Falcon Adventure Club
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It really doesn't matter...
Take one of these with your phone or with Canon's latest techno wizardry., the end result will always be the same
Wow! What a bird!
Rain or shine! The newspapers get delivered :)
It's been raining here non stop, but the sun has promised to come out tomorrow. With all this rain, I couldn't resist bringing my little bike to the puddles at the top of the driveway. The paper delivery is a bonus:)
Berliner Hinterhofromantik
Die Wohnhöfe werden abends geschlossen und garantieren auf diese Weise nächtliche Ruhe. Ausgedehnte Büroflächen wurden in den früheren Fabriketagen geschaffen. Genutzt werden diese Räume überwiegend von Angehörigen kreativer Berufe wie Architekten, Internetdesignern, PR-Agenturen. Die kleinen Ladengeschäfte entsprechen ihrem speziellen Angebot von Designprodukten, die in den Höfen gestaltet, hergestellt oder weiterverarbeitet werden.
Info @ Wikipedia
Berlin backyard romance
The residential courtyards are closed in the evenings, thus guaranteeing peace at night. Extensive office space was created in the former factory floors. These rooms are mainly used by members of creative professions such as architects, internet designers and PR agencies. The small shops correspond to their special range of design products that are designed, manufactured or processed in the courtyards.
Info @ Wikipedia
#SundayFunday - Summer is Magic
Kanaloa Surf Beach
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Poison%20Apple/164/17/22
Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY91ClURQJQ
A-L-O-H-A...
...i ka lei
O ke aloha ai,
E makana 'ia,
E na lima pono e...
People are you listenin' to what we're about to say?
We are on a mission, tryin' to find a way.
If you and me make a guarantee,
To spread a little aloha around the world.
And I know we, we can work it out,
And make this world a better place. (For you and for me.)
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
Could you imagine all around the world,
A little aloha in every boy and girl?
Could you imagine how simple life could be,
With a little aloha in you and me?
Let's spread a little bit of aloha,
Put a little love in your heart,
Take a little dip in the ocean.
Ah yeah (ah yeah), uh-huh (uh-huh).
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
Aloha means hello, and aloha means goodbye,
And aloha means I love you, and I want to take it higher.
(I want to get high) With a little aloha...
(I can touch the sky) With a little aloha... aloha.
Let's spread a little bit of aloha,
Put a little love in your heart,
Take a little dip in the ocean.
Ah yeah (ah yeah), uh-huh (uh-huh).
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
A-L-O-H-A, a little aloha in our day
Spread a little aloha around the world.
Wind in my hair, I feel part of everywhere
Underneath my being is a road that disappeared
Late at night I hear the trees
They're singing with the dead
Overhead...
Credits in my Blog:
#MacroMonday
#Puzzle
...there's a secure vaccine against Covid-19? I wish it would happen so soon. What definitely is guaranteed, though, is that from today it's 45 days until Christmas Eve :) And whether you celebrate or not, I'm sure that on everybody's wishlist is also a vaccine.
I had little – or rather no – other choice for "Puzzle" but this Ravensburger Christmas bauble jigsaw puzzle ball, because I don't own any other puzzles. I love to play Adventure games, and puzzles are a part of the gaming routine, but real life puzzles? Nil. So back to the bauble: It depicts a cosy forest Christmas scene with lots of snow, a starry blue hour sky, a Christmas tree (of course) and the forest animals – such as deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds – gathering around various feeders; in short it depicts almost everything that makes you go "Aaawwwww!" when you think of Christmas (please see the fourth comment to see the whole bauble) :) At first I really didn't know how to photograph this pretty puzzle ball in an interesting way. But then I thought "I puzzled it together, so I can also take it apart again, let's take a look inside." What looked like a fragile construction consisting of 60 parts (diameter of the ball: 7 cm / 2,7 inches, the small round parts which you can see here each have a diameter of 4 mm / 0,15 inches) proved to be very sturdy and definitely "take-apart-resistant", but in the end I succeeded to pull out one piece from the starry blue hour sky.
On the inside, the pieces are white, of course, but they are also numbered, and at first I thought I'd pick piece No 1, but then I remembered that I'd already shot numbers on a toy piece for "one Color", so I looked for a nice puzzle piece pattern instead and found this star. I secured the backlit puzzle ball between two large pieces of modeling clay to prevent it from rolling away (it had happened a few times in the beginning), and photographed directly through the hole where piece No. 60 had been; the shape of the vignette is the negatice space of missing piece No. 60.
