnam but this writer is an all rounder and can handle any genre, usually with a dash of whimsy.

 

MARY SHELLEY- Need I say Shelley was one of the earliest modern Science Fiction writers? Her writing style may have dated but it’s a challenge that’s worth accepting in order to experience her seminal classics in the genre, including, of course, FRANKENSTEIN.

 

MARY STEWART- Another Arthurian writer whose Merlin series, of which THE HOLLOW HILLS was book three, had a lot of influence upon the genre. She has written a lot more historical novels but those are my favourites.

 

ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF- Growing up, Sutcliff was one of my favourite Historical Fiction writers. THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH and THE LANTERN BEARERS are still great reads. SWORD AT SUNSET is one of her many Arthurian novels.

 

LIZ WILLIAMS- A Techno Gothic British Science Fiction writer whose eccentric work could go toe to toe with William Gibsons or China Mievilles. THE POISON MASTER is one of her baroque convoluted alchemical novels.

            

Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan, both deceivers & brazen liars, are zealous crusaders for the advancement of meanness, pain & death which Obama, too, in a merely slightly less virulent way, has consistently supported in practice (but not, of course, in his devious speeches). But I don't want to talk about the Republican candidates here, nor in any concentrated way, Obama.

 

We Americans now live in a society that economically, politically & religiously cherishes psychopathic values. Poor, powerless, rich & powerful people who were similarly bent have always been among us, clamoring for more soldiers, more dreadful weapons, more police, more saber rattling, more wars, harsher laws, more prisons, fewer rights - or no rights - for those who disagree with or are unlike them. But today such people tyrannically rule in almost all political offices, court chambers & boardrooms. They rule the 'economic team' of rich, vicious cutthroats that Obama hand selected to save the big banks, not the nation or its people. They rule in many other places, too - on television news networks, in editorial quarters at many newspapers, in the economics departments of universities that are usually said to be the nation's best, & in the general staff at the Pentagon. They own the private corporation that creates & controls the presidential 'debates.' They increasingly own both lower school public & higher education. And insofar as they own our health care, own the medicines we are allowed to get at great personal expense, & have commodified every disease so that they might benefit from our illnesses, they own both the present & ultimate fate of our bodies. And insofar as they control the means of the distribution of information, including the manufacture & distribution of propaganda, they own our minds ... or, if one believes we have souls, they own those, too.

 

One need only note, for instance, that in the first two 'debates' the urgently pressing, most momentous threat all living things have ever faced, global anthropogenic climate change, has not been mentioned once. No one thinks it will be mentioned in the third & final 'debate' - that is, charade - either. Upon reflection, one may rationally conclude that nothing that really matters to the welfare & future of America has been or will be mentioned.

 

Harper's Magazine, in which the article cited below appears, is, since 1850, America's oldest continuously published monthly. It's very serious & also immensely funny, brilliantly illustrated, literate & readable, & at its low cost (presently $16.97 for 12 issues) it should be in most homes. Its fact checking is U.S. journalism's gold standard.

 

The Elephant/Donkey political duopoly that now rules this empire was shaped by the multibillionaire propagandists in the TV & print nooze biz, & by their superrich cohorts who since Ronald Reagan became president have steadily spent whatever it took to own not only almost every politician in the nation, but almost all institutions that once were public. The public is bamboozled, kept ignorant, overworked, underpaid, purposefully uninformed, forced to be anxiety ridden, & robbed at every turn. - In short, what has happened & is surely going to get worse is not the public's fault. We are not to blame. They are.

 

And why do They lie & cheat? Because the manure They heap upon us that They claim explains the causes of our trouble & the solutions for them is so bereft of validity & virtue that only incessant lying & cheating & endlessly shitting up the same crap could get anybody to believe there is nothing else. Men like Rupert Murdoch & the Koch brothers are maggots occupying, eating & growing in our minds.

 

Romney & Obama are the two sides of the turd that is the Elephant/Donkey duopoly. Together they are the two-faced Janus mask that is the present countenance of America, impenetrably duplicitous & meaningless, but plainly brutal & cruel because, no matter what either says that one might think makes the one or the other likable, they are agreed in their actions that everything must be taken from us & be given to the rich, who already took almost all that we once had - our homes, schools, courts of law, retirement funds, good jobs, decent pay, financial assets, composure, sense of self-worth, civil rights, education, air, water, Earth's very health, & any feeling that the future might be better, & finally our faith that voting can ever be an expression of our own preferences & interests.

 

So what is it that Obama never speaks of, nor shall Romney? Why, the real way to our salvation, of course. Mentioning it is taboo, because the rich wouldn't give these narcissistic candidates nor any other kind of candidate a dime for it, despite the fact - repeat, fact - that what you're about to read would make large private financial fortunes more secure & durable. Why? Because when capitalism goes into catastrophic runaway, as was its condition before the crash of 2008 & already is again, it collapses & leaves behind a Demand Crisis, in which great numbers of people lose their savings & property, lose their jobs & income, & so become unable to buy the goods & services that only by being purchased enable capitalists to acquire & increase wealth, & keep their wealth from disappearing as much of it did in 2008, or did in the Great Depression (which I experienced directly), & did following other booms that led implacably to busts & Demand Crisis depressions.

 

OK - federal stimulus delivered into the pockets of workers who will spend it, followed by increased taxation, is what you're going to read about below. Before you blanch, read on, & either keep in mind what governments exist for, & what at their best they do for commerce & the welfare & peace of citizens, or - if you cannot put your fear that this must be wrong in check - indulge me & the author of this thesis, & let's then talk about it. Remember, if you are blanching, a vast array of institutions owned or supported by the superrich have for a long while controlled the information your opinions are based upon, & you've no reason whatsoever to trust that those people & their institutions ever had your interests in mind or, much less, at heart.

 

Thanks for reading along,

 

Robin

 

–––––––––––––––––

 

NOTE: I added all bracketed comments & highlights.

 

The Entitlement Crisis That Isn't

 

By Jeff Madrick

 

Published in Harper's Magazine

November 2012

 

EXCERPTS: But as Bruce Bartlett, a high-level advisor to Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush –– & no fuzzy-headed liberal –– put it .... "Almost every country in Europe has a tax/GDP ratio high enough to cover all of the projected increase in spending in the United States through higher revenues alone" ... Roughly speaking, the average nation among the thirty-four members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) collected some 38 percent of its citizens income in taxes. U.S. citizens are taxed –– including all federal, state & local income taxes, sales taxes, & payroll taxes (the taxes that are taken out of every employee's paycheck for Social Security & Medicare) –– at only about 26 percent of their income. Yet the high-tax economies grow about as fast as ours does, sometimes faster. Prosperous Denmark, Norway, & Sweden have tax rates well above 40 percent.

 

To be clear, no one should raise taxes now, because the economy is still too weak [that is, the demand crisis that began in the crash of 2008 continues]. On the contrary, we need bigger deficits for a while [in accord with the empirically tested principles laid down by the late economist John Maynard Keynes]. But when the economy is righted, we will have our chance. Imagine if the the United States raised taxes by 10 percent. If this seems far-fetched, that is for purely political, not economic reasons: such an increase would put our taxes on par with the OECD average, still well below the levels of nations like Norway. This hike would bring in about $1.5 trillion in one year alone &, by my estimate, $17 or $18 trillion over ten years. To put this in perspective, the bipartisan agreement in 2011 to cut the future deficit under the Budget Control Act demanded a total deficit reduction of only about $1.5 trillion. That additional $16 0r $17 trillion would cover all imaginable increases in entitlement programs, even over a span of sixty years or more –– & it would also wipe out the deficit.

 

Let's keep in mind that Medicare is expected to rise by only 2 percent of GDP –– to just under 6 percent –– by 2035, even if the health-care system is not made significantly more efficient. Social Security benefits are forecast to increase from 5 percent of GDP today to, at worst, somewhat more than 6 percent, then level off in the mid-2030s. These increases are readily manageable.

 

.... [In conclusion] There is no debate of good conscience in America about how to pay for the nation's most profound needs. if there were, raising taxes would be a major part of it. Instead, the lower & middle classes will bear the brunt of deficit reduction.

 

Politicians & ideologues are playing a cruel game by keeping serious tax increases off the table, but it is especially hypocritical to do so in the name of fiscal responsibility. America's budget problem is a revenue problem, not a spending problem. The current national conversation about tax hikes is a fine example of political deference to the rich & powerful. It is not good economics.

In my experience tippers are consistently the worst driven vehicles on the road - as a pedestrian, as a motorist and as a cyclist. This lack of care, and impatience with others is no doubt due to the productivity they need to achieve (i.e. X loads per day).

 

Although the artwork on this truck conveys a safety message, I do feel like there is an element of victim blaming.

 

Tippers are exempt from spray suppression equipment. This one doesn't have any rear mudflaps which is unusual. Never follow a tipper too closely. Debris will be ejected from the tyre treads, or from between the twin tyres - usually when the tipper achieves high speed. That debris could be half a brick.

....... well, at least I'm consistent ! ;o)) LOL

 

Another view of the very beautiful and photogenic Scotney Castle, Kent.

Although it is called a "castle" it was in fact a manor house designed to be heavily fortified and to withstand attack. The 14th century wasn't an especially peaceful time and towns in the south of England were at constant risk from French marauders.

 

Like all proper castles, Scotney has its own ghost. The spirit of a man haunts the castle and is usually described as dripping wet having been seen emerging from the moat !

 

This shows the Ashburnham Tower, the last remaining medieval tower of the original four, and the ruins of the later 1580 Elizabethan style addition to the castle

Lobby Card (11" X 14"). The Wolf Man was the real star of "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" remaining consistent with his initial screen appearance, thanks to the scripting of his creator Curt Siodmak. This great scene card has the Wolf Man inside the Frankenstein castle ruins, having just dropped through the crumbling floor into a subterranean chamber of ice.

 

Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman

youtu.be/5jkW_Ip1zzw?t=6s Part 1

Starring Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Patric Knowles, Ilona Massey, Lionel Atwill, Maria Ouspenskaya, Dennis Hoey, Don Barclay, Rex Evans, Dwight Frye, Harry Stubbs, David Clyde, Sonia Darrin, Cyril Delevanti, and Charles Irwin. Directed by Roy William Neill.

In 1943, Universal cranked out yet another so-so sequel, but created the first monster vs. monster films. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (FMW) is a double sequel. It is the fifth chapter in the Frankenstein saga, and a first sequel for the Wolfman ('41). As the Frankenstein fifth film, the story is weak, yet it is a highly significant chapter because Bela Lugosi plays the monster. (more in Notes section) Curt Siodmak, who penned many 50s sci-fi screenplays, wrote this sequel to his popular 1941 Wolfman film. Siodmak would also write the chapter, House of Frankenstein in 1944.

Synopsis

Grave robbers break into the Talbot family crypt looking for jewelry. They open the casket of Laurence Talbot, letting in a beam of moonlight. This revives the immortal werewolf. Laurence is found unconscious on a Cardiff street. He is taken to the hospital. Dr. Mannering and Inspector Owen don't believe he can turn into a wolfman and kill people, but change their mind when they see the casket is empty. Larry runs away and finds Maleva, the gypsy woman whose werewolf son bit him and made him a werewolf. She says a Dr. Frankenstein can help Larry die and stay dead. They travel from Wales to the village of Visaria. The doctor is dead, but the villagers are hostile towards anyone looking for a Frankenstein. Larry, turned to a werewolf, killed a young woman and got chased by the usual mob of angry villagers. He falls into the basement catacombs of the old castle. Next morning, now as Larry, he finds the monster encased in ice. He digs him out and asks him to locate the diaries. No success. Larry poses as a Mr. Taylor, pretending to want to buy the estate so he can meet baroness (Elsa) Frankenstein. He asks her for the diaries, but she pretends not to know. A quaint village festival of the new wine waxes musical. Larry loses his cool at the song lyrics which speak of living forever. Dr. Mannering followed Larry's trail of murders across Europe to find him in Visaria. He and Elsa find Larry hiding in the castle ruins. She opens the secret compartment revealing the diaries. Dr. Mannering thinks he know how to de-activate both the monster and Larry. The townsfolk fret and worry over what Dr. Mannering and "that Frankenstein woman" are doing up in the castle. Barkeper Vasec proposes they blow up the dam and flood the castle, killing them. No one signs onto his plan. They all go out to see the castle glowing from the electric arcs. Mannering has the the two hooked up to the machines. At the last moment, he can't deactivate the monster, but wants to see it at full power. He charges the monster. Filled with new power, the monster rips off his restraints. He chases and grabs Elsa. Talbot turned into the Wolfman. He stops the monster. The two fight, trashing the lab. Mannering and Elsa escape the castle. Vasec rigged explosives at the dam and blows it up. A model flood sweeps down on a model castle. It crumbles into rubble. The End.

The "science" is thinner in this chapter of the saga. Dr. Mannering recites some generalisms about entropy. The monster was energized with the life-giving cosmic rays. The "key" to deactivating him, is draining off his energy by reversing the poles of Frankenstein's sparky machines. Having Curt Siodmak as the screenwriter, gives FMW a family link to Golden Era sci-fi. Siodmak wrote some early sci-fi, such as F.P. 1 Doesn't Answer ('33), but also many 50s titles, such as: Donovan's Brain ('53), Magnetic Monster ('53), Riders to the Stars ('54) Creature With the Atomic Brain ('55) and Earth vs. Flying Saucers ('57).

The only carryovers from the fourth movie was the monster and baroness Elsa (daughter of Ludwig from "Ghost"). Elsa is played by a different actress. The monster is played by Bela Lugosi. While he doesn't have the build or stature for a good monster portrayal, the logic was that he would speak with Ygor's voice, as he did at the end of the fourth movie. This, since he got Ygor's brain. The blindness from the end of the fourth movie also explains the raised stiff arms Lugosi uses.

FMW may be a lesser-grade sequel, but it is historically significant because Bela Lugosi plays the monster (the only time he does). Back in 1931, when Universal was planning the original Frankenstein film to follow up their success with Dracula, they wanted Lugosi to play the monster. He made such a good Dracula, his name would have marquee power. Lugosi is said to have turned down the role because it had no speaking parts. Universal then tapped Boris Karloff, who had played mostly uncredited bit parts. Karloff then went on to greater fame as the monster. Lugosi may still not have been keen on playing the monster, but since it got Ygor's brain in the previous film, and the monster was to speak (like Ygor). He agreed.

Ironically, even though Lugosi's monster had some speaking lines, they all got edited out. The traditional story is that test audiences laughed at the monster speaking with Ygor's voice, so Universal cut them all out. Something doesn't line up in this traditional. The monster spoke with Lugosi's Ygor voice at the end of the previous film and it caused no laughter. Perhaps Universal was disingenuous about letting Lugosi have speaking lines. Perhaps they felt it better keep their cash-cow monster a mute beast. Maybe Lugosi's talking monster wasn't as frightening as speechless monster. Supposedly, his lines were to have explained his partial blindness (and hence his iconic stiff armed walk), as well as some back story tying in the previous film. Apparently this was not not crucial. Fans of the saga knew those details anyway.

Universal themselves contributed to the ongoing confusion over the name of the monster. The title of the film (and posters) show the monster fighting the Wolfman. To the average Joe, that meant the name of the monster was "Frankenstein." It seems unlikely that the title refers to Elsa Frankenstein meeting the Wolfman. Although she does chat with Talbot. in the mayor's office and at the festival, this hardly seems like a film's title moment.

Fans of the saga would have known that the ending of the film was really no ending at all. The Wolfman could not die. We learned that in the first half of the film. A mere flood wouldn't kill him. The monster, too, was deemed immortal earlier. Neither fire, nor cave-in, nor being frozen, nor molten sulphur had killed him before. Why would a mere flood kill him? Fans knew it would not. Universal was leaving their sequel options open

There must be something about those Frankenstein women. In the original story, the abandoned monster is jealous of the doctor's wife because SHE gets his attention. In the 1910 Edison version, the monster is also jealous of the doctor's young bride. This plays out too in the 1931 version. The monster seems almost lusty for Elizabeth. In Bride, the monster actually kidnaps Elizabeth. Now in FMW, the monster carries off the lovely Elsa.

  

All Saints church, Jesus Lane, Cambridge

 

All Saints church was built for the Church of England in 1864 to the designs of the great George Bodley, perhaps the most consistently brilliant of all 19th century English church architects. It is a high Tractarian temple designed in the Decorated style, and is generally considered to be Bodley's masterpiece. Interior decoration includes the work of William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown, Charles Kempe and Frederick Leach.

 

The church was built as a replacement for the old All Saints in Trinity Street, demolished for road-widening. The site of the old church is now a public garden.

 

For many years the new All Saints was Cambridge's highest Anglo-catholic church, but the congregation gradually dwindled as fashions changed and the population of the parish moved out to the big new housing estates. In 1973, All Saints was declared redundant.

 

Attempts were made to find a new use, but after three years none had been found. So, in keeping with the redundant churches legislation of the time, All Saints was scheduled for demolition.

 

There was a national outcry, and at the eleventh hour the church was saved, and vested in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust in 1981. Considerable restoration was needed, and the building was mothballed until the early years of the 21st century, when a massive programme of repairs was carried out, although the church still remained locked.

 

In 2007, theological students from neighbouring Westcott House began to care for the building, opening it to the public most days and using it for daily liturgies. This was the best time to visit the church, the carefully restored interior and preserved atmosphere were haunting, especially as you could easily be alone inside for half an hour or more.

 

However, an increasing response from the public, and a renewed interest in and awareness of 19th Century churches, galvanised the CCT. In 2015, a lot of money was spent in turning the church into a somewhat controversial visitors centre, with movement-activated spotlights and voice commentary as you wander around. The first of these makes photography now very difficult, and the second of these is merely very irritating.

 

The church is currently in use for public worship on Sundays by the evangelically-minded congregation of Holy Trinity, Market Street, while their fine Victorian church is gutted and turned into a modern worship space. One wonders what they make of Bodley's High Church glory.

WEBSITE.

INSTAGRAM. @hollographic

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Twitter

 

7.10.24

Man... I am feeling so ragged and run down. I am trying to keep myself consistently busy but I have some goals I want to hit by the end of the year and I an determined.

