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I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
[Romans 8:18-21 NIV]
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)
2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)
4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)
5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)
Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!
"Consider how Jesus was violently stripped of His clothes by His executioners. The inner garments adhered to his lacerated flesh and the soldiers tore them off so roughly that the skin came with them. Have pity for your Savior so cruelly treated..."
Station from St Rita's church in Alexandria, VA.
Also known as SAAM. I consider this more of a tablescrap than a full-fledged build, but I think it turned out okay. (if you look closely, you'll see that a few parts are different colors and stuff)
Consider this a "concept" image. Donald Trump's militarization of Washington, DC's police force to "reduce crime" (when the crime in the city has dropped precipitously over the last few years) is a canard. It's a deflection, like many of his Executive Orders and off-the-cuff statements, away from the content of the Epstein files.
Given the direction this country has gone under President Trump, this image represents a possible scenario should we continue to slip into authoritarianism.
Concept: Jeff Gates, Execution: AI-assisted with Photoshop
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Photos from the main event - we had a wallking float with banners promoting the Leeds First Friday event and the various venues where it takes place.
It was incredible, completely overwhelming walking through the streets lined with thousands of people, all cheering and waving and taking pictures. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and one I will never ever forget. Pride is exactly right - I felt very proud to be a part of this wonderful community!
Kinda glad I wore trainers for the walk, because some of the girls really struggled with high heels! But I think next year I might go with wedges, I think they would be ok. And much more girly! ;-)
I really don't consider myself photogenic (mainly because i'm shy) so I decided to just take a picture of my eyes to at least let everyone know I'm human.
1. Ethnicity?
I was born in New York but my parents are Guatemalan and Puerto Rican
2. Share you favorite subject in high school: I've always loved history (any Kind)
3. What is your favorite drink? I really love fruit smoothies and Milkshakes (which I know Aren't healthy)
4. What is your favourite song at the moment? Well lately I've been in a throwback 80's/90's phase not to mention I've also been on a Disney/Musical phase.
5. What would you name your children? To be honest I've never thought about it.
6. Have you participated in any sports? I did Track in high school (if that counts)
7. What is your favourite book? Since I'm taking a World Literature class in college this semester, I become interested in classical literature especially from the Medieval/Renaissance period.
8. What is your favourite color? It's a tie between Purple and Teal.
9. What is your favourite animal? It's a tie between a wolf and a horse
10. What is your favourite perfume / cologne? I'm not really a perfume/cologne person, but I'll say deodorant( if that counts:P)
11. What is your favourite holiday? Christmas
12. On a scale from 1 – 10, rate your childhood:Considering my parents divorced when I was young, I would say it was OK (about a 7)
13. Have you been out of the country? yes, five places actually (Peru, Guatemala, Spain, France, and Greece). I would really love to go to other places in the future.
14. Do you speak any different languages? yes, Spanish, and I know a little bit of French and Italian.
15. Do you have any siblings? yes an older brother ans two older sisters.
16. What is your favourite store? Amazon and Ebay plus the Disney Store or any other store that sells toys.
17. What is your favourite restaurant? Hardee's and Steak 'n Shake
18. Did you like school? when I was younger not really but now that I'm in college I've come to appreciate it.
19. Who are some of your favourite YouTubers? Dollastic,MyFroggyStuff, The Doll Circle, and Disney Ever After(They're all Doll/Toy collectors and Reviewers and toy/doll craft makers)
20. What is your favourite movie? I'm a huge Disney fan and I also love comic Book related movies, plus I've always loved classic Hollywood movies.
21. What are some of your favourite tv shows? There's a few I like Once Upon A Time, Gotham, Agent Carter, Empire, Arrow, Jane the Virgin and The Flash. I'm also a huge Oldies fan especially The Munsters, Bewitched, Maude, The Facts of Life, The Golden Girls, The Nanny and Moesha.
22. PC or MAC?
To be honest I don't know which one to choose because I don't know the differance between them
23. What phone do you have?
Android
24. How tall are you?
about 6'1"
25. Do you have any pets?
yes an 8 year old Cocker Spaniel/Pekingese mix called Luke (I used to have two but his sister died two years ago)
El Coro de la Catedral de Toledo -considerado como el más hermoso de las catedrales europeas- está realizado para albergar al Clero Catedralicio (Arzobispo, Canónigos, racioneros y capellanes de Coro). Está compuesto por la sillería alta realizada desde el sitial, en su lado derecho obra de Alonso Berruguete y su lado izquierdo por Felipe Bigarny. La sillería baja fue labrada por Rodrigo Alemán entre 1489 y 1495, en ella se representa los episodios de la conquista de Granada. En ambos laterales, dos grandes atriles de 1570 realizados por Nicolás de Vergara el Viejo y su hijo el Mozo. En su centro, el atril de águila obra de 1425 de mano alemana. Preside el altar de prima una bella escultura gótica francesa del XIV llena de la dulzura y belleza de la Madre, llamada la "Virgen Blanca" Cierra el Coro una reja labrada por Domingo de Céspedes entre 1541 y 1548. (www.catedralprimada.es)
La Catedral Primada de Toledo, consagrada a la Virgen María en su Asunción a los cielos, comenzó a construirse en el año 1227 sobre los cimientos de la Catedral visigoda del S. VI que había sido utilizada como mezquita. La construcción es de estilo gótico con una clara influencia francesa. Mide 120 m de largo por 60 m de ancho. Está compuesta por cinco naves, sostenida por 88 columnas y 72 bóvedas. Las naves laterales se prolongan por detrás de la Capilla Mayor rodeando el presbiterio y creando una girola con un doble pasillo semicircular. Su primer arquitecto fue el maestro Martín, de origen francés, a quien se deben las trazas de la planta y los comienzos de la obra en la cabecera del templo. En el siglo XIV se cerraron las naves laterales, y se construyó el claustro bajo con sus dependencias. En 1493 se cerró la última bóveda, dándose por concluida esta magna construcción. En el siglo XVI se construyó el retablo, la parte alta del coro y las rejas, se cerraron todas las vidrieras y se realizaron diversas modificaciones de planta.
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Fondazione Feltrinelli
Porta Volta, Via Pasubio 3 y Viale Crispi. Milán. Milano
Arquitectos: Herzog & De Meuron. Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Stefan Marbach y Andreas Fries. + SD Partners Srl (Proyecto de Ejecución). Director de Proyecto: Danilo Ratti. Proyecto 2008-13. Ejecución 2013-16
Seguimos la descripción que de su proyecto hacen los arquitectos.
El plan maestro de Porta Volta -debido a su significativa dimensión urbana- tiene un importante potencial estratégico para crear un impacto positivo en sus alrededores. Como parte de la redefinición de la zona de Porta Volta, la Fundación Giangiacomo Feltrinelli tiene la intención de trasladar su sede al centro norte de Milán, considerado como un entorno ideal para sus múltiples actividades. Junto con la sede de la Fundación, el proyecto incluye el desarrollo de dos nuevos edificios, dedicados principalmente a oficinas y una generosa zona verde, extensión de las avenidas existentes.
El análisis histórico del sitio conllevó a la evolución de la propuesta de diseño. La organización urbana de Porta Volta se remonta a lo largo de la “Mura Spagnole”, la antigua muralla de la ciudad -del siglo XVI-. Era la última de una serie de fortificaciones que desde la época romana fueron definiendo los límites del crecimiento de la ciudad. Después de la apertura del bastión en el siglo XIX, la Via Alessandro Volta sentó las bases para la extensión de la ciudad extramuros, conectando como un nuevo y prominente eje urbano el centro histórico con el Cementerio Monumental. Hoy en día, el vacío del lugar es un testimonio de los muros y, al mismo tiempo, un recuerdo de las destrucciones del área durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Junto con una serie de puertas conservadas, las dos Caselli Daziari de Porta Volta ofrecen un importante punto de referencia en el plano de la ciudad de Milán. La localización del Edificio Feltrinelli y la Fundación en Viale Pasubio y la localización del Edificio Municipal en Viale Montello, opuesta al eje Via Alessandro Volta, subrayan esta puerta histórica, retomando la tradición milanesa de los edificios singulares exentos como sucede en las Piazzas del Duomo, Piamonte o Duca D'Aosta .
Además de la conservación de los restos arqueológicos del “Mura Spagnole”, la edificación intenta crear una generosa área verde pública como extensión de las avenidas existentes. En el nivel de la calle, los nuevos edificios albergarán cafeterías, restaurantes y tiendas, ofreciendo un espacio para la interacción y la recreación de los ciudadanos.
Un espacio estrecho separa la Fundación del edificio adyacente, lo que refleja dos construcciones autónomas, que son al mismo tiempo parte de un todo global. La planta baja de la Fundación aloja la entrada principal, una cafetería y la tienda de libros, seguido por un espacio multifuncional de doble altura en el primer piso, y una zona de oficinas tanto en los pisos tercero y cuarto. La sala de lectura en la parte superior de la Fundación ofrece a los investigadores y al público interesado la oportunidad de estudiar los documentos de la colección histórica almacenada en el protegido archivo subterráneo.
Los nuevos edificios están inspirados, por su sencillez y su generosa escala, en la arquitectura histórica milanesa como el Ospedale Maggiore, la Rotonda della Besana, el Lazareto o el Castello Sforzesco. También se inspiran en los largos y lineales edificios Cascina de la arquitectura rural tradicional en Lombardía, que ya eran una referencia importante en la obra de Aldo Rossi. Por ejemplo en el edificio de viviendas en Gallaratese.
Por esta razón, la propuesta es una arquitectura alargada y estrecha, que de una vaga manera figurativa introduce un techo que se funde en las fachadas. La estructura expresa las condiciones geométricas del sitio en una rotación de sus partes y en el equilibrio entre la transparencia y la definición espacial. La fachada, la estructura y el espacio forman un todo integrado.
El edificio de la Fundación, desde el punto de vista urbano, está destinado no sólo a los residentes de la zona, sino para todos los ciudadanos de Milán gracias a la aplicación de la amplia zona verde pública, con avenidas y carriles bici, entendida como una extensión y continuación de la ya existen vías. La zona verde, que salvaguardará y mejorará los restos visibles de las antiguas murallas españolas, estará equipada con bancos y tendrá un área dedicada a los juegos infantiles, con una iluminación diseñada para ser un lugar seguro, especialmente en la noche, cuando se organizan eventos y actividades. La Fundación, de hecho, gracias a un acuerdo con el Ayuntamiento, permite disfrutar de una zona verde libre para la realización de eventos y actividades durante sesenta días al año.
El objetivo es dar vida a un nuevo gran centro cultural, urbano. La Fundación está planeando una importante expansión de sus actividades, que, conservando todas las iniciativas existentes, se muevan en la estela de su tradición y su historia, abierta a nuevos lenguajes y nuevos públicos, también en la renovación de los servicios ofrecidos a los lectores como una biblioteca especializada. En particular, la Fundación tiene previsto proponer el nuevo centro como uno de los principales motores de los programas a nivel nacional y de las políticas culturales de ámbito internacional, y convertirse en un centro de reunión cultural de las comunidades urbanas de Milán, en colaboración con las asociaciones e instituciones culturales del territorio.
Gracias a las soluciones arquitectónicas adoptadas para los diferentes espacios de la Fundación pueden ser utilizados para organizar conferencias, reuniones, cursos, ciclos de cine, lecturas, exposiciones, escuchar música en vivo, instalaciones de arte, formas de arte participativo, talleres educativos. Además, en Viale Pasubio la presencia de punto de venta de la biblioteca permitirá a la organización de iniciativas conjuntas. Junto con el Ayuntamiento, la Fundación pretende implicar a diversas asociaciones que operan en la zona a fin de implementar sus actividades culturales acordes a su nuevo posicionamiento.
www.feltrinelliportavolta.it/it
www.fondazionefeltrinelli.it/article/feltrinelli-per-port...
www.dezeen.com/2010/03/15/porta-volta-fondazione-feltrine...
www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/797081/feltrinelli-porta...
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September is a busy month! This is from the second weekend of 4 consecutive weekends around the country with my bestie Gemma!
Second Friday of every month is BNO - Big Night Out - a trans event at Pink Punters LGBT nightclub.
In the Attic Bar.
Urbex Benelux -
Also consider your clothing choice before you set off. Put on sturdy shoes and inconspicuous, old clothes, in case your clothes tear or you fall for something. Also in the summer it is smart to put on long pants and long sleeves, because this offers more protection against scratches and ticks. Old buildings can be damp and damp, so always take the cold into account. Furthermore, a flashlight, proof of identity and a charged telephone are very important.
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Photos from the main event - we had a wallking float with banners promoting the Leeds First Friday event and the various venues where it takes place.
It was incredible, completely overwhelming walking through the streets lined with thousands of people, all cheering and waving and taking pictures. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and one I will never ever forget. Pride is exactly right - I felt very proud to be a part of this wonderful community!
Kinda glad I wore trainers for the walk, because some of the girls really struggled with high heels! But I think next year I might go with wedges, I think they would be ok. And much more girly! ;-)
La Casa Rosada 34°36′29″S 58°22′13″O, es la sede del Poder Ejecutivo de la República Argentina, en él se encuentra el despacho del Presidente de la Nación Argentina. Este edificio se localiza en la calle Balcarce 50 - Ciudad de Buenos Aires, frente a la histórica Plaza de Mayo. Su color característico es rosado y es considerado uno de los edificios más emblemáticos de Buenos Aires. Alberga además el Museo de la Casa de Gobierno, con objetos relacionados con los presidentes del país. Ha sido declarada Monumento Histórico Nacional.
La Casa Rosada original y el edificio de Correos.
El edificio está sobre lo que fuera la Real Fortaleza de Don Juan Baltazar de Austria, construida por el gobernador Fernando Ortiz de Zárate en 1594 en las entonces abarrancadas orillas del Río de la Plata. La fortaleza es reconstruida en 1713, reemplazándosela por una muy sobria construcción de casi una hectárea, rodeada de ancho foso, con cuatro torreones rectangulares y, dando a la Plaza Mayor -actual Plaza de Mayo- puente levadizo, tal fuerte recibe el nombre de Castillo de San Miguel en 1720, al completarse las obras de defensa. Sirvió de sede a los gobernadores, luego a los virreyes del Virreinato del Río de la Plata y posteriormente a los gobiernos independientes desde 1810. En la década de 1820, Rivadavia ordena modificaciones que sustituyen el puente levadizo por un pórtico de estilo neoclásico.
El edificio de Correos proyectado por Kihlberg en 1873
La fortaleza fue demolida parcialmente en la década de 1850 para construir en su lugar el edificio de la Aduana Nueva, proyecto del arquitecto inglés Edward Taylor. Del antiguo edificio sólo quedaron un arco y uno de los edificios virreinales del interior del recinto amurallado demolido, que fue refaccionado como casa de gobierno. Bajo la presidencia de Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, el edificio se pintó en color rosado, color que conserva hasta hoy con algunas variaciones de tonalidad a través del tiempo, desde el rosado pálido hasta una coloración cercana al anaranjado. En 1873, también durante la presidencia de Sarmiento, se proyectó el primer Palacio de Correos, obra del arquitecto sueco Carlos Kihlberg, en el espacio sur del predio que había quedado libre por la demolición del fuerte.
El Palacio de Correos, demorado , se completó en 1878. El nuevo edificio opacaba sensiblemente a la sede del gobierno, por lo que el presidente Julio Argentino Roca solicitó un proyecto de ensanche y reparaciones. El proyecto elegido pertenecía al arquitecto sueco Enrique Aberg (autor de otras obras notables en Buenos Aires), e implicaba la demolición de todos los remanentes del antiguo fuerte y la construcción de un edificio similar al de correos, con el agregado respecto de éste de una galería-balcón en el primer piso.
En 1894 las restricciones de espacio disponible en el edificio eran ya evidentes, y se planea unificar los edificios proyectados por Aberg y Kihlberg y destinarlos exclusivamente a la función de gobierno. Así, el presidente Luis Sáenz Peña encomienda la tarea al arquitecto italiano Francesco Tamburini. Éste proyectó la unión mediante un gran arco, que hoy constituye el acceso sobre la calle Balcarce. El edificio fue inaugurado oficialmente durante la segunda presidencia de Roca, en 1898.
Las obras de demolición en 1938.