The photo is a single 40 MP High-Res mode shot, and I had to do a lot of dusting and fuzz removal. Those dark spots, however, are part of the plastic pieces, so I didn't remove them all. Processed in Topaz DeNoise AI ("Low Light" mode at N: 7, S: 67, R: 3, CN 14), Luminar 4 (Detail enhancement – small at 79, medium at 41, large at 3), Viveza and Analog Efex.
Happy Macro Monday, Everyone, stay safe and take care!
Noch 45 Tage bis... zu einem sicheren Covid-19-Impfstoff für alle? Schön wär's. Was wir aber alle ganz sicher in 45 Tagen feiern werden: richtig, Heiligabend :) Und ein sicherer Impfstoff dürfte auch auf jedermanns und jederfraus Wunschzettel stehen. Warum aber dieser Schlenker zu Weihnachten, wenn das Thema doch "Puzzle" ist? Weil das einzige "richtige" Puzzle, das ich im Haus habe, ein Ravensburger "Christmas Puzzle Ball" ist. Bestehend aus 60 erstaunlich fest zusammenhaltenden Puzzleteilen.
Zuerst wusste ich nicht recht, wie ich ihn ansprechend fotografieren sollte; von außen ist er nett anzuschauen, zeigt eine Weihnachtswaldszene mit viel Schnee, einem Sternenhimmel, natürlich einer geschmückten Tanne und vielen Tieren, darunter Rotwild, Eichhörnchen, Hasen und vielen Vögeln, die sich an diversen Futterkrippen zum Weihnachtsschmaus eingefunden haben. So weit, so hübsch. Aber ob das ein spannendes Foto ergeben würde? Also dachte ich mir, ich entferne mal eines der Puzzleteile und schaue hinein. Die Rückseite der Puzzleteile ist weiß und jedes trägt eine Nummer. Zunächst habe ich auch auf die Nummern fokussiert, genauer auf Teil Nr. 1, aber dann fiel mir wieder ein, dass ich bereits für "one Colour" vor zwei Wochen die winzigen Nummern auf einem Spielzeugteil fotografiert hatte. Deshalb habe ich dann nach einem interessanten Puzzlemuster Ausschau gehalten – und fand diesen Stern.
Von hinten beleuchtet (und die Kugel mit zwei Stücken Bastelknete fixiert, weil sie anfangs immer wegrollte) und direkt durch das Loch, das Puzzleteil Nr. 60 hinterlassen hat, hindurchfotografiert. Die Ränder der Vignette sind also der negative Raum des fehlenden Puzzleteilchens. Ich musste ganz schön viele Fussel in PS entfernen; die dunklen Pünktchen sind aber in den Plastikteilchen drin, also habe ich nicht alle von ihnen weggestempelt. Entwickelt in Topaz DeNoise AI ("Low Light" Modus, N: 7, S: 67, R: 3, CN 14), Luminar 4 (Detailverbesserung, klein: 79, mittel: 41, groß 3), Viveza und Analog Efex.
Ich wünsche Euch eine schöne Woche, liebe Flickr-Freunde, bleibt gesund!
I can guarantee you'll never see this image at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. No glossy parks or well tended buildings here--only the grime and grit, courtesy of decades of everyday use and abuse.
San Francisco CA
#113/118/2018 'geometric shapes'
100% pain guaranteed if used inappropriately, oh and do not eat and this is not a toy:)
Public Sculpture and Fountains
You can always guarantee when you visit a city for the first time, there will always be plenty of public works. I like to seek them out, where ever possible. I’m amazed at the quantity, the scale, the quality and sometimes, just the sheer irresponsibility of corporate bodies in their quest to spend our money. How did the 10cc put it? “Art for Arts’ sake”. However mostly I like what I see, hope you do too.
As you will see all of the images in this posting come from Rome. What a beautiful City.
Public Sculpture and Fountains
You can always guarantee when you visit a city for the first time, there will always be plenty of public works. I like to seek them out, where ever possible. I’m amazed at the quantity, the scale, the quality and sometimes, just the sheer irresponsibility of corporate bodies in their quest to spend our money. How did the 10cc put it? “Art for Arts’ sake”. However mostly I like what I see, hope you do too.
As you will see all of the images in this posting come from Rome. What a beautiful City.
Well it looks like Kaiser's guarantee has expired - lol. And no this was not a Christmas present - I found the photo in my archives. It has been too dark lately to take any new photos.
If you pick a fight with a god of death, I can’t guarantee your soul’s safety.