The University of Aarhus, which dates from 1931, is a unique and coherent university campus with consistent architecture, homogenous use of yellow brickwork and adaptation to the landscape. The university has won renown and praise as an integrated complex which unites the best aspects of functionalism with solid Danish traditions in form and materials.

 

The competition for the university was won by the architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller og Povl Stegmann in 1931. Stegman left the partnership in 1937, Fisker in 1942 and C. F. Møller Architects has been in charge of the continued architectural development and building design of the university until today.

 

The University of Aarhus, with its extensive park in central Aarhus, includes teaching rooms, offices, libraries, workshops and student accommodation. The university has a distinct homogeneous building style and utilises the natural contours of the landscape. The campus has emerged around a distinct moraine gorge and the buildings for the departments and faculties are placed on the slopes, from the main buildings alongside the ring road to the center of the city at Nørreport. All throughout the campus, the buildings are variations of the same clear-cut prismatic volume with pitched roofs, oriented orthogonally to form individual architectural clusters sharing the same vocabulary. The way the buildings emerge from the landscape makes them seem to grow from it, rather than being superimposed on the site.

 

The original scheme for the campus park was made by the famous Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen. Until the death of C. Th. Sørensens in 1979 the development of the park areas were conducted in a close cooperation between C. Th. Sørensen, C. F. Møller and the local park authorities. Since 1979 C. F. Møller Architects - in cooperation with the staff at the university - has continued the intentions of the original scheme for the park, and today the park is a beautiful, green area and an immense contribution to both the university and the city in general.

 

In 2001, C. F. Møller Architects prepared a new masterplan for the long and short term development of the university. Although the university has been extended continuously for more than 75 years, the original masterplan and design principles have been maintained, and have proven a simple yet versatile tool to create a timeless and coherent architectural expression adaptable to changing programs. Today, the university is officially recognized as a Danish national architectural treasure and is internationally renowned as an excellent example of early modern university campus planning.

 

I have been working out consistently for the last 4 weeks - I have maintained my regimen at 3 days of straight cardio with some weight training, 2 days of flexibility and relaxation (yoga), and 1 day of total conditioning, in a class at my gym called "Healthy Backs". It uses cardio, weights, and strength training to work on relieving stress in your lower back, hips, and shoulders.

 

Overall, things are going great on the workout front. I have lost about 5 lbs this month through the exercise and the diet.

 

Blogged here

Autumn is consistently a great time to visit, with the foliage adding so much in spectacular, rich colors. And even during the latter part of the season, there is something so special about the bareness of many trees and vegetation. The nice thing as an observer of nature’s critters is that the birds are so much more visible. Even if they are at a fair distance, at least, one can appreciate their features. Also, many fall berries and other fruits and nuts, often with bright colors and interesting shapes, accentuate the landscape as seen only at this time of year.

The late, Doris Duke, had left a wonderful legacy in converting her magnificent estate into a Natural Wildlife Preserve for the public’s education and enjoyment. The paths throughout the estate offer such splendid scenery. One is forever exploring, always seeing something subtly beautiful. There are always pleasant surprises, from the general scenery to the world of the wildlife, even tiny insects and flowers are enjoyable to observe. The bucolic nature of the preserve is so relaxing—akin to meditating while experiencing the landscape. The beauty of visiting Duke Farms is that so many incredible views are there simply by observing all of the surroundings. Spotting new and fascinating wildlife—both animals and plants—always adds to the experience.

 

Visita nuestro Blog de Semana Santa en:

asociacionredobles.blogspot.com

 

Actos que se van a desarrollar durante la conmemoración del 200º aniversario del

rescate del Cristo de la Cama, consistente en el traslado de la Imagen desde la Iglesia

de Santa Isabel de Portugal (vulgo San Cayetano) a la Basílica del Pilar.

El rescate se produjo el 17 de febrero de 1809 del Convento de San Francisco, lo que

actualmente es la Diputación Provincial. El día 10 los franceses volaron el Convento,

que era defendido por unos cuantos aragoneses y por los voluntarios de Valencia. El

día 17, María Blánquez entro en el convento y vio que todos los pasos que

procesionan en Semana santa, quince en total, estaban destruidos, salvo el Santísimo

Cristo de la Cama, que estaba indemne en su Capilla de la Hermandad. Salió a la

calle, cogió a cuatro hombres, volvió a entrar al convento y todos ellos cogieron al

Cristo de la cama. Lo llevaron primero a la parroquia de la santa Cruz, después a la

de Santiago y finalmente al Palacio Arzobispal, lugar en donde vivía el general

Palafox, que enfermo lo venero y ordeno fuera llevado al interior de la Basílica del

Pilar, siendo colocado en el Altar de los convertido mirando a su Madre, la virgen del

Pilar.

Este hecho es el que conmemoramos.

A las 18´00 horas se oirá en la Ciudad de Zaragoza a los Artilleros de Aragón

anunciando el comienzo de la procesión cívico religiosa.

Con la salida desde San Cayetano de la Bandera de la Hermandad de la Sangre de

Cristo dará comienzo la procesión, encontrándose el resto de participantes ubicados

en la plaza. Seguidamente saldrá la peana, portada a varal, del Cristo de la Cama. Lo

hará con un toque preparado para la ocasión por la Sección de Tambores de la

Hermandad de San Joaquín y Virgen de los Dolores. Una vez que nuestro Cristo de la

Cama este en la plaza sonara el Himno Nacional interpretado al órgano por Ignacio

Navarro Gil.

Finalizado el himno, se descubrirá una placa en cerámica de Muel, promovida por la

Asociación Cultural Redobles. Dicha placa será descubierta por el Ilmo. Sr. D.

Francisco Javier Lambán Montañés, o persona en quien en delegue, acompañado por

el Hermano Mayor de la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo. A la vez que se descubre

la placa, don José Antonio Armillas, Comisario del Bicentenario glosara brevemente

la figura de María Blánquez y lo que ella significo.

Finalizado este acto, dará comienzo en sí el desfile.

Por la calle Manifestación, calle Alfonso y calle Coso, nos dirigiremos a la plaza de

España, en donde se realiza el segundo acto del desfile. Este consiste en depositar dos

coronas de laurel. La primera en la placa que recuerda al Convento de San Francisco

y la segunda en el monumento a los Mártires.

La del Convento de San Francisco será portada por mujeres ataviadas con el traje

regional, en recuerdo y homenaje a María Blánquez. Entregada por don Francisco

Javier Lambán Montañés (o persona en quién delegue), le acompañaran el

Comandante Militar de Zaragoza, General Juan Pinto y el Hermano Mayor de la

Sangre de Cristo. La recibirán dos soldados del Batallón Pardos de Aragón.

La segunda corona, la entregara don Juan Alberto Belloch Julve (o persona en quién

delegue), acompañado también por el Comandante Militar y el Hermano Mayor,

siendo recibida por dos soldados del Batallón de Infantería Voluntarios de Aragón.

Durante este acto sonara en la plaza el Carillón de la Diputación Provincial con

marchas alusivas a los Sitios.

Finalizado el acto, continuaremos el desfile en dirección a la Plaza de la Seo por calle

don Jaime, calle Mayor, calle Dormer, calle Cisne y calle Cuellar.

En la plaza de la Seo se realiza el tercer y último acto. Consiste en una breve

alocución del General Pinto, Comandante Militar de Zaragoza y Teruel, en recuerdo

y homenaje del General Palafox. A Su conclusión, el Batallón de Infantería

Voluntarios de Aragón hará una descarga de fusilería.

Ya para finalizar, nos encaminaremos a la plaza del Pilar, finalizando el desfile,

alrededor de las 20´30 horas, con la entrada del Cristo de la Cama en la Basílica, en

donde permanecerá hasta el miércoles 25 de febrero.

Finalizado el desfile y por lo tanto el traslado, la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo

realizara una ofrenda a la Virgen del Pilar.

La Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo, con el fin de dar mayor realce a este

acontecimiento histórico, ha invitado a participar a todos aquellos Ayuntamientos e

Instituciones galardonados con la Medalla del Bicentenario “Defensor de Zaragoza”,

distinción que también ha obtenido la propia Hermandad. Han confirmado su

asistencia una representación de los Ayuntamientos de Alcañiz, Barbastro, Calatayud,

Cariñena, Chelva, Huesca, Jaca, monzón y Valencia. También han confirmado su

participación los Artilleros de Aragón, Batallón Pardos de Aragón, Batallón de

Infantería Ligera Voluntarios de Aragón, la Asociación Cultural Royo del Rabal

(ronda y escenificación de personajes históricos de la época), la Asociación Cultural

Los Sitios (personajes históricos de la época), la Hermandad de San Juan de la Peña,

la Cofradía del Santo Sepulcro, la Hermandad del santo Refugio, la Real Ilustre

Congregación de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Madrid y la Real Maestranza de

Caballería.

La parte musical durante el desfile correrá a cargo de la Banda de Guerra de la

Brigada de Caballería Castillejos II, de la Banda Música de la Academia General

Militar y la Ronda de jotas de la Asociación Cultural el Rabal. Durante el desfile y

con el fin de que los peaneros lleven el ritmo adecuado, les acompaña un piquete de

diez instrumentos, cuyos miembros son de la cofradía de la Institución de la Sagrada

Eucaristía, que lo harán sin los distintivos propios de la Cofradía.

Cabe destacar el estreno de una marcha procesional en las calles de Zaragoza. La

primera y ultima pieza que interprete la Banda de Música será la Marcha al Cristo de

la Cama, cuyo autor es don Abel Moreno y que fue donada a la Hermandad por la

Asociación para el Estudio de la Semana Santa.

Ernesto Millán Lázaro

Hermano Mayor

Hermandad Sangre de Cristo

Lamborghini Veneno

 

In the year of its 50th anniversary Automobili Lamborghini is presenting an extremely exclusive model at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. Only three unique units of the Lamborghini Veneno will be built and sold. Its design is consistently focused on optimum aerodynamics and cornering stability, giving the Veneno the real dynamic experience of a racing prototype, yet it is fully homologated for the road. With a maximum output of 552 kW / 750 hp, the Lamborghini Veneno accelerates from 0-100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds and the top speed for this street-legal racing car stands at 355 km/h. It is priced at three million Euros plus tax - and all three units have already been sold to customers.

 

The Lamborghini Veneno features a twelve-cylinder power unit with a displacement of 6.5 liters, an extremely fast-shifting 7-speed ISR transmission with 5 driving modes and permanent all-wheel drive, as well as a racing chassis with pushrod suspension and horizontal spring/damper units. Above all, however, the Veneno benefits from the very special expertise that Automobili Lamborghini possesses in the development and execution of carbon-fiber materials - the complete chassis is produced as a CFRP monocoque, as is the outer skin of this extreme sports car. The inside, too, features innovative, Lamborghini-patented materials such as Forged Composite and CarbonSkin.

 

Fully in keeping with the tradition of the brand, the name of the Veneno originates from a legendary fighting bull. Veneno is the name of one of the strongest and most aggressive fighting bulls ever. He is also famous for being one of the fastest bulls in the history of bullfighting. His name became popular in 1914, when he fatally wounded the famous torero José Sánchez Rodríguez during the bullfight in the arena Sanlúcar de Barrameda's, Andalusia, Spain.

 

Lamborghini Veneno (2013)

2013 Lamborghini Veneno

  

The Design

 

The Lamborghini Veneno brings the aerodynamic efficiency of a racing prototype to the road. Every detail of its form pursues a clear function - exceptional dynamics, optimum downforce with minimal drag and perfect cooling of the high-performance engine. Yet the Veneno is unmistakably a Lamborghini; it sticks firmly to the consistent design philosophy of all the super sports cars from Sant'Agata Bolognese. That includes the extreme proportions, as well as the powerfully arrow-shaped front end and the interplay between razor-sharp lines and precise surfaces.

 

The entire front end of the Lamborghini Veneno has been laid out for perfect airflow and downforce. The front end works as a large aerodynamic wing. Large channels guide the air to the outlets in the front hood and in front of the windshield, as well as to the front wheels. Characteristic for Lamborghini is the Y shape of the angular headlamps that reach well into the fenders as well as the scissor doors.

 

The division of the fenders from the car body is a reference to the world of sport prototypes and optimizes at the same time the aerodynamic flow. The side line of the Veneno is therefore dominated by enormous sills and the mighty wheel arches front and rear. Here, too, sophisticated aerodynamics ensure perfect airflow to the large openings for engine cooling and intake air.

 

Just like the front end, the rear of the Lamborghini Veneno has also been optimized for underbody aerodynamics and high speed cornering stability. The smooth underbody transitions into a substantial diffuser framing the four sizable exhaust pipes divided by a splitter to increase the level of downforce peak. Large openings serve to ventilate the engine bay and manage the airflow to the rear wing, with the only sealed area at the rear being reserved for the license plate. The rear lights, including brake lights, indicator lights and fog lights, pick up the Y theme as well. The engine cover sports six wedge-shaped openings, with the focus here, too, on optimum dissipation of heat from the engine. The engine cover extends into a large central "shark" fin, which improves efficiency during braking and rear-end stability, by delivering additional downforce at high yaw angles and thus increasing the high-speed cornering performance.

 

The adjustable rear wing's design is the product of Motorsport experience and extensive aerodynamic simulation to ensure the best performance of rear wing interaction with rear diffuser air flow.

 

The exclusive alloy wheels measure 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear and are equipped with center mountings. Their design is also determined by aerodynamic functionality - a carbon-fiber ring around the wheel rim works like a turbine to deliver additional cooling air to the carbon-ceramic brake discs.

 

The Lamborghini Veneno is painted in an all-new, grey metallic-look color with individual parts gleaming in the black of the visible carbon-fiber structure. The only car to display all three colors of the Italian flag as an accent is the car shown at Geneva, the unit which will remain property of Lamborghini. The three cars sold to customers each feature a single color of the Italian national flag, together a triology in green, white and red accents and thus representing each a unique piece.

 

The Technology

 

The Veneno is further proof of Automobili Lamborghini's unique competence in CFRP-based lightweight design. A monocoque made from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer forms the basis of the Veneno. It is largely similar to the Aventador monocoque - as are the aluminum sub-frames front and rear - although its form has been adapted to the new design. All exterior parts are made from CFRP. The Lamborghini Veneno meets all safety and registration requirements worldwide, and naturally also incorporates a full complement of safety systems from airbags through to the adapted ESP handling system.

 

Carbon fiber dominates the interior of the Lamborghini Veneno, too. The carbon fiber monocoque becomes visible inside the car in the area of the central tunnel and the sills. The two lightweight bucket seats are made from Lamborghini's patented Forged Composite. The woven carbon-fiber CarbonSkin® is used to clad the entire cockpit, part of the seats and the headliner. This unique material is soaked in a very special kind of resin that stabilizes the fiber structure, while allowing the material to remain supple. Like a hi-tech fabric, this extremely fine-looking carbon-fiber matting fits perfectly to any form, and it reduces weight.

 

The racing personality has been transferred also to the instrument panel. It has been completely redesigned and now, thanks to an aggressive graphics and to the introduction of some additional features like the G-meter, provides all necessary information to the driver for control of the car.

 

The systematic, carbon-fiber, lightweight design of the Lamborghini Veneno is not only visible, it is also evident on the scales: With a dry weight of just 1,450 kilograms (3,190 pounds), the Veneno is even 125 kilos (275 pounds) lighter than the already extremely lean Aventador. The highly beneficial power-to-weight ratio of 1.93 kg/hp (4,25 lbs/hp) guarantees a performance that is nothing short of mind-blowing. Even the stunning acceleration figure of 2,8 seconds cannot adequately describe it. Despite an aerodynamic setup configured for extreme downforce, the Veneno possesses exceptionally low wind resistance which allows it to reach a top speed of 355 km/h (221 mph).

 

The twelve-cylinder with a displacement of 6.5 liters is a thrilling combination of absolute high-revving frenzy and phenomenal pulling power. Its output has been raised to 552 kW / 750 hp, facilitated through enlarged intake paths, optimized thermodynamics, a slightly higher rated rpm and an exhaust system with even lower back pressure. The ISR manual gearbox, permanent all-wheel drive and pushrod suspension have all been specifically adjusted to meet the demands of the Lamborghini Veneno.

 

The Lamborghini Veneno celebrates its first public appearance at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The vehicle on show is the number 0, the Lamborghini test vehicle. Its future has not been determined yet, but it will allow Lamborghini to continue its activity of testing and innovation, both on the road and on the race track. The trilogy made of three unique vehicles will be produced in the course of the year 2013 and handed over to their future owners.

 

Ardea

 

Geografia

Ardea sorge su una rocca tufacea, in vista delle propaggini occidentali dei Colli Albani, dalla quale domina la zona circostante; il comune è inserito nell'Agro Romano e si estende a sud di Pomezia, con ai lati la veduta dei Castelli romani e del Mar Tirreno, confinando a sud con il comune di Anzio ed Aprilia.

 

L'origine geologica di quest'area si deve prima all'emersione dal mare del terreno, caratterizzato da lagune e paludi, e quindi dal deposito di consistenti strati di tufi e pozzolane di origine vulcanica in seguito alle eruzioni del cosiddetto Vulcano Laziale. Raffreddandosi il materiale vulcanico si era spaccato, costituendo profonde e strette gole, che si addolciscono mano a mano che si procede verso sud.

 

La costa, formata da lunghe spiagge sabbiose, era caratterizzata dalla presenza di dune conservatesi, oramai, solo in alcuni tratti.

 

Clima

 

Il clima di Ardea è compreso nella regione climatica "Tirrenica meridionale", che risente fortemente dall'influenza del mar Tirreno, la cui distanza massima dall'estremo confine del Comune è di circa dodici chilometri. Il clima è caratterizzato da estati molto calde rinfrescate da venti termici provenienti dal mare, da forti piogge autunnali e primaverili e dalla presenza di correnti umide soprattutto durante l'inverno.

 

Classificazione climatica: zona C, 1295 GR/G

 

Storia, Le origini mitiche

Il mito ha elaborato varie versioni sulle vicende della fondazione della città di Ardea, legate al racconto dello sbarco di Enea sulle coste del Lazio e quindi alla nascita di Roma.