Quizás la mayor reforma sufrida por la Casa Rosada en su historia haya sido la que se llevó adelante por iniciativa del presidente Agustín P. Justo, quien decidió en 1937 que la Casa de Gobierno sería completamente demolida para crear una perspectiva desde la Plaza de Mayo hacia el río, y extender la Avenida de Mayo hasta Puerto Madero.2 A principios de 19383 , comenzó la demolición de la sección del antiguo edificio de Correos y Telecomunicaciones que miraba a la calle Victoria (hoy Hipólito Yrigoyen). Pero en febrero de ese año había asumido Roberto M. Ortiz, quien rápidamente decidió suspender la ya iniciadas obras de demolición.
De esta forma, se construyó un nuevo frente a la calle Yrigoyen, y se decidió aprovechar la parte demolida para hacer un ensanche de la calzada, al tiempo que avanzaba la construcción del Palacio de Hacienda. Además, fue necesario reubicar una boca de acceso a la estación Plaza de Mayo de la línea A de subterráneo, que se encontraba sobre la traza de la ampliación de la calle angosta. Aunque no sea evidente a simple vista, esta remodelación afectó a la simetría de la fachada y significó la pérdida de una parte importante del edificio construido en 1878.
Características arquitectónicas
Salón Blanco: en él se realizan los actos de mayor trascendencia, como el de la recepción, por parte de cada Presidente, de la Banda y el Bastón Presidencial; y las ceremonias del juramento de los Ministros y Secretarios de Estado.
La obra de Tamburini resultó en una pieza ecléctica, que combina elementos de diversos orígenes, como las mansardas, las loggias y las ventanas de los proyectos de ambos arquitectos suecos, con la expresión clasicista típica de Tamburini. La explanada de acceso sobre la calle Rivadavia conduce al Salón de los Bustos, donde se encuentran las esculturas de los presidentes argentinos. Desde este salón, dos grandes escaleras de honor (denominadas Italia y Francia) llevan al primer piso del ala norte, donde se encuentran el Salón Blanco que sirve de sede para las grandes recepciones oficiales, y las dependencias presidenciales. Esta ala norte está estructurada alrededor del Patio de las Palmeras.
El conjunto se desarrolla en tres plantas sobre el oeste (calle Balcarce) y cuatro niveles más subsuelo sobre el este (Plaza Colón). En este subsuelo y galerías adyacentes se encuentra ubicado el Museo de la Casa de Gobierno. Todos los locales originales externos tienen iluminación directa, mientras que en los internos la iluminación y la ventilación se dan mediante el acceso a galerías organizadas alrededor de patios. La estructura original es de muros de mampostería de diversos espesores, con losas simplemente apoyadas por bovedillas de ladrillo con perfiles de hierro o madera.
Lo que quedaba de la Fortaleza en la década de 1850.
Según la tradición, el color rosa se debe al deseo de Sarmiento de representar simbólicamente la fusión de los partidos que protagonizaron las cruentas guerras civiles de la primera mitad del siglo XIX, con la mezcla del color blanco representativo de los unitarios y el rojo de los federales. La leyenda, sin embargo, parece improbable: los unitarios se identificaban generalmente con el color celeste. Por otra parte el color rosa era muy utilizado durante el siglo XIX. Surge de la combinación de pintura a la cal con sangre bovina, empleándose esta última por sus propiedades hidrófugas y fijadoras.
[editar]Museo de la Casa Rosada
Museo Presidencial Casa Rosada
El Museo Histórico fue creado el 27 de mayo de 1957 y su colección está conformada por objetos personales, retratos, documentos y esculturas de quienes han ocupado el cargo de Presidente de la Nación, transcurridos no menos de treinta años desde la conclusión de sus mandatos.
La colección cuenta con objetos propios de la investidura presidencial, como los bastones y las bandas presidenciales de varios presidentes, donde se destaca principalmente la banda presidencial usada por el presidente Julio Argentino Roca en su segundo mandato.
También cuenta con carruajes utilizados por diferentes presidentes: puede apreciarse el Cabriolet Mylord, utilizado por José Evaristo Uriburu, un Landau perteneciente a Julio Argentino Roca y el Americana, propiedad de Hipólito Yrigoyen.
Entre el mobiliario se destaca el sillón presidencial utilizado durante el mandato de Santiago Derqui, aunque también pueden observarse importantes objetos como una mecedora y un escritorio pertenecientes a Domingo Faustino Sarmiento y parte del mobiliario original del edificio.
El museo cuenta con objetos personales que pertenecieron a los presidentes, puede destacarse un bombín y un bastón pertenecientes a Hipólito Yrigoyen, una fuente de porcelana china que perteneció a Bernardino Rivadavia y un neceser de viaje utilizado por Julio Argentino Roca.
Actualidad
Iluminada especialmente para sumarse a la campaña por un mundo sin cáncer de mamas (26/09/2008).
La Casa Rosada en obras.
El gobierno esta finalizando la ejecución de las obras de refacción integra de la Casa Rosada de 7,2 millones de pesos, preservando las fachadas originales en vísperas de los festejos por el Bicentenario de la Revolución de Mayo (1810-2010). La idea es sumar esto al proyecto de convertir las calles que circundan la Plaza de Mayo en peatonales.
Datos Curiosos
Para la película Evita del año 1996, Madonna y Antonio Banderas fueron personalmente a pedirle al entonces presidente Carlos Saúl Menem que les diera permiso para que Madonna pudiera cantar la canción Don't Cry For Me Argentina desde el balcón de la Casa Rosada, permiso que finalmente les fue concedido.
Al remodelarse la plaza Colón, en 2007, se la adjuntó a la Casa Rosada, y se la complementó con una escalera de granito que conecta con la Casa Rosada, frente al mástil en el que flamea la bandera argentina, y se habilitó una entrada vehicular presidencial desde la Avenida La Rábida. Además se construyó un anfiteatro que cuenta con un sector de mástil que oficia como Centro Cívico para fiestas patrias o actos oficiales, ubicado sobre el lateral que da hacia la Avenida Rivadavia
También se instaló un invernadero con cúpula vidriada, destinado al mantenimiento de las plantas que ornamentan la Casa de Gobierno.4 5
El 18 de octubre de 2010, como parte de los festejos por el Bicentenario de la Revolución de Mayo, la presidente Cristina Fernández inauguró el gran reloj que corona el arco central de Balcarce 50, donado por la firma Gnomon. Como se descubrió en planos del arquitecto Tamburini, este reloj estaba planeado en su proyecto original de 1890
Hello,
It is four in the afternoon of Wednesday the 23rd of January 2013, an overcast day punctuated by intermittent showers. Thunder storms are predicted for tomorrow. Looks like I will be sticking close to home.
I suspect I may have found the cause of the super sluggish sending and receiving of these reports I have been encountering. It was not all that old mail I waded my way through while deleting. There was no discernible difference between the before and after of that little project. I think it is the result of an inner email program conflict as a result of composing these daily reports right there on a regular email form.
Silly me, why did I not consider that. What was wrong with the old cut and paste procedure anyway. When I took note of the struggle taking place today I finally realized. Things had gotten pretty crazy. I was getting pop up noticed from my own computer saying things about actions I had taken while offline and saving drafts to a rescued file. Sure enough there were numerous partial drafts of the last couple of reports written. That was kind of odd as I had not even tried to send the one that went out today and the other was long gone. I thought it would be smart to start with a short one to myself. It said nothing more that ‘a test’. As I watched the utter confusion and read those pop up warnings it finally clicked.
As a point of fact and just so you know. Lately, once I finally got that first big daily report out of the machine I was able to send and receive normally. Why I thought it was the size of the given email is beyond me but that was the best I could come up with.
Now of course I think it was a result of working offline in my mail program. So, I am writing this in a new file I have opened in my word processor program. I will cut and past to an email when the time comes and see how it goes. If successful that will be swell. I can copy them from that file to the Hello file and then start a new one. Easy peasey, perhaps.
I am getting a little edgy. I am down to two tylenol and you know I did not go to Chedraui, nor will I until the weather clears. I will hold off on a San Francisco or Soriana run. They are close enough even if I have to go in a driving rain. I am going to see if I can manage without.
You are probably wondering if I bought that new iPod Touch. Yes I did. I got a red one like my little iPod shuffle. I ordered it to be engraved identical to my little shuffle too. PATTI. Nothing more. I feel I have done a little something for the world today. You may or may not be aware of the fact that a part of your Apple purchase when you choose the color red goes toward fighting aides in Africa. Yes indeed, I made a humanitarian gesture. I was on the brink of ordering the blue. I would have if the red had been unavailable as it sometimes is.
I picked up an email from Randy and Cheryl while I was down at the coffee place. Cheryl suggests I might like Isla de Mujeres as a possible next place to live. That thought had occurred to me too. It is much smaller that this island and still just a ferry ride to Cancun on the mainland. The research has begun.
Be advised. I did send off scads of pictures so my emissary will be posting those for me.
I did splurge at the bakery ladies little window. I brought a double brownie that is just short of heavenly. I have consumed one little strip so far. I will make it last. Some today, some tomorrow, and so on. A little at a time should not throw me into a sugar frenzy. Lets hope not anyway. In general the sweet things down here tend to contain a great deal less sugar than the ones up and over there.
Spaghetti is on the menu for the evening meal. I am reading a book set in County Kerry, Ireland. I believe I am in for yet another fun and action packed night at home. My favorite way to pass the time. No complaints here. I am just a little concerned about this neck problem. I wish I had a heating pad and some of that spray on pain aid stuff my mother gave me. Never mind, I am bucking up as I write this. I will be just fine.
It is only five but I think I am going to start the pasta water. Do not worry I have the colander with handle all laid out. I am going to give it a try right inside the other. It might work and it might not. On that note, I will be in the west of Ireland if anyone needs me.
I will leave you with this Irish proverb. If you hit my dog, you hit myself.
Good Thursday morning this 24th day of January in the year 2013 at nine o’clock in the morning. There was a patch of blue when I lifted the curtain to look out the window, craned my neck and caught a glimpse of that square of sky way up there above the planter between this apartment and the one next door. That is more blue sky than I saw all day yesterday. Looks like we will have to wait and see about those thunder storms.
My spaghetti turned out great. It was simple as could be. I kept it down to a bare minimum of ingredients. I cooked the pasta until almost done and then set the pan aside. I heated a bit of olive oil in the big sauté pan and then tossed in the thinly sliced mushrooms. I gave those a quick blast and then squirted in part of the container of the spaghetti sauce. While heating that through I drained the pasta and I am pleased to report my double colander idea worked like a charm. I dumped the drained pasta in the pan on top of the sauce, topped it with a little olive oil coating the spaghetti as best I could, then mixed it all together. It was just like the package promised. A quick wholesome meal that was not only different (by Mexican standards), delicious, and nutritious but loaded with antioxidants and so forth. Brought to me by those fine folks at Hunt’s and their more than 100 years of experience in the development and manufacture of tomato products. How could I have gone wrong? I shook some parmesan cheese on top and it was a toothsome treat.
I managed to save some spaghetti for my lunch today. I put some of those nice Peruvian beans to soak so they will be the backbone of the evening meal. Perhaps another minestrone sort of soup. I have a piece of cabbage, onion, garlic, a tomato, and some macaroni. Top that with some more of the parmesan and I will be in business. If the weather holds and I happen to make it to Chedraui I could get some of that fabulous veg bread to eat with it. Oh yes! If not I have a couple of different kinds of local crackers should the mood strike. Oh wow! I can almost taste a little sandwich with the veg bread and sharp cheddar cheese. Let me stick my head out and check that sky again. Um hum, still some blue out there. I would be blowing the budget with tylenol and cheese both but what the heck I only spent 45 pesos/$3.56 yesterday and cheese is an excellent source of protein along with its other attributes. Now watch, I will hike over there and they will have sold out of all the sharp cheddar. No, I refuse to even joke about such a serious matter. Think positive, that is my motto.
Last night I finished my visit to the west of Ireland not turning out the light until I had read the last page. Then I switched over to and reclined in my sleeping hammock and waited for sleep to overtake me. It took its own sweet time. I began to wonder if it was another waning gibbous moon. Minus a handy dandy gadget I was unable to quickly ascertain the exact stage in order to further my research.
It is half past ten now or half ten as they would say in Ireland. I have been poking around and am just now heating the water for my second cup. I will get the shower water going next. Then we will see what the day holds in store for me.
Vale is running almost as late as my exercise buddies. I lost track of what day she was due here at ten o’clock in the morning but it must be coming up on a week ago. Let me take a peak just for fun. Very interesting. The boys are two weeks late today and Vale is one week late. And that is just the way it is here in the land of mañana but maybe I should stop scheduling meetings for Thursdays. Those do not seem to be working out so well. I guess I will eventually go check on Vale if she does not come looking for me first.
Boy was I spaced or what. I have been standing right here at the counter typing away while my coffee water boiled. I could smell it and thought, oh good the shower water will be ready soon. Shortly before eleven I reached for my cup and was surprised to find it empty. I looked up at the stove and only then did it dawn on me that it was not the shower water heating up over there. Looks like I will be a little later in leaving the house than I had anticipated.
There is no way in the world I am putting on a backpack until I have dosed up good with some tylenol. That means if I hit some wifi today it will not be until later. First things first. Then too I have yet to determine if this ten dollar backpack is waterproof or not. For safeties sake I have been enclosing this marvelous but rapidly becoming antiquated machine in one of my kayak dry bags. I have a plastic bag in there too just in case. If I do make an afternoon run today and one of those predicted thunderstorms materializes I will ideally, be just fine. I am not interested in conducting any tests with my live laptop though. Some kind of test dummy would preferable. I will hold off on that until my neck and shoulders are back to normal. Best to leave this baby right here in the house than run the risk of ruin.
Well I guess the water is ready and if I do not make a move I will still be standing right here.
It is shortly past noon now. I am having a plan B lunch. It seemed like a good idea to pressure cook the beans while my hair dries. Then it seemed like an impossibility to heat the spaghetti at the same time. Rather than delay my departure any further I flipped from Italian to Spanish lunch. I made a plate of crackers and cream cheese with little bite sized pieces of Spanish chorizo with pickled cucumbers and onions on the side. Um um, good!
I was thinking that if I ever find any chili powder I can make those chili beans I have been craving. You are probably thinking, what is she talking about find some chili powder I thought she was in Mexico. Well yes, and no. Yes I am , and no it is not that part of Mexico. They do sell pinto beans here but the bean of choice is the black. The usual dried legume selection consists of black, pinto, peruvian, an occasional small white one bean, garbanzo, tiny brown lentils, and the rare split green pea. That about covers it. If I ever see any red beans I will snap them right up. In the grain department we have slight variety of choice in white only rice and the occasional cracked wheat. They just got the latter in at Soriana and I may make tabouli one day if the supply lasts that long. We can thank the early Lebanese immigrants for the lentil, garbanzo, and cracked wheat. This area was not much of a melting pot so the influences were limited.
Speaking of which, did I ever tell you why the imported straight from Holland edam cheese is so redly available here? I would really prefer some reference material but short of that I will tell you what I remember. It goes something like this. Way back in the 1800’s or so a ship ran aground on one of the reefs off the coast. Or maybe there was a storm, they lost steerage and ran up on a beach. Maybe it was pirates that got um, these waters were thick with them for awhile there. I could continue to speculate but I will not. The end result was, a ship full of edam cheese bound for elsewhere ended up here instead. The people liked it very much. They developed a taste for it which created a demand. It has been considered a delicacy ever since. If someone really likes you they may give you one for Christmas, not an uncommon gift. Should you find yourself in this part of the world and if you are lucky, you may encounter a stuffed cheese on a menu or more likely as a daily special. If you do please order it immediately. You will not be sorry. They take one of those $30 US and I do not exaggerate, grapefruit sized balls of cheese and turn it into a culinary masterpiece.
Why don’t I give you the recipe I used when I made it in my little garden apartment in Alameda. That will save me further description and allow you to reproduce it in the privacy of your own home and at your leisure, should you feel so inclined. I will remind you that the olives are green. The sweet chili is the small wrinkly bell so use one of those instead. The closest you will come with the xcatic chili will be a hungarian wax. Try cheesecloth for steaming the filled cheese. Armed with that knowledge you should be good to go.