Press "L" to view on Lightbox
Style credits at jangsungyoung.com
Collab with Taylor Wassep featuring Zhao Wei as our victim :D
Saturday night, there were so many places I could have been. My choice was out on the Great Salt Lake, hoping to bag a sunset photo. Nothing is ever guaranteed. Too much wind and my reflections are lost, no clouds and no photos. Saturday night was good.
The Great Salt Lake - GPS is not the exact spot of the shot.
No comments today – just enjoy :-)
Yes, Chancy is napping on my bed.....which she mistakenly thinks is her bed.....but, oh well.....it's ok. She would love to play with Rufus.....a new , very large, cute Airedale adopted by my Flickr friend, MsPixie......view Rufus and smile at her fotos of Rufus at her site..........,,
www.flickr.com/photos/quietly_me/4466666599/ I guarantee you will LYAO.
"Don't come closer or I'll have to go
Owning me like gravity are places that pull
If ever there was someone to keep me at home
It would be you" -Eddie Vedder
Credits:
Skin: Not Found - "Reus" in Medium
Hair: Modulus - Clay Hair base
Head: LeLUTKA - Eon
Eyes: Avi Glam - "Prodigy Eyes" in 101
Body: Legacy Classic M
Outfit: Hoorenbeek - NG Outfit "Momoa"
This year's Johannifeuer in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was a nice evening, which is by no means guaranteed. Many times in previous years it was overcast and rainy which is a shame for the climbers who made those fires on the mountains. A motorbike drove halfway through my long exposure, startling me, i.e. I didn't press the shutter button fast enough.
Guaranteed headache from any of them, personally I steer clear of the flavoured gins. Give me a good old Seagrams gin, slice of lime or cucumber, heaps of ice and a decent tonic…and don’t add any of those fashionable ‘botanical’ extras TVM.
Sheet lead, lead pipes. Fuji X-Pro1 plus Helios 44M-7 at F8. It probably means to state the obvious, but let me say it nevertheless: social inequality in my country, the UK, is not just 'happening', it is not 'an accident'. It is actually organised and systemic and institutional. It has been introduced by man. It is not a product of nature.
don't come closer or I'll have to go
holding me like gravity are places that pull
if ever there was someone to keep me at home
everyone I come across, in cages they bought
they think of me and my wandering, but I'm never what they thought
i've got my indignation, but I'm pure in all my thoughts
Ben Harvey accordion and his band Ornamentals are not entertaining very often. You could probably count their yearly performances on one hand. I for one, look forward to hear this band, as accordion is rarely used in jazz. Ben always dresses up and his bandmates have to keep up. Benson Lee on jazz banjo, Great Bob Scott on drums and Gram Whitty -bass upright bass. Gene Harvey played sax, but is not always available as he performs all over the world. Ben and Gene are also very capable singers, so good entertainment is guaranteed.
256. Distillery. P1690621; Taken 2023-Aug 20. Upload 2023 Oct 12.
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Sorry, to me is very difficult to reciprocate your visit if you only leave a fav without commenting...
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Do not use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.
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Espinaredo, o también conocido como Espinaréu, es un municipio asturiano muy conocido por sus hórreos. Representa uno de los mejores ejemplos de Asturias de esta arquitectura popular. Estas construcciones agrarias las podemos ver por diferentes lugares de la región, aunque en esta localidad hay una gran concentración. Es una visita interesante para los que quieran conocer un poco más de la vida rural.
Espinaredo, el pueblo de los hórreos de Asturias
¿Qué son los hórreos de Espinaredo? Se trata de construcciones de madera que se realizaban para conservar cosechas y carne. Están construidas en altura, para garantizar precisamente que los alimentos estén a buen recaudo y evitar la humedad o que los animales pudieran acceder.
Especialmente los hórreos de Asturias están en la parte más oriental de la región. Los habitantes tenían que adaptarse a las condiciones climáticas de esta región tan húmeda y al guardar los alimentos en altura evitaban el contacto directo con el suelo y las lluviasEspinaredo, or also known as Espinaréu, is an Asturian municipality well known for its granaries. It represents one of the best examples of this popular architecture in Asturias. We can see these agricultural constructions in different places in the region, although there is a great concentration in this town. It is an interesting visit for those who want to know a little more about rural life.
Espinaredo, the town of the granaries of Asturias
What are the hórreos de Espinaredo? These are wooden constructions that were made to preserve crops and meat. They are built in height, to guarantee precisely that food is safely stored and avoid humidity or that animals could access.