 

Una prima leggenda, riportata da Dionigi di Alicarnasso, fa risalire la fondazione della città ad Ardeas, figlio di Odisseo e Circe. Una diversa versione lega le origini di Ardea, nel XV secolo a.C. a Danae, figlia del re di Argo, che dopo la nascita di Perseo da Zeus, sarebbe giunta sulle coste laziali e avrebbe sposato il rutulo Pilumno. Insieme decisero di fondare una nuova città: il luogo fu scelto in corrispondenza di una ripida rupe tufacea, scoperta risalendo il fiume Incastro su una piccola imbarcazione.

 

Ovidio riferisce l'origine del nome di Ardea all'alzarsi in volo di un airone cenerino (ardea cinerea) dopo l'incendio e la distruzione della città ad opera di Enea, vittorioso sul re rutulo Turno, figlio di Dauno, che a sua volta era figlio di Danae e di Pilumno.

 

« Turno muore. Ardea cade con lui, città fiorente finché visse il suo re. Morto Turno, il fuoco dei Troiani la invade e le sue torri brucia e le dorate travi. Ma, poi che tutto crollò disfatto ed arso, dal mezzo delle macerie un uccello, visto allora per la prima volta, si alza in volo improvvisamente e battendo le ali, si scuote di dosso la cenere. Il suo grido, le sue ali di color cenere, la sua magrezza, tutto ricorda la città distrutta dai nemici. Ed infatti, d'Ardea il nome ancor gli resta. Con le penne del suo uccello Ardea piange la sua sorte »

(Ovidio, Metamorfosi, XV.)

 

Preistoria e protostoria

Il territorio di Ardea era già frequentato nel Paleolitico e sono state rinvenute tombe dell'età del rame, con sepolture in posizione rannicchiata, risalenti agli inizi del II millennio a.C.

 

Nell'età del ferro l'insediamento era formato da tre villaggi di capanne rispettivamente sui tre pianori sui quali sorge ancora oggi la città (Civitavecchia, Acropoli e Casalazzara), dove sono state rinvenute le tracce dei fori di palo delle capanne e una necropoli a "Monte della Noce", sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, con tombe a fossa infantili e una tomba principesca femminile dell'VIII secolo a.C., con ricco corredo.

 

Plinio riporta il popolo dei Rutuli, a cui appartenevano anche i centri di Antium, Satricum e Lavinium, come uno dei più antichi popoli del Latium vetus. Ardea, nata come agglomerato essenzialmente agricolo, si sviluppò tuttavia soprattutto grazie agli scambi commerciali, favoriti dalla posizione della città, compresa tra Latini, Volsci ed Etruschi e dalla dotazione di un porto-canale alla foce del fiume Incastro (Castrum Inui). Nei secoli dall'VIII al VI fu uno dei centri più importanti del Lazio meridionale, con un ricco artigianato e oggetti importati anche da regioni lontane.

La città arrivò al suo periodo di massimo sviluppo nel VII secolo a.C. e furono occupati da edifici religiosi e civili l'Acropoli e la Civitavecchia. Era particolarmente rinomata per la produzione di armi e di oggetti ornamentali.

 

Rutuli e Romani

A più riprese gli Ardeati furono alleati o nemici di Roma, nell'ambito delle vicende della Lega Latina: un primo attacco sotto Tarquinio il Superbo, di cui parla la tradizione, sembra non avesse avuto successo, e poco dopo, nel primo trattato tra Roma e Cartagine del 509 a.C., la città era riportata tra gli alleati dei Romani. Nel corso del V secolo a.C. la vita cittadina fu dominata dalla contesa contro i Volsci e nel IV i Galli, dopo aver saccheggiato Roma, si rivolsero contro Ardea e la assediarono, senza successo; furono anzi gli Ardeati, guidati da Furio Camillo, in esilio nella città, che dopo aver respinto l'assedio, marciarono verso Roma e la liberarono dall'occupazione gallica.

 

Nel secondo trattato romano-cartaginese del 348 a.C., Ardea è nuovamente nominata tra le città alleate dei Romani. A quest'epoca risale il rifacimento delle mura di cinta: il precedente triplice recinto difensivo venne sostituito da mura in opera quadrata, di cui si conservano alcuni resti, che cingevano i pianori dell'Acropoli e della Civitavecchia. Tuttavia, durante la seconda guerra punica, Ardea fu una delle dodici colonie che rifiutarono ai Romani gli aiuti militari. Dopo la sconfitta cartaginese, i Romani si rivolsero contro le città ribelli della Lega Latina sconfiggendole, e le privarono dell'autonomia.

 

Tra il III e il II secolo a.C. Ardea decadde, probabilmente soprattutto per la crisi economica dei centri laziali, le cui risorse si erano prosciugate nelle guerre puniche e nella successiva guerra contro i Sanniti. La città era quasi completamente in abbandono entro l'età imperiale romana, sebbene resti di abitato sopravvivessero fino al V secolo, mentre delle grandi ville furono costruire lungo la via in direzione del mare.

 

Medioevo ed età moderna

La città, sopravvissuta probabilmente come piccolo luogo fortificato, riprese a crescere solo dal IX secolo, in seguito al progressivo spopolamento delle domus cultae, piccoli centri agricoli fondati dai papi nelle campagne per la coltivazione e la bonifica, e alle necessità di difesa contro i Saraceni.

 

Ardea ospitò nel 1118 papa Gelasio II in fuga da Roma per sfuggire all'imperatore Enrico V che pretendeva la conferma dei privilegi concessigli nel 1111 dal suo predecessore, il papa Pasquale II, e l'incoronazione in San Pietro.

 

Nel 1130 l'antipapa Anacleto II attribuì la civitas Ardeae ai monaci benedettini della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura. Successivamente il controllo feudale della città fu oggetto di aspre contese tra le famiglie nobiliari romane. Nel 1419 papa Martino V diede la città ai propri familiari, i Colonna. Il feudo passò successivamente ad altre famiglie papali: dai Borgia tornò ai Colonna, finché nel 1564 venne venduto a Giuliano Cesarini. In questo periodo la città visse essenzialmente come borgo agricolo, seguendo le sorti delle famiglie che di volta in volta la governavano.

 

Nel 1816, a causa dell'esiguo numero di abitanti, la città divenne una frazione di Genzano di Roma e il borgo, alla vigilia della bonifica integrale pontina, risultava disabitato. A partire dal 1932 l'area circostante fu oggetto di lavori di bonifica idraulica, regimentazione delle acque e appoderamento, curati dall'ONC e dai consorzi di bonifica, cui seguì il ripopolamento controllato del centro e delle campagne circostanti. Il borgo fu praticamente "ri-fondato", ristrutturandone i resti, e divenne parte del comune di Pomezia fin dall'atto della sua costituzione.

 

Nel 1970 Ardea tornò ad essere comune autonomo.

 

Chiesa di Santa Marina

La chiesa di Santa Marina si trova all'interno del cimitero di Ardea, adagiata alla roccia tufacea del paese, nel luogo dove, secondo una leggenda, si sarebbe trovata l'entrata della grotta dove visse la santa in eremitaggio, dopo che i monaci ne scoprirono il sesso e la cacciarono dal convento in cui viveva.

 

La costruzione è datata al 1191, ad opera di Cencio Savelli, futuro papa Onorio III, dall'iscrizione posta sopra il portale di ingresso.

 

Sulla facciata era un portico di ingresso, oggi quasi del tutto scomparso, mentre l'ingresso è ancora inquadrato da colonne sorrette da leoni stilofori, con architrave decorato da un bassorilievo. L'interno è ad unica navata e in origine si presentava interamente affrescato.

 

Dietro l'altare sono ancora visibili i resti di un ninfeo del II secolo d.C., scavato nel tufo.

 

Chiesa di S. Pietro Apostolo

La chiesa di San Pietro Apostolo fu edificata nel XII secolo dai monaci dell'abbazia di San Paolo fuori le mura, in stile romanico presso i resti di un tempio di epoca ellenistica. Incorpora una precedente torre di vedetta contro i Saraceni, trasformata in campanile. Conserva materiali più antichi: fregi marmorei del II secolo sono stati riutilizzati come stipiti della porta di ingresso, e di reimpiego è anche un capitello del presbiterio e un'ara sepolcrale.

 

L'interno è a tre navate, divise da archi.

 

Tra il XIV e XVI secolo, quando divenne chiesa baronale subì notevoli trasformazioni. A questo periodo risalgono gli affreschi (XV secolo), un crocifisso ligneo (XVI secolo) e un dipinto di scuola caravaggesca (XVII secolo).

 

L'ultimo restauro risale al 1940 e fu eseguito per espressa volontà di Benito Mussolini durante una sua visita ad Ardea. In epoca recente lo scultore Giacomo Manzù ha realizzato la fonte battesimale e il tabernacolo della navata.

 

Architetture militari [modifica]La prima fortificazione della città è uno degli esempi meglio conservati di aggere arcaico: la difesa era assicurata dallo scavo di un fossato, e il materiale di scavo veniva a formare lungo il lato interno un muro di terra, con un pendio più ripido verso l'esterno e più dolce verso l'interno, per facilitare l'accesso ai difensori. Le difese erano quindi completate da palizzate in legno.I tre pianori della città, in parte fortificati naturalmente dai pendii scoscesi delle colline, erano dotati di aggeri nei punti più facilmente accessibili, verso l'entroterra. La costruzione di queste prime difese è stata attribuita al VII secolo a.C.

 

Le fortificazioni vennero ricostruite nel IV secolo a.C., con mura in opera quadrata che circondavano l'Acropoli, i cui resti sono visibili sul lato nord-orientale, insieme ad un bastione a pianta pentagonale, aggiunto modernamente con il riutilizzo dei blocchi più antichi.

 

Siti Archeologici

Le fonti antiche riportano l'esistenza di culti dedicati a Giunone Regina, a Castore e Polluce, a Venere, a Ercole, a Natio, e al fondatore Pilumno. Gli scavi archeologici hanno rimesso in luce i resti di quattro grandi templi, due sull'Acropoli e due sulla Civitavecchia, dei quali tuttavia si ignora la dedica.

 

Il maggiore dei templi dell'Acropoli, dotato di tre celle e con scalinata frontale, era forse il principale della città, dedicato a Giunone Regina. Ne resta un tratto del pronao, in corrispondenza dell'attuale Municipio e un tratto del muro di cinta del santuario.

 

Un secondo tempio di epoca ellenistica, si trova in corrispondenza della chiesa di San Pietro.

 

Nella località "Casarinaccio" sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, sono conservati i resti di un altro tempio, riferibile al VI secolo a.C., epoca di massimo splendore della città. Gli scavi del tempio, eseguiti negli anni trenta, hanno riportato alla luce il podio del santuario, costituito da tre filari di blocchi di tufo poggianti direttamente sulla roccia, decorati all'esterno da modanature. Il tempio viene convenzionalmente identificato con quello di Venere.

 

Un secondo tempio arcaico, datato al V secolo a.C. è stato rinvenuto nella località "Monte della Noce", sempre sul pianoro della Civitavecchia. Il tempio fu in uso fino al I secolo a.C., mentre in seguito venne abbandonato e i materiali riutilizzati per la costruzione delle ville della zona.

 

Nei pressi doveva trovarsi il foro cittadino, al quale era annessa una basilica, la cui costruzione è stata datata intorno al 100 a.C. e di cui si conservano resti del pavimento in signino.

 

Una rete di cunicoli scavati nel tufo e realizzati nel V secolo a.C. costituiscono un notevole sistema idraulico, destinato al drenaggio delle acque o per le fognature cittadine. Altri ambienti scavati nella roccia erano utilizzati come magazzini o cisterne, in alcuni casi suddivisi in navate da pilastri di tufo. Ambienti scavati sul pendio della Civitavecchia sono stati interpretati come apprestamenti artigianali per l'attività della concia delle pelli (I secolo a.C.).

 

Castrum Inui

Alla foce del fiume Incastro scavi archeologici in corso dal 1998, diretti dal dott. Francesco Di Mario, responsabile di zona della Soprintendenza ai beni archeologici del Lazio, hanno riportato alla luce i resti di un centro portuale fortificato (dal IV-III secolo a.C. fino al III secolo d.C.) e di una precedente area sacra (dal VI secolo a.C. al II secolo d.C.), che sono stati identificati con il Castrum Inui e con il santuario internazionale noto come Aphrodisium, dedicato ad Afrodite Marina.

 

I reperti attestano la presenza di un insediamento urbano numericamente consistente ed organizzato che si avvaleva di grandi cisterne per la riserva idrica, era dotato di impianto termale, di elaborati meccanismi di deflusso delle acque, di costruzioni a più piani con decorazioni murali e numerosi mosaici, sia con tessere grandi, sia con tessere molto piccole. Le parti più antiche sono caratterizzate da strutture imponenti realizzate con blocchi di tufo di grandi dimensioni. Questi manufatti sono stati inglobati nelle costruzioni successive, che si sovrappongono e intersecano tra loro. Con il passare dei secoli le ristrutturazioni diventano meno raffinate e realizzate prevalentemente riutilizzando il materiale esistente. Le recenti campagne di scavo hanno portato alla luce un'area sacra molto estesa, con edifici e strutture in tufo, provvisoriamente datate fra il VI secolo a.C. ed il II secolo d.C. una delle porte di accesso al Castrum ed importante materiale collegato al culto dei Dioscuri, di Venere, di Minerva e di Esculapio.

 

Altro [modifica] Giardini della Landriana [modifica]I Giardini della Landriana sono dei giardini disegnati da Russel Page, famoso architetto di paesaggi, che sistemò la notevole collezione di piante e fiori realizzata da Lavinia Taverna sulla propria proprietà della "La Landriana" nel corso di una decina di anni.

La proprietà si articola su una serie di giardini a tema (giardino degli aranci, giardino delle eriche, valle delle rose, ecc.), da cui il nome della tenuta.

 

Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera

The New Chanel Boutique Opening and Charity Event, on Robertson Blvd , SIMPLY CONSISTENT INC.

Kathleen Checki President

 

www.simplyconsistent.com/

 

"-Chanel Boutique."

"-Kathleen Checki."

"-Checki."

"-Simply Consistent."

"-Simply Consistent Management."

   

Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.

 

Watching the power of this animal as he leaps for the incoming food is just breathtaking. You can see the deadly canines in the powerful jaw. At 16, Omar was already old for a tiger, and he died 16 months after this was taken.

 

For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...

May was crazy. I had the opportunity to work with Lauren Lavigne several times, and she consistently made me look good. After completing a shoot for a magazine cover, we went on an impromptu excursion to a construction zone and created an exceptional image with the huge chasms cut into the concrete. I was indeed fortunate to have Lauren return to the studio again and again.

 

I had several flickr friends virtually visit the red sofa, and the red sofa continued to bail me out when I was at a loss for a concept for "We're Here" or my 365 project. I hit a few blues clubs and photographed several musicians for promotionals and album covers.

 

I got to work with Carolyn, who was willing to try almost anything, and her portrait among bubble wrap and cardboard remains a favorite of mine. I put potato salad and friend chicken on my head for Mel's birthday. Don't ask. Everything doesn't have to make sense. I follow my gut.

 

I added a bit of new grip to the studio, a Matthews MAXine lightstand and boom. I had been needing to get a hair light, and after much research, this seemed to be the ideal solution between safety, portability, reach and versatility. I like it.

 

I photographed my good friends Waddy and Val Salomon, and with Waddy's encouragement, I plan to undertake a very different photographic enterprise in June. I took a vaction at the end of May, thinking that I would get some behind the scenes work done at the studio, and I have. I managed to make my office workable, replace the awning outside, and clean the sensors of my cameras among other things.

 

In May I learned of new developments around Studio d'Xavier that are extremely exciting. In May I also turned down a contract to shoot fulltime for a major player. There were many considerations, but I finally let my family needs and artistic freedom make the decision for me. May was an exhilarating month. If it keeps on like this, I will need another vacation.

 

1. Paradigm Shift, 2. Danny Comes to Breakfast, 3. Lauren Lavigne, 4. A Most Unusual Course of Events, 5. Strobe on a Stick, 6. Still I Rise, 7. Empire, 8. Paradigm Fracture, 9. The Man Who Saw Everthing in Black & White, 10. Lauren, 11. The Hairdresser Cuts More than Hair, 12. 99 Luftballoons, 13. Mail Order Bride, 14. Portrait on Red Sofa With Lauren Lavigne, 15. Val Salomon, 16. Fille dans le Chapeau Rouge, 17. Song to a Seagull, 18. Max Safety, 19. Fille dans le Chapeau Rouge, 20. Portrait at the House of Equilateral Blues, 21. Affected, 22. How Blue are You?, 23. Sweet Dreams, 24. Waddy Salomon, 25. Fried Chicken and Potato Salad

Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.

 

Watching the power of this animal as he leaps for the incoming food is just breathtaking. You can see the deadly canines in the powerful jaw. At 16, Omar was already old for a tiger, and he died 16 months after this was taken.

 

For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...

Bellissima! The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945–1975 celebrates the visual dynamism and spirit of innovation characterizing Italian coachbuilt cars, concept cars and motorcycles produced during the post–World War II economic revival. Returning to the Frist Center after the 2013 presentation of Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles, automotive authority and guest curator Ken Gross has chosen 19 automobiles and 3 motorcycles from private collections and museums that are among the finest examples of Italian automotive design, including vehicles by Alfa Romeo, Bizzarrini, Ducati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia and Maserati. With the ultra-rare Alfa Romeo BAT models 5, 7 and 9 from the 1950s and a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, this all-star assembly offers surprises for even the most knowledgeable car aficionados. These powerful and extraordinary cars exemplify the sexy and streamlined Italian design language that propelled Italy to the forefront of automotive design internationally.

