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Same pattern changes as the red/white seersucker dress except I used the pretty SYL curved, stitched hem on this one.
Liu Ye (simplified Chinese: 刘野; traditional Chinese: 劉野; pinyin: Liú Yě; born in 1964) is a Beijing-based contemporary Chinese painter known for his bright-hued paintings of childlike female figures, his favorite cartoon character Miffy the bunny and works inspired by Piet Mondrian.[1] Liu Ye is part of a generation of artists who grew up during the Cultural Revolution. However, unlike most acclaimed Chinese contemporary art, his works have little political implications. Instead, he prefers to use a universal language to depict his inner world. His work has been exhibited extensively in China, Europe and the United States.
Liu Ye’s interest in Western art and his experience studying in Berlin distinguishes him from many of his contemporary Chinese artists who have turned their art as a weapon against the Communist Regime after the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989. As the art historian Pi Li says,"The major difference between him and his contemporaries was that he did not go through the period of rage around 1989 [following the Tiananmen Square massacre], nor did his works contain elements of 'collective' images." [5] Around the same period of time, Liu Ye was witnessing the change in Europe as the Berlin Wall came down, touring Europe’s art museums and studying masters of Western modernism like Paul Klee and Johannes Vermeer.[6] Instead of focusing on his Chinese origin, Liu Ye embraces some more universal themes like beauty, feeling and hope in his works.[7] As he puts it, " Seeking beauty is the last chance for human beings. It is like shooting at the goal; it arouses an emotion that is wild with with joy." [8] By the time Liu Ye went back to China in 1994, his works were deeply influenced by German Expressionism, showing intense personal expression with an overall gloomy tone.[9] The works by Mondrian as a symbol and the Mondrian composition had already appeared in a lot of his work. Mirror, his self-portray, and the surrealism of René Magritte are other important indicators of his early work. During this period, Liu started to depict a little scenario in each of his work, which continues to be one of his recognizable styles. After 1994, as Liu Ye returned to Beijing, his style and subject matters changed with the environment. He started to portray himself more as a little boy than a young man as he did before. More female figures appeared. The settings of his painting moved from rooms to theatres where scenes he saw in China as a little boy, his childhood dream were depicted. Chorus, fleet and sailor boys were repetitive subjects portrayed during the period.[10] His preference for using primary colors can be traced to his childhood days in Beijing as well. “I grew up in a world of red,” he recalls, “the red sun, red flags, red scarves with green pines and sunflowers often supporting the red symbols.” [11] By 2000, Liu ye had gradually developed his own distinguishable style. From 2000, Liu ye moved his attention away from himself and started to portray figures he has interest in such as Zhang Ailing[disambiguation needed], Ruan Lingyu, Andersen, Little Mermaid, and so on. At the same time, he started to paint his favorite cartoon character Miffy the bunny as a reflection of himself.[12] Liu Ye fell in love with the cartoon character created by Dick Bruna immediately after he first saw her while he was living in Amsterdam because he saw himself in the bunny, who is seemingly simple but actually extremely intelligent.[13] The Mondrian symbol returned to his work, usually portrayed together with a little girl or boy, sometimes with Miffy as well. Around 2004 and 2005, Liu Ye’s fairytale-like fantasy was replaced by a more mild and realistic style.[14] An adolescent girl is featured repetitively. Some paintings depict her engaging in rather simple activities such reading or embarking on a journey while others contain subtle sexual implications.[15] Vermeer’s influence became increasingly obvious in those works with the evidence of his pursuit of the perfection of human beauty.[16]
A nice new big lcd tv, a cleaner-looking entertainment center (that matches the rest of our living room furniture), and a scaled down stereo system (sans cd player and tape deck, but now featuring streaming itunes) make for a more function and better looking entertainment system.
Knowing that the shot from last week on Hill Street was the back of the former Futurist Cinema. I decided to get some shots of this former cinema from the front on John Bright Street.