Especially the granaries of Asturias are in the easternmost part of the region. The inhabitants had to adapt to the climatic conditions of this very humid region and by storing food in height they avoided direct contact with the ground and the rains
Chevron Gas Station in Ghost Town of Nelson, Nevada
Located in southern end of Nevada, in El Dorado Canyon in Clark County, Nevada.
The area known as Nelson was originally called Eldorado in 1775, by the original discoveries of gold in the area that is now Eldorado Canyon. The town was the site of one of the first major gold strikes in Nevada and one of the biggest mining booms in state history. Gold and silver were discovered here around 1859. The rush to the canyon began in 1861.
The community called Nelson was named for Charles Nelson, a camp leader.
If you don't like the way I talk, then why am I on your mind?
If you don't like the way I rock, then finish your glass of wine
We fight and we argue, you'll still love me blind
If we don't fuck this whole thing up
Guaranteed, I can blow your mind
La idea de construir un temple expiatori (és a dir, a partir de donatius) dedicat a la Sagrada Família va partir del llibreter Josep Maria Bocabella, inspirat pel sacerdot Josep Manyanet —canonitzat el 2004—, fundador de la Congregació de Fills de la Sagrada Família i de la Congregació de Missioneres Filles de la Sagrada Família de Natzaret, encarregades de promoure el culte a la Sagrada Família i de fomentar l'educació cristiana de nens i joves.[6] El 1866, Bocabella va fundar l'Associació de Devots de Sant Josep, entitat dedicada entre altres qüestions a recaptar fons per a la construcció d'un temple. Per a la difusió de la seva tasca, va editar a partir del 1867 una revista, titulada inicialment El Propagador de la devoción a San José, inspirada en la revista francesa Le propagateur de la dévotion à Saint Joseph, publicada a Dijon pel pare Joseph Huguet.[7][b]
El 31 de desembre de 1881, Josep Bocabella va comprar per 172.000 pessetes uns terrenys situats a la zona del Poblet, aleshores una barriada de Sant Martí de Provençals.[8][9][c][10] Delimitats pels carrers de Mallorca, Provença, Marina i Sardenya, corresponien a una de les illes del Pla Cerdà, la qual, però, era més gran que les altres perquè, en principi, estava previst construir-hi un hipòdrom.[8]
El projecte fou encomanat a l'arquitecte Francesc de Paula Villar i Lozano, que va traçar un projecte neogòtic amb una església de tres naus amb creuer i un absis amb deambulatori, rebutjant la idea de Bocabella de fer una rèplica del santuari de Loreto, que se suposa va ser la casa de Josep i Maria a Natzaret.[11] El dia de Sant Josep de 1882, el bisbe Urquinaona posava la primera pedra,[12][13][14] coincidint amb la proclamació al Concili Vaticà I de sant Josep com a patró de l'Església Universal. Els desacords de Villar amb Bocabella van fer que aquest demanés assessorament a l'arquitecte Joan Martorell i Montells i van provocar la dimissió del primer. Aleshores, es va oferir el càrrec a Martorell, però aquest el va rebutjar i va recomanar Gaudí, que havia treballat per a ell com a ajudant, i el 1883, assumí la direcció de les obres.[15]
El desembre de 1884, Gaudí signà el projecte de la capella de Sant Josep a l'absis de la cripta, que fou inaugurat el 19 de març de 1885, en el qual intervingueren els escultors Llorenç Matamala i Piñol i Carles Mani.[16] Se sap que en aquest any hi treballaven un equip de vuit paletes, deu picapedrers, dotze escultors i un nombre indeterminat de fusters i serrallers.[17] El 1891 van començar les obres de la façana del Naixement,[cal citació] i des del 1895, la gestió del projecte va a càrrec de la Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, una fundació canònica per a promoure la construcció del temple mitjançant donatius i iniciatives privades.[cal citació]
A partir de l'encàrrec de la casa Milà de l'any 1906, Gaudí pràcticament es concentraria només en l'obra de la Sagrada Família que, de fet, ocuparia tota la seva carrera, ja que feia un quart de segle que en dissenyava i dirigia la construcció i moriria fent-ho; així i tot, el temple només quedava embastat.[18] Va poder veure'n construïda una part del costat de l'Epístola amb la façana del Naixement, de la qual només la torre de sant Bernabé estava acabada totalment i una part del mur exterior de l'absis.[cal citació]