  

After World War II, Italian automobile designers began to create sleek, low-slung berlinettas (coupes) that would win postwar races and inspire a legion of stunning road-going cars. New companies like Cisitalia and Ferrari used the resumption of auto racing as a platform to begin producing stylish cars that soon caught the attention of wealthy glitterati, movie stars, and influential industrialists. These clients relished the idea of exclusive, often bespoke automobiles, with powerful engines and advanced styling. Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, and smaller Italian carmakers soon followed suit; Ferruccio Lamborghini created a grand touring Berlinetta that would rival Ferrari’s.

 

With their startling, often sensual designs, Italian cars from the mid-century had an immense influence on the automotive industry around the world. The successful racing efforts of Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo ensured that Italian automakers dominated international competition. Lessons from racing were applied to the design of road cars and Italy’s auto industry helped lead an international styling renaissance. In 1954, Road & Track declared, “The Italian influence leads the automotive design world. It remains consistent, commanding, spirited and graceful.”

 

Coach builders worked with carmakers in Italy as well as those in countries like England and Spain. In the United States, Italians designed and built bodies for production cars like Nash, Hudson and even Cadillac. Chrysler hired Italian designers to build a series of dramatically modern concept cars, including Firebirds and Firearrows. Their so-called “Forward Look” styling intrigued American buyers and influenced many later production models.

© yohanes.budiyanto, 2014

 

PRELUDE

The 1st of August, 2014 was such an historic day as the world finally welcomed the birth of the first in line to the Parisian throne after a painstaking and extraordinary "labor" process that took four years in creation, and almost a decade in the making. I was not talking about a French rival to baby George, but instead a newborn that has sent shivers down the spines of Paris' oldest and current Kings and Grand Dames from the day it was conceived. Yes, I was referring to The Peninsula Paris, the youngest sister to the legendary Peninsula Hong Kong (circa 1928).

 

Ever since the project was announced to the public four years ago, it has been on my top list of the most eagerly awaited hotel openings of the decade. So when the hotel announced 1st of August as an opening date back in March, I immediately issued my First Class return tickets to the City of Light, risking the usual opening delay. A man of his word, Peninsula Paris finally opened as scheduled.

 

HISTORY

The Peninsula brand needs no introduction, as it is synonymous with quality, technology, innovation, craftsmanship and sophistication, -much like a slogan for French top brands and their savoir faire. Despite having only 10 current properties worldwide in its portfolio (Paris is its tenth), each Peninsula hotel is a market leader in each respective cities, and consistently tops the chart in many bonafide travel publications and reigns supreme as the world's best, especially elder sisters in Hong Kong and Bangkok. The Peninsula model is different from other rival hotel groups, which usually expand aggressively through both franchise and managed models worldwide. Instead, the Peninsula focuses on acquiring majority to sole ownership on all its properties to ensure control on quality (Hong Kong, New York, Chicago and Tokyo are 100% owned; Bangkok, Beijing and Manila are over 75%; Shanghai is 50%, while Beverly Hills and Paris are the only two with only 20% ownership).

 

The history of the Peninsula Paris could be traced back to a modest villa aptly called Hotel Basilevski on the plot of land at 19 Avenue Kleber back in 1864, -named after its Russian diplomat owner, Alexander Petrovich Basilevski, which caught the attention of hotelier Leonard Tauber for his prospective hotel project. The Versailles-styled property was partly a museum housing Basilevski's vast and impressive collection of 19th century medieval and Renaissance art, which eventually was acquired by Alexander III, -a Russian Tsar, at the sums of six millions francs. These collections were later transported to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and formed the base collection for the newly established Department of Medieval and Renaissance Art. After Basilevski sold the villa and moved to a more palatial residence at Avenue du Trocadero, the property was then acquired and rebranded the Palais de Castille as the residence of the exiled Queen Isabella II of Spain in 1868, who seeked refuge and continued to live there until 1904. Upon her death, the property was later demolished in 1906 to make way for the Majestic hotel, which finally opened in 1908 with much satisfaction of Leonard Tauber, who has eyed the premise from the very beginning.

 

The Majestic Hotel was exquisitely designed in the Beaux-Art style as a grand hotel by prominent architect of that time, Armand Sibien. Together with The Ritz (circa 1898), the two became the most preferred places to stay and entertain in Paris of the time. The Majestic has attracted the well-heeled crowd, and hosted many high profile events, most notably for a particular dinner hosted by rich British couple Sydney and Violet Schiff on 18 May 1922 as the after party of Igor Stravinsky's 'Le Renard' ballet premiere, and the hotel becomes an instant legend. The guests list were impressive: Igor Stravinsky himself, Pablo Picasso, Sergei Diaghilev, and two of the 20th century most legendary writers: James Joyce and Marcel Proust, who met for the first and only time before Proust's death six months later. Since then, the Majestic continued to draw high profile guests, including George Gershwin on 25 March 1928, where he composed "An American in Paris" during the stay.

 

If the walls could talk, the Majestic has plenty of stories to tell. It was once converted into a hospital during the infamy in 1914, and the British took residency at the hotel during the Paris Peace Conference back in 1919. The hotel was then acquired by the French State in 1936 as the offices of the Ministry of Defence; and later had a stint as the German Military High Command in France between October 1940 to July 1944 during the World War II. Post war, it then became the temporary home for UNESCO from 16 September 1946 until 1958. More than a decade after, the Paris Peace talks was opened by Henry Kissinger in one of its spectacular Ballrooms in 1969 with the Northern Vietnamese. Four years later, the Paris Peace Accord was finally signed at the oak paneled-room next to the Ballroom on 27 January 1973, which ended the Vietnam War. This triumphant event has also led to another victorious event when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize that same year.

 

The hotel continued to serve as the International Conference Center of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs until it was up for sale by the government in 2008 as part of the cost cutting program to the Qatari Diar, -which later transferred its ownership to Katara Hospitality, for a staggering USD 460 million. An excess of USD 600 million was further spent on the massive rebuilding and refurbishment not only to restore the hotel to its former glory, but also to transform it into a Peninsula with the highest standard.

 

The epic restoration work was led by prominent French architect, Richard Martinet, who has also previously work with the restoration of Prince Roland Bonaparte's former mansion into the Shangri-La Paris and also the Four Seasons George V; and involved teams of France's leading craftsmen; heritage designers and organisations; stonemasons from historic monument specialist; master glass crafters; crystal manufacturer; wood, moulding and gilder restoration experts, -many of whom are third generation, and have carried out high profile projects such as the Palace of Versailles, Louvre Museum, the dome of Les Invalides, the Grand and Petit Palais, and even the flame of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The result is truly breathtaking, and it was certainly money well spent to revive and recreate one of the nation's most treasured landmark. One of my favorite places within the hotel is the Main Lobby at Avenue des Portugais where the grand hall is adorned with a spectacular chandelier installation comprising 800 pieces of glass leaves inspired by the plane trees along Avenue Kleber. The work of Spain's most influential artist since Gaudi, Xavier Corbero, could also be found nearby in the form of a beautiful sculpture called Moon River.

 

Katara Hospitality owns 80% of The Peninsula Paris, and already has a spectacular portfolio ownership consisting some of the world's finest hotels, including The Raffles Singapore, Le Royal Monceau-Raffles Paris, Ritz-Carlton Doha, Schweizerhof Bern, and most recently, 5 of the InterContinental Hotel's European flagships, including Amstel in Amsterdam, Carlton in Cannes, De la Ville in Rome, Madrid and Frankfurt. It is interesting to note that Adrian Zecha, founder of the extraordinary Amanresorts chain is a member of the Board of Directors at Katara since September 2011, lending his immense hospitality expertise to the group.

 

At over USD 1 billion cost, the Pen Paris project is easily the most expensive to ever being built, considering it has only 200 rooms over 6 storeys. As a comparison, the cost of building the 101 storey, 494m high Shanghai World Financial Center (where the Park Hyatt Shanghai resides) is USD 1.2 billion; whereas Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building on earth at 163 storey and 828m, costed a 'modest' USD 1.5 billion to build. The numbers are truly mind boggling, and The Peninsula Paris is truly an extraordinary project. It might took the Majestic Hotel two years to build; but it took four years just to restore and reincarnate it into a Peninsula.

 

HOTEL OPENING

On a pleasant afternoon of 1 August 2014, the hotel finally opened its door to a crowd of distinguished guests, international journalists, first hotel guests and local crowds who partake to witness the inauguration and rebirth of a Parisian legend and grande dame (Many A-list celebrities and even Head of State flocked to the hotel to witness its sheer beauty). It was an historic day not just for Paris, but also for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Group as it marks their arrival in Europe with its first ever Peninsula, while the second is already on the pipeline with the future opening of The Peninsula London, located just behind The Lanesborough at Knightsbridge.

 

The eagerly-awaited opening ceremony was attended by the Chairman of Katara Hospitality, His Excellency Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani; CEO of Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Limited (HSH), Clement Kwok; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Fabius; General Manager of the Peninsula Paris, Nicolas Béliard; and the event kicked off with an opening speech by the famous French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, Madame Fleur Pellerin, who clearly stole the show with her public persona. A ribbon cutting and spectacular lion dance show concluded the event, which drew quite a spectacle on Avenue des Portugais as it brought a unique display of Asian heritage to the heart of cosmopolitan Paris.

 

LOCATION

The Peninsula Paris stands majestically at the tree-lined Avenue Kléber, just off the Arc de Triomphe. Personally, this is an ideal location in Paris as it is a stone's throw away from all the happenings at the Champs-Élysées, but is set away from its hustle and bustle, which is constantly a tourist trap day and night. Once you walk pass the leafy Avenue Kléber, the atmosphere is very different: peaceful and safe. The Kléber Metro station is just a few steps away from the hotel, providing guests a convenient access to further parts of town.

 

Champs-Élysées is the center of Parisian universe, and it is just a short and pleasant stroll away from the hotel, where some of the city's most legendary commercial and cultural institutions reside. For a start, Drugstore Publicis at the corner by the roundabout has been a legendary hang-out since the 1960s, and is my ultimate favourite place in town. The Post Modern edifice by architect Michele Saee (renovated in 2004) houses almost everything: a Cinema; side walk Brasserie & Steak House; Newsagency; Bookshop (you can find Travel publications and even the Michelin Guide); upscale Gift shop and Beauty corner (even Acqua di Parma is on sale here); Pharmacy (whose pharmacist thankfully speaks English and gladly advises you on your symptoms); upscale deli (stocking pretty much everything from Foie gras burger on the counter, to fine wines & cigar cellar; to Pierre Herme & Pierre Marcolini chocolates; Dalloyau bakery; Marriage Freres tea; and even the Petrossian Caviar!). Best of all, it features a 2 Michelin star L'atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile on its basement; and the store is even opened on Sunday until 2am. It is a one stop shopping, eating and entertainment, showcasing the best of France.

 

Further down the road, Maison Louis Vuitton stands majestically on its own entire 7 storey building, which was opened in 2005 as one of the biggest flagship stores in the world, covering a total area of 1,800m2. Designed by Eric Carlson and Peter Marino, the entire store is an architectural marvel and the temple of luxury, elegance and sophistication. This is one of the very few stores to open in Sunday as the French Labour Unions prohibits commercial stores to open on Sunday, unless if it involves cultural, recreational and sporting aspect. Initially, Maison LV was ordered by the court to close on Sunday, but LVMH finally wins an appeal in 2007 on the grounds of cultural experience; and the store has continued to draw endless queue on Sunday.

 

A block away from Maison LV is the legendary Parisian Tea Room of Ladurée, which was founded in 1862 by Louis Ernest Ladurée on its original store at 16 Rue Royal as a bakery. The Champs-Élysées store was opened in 1997 and has since attracted an endless queue of tourists and locals who wish to savour its legendary Macarons and pastries. The Ladurée phenomenon and popularity could only be rivaled by fellow Frenchmen Pierre Hermé, who has also attracted a cult of loyal fans worldwide. It may not have a flagship store at Champs-Élysées, but one could easily stop by Drugstore Publicis for a quick purchase to ease the craving.

 

For those looking for upscale boutiques, Avenue Montaigne located just nearby on a perpendicular, and features the flagship presence of the world's finest luxury fashion labels: Armani, Bottega Veneta, Valention, Prada, Dior, Versace, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Fendi and Salvatore Ferragamo to name a few. For the ultimate in shopping extravaganza, head down to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré where all money will (hopefully) be well spent.

 

Champs-Élysées is the most famous and expensive boulevard in the world, yet it has everything for everyone; and myriad of crowds flocking its grand boulevards for a pleasant stroll. It has no shortage of luxury stores, but it also offers mainstream stores for the general public, from Levi's to Zara and Lacoste; to McDonalds and Starbucks; and FNAC store (French answer to HMV).

 

In terms of fine dining experience, the areas around Champs-Élysées has plenty to offer. I have mentioned about the 2 Michelin L'atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile at the Drugstore Publicis, which was excellent. Robuchon never disappoints as it consistently serves amazing French cuisine amidst its signature red and black interior everywhere I visited, including Tokyo (3 Michelin), Hong Kong (3 Michelin), Paris (2 Michelin) and Taipei.

 

During my stay, I also managed to sample the finest cuisine from the kitchens of two, 3-Michelin Paris institutions: Pierre Gagnaire at Rue Balzac, just off Champs-Élysées; and Epicure at Le Bristol by Chef Eric Frechon on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which was undoubtedly the best and most memorable dining experiences I have ever had in Paris to date. It is certainly the gastronomic highlight of this trip.

 

Other 3 Michelin establishment, such as Ledoyen is also located nearby at an 18th century pavilion by the Gardens of Champs-Élysées by newly appointed famous French Chef Yannick Alléno, who previously also resided at the Le Meurice with 3 Michelin, until Alain Ducasse took over last year during the Plaza Athénée closure for expansion.

 

August is a time of misery for international visitors to Paris as most fine dining restaurants are closed for the summer holiday. When choices are limited, foodies could rely on Epicure and Robuchon, which are opened all year round; and also the 2 Michelin star Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V. Although its food could not compete with Robuchon, Epicure and Gagnaire, guests could still enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

 

ROOMS:

On my visit to Paris last year, I was not too impressed with my stay at the Four Seasons George V, as everything seemed to be pretty basic: the room design; the in-room tech and amenities; and even the much lauded service. It simply does not justify the hefty price tag. The only thing stood out there were the ostentatious designer floral display at the lobby, which reportedly absorbed a six digit figure budget annually. When I saw them at the first time, this was what came to mind: guests are paying for these excessive flowers, whether you like it or not.

 

Fortunately, the Peninsula Paris skips all this expensive gimmick, and instead spends a fortune for guests to enjoy: advance room technology; a host of complimentary essential amenities, including internet access, non-alcoholic minibar, and even long distance phone calls. In fact, every single items inside the room has been well thought and designed for guest's ultimate comfort.

 

Ever since The Peninsula Bangkok opened in 1998 to much success, the group has used it as a template for its signature rooms for future sister hotels, which consists of an open plan, ultra-wide spacious room equivalent to a 2 bays suite, with 5-fixtures bathroom, and a separate Dressing Room, which soon becomes a Peninsula signature.

 

The Peninsula Tokyo followed this template when it opened in 2007 to rave reviews; and it was soon adopted as a model for Peninsula Shanghai, which later opened in 2009 as the flagship property in Mainland China. This layout is also being applied at The Peninsula Paris, albeit for its Suites categories, i.e. Junior Suite, which measure at an astonishing 50 - 60m2. The entry level Superior and Deluxe Rooms lack the signature layout with smaller size at 35 - 45m2, but they are already spacious for a Parisian standard; and each is equipped with Peninsula's signature technology.

 

Technology is indeed at the core of the Peninsula DNA, and no expense is spared in creating the world's most advance in-room technology. When other hotels try to cut costs and budgets on in-room technology with lame excuses, the Peninsula actually spends a fortune to innovate and set a new benchmark. In fact, it is probably the only hotel group to have its own Technology laboratory at a secret location deep inside Aberdeen, Hong Kong, where in-room tech is being developed and tested. It was here where innovative devices, such as the outside temperature indicator; my favourite Spa Button by the bathtub; or even the portable nail dryer for the ladies are invented. The Peninsula took the world by storm when it introduced the Samsung Galaxy tablet device at the Peninsula Hong Kong in 2012, which is programmed in 11 languages and virtually controls the entire room, including the lights, temperature, curtains, TV, radio, valet calls and Do Not Disturb sign. It even features touch screen Room Service Menu, hotel information, city guide, and a function to request room service and housekeeping items, thus creating an entirely paperless environment.

 

All these technological marvel are also being replicated at the Peninsula Paris, together with other 'standard' features, such as Nespresso Coffee Machine; flat-screen 3D LED television; LED touch screen wall panels; an iPod/iPad docking station; memory card reader; 4-in1 fax/scanner/printer/photocopier machine; DVD player; complimentary in-house HD movies; complimentary internet access and long distance calls through the VOIP platform. Even the room's exterior Parisian-styled canopy is electronically operated. All these technological offerings is so extremely complex, that it resulted in 2.5 km worth of cabling in each room alone.

 

Bathroom at the Junior Suite also features Peninsula's signature layout: a stand alone bathtub as the focal point, flanked by twin vanities and separate shower and WC compartments amidst acres of white marble. Probably the first in Paris, it features a Japanese Toilet complete with basic control panel, and a manual handheld bidet sprayer.

 

When all these add up to the stay, it actually brings a very good value to the otherwise high room rates. Better yet, the non-alcoholic Minibar is also complimentary, which is a first for a Peninsula hotel. The Four Seasons George V may choose to keep looking back to its antiquity past and annihilate most technological offerings to its most basic form, but the Pen always looks forward to the future and brings the utter convenience, all at your finger tip. The Peninsula rooms are undoubtedly the best designed, best equipped and most high-tech in the entire universe.

 

ROOM TO BOOK:

The 50 - 60m2 Junior Suite facing leafy Avenue Kléber is the best room type to book as it is an open-plan suite with Peninsula's signature bathroom and dressing room; and the ones located on the Premiere étage (first floor) have high ceilings and small balcony overlooking Kleber Terrace's iconic glass canopy. Personally, rooms facing the back street at Rue La Pérouse are the least preferred, but its top level rooms inside the Mansart Roof on level 5 have juliet windows that allow glimpse of the tip of Eiffel Tower despite being smaller in size due to its attic configuration. Superior Rooms also lack the signature Peninsula 5 fixtures bathroom configuration, so for the ultimate bathing experience, make sure to book at least from the Deluxe category.