Recipe for Queso Relleno
1 Edam cheese with middle scooped out
Oil
¾ k. ground pork
For the stuffing:
1 chopped onion
1 crushed garlic clove
4 tbs. lard
1 chopped sweet chile
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
¼ cup vinegar
50 grs olives
50 grs raisins
3 tbs. capers
400 grs tomatoes
3 chopped hard boiled eggs
Fry the onion in the lard, add the garlic, sweet chile, the meat, and then everything else.
Fill the cheese with this mixture and cover with a cloth, then steam it to soften the cheese.
K’óol (white sauce)
1 lt. chicken broth
1 bunch epazote
50 g olives
20 g capers
3 tbs. flour
Salt
Oil
Add the epazote, olives, and capers to the broth. On the side, dilute the flour in a little water, and add to the broth little by little, stirring constantly. Add the salt and a little oil. Keep on low heat.
Tomato sauce:
½ kg tomatoes
½ onion
1 chile xcatik
Oil
Epazote
2 tsp. consomme
Salt
Blend the tomatoes with a little water, the onion and the chile. Fry this mixture with the epazote. Season with the consomme and the salt. Simmer uncovered at low heat, stirring until thick, approx. 30 min.
Serve the stuffed cheese with the 2 sauces on top.
So, there you are let me know how it turns out. I myself am turning off the burner under the beans and hitting the trail.
I rolled back in about four o’clock bearing treasures. I decided to stop at Mega first to see what they had in the way of Tylenol. Oh my goodness, they had not only twenty caplet bottles but also fifty and one hundred. Wowzer! The one hundred cost 212 and the fifty 82. Guess which one I got. You know it, they could not fool me with that one. Nor did I have that kind of peso power behind me. They also had a little packet of ground chili. No details. For 4.48 pesos I could not go wrong, so I bought that too.
When I got over to Chedraui I happened to pass by a sale table on the fringes of the produce area. They had stacks of different sizes of those clear plastic hinged sort of boxes like you are likely to see in a produce department in the land of my birth but less seldom here. Everything was 5 pesos. The one that caught my eye was filled with those fabulous Spanish chilies that my brother Spike/Philip and I so enjoy when dining al fresco at the Market Bar in The City. I snatched them right up. The first half package are about ready to come out of the pan. I just tasted one and they ‘are them’ and I have a couple dozen. My brother knows I will be through them in nothing flat. Oh happy day!
Double wow! I just cut up some sharp cheddar and tossed it right in the bowl with the chilies. They taste great together. You can not begin to imagine what a popping burst of flavor sharp cheddar can impart when you have not experienced it for months. I am also embarrassed to say I am down to the last three of the first dozen chilies. I love these things.
I scored big time but they did not have the bread. I asked and they said, oh the rustic bread, no sorry. So I got a bread twist with cheese and sesame seeds and a biscuit with cheese. The biscuit is not even a distant cousin of that basic staple of the deep south and so good when topped with gravy. I will take a picture.
I am going to put the soup together then make a quick Soriana run. I need limes and mineral water and those are key items in this household. First I am pleased to report that the first dozen chilies sated me and I will be able to save the rest for casual snacking.
Soup is in the pan and I am tired. To heck with the Soriana run. I have enough of those basic stables to hold me until tomorrow. I am going to recline in one of my hammocks.
Good midmorning this Friday the 25th of January 2013 at ten o’clock. I slept well and awoke to one of those stand at the gate and shout visitors. Not my visitor mind you. It served as an excellent wake up call. I had actually been up closer to four than five. I thought it was morning, yes it is that light in this area of the fish bowl. Luckily I looked at the clock before I brushed my teeth. It was blissfully silent so I turned off the white noise machine and went back to sleep. I may have slept through the call from the gate had I not done so. Hard to say.
I will tell you that I have been remiss in my monitoring of the moped variety parked outside this front door. I realized as much when I got home yesterday and noticed the current model was half and half, silver in the back and red in the front. So, to date we have silver, red, and silver/red. Now if I narrow it down to distinguishing characteristics we may be able to determine if these are in fact the same silver, red, and silver/red, or a variety there of. All in a days work. This detecting can be an interesting business.
It was a very good thing that I decided to pass on the trip to Soriana. That delayed but massive cloudburst passed over about the time I would have been there browsing the isles. It hovered overhead for quite some time too. When I can hear a hard rain on the roof way down here on the lower level you can bet it is really coming down. A nice time to be tucked in, warm and dry.
I enjoyed my soup last night. Good thing too because I have three small containers of it in the fridge. I also have a dozen chilies ready to eat when the urge comes upon me. This morning I was wondering why I did not save one for propagation purposes. Silly me. If I find myself back over at Chedraui before they sell the last few containers I will rectify the situation. They may or may not carry them regularly. The full price would have been close to 60 pesos and that puts it into the luxury category under my current economic circumstances.
A plant or few of them in my garden would be heavenly. I am likely to have one of those again one of these day, gardens I mean. You probably noticed I have never mentioned actually planting anything in this little interior plot right outside my door. Well, it is not really very nice soil. It is a bit of a catchall for rubbish. The minute I got a nice plant in there the kids or their ball would land on it. I will be away for too long when I go to California. At least those are some of the excuses I have given myself. Are they good valid concerns or should I just do it. Hard to say. Once the disillusionment set in the idea just sort of fell by the wayside.
There is still a glimmer, a spark of desire to spend more time living on this island. I could move away from this neighborhood and down toward the waterfront. I have begun to consider this area the belly of the beast and if that is the case the little park would be the belly button.
It is an entirely different atmosphere as you near the water. I can leave this apartment and walk straight down 4th. I start out in this working class neighborhood and end up in a quaint, old but hip seaside village. It is, on this particular street, a mere six short blocks before you arrive at the blue waters of the Caribbean. Half way there you crest a very slight rise and in front of you at the end of the street is the ocean. The sidewalks become brick and the buildings ooze character. Interesting little restaurants worthy of any international resort destination are sprinkled around the area.
It is only a few blocks but a world away from here. I like it down there and beach or no it would be a good place to spend some time. It feels vibrant down there even when there are not many people about. It is kind of a nook between the cruise ship hordes and the northern hotel zone.
I went into a shopping center on a corner. It was a big two story affair with a very high end look to it. Once through the door I transformed myself into a just browsing tourist. The entire building housed jewelry and fine watch stores. On the second level one can watch the jewelers at work or dine at the restaurant. It is a Jewish restaurant with a little packaged foods area beside the reception desk. If you are in need of matzo crackers that would be the place to go. I looked at the menu and the majority of the dishes were the same as you would find on any other menu around here. I can only assume they are kosher. Why would I think that? Because you see not only is the complex full of jewelry stores but diamonds, diamonds, and more diamonds. I now understand the group or two of Hasidic Jews I have seen here on the island.
All those high dollar jewelry stores strung along Melgar (the avenue running along the water) would account for the heavy police patrols even without all the tourists to protect. All the better jewelry stores have their own security guards posted at the front door. Many fully suited up in bulletproof vest, weapon in hand.
There was a fairly recent article in the newspaper suggesting all the businesses employ their own security guards as the police were being spread a bit thin with the rise in crime. I mentioned the other day about the police patrolling fairly regularly in this neighborhood. Well, let me tell you it does not compare to that waterfront area we are talking about. They are not only more prominent there as they patrol the streets in their pickup trucks, but there is one standing in the back rifle at the ready. When I took my long exploratory walk to the north the other day I witnessed a good example of their effectiveness and interest in maintaining a nice environment for those peso spending visitors on which the island depends. A very drunk fellow was sitting on the bench that is part of the seawall. He slurred a hello as I passed on my way north. On my return he was sound asleep/passed out in the same spot. Within moments a municipal police truck pulled over and when I last looked were picking him up and moving him out. That sort of thing does not happen in my neighborhood. I am pretty sure he could have laid here all day and into the night. Although I often wonder how the federal police got there so quick when I had my mishap. Ah, the mysteries of life.
Hum, I wonder what the sky looks like up there today. I got real lucky yesterday. I was caught in a light tropical shower as I was leaving Chedraui. It continued pelting me with great big wide spaced drops until I made my turn at the main plaza.
What I can see looks kind of solid grey. I would like to go over to the coffee place and send this so that will be my first goal of the day. Subject to change naturally. I also think it might be about time I look Vale up. Even if, hey what am I saying, lets give the benefit of the doubt. Since she is taking morning and evening classes and then earning some money in the late afternoon helping out a relative of the BF I will need to time my visit. Come to think of it I could just wait until tomorrow when there is no school. All righty then I postponed that quite nicely.
BTW that biscuit was pretty interesting. I detected no cheese in it (or the twist) so I would wager it was a matter of mislabeling. The dough had a distinct flavor of uncooked biscuit dough. Not half bad and you know, I think some gravy might go nicely with them. Something to keep in mind next time I have a package of bacon in the fridge. These biscuits are readily available so it would not be like trying to pair my sharp cheddar and the rustic veg bread.
I am heating the last of the spaghetti while I wait for my hair to dry. There is not much but I can always move on to soup to fill any remaining gaps. I guess I should make some more spaghetti while that open container of sauce if fresh. I am almost out of parmesan but I can always splurge for some more. It lasts a long time and perks up many a dish.
While thinking of food I realize I forgot to tell you about the dried beans I saw at Mega yesterday. They were so pretty. At first I thought they were those red beans I have been wanting. When I got close I saw they were speckled and quite purple. They are called flor de mayo, same as the plumeria. I was not about to lug them home but I am going to look for them in Soriana or San Francisco.
I have moved on to the soup. I just opened that little packet of ground chili and sprinkled some on top. If it is not cayenne I do not know what it is. That is fine by me as I had been wishing for some. I also got a soup shot as I realized I had neglected to photograph it last night. Ah yes, as I make my way into the bowl I can say this is some spicy chili. If you foolishly put a good spoon full of this stuff in your batch of beans you would be in for a real surprise. I will remember to sprinkle it more sparingly in future.
Speaking of moving, my mystery moped neighbors may be doing just that. The silver and red is backed up to my door and they are moving out the furniture. So much for that entertaining research project/handy alarm clock.
I am on to the cheddar cheese and chili dessert plate now. It is every bit as good as yesterday. I threw in a sliced Chiapas banana for contrast and potassium. You are what you eat!
Maybe I will experiment with some of the other chilies available at the markets. I really should be familiar with all the subtleties of flavor. I could roast up a couple of each in the manner I prepared these. What a great way to figure out what dishes they might be best suited to. Back in Cabo I pan roasted serranos and those long skinny dried red ones for snacking on. One of the chilies here is a green version of the latter. I think they may hail from the Vera Cruz area. I have eaten plenty of jalapeños done that way, they are always good.
As I was dressing this morning in the same travel shorts I have been wearing most days, I decided to really take advantage of them. I am stuck on these because of their pockets. There is no good reason I can think of not to use one of those pockets for my camera. It is about time I carefully record some more exterior images for yours and my viewing pleasure. I could actually show you what that lower neighborhood looks like. I use the word lower loosely as this island is almost as flat as a pancake, more in a directional sense, and there is that slight little rise. You could of course hop on Google Maps, enter my address, switch to street view, and virtually cruise right on down the street all the way to the water. Should you do so I suggest you then make a right turn in the direction of the Looks Like Bermuda/although I have never actually been there, part of the island.
A small bowl of spaghetti, a small bowl of soup, eight chilies, two slices of cheddar cheese, and one small Chiapas banana under the belt and time to get going. It is a quarter to two, a fine hour for the coffee place. Hard to say but I think there is a sunny glow to the light filtering down to the center walk way. Until next time then.
Love
YS, YD, YM, YA
Brevi e consuete considerazioni a random dopo cinque giorni in Puglia con sconfinamento di Campania.
Troppo o niente, ovvero confronto tra Malpensa e l'aeroporto di Foggia. Arrivando al pelo per prendere l'aereo sperimentiamo tutta l'inutilità degli spazi di Malpensa: distanze siderali, imbarchi lontanissimi, passaggi obbligati attraverso puzzolentissime profumerie e file chilometriche e labirintiche ai controlli di sicurezza. A Foggia invece, c'erano solo due aerei in pista: il nostro e un piper (probabilmente finto e messo li per far scena), ma almeno non c'è da aspettare troppo per il ritiro bagagli.
Poi.
L'uomo e gli animali, ovvero la legge della giungla. A Trani una signora ci ha chiesto di “guardare sotto la macchina, perché c'era un gatto e io non voglio stritolarlo”. Ovviamente, il gatto appena questa aveva acceso la macchina era scappato via. Poi, Cerignola, post pioggia, signora dal balcone ci segnala che un uccellino “è caduto dal nido, rimettetelo su”; alla notazione che il nido era piuttosto alto per poter appoggiare il pulcino, la signora ha prontamente risposto “eh va beh, lanciatelo su, magari si ferma”. Infine, mattina, colazione al bar. È sempre bello vedere un volatile che si schianta sui vetri del gazebo, il meglio sono quei due secondi in cui lui scivola a terra e in cui puoi immaginare il suo stupore perplesso.
Ancora.
Ma cos'è questa cosa che scende dal cielo, ovvero anche in Puglia piove. No, perché l'altra volta che c'ero stato, al massimo qualche nuvoletta. Invece scopro qui, con mio stupore che anche in Apulia, talvolta, scende acqua dal cielo. Tornando da Margherita di Savoia prima le strade si fanno umide, poi sempre più bagnate. Dato che c'era comunque il sole ho pensato le avessero lavate o che ci fosse una perdita da qualche conduttura. Poi, il parabrezza ha iniziato a riempirsi di goccioline. Il mio sconcerto per il fenomeno è durato qualche minuto.
Basta.
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The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir is a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.
Gur-e Amir is Persian for "Tomb of the King". This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandson Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Mir Sayyid Baraka.
The earliest part of the complex was built at the end of the 14th century by the orders of Muhammad Sultan. Now only the foundations of the madrasah and khanaka, the entrance portal and a part of one of four minarets remains.
The construction of the mausoleum itself began in 1403 after the sudden death of Muhammad Sultan, Tamerlane's heir apparent and his beloved grandson, for whom it was intended. Timur had built himself a smaller tomb in Shahrisabz near his Ak-Saray palace. However, when Timur died in 1405 on campaign on his military expedition to China, the passes to Shahrisabz were snowed in, so he was buried here instead. Ulugh Beg, another grandson of Tamerlane, completed the work. During his reign the mausoleum became the family crypt of the Timurid Dynasty.
The entrance portal to the Muhammad Sultan ensemble is richly decorated with carved bricks and various mosaics. The decoration of the portal was accomplished by the skilled craftsman (ustad) Muhammad bin Mahmud Isfahani. Outwardly the Gur-e Amir Mausoleum is a one-cupola building. It is famous for its simplicity of construction and for its solemn monumentality of appearance. It is an octahedral building crowned by an azure fluted dome (see picture). The exterior decoration of the walls consists of the blue, light-blue and white tiles organized into geometrical and epigraphic ornaments against a background of terracotta bricks. The dome (diameter - 15 m (49.21 ft), height - 12.5 m (41.01 ft)) is of a bright blue color with deep rosettes and white spots. Heavy ribbed fluting gives an amazing expressiveness to the cupola.
During the reign of Ulugh Beg a doorway was made to provide an entrance into the mausoleum.
Inwardly the mausoleum appears as a large, high chamber with deep niches at the sides and diverse decoration. The lower part of the walls covered are by onyx slabs composed as one panel. Each of these slabs is decorated with refined paintings. Above the panel there is a marble stalactite cornice. Large expanses of the walls are decorated with painted plaster; the arches and the internal dome are ornamented by high-relief papier-mache cartouches, gilded and painted. The ornate carved headstones in the inner room of the mausoleum merely indicate the location of the actual tombs in a crypt directly underneath the main chamber. Under Ulugh Beg's government a solid block of dark green jade was placed over the grave of Tamerlane. Formerly this stone had been used at a place of worship in the Chinese emperor's palace, then as the throne of Kabek Khan (a descendant of Genghis Khan) in Karshi. Next to Tamerlane's grave lie the marble tombstones of his sons Miran Shah and Shah Rukh and also of grandsons - Muhammad Sultan and Ulugh Beg. Tamerlane's spiritual teacher Mir Said Baraka, also rests here. In 1740, the Persian warlord Nadir Shah tried to carry off the valuable tomb stone, but it broke in two. This was interpreted as a bad omen. His advisers urged him to leave the stone to its rightful place. The second time the stone was disturbed was on June 19, 1941 when Soviet archaeologists opened the crypt. The anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov was able to reconstruct Tamerlane's facial features from his skull, and it was also confirmed that he was 172 cm in height, a giant for his day, and would have walked with a pronounced limp. Further historical information about the assassination of Ulugh Beg and the authenticity of the other graves was also confirmed. Timur's skeleton and that of Ulugh Beg, his grandson, were reinterred with full Islamic burial rites in November 1942, at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.