El 12 de juny de 1926, Antoni Gaudí va ser sepultat a la capella de la Mare de Déu del Carme de la cripta.[cal citació] A la seva època, hi van col·laborar molts dels seus deixebles i ajudants, com Francesc Berenguer, Josep Maria Jujol, Josep Francesc Ràfols, Cèsar Martinell, Joan Bergós, Francesc Folguera, Josep Canaleta i Joan Rubió, i a la seva mort, es va fer càrrec de les obres un altre dels seus deixebles, Domènec Sugrañes, que va finalitzar la construcció de les tres torres de la façana del Naixement que quedaven pendents.[cal citació]
El 20 de juliol de 1936, tot just iniciada la Guerra Civil espanyola, grups d'exaltats anarquistes van incendiar el temple i van destruir bona part del taller en el qual Gaudí havia treballat i on hi havia els seus esbossos, maquetes i models. Tot i que es va perdre molt material van quedar restes de les maquetes, que es van restaurar, i la documentació que s'havia publicat en El Propagador, en l'Àlbum i que havia estat recollida pels seus deixebles, com Isidre Puig i Boada.[cal citació]
L'any 1944 es van reprendre les obres per un equip dirigit per Francesc de Paula Quintana i Vidal, Isidre Puig i Boada, Lluís Bonet i Garí, els quals, a la mort del primer l'any 1966, continuaren fins a l'any 1981, en què prengué el relleu Francesc Cardoner i Blanch.[19] El 1985 va ser nomenat director Jordi Bonet i Armengol,[20][21] amb un equip on figuraven Carles Buxadé, Joan Margarit i Jordi Faulí i Oller.[20] El 2012, Jordi Bonet va ser substituït per Jordi Faulí i Oller.[22]
El 18 de març de 2007 se'n va commemorar el 125è aniversari de la col·locació de la primera pedra amb una festa, concerts i ballant una sardana (La Santa Espina) encerclant tot el temple.[23]
Segons les darreres previsions, la torre de Jesús s'acabaria a finals del 2025, i el 2026 es faria la inauguració oficial, coincidint amb el centenari de la mort de Gaudí.[24]
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família,[a] otherwise known as Sagrada Família, is a church under construction in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), in 2005 his work on Sagrada Família was added to an existing (1984) UNESCO World Heritage Site, "Works of Antoni Gaudí".[5] On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a minor basilica.[6][7][8]
On 19 March 1882, construction of Sagrada Família began under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned,[5] Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the church's crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.[9]
Relying solely on private donations, Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. In July 1936, anarchists from the FAI set fire to the crypt and broke their way into the workshop, partially destroying Gaudí's original plans.[10] In 1939, Francesc de Paula Quintana took over site management, which was able to go on with the material that was saved from Gaudí's workshop and that was reconstructed from published plans and photographs.[11] Construction resumed to intermittent progress in the 1950s. Advancements in technologies such as computer-aided design and computerised numerical control (CNC) have since enabled faster progress and construction passed the midpoint in 2010. In 2014, it was anticipated that the building would be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death,[12] but this schedule was threatened by work slowdowns caused by the 2020–2021 depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In March 2024, an updated forecast reconfirmed a likely completion of the building in 2026, though the announcement stated that work on sculptures, decorative details and a controversial proposed stairway leading to what will eventually be the main entrance is expected to continue until 2034.[14]
Describing Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said "it is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art",[15] and Paul Goldberger describes it as "the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages".[16]
Though sometimes[when?] described[by whom?] as a cathedral, the basilica is not the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Barcelona; that title belongs to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Barcelona Cathedral).