 

If money is no object, book one of the five piece-de-resistance suites with their own private rooftop terrace and gardens on the top floor, which allow 360 degree panoramic views of Paris. Otherwise, the mid-tier Deluxe Suite is already a great choice with corner location, multiple windows and 85m2 of pure luxury.

 

DINING:

Looking back at the hotel's illustrious past, the Peninsula offers some of the most unique and memorable dining experiences in Paris, steep in history.

 

The area that once housed Igor Stravinksy's after party where James Joyce met Marcel Proust for the first time is now the hotel's Cantonese Restaurant, aptly called LiLi; and is led by Chef Chi Keung Tang, formerly of Peninsula Tokyo's One Michelin starred Hei Fung Terrace. Lili was actually modeled after Peninsula Shanghai's Yi Long Court, but the design here blends Chinese elements with Art Nouveau style that flourished in the late 1920s. It also boasts a world first: a spectacular 3x3.3m fiber optic installation at the entrance of the restaurant, depicting the imaginary portrait of LiLi herself. The Cantonese menu was surprisingly rather simple and basic, and features a selection of popular dim sum dishes. The best and most memorable Chinese restaurants I have ever experienced are actually those who masterfully fuse Chinese tradition with French ingredients: Jin Sha at the Four Seasons Hangzhou at Westlake; 2 Michelin Tin Lung Heen at Level 102 of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong; Jiang at Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou by Chef Fei; and Ya Ge at Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Ironically, the world's only 3 Michelin star Chinese restaurant, Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hong Kong failed to impress me.

 

The former Ballroom area where Henry Kissinger started the Paris Peace talks with the Vietnamese has now been transformed as The Lobby, which is a signature of every Peninsula hotels where the afternoon tea ritual takes place daily. The spectacular room with intricate details and crystal chandeliers has been meticulously restored, and is an ideal place to meet, see and be seen. Breakfast is served daily here, and guests could choose to have it either inside or outside at the adjoining al fresco La Terrasse Kléber, which connects all the F&B outlets on the ground floor, including Lili. Guests could choose from a Chinese set breakfast, which includes dim sum, fried vermicelli, and porridge with beef slices; or the Parisian set, which includes gourmet items such as Egg Benedict with generous slices of Jamon Iberico on top. The afternoon tea ritual is expected to be very popular as renowned Chef Pattissier Julien Alvarez, -who claimed the World Pastry Champion in 2009; and also the Spanish World Chocolate Master in 2007 at the tender age of 23, is at the helm; and the venue quickly booked out from the opening day.

 

Next to the Lobby is a small, intimate bar covered in exquisite oak panelling where Henry Kissinger signed the Paris Peace Accord back in 1973 that ended the Vietnam War. Kissinger politely declined the offer to have the Bar named after him, and instead it is simply called Le Bar Kléber.

 

On the top floor of the hotel lies the signature restaurant L'Oiseau Blanc, which is named after the French biplane that disappeared in 1927 in an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight between Paris and New York. A 75% replica of the plane has even been installed outside the main entrance of the restaurant with the Eiffel Tower on its background. The restaurant is divided into 3 distinct areas: a spectacular glass enclosed main dining room; a large outdoor terrace that runs the entire length of the hotel's roof; and an adjoining lively bar, all with breathtaking uninterrupted views of Paris' most identifiable landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré-Cœur at the highest point of the city at Montmartre.

 

L'Oiseau Blanc is led by Chef Sidney Redel, a former protégé of Pierre Gagnaire, and serves contemporary French cuisine focussing on 'terroir' menu of locally sourced seasonal ingredients from the region. During my stay, tomato was the seasonal ingredients, and Chef Redel created four courses incorporating tomato, even on dessert. While the food was of high quality, personally the menu still needs fine tuning, considering the sort of clientele the Pen is aiming for: the ultra rich (Chinese), who usually seek top establishments with luxury ingredients, such as caviar, black truffle, foie gras, blue lobster, Jamon Iberico, Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork and Challans chicken.

 

LEISURE:

The Peninsula Paris features one of the best health and recreational facilities in the city, housed within the basement of the hotel, and covers an expansive area of 1,800m2. For a comparison, rival Mandarin Oriental Spa covers a total area of only 900m2 over two floors. The Peninsula Spa is undoubtedly one of the nicest urban spa that I have been to, it easily beats the Spa at the Four Seasons George V. The pool is also one of the city's largest at 22m long, -compared to both the Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental at 15m; the George V at only 9m, which is more like a bigger jacuzzi. The only two other pools better than the Peninsula is the one designed by Phillippe Starck at the Le Royal Monceau at 28m; and the spectacular grand pool at the Ritz.

 

There is the usual 24 hours gym within two fitness spaces equipped with Technogym machines and free weights; and the locker rooms features steam, sauna, and experience shower room. There is a total of 8 treatment rooms within the Spa area, and the highlight is certainly the Relaxation Room, which is equipped with amazing day beds with specially placed deep cushions. The best part? the beds are electronically operated, much like a first class seat on a plane.

 

X-FACTOR:

The Peninsula signature technology; The Spa Button in the bathroom; VOIP technology for complimentary long distance calls; The top suites (Historic, Katara and Peninsula Suites); Xavier Corbero's Moon River sculpture at the Lobby; Lili; The Lobby and Bar where Henry Kissinger signed Paris Peace Accord; L'Oiseau Blanc Restaurant; The 1,800m2 Peninsula Spa; and the 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II.

 

SERVICE:

There are a total of 600 staffs for just 200 rooms, so the service level is expected to be high; but it is perhaps unfair to judge the service during the opening weeks when all staffs were not at their best due to the intense preparation leading to the opening event. Furthermore, teething problems are expected for a newly opened hotel as great hotels are not born overnight, but takes a good few years of refinement.

 

Nonetheless, I was actually quite impressed with the level of service during the whole stay, as the majority of the staffs showed great attitude and much enthusiasm, which is a testament of great intense training. As one of the first guests arriving on the opening day, check-in was truly delightful and memorable as a battalion of staffs of different ranks welcomed and wished the most pleasant stay. The mood could not have been more festive as moments later, the hotel was finally inaugurated.

 

I was also particularly impressed with the service at both LiLi and The Lobby where staffs performed at an exceptional level like a veteran. There are two distinct qualities that made a lot of difference during the stay: humility and friendliness, which is quite a challenge to find, not only in Paris and the entire Europe, but even in Asian cities, such as Hong Kong. It is like finding needles in a haystack. A genuine smile seems to be a rare commodity these days, so I was happy to see plenty of smiles at the Peninsula Paris during the stay, from the signature Peninsula Pageboys to waiters, Maître d, receptionists and even to Managers and Directors. In fact, there were more smiles in Paris than Hong Kong.

 

When I woken up too early for breakfast one day, the restaurant was just about to open; and there were hardly anyone. I realized that even the birds were probably still asleep, but I was extremely delighted to see how fresh looking and energetic the staffs were at the dining room. There was a lot of genuine smile that warmed the rather chilly morning; and it was a great start to the day. One of the staffs I met during the stay even candidly explained how they were happy just to be at work, and it does not feel like working at all, which was clearly shown in their passion and enthusiasm.

 

That said, the Shangri-La Paris by far is still my top pick for best service as it is more personalized and refined due to its more intimate scale. The Shangri-La Paris experience is also unique as guests are welcomed to a sit down registration by the historic lounge off the Lobby upon arrival, and choice of drinks are offered, before being escorted to the room for in-room check-in. Guests also receive a Pre-Arrival Form in advance, so the hotel could anticipate and best accommodate their needs. During the stay, I was also addressed by my last name everywhere within the hotel, so it was highly personalized. I did receive similar treatment at The Peninsula Paris, -albeit in a lesser extent due to its size; and even the housekeeping greeted me by my last name. Every requests, from room service to mineral water were all handled efficiently at a timely manner. At times, service could be rather slow at the restaurants (well, it happens almost everywhere in Paris), but this is part of the Parisian lifestyle where nothing is hurried; and bringing bills/checks upfront is considered rude. I did request the food servings to be expedited during a lunch at LiLi on the last day due to the time constraint; and the staffs managed to succeed the task not only ahead of the time limit, but also it never felt hurried all along. Everything ran as smooth as silk.

 

VERDICT:

It was a personal satisfaction to witness the history in the making during the opening day on 1 August 2014, as the Peninsula Paris is my most eagerly awaited hotel opening of the decade. It was also historic, as it was a first in my travel to dedicate a trip solely for a particular hotel in a particular city (in this case Paris, some 11,578km away from home), without staying at other fine hotels. It was money well spent, and a trip worth taking as it was an amazing stay; and certainly a lifetime experience.

 

The Peninsula Paris could not have arrived at a better time, as two of the most established Parisian grande dames (Ritz and de Crillon) are still closed for a complete renovation, and will only be revealed in 2015; so there is plenty of time to adapt, grow and hone its skills. But with such pedigree, quality and illustrious history, the Pen really has nothing to be worried about. The Four Seasons George V seems to have a cult of highly obsessed fans (esp. travel agents) worldwide, but personally (and objectively), it is no match to the Peninsula. Based on physical product alone, the Pen wins in every aspect as everything has been meticulously designed with the focus on guest comfort and convenience. In terms of technology, the Pen literally has no rival anywhere on the planet, except from the obvious sibling rivalry.

 

The only thing that the Pen still needs to work on is its signature restaurants as all its rival hotels have at least 2 Michelin star restaurants (L'abeille at the Shangri-La; Sur Mesure at the Mandarin Oriental; and 3 Michelin at Epicure, Le Bristol; Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V and Alain Ducasse at Le Meurice). L'Oiseau Blanc design is truly breathtaking and would certainly be the most popular gastronomic destination in Paris, but at the moment, the food still needs some works.

 

There were the expected teething problems and some inconsistencies with the service; but with years of refinement, The Peninsula Paris will no doubt ascend the throne. Personally, the Shangri-La Paris is currently the real competitor, together with the upcoming Ritz and de Crillon when they open next year, especially when Rosewood has taken over Crillon management and Karl Lagerfeld is working on its top suites. The two, however, may still need to revisit the drawing boards and put more effort on the guestrooms if they ever want to compete; because at the moment, The Peninsula Paris is simply unrivaled.

 

UPDATE 2016:

*I have always been very spot-on with my predictions. After only two years since its opening, The Peninsula Paris has been awarded the much coveted Palace status. In fact, it is the only hotel in Paris to receive such distinction in 2016. Congratulations, it is very much deserving*

 

PERSONAL RATING:

1. Room: 100

2. Bathroom: 100

3. Bed: 100

4. Service: 90

5. In-room Tech: 100

6. In-room Amenities: 100

7. Architecture & Design: 100

8. Food: 80

9. View: 80

10. Pool: 95

11. Wellness: 95

12. Location: 95

13. Value: 100

 

Overall: 95.00

 

Compare with other Parisian hotels (all with Palace status) that I have stayed previously:

SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, PARIS: 95.00

PARK HYATT PARIS-VENDOME: 90.00

FOUR SEASONS GEORGE V: 85.38

 

My #1 ALL TIME FAVORITE HOTEL

LANDMARK MANDARIN ORIENTAL, HONG KONG: 95.38

 

THE PENINSULA, PARIS

19, Avenue Kléber, Paris

Awarded Palace Status in 2016

 

General Manager: Nicolas Béliard

Hotel Manager: Vincent Pimont

Executive Chef: Jean-Edern Hurstel

Head Chef (Lili): Chi Keung Tang

Head Chef (L'oiseau Blanc): Sidney Redel

Head Chef (The Lobby): Laurent Poitevin

Chef Patissier: Julien Alvarez

 

Architect (original Majestic Hotel, circa 1908): Armand Sibien

Architect (renovation & restoration, 2010-2014): Richard Martinet

Interior Designer: Henry Leung of Chhada Siembieda & Associates

Landscape Designer: D. Paysage

 

Art Curator: Sabrina Fung

Art Restorer: Cinzia Pasquali

Artist (Courtyard installation): Ben Jakober & Yannick Vu

Crystal work: Baccarat

Designer (Lili fiber optic installation): Clementine Chambon & Francoise Mamert

Designer (Chinaware): Catherine Bergen

Gilder Specialist & Restorer: Ateliers Gohard

Glass Crafter (Lobby Installation): Lasvit Glass Studio

Master Glass Crafters: Duchemin

Master Sculptor (Lobby): Xavier Corbero

Metalwork: Remy Garnier

Plaster & Moulding Expert: Stuc et Staff

Silverware: Christofle

Silk & Trimmings: Declercq Passementiers

Wood Restoration Expert: Atelier Fancelli

  

Hotel Opening Date: 01 August 2014

Notable owners: Katara Hospitality; Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Group (HSH)

Total Rooms & Suites: 200 (including 35m2 Superior, 45m2 Deluxe, 50m2 Grand Deluxe, 55m2 Premier and 60m2 Grand Premier Rooms)

Total Suites: 34 Suites (including 70m2 Superior, 85m2 Deluxe and 100m2 Premier

Top Suites: Historic Suite, Katara Suite, and The Peninsula Suite

Bathroom Amenities: Oscar de la Renta

 

Restaurants: The Lobby (All day dining & Afternoon tea), LiLi (Cantonese), L'Oiseau Blanc (French), La Terrasse Kléber

Bars and Lounges: Le Bar Kléber; Kléber Lounge; Cigar Lounge; and L'Oiseau Blanc Bar

Meeting & Banquets: Salon de l'Étoile for up to 100 guests, and 3 smaller Function Rooms

Health & Leisure: 24 hours gym & 1,800m2 Peninsula Spa with 22m indoor swimming pool and jacuzzis; Steam & Sauna, Relaxation Room, and 8 treatment rooms

Transport: chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce Extended Wheel Base Phantom; a 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II; 2 MINI Cooper S Clubman; and a fleet of 10 BMW 7 Series

 

Complimentary facilities: Non-alcoholic Minibar; Wired and Wireless Internet; VOIP long distance calls; HD Movies; Daily fruit Basket; International Newspaper; Chauffeured MINI Cooper S Clubman for Suites guests; and Chauffeured Rolls Royce for top Suites

 

paris.peninsula.com

Origins of a 14 Trillion Dollar Defecit

 

Project for the New American CenturyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Project for the New American Century

 

Formation 1997

Extinction 2006

Public policy think tank

Location Washington, D.C.

Website newamericancentury.org

The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by William Kristol and Robert Kagan. The PNAC's stated goal was "to promote American global leadership."[1] Fundamental to the PNAC were the view that "American leadership is both good for America and good for the world" and support for "a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity."[2] The PNAC exerted influence on high-level U.S. government officials in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and affected the Bush Administration's development of military and foreign policies, especially involving national security and the Iraq War.[3][4]

 

Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 Statement of Principles

1.2 Calls for regime change in Iraq during Clinton years

1.3 Rebuilding America's Defenses

1.4 Post-9/11 call for regime change in Iraq

1.5 Human Rights and the EU Arms Embargo

1.6 End of the organization

2 Controversy

2.1 US world dominance

2.2 Excessive focus on military strategies, neglect of diplomatic strategies

2.3 "New Pearl Harbor"

2.4 Inexperienced in realities of war

2.5 PNAC role in promoting invasion of Iraq

2.6 PNAC role in promoting genetically operating racist bioweapons

3 Persons associated with the PNAC

3.1 Project directors

3.2 Project staff

3.3 Former directors and staff

3.4 Signatories to Statement of Principles

3.5 Signatories or contributors to other significant letters or reports[15]

3.6 Associations with Bush administration

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

6.1 External links

6.2 Further reading and media programs: Analysis and criticism

 

History Statement of PrinciplesPNAC's first public act was releasing a "Statement of Principles" on June 3, 1997, which was signed by both its members and a variety of other notable conservative politicians and journalists (see Signatories to Statement of Principles). The statement began by framing a series of questions, which the rest of the document proposes to answer:

 

As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's pre-eminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?[5]

 

In response to these questions, the PNAC states its aim to "remind America" of "lessons" learned from American history, drawing the following "four consequences" for America in 1997:

 

we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad; [and]

we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

While "Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today," the "Statement of Principles" concludes, "it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next."[5]

 

[edit] Calls for regime change in Iraq during Clinton yearsThe goal of regime change in Iraq remained the consistent position of PNAC throughout the 1997-2000 Iraq disarmament crisis.[6][7]

 

Richard Perle, who later became a core member of PNAC, was involved in similar activities to those pursued by PNAC after its formal organization. For instance, in 1996 Perle composed a report that proposed regime changes in order to restructure power in the Middle East. The report was titled A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm and called for removing Saddam Hussein from power, as well as other ideas to bring change to the region. The report was delivered to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[8] Two years later, in 1998, Perle and other core members of the PNAC - Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Elliot Abrams, and John Bolton - "were among the signatories of a letter to President Clinton calling for the removal of Hussein."[8] Clinton did seek regime change in Iraq, and this position was sanctioned by the United Nations. These UN sanctions were considered ineffective by the neoconservative forces driving the PNAC.

 

The PNAC core members followed up these early efforts with a letter to Republican members of the U.S. Congress Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott,[9] urging Congress to act. The PNAC also supported the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (H.R.4655), which President Clinton had signed into law.[10]

 

On January 16, 1998, following perceived Iraqi unwillingness to co-operate with UN weapons inspections, members of the PNAC, including Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Robert Zoellick drafted an open letter to President Bill Clinton, posted on its website, urging President Clinton to remove Saddam Hussein from power using U.S. diplomatic, political, and military power. The signers argue that Saddam would pose a threat to the United States, its Middle East allies, and oil resources in the region, if he succeeded in maintaining what they asserted was a stockpile of Weapons of Mass Destruction. They also state: "we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections" and "American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council." They argue that an Iraq war would be justified by Hussein's defiance of UN "containment" policy and his persistent threat to U.S. interests.[11]

 

On November 16, 1998, citing Iraq's demand for the expulsion of UN weapons inspectors and the removal of Richard Butler as head of the inspections regime, Kristol called again for regime change in an editorial in his online magazine, The Weekly Standard: "...any sustained bombing and missile campaign against Iraq should be part of any overall political-military strategy aimed at removing Saddam from power."[12] Kristol states that Paul Wolfowitz and others believed that the goal was to create "a 'liberated zone' in southern Iraq that would provide a safe haven where opponents of Saddam could rally and organize a credible alternative to the present regime ... The liberated zone would have to be protected by U.S. military might, both from the air and, if necessary, on the ground."