It was Wildcats most recently (possibly a nightclub of lap dancing club). Not nice to think it went from a cinema to a place with dancing women.
It also currently houses Rouge Gentlemen's Club.
I've seen a poster in Nosalgia and Comics (a comic book shop on Smallbrook Queensway) for the film Cobra and it says Futurist on it (that was back in 1986).
Previously this building was occupied by Spearmint Rhino Extreme.
I think the Leasehold is available, but still for use as a club. Why not turn it back into a cinema?
The Futurist Cinema is by Arthur Stockwell of Newcastle upon Tyne, started 1914, slightly simplified during construction by Essex & Goodman, and completed 1920. A classical, rather civic, design in pink-red brick and cream terracotta, a contrast with Birmingham work in the same materials. Open Ionic arcade above the entrance. Impressive blank rear elevation on Hill Street.
From Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham by Andy Foster
The below is from Images of England: Birmingham Cinemas -
The cinema was built by one of Birmingham's own impresarios Sol Levy. Construction started before the First World War and the cinema opened in 1919, like other city-centre cinemas it had a cafe bar, which served as a meeting place for people not neccessarily going to see a film. The building is now used as a nightclub.
Located in Okanagan Falls BC this river empties from Skaha Lake. Photo was taken with a Nikon D300 10-24mm lens and first processed in Photomatix Pro. From there I made a copy and processed that in Topaz Simplify to give it a painterly look. The 2 photos were then combined in On One Photo Layers and the river area was painted out.
The Kek Lok Si Temple (simplified Chinese: 极乐寺; traditional Chinese: 極樂寺; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ki̍k-lo̍k-sī; Penang Hokkien for "Temple of Supreme Bliss" or "Temple of Sukhavati" or "Jile Si") is a Buddhist temple situated in Air Itam in Penang facing the sea and commanding an impressive view, and is one of the best known temples on the island. It is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. It is also an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia. This entire complex of temples was built over a period from 1890 to 1930, an inspirational initiative of Beow Lean, the Abbot. The main draw in the complex is the striking seven-storey Pagoda of Rama VI (Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas) with 10,000 alabaster and bronze statues of Buddha, and the 30.2 metres tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.
Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism and traditional Chinese rituals blend into a harmonious whole, both in the temple architecture and artwork as well as in the daily activities of worshippers. The temple is heavily commercialised with shops at every level and inside the main temple complexes selling all religious paraphernalia.
ETYMOLOGY
The literal meaning of Kek Lok Si Temple is "Heavenly temple", "Pure Land Temple", "Temple of Supreme Bliss". and the "Temple of Paradise".
HISTORY
The construction of the temple began in 1890 and completed in 1905. It was inspired by Beow Lean, the chief monk of the Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street in 1887; he had served earlier in the Kushan Abbey in Fujian in China. The site chosen by Beow, a spiritual location in the hills of Ayer Itam, facing the sea, was named "White Crane Mountain". It was established as a branch of the Buddhist Vatican in Drum Mountain in Foochow in Hokkien province. Beow Lean was the first Abbot of the temple. The buildings of the temple complex were sponsored by five leading Chinese business people of Penang known as "Hakka tycoons". They were: Cheong Fatt Tze, his cousin Cahang Yu Nan, Chea Choon Seng, Tye Kee Yoon, and Chung Keng Kooi. Collection of funds for building the temple was also facilitated by dedicating the structures and artefacts in the name of the temple's benefactors. The main hall, which was completed first, housed a shrine to Guanyin, in a recessed area where many other female goddesses called the Queen of Heaven, the Goddess of the Earth, and Goddess of Childbirth are housed; which is said to represent, on a miniature scale, the island of Potalaka where there is a large shrine dedicated to Guanyin in the China Sea. People compared this shrine to the Amitabha Buddha's Western Paradise and started calling it the "Kek Lok Si" ("Jile Si"). There are also many other shrine chambers, which have stately statues, all gilded, of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, saintly Lohans, guardian spirits, and Heavenly (or Diamond) Kings of Pure Land Buddhism.