History
Origins
Sagrada Família was inspired by a bookseller, José María Bocabella [es], founder of Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (Spiritual Association of Devotees of St. Joseph). After a visit to the Vatican in 1872, Bocabella returned from Italy with the intention of building a church inspired by the basilica at Loreto. The apse crypt of the church, funded by donations, was begun 19 March 1882, on the festival of St. Joseph, to the design of the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar, whose plan was for a Gothic revival church of a standard form. The apse crypt was completed before Villar's resignation on 18 March 1883, when Antoni Gaudí assumed responsibility for its design, which he changed radically.[17] Gaudi began work on the church in 1883 but was not appointed Architect Director until 1884.[citation needed]On the subject of the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have remarked: "My client is not in a hurry."[18] When Gaudí died in 1926, the basilica was between 15 and 25 percent complete.[9][19] After Gaudí's death, work continued under the direction of his main disciple Domènec Sugrañes i Gras until interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Parts of the unfinished basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the war. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the plans that were burned in a fire as well as on modern adaptations.[14] Since 1940, the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada, Lluís Bonet i Garí and Francesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The illumination was designed by Carles Buïgas. The director until 2012 was the son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol. Armengol began introducing computers into the design and construction process in the 1980s.[citatiThe central nave vaulting was completed in 2000 and the main tasks since then have been the construction of the transept vaults and apse. In 2002, the Sagrada Família Schools building was relocated from the eastern corner of the site to the southern corner, and began housing an exhibition. The school was originally designed by Gaudí in 1909 for the children of the construction workers.[20]
As of 2006, work concentrated on the crossing and supporting structure for the main steeple of Jesus Christ as well as the southern enclosure of the central nave, which will become the Glory façade. Computer-aided design technology has allowed stone to be shaped off-site by a CNC milling machine, whereas in the 20th century the stone was carved by hand.[21] In 2008, some renowned Catalan architects advocated halting construction[22] to respect Gaudí's original designs, which, although they were not exhaustive and were partially destroyed, have been partially reconstructed in recent years.[23]
Since 2013, AVE high-speed trains have passed near Sagrada Família through a tunnel that runs beneath the centre of Barcelona. The tunnel's construction, which began on 26 March 2010, was controversial. The Ministry of Public Works of Spain (Ministerio de Fomento) claimed the project posed no risk to the church.[24][25] Sagrada Família engineers and architects disagreed, saying there was no guarantee that the tunnel would not affect the stability of the building. The Board of the Sagrada Família (Patronat de la Sagrada Família) and the neighborhood association AVE pel Litoral (AVE by the Coast) led a campaign against this route for the AVE, without success.[citation needed] In October 2010, the tunnel boring machine reached the church underground under the location of the building's principal façade.[24] Service through the tunnel was inaugurated on 8 January 2013.[26] Track in the tunnel makes use of a system by Edilon Sedra in which the rails are embedded in an elastic material to dampen vibrations.[27]
The main nave was covered and an organ installed in mid-2010, allowing the still-unfinished building to be used for liturgies.[28] The church was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on 7 November 2010 in front of a congregation of 6,500 people.[29] A further 50,000 people followed the consecration Mass from outside the basilica, where more than 100 bishops and 300 priests were on hand to distribute Holy Communion.[30]In 2012, Barcelona-born Jordi Faulí i Oller took over as architect of the project.[31][32] Mark Burry of New Zealand serves as Executive Architect and Researcher.[33] Sculptures by J. Busquets, Etsuro Sotoo and Josep Maria Subirachs decorate the fantastical façades.
Chief architect Jordi Faulí announced in October 2015 that construction was 70 percent complete and had entered its final phase of raising six immense steeples. The steeples and most of the church's structure were planned to be completed by 2026, the centennial of Gaudí's death;[14] as of a 2017 estimate, decorative elements should be complete by 2030 or 2032.[34][failed verification] Visitor entrance fees of €15 to €20 finance the annual construction budget of €25 million.[35] Completion of the structure will use post-tensioned stone.[36]
Starting on 9 July 2017, an international mass is celebrated at the basilica every Sunday and holy day of obligation, at 9 a.m., and is open to the public (until the church is full). Occasionally, Mass is celebrated at other times, where attendance requires an invitation. When masses are scheduled, instructions to obtain an invitation are posted on the basilica's website. In addition, visitors may pray in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and Penitence.[37]
The stone initially used in its construction came from the Montserrat mountain, but it became clear that as quarrying there went deeper, the stone was increasingly fragile and an alternative source had to be found. Since 2018 stone of the type needed to complete the construction has been sourced from the Withnell Quarry in Brinscall, near Chorley, England.[3
Baslow Edge, Peak District, UK
© 2024 Paul Newcombe. Don't use without permission.
With clear skies forecast I thought I'd be guaranteed some direct light. However, it took around half an hour for the sun to clear cloud on the horizon. Just in time to catch a little colour in the sky.
Last in the current bird set - an American Avocet takes flight against the reflected sunset afterglow. Too bad its wing overlaps the sand bar in the background; I thought of removing it digitally, but in the end decided against it. Unlucky overlap happens. With a stationary subject like a landscape, one can make the slight adjustment needed; when shooting action, I'm happy just to acquire focus and get something acceptable. If the shot turns out great, it's almost guaranteed that luck was involved.
I don't think this shot is great, but I like the feel, the moment captured.
Photographed at Reed Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.