 

In January 1999, the PNAC circulated a memo that criticized the December 1998 bombing of Iraq in Operation Desert Fox as ineffective, questioned the viability of Iraqi democratic opposition which the U.S. was supporting through the Iraq Liberation Act, and referred to any "containment" policy as an illusion.[13]

 

[edit] Rebuilding America's DefensesIn September 2000, the PNAC published a controversial 90-page report entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, and Resources For a New Century. The report, which lists as Project Chairmen Donald Kagan and Gary Schmitt and as Principal Authors. Thomas Donnelly, quotes from the PNAC's June 1997 "Statement of Principles" and proceeds "from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces."[14][15]

 

The report argues:

 

The American peace has proven itself peaceful, stable, and durable. It has, over the past decade, provided the geopolitical framework for widespread economic growth and the spread of American principles of liberty and democracy. Yet no moment in international politics can be frozen in time; even a global Pax Americana will not preserve itself.[14]

 

After its title page, the report features a page entitled "About the Project for the New American Century", quoting key passages from its 1997 "Statement of Principles":

 

“ [What we require is] a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States’ global responsibilities. Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership of the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of the past century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.[14]

”

 

In its "Preface", in highlighted boxes, Rebuilding America's Defenses states that it aims to:

 

ESTABLISH FOUR CORE MISSIONS for the U.S. military:

 

defend the American homeland;

fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars;

perform the “constabulary” duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;

transform U.S. forces to exploit the “revolution in military affairs”;

and that

 

To carry out these core missions, we need to provide sufficient force and budgetary allocations. In particular, the United States must:

MAINTAIN NUCLEAR STRATEGIC SUPERIORITY, basing the U.S. deterrent upon a global, nuclear net assessment that weighs the full range of current and emerging threats, not merely the U.S.-Russia balance.

RESTORE THE PERSONNEL STRENGTH of today’s force to roughly the levels anticipated in the “Base Force” outlined by the Bush Administration, an increase in active-duty strength from 1.4 million to 1.6 million.

REPOSITION U.S. FORCES to respond to 21st century strategic realities by shifting permanently-based forces to Southeast Europe and Southeast Asia, and by changing naval deployment patterns to reflect growing U.S. strategic concerns in East Asia. (iv)

 

It specifies the following goals:

 

MODERNIZE CURRENT U.S. FORCES SELECTIVELY, proceeding with the F-22 program while increasing purchases of lift, electronic support and other aircraft; expanding submarine and surface combatant fleets; purchasing Comanche helicopters and medium-weight ground vehicles for the Army, and the V-22 Osprey “tilt-rotor” aircraft for the Marine Corps.

CANCEL “ROADBLOCK” PROGRAMS such as the Joint Strike Fighter, CVX aircraft carrier,[16] and Crusader howitzer system that would absorb exorbitant amounts of Pentagon funding while providing limited improvements to current capabilities. Savings from these canceled programs should be used to spur the process of military transformation.

DEVELOP AND DEPLOY GLOBAL MISSILE DEFENSES to defend the American homeland and American allies, and to provide a secure basis for U.S. power projection around the world.[17]

CONTROL THE NEW “INTERNATIONAL COMMONS” OF SPACE AND “CYBERSPACE,” and pave the way for the creation of a new military service – U.S. Space Forces – with the mission of space control.

EXPLOIT THE “REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS” to insure the long-term superiority of U.S. conventional forces. Establish a two-stage transformation process which

• maximizes the value of current weapons systems through the application of advanced technologies, and,

• produces more profound improvements in military capabilities, encourages competition between single services and joint-service experimentation efforts.

INCREASE DEFENSE SPENDING gradually to a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually. (v)

 

The report emphasizes:

 

Fulfilling these requirements is essential if America is to retain its militarily dominant status for the coming decades. Conversely, the failure to meet any of these needs must result in some form of strategic retreat. At current levels of defense spending, the only option is to try ineffectually to “manage” increasingly large risks: paying for today’s needs by shortchanging tomorrow’s; withdrawing from constabulary missions to retain strength for large-scale wars; “choosing” between presence in Europe or presence in Asia; and so on. These are bad choices. They are also false economies. The “savings” from withdrawing from the Balkans, for example, will not free up anywhere near the magnitude of funds needed for military modernization or transformation. But these are false economies in other, more profound ways as well. The true cost of not meeting our defense requirements will be a lessened capacity for American global leadership and, ultimately, the loss of a global security order that is uniquely friendly to American principles and prosperity. (v-vi)

 

In relation to the Persian Gulf, citing particularly Iraq and Iran, Rebuilding America's Defenses states that "while the unresolved conflict in Iraq provides the immediate justification [for U.S. military presence], the need for a substantial American force presence in the [Persian] Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein" and "Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the [Persian] Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region."[14]

 

One of the core missions outlined in the 2000 report Rebuilding America's Defenses is "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars."[4][18]

 

[edit] Post-9/11 call for regime change in IraqOn September 20, 2001 (nine days after the September 11, 2001 attacks), the PNAC sent a letter to President George W. Bush, advocating "a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq," or regime change:

 

...even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism.[4][19]

 

From 2001 through 2002, the co-founders and other members of the PNAC published articles supporting the United States' invasion of Iraq.[20] On its website, the PNAC promoted its point of view that leaving Saddam Hussein in power would be "surrender to terrorism."[21][22][23][24]

 

In 2003, during the period leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the PNAC had seven full-time staff members in addition to its board of directors.[1]

 

[edit] Human Rights and the EU Arms EmbargoIn 2005, the European Union considered lifting the arms embargo placed on Beijing. The embargo was put in place after the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The PNAC, along with other concerned countries, composed a letter to Javier Solana, asking that the EU not lift the embargo until three conditions were met:

 

A general amnesty of all prisoners of conscience, including those imprisoned in connection to peaceful protest in 1989, and public trials by independent court for those charged with ‘criminal’ acts.

A reversal of the official verdict on the 1989 movement as a ‘counter-revolution riot,’ allowing an independent ‘truth commission’ to investigate and provide a comprehensive account of the killings, torture, and arbitrary detention, and bringing to justice those responsible for the violations of human rights involved.

Adoption and implementation of the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights, taking concrete actions to enforce other international human rights conventions and treaties that China has joined.

The justification for these conditions was explained as follows:

 

“Doing away with this sanction without corresponding improvements in human rights... would send the wrong signal to the Chinese people, including especially those of us who lost loved ones, who are persecuted, and for all Chinese who continue to struggle for the ideal that inspired the 1989 movement.”[25]

[edit] End of the organizationBy the end of 2006, PNAC was "reduced to a voice-mail box and a ghostly website", with "a single employee" "left to wrap things up", according to the BBC News.[26] According to Tom Barry, "The glory days of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) quickly passed."[27] In 2006, Gary Schmitt, former executive director of the PNAC, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and director of its program in Advanced Strategic Studies, stated that PNAC had come to a natural end:

 

When the project started, it was not intended to go forever. That is why we are shutting it down. We would have had to spend too much time raising money for it and it has already done its job. We felt at the time that there were flaws in American foreign policy, that it was neo-isolationist. We tried to resurrect a Reaganite policy. Our view has been adopted. Even during the Clinton administration we had an effect, with Madeleine Albright [then secretary of state] saying that the United States was 'the indispensable nation'. But our ideas have not necessarily dominated. We did not have anyone sitting on Bush's shoulder. So the work now is to see how they are implemented.[26]

 

PNAC's successor organization is the Foreign Policy Initiative.[28][29]

 

[edit] Controversy[edit] US world dominanceAccording to critics, including Paul Reynolds, PNAC promoted American "hegemony" and "full-spectrum" dominance in its publications.[30][31][32][33]

 

Ebrahim Afsah, in "Creed, Cabal, or Conspiracy – The Origins of the Current Neo-Conservative Revolution in US Strategic Thinking", published in the German Law Journal, cited Jochen Bölsche's view that the goal of the PNAC was world dominance or global hegemony by the United States.[34][35] According to Bölsche, Rebuilding America's Defenses "was developed by Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Libby, and is devoted to matters of 'maintaining US pre-eminence, thwarting rival powers and shaping the global security system according to US interests.'"[34][35]

 

George Monbiot, a political activist from the United Kingdom, stated: "...to pretend that this battle begins and ends in Iraq requires a willful denial of the context in which it occurs. That context is a blunt attempt by the superpower to reshape the world to suit itself."[36]

 

PNAC co-founder Robert Kagan countered such criticism in his statement during a debate on whether or not "The United States Is, and Should Be, an Empire":

 

"There is a vital distinction between being powerful--even most powerful in the world--and being an empire. Economic expansion does not equal imperialism, and there is no such thing as "cultural imperialism". If America is an empire, then why was it unable to mobilize its subjects to support the war against Saddam Hussein? America is not an empire, and its power stems from voluntary associations and alliances. American hegemony is relatively well accepted because people all over the world know that U.S. forces will eventually withdraw from the occupied territories. The effect of declaring that the United States is an empire would not only be factually wrong, but strategically catastrophic. Contrary to the exploitative purposes of the British, the American intentions of spreading democracy and individual rights are incompatible with the notion of an empire. The genius of American power is expressed in the movie The Godfather II, where, like Hyman Roth, the United States has always made money for its partners. America has not turned countries in which it intervened into deserts; it enriched them. Even the Russians knew they could surrender after the Cold War without being subjected to occupation."[37]

 

[edit] Excessive focus on military strategies, neglect of diplomatic strategiesJeffrey Record, of the Strategic Studies Institute, in his monograph Bounding the Global War on Terrorism, Gabriel Kolko, research professor emeritus at York University in Toronto, and author of Another Century of War? (The New Press, 2002), in his article published in CounterPunch, and William Rivers Pitt, in Truthout, respectively, argued that the PNAC's goals of military hegemony exaggerated what the military can accomplish, that they failed to recognize "the limits of US power", and that favoring pre-emptive exercise of military might over diplomatic strategies could have "adverse side effects."[38][39][40] (Paul Reynolds and Max Boot have made similar observations.[30][31])

 

The Sydney Morning Herald published an English translation of an article published in German in Der Spiegel summarizing former President Jimmy Carter's position and stating that President Carter:

 

judges the PNAC agenda in the same way. At first, argues Carter, Bush responded to the challenge of September 11 in an effective and intelligent way, "but in the meantime a group of conservatives worked to get approval for their long held ambitions under the mantle of 'the war on terror'." The restrictions on civil rights in the US and at Guantanamo, cancellation of international accords, "contempt for the rest of the world", and finally an attack on Iraq "although there is no threat to the US from Baghdad" - all these things will have devastating consequences, according to Carter. "This entire unilateralism", warns the ex-President, "will increasingly isolate the US from those nations that we need in order to do battle with terrorism".[34]

 

[edit] "New Pearl Harbor"Section V of Rebuilding America's Defenses, entitled "Creating Tomorrow's Dominant Force", includes the sentence: "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor" (51).[14]

 

Though not arguing that Bush administration PNAC members were complicit in those attacks, other social critics such as commentator Manuel Valenzuela and journalist Mark Danner,[41][42][43] investigative journalist John Pilger, in New Statesman,[44] and former editor of The San Francisco Chronicle Bernard Weiner, in CounterPunch,[45] all argue that PNAC members used the events of 9/11 as the "Pearl Harbor" that they needed––that is, as an "opportunity" to "capitalize on" (in Pilger's words), in order to enact long-desired plans.

 

[edit] Inexperienced in realities of warFormer US Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin and UK Labour MP and Father of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell, criticized PNAC members for promoting policies which support an idealized version of war, even though only a handful of PNAC members have served in the military or, if they served, never seen combat.[46]

 

As quoted in Paul Reynolds' BBC News report, David Rothkopf stated:

 

Their [The Project for the New American Century's] signal enterprise was the invasion of Iraq and their failure to produce results is clear. Precisely the opposite has happened. The US use of force has been seen as doing wrong and as inflaming a region that has been less than susceptible to democracy. Their plan has fallen on hard times. There were flaws in the conception and horrendously bad execution. The neo-cons have been undone by their own ideas and the incompetence of the Bush administration.[26]

 

In discussing the PNAC report Rebuilding America's Defenses (2000), Neil MacKay, investigations editor for the Scottish Sunday Herald, quoted Tam Dalyell: "'This is garbage from right-wing think-tanks stuffed with chicken-hawks -- men who have never seen the horror of war but are in love with the idea of war. Men like Cheney, who were draft-dodgers in the Vietnam war. These are the thought processes of fanaticist Americans who want to control the world.'"[47]

 

Eliot A. Cohen, a signatory to the PNAC "Statement of Principles", responded in The Washington Post: "There is no evidence that generals as a class make wiser national security policymakers than civilians. George C. Marshall, our greatest soldier statesman after George Washington, opposed shipping arms to Britain in 1940. His boss, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with nary a day in uniform, thought otherwise. Whose judgment looks better?"[48]

 

[edit] PNAC role in promoting invasion of IraqCommentators from divergent parts of the political spectrum––such as Democracy Now! and American Free Press, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams and former Republican Congressmen Pete McCloskey and Paul Findley––voiced their concerns about the influence of the PNAC on the decision by President George W. Bush to invade Iraq.[49][50] Some have regarded the PNAC's January 16, 1998 letter to President Clinton, which urged him to embrace a plan for "the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power,"[11] and the large number of members of PNAC appointed to the Bush administration as evidence that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a foregone conclusion.[42][51]

 

The television program Frontline, broadcast on PBS, presented the PNAC's letter to President Clinton as a notable event in the leadup to the Iraq war.[52]

 

Media commentators have found it significant that signatories to the PNAC's January 16, 1998 letter to President Clinton (and some of its other position papers, letters, and reports) included such later Bush administration officials as Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Richard Armitage, and Elliott Abrams.[30][38][41][52]

 

[edit] PNAC role in promoting genetically operating racist bioweapons"And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool"(60). [14] This quote shows PNAC thoughts about genetically operating racist bioweapons and mentions them as "a politically useful tool".

 

[edit] Persons associated with the PNAC[edit] Project directors[as listed on the PNAC website:]

 

William Kristol, Co-founder and Chairman[1]

Robert Kagan, Co-founder[1]

Bruce P. Jackson[1]

Mark Gerson[1]

Randy Scheunemann[1]

 

[edit] Project staffEllen Bork, Deputy Director[1]

Gary Schmitt, Senior Fellow[1][53]

Thomas Donnelly, Senior Fellow[1]

Reuel Marc Gerecht, Senior Fellow[1]

Mitch Jackson, Senior Fellow

Timothy Lehmann, Assistant Director[1]

Michael Goldfarb, Research Associate[1]

 

[edit] Former directors and staffDaniel McKivergan, Deputy Director[54]

[edit] Signatories to Statement of PrinciplesElliott Abrams[5]

Gary Bauer[5]

William J. Bennett[5]

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush[5]

Richard B. Cheney[5]

Eliot A. Cohen[5]

Midge Decter[5]

Paula Dobriansky[5]

Steve Forbes[5]

Aaron Friedberg[5]

Francis Fukuyama[5]

Frank Gaffney[5]

Fred C. Ikle[5]

Donald Kagan[5]

Zalmay Khalilzad[5]

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby[5]

Norman Podhoretz[5]

J. Danforth Quayle[5]

Peter W. Rodman[5]

Stephen P. Rosen[5]

Henry S. Rowen[5]

Donald Rumsfeld[5]

Vin Weber[5]

George Weigel[5]

Paul Wolfowitz[5]

 

[edit] Signatories or contributors to other significant letters or reports[15]Elliott Abrams[9][11]

Kenneth Adelman[55]

Richard V. Allen[19]

Richard L. Armitage[11]

Gary Bauer[19][55]

Jeffrey Bell[19][55]

William J. Bennett[9][11][19][55]

Jeffrey Bergner[9][11][19]

John Bolton[9][11]

Ellen Bork[55]

Rudy Boschwitz[19]

Linda Chavez[55]

Eliot Cohen[14][19][55]

Seth Cropsey[19]

Midge Decter[19][55]

Paula Dobriansky[9][11]

Thomas Donnelly[14][19][55]

Nicholas Eberstadt,[19][55][56]

Hillel Fradkin[19][55][57]

Aaron Friedberg[19]

Francis Fukuyama[9][11][19]

Frank Gaffney[19][55]

Jeffrey Gedmin[19][55]

Reuel Marc Gerecht[19][55]

Charles Hill[19][55]

Bruce P. Jackson[19][55]

Eli S. Jacobs[19]

Michael Joyce[19]

Donald Kagan[14][19][55]

Robert Kagan[9][11][14][19][55]

Stephen Kantany

Zalmay Khalilzad[9][11]

Jeane Kirkpatrick[19]

Charles Krauthammer[19]

William Kristol[9][11][14][19]

John Lehman[19][55]

I. Lewis Libby[14]

Tod Lindberg[55][58]

Rich Lowry[55]

Clifford May[19][55]

John McCain[59]

Joshua Muravchik[55]

Michael O'Hanlon [60][61]

Martin Peretz[19][55]

Richard Perle[9][11][19][55]

Daniel Pipes[55]

Norman Podhoretz[19][55]

Peter W. Rodman[9][11][19]

Stephen P. Rosen[14][19][55]

Donald Rumsfeld[9][11]

Randy Scheunemann[19][55]

Gary Schmitt[14][19][53][55]

William Schneider, Jr.[9][11][19][55]

Richard H. Shultz[19][62]

Henry Sokolski[19]

Stephen J. Solarz[19]

Vin Weber[9][11][19]

Leon Wieseltier[19]

Marshall Wittmann[19][55]

Paul Wolfowitz[9][11][14]

R. James Woolsey[9][11][55]

Dov Zakheim[14][63]

Robert B. Zoellick[9][11]

 

[edit] Associations with Bush administrationAfter the election of George W. Bush in 2000, a number of PNAC's members or signatories were appointed to key positions within the President's administration:

 

Name Position(s) held

Elliott Abrams Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations (2001–2002), Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs (2002–2005), Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy (2005–2009) (all within the National Security Council)

Richard Armitage Deputy Secretary of State (2001–2005)

John R. Bolton Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (2001–2005), U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005–2006)

Dick Cheney Vice President (2001–2009)

Eliot A. Cohen Member of the Defense Policy Advisory Board (2007–2009)[64]

Seth Cropsey Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (12/2002-12/2004)

Paula Dobriansky Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2007)

Aaron Friedberg Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Vice President (2003–2005)

Francis Fukuyama Member of The President's Council on Bioethics (2001–2005)

Zalmay Khalilzad U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (11/2003 - 6/2005), U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (6/2005 - 3/2007) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2007–2009)

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States (2001–2005)

Richard Perle Chairman of the Board, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee (2001–2003)

Peter W. Rodman Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security (2001–2007)

Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense (2001–2006)

Randy Scheunemann Member of the U.S. Committee on NATO, Project on Transitional Democracies, International Republican Institute

Paul Wolfowitz Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–2005) 10th President of the World Bank (2005-2007)

Dov S. Zakheim Department of Defense Comptroller (2001–2004)

Robert B. Zoellick Office of the United States Trade Representative (2001–2005), Deputy Secretary of State (2005–2006), 11th President of the World Bank (2007–Present)

[edit] See alsoCenter for a New American Security

American Century

A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs

Office of Special Plans

The New American

[edit] Notes^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "About PNAC", newamericancentury.org, n.d., accessed May 30, 2007: "Established in the spring of 1997, the Project for the New American Century is a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. The Project is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project (501c3); the New Citizenship Project's chairman is William Kristol and its president is Gary Schmitt."