“Consider the black widow spider. It's a timid little beastie, useful and, for my taste, the prettiest of the arachnids, with its shiny, patent-leather finish and its red hourglass trademark. But the poor thing has the fatal misfortune of possessing enormously too much power for its size. So everybody kills it on sight.”― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
Se non lo vedi con i tuoi occhi non ci credi.
Al policlinico Tor Vergata non ci sono letti.
Perciò pazienti provenienti da tutti i reparti dell'ospedale (40, in condizioni gravissime, durante il periodo in cui sono stata testimone della situazione di cui vi parlerò), non potendo ovviamente essere dimessi, vengono ammucchiati per giorni e giorni alla meno peggio nei locali e nei corridoi del prontosoccorso, che si trova così a dover gestire più del doppio dei pazienti che può assistere regolarmente, con risultati del tutto inadeguati alle circostanze: un prontosoccorso deve infatti seguire un protocollo che gli impone di dare la precedenza ai codici rossi del proprio reparto, non importa quanto gravi siano le condizioni dei pazienti "ospitati".
Dovete sapere però che i pazienti di cui sto parlando, non si sono fatti un graffietto giocando in giardino, bensì hanno crisi respiratorie dovute a enfisemi polmonari, oppure tumori complicati da polmoniti che li riducono in stato di aplasia (mancanza assoluta di difese immunitarie), oppure leucemie gravi, oppure problemi psichiatrici difficili; in poche parole necessitano di assistenza continua, impossibile nella situazione che ho appena descritto.
Vengono invece sistemati su barelle (i più fortunati, ovvero quelli in pericolo di vita), o su sedie (i più sfortunati, ovvero quelli solamente in gravissime condizioni), come ho già detto, per giorni, in attesa che un letto si liberi.
Dovete sapere anche che ottanta persone che tossiscono, starnutiscono e quant'altro in uno stanzone, creano, in termini di carica batterica, un'aria letale per chiunque, immaginate per un paziente che sia costretto a respirarla essendo privo di difese immunitarie.
Io, che sto bene, ho preso la bronchite.
Il medico di turno promette allora al paziente(dopo ore di proteste dei familiari) di inviare il fax per la richiesta di un letto libero in un'altro ospedale.
Dopo due giorni di attesa i familiari si informano se ci siano esiti, e ricevono risposte evasive. Chiamano allora personalmente gli ospedali che avrebbero dovuto ricevere i fax, e scoprono che non ve n'è traccia. Si recano perciò in direzione sanitaria, esigendo di vedere la ricevuta del fax promesso due giorni prima, ma guardacaso l'unica che viene loro mostrata risale alla mezz'ora precedente (quella in cui si erano informati).
Poco male, non c'è neanche il tempo per pensare ad una denuncia, i familiari vedendo il costante aggravarsi della condizione del loro caro, decidono, data la totale assenza di alternative offerta dall'ospedale, consapevoli dello sforzo economico che ciò comporterà (600 euro al giorno la stanza, escluse le terapie), per la clinica privata.
Altra sorpresa: la clinica è piena, oppure non è attrezzata per le gravi condizioni del paziente, o chiede cortesemente di richiamare dopo il week-end.
I malati rimangono nel girone infernale in cui si trovano, abbandonati a loro stessi, tra la puzza di fumo preveniente dalle salette degli infermieri, e quella dei bagni rotti, le correnti d'aria fredda, la luce accesa tutta la notte, le porte sbattute 24 ore su 24, i materiali medici appoggiati sulle sedie accanto agli oggetti personali dei pazienti, le barelle sistemate ovunque, (da davanti alle porte dei bagni, aperte, alle porte riservate alle emergenze), le sedie allineate in corridoi da lasciare tassativamente liberi per l'arrivo dei codici rossi, le risate sguaiate dei portantini che staccano, la mancanza del campanello per far accorrere un medico in caso di malore, le polpette che figurati se possono mangiare, le analisi urgenti che non vengono fatte, le flebo cambiate senza guanti, le flebo fuori vena, le flebo che finiscono senza che nessuno le cambi, le flebo dell'antibiotico sbagliato.
Chi ha dei familiari può considerarsi fortunato.
Perchè invece ho visto persone anziane strapparsi cateteri e flebo da sole, nell'indifferenza degli infermieri. Ho sentito questi infermieri rifiutarsi di accompagnarne altre al bagno e intimare loro di "farsela nel pannolone", perchè loro avevano da fare.
Rispetto a tutto il personale medico e paramedico che svolge il proprio lavoro come si deve, costretto a turni disumani. Qui parlo del sistema non del singolo, un sistema che costringe il singolo a condizioni di lavoro inaccettabili.
"Mi vergogno." ho sentito dire da una dottoressa ad una famiglia disperata.
Il sistema sanitario è in condizioni tali per cui semplicemente TIENE IN VITA, ma non CURA.
che sono due concetti ben diversi.
nel caso siate nelle condizioni di poter usare queste foto per qualcosa di più efficace di flickr, fatemelo sapere.
so che sono scadenti e non abbastanza contestualizzate, ma hai visto mai potessero servire a qualcosa.
grazie per aver dedicato un pò di tempo a tutto questo.
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If you do not see it with your eyes you wouldn't believe it.
The hospital Tor Vergata, in Rome, doesn't have beds for it's patients.
So patients with acute deseases from all of the departments of the hospital, obviously not being able to be dismissed, are accumulated for days and days in the halls of the ER, duplicating the number of patients an ER can regularly take care of.
Those patients I'm talking about, are critically ill, they suffer from tumors, pulmonary emphysemas, no immune system and what have you.
They are accomodated for days in stretchers or even simple chairs, exposed to the bacteria of about other eighty persons coughing, sneezing and so on, with a very few assistance. (An ER by protocol, has to care first of it's own department patients than "guests" from other departments)
Doctors tell patients they're sending fax to get them a bed in other hospitals (they are REQUIRED by law to do so), but when they ask for some news, strangely there are no receipts of those fax.
Some of those patients, because of they're getting worse, think about private hospitals, but even in this case, you would be surprised to know that private hospitals are completely full too, or they are not equipped to let in such a critically hill patient, or simply ask you politely to call back after the week-end.
Then patients wait where they are, hoping for a bed.
I've heard a doctor saying "I'm embarassed." to a desperate family.
Much respect to all those doctors, doing their best in those difficult conditions, I'm talking about the system here, not about single persons.
The health service as it is now, just keeps you alive, it doesn't CURE you.
If someone wants to use those images (even if I know they're not that incisives) for some journalistic purpose, you're welcome, just let me know.
thanks for your time.
Hoy día se considera que este templo fue levantado a finales del siglo XI o comienzos del XII, pues ya existía en 1117, confirmado por el testamento de Domingo Petit donde aparece como testigo su abad.
Es un edificio de tres naves con tres tramos cada uno, transepto no acusado en planta, cimborrio sobre el crucero y una cabecera tripartita de ábsides semicirculares escalonados (el central perdido y sustituido por otro, cuadrado, más moderno). Una enorme torre campanario de ladrillo se erigió sobre el penúltimo tramo más próximo al hastial occidental. Cuenta, además, con una magnífica galería porticada que rodea las fachadas sur, oeste y norte.
Además de reformas y aditamentos que desfiguran algunas partes del edificio, hay que advertir que el templo de San Martín se encuentra muy restaurado. La piedra caliza original de color rosado está muy meteorizada, razón por la cual buena parte de la escultura repartida en canecillos y capiteles presenta un aspecto negruzco con los relieves casi disueltos.
El juego de volúmenes que forma su compleja estructura interior, fruto de las diferentes fases constructivas y de una topografía irregular, no restan armonía a este formidable templo románico. Contiguo a los pies hay un espacio que ha sido interpretado tradicionalmente -desde los escritos de Gómez Moreno- como prerrománico, formado por un cuadrado de nueve tramos (tres tramos de las tres naves), con la gran particularidad de que las bóvedas de los tramos laterales presentan bóvedas de medio cañón dispuestas perpendicularmente al eje de la iglesia, lo cual no es nada habitual. Los restantes espacios se cubren con bóveda de arista.
La torre de ladrillo también pertenece a la fase románica del siglo XII-XIII, aunque hubo de ser reformada en 1362 y recuerda, por la combinación de arcos de ladrillo sobre columnas pétreas, la de San Tirso de Sahagún. Es un ejemplar de extraordinaria nobleza, situada en el segundo tramo de la nave central. Consta de tres cuerpos de ladrillo. Los dos inferiores tienen dobles vanos de medio punto con columna común de piedra, en cada cara. El cuerpo superior, cubierto con chapitel barroco, es posterior.
Dos puertas románicas permiten el acceso al templo. Nada significativo tiene la puerta meridional, de arquivoltas aboceladas. Sin embargo, la que se abre a los pies es un portento de monumentalidad y belleza. Probablemente se trate de una de las portadas más grandes del románico castellano, cualidad que pasa algo desapercibida y ensombrecida por la magnificencia del pórtico que le antecede. La citada puerta tiene seis arquivoltas que combinan alternativamente formas lisas y aboceladas sobre jambas y columnas acodilladas. La profusión floral de algunas arquivoltas es verdaderamente notable
San Martín es el único ejemplo segoviano conservado que presume de tener una galería porticada que rodea completamente la iglesia salvo por su cabecera. El desnivel del terreno que rodea el templo por sus costados meridional y septentrional obligó a realizar un escalado de alturas para su adecuación. Como es habitual, dicha galería es el añadido más tardío de la construcción, seguramente de comienzos del siglo XIII. El tramo meridional es el más bello si atendemos a la armonía de su estructura. Tiene trece arcos de aristas vivas sobre columnas dobles sin interrupción por contrafuertes ni puertas, que dada su amplitud y continuidad recuerda, más que ninguna otra, la estructura cerrada de las arquerías de los claustros. Hay que señalar que este tramo está muy reconstruido y falseado por una restauración del siglo XIX, por lo que buena parte de los capiteles son nuevos y los demás están muy retocados y/o erosionados.
El tramo septentrional está cegado porque el espacio entre la columnata y el muro fue reutilizado para abrir una serie de dependencias que afean su visión. Sin embargo, la escultura de sus capiteles es más interesante y muestra todo un repertorio de escenas neotestamentarias, muy descriptivas y con claro fin catequético.
La gran entrada principal del pórtico, a los pies del templo, es otro primor de este monumento y viene a ser una especie de "nártex". Consta de cuatro grandes arquivoltas aboceladas con riquísima decoración de entrelazos geométricos y círculos secantes. La segunda y cuarta arquivoltas apoyan sobre dos pares de pilares rematados por capiteles. Por debajo de los mismos, los pilares se convierten en cuatro figuras humanas de gran tamaño. Se trata de apóstoles o personajes del Antiguo Testamento, de gran hieratismo, con cuerpos esbeltos y rígidos y un rico tratamiento del plegado de las vestimentas. Tradicionalmente se han vinculado estas esculturas a las de la francesa Catedral de Chartres.
"In the Conservatory" Manet painted this double portrait of M. and Mm Jules Guillemet in 1879. When the painting was shown at the Salon of 1879.
J. Seward Johnson's "A Thought to Consider"
In terms of luxury, there's not much than can top the last of the mighty Maybachs, the stylish and structurally unsound 57 and the even larger 62 being what all car manufacturers aspire to build. Now, while many consider these cars for being failures in their own right of not being able to appeal to a market outside of business executives and company vehicles, I wouldn't consider them pseudonyms for bad cars, if anything they're incredibly well built, and the attention to every single detail is astounding, even giving the well established Rolls Royce and Bentley a run for their money!
The Maybach company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach, one of the founding fathers of the original motor car back in the late 1800's. For a period the company created a selection of admirable but often forgotten creations that were meant to rival the luxury and premise of their Anglican rivals, Rolls Royce and Bentley. The first Maybach to be built was in 1921, this being the W3. Not much is known about these early pre-war Maybachs, but for the few that have managed to survive the years in museums or private collections have been noted for their esteemed luxury. However, World War II dealt a bitter blow to the Maybach brand, which although had been able to produce engines for the German Army's Panzer II and Panzer III tanks, the company never restarted production and for the next 20 years lay dormant until it was bought up by Daimler-Benz in 1960, with the engine division being renamed MTU.
However, in the mid to late 1990s a sudden interest in large luxury cars such as contemporary Rolls Royces and Bentleys gave parent company Daimler AG (parent company of Mercedes-Benz) the incentive to create their own superluxury car, only this one was going to be so lavish and chocked full of so many luxury items that it would simply blow the British builders out of the water. The first concept cars for their new luxury brand were unveiled in 1997 at the Tokyo Motor Show, being dubbed the 57 and the 62, a representation of the car's length in decimetres. At the time Rolls Royce and Bentley were still the same company, and competed with the brand new Rolls Royce Silver Seraph/Bentley Arnage, though it wouldn't be before 2002 until the first of the Maybach models were introduced to the public market.
The launch of Maybach was ideal in terms of timing as in 2002, the five year contract between BMW and Volkswagen over the ownership of Rolls Royce/Bentley ceased, and the company was split. Rolls Royce was taken over by BMW and promptly ceased production of the Silver Seraph and Corniche V whilst their new range of BMW models were developed, and Bentley remained with Volkswagen, continuing to build the Arnage, the Continental of the early 1990's and the Azure of 1995. Indeed it looked like Maybach's new investment into the luxury car market was well placed, seeing as their closest competition was in utter dismay!
The Maybach 57 & 62's design is derived from the Mercedes S-Class, and cars are powered by 5.5L and 6.0L V12 engines, providing the cars with 518hp in the 57 and 570hp in the 62. Performance wise it's very impressive, with the 57 accelerating from 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, and the 62 in 4.8 seconds, not bad, considering these cars weight 6,000lbs! The asking prices for such incredible pieces of kit ranged from $366,000 for the Maybach 57 to $492,000 for the 62 S (Special), as well as the jaw-dropping $1,350,000 cost of the rare and ambiguous Landaulet convertible!
Of course when you pay for these things, you are paying for a hell of a lot of car! I remember attending an overview of the Maybach 62 a couple of years back at a car show and was actually very impressed with the number of gadgets and features the owner were lucky enough to have bestowed upon them.
Sitting inside it was like being in the first class cabin of a British Airways Boeing 747, crossed with the promenade deck of a luxury yacht! There are TV screens in the backs of the seat complete with DVD player and a hugely complicated radio/stereo system, there's wood veneer on all the surfaces, the seats you sank into with lovely thick head cushions (in fact I nearly fell asleep they were so comfy!), a Champagne bar with silver glasses and a fridge in the centre console for the bottle of Bubbly, as well as housing a mobile phone! The door panels were a maze of buttons for seat alignments and reclining options, including also heating, cooling, massaging, tumble drying, etc. In fact the seats recline so far back that they almost turn into beds!
And just so you're all tucked up warm at night, there's a blind that comes across the rear window!
These weren't cars, they were Beverley Hills Mansions on wheels! It was like driving around in Blenheim Palace, and performed just as well, seeing as they are very long and will probably mount the curb a few times on sharp city bends! For a short while Maybach had absolutely cornered the market, but in 2003 Rolls Royce got its act back in gear and launched the Phantom, an equally as outrageous car in terms of luxuries provided and raw power, but not as much as the Maybach. Although I'm an avid Rolls Royce man, I will not hesitate to say that the Maybach delivers luxury in spades and contemporary Rollers don't hold a candle to it. But I will defend the Spirit of Ecstasy by saying that these cars are by no means 'Driver's Cars'. In order to truly appreciate the Maybach you have to be a passenger, otherwise it's just like driving any other car, but with the addition of it being very heavy, which makes pulling away from traffic lights a bit stunted and cornering a bit cautious because of how long these things are. A Rolls Royce on the other hand, especially the Ghost, is a more manageable car, something you can drive but at the same time still enjoy the luxuries of.