The consular representative of China in Penang reported the grandeur of the temple to the Qing Government. Following this, the Guangxu Emperor invited Beow Lean to Beijing in 1904 and bestowed on him, 70,000 volumes (7,000 is also mentioned in some references) of the "psalms and other sacred works of Buddhism" and also presented him edicts anointing him as "dignity of the Chief Priest of Penang" and also declaring "the Chinese temple at Air Itam as the head of all Chinese temples in Penang". On the Abbot's return to Penang, a royal procession, carrying the edict in a rattan chair and the scriptures in pony driven carts, was organised leading to the temple complex. Prominent Chinese dignitaries of Penang in their royal mandarin attire accompanied the Abbot in the procession.
In 1930, the seven storey main pagoda of the temple or the Pagoda of "Ban Po Thar", the Ten Thousand Buddhas, a 30 metres high structure, was completed. This pagoda combines a Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown (spiral dome); reflecting the temple's amalgam of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. It represents syncretism of the ethnic and religious diversity in the country. There is a large statue of Buddha donated by King Bhumibol of Thailand diefied here. King Rama VI of Thailand laid the foundation for the pagoda and it is hence also named as Rama Pagoda.
In 2002, a 30.2-metre bronze statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, was completed and opened to the public. It replaced the previous white plaster Kuan Yin statue which was damaged due to a fire a few years earlier. The bronze statue is located on the hillside above the pagoda. The statue is complemented with a 60.9 metres three-tiered roof pavilion (with 16 columns made of bronze supporting the pavilion), which was completed in 2009. It is the tallest Guanyin statue in the world. One hundred statues of the goddess Kuan Yin, each of 2 metres height, are set around the main statue of the goddess. However, its height was restricted to avoid its shadow falling on the Penang State Mosque. This shrine also has other 10,000 statues of Buddha, apart from a statue of 12 Zodiac Animal Signs of the Chinese Calendar.
The temple complex has a large hydraulically operated bell, which tolls with a high pitch at frequent intervals. Wood and stone carvings are profusely seen in the temple. In front of each deity there is a cushion, impressive scrolls, and candles set in very attractive suspended lamps, and with a large number of priests in attendance.
DESCRIPTION
Kek Lok Si Temple is located at the foot of the Air Itam mountain in George Town on Penang Island. It is built over a plot of an area of 12.1 hectares that was donated by Yeoh Siew Beow. It is about 3 kilometres walk from the Penang Hill Station.
Most visitors approach the temple as they ascend a stairway, roofs of which provide shelter to a multitude of shops selling souvenirs and other - mostly secular - commodities. They pass by a so-called Liberation Pond, following the Buddhist tradition of merit-making, turtles may be released into freedom, albeit a limited one.
The temple itself consists of several large prayer halls and pavilions for assembly and prayer, statues of Buddha; various Bodhisattvas as well as Chinese gods are being venerated. The architectural features include carved pillars, fine woodwork, mostly painted in bright colours, and a plethora of lanterns add to the visual impression. Fish ponds and flower gardens are also part of the temple complex.
There is a cable car to carry pilgrims and visitors further uphill. On the elevated platform, there is a fish pond, and the towering statue of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy which is worshipped by women to beget children. The monks and nuns, who are housed in a monastery and who are incharge maintenance and operation of the temple complex, consider it as a spiritual retreat to attain salvation.
ANNUAL EVENTS
The temple is a focal point of festivals of the Chinese community in Penang. The Chinese New Year celebrations are particularly impressive. For 30 days following Chinese New Year, the temple remains open until late at night whilst thousands of lights turn the scenery into a sea of light. During the festival days, the complex is decorated with thousands of lanterns representing donations offered by devotees. Another festive feature is the long marches undertaken by hundreds of monks from Thailand to the temple, once or twice in a year.