^ Home page of the Project for the New American Century, accessed May 30, 2007.

^ "Empire builders - Neoconservatives and their blueprint for US power", The Christian Science Monitor (Copyright © 2004), accessed May 22, 2007.

^ a b c The PNAC was often identified as a "neo-con" or "right-wing think tank" in profiles featured on the websites of "left-wing" and "progressive" "policy institute" and "media watchdog" organizations, which were critical of it; see, e.g., "Profile: Project for the New American Century", Right Web (International Relations Center), November 22, 2003, accessed June 1, 2007.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Elliott Abrams, et al., "Statement of Principles", June 3, 1997, newamericancentury.org, accessed May 28, 2007.

^ Kristol, William; Kagan, Robert (January 30, 1998). "Bombing Iraq Isn't Enough". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1998/01/30/opinion/bombing-iraq-isn-t-eno...

^ Kristol, William; Kagan, Robert (February 26, 1998). "A 'Great Victory' for Iraq". The Washington Post. www.newamericancentury.org/iraq-022698.htm

^ a b Wedel, Janine (2009). Shadow Elite. New York: Basic Books. p. 170.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Elliott Abrams, et al.,Letter to Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott, May 28, 1998, newamericancentury.org, accessed May 30, 2007.

^ "ENR H.R. 4655: Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)", 105th Congress of the United States, thomas.loc.gov (THOMAS online database at the Library of Congress), January 27, 1998, accessed June 1, 2007.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Open Letter to President Bill Clinton", January 16, 1998, accessed May 28, 2007.

^ William Kristol, "How to Attack Iraq", The Weekly Standard, November 16, 1998, editorial, online posting, newamericancentury.org, web.archive.org, accessed May 30,

Cami Ral, Anyos, La Massana, Vall nord, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

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"The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Children's Center, established in 1889. It has consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the United States in terms of the number/amount of research grants/funding awarded by the National Institutes of Health, among other measures.

 

Baltimore (/ˈbɔːltɪmɔːr/ BAWL-tim-or, locally: /bɔːldəˈmɔːr/ bawl-da-MOR or /ˈbɔːlmər/ BAWL-mər) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and today is the most populous independent city in the United States. As of 2021, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be 2,838,327, making it the 20th largest metropolitan area in the country. Baltimore is located about 40 miles (64 km) north northeast of Washington, D.C., making it a principal city in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA), the third-largest CSA in the nation, with a 2021 estimated population of 9,946,526.

 

Prior to European colonization, the Baltimore region was used as hunting grounds by the Susquehannock Native Americans, who were primarily settled further northwest than where the city was later built. Colonists from the Province of Maryland established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade with Europe, and established the Town of Baltimore in 1729. The first printing press and newspapers were introduced to Baltimore by Nicholas Hasselbach and William Goddard respectively, in the mid-18th century.

 

The Battle of Baltimore was a pivotal engagement during the War of 1812, culminating in the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry, during which Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that would become "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was eventually designated as the American national anthem in 1931. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War.

 

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the oldest railroad in the United States, was built in 1830 and cemented Baltimore's status as a major transportation hub, giving producers in the Midwest and Appalachia access to the city's port. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. In addition, Baltimore was a major manufacturing center. After a decline in major manufacturing, heavy industry, and restructuring of the rail industry, Baltimore has shifted to a service-oriented economy. Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University are the city's top two employers. Baltimore and its surrounding region are home to the headquarters of a number of major organizations and government agencies, including the NAACP, ABET, the National Federation of the Blind, Catholic Relief Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, World Relief, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Social Security Administration. Baltimore is also home to the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.

 

Many of Baltimore's neighborhoods have rich histories. The city is home to some of the earliest National Register Historic Districts in the nation, including Fell's Point, Federal Hill, and Mount Vernon. These were added to the National Register between 1969 and 1971, soon after historic preservation legislation was passed. Baltimore has more public statues and monuments per capita than any other city in the country. Nearly one third of the city's buildings (over 65,000) are designated as historic in the National Register, which is more than any other U.S. city. Baltimore has 66 National Register Historic Districts and 33 local historic districts. The historical records of the government of Baltimore are located at the Baltimore City Archives." - info from Wikipedia.

 

The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.

 

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Good old Scottish Region consistently 'pinching' our steam heat machines for their passenger work!

phases @ Milk Glass Co.

www.facebook.com/events/569222199799436/

Show runs: November 23 - December 8

Opening night: November 23, 6 pm - 11 pm

 

PHASES is a group show in consistent dimensions.

 

Phases, as a theme, is open to a wide range of interpretations and all participating artists were given no limitations regarding the mediums they used. However, what is unique to this show is its consistent dimensions. All artists have created pieces using a congruent size in order to bring structure and harmony to the show. Within the boundaries of a 12" x 12" size constraint, the limitless possibilities surrounding the theme and form creates a thought-provoking collection of work.

 

Phase (noun):

 

Any of the major appearances or aspects in which a thing of varying modes or conditions manifests itself to the eye or mind.

 

A stage in a process of change or development: Each phase of life brings its own joys.

 

A side, aspect, or point of view: this is only one phase of the question.

 

A state of synchronous operation: to put two mechanisms in phase.

 

Astronomy:

 

The particular appearance presented by the moon or a planet at a given time.

 

One of the recurring appearances or states of the moon or a planet in respect to the form, or the absence, of its illuminated disk: the phases of the moon.

 

Featured artists include:

 

Tiffany Alice;

Paul Chin;

Robin Clason;

Char Da Silva;

Yeliz Gedik;

David Gillespie;

Sena Gonulkirmaz;

Terra Hazelton;

Chris Joynt;

Evie Lepietuszko;

Michael Linington;

Marcelo Martins;

Taryn Mooradian;

Sasha Moroz;

Caroline Mosby;

Vini Nascimento;

Mike Ness;

Alexandria Pellegrino;

Kathleen Reichelt;

Wes Rickert;

Jen Rose;

Igor Sinitar;

Alëna Skarina;

Micheal Toke;

Freddie Towe;

Kathleen Troy;

Asia Vickovic;

Meichen Waxer;

Juliann Wilding.

 

Music provided by Raymond Gillespie

Quella baracchina in alto a sinistra, una volta era grande un terzo di così, aveva uno spiazzo di cemento davanti ove noi ragazzetti da più grandi giocavamo a tennis, ma soprattutto era la rimessa degli attrezzi del bagnino... nella fattispecie mio nonno.

Ah, sì... i bagni poi non si chiamavano ancora Mediterranèe ma ancora isola verde.

L’acqua invece era sempre dello stesso blu, la spiaggia della stessa consistenza mista tra sabbia e ghiaia e le cabine in cemento io me le ricordo da sempre, solo di un’altra tinta.

Comunque...

Nella sua rimessa il nonno aveva tutte le cose che gli servivano per svolgere la sua professione da bagnino, ci ridisponeva ad esempio i vari salvagente dopo averli usati durante il giorno, i remi del pattino che usava per il salvataggio, il rastrello per tirare la sabbia, il kit del pronto intervento, la canotta con scritto bagnino (e non “assistente bagnanti” come oggi) ecc...

E poi, in un angoletto aveva anche un bancone con i suoi attrezzi e con le altre cose che, smessi i panni da bagnino, gli erano utili per vestire quelli da pescatore: reti, ami, polipare, stivaloni in gomma, cerate, lampare ecc...

In un altro angoletto aveva anche la sua brandina per le notti di mare mosso in cui rimaneva a dormire (sonnecchiare) in spiaggia perché doveva badare a che il mare non si portasse via le sdraio e gli ombrelloni, più un piccolo frigorifero (un lusso per quei tempi) ove non mancava mai di tenere qualche ghiacciolo perché ne era ghiotto e qualche bevanda per lui e per il suo nipotino diletto.

Alle pareti erano attaccate vecchie fotografie di quando avevano varato la barca col fratello, oppure di quando avevano pescato un pescione lungo così o di quando se ne stava seduto sulla sua sdraio a controllare che in mare nessuno avesse problemi...

Era una pittura rifinitissima del suo essere ciò che stava là dentro.

E per aria, appesi a due chiodi precari c’erano sti cosi arancioni acceso, giganti... sembravano due piccole canoe, e suscitavano tanto la mia curiosità da bambino.

Il nonno, giorno per giorno e man mano che gli capitava di utilizzare le varie cose, me ne spiegava la funzione, mi mostrava come si adoperavano e spesso mi raccontava una storia inerente l’oggetto, un suo ricordo in merito intanto che ci mangiavamo uno dei suoi ghiaccioli.

È passato del tempo ma l’interesse che ho sempre nutrito per quegli affari arancioni ancora me lo ricordo come fosse adesso... solo che al nonno non chiesi mai cosa fossero certo che prima o dopo, sarebbe venuto anche il momento in cui ci avrebbe pensato lui a dirmelo.

Un giorno, mentre il nonno era fuori che armeggiava in qualcuno dei suoi lavoretti ed io ero entrato a prendermi un ghiacciolo (mi sa che i ghiaccioli il nonno li teneva per me, mica perché era ghiotto lui), mi avvicinai a quegli strani oggetti, timidamente perché anche un po’ di paura la mettevano addosso...

Allungai una delle mie manine incerte e feci per toccarli, forse per rendermi conto che erano veri, per sentire di che consistenza fossero...

E ne feci cadere rovinosamente in terra uno.

Si scacchiò un bordino... un pezzo non più grande di una decina di centimetri, ma si ruppe.

Io spaventato corsi via.

Quando più tardi rientrammo col nonno ed egli lo vide in terra rotto disse “Lo sapevo che quei chiodi non tenevano un bel niente!... Beh, meglio lui che io”.

Perché lui era così: teneva moltissimo alle sue cose ma sapeva attribuirgli il giusto valore.

Dal giorno appresso non vidi più altri oggetti enormi e colorati nella baracchetta del nonno, così, anche il supplizio del rimorso fu più facile da smaltire per il piccolo Berruti.

 

Molti anni dopo, quando il nonno già non c’era più e la nonna si era appena trasferita nella casa nuova, io ero appena arrivato per le vacanze estive e stavo bevendo la mia tazza di caffelatte con biscotti e mannite che la nonna, pure se da quel punto di vista non mi risulta avere mai avuti problemi, si ostinava a mettermi nei primi giorni di mare perché sosteneva facesse bene, mi andò lo sguardo in alto, alla destra della porta...

E li vidi...

I due giganti arancioni erano lassù appesi (stavolta in modo saldo perché c’aveva pensato la nonna), con la stessa breccia che avevo aperto io su un bordo tanti anni fa quando me n’era caduto uno: erano proprio loro, non v’era dubbio!

Quel primo giorno le pensai tutte...

Ma anche in quell’occasione non dissi niente e neppure nei giorni appresso... una sensazione difficile da rendere quella che provavo.

Qualche tempo dopo, appurato con sollievo che non stavano lassù perché mi si voleva in qualche modo fare un processo, divennero così come li aveva destinati la nonna, dei complementi d’arredo: li guardavo sempre con un certo batticuore, ma ci facevo meno caso.

Passò quell’estate ed anche molte altre finché un giorno, da adulto il discorso andò sul nonno ed io, come quando ti ostini a svitare un barattolo di conserva e non ci riesci e poi arriva il primo che passa e lo svita, con la stessa facilità, chiesi alla nonna cosa fossero...

Vidi i suoi occhi arrossarsi e la commozione assalirla... tirò su col naso e mi disse “gli zoccoli da pescatore del nonno”.

 

Pelle d’oca...

 

First Light, South Tufa. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

 

First light of dawn illuminates tufa towers and distant mountain at Mono Lake, California.

 

(G Dan Mitchell)

 

This photograph was made at the usual spot - anyone who has photographed at Mono (and who hasn't!? :-) knows that the most consistent spot to shoot sunrise light is at the South Tufa area, down the road from highway 395 a bit south of Lee Vining. On a good morning you'll have at least some clouds, and the location of those clouds may dictate what your foreground subject is; do you want to shoot to the north and the low hills, to the east and towards the sunrise, or toward the Sierra Nevada crest? You arrive very early, usually well before dawn, and walk out to the edge of the water where the towers are. You find a composition and wait, with the only sounds being the cries of seagulls (a sound I immediately associate with Mono) and possibly the voices of other photographers. The sky begins to lighten and then, almost before you know it, the warm glow of the first dawn light begins to light up the towers. (Am I the only one who marvels that this happens in almost complete silence?)

 

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.G Dan Mitchell

I've actually been pretty consistent taking photos this year for the project, but due to a number of things, including my camera roll disappearing under Flickr (it's been months!) I've been terrible about posting them.

 

I hope to eventually catch up but I realize that I need to start with the current photos and get back into that habit. So here is a photo from my son's team ride yesterday. We typically ride in this park every week, but the weather has been so wet and we've avoided it. Finally had a nice day and I snapped this photo of the kids riding away from me. 73/366

Remarkably, Penn South's shareholders have consistently voted against "going private," although if they gave themselves the right to sell their apartments on the open market, they certainly would be able to get very high prices for them. Instead, they've decided to give others the same opportunity for affordable middle-income housing that they had.

 

Penn South's decision shouldn't be surprising, because it is known for its political liberalism - one gets the feeling that the complex is a mini-Blue State unto itself. Many of the early residents were members of the ILGWU (International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the complex's original sponsor) and other unions. On the dais at the complex's opening ceremonies in 1962 were President John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt and David Dubinsky, head of the ILGWU. As a matter of fact, Penn South (meaning "south of Penn Station") was known at first as the ILGWU Houses.

  

This week’s exploration had to be special, as it marks the halfway point of our 52-week challenge. I find it very important that I remain consistent in everything I do regarding Symphony. Consistency is a characteristic that I’ve always... well, struggled to be consistent with. I really don’t want this for Symphony. We woke up at 05:30 and rushed out of the house so Symphony could witness her first sunrise with me. What better to teach Symphony consistency than with the sunrise. I had warned Symphony the day before that we would be getting up extra early so we could go do this together as our exploration for the week. When I went to wake her up, to my surprise, she nearly jumped out of the bed as if she’d been waiting for me all night. As each week goes by, Symphony seems to be looking more and more forward to spending this time with me. It brings me so much joy that Symphony has this time with her daddy that she can completely rely on week after week. I pray that it instills in her a sense of consistency, and that she uses that to bring glory to God continuously in everything she does. I taught Symphony that the sun rises every single morning and that just as consistent and reliable as the sun is, I would be as her daddy as long as I live. I fed her some facts about the sun, she chased butterflies, and we just had a peaceful morning enjoying the amazing works of God.

  

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

  

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1

Olympus have consistently produced outstanding cameras. They have designed some of the most creative shooters throughout their history, constantly innovating. Couple that with outstanding Zuiko lenses, and you're onto a winner.

 

I hope you enjoy my Olympus tree created with some of the great camera's i've collected and used over the years.

 

Merry Christmas

Paired to anodized Son 28 and BHS hub for a very consistent surface finish.

 

Detail of ventilation/plant buildings

 

The University of Aarhus, which dates from 1931, is a unique and coherent university campus with consistent architecture, homogenous use of yellow brickwork and adaptation to the landscape. The university has won renown and praise as an integrated complex which unites the best aspects of functionalism with solid Danish traditions in form and materials.

 

The competition for the university was won by the architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller og Povl Stegmann in 1931. Stegman left the partnership in 1937, Fisker in 1942 and C. F. Møller Architects has been in charge of the continued architectural development and building design of the university until today.

 

The University of Aarhus, with its extensive park in central Aarhus, includes teaching rooms, offices, libraries, workshops and student accommodation. The university has a distinct homogeneous building style and utilises the natural contours of the landscape. The campus has emerged around a distinct moraine gorge and the buildings for the departments and faculties are placed on the slopes, from the main buildings alongside the ring road to the center of the city at Nørreport. All throughout the campus, the buildings are variations of the same clear-cut prismatic volume with pitched roofs, oriented orthogonally to form individual architectural clusters sharing the same vocabulary. The way the buildings emerge from the landscape makes them seem to grow from it, rather than being superimposed on the site.