Because the Rolls Royce is a driver's car, and the Bentley Continental and Continental GT that were launched the same year are much more agile and sporty, the Maybach began to suffer, and that's even before we get down to the name. Probably the biggest advantage Rolls Royce and Bentley had were brand recognition, seeing as both these names have become bywords for wealth, affluence and gratuitous luxury. Maybach on the other hand had been a dormant brand since 1945, so anyone under the age of 80 had probably never heard of them and therefore didn't know what they were getting themselves in for. In the end the Maybach's primary market was the chauffeur driven business executive, luxury hotel transfer or company car market, and if you take a walk around London, you'll probably find a majority of the Maybach's you come across will be in this employment. No one could really own such a massive car for individual purposes. Indeed word-of-mouth about the Maybach's luxury performance, as well as a few features on Top Gear, may have helped it along, but Maybach simply weren't able to shift enough of these cars to justify the costs that went into making them, exacerbated by the 2008 economic recession.
With Maybach making a loss of 330,000 Euros on every car they sold, parent company Daimler AG decided to review the situation. Finding that the idea of buying such overly exuberant and massively expensive cars was no longer viable for the new-money, Daimler announced that they would bring an end to the Maybach brand in 2013. In the end only 2,110 cars were produced in it's 11 year production life, a sad end to such an endearing machine, but unfortunately a misguided one. Replaced by the Mercedes S-Class Pullman, the company has now once again become dormant, with hindsight reviews of the car being mixed.
Some say that the Maybach is probably the greatest luxury car ever made, and was ranked the #1 Luxury Car in 2008 over Rolls Royce and Bentley. Others such as Top Gear, who had lauded the car upon its launch in 2002, went on to rank it as 2nd on their Top 13 worst cars of the past 20 years countdown, pointing out the fact that the car's brand was unrecognisable for the new money, and due to it being such a large car specifically for chauffeur driven executives, it wasn't able to rake in the market for oligarchs and celebrities who desired a 'Driver's Car'. The biggest problem however for the Maybach was indeed its name. Whilst Rolls Royce and Bentley both have distinguished and long lasting histories that can be traced across the last century, and have become bywords for exclusivity and luxury as well as the fact that they're built in their own factories away from their parent companies, the Maybach had little to no recognisable history, had a name that no one outside of Germany or born since 1950 knew about, and was built on the same production lines as other Mercedes products, which made it seem a bit more run-of-the-mill.
But in any case, the Maybach 57 and 62 did show us how far luxury cars of such unbelievable variety, size and outrageous gadgetry can go, pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible for such massive luxury machines. Announcements however have been made in late 2014 to revive the Maybach brand, which means we could have more titanic luxury motors coming our way soon!
Watch this space...
El Lentiscal y Bolonia es una barriada de Tarifa que bien podría considerarse su pequeño tesoro. Ubicada en una ensenada, entre la montaña majestuosa de San Bartolomé -que imita la cresta de una ola-, la Sierra de Plata y una duna brillante que no deja de moverse cuando sopla el levante, llegar a Bolonia supone descubrir la cristalina inmensidad del océano Atlántico entre los cerros pardos que la anteceden.
Es uno de los últimos resquicios de la costa andaluza aún sin urbanizar. El tiempo apenas ha pasado por este pequeño pueblecito costero en el que un par de decenas de construcciones de no más de dos plantas salpican el terreno. Una única excepción: el polémico edificio de la Sede Institucional del Conjunto Arqueológico Baelo Claudia, que preside desde hace un tiempo la playa. Aún así, es reflejo de su origen, ya que Bolonia tomó su nombre de estas ruinas de origen romano que han constituido, junto con la playa, uno de los lugares más visitados por quienes se acercan a la zona.
La playa de Bolonia destaca por ofrecer tres kilómetros de arena y mar en los que nadar sin evitar ni rocas ni tablas de windsurf, en los que poder situar las toallas con total facilidad y con la intimidad que ofrecen sus núcleos arenosos y en los que pasear hasta lo alto de la duna que la reina y desde la que se puede observar una hermosa panorámica de todo el territorio y hasta de la silueta africana.
Alrededor de la playa varios restaurantes ofrecen una excelente selección de carnes y pescados de la costa gaditana con los que recuperar fuerzas. Los autóctonos se dedicaban en origen a la cría de ganado y a la pesca, pero el desarrollo de los pueblos de alrededor y el convertirse en destino turístico en la época estival, ha impulsado que la actividad económica más desarrollada en Bolonia sea la hostelería. En sus establecimientos, materias primas de calidad y un servicio familiar.
L' ISOLA DI FILE ( PHILAE )E IL TEMPIO DI ISIDE
e' considerato il luogo piu' romantico dell'egitto . il tempio di iside,situato nell'isola di file,(che si trova sei chilometri a sud di aswuan ,già nota nell'antichità per i suoi templi e per i suoi fiori)è una delle mete principali di coloro che hanno la fortuna di visitare l'egitto.in realtà l'isola di file oggi giace sepolta dalle acque del lago nasser.dopo la costruzione della vecchia diga ,infatti,l'isola era soggetta alle piene del nilo,e veniva ciclicamente sommersa ,salvo poi tornare all aluca nei periodi di magra.i segni di questo processo sono ,purtroppo,ancora visibili nel tempio.dopo la costruzione della grande diga ,invece,l'isola di file fu definitivamente e totalmente sommersa.fu grazie all'interessamento dell'unesco che l'isola fu riportata alla luce,e come per il tempio di abu simbel,l'italia diede un contributo di primissimo piano nel recupero del complesso archeologico.dapprima fu prosciugato il territorio circostante,quindi asportate tonnellate di fango,quindi i templi segati in circa quarantamila blocchi,pesanti circa venti tonnellate ciascuno, e rimontati in un'isola vicina. quella che oggi chiamiamo come file (philae) è il tempio che è stato ricomposto sull'isola di agilika.il tempio,era il centro del culto dela dea iside,durante il periodo tolemaico . il nome file ha origini antiche ,probabilmente nubiane,e voleva significare isola del tempo (o isola di ra) ; dai geroglifici è riportato come pilak,che tradotto in greco diventa philai ed in latino philae . nel periodo precedente la costruzione delle due dighe di aswan,l'isola di philae occupava la posizione all'inizio della cataratta del primo nilo,dove le acque del nilo scorrevano veloci e turbolente,rendendo il letto del fiume pieno di vortici e di acqua schiumante ,per almeno tre miglia.molti faraoni tentarono di rendere il fiume più praticabile,o almeno di rendere navigabili con più sicurezza queste rapide.ancora oggi esistono zone del fiume in cui si possono intravedere alcune di queste cataratte(la cataratta è un dislivello del fiume che crea turbolenza ) a nord dela diga di aswan. nella regione si trovavano numerose isole,forse centinaia,delle quali ,oltre l'isola di agilika ,la più importante a noi pervenuta è senza dubbio l'isola elefantina.durate gli albori del regno,i sacerdoti affermavano che la sorgente del nilo fosse inesauribile ,e giacesse sotto le roccie di biggeh,dove metà del fiume emergeva per scorrere verso nord,e metà verso sud.
l'isola di file è situata 4 miglia a sud dall'isola elefantina,nell'altro lato della vecchia diga di aswan.ed è quasi interamente occupata dai templi e dagli altri monumenti.in tempi antichi i templi erano protetti dalle inondazioni del nilo ,per mezzo di alti muri,banchine e terrazze,e le sue fondazioni di granito riparavano dall'erosione provocata dal limo.
in seguito alle proteste di coloro che volevano preservare i templi,prima della cosruzione della prima diga di aswan,fu fatto uno studio per la salvaguardia dei templi,e si decise di limitare fortemente la capienza della diga.e per l'occasione furono fatti anche degli scavi,da cui emersero i resti di alcune chiese cristiane.dopo che la vecchia diga fu ultimata ,tuttavia,winston churchill ,allora ministro delle colonie inglesi,dichiarò che limitare la capienza dell adiga,era come sacrificare il progresso sull'altare di una falsa religione ,a cui erano dediti alcuni professori ed alcuni turisti,desiderosi solo di trovare qualche luogo in cui graffittare i muri .in seguito a queste assurde dichiarazioni ,il livello della diga fu innalzato ,e fu così sommerso tutti gli anni da dicembre a marzo.i turisti visitavano il tempio su una barca,e navigavano attraverso il chiosco di traiano e dentro il cortile del tempio di iside.
il rovescio della medaglia è che l'acqua proteggeva i templi dall'erosione delle tempeste di sabbia,e stava erodendo il sale che si era depositato ,e che a lungo andare avrebbe daneggiato le pietre con cui era costruito il tempio.inoltre,le ipsezioni che venivano effettuate con scadenza ciclica,mostravano che i danni erano minori di quelli inizialmente stimati,fatta eccezione per i colori dei geroglifici e i dipinti,che venivano lavati via dall'acqua. in seguito ,quindi,venne costruita la seconda diga,ed il templio ,insieme ad altri monumenti ,fu spostato sopra il livello dell'acqua. nonontante le sue vicissitudini,il tempio di iside nell'isola di file,anche se portato su un'altra isola ,resta il luogo più romantico dell'egitto,sia per le bellezze naturali che lo circondano ,sia per la storia della dea a cui è dedicato il tempio,sia per lo stupefacente tramonto che si gode dall'isola.. il tempio (simbolo di amore eterno).
inoltre,ha la peculiarità di essere un punto di incontro tra due culture e religioni diverse: quella orientale e quella occidentale (greco-romana) .
curiosità
-oggi è possibile assistere ,nel tempio di iside,allo spettacolo luce e suoni alle piramidi,un suggestivo evento che consente al visitatore di rivere la stessa atmosfera degli antichi egizi,resa indimenticabile dalle musiche e dai colori proiettati dai raggi laser ,e dalla voce narrante .
-nei tempi antichi si diceva che osiride fosse uno dei luoghi dove era sepolto osiride,e per questo questa isola ha da sempre assunto dei connotati sacri.inizialmente solo i più alti sacerdoti potevano accedervi,in seguito divenne meta di continui pellegrinaggi ,poichè gli egiziani avevano il dovere di recarsi al tempio di iside almeno una volta nella vita. Il Tempio di File era considerata il luogo sacro dove era sepolto Osiride, chiamato anche "Colui che giace a File" e proprio per questo era considerata come "L'isola Santa". Tutta l'isola era sacra e soltanto con il permesso dei più alti sacerdoti era possibile accedervi.
Contrary to what we are lead to believe by the popular media, science is not the enemy of Christianity.
Genuine science is completely compatible with the belief in the creator God of Christianity.
Most of the world's greatest scientists, who were the pioneers and founders of modern science recognised this.
It is only fairly recently with the rise of militant atheism that science has been portrayed, through propaganda, as being in conflict with Christianity.
So why were so many great scientists convinced that the principles of science were in perfect harmony with belief in the Christian God?
Consider this ....
A creator God (or supernatural first cause) has been made redundant and the final gap (pertaining to the so-called God of the gaps) has now been filled ... who says so?
Atheists, along with the secularist pundits in the popular media.
Why do they say that?
Because they believe that the greatest brain in atheism - Stephen Hawking, has finally discovered the secret of the origin of the universe and a naturalistic replacement for God.
The atheist replacement for God is summed up in a single sentence written by Hawking:
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing"
That is it .... problem solved - apparently!
The secularists in the popular media loved it, as far as they were concerned the problem certainly was solved. Hawking had finally dealt the fatal blow to all religion, especially Christianity. No need to question it, if a revered scientist of his calibre, is so sure of how the universe came into being, it must be correct.
The new atheists loved it, they wasted no time in proclaiming the ultimate triumph of 'science' over religious mythology and superstition.
So just how credible is the atheist claim that God has been made redundant?
And just how 'scientific' is Hawking's replacement for God?
Shall we analyse it?
"Because there is a law of gravity ....
So,
1) If the law of gravity existed, how is that nothing?
AND -
2) Where did the law of gravity come from?
AND -
3) How can a law of gravity exist before that which gravity relates to ... i.e. matter?
"the universe can and will create itself from nothing"
4) How can something create itself, without pre-existing its own creation?
(A) could possibly create (B), but how could (A) create (A)? Of course it can't.
5) What about the 'nothing' that is not really nothing, as most people understand 'nothing', but a bizarre 'nothing' in which a law of gravity exists. A nothing which is actually a 'something' where a law of gravity is presumably some sort of eternally, existent entity?
AND -
6) Is Hawking implying that the self-creation of the universe is made possible by the pre-existence of the law of gravity?
Of course, natural laws are not creative agents, they simply describe basic properties and operation of material things. They can't create anything, or cause the creation of anything. Something which is a property of something, cannot create that which it is a property of.
So, even if we ignore the law of cause and effect which definitively rules out a natural, first cause of the universe, the atheist notion of the universe arising of its own volition from nothing is still impossible, and can be regarded as illogical and unscientific nonsense. Hawking's naturalistic replacement for God, presented in his single sentence, and so loved by the new, atheist cabal, is obviously just contradictory and confused nonsense.
The truth, which atheists don't want to hear, is that atheism is intellectually and scientifically indefensible. That is why they always duck out of explaining how the concept of an uncaused, inadequate, natural first cause is possible.
The best they ever come up with, is something like "we don't really know what laws existed at the start of the universe".
However, the atheist claim that - we don't really know... is completely spurious.
We certainly do know that the Law of Cause and Effect is universal, there is no way round it.
The only reason atheists don't want to accept it, is ideological.
And ... isn't it strange, that the only laws atheists dispute are precisely those that interfere with their beliefs. For example, atheists seem pretty sure that one law existed .... the law of gravity (even prior to that which gravity is a property of … matter).
Why are they so sure that the law of gravity existed?
Because their naturalistic substitute for God, summed up in the sentence by Stephen Hawking, apparently requires that the law of gravity existed before anything else …..
Here it is again ...
‘Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing’ Stephen Hawking.
So atheists DO KNOW for sure that the law of gravity existed, but they don’t really know what other laws existed at the start of the universe. They especially doubt that the Law of Cause and Effect existed.
AMAZING!
Well, how about this for a refutation of Hawking’s replacement for God, also summed up in a single sentence?
Because there is a Law of Cause and Effect, the universe can’t and won’t create itself from nothing!
That is something Stephen Hawking conveniently forgot.
Apparently, he accepts that the law of gravity existed, because he thinks it suits his argument, but he ignores the existence of other laws that positively destroy his argument.
So now you know the truth about the best substitute for God that atheists have ever come up with.
IMPRESSED? I think not!
Why is it ATHEISTS that try to dispute the universality of natural laws?
According to their claims, atheists are supposed to be the champions of science. Yet we find in practice that it is actually theists who end up defending natural laws and the scientific method against those atheists who try to refute any laws and scientific principles that interfere with their naturalistic beliefs.
Whatever happened to the alleged conflict between science and religion?
That is revealed as purely, atheist propaganda. There is obviously much more conflict between atheism and science.
Why is the law of cause and effect so important?
Because it tells us that all natural entities, events and processes are contingent.
They are all subject to preceding causes. It tells us that natural entities and events are not autonomous, they cannot operate independently of causes.
That is such an important principle, it is actually the basis of the scientific method. Science is about looking for adequate causes of ALL natural events. According to science, a natural event without a cause, is a scientific impossibility.
Once you suggest such a notion, you are abandoning science and you violate the basic principle of the scientific method.
What about the first cause of the universe and everything?
How does that fit in?
Well, the first cause was obviously a unique thing, not only unique, but radically different to all NATURAL entities and occurrences. The first cause HAD to be an autonomous entity, it HAD to be eternally self-existent, self-reliant, NON-CONTINGENT ... i.e. it was completely independent of causes and the limitations that causes impose.
The first cause, by virtue of being the very first, could not have had any preceding cause, and obviously didn't require any cause for its existence. When we talk about the first cause, we mean the very first cause, i.e. FIRST means FIRST, not second or third.
The first cause also had to be capable of creating everything that followed it. It is responsible for every subsequent cause and effect that is, or has ever been. That means that nothing, nor the sum total of everything that followed the first cause, can ever be greater, in any respect, than the first cause.
So the idea that the first cause could be a natural entity or event is just ludicrous.
We know that the first cause is radically different to any natural entity, it is NOT contingent and that is why it is called a SUPERNATURAL entity, the Supernatural, First Cause (or Creator God). All natural events and entities ARE contingent without exception, so the first cause simply CANNOT be a natural thing.
That is the verdict of science, logic and reason. Atheists dispute the verdict of science and insist that the first cause was a 'natural' event which was somehow able to defy natural laws that govern all natural events.