WORSHIP
Worship of the deities in the temple complex reflects the diversity of the ethnic origins of the Buddhist devotees. Such worship could be in the form of counting prayer beads or by burning incense or by cash offerings or just by bowing and clapping to make one's presence known to the deity. Highly learned people offer prayers at the tower of Sacred Books in the upper part of the temple. Some pilgrims also offer prayers in the extensive gardens located in the precincts of the temple.
The religious paraphernalia sold along the winding steps that lead to the temple precincts cater to the religious offerings to be made by the pilgrims. The goods on sale comprise ornaments, books, pictures, collection of sayings and strings of a sacred orange colour and mementos such as T-shirts and CDs.
WIKIPEDIA
The XA2, introduced in 1980, was a simplified version of the XA with zone focusing and a programmed exposure system. It had a four-elements-in-four-groups Zuiko 35mm f:3.5 lens. The exposure meter was a CdS exposure sensor above the lens. Shutter speed range was 2 secs. to 1/750. The minimum focusing distance was 3 feet or .9 meters. Its film speed range was ASA 25 -800.
Qi Baishi (simplified Chinese: 齐白石; traditional Chinese: 齊白石; pinyin: Qí Báishí; Wade–Giles: Ch'i Pai-shih) (January 1, 1864 – September 16, 1957) was an influential Chinese painter.
Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi became a carpenter at 14, and learned to paint by himself. After he turned 40, he traveled, visiting various scenic spots in China. After 1917 he settled in Beijing.
He is perhaps the most noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his watercolor works.
Some of Qi's major influences include the early Qing Dynasty painter Bada Shanren (八大山人 or Zhu Da) and the Ming Dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭).
His pseudonyms include Qí Huáng (齊璜) and Qí Wèiqīng (齐渭清). The subjects of his paintings include almost everything, commonly animals, scenery, figures, toys, vegetables, and so on. He theorized that "paintings must be something between likeness and unlikeness, much like today's vulgarians, but not like to cheat popular people". In his later years, many of his works depict mice, shrimp or birds.
He was also good at seal carving and called himself "the rich man of three hundred stone seals" (三百石印富翁).
In 1953 he was elected to the president of the Association of Chinese Artists. He died in Beijing in 1957. One of his paintings, Eagle Standing on Pine Tree, was sold for 425.5 million yuan ($65.5 million) in 2011, becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction.
A booklet from a correspondence course from the 1920s. Blogged (with link to whole booklet in PDF format) here.
Finally organized all the recipe tear sheets I have been saving... into nice sheet protectors and binders.
Blogged at: notquitevintage.typepad.com
► My boys Sam & Edrin, their little cousin Hakim and a stranger are at the "simplify your journey" showcase at the departure hall, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). This is captured the night when seeing their Auntie Jae off to London last month.
Yeah, it's a tagline of the IATA (International Air Transport Association) that serves the airline industry. Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) and SITA (specialists in air transport communications and IT solutions) are collaborating in bringing a simpler travel experience for passengers.
Much deeper than that, I think I had better work harder to simply my journey to the eternity. The fact that matters is, our final day is closing in by the tick of second.
Hey folks,
Have a good life!
Some Completed barbershop views. Instructions available rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-89238/Thomus_Bean/barber-shop/#d...
Blackberry capture, CNX2 to bring out colors and sharpen, Topaz Simplify to make it look like a painting.
Found a more simple way to achieve the wheel driven drive for the carousel. This one works much smoother.
Facebook page www.facebook.com/AwesomeLegoDad
Youtube channel www.youtube.com/c/PlaywellBricks
(simplified Chinese: 灵隐寺; traditional Chinese: 靈隐寺; pinyin: Língyǐn Sì) is a Buddhist temple of the Chan sect located north-west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. The temple's name is commonly literally translated as Temple of the Soul's Retreat. It is one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China, and contains numerous pagodas and Budddhist grottoes.