 

The original scheme for the campus park was made by the famous Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen. Until the death of C. Th. Sørensens in 1979 the development of the park areas were conducted in a close cooperation between C. Th. Sørensen, C. F. Møller and the local park authorities. Since 1979 C. F. Møller Architects - in cooperation with the staff at the university - has continued the intentions of the original scheme for the park, and today the park is a beautiful, green area and an immense contribution to both the university and the city in general.

 

In 2001, C. F. Møller Architects prepared a new masterplan for the long and short term development of the university. Although the university has been extended continuously for more than 75 years, the original masterplan and design principles have been maintained, and have proven a simple yet versatile tool to create a timeless and coherent architectural expression adaptable to changing programs. Today, the university is officially recognized as a Danish national architectural treasure and is internationally renowned as an excellent example of early modern university campus planning.

 

Wow folks. I feel like this project has really turned a corner. I don't think I've consistently cooked such good food. Forty days and I really feel like this 'making dinner' thing is not so hard. What was all the anxiety about anyways?

 

I still have to get around to some of the recipes friends and family have sent me. I am focusing on recipes that include whole foods, locally grown organic produce and meats, and nothing too processed (I make an exception for veganaise, my love). Tonight I found another gem from allrecipes.com. And the whole time I was cooking, I listened to Rupa & the April Fishes (shout out!)

 

Ahi Fish Burgers (makes 4-5 patties)

 

1 pound fresh tuna steaks, minced

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh chives

2 eggs

1/3 cup panko crumbs

1 tablespoon veganaise

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

  

DIRECTIONS

 

1. In a large bowl, mix together tuna, carrot, onion, chives, eggs, panko crumbs, and mayonnaise. Season with garlic salt and black pepper. Form into patties.

2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Arrange patties in the pan (only as many as will fit easily in the pan). Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

 

I paired this with:

 

Strawberry Spinach Salad

 

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced onion

10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces

1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced

1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

 

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.

2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

  

Good. Lord. The Ahi Burger was perfection. You don't have to cook it for so long- just blackening the outsides will heat up the middle just enough. I got the freshest steak at Bi-Rite so I'm sure that helped a lot with taste, too.

The Salad was a great compliment. And the dressing was out of this world. The orignal recipe called for white sugar, I used brown. The Worchestershire and paprika really kicked it up a notch. I might use shallots instead of onions next time.

 

Try this one, you'll love it!

  

Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.

 

The penguins are a delight to watch. The reflections in the water and glass add texture to the rock and feathers.

 

For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...

I developed Shuzo Fujimoto’s design, Petals (CFW 85) into a fractal. I don’t have direct proof if Fujimoto was aware of this possibility, but I think it’s likely. I’m pretty sure I have seen this or very similar design made by someone else independently.

 

At each level of the fractal, one can fold the pleats either in the same direction as in the level before, or reverse it. The model shown here is the one with consistent fold direction, but I also folded a version where the direction alternates at each level.

Ardea

 

Geografia

Ardea sorge su una rocca tufacea, in vista delle propaggini occidentali dei Colli Albani, dalla quale domina la zona circostante; il comune è inserito nell'Agro Romano e si estende a sud di Pomezia, con ai lati la veduta dei Castelli romani e del Mar Tirreno, confinando a sud con il comune di Anzio ed Aprilia.

 

L'origine geologica di quest'area si deve prima all'emersione dal mare del terreno, caratterizzato da lagune e paludi, e quindi dal deposito di consistenti strati di tufi e pozzolane di origine vulcanica in seguito alle eruzioni del cosiddetto Vulcano Laziale. Raffreddandosi il materiale vulcanico si era spaccato, costituendo profonde e strette gole, che si addolciscono mano a mano che si procede verso sud.

 

La costa, formata da lunghe spiagge sabbiose, era caratterizzata dalla presenza di dune conservatesi, oramai, solo in alcuni tratti.

 

Clima

 

Il clima di Ardea è compreso nella regione climatica "Tirrenica meridionale", che risente fortemente dall'influenza del mar Tirreno, la cui distanza massima dall'estremo confine del Comune è di circa dodici chilometri. Il clima è caratterizzato da estati molto calde rinfrescate da venti termici provenienti dal mare, da forti piogge autunnali e primaverili e dalla presenza di correnti umide soprattutto durante l'inverno.

 

Classificazione climatica: zona C, 1295 GR/G

 

Storia, Le origini mitiche

Il mito ha elaborato varie versioni sulle vicende della fondazione della città di Ardea, legate al racconto dello sbarco di Enea sulle coste del Lazio e quindi alla nascita di Roma.

 

Una prima leggenda, riportata da Dionigi di Alicarnasso, fa risalire la fondazione della città ad Ardeas, figlio di Odisseo e Circe. Una diversa versione lega le origini di Ardea, nel XV secolo a.C. a Danae, figlia del re di Argo, che dopo la nascita di Perseo da Zeus, sarebbe giunta sulle coste laziali e avrebbe sposato il rutulo Pilumno. Insieme decisero di fondare una nuova città: il luogo fu scelto in corrispondenza di una ripida rupe tufacea, scoperta risalendo il fiume Incastro su una piccola imbarcazione.

 

Ovidio riferisce l'origine del nome di Ardea all'alzarsi in volo di un airone cenerino (ardea cinerea) dopo l'incendio e la distruzione della città ad opera di Enea, vittorioso sul re rutulo Turno, figlio di Dauno, che a sua volta era figlio di Danae e di Pilumno.

 

« Turno muore. Ardea cade con lui, città fiorente finché visse il suo re. Morto Turno, il fuoco dei Troiani la invade e le sue torri brucia e le dorate travi. Ma, poi che tutto crollò disfatto ed arso, dal mezzo delle macerie un uccello, visto allora per la prima volta, si alza in volo improvvisamente e battendo le ali, si scuote di dosso la cenere. Il suo grido, le sue ali di color cenere, la sua magrezza, tutto ricorda la città distrutta dai nemici. Ed infatti, d'Ardea il nome ancor gli resta. Con le penne del suo uccello Ardea piange la sua sorte »

(Ovidio, Metamorfosi, XV.)

 

Preistoria e protostoria

Il territorio di Ardea era già frequentato nel Paleolitico e sono state rinvenute tombe dell'età del rame, con sepolture in posizione rannicchiata, risalenti agli inizi del II millennio a.C.

 

Nell'età del ferro l'insediamento era formato da tre villaggi di capanne rispettivamente sui tre pianori sui quali sorge ancora oggi la città (Civitavecchia, Acropoli e Casalazzara), dove sono state rinvenute le tracce dei fori di palo delle capanne e una necropoli a "Monte della Noce", sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, con tombe a fossa infantili e una tomba principesca femminile dell'VIII secolo a.C., con ricco corredo.

 

Plinio riporta il popolo dei Rutuli, a cui appartenevano anche i centri di Antium, Satricum e Lavinium, come uno dei più antichi popoli del Latium vetus. Ardea, nata come agglomerato essenzialmente agricolo, si sviluppò tuttavia soprattutto grazie agli scambi commerciali, favoriti dalla posizione della città, compresa tra Latini, Volsci ed Etruschi e dalla dotazione di un porto-canale alla foce del fiume Incastro (Castrum Inui). Nei secoli dall'VIII al VI fu uno dei centri più importanti del Lazio meridionale, con un ricco artigianato e oggetti importati anche da regioni lontane.

La città arrivò al suo periodo di massimo sviluppo nel VII secolo a.C. e furono occupati da edifici religiosi e civili l'Acropoli e la Civitavecchia. Era particolarmente rinomata per la produzione di armi e di oggetti ornamentali.

 

Rutuli e Romani

A più riprese gli Ardeati furono alleati o nemici di Roma, nell'ambito delle vicende della Lega Latina: un primo attacco sotto Tarquinio il Superbo, di cui parla la tradizione, sembra non avesse avuto successo, e poco dopo, nel primo trattato tra Roma e Cartagine del 509 a.C., la città era riportata tra gli alleati dei Romani. Nel corso del V secolo a.C. la vita cittadina fu dominata dalla contesa contro i Volsci e nel IV i Galli, dopo aver saccheggiato Roma, si rivolsero contro Ardea e la assediarono, senza successo; furono anzi gli Ardeati, guidati da Furio Camillo, in esilio nella città, che dopo aver respinto l'assedio, marciarono verso Roma e la liberarono dall'occupazione gallica.

 

Nel secondo trattato romano-cartaginese del 348 a.C., Ardea è nuovamente nominata tra le città alleate dei Romani. A quest'epoca risale il rifacimento delle mura di cinta: il precedente triplice recinto difensivo venne sostituito da mura in opera quadrata, di cui si conservano alcuni resti, che cingevano i pianori dell'Acropoli e della Civitavecchia. Tuttavia, durante la seconda guerra punica, Ardea fu una delle dodici colonie che rifiutarono ai Romani gli aiuti militari. Dopo la sconfitta cartaginese, i Romani si rivolsero contro le città ribelli della Lega Latina sconfiggendole, e le privarono dell'autonomia.

 

Tra il III e il II secolo a.C. Ardea decadde, probabilmente soprattutto per la crisi economica dei centri laziali, le cui risorse si erano prosciugate nelle guerre puniche e nella successiva guerra contro i Sanniti. La città era quasi completamente in abbandono entro l'età imperiale romana, sebbene resti di abitato sopravvivessero fino al V secolo, mentre delle grandi ville furono costruire lungo la via in direzione del mare.

 

Medioevo ed età moderna

La città, sopravvissuta probabilmente come piccolo luogo fortificato, riprese a crescere solo dal IX secolo, in seguito al progressivo spopolamento delle domus cultae, piccoli centri agricoli fondati dai papi nelle campagne per la coltivazione e la bonifica, e alle necessità di difesa contro i Saraceni.

 

Ardea ospitò nel 1118 papa Gelasio II in fuga da Roma per sfuggire all'imperatore Enrico V che pretendeva la conferma dei privilegi concessigli nel 1111 dal suo predecessore, il papa Pasquale II, e l'incoronazione in San Pietro.

 

Nel 1130 l'antipapa Anacleto II attribuì la civitas Ardeae ai monaci benedettini della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura. Successivamente il controllo feudale della città fu oggetto di aspre contese tra le famiglie nobiliari romane. Nel 1419 papa Martino V diede la città ai propri familiari, i Colonna. Il feudo passò successivamente ad altre famiglie papali: dai Borgia tornò ai Colonna, finché nel 1564 venne venduto a Giuliano Cesarini. In questo periodo la città visse essenzialmente come borgo agricolo, seguendo le sorti delle famiglie che di volta in volta la governavano.

 

Nel 1816, a causa dell'esiguo numero di abitanti, la città divenne una frazione di Genzano di Roma e il borgo, alla vigilia della bonifica integrale pontina, risultava disabitato. A partire dal 1932 l'area circostante fu oggetto di lavori di bonifica idraulica, regimentazione delle acque e appoderamento, curati dall'ONC e dai consorzi di bonifica, cui seguì il ripopolamento controllato del centro e delle campagne circostanti. Il borgo fu praticamente "ri-fondato", ristrutturandone i resti, e divenne parte del comune di Pomezia fin dall'atto della sua costituzione.

 

Nel 1970 Ardea tornò ad essere comune autonomo.

 

Chiesa di Santa Marina

La chiesa di Santa Marina si trova all'interno del cimitero di Ardea, adagiata alla roccia tufacea del paese, nel luogo dove, secondo una leggenda, si sarebbe trovata l'entrata della grotta dove visse la santa in eremitaggio, dopo che i monaci ne scoprirono il sesso e la cacciarono dal convento in cui viveva.

 

La costruzione è datata al 1191, ad opera di Cencio Savelli, futuro papa Onorio III, dall'iscrizione posta sopra il portale di ingresso.

 

Sulla facciata era un portico di ingresso, oggi quasi del tutto scomparso, mentre l'ingresso è ancora inquadrato da colonne sorrette da leoni stilofori, con architrave decorato da un bassorilievo. L'interno è ad unica navata e in origine si presentava interamente affrescato.

 

Dietro l'altare sono ancora visibili i resti di un ninfeo del II secolo d.C., scavato nel tufo.

 

Chiesa di S. Pietro Apostolo

La chiesa di San Pietro Apostolo fu edificata nel XII secolo dai monaci dell'abbazia di San Paolo fuori le mura, in stile romanico presso i resti di un tempio di epoca ellenistica. Incorpora una precedente torre di vedetta contro i Saraceni, trasformata in campanile. Conserva materiali più antichi: fregi marmorei del II secolo sono stati riutilizzati come stipiti della porta di ingresso, e di reimpiego è anche un capitello del presbiterio e un'ara sepolcrale.

 

L'interno è a tre navate, divise da archi.

 

Tra il XIV e XVI secolo, quando divenne chiesa baronale subì notevoli trasformazioni. A questo periodo risalgono gli affreschi (XV secolo), un crocifisso ligneo (XVI secolo) e un dipinto di scuola caravaggesca (XVII secolo).

 

L'ultimo restauro risale al 1940 e fu eseguito per espressa volontà di Benito Mussolini durante una sua visita ad Ardea. In epoca recente lo scultore Giacomo Manzù ha realizzato la fonte battesimale e il tabernacolo della navata.

 

Architetture militari [modifica]La prima fortificazione della città è uno degli esempi meglio conservati di aggere arcaico: la difesa era assicurata dallo scavo di un fossato, e il materiale di scavo veniva a formare lungo il lato interno un muro di terra, con un pendio più ripido verso l'esterno e più dolce verso l'interno, per facilitare l'accesso ai difensori. Le difese erano quindi completate da palizzate in legno.I tre pianori della città, in parte fortificati naturalmente dai pendii scoscesi delle colline, erano dotati di aggeri nei punti più facilmente accessibili, verso l'entroterra. La costruzione di queste prime difese è stata attribuita al VII secolo a.C.

 

Le fortificazioni vennero ricostruite nel IV secolo a.C., con mura in opera quadrata che circondavano l'Acropoli, i cui resti sono visibili sul lato nord-orientale, insieme ad un bastione a pianta pentagonale, aggiunto modernamente con il riutilizzo dei blocchi più antichi.

 

Siti Archeologici

Le fonti antiche riportano l'esistenza di culti dedicati a Giunone Regina, a Castore e Polluce, a Venere, a Ercole, a Natio, e al fondatore Pilumno. Gli scavi archeologici hanno rimesso in luce i resti di quattro grandi templi, due sull'Acropoli e due sulla Civitavecchia, dei quali tuttavia si ignora la dedica.

 

Il maggiore dei templi dell'Acropoli, dotato di tre celle e con scalinata frontale, era forse il principale della città, dedicato a Giunone Regina. Ne resta un tratto del pronao, in corrispondenza dell'attuale Municipio e un tratto del muro di cinta del santuario.

 

Un secondo tempio di epoca ellenistica, si trova in corrispondenza della chiesa di San Pietro.

 

Nella località "Casarinaccio" sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, sono conservati i resti di un altro tempio, riferibile al VI secolo a.C., epoca di massimo splendore della città. Gli scavi del tempio, eseguiti negli anni trenta, hanno riportato alla luce il podio del santuario, costituito da tre filari di blocchi di tufo poggianti direttamente sulla roccia, decorati all'esterno da modanature. Il tempio viene convenzionalmente identificato con quello di Venere.

 

Un secondo tempio arcaico, datato al V secolo a.C. è stato rinvenuto nella località "Monte della Noce", sempre sul pianoro della Civitavecchia. Il tempio fu in uso fino al I secolo a.C., mentre in seguito venne abbandonato e i materiali riutilizzati per la costruzione delle ville della zona.

 

Nei pressi doveva trovarsi il foro cittadino, al quale era annessa una basilica, la cui costruzione è stata datata intorno al 100 a.C. e di cui si conservano resti del pavimento in signino.

 

Una rete di cunicoli scavati nel tufo e realizzati nel V secolo a.C. costituiscono un notevole sistema idraulico, destinato al drenaggio delle acque o per le fognature cittadine. Altri ambienti scavati nella roccia erano utilizzati come magazzini o cisterne, in alcuni casi suddivisi in navate da pilastri di tufo. Ambienti scavati sul pendio della Civitavecchia sono stati interpretati come apprestamenti artigianali per l'attività della concia delle pelli (I secolo a.C.).

 

Castrum Inui

Alla foce del fiume Incastro scavi archeologici in corso dal 1998, diretti dal dott. Francesco Di Mario, responsabile di zona della Soprintendenza ai beni archeologici del Lazio, hanno riportato alla luce i resti di un centro portuale fortificato (dal IV-III secolo a.C. fino al III secolo d.C.) e di una precedente area sacra (dal VI secolo a.C. al II secolo d.C.), che sono stati identificati con il Castrum Inui e con il santuario internazionale noto come Aphrodisium, dedicato ad Afrodite Marina.

 

I reperti attestano la presenza di un insediamento urbano numericamente consistente ed organizzato che si avvaleva di grandi cisterne per la riserva idrica, era dotato di impianto termale, di elaborati meccanismi di deflusso delle acque, di costruzioni a più piani con decorazioni murali e numerosi mosaici, sia con tessere grandi, sia con tessere molto piccole. Le parti più antiche sono caratterizzate da strutture imponenti realizzate con blocchi di tufo di grandi dimensioni. Questi manufatti sono stati inglobati nelle costruzioni successive, che si sovrappongono e intersecano tra loro. Con il passare dei secoli le ristrutturazioni diventano meno raffinate e realizzate prevalentemente riutilizzando il materiale esistente. Le recenti campagne di scavo hanno portato alla luce un'area sacra molto estesa, con edifici e strutture in tufo, provvisoriamente datate fra il VI secolo a.C. ed il II secolo d.C. una delle porte di accesso al Castrum ed importante materiale collegato al culto dei Dioscuri, di Venere, di Minerva e di Esculapio.

 

Altro [modifica] Giardini della Landriana [modifica]I Giardini della Landriana sono dei giardini disegnati da Russel Page, famoso architetto di paesaggi, che sistemò la notevole collezione di piante e fiori realizzata da Lavinia Taverna sulla propria proprietà della "La Landriana" nel corso di una decina di anni.

La proprietà si articola su una serie di giardini a tema (giardino degli aranci, giardino delle eriche, valle delle rose, ecc.), da cui il nome della tenuta.

 

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