Consequently, atheism can be regarded as anti-science. Which means .... the real enemy of atheism is science, not religion. And the real enemy of science is atheism, not religion.
An idea which seems to be popular with atheists at present, is a continuously, reciprocating universe, one which ends by running out of energy potential and then rewinds itself in an never ending cycle ..... this is an attempt to evade the fact that an uncaused, natural, first cause is impossible. They claim that, in this way a first cause, is not necessary. And that matter/energy is some sort of eternally existent entity.
So is it a valid solution?
Firstly .....
Matter/energy cannot be eternally existent in a cycle with no beginning).
Why?
Because all natural things are contingent, they have to comply with the law of cause and effect, so they cannot exist independently of causes. The nearest you could get to eternally existent matter/energy would be a very, long chain of causes and effects, but a long chain is not eternally existent, it has to have a beginning at some point. At the beginning there would still have to be a non-contingent first cause. So a long chain of causes and effects simply pushes the first cause further back in time, it can't eliminate it.
Secondly ....
It is pretty obvious that the idea of the universe simply rewinding itself in a never ending cycle, which had no beginning, is complete, unscientific nonsense. How such a proposal can be presented as serious science, beggars belief.
It seems atheists will try anything to justify their naturalist ideology. They apparently have no compunction about completely disregarding natural laws.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics rules out such atheist, pie-in-the-sky, origins mythology.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, the idea of a rewinding universe is tantamount to applying the discredited notion of perpetual motion - on a grand scale, to the universe.
Contingent things don't just rewind of their own accord.
The Second Law (not to mention common sense) rules it out.
Where does the renewed power or renewed energy potential come from?
If you wind up a clock, it doesn't rewind itself after it has stopped.
The universe had a beginning and it will have an end. That is what science tells us, it cannot rewind itself.
Such ridiculous, atheist musings are just a desperate attempt to wriggle out of the inevitable conclusion of logic, and the Law of Cause and Effect which are the real enemies of atheist ideology.
Once again atheism is hoisted on its own petard by natural law and science, not by religion.
A variation of the cyclical universe is the argument proposed by some that the universe just is?
Presumably they mean that the universe is some sort of eternally-existent entity with no beginning - and therefore not in need of a cause? Once again an eternally self-existent universe is not possible for the same reason outlined above.
In addition ....
The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us the universe certainly had a beginning and will have an end. The energy potential of the universe is decreasing from an original peak at the beginning of the universe. Even the most rabid atheists seem to accept that. Which is why most of them believe in a beginning event, such as a big bang explosion.
So the question is how did it (the universe) begin to exist, not whether it began to exist?
Which takes us back to the question of the nature of the very first cause.
It can only be one of two options,
an uncaused, natural first cause
OR
an uncaused, supernatural first cause.
An uncaused, NATURAL first cause is impossible.
Thus the only possible option is a supernatural first cause, i.e. God.
Atheists can’t refute the Law of Cause and Effect which is so devastating to their naturalist agenda, so they regularly invent bizarre scenarios which ignore natural laws, and hope people won’t notice. If anyone does they just brush it off with remarks like “we just don’t know ” what laws existed prior to the beginning of the universe.
Sorry, the atheist apologists may not know …. but all sensible people do know, we certainly know what is impossible ….
And we certainly know that you cannot blithely step outside the constraints of natural laws and scientific principles, as atheists do, and remain credible.
We know that natural laws describe the inherent properties of matter/energy. Which means wherever matter/energy exist, the inherent properties of matter/energy also exist - and so do the natural laws that describe those properties. if the universe began, as some propose, with a cosmic egg. or a previous universe, those things are still natural entities with natural properties, and as such would be subject to natural laws. So the idea that there were natural events leading up to the origin of the universe that were not subject to natural laws is ridiculous.
The atheist claim; that we just don't know, is not valid, and should be treated as the silliness it really is.
The existence of the law of cause and effect is essential to the scientific method, but fatal to the atheist ideology.
SO ....
Is the law of cause and effect really universal?
Causation is necessary for the existence of the universe, but ALSO for the existence of any natural entities or events that may have preceded the creation of the universe.
In other words, causation is necessary for all matter/energy and all natural entities and occurrences, whether within the universe or elsewhere.
ALL natural entities are contingent wherever they may be, whether in some sort of cosmic egg, a big bang, a previous universe or whatever.
Contingency is an inherent character of all natural entities, so it is impossible for any natural entity to be non-contingent.
Which means you simply CANNOT have a natural entity which is UNCAUSED, anywhere.
If, for example, matter/energy was not contingent at the start of the universe, or before the universe began, how and why would it be contingent now?
Why would nature have changed its basic character to an inferior one?
If matter/energy once had such awesome, autonomous power - if it was, at some time, self-sufficient, not reliant on causes for its operation and existence, and not restricted by the limitations causes impose, it would effectively mean it was once an infinite, necessary, self-existent entity, similar to God.
Now if matter once had the autonomous, non-contingent powers of a god, why would it change itself to a subordinate character and role, when it became part of the universe?
Why would it change to a role where it is limited by the strictures of natural laws. And where it cannot operate without a preceding, adequate cause?
To claim matter/energy was, at one time, not contingent, not subject to causes (which is what atheists have to claim) – is to actually imbue it with the autonomous power of a god.
That is why atheism is really just a revamped version of pagan naturalism.
By denying the basic, contingent character of matter/nature, atheism effectively deifies nature, and credits it with godlike powers, which science clearly tells us it doesn’t possess.
Thus, if anyone dismisses causality, they effectively deify matter/nature.
Which means they have chosen the first of the 2 following choices …
1. Atheism ... the unscientific, illogical belief in a natural, uncaused god (of matter or nature) which violates natural laws - which science recognises restrict its autonomy?
2. Theism ... the logical belief in an uncaused, supernatural God, which created matter and the laws that govern matter. And therefore does not violate any laws, is not contingent, and thus has completely unrestricted autonomy and infinite powers?
Which one would you choose?
Which one do scientists who respect natural laws and the scientific method choose?
The great, scientific luminaries and founders of modern science, such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Louis Pasteur etc., in fact, nearly all of the really great scientists and founders of modern science, had no doubts or problem understanding that choice, and they readily chose the second (theism), as the only logical option.
So, by choosing the second - a supernatural first cause – rather than meaning you are anti-science or anti-reason or some sort of uneducated, superstitious, religious nut (as atheists frequently claim) actually puts you in the greatest of scientific company.
To put it another way, who would you rather trust in science, such scientific giants as: Newton, Pasteur, Faraday, Von Braun, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Mendel, Marconi, Kelvin, Babbage, Pascal, Herschel, Peacock etc. who believed in a supernatural first cause?
OR,
the likes of: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, Stephen Hawking etc. who believe in an uncaused, natural first cause?
No contest!
We can see that atheists are anti-science, because they treat natural law and the whole principle of the scientific method with utter contempt, and all the while, they masquerade as the champions of science to the public.
The question of purpose ....
A further nail in the coffin of bogus, atheist science is the existence of order.
Atheists assume that the universe is purposeless, but they cannot explain the existence of order.
The development of order requires an organizational element.
To do useful work, or to counter the effects of entropy, energy needs to be directed or guided.
Raw energy alone actually tends to increase the effects of entropy, it doesn't increase order.
The organizational principle in living systems is provided by the informational element encoded in DNA.
Atheists have yet to explain how that first, genetic information arose of its own volition in the so-called Primordial Soup?
Natural laws pertinent to all natural entities, they guide the behaviour of energy and matter, but also serve to limit it, because natural laws are based only on the inherent properties of matter and energy.
So ... natural laws describe inherent properties of matter/energy, and natural processes operate only within the confines of natural laws which are based on their own properties. They can never exceed the parameters of those laws.
The much acclaimed, Dawkinsian principle that randomness can develop into order by means of a sieving process, such as shaken pebbles being sorted by falling through a hole of a particular size is erroneous, because it completely ignores the regulatory influence of natural laws on the outcome, which are not at all random.
If we can predict the outcome in advance, as we can with Dawkins' example, it cannot be called random. We CAN predict the outcome because we know that the pebbles will behave according to the regulatory influence of natural laws, such as the law of gravity. If there was no law of gravity, then Dawkins' pebbles, when shaken, would not fall through the hole, they would not be sorted, they would act completely unpredictably, possibly floating about in the air in all directions. In that case, the randomness would not result in any order. That is true randomness.
Dawkins' randomness, allegedly developing into order, is not random at all, the outcome is predictable and controlled by natural laws and the inherent properties of matter. He is starting with 2 organizational principles, natural laws and the inherent, ordered structure and properties of matter, and he calls that randomness!
Bogus science indeed!
This tells us that order is already there at the beginning of the universe, in the form of natural laws and the ordered composition and structure of matter .... it doesn't just develop from random events.
A major problem for atheists is to explain where natural laws came from?
In a purposeless universe there should be no regulatory principles at all.
Firstly, we would not expect anything to exist, we would expect eternal nothingness.
Secondly, even if we overlook that impossible hurdle, and assume by some amazing fluke and contrary to logic, something was able to create itself from nothing ….. we would expect the ‘something’ would have no ordered structure, and no laws based on that ordered structure. We would expect it to behave randomly and chaotically.
This is an absolutely fundamental question to which atheists have no answer. The basic properties of matter/energy, and the universe, scream …. ‘purpose’.
Atheists say the exact opposite.
Furthermore, if we consider the accepted, atheist belief; that matter is inherently predisposed to produce life and the genetic information for life, whenever environmental conditions are conducive (so-called abiogenesis), where does that predisposition for life come from? Once again, atheists are hoisted on their own petard, and the atheist idea of a random, purposeless, universe is left completely in tatters.
It is the atheist ideology that is anti-science, not necessarily individual scientists.
There may be sincere, atheist scientists who respect the scientific method and natural laws, but they are wedded to an ideology that - when push comes to shove, does not respect natural laws.
It is evident that whenever natural laws interfere with atheist naturalist beliefs, the beliefs take precedence over the rigorous, scientific method. It is then that natural laws are disregarded by atheists in favour of unscientific fantasies which are conducive to their ideology.
Of course, in much day-to-day practical science and technology, the question of violating laws doesn't even arise, and we cannot deny that in the course of such work, atheists will respect the scientific method of experiment and observation within the framework of the Law of Cause and Effect and other established laws of science.
Bizarrely, It is a different matter entirely, when it comes to hypotheses about origins. It then becomes an 'anything goes' situation. The main criteria then seems to be that it doesn’t matter whether your hypothesis violates natural laws (all sorts of excuses can be made as to why natural laws need not apply), all that matters is that it is entirely naturalistic, and can be made to sound plausible to the public.
However, the same atheist scientists would not entertain anything in general, day-to-day science, that is not completely in accordance with the scientific method, they make an exception ONLY with anything to do with origins, whether it be the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or the origin of species.
Atheism is not simply passive non-belief, you can only be a ‘genuine’ atheist if you proactively believe in the following illogical and unscientific propositions:
1. A natural, first cause of the universe that was ‘uncaused’.
2. A natural, first cause of the universe that was patently not adequate for the effect, (a cause which was able to produce an effect far greater than itself and superior to its own abilities).
3. That the universe created ITSELF from nothing.
4. That natural laws simply arose of their own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.
5. That energy potential at the start of everything material was able to wind itself up from absolute zero, of its own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.
6. That the effect of entropy (Second Law of Thermodynamics) was somehow suspended or didn’t operate to permit the development of order in the universe.
7. That life spontaneously generated itself, of its own volition, from sterile matter, contrary to: the Law of Biogenesis, the laws of probability, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Information Theory and common sense.
8. That the complete human genome was created by means of a long chain of copying mistakes of the original, genetic information in the first living cell, (mutations of mutations of mutations, etc. etc.).
9. That the complex DNA code was produced by chemical processes.
10. That the very first, genetic information, encoded in the DNA of the first living cell, created itself by some unknown means.
11. That matter is somehow inherently predisposed to develop into living cells, whenever conditions are conducive to life. But such a predisposition for life just arose of its own accord, with no purpose and with no apparent cause.
12. That an ordered structure of atoms, guiding laws of physics, order in the cosmos, order in the living cell and complex information, are what we would expect to occur naturally in a purposeless universe.
The claim of atheists to be the champions of science and reason is clearly bogus.
They think they can get away with it by pretending to have no beliefs.
However, when seriously challenged to justify their dogmatic rejection of a Supernatural First Cause, they indirectly espouse the unscientific beliefs outlined above, in their futile attempts to refute the evidence for a supernatural first cause.
Of course, whenever possible, they avoid declaring those beliefs explicitly, but you don’t need to be very astute to realize that relying on those beliefs is the unavoidable conclusion of their arguments.
That is why atheism is intellectually bankrupt and is doomed to the dustbin of history. And that is why we are seeing such a rise in militant, evangelizing, atheist zealots, such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens.
Their crusading, bravado masks their desperation that the public is so hard to convince. What Dawkins et al need to face is that they are in no position to attack what they consider are the bizarre beliefs of others, when their own beliefs (which they fail to publicly acknowledge) are much more bizarre.
What about Christianity and pagan gods?
Atheists frequently try to dismiss and ridicule the idea of a Creator by comparing it to the numerous, pagan gods that people have worshipped throughout history.
Do they have a good point?
Certainly not, this is just a red herring ….
Other gods, cannot be the first cause or Creator.
Idols of wood or stone, or the Sun, Moon, planets, Mother Nature, Mother Earth etc. are all material, contingent things, they cannot be the first cause.
They are rejected as false gods by the Bible and by logic and natural laws.
They are considered gods by people who worship things which are 'created' rather than the Creator, which the Bible condemns.
In fact, they are much more similar to the atheist belief in the powers of a naturalistic entity to create the universe, than they are to the one, Creator God of Christianity.
For example, the pagan belief in the creative powers of Ra (the Sun god) is similar to the atheist belief that raw energy from the Sun acting on sterile chemicals was able to create life.
So atheist mythology credits the Sun (Ra) with the godlike power of creating life on Earth. And thus, atheism is just a revamped version of paganism.
Just like paganism, atheism rejects worship of a Supernatural, First Cause, and rather chooses to worship created, natural entities, imbuing them with the same godlike powers, that theists attribute to the Creator.
There is nothing new under the Sun ... We can see that atheism is just the age old deception of ancient paganism, revisited.
The Creator is a Supernatural, First Cause, which is not a contingent entity, nothing like the pagan gods, but rather a self-existent, necessary entity. As the very first cause of everything in the universe, it cannot be contingent (it cannot rely on anything outside itself for its existence, i.e. it is self-existent) and therefore it cannot be a material entity.
The first cause is necessary because, not being contingent, it necessarily exists.
If anything exists that is not contingent, it has to have within itself everything necessary for its own existence. If it is also responsible for the existence of anything outside itself (which as the first cause of the universe, we know it is) it is also necessary for the existence of those things, and has to be entirely adequate for the purpose of bringing them into being and maintaining their continued existence. It is not subject to natural laws, which only apply to natural events and effects, because, as the first cause, it is the initiator and creator of everything material, including the laws which govern material events, and of time itself.
The atheist view of a natural first cause is not even rational, to propose that all the qualities I have mentioned above could apply to a material entity is clearly ridiculous. But apparently, atheism has no regard for natural laws or logic. Atheists get round it by simply dressing up their irrational beliefs to make them appear ‘scientific’.
This combined with rants and erroneous and derisory slogans about religious myths and superstition makes it all seem perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, those with little knowledge, or who can’t be bothered to think for themselves are taken in by it.
Atheists repeatedly claim that they have refuted the law of cause and effect by asking : So what caused God then?
How true is that?
The ... what caused God? argument is a rather silly argument which atheists regularly trot out. All it demonstrates is that they don't understand basic logic.
The question to always ask them is; what part of FIRST don't you understand?
If something is the very FIRST, it means there is nothing that precedes it. First means first, not second or third.
That means that the first cause cannot be a contingent entity, because a contingent entity depends on something preceding it for its existence. In which case, if something precedes it, it couldn't be FIRST.
All natural entities, events and effects are contingent ... that is why the Law of Cause and Effect states that ... every NATURAL effect requires an adequate cause.
That means that the first cause cannot be a natural entity. An UNCAUSED, NATURAL event or entity is ruled out as not possible by the Law of Cause and Effect.