The monastery is the largest of several temples in the Wulin Mountains (武林山), which also features a large number of grottos and religious rock carvings, the most famous of which is the Feilai Feng (飞来峰; literally "the peak that flew hither").
© Andy Brandl (2013)
Don´t redistribute - don´t use on webpages, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
See my "profile" page for my portfolio´s web address and information regarding licensing of this image for personal or commercial use.
The Bund (simplified Chinese: 外滩) is a waterfront area in central Shanghai. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in this area.
The City God Temple or Chenghuang Miao (Chinese: 上海城隍庙) is a temple located in Shanghai, China, within the old walled city. Today the "City God Temple" not only refers to the large temple complex, but also the traditional district of commerce in the city, surrounding the temple. There are over a hundred stores and shops in this area, and most of these store buildings are nearly a century old. The temple connects to the Yuyuan Garden, another landmark of the old city.
More information about the Bund.
The Shanghai Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain, a newspaper, the Shanghai Club and the Masonic Club. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city of Shanghai. It was initially a British settlement; later the British and American settlements were combined in the International Settlement. Magnificent commercial buildings in the Beaux Arts style sprung up in the years around the turn of the 20th century as the Bund developed into a major financial center of East Asia. Directly to the south, and just northeast of the old walled city, the former French Bund (the quai de France, part of the Shanghai French Concession) was of comparable size to the Bund but functioned more as a working harbourside.
By the 1940s the Bund housed the headquarters of many, if not most, of the major financial institutions operating in China, including the "big four" national banks in the Republic of China era. However, with the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, many of the financial institutions were moved out gradually in the 1950s, and the hotels and clubs closed or converted to other uses. The statues of colonial figures and foreign worthies which had dotted the riverside were also removed.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the thawing of economic policy in the People's Republic of China, buildings on the Bund were gradually returned to their former uses. Government institutions were moved out in favour of financial institutions, while hotels resumed trading as such. Also during this period, a series of floods caused by typhoons motivated the municipal government to construct a tall levee along the riverfront, with the result that the embankment now stands some 10 metres higher than street level. The Bunds revitalization began in 1986 with a new promenade by the Dutch Architect Paulus Snoeren and has dramatically changed the streetscape of the Bund. In the 1990s, Zhongshan Road (named after Sun Yat-sen), the road on which the Bund is centred, was widened to ten lanes. As a result, most of the parkland which had existed along the road disappeared. Also in this period, the ferry wharves connecting the Bund and Pudong, which had served the area's original purpose, were removed. A number of pleasure cruises still operate from some nearby wharves.
In the 1990s the Shanghai government attempted to promote an extended concept of the Bund to boost tourism, and land value in nearby areas, as well as to reconcile the promotion of "colonial relics" with the Socialist ideology. In its expanded form, the term "Bund" (as "New Bund" or "Northern Bund") was used to refer to areas south of the Yan'an Road, and a stretch of riverfront north of the Suzhou River (Zhabei). Such use of the term, however, remains rare outside of tourism literature.
From 2008, a major reconfiguration of traffic flow along the Bund was carried out. The first stage of the plan involved the southern end of the Bund, and saw the demolition of a section of the Yan'an Road elevated expressway, including removal of the large elevated expressway exit structure that formerly dominated the confluence of Yan'an Road and the Bund. A second phase involved the year-long restoration of the century-old Waibaidu Bridge at the northern end of the Bund. In a third stage, the former 10-lane Bund roadway was reconstructed in two levels, with six lanes carried in a new tunnel. The vacated road space was used to widen the landscaped promenade along the waterfront. The new concrete bridge that was built in 1991 to relieve traffic on Waibaidu Bridge was rendered obsolete by the new double-levelled roadway, and demolished.
The Bund was re-opened to the public on Sunday 28 March 2010 after restoration.
Text form the Wikipedia article the Bund.
Singlespeed simplicity designed by Simplified and hand-built in the USA by legendary frame builder, Tom Teesdale.
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