Therefore the very FIRST CAUSE of the universe, which we know cannot be caused, by virtue of it being FIRST (not second or third) CANNOT be a natural entity or event.
Thus we deduce that the first cause ... cannot be contingent, cannot be a natural entity, and cannot be subject to the Law of Cause and Effect.
So the first cause has to be non-material, i.e. supernatural.
The first cause also has to have the creative potential to create every other cause and effect that follows it.
In other words, the first cause cannot be inferior in any respect to the properties, powers or qualities of anything that exists...
The effect cannot be greater than the cause....
So we can thus deduce that the first cause is: UNCAUSED, SUPERNATURAL, self-existent, and capable of creating everything we see in the existing universe.
If there is life in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create life,
If there is intelligence in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create intelligence.
If there is information in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create information.
If there is consciousness in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create consciousness. And so on and on. If it exists, the first cause is responsible for it, and must have the ability to create it.
That is the Creator God … and His existence is supported by impeccable logic and adherence to the demands of natural law.
Essential characteristics of the first cause.
Consider this short chain of causes and effects:
A causes B, - B causes C, - C causes D, - D causes E.
'A, B, C & D' are all causes and may all look similar, but they are not, there is an enormous and crucial difference between them.
Causes B, C & D are fundamentally different from cause A.
Why?
Because A is the very first cause and thus had no previous cause. It exists without a cause. It doesn’t rely on anything else for its existence, it is completely independent of causes - while B, C & D would not exist without A. They are entirely dependent on A.
Causes; B, C & D are also effects, whereas A is not an effect, only a cause.
So we can say that the first cause ‘A’ is both self-existent and necessary. It is necessary because the rest of the chain of causes and effects could not exist without it. We also have to say that the subsequent causes and effects B, C, D and E are all contingent. That is; they are not self-existent they all depend entirely on other causes to exist.
We can also say that A is eternally self-existent, i.e. it has always existed, it had no beginning. Why? Because if A came into being at some point, there must have been something other than itself that brought it into being … which would mean A was not the first cause (A could not create A) … the something that brought A into being would be the first cause. In which case, A would be contingent and no different from B, C, D & E.
We can also say that A is adequate to produce all the properties of B, C, D & E.
Why?
Well in the case of E we can see that it relies entirely on D for its existence, E can in no way be superior to D because D had to contain within it everything necessary to produce E. The same applies to D it cannot be superior to C, but furthermore neither E or D can be superior to C, because both rely on C for their existence, and C had to contain everything necessary to produce D & E.
Likewise with B, which is responsible for the existence of C, D & E.
As they all depend on A for their existence and all their properties, abilities and potentials, none can be superior to A whether singly or combined. A had to contain everything necessary to produce B, C, D & E including all their properties, abilities and potentials.
Thus we deduce that; nothing in the universe can be superior in any way to the very first cause of the universe, because the whole universe, and all material things that exist, depend entirely on the abilities and properties of the first cause to produce them.
So to sum up … a first cause must be uncaused, must have always existed and cannot be in any way inferior to all subsequent causes and effects. In other words, the first cause of the universe must be eternally, self-existent and omnipotent (greater than everything that exists). No natural entity can have those attributes, that is why a Supernatural, Creator God MUST exist
Atheists often say: you can’t fill gaps in knowledge with a supernatural first cause.
But we are not talking about filling gaps, we are talking about a fundamental issue ... the origin of everything in the material realm.
The first cause is not a gap, it is the beginning - and many of the greatest scientists in the history of science had no problem whatsoever with the logic that - a natural, first cause was impossible, and the only possible option was a supernatural creator.
Why do atheists have such a problem with it?
Atheists also seem to think that to explain the origin of the universe without a God, simply involves explaining what triggered it, as though its formation from that point on, just happens automatically.
This has been compared by some as similar to lighting the blue touch paper of a firework. They think that if they can propose such a naturalistic trigger, then God is made redundant.
That may sound plausible to some members of the public, who take such pronouncements at face value, and are somewhat in awe of anything that is claimed to be 'scientific'.
But it is obvious to anyone who thinks seriously about it, that a mere trigger is not necessarily an adequate cause.
A trigger presupposes that there is some sort of a mechanism/blueprint/plan already existing which is ready to spring into action if it is provided with an appropriate trigger. So a trigger is not a sole cause, or a first cause, it is merely one contributing cause.
Natural things do only what they are programmed to do, i.e. they obey natural laws and the demands of their own pre-ordered composition and structure. Lighting blue touch paper would do absolutely nothing, unless there is a carefully designed and manufactured firework already attached to it.
What about the idea proposed by some atheists that space must have always existed, and therefore the first cause was not the only eternally, uncaused self-existent power?
This implies that the first cause was limited by a self-existent rival (space,) which was also uncaused, and therefore the first cause could not be infinite and could not even be a proper first cause, because there was something it didn’t cause i.e. ‘space’.
There seems to be some confusion here about what ‘space’ actually is.
Space is part of the created universe, it is what lies between and around material objects in the cosmos, if there were no material objects in the cosmos, there would be no space. The confusion lies in the failure to distinguish between empty space and nothing. Nothing is the absence of everything, whereas space is a medium in which cosmic bodies exist. ‘Empty’ space is just the space between objects. So space is not an uncaused, eternally self-existent entity, it is dependent on material objects existing within it, for its own existence.
What about nothing? Is that an uncaused eternally self-existent thing? Firstly, it is not a thing, it is the absence of all things. So has nothing always existed? Well, yes it essentially would have always existed, but only if the first cause didn’t exist. If there is a first cause is that is eternally self-existent, then there is no such thing as absolute nothing, because nothing is the absence of everything. If a first cause exists (which it had to), then any proposed eternal ‘nothing’ has always contained something, and therefore can never have been ‘nothing’.
What about the idea that the first cause created everything material from nothing? Obviously, the ‘nothing’ that is meant here is … nothing material, i.e. the absence of any material entities.
The uncaused, first cause cannot be material, because all material things are contingent, so the first cause brought material things into being, when nothing material had previously existed. That is what is meant by creation from nothing.
So what existed outside of the eternally existent first cause? Obviously no other thing existed outside of the first cause, the first cause was the only thing that existed. So did the first cause exist in a sea of eternally existent nothingness?
No! the first cause was not nothing, it was ‘something’. So to ask what surrounded the something that is the first cause is not a valid question, because if something exists that is not ‘nothing’. This means that such a notion of ‘nothing’ didn’t exist, only something – i.e. the eternally existent first cause. If you have a box with something in it, you wouldn’t say there is both something and nothing in the box. You would say there is something in the box, regardless of whether there was some empty space around the thing in the box.
Atheists invent all sorts of bizarre myths to explain the origin of the universe and matter/energy.
Such as the utterly, ludicrous notion of the universe creating itself from nothing. Obviously for something to create itself, it would need to pre-exist its own creation, in order to do the creating!
They are clutching at straws and anyone with any common sense understands that.
So to sum up .....
The atheist ideology is illogical, unscientific nonsense. Even worse, it has no compunction in treating natural laws and the basic principle of the scientific method with utter distain and contempt whenever they interfere with atheist beliefs.
Science, not religion, is the real enemy of atheism, and atheism, not religion, is the real enemy of science.
FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
The Law of Cause and Effect. Dominant Principle of Classical Physics. David L. Bergman and Glen C. Collins
www.thewarfareismental.net/b/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/b...
"The Big Bang's Failed Predictions and Failures to Predict: (Updated Aug 3, 2017.) As documented below, trust in the big bang's predictive ability has been misplaced when compared to the actual astronomical observations that were made, in large part, in hopes of affirming the theory."
St Ethelbert, Hessett, Suffolk
Consider for one moment, if you will, the extent to which the beliefs and practices of a religious community affect the architecture of its buildings. Think of a Mosque, for instance. Often square, expressing the democracy of Islam, but without any imagery of the human figure, for such things are proscribed. Think of a Synagogue, focused towards the Holy Scriptures in the Ark, but designed to enable the proclaiming of the Word, and the way that early non-conformist chapels echo this architecture of Judaism - indeed, those who built the first free churches, like Ipswich's Unitarian Chapel, actually called them synagogues.
The shape of a church, then, is no accident. A typical Suffolk perpendicular church of the 15th century has wide aisles, to enable liturgical processions, a chancel for the celebration of Mass, places for other altars, niches for devotional statues, a focus towards the Blessed Sacrament in the east, a roof of angels to proclaim a hymn of praise, a large nave for devotional and social activities, and wall paintings of the Gospels and hagiographies of Saints, of the catechism and teachings of the Catholic Church.
As Le Corbusier might have said if he'd been around at the time, a medieval church is a machine for making Catholicism happen.
No longer, of course. The radical and violent fracture in popular religion in the middle years of the 16th century gave birth to the Church of England, and the new church inherited buildings that were quite unsuitable for the new congregational protestant theology - a problem that, to some extent, the Church of England has never entirely solved.
Over the centuries, the problem has been addressed in different ways; celebrating Communion at a table in the nave, for example, and blocking off the chancel for other uses. Although this was challenged by the Laudian party in the early part of the 17th century, it was the way that many parishes reinvented their buildings, and most were to stay like that until the middle years of the 19th century. Some went further: a pulpit placed halfway down the nave, or even at the back of the church, meant that the seating could be arranged so that it no longer focused towards the east, thus breaking the link with Catholic (and Laudian) sacramentalism. For several centuries, Anglican churches focused on the pulpit rather than the altar.
With the coming to influence of the 19th century Oxford Movement, all this underwent another dramatic change, with the great majority of our medieval parish churches having their interiors restored to their medieval integrity, reinventing themselves as sacramental spaces. This is the condition in which we find most of them today, and some Anglican theologians are asking the question that the Catholic Church asked itself at Vatican II in the 1960s - is a 19th century liturgical space really appropriate for the Church of the 21st century?
This may seem like a digression, but I hope it will become apparent why I've raised it. For similar questions have been asked throughout the history of Christianity.
So, let us hasten at once to Hessett. Here we are, roughly halfway between Bury and Stowmarket - like nearby Woolpit, this must once have been a more important place than it is today, and perhaps St Ethelbert gives us evidence of that.
The church sits like a glowing jewel in its wide churchyard, right on the main road through the village. It is pretty well perfect if you are looking for a fine Suffolk exterior. An extensive 15th century rebuilding enwraps the earlier tower, which was crowned by the donor of the rebuilding, John Bacon.The nave and aisles are deliciously decorated, reminding me rather of neighbouring Rougham, although this is a small church, and the aisles make it almost square. A dedicatory inscription on the two storey vestry in the north east corner bids us pray for the souls of John and Katherine Hoo, who donated the chancel and paid for the trimmings to the aisles. Their inscription has been damaged by protestant reformers, who obviously did not believe in the efficacy of prayers for the dead.
Although not comparable with Woolpit, the porch is a grand affair, and a bold statement. You may find the south door locked, but if this is the case then the priest's door into the chancel is usually open. If both are locked, then there is a keyholder, because the people of this parish really want you to see inside this church. And it is as well that they do, for, if you didn't know already, this is one of the most fascinating interiors in the county.
In a way, it is rather good to enter it from the chancel, because in this way St Ethelbert unfolds its treasures slowly.You step into relative darkness - or, at least, it seems so in comparison with the nave beyond the rood screen. This is partly a result of the abundance of dark wood, and in truth the chancel appears rather overcrowded. The most striking objects in view are the return stalls, which fill the two westerly corners of the chancel. These are in the style of a college or school of priests, with their backs to the rood screen, but then 'returning' around the walls to the east. They are fine, and are certainly 15th or 16th century. But one of the stalls, that to the north, is different to the others, and seems slightly out of place. It is elaborately carved with faces, birds and foliage.
Mortlock thought that it might have been intended for a private house. The stall in front of it has heads on it that appear to be wearing 18th century wigs, although I don't know enough about furniture to be sure if this is the case (or about wigs, for that matter). The sanctuary is largely Victorianised, with a great east window depicting Saints. The south windows of the chancel depict a lovely Adoration scene by the O'Connors.
The chancel is separated from the nave by the 15th century rood screen, which is elegantly painted and gilt on the west side, the beautifully tracery intricately carved above. The rood screen has been fitted with attractive iron gates, presumably evidence of Anglo-catholic enthusiasm here in the early 20th century, and you step down through them into the light. A first impression is that you are entering a much older space than the one you have left. There is an 18th century mustiness, enhanced by the box pews that line the aisles. And, beyond, on walls and in windows, are wonderful things.
The number of surviving wall paintings in England is a tiny fraction of what existed before the 15th and 16th centuries. All churches had them, and in profusion. It isn't enough to say that they were a 'teaching aid' of a church of illiterate peasants. In the main, they were devotional, and that is why they were destroyed. However, it is more complicated than that. Reseach in recent years has indicated that many wall paintings were destroyed before the Reformation, perhaps a century before. In some churches, they have been punched through with Perpendicular windows, which are clearly pre-Reformation. In the decades after the Black Death, there seems to have been a sea change in the liturgical use of these buildings, a move away from an individualistic, devotional usage to a corporate liturgical one. THere is a change of emphasis towards more education and exegesis. This is the time that pulpits and benches appear, long before protestantism was on the agenda. What seems to happen is that many buildings were intended now to be full of light, and devotional wall paintings were either whitewashed, or replaced with catechetical ones.
The decoration of the nave was the responsibility of the people of the parish, not of the Priest. The wall paintings of England can be divided into roughly three groups. Roughly speaking, the development of wall paintings over the later medieval period is in terms of these three overlapping emphases.
Firstly, the hagiographies - stories of the Saints. These might have had a local devotion, although some saints were popular over a wide area, and most churches seem to have included a devotion to St Christopher right up until the Reformation.
Secondy came those which illustrate incidents in the life of Christ and his mother, the Blessed Virgin. Although partly pedagogical, they were also enabling tools, since private devotions often involved a contemplation upon them, and at Mass the larger part of those present would have been involved in private devotions.
Lastly, there are catechetical wall paintings, illustrating the teachings of the Catholic church. It should not be assumed that these are dogmatic - many are simply artistic representations of stories, and others are simplifications of theological ideas - the seven deadly sins and the seven cardinal virtues, for example. Some warn against occasions of sin (gossiping, for example) and generally wall paintings provide a local site for discussion and exemplification.
To an extent, all the above is largely true of stained glass, as well, with the caveat that stained glass was more expensive, relied on local patronage, and often has this patronage as a subtext, hence the large number of heraldic devices and images of local worthies. But it was also devotional, and so it was also destroyed.
So - what survives at Hessett? The wall paintings first.
Starting in the south east corner of the nave, we have Suffolk's finest representation of St Barbara, presenting a tower. St Barbara is a mythical saint, relegated to non-league status in recent years by the Catholic Church, who nevertheless was very popular in early medieval times, because she was invoked against strikes by lightning and sudden fires. This resulted from her legend; her father, on finding her to be a Christian, walled her up in a tower until she repented. As a result, he was struck by lightning, and reduced to ashes. She was also the patron saint of the powerful building trade, and as such her image graced their guild altars - perhaps that was the case here.
Above the south door is another figure, often identified as St Christopher, but I do not think that this can be the case. St Christopher is found nowhere else in Suffolk above a south door. The traditional iconography of this mythical saint is not in place here, and it is hard to see how this figure could ever have been interpreted as such. I suspect it is a result of an early account confusing the two images over the north and south doors, and the mistake being repeated in later accounts.
In fact, digital enhancement seems to suggest that there are two figures above the south door, overlapping each other slightly. The figure on the left appears to be winged, while the figure on the right is barefoot, and may be carrying a beam or scales. The Archangel St Michael is often shown weighing souls in doom paintings, but I do not think this is part of a doom (again, it would be exceptional for this to appear over a south door) and I do not think it is St Michael.
I think that the figure on the left is probably Gabriel, and this is part of a later Annunciation painting overlapping an earlier image, the barefoot man. So who is he? Another suggestion is that it is St John the Baptist, as he is often shown barefoot. But what if the beam of the 'weighing scales' is actually part of a yoke? The supporting beam appears to continue over the figure's right shoulder, but the left side of his body is lost to us.
Could it be that it is not a Saint at all, but some representation of an agricultural worker? Perhaps it is part of a larger image (and we should not forget that the surviving paintings are a small part of what must have been there before). Perhaps it is even part of a hagiography - think of the wheel of the bullock cart in the St Edmund sequence at Thornham Parva, interpreted for many years as St Catherine's wheel. However, I wonder if it might even be a lost image of that most circumscribed of East Anglian saints, Walstan. He is carrying a scythe on the wall a few miles off at Cavenham - could this be him here? Whatever, it is likely to be part of a hagiographical sequence which was later replaced by a Life of Christ sequence, which usually ran from west to east along the south wall. This would also explain the location of what might be part of an Annunciation scene.
The wall painting opposite, above the north door, is St Christopher. Although it isn't as clear as himself at, say, nearby Bradfield Combust, he bestrides the river in the customary manner, staff in hand. The Christ child is difficult to discern, but you can see the fish in the water. Also in the water, and rather unusual, are two figures. They are rendered rather crudely, almost like gingerbread men. Could they be the donors of the north aisle, John and Katherine Hoo in person?
Moving along the north aisle, we come to the set of paintings for which Hessett is justifiably famous. They are set one above the other between two windows, at the point where might expect the now-vanished screen to a chapel to have been. The upper section was here first. It shows the seven deadly sins (described wrongly in some text books as a tree of Jesse, or ancestory of Christ). Two devils look on as, from the mouth of hell, a great tree sprouts, ending in seven images. Pride is at the top, and in pairs beneath are Gluttony and Anger, Vanity and Envy, Avarice and Lust.
Mortlock suggests that some attempt has been made to erase the image for Lust, which may simply be mid-16th century Calvinistic prurience on the part of some reformer here. This would suggest that this cathecetical tool was here right up until the Reformation.
The idea of 'Seven Deadly Sins' was anathema to the reformers, because it is entirely unscriptural. Rather, as a catechetic tool, it is a way of drawing together a multitude of sins into a simplistic aide memoire. This could then be used in confession, taking each of them one at a time and examining ones conscience accordingly. It should not be seen simply as a 'warning' to ignorant peasants; the evidence is that the ordinary rural people of late medieval England were theologically very articulate. Rather, it was a tool for use, in contemplation and preparation for the sacrament of reconciliation, which may well have ordinarily taken place in the chapel here.
The wall painting beneath the Sins is even more interesting. This is a very rare 'Christ of the Trades', and dates from the early 15th century, about a hundred years after the painting above. It is rather faded, and takes a while to discern, and not all of it is decodable. However, enough is there to be fascinating. The image of the 'Christ of the Trades' is known throughout Christendom, and contemporary versions with this can be found in other parts of Europe. It shows the risen Christ in the centre, and around him a vast array of the tools and symbols of various trades. It rises from the medieval perception that Christ was a working man, a carpenter, and it symbolises the dignity of labour and of craftsmanship.
I think it is extremely unlikely that it shows symbols of things which shouldn't be done on a Sunday, although Anne Marshall's Painted Churches site contains an interesting argument to the contrary.
Perhaps the most fascinating symbol, and the one that everyone notices, is the playing card. It shows the six of diamonds. Does it represent the makers of playing cards? If so, it might suggest a Flemish influence. Or could it be intended to represent something else? Whatever, it is one of the earliest representations of a playing card in England. Why is this here? It may very well be that there was a trades gild chantry chapel at the east end of the north aisle, and this painting was at its entrance.
At the east end of the north aisle now is the church's set of royal arms. Cautley saw it in the vestry in the 1930s, and identified it as a Queen Anne set. Now, with additions stripped away, it is revealed as a Charles II set from the 1660s, and a very fine one. It is fascinating to see it at such close range. Usually, they are set above the south door now, although they would originally have been placed above the chancel arch, in full view of the congregation, a gentle reminder of who was in charge.
The glass alone is worth coming to Hessett to see. Few Suffolk churches have such an expanse, none have such a variety, or glass of such quality and interest. It consists essentially of three ranges: the life and Passion of Christ in the north aisle (although some glass has been reset across the church), images and hagiographies of Saints in the south aisle, and a heavily restored but nonetheless fascinating sequence of the life of Christ in the west window. This bears close attention, for the fragments set into the restored work include several fascinating details, including the punctured feet of Christ ascending to heaven in a cloud of glory, and a Harrowing of Hell including the crushing of a fallen angel.
In the north aisle, the scourging of Christ stands out, the wicked grins of the persecutors contrasting with the pained nobility of the Christ figure. In the next window, Christ rises from the dead, coming out of his tomb like the corpses in the doom paintings at Stanningfield, North Cove and Wenhaston. The Roman centurion sleeps soundly in the foreground.
The most famous image is in the east window of the south aisle. Apparently, it shows a bishop holding the chain to a bag, with four children playing at his feet. I say apparently, because there is rather more going on here than meets the eye. The reason that this image is so famous is that the small child in the foreground is holding what appears to be a golf club or hockey stick, and this would be the earliest representation of such an object in all Europe. A rather more sober school of thought argues that it is a fuller's club, used for dying clothes, and the symbol of St James the Less. The whole image has been said to represent St Nicholas, who was a Bishop, and whose legends include a bag of gold and a group of children.
Unfortunately, this is not convincing. St Nicholas is never symbolised by a bag of gold, and there are three children in the St Nicholas legend, not four. In any case, the hand in the picture is not holding the chain to a bag at all, but a rosary.
What has happened here is that the head of a Bishop has been grafted on to the body of a figure which is probably still in its original location. The three lights of this window contained a set of the Holy Kinship. The light to the north of the 'Bishop' contains two children playing with what ae apparently toys, but when you look closely you can see that one is holding a golden shell, and the other a poisoned chalice. They are the infant St James and St John, and the lost figure above them was their mother, Mary Salome.
This means that the figure with the Bishop's head is actually Mary Cleophas, mother of four children including St James the Less, and it really is a fuller's club. The third light to the south, of course, would have depicted the Blessed Virgin and child, but she is lost to us.
If the windows and wallpaintings were all there was, then Hessett would be remarkable enough. But there is something else, two things, actually, that elevate it above all other Suffolk churches, and all the churches of England. For St Ethelbert is the proud owner of two unique survivals. At the back of the church is a chest, no different from those you'll find in many a parish church. In common with those, it has three separate locks, the idea being that the Rector and two Churchwardens would have a key each, and it would be necessary for all three of them to be present for the chest to be opened. It was used for storing parish records and valuables.
At some point, one of the keys was lost. There is a great story about the iconoclast William Dowsing turning up here and demanding the chest be opened; on account of the missing key, it couldn't be. Unfortunately, this story isn't true: Dowsing never visited Hessett. The chest was eventually opened in the 19th century. Inside were found two extraordinary pre-Reformation survivals. These are a pyx cloth and a burse. The pyx cloth was draped over the wooden canopy that enclosed the blessed sacrament (one of England's four surviving medieval pyxes is also in Suffolk, at Dennington) before it was raised above the high altar. The burse was used to contain the host before consecration at the Mass. They are England's only surviving examples, and they're both here.
Or, more precisely they aren't - both have been purloined by the British Museum, the kind of theft that no locked church can prevent.
But there are lifesize photos of both either side of the tower arch. The burse is basically an envelope, and features the Veronica face of Christ on one side with the four evangelistic symbols in each corner. On the other is an Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God. The survival of both is extraordinary. It is one thing to explore the furnishings of lost Catholic England, quite another to come face to face with articles that were actually used in the liturgy.
In front of the pictures stands the font, a relatively good one of the early 15th century, though rather less exciting than everything going on around it. The dedicatory inscription survives, to a pair of Hoos of an earlier generation than the ones on the vestry.Turning east again, the ranks of simple 15th century benches are all of a piece with their church. They have survived the violent transitions of the centuries, and have seated generation after generation of Hessett people. They were new here when this church was alive with coloured light, with the hundreds of candles flickering on the rood beam, the processions, the festivals, and the people's lives totally integrated with the liturgy of the seasons. For the people of Catholic England, their religion was as much a part of them as the air they breathed. They little knew how soon it would all come to an end.
And so, there it is - one of the most fascinating and satisfactory of all East Anglia's churches. And yet, not many people know about it; we are only three miles from the brown-signed honeypot of Woolpit, where a constant stream of visitors come and go. I've visited Hessett many times, and never once encountered another visitor. Still, there you are, I suppose. Perhaps some places are better kept secret. But come here if you can, for here is a medieval worship space with much surviving evidence of what it was actually meant to be, and meant to do.
Postscript: I wrote the above in 2000, adapting it in 2003 and 2006. I have left the structure of the narrative as it was when I made those early visits. I have corrected some confusion in the description of the glass, a consequence of my general inability to tell my left from my right. I have also taken the opportunity to go through the text and make myself sound slightly less pompous.
One of the delights of Hessett is that there really are genuine mysteries about some of the wall paintings and glass. Digital enhancement has added to these mysteries rather than solving them. In addition, one thing I have learned as I get older, and perhaps a little bit wiser, is that there really are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our early 21st century philosophy. If this has led to an unravelling of the certainties previously offered, then I can only plead that this is another excuse to go back soon.
While setting up for my next photoset, i started to wonder should I consider making a Polar memories outfit for Milly...
Il marchio Zeiss Ikon è uno dei più antichi al mondo e unanimemente considerato il top nel campo della fotografia. Malgrado ció il mancato successo della Icarex, troppo pesante e obsoleta, costrinse la casa tedesca a non produrre piú corpi macchina direttamente e a cercare un partner che fosse in grado di tenere testa all'aggressivitá delle case nipponiche affacciatesi ormai stabilmente sul mercato mondiale. In questo contesto la Yashica forniva tutte le migliori garanzie di successo grazie sopratutto al colosso Kyocera che si celava alle spalle della casa giapponese.
Dalla metá degli anni settanta la Yashica produsse quindi per conto della Zeiss le reflex Contax, che peró lievemente modificate venivano anche commercializzate come Yashica, nacquero cosí alcuni dei piú bei modelli di fotocamera ad uso professionale e non. Esse adottavano la baionetta C/Y e potevano quindi montare indifferentemente le eccellenti ottiche Carl Zeiss o le Yashica, anche se verso gli anni '80 per ridurre i costi la Zeiss affidó la produzione alla stessa Yashica tramite la Tomioka, altra casa che orbitava nell'ambito Yashica/Kyocera, da cui la scritta sul barilotto "Made in Japan".
La CONTAX 139 QUARTZ del '78 riprendeva il "family look" introdotto con la RTS disegnata dal centro stile Porsche, cioè linee morbide ed arrotondate caratterizzate dalla disposizione molto razionale dei comandi. Al solito su queste fotocamere il rivestimento in similpelle, morbido, bello e gradevole al tatto, dalla vita breve si spella senza pietá e la fotocamera aquista un aspetto davvero pietoso, la mia lo rivestita in pelle vera ovviando definitivamente al problema.
Un'altra grande innovazione di questo modello risiedeva nell'elettronica la cui unicità era proprio nel controllo dei tempi dell'otturatore grazie ad un quarzo, come d'uso negli orologi da polso. All'epoca esistevano altre reflex con l'otturatore elettronico, ma la 139 aveva in più la precisione del quarzo.
Quest'otturatore era semi-automatico a priorità di diaframmi e bastava impostare i valori del diaframma desiderati e la macchina decideva il tempo di scatto più opportuno.
Tra gli accessori degni di nota il tasto della profonditá di campo, il self timer e le impostazioni prescelte visibile del mirino.
Ancora oggi la CONTAX 139 QUARTZ, pur essendo un "entry-level"conserva una dotazione tecnica di tutto rispetto:
•Esposizione: manuale ed automatica a priorità di diaframmi
•Esposimetro: con cellula al silicio (1 in più rivolta sul piano pellicola per la luce flash)
•Misurazione della luce: TTL media con prevalenza centrale
•Gamma Esposizione: da EV 0 a EV18 con pellicola 100 ISO ed obiettivo 1,4
•Sensibilità: da 12 a 3200 ISO
•Mirino: copertura 95%
•Otturatore: a tendina a scorrimento verticale controllata elettronicamente al quarzo
•Tempi di otturazione: da 1/1000 a 1 sec + posa B in manuale e fino a 11 sec. in automatico
•Alimentazione: 2 batterie all'ossido di argento da 1,5 volts
•Innesto obiettivi: Contax/Yashica
•Dorso: intercambiabile
•Dimensioni: mm 135x85,5x50
•Peso: grammi 500 (solo corpo).
Naturalmente la praticità della baionetta Contax/Yashica e l'eccellenza delle ottiche Carl Zeiss rende questo modello compatibile con un vastissimo parco di (costose) ottiche di pregio, oltre che alle ottime Yashica della serie ML.
....Considerando a necessidade dos relacionamentos saudáveis, Jesus, o Psicoterapeuta por Excelência, propôs o amor entre as criaturas humanas em todas e quaisquer circunstâncias, porquanto o amor é essencial para a construção da sociedade terrestre.
O amor é a expressão divina que verte do Alto em favor de tudo quanto existe, trabalhando pela felicidade espiritual da Terra, através das criaturas que hospeda na forma física.
Ama, portanto, e relaciona-te com tudo e com todos, sem receio, oferecendo o que possuas de melhor, dessa maneira fruindo de paz e nunca te sentindo a sós....
Texto extraído do Livreo Jesus e Vida, de Divaldo Franco, ditado prlo Espírito Joanna de Ângelis,pág.:43 ,do capítulo Relacionamentos.
Desejo a todos uma quinta flor de muita paz,luminosidade,equilíbrio e alegria.
Com carinho.
Chris Silvares
I would consider changing the background, but I don't know if it would look good or not?
This particular model of the dark gundam from "Mobile Fighter Gundam G fighter" took 2 days to finish
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A quiet weekend at home, the last one for a while. I'm out and about for the next 4 weekends!
I haven't worn this dress in a little while, so Idecided to give it a run out, along with stilettos rather than wedges for a chiange. This is the first time I've been able to wear this dress without a corset underneath, so I am quite pleased about that.
Qualche considerazione:
1- ho tirato giù il povero cestista che da mesi volteggiava per aria
2- sono alla ricerca di qualcosa che non trovo, forse perchè la cerco fuori di me e non dentro di me, questo si vede molto bene nelle foto che non faccio e non nelle poche che faccio
3- mi sa che è meglio se riparto da zero con la fotografia, per ora ho un rapporto molto conflittuale con la macchina nuova (infatti questa è fatta con la compatta da cantiere), ma sono certo che non dipenda da lei, ma dalle mie illusioni
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Photos from the main event - we had a wallking float with banners promoting the Leeds First Friday event and the various venues where it takes place.
It was incredible, completely overwhelming walking through the streets lined with thousands of people, all cheering and waving and taking pictures. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and one I will never ever forget. Pride is exactly right - I felt very proud to be a part of this wonderful community!
Kinda glad I wore trainers for the walk, because some of the girls really struggled with high heels! But I think next year I might go with wedges, I think they would be ok. And much more girly! ;-)
Je considère que cet édifice est l'un des plus beau du Centre-ville. Tout de pierre et d'une architecture classique indémodable. Mais il est aussi un défi a bien rendre en photo. Jamais assez de recul, difficile (sinon impossible) de tout le faire entrer sur une photo. Je partage avec vous quelques photos faite au cours d'une sortie l'été dernier :)
Inauguré en 1918, cet édifice de style Beaux-Arts aux impressionnantes colonnades fut longtemps l'immeuble le plus vaste de l'Empire britannique. L'édifice a servi de coffre-fort pour les réserves d'or de plusieurs pays européens pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Source : www.mtl.org/fr/quoi-faire/patrimoine-et-architecture/edif...
So I've not uploaded in a while and i havent done my 365 lately.
Things have been rough for me and took a break on my photos...
Things still arent better yet, i think i've decided to not do my 365 right now i may continue it later but right now i just need to not be "forced" to post a picture so i'll post when i have something for you guys.
Yesterday was a rough one for me, my boyfriend and I broke up. I know it may not seem that long but it really was in my heart, to lose something that you've become so attached too...
I've also been tagged by HearTiaRoar.
So here is 10 things about me:
1. I love gummy bears and whipcream.
2. I'm a Chuck E Cheese virgin.
3. I don't trust anyone fully. I have bad trust issues.
4. I'm still a little kid at heart.
5. I'm scared of haircuts.
6. I think way to much about the simplest things.
7. I named my camera Tony and love it very much.
8. I'm taller than you probably think.
9. I wish i could go back to when i was 5.
10. I love watching baseball games. I grew up watching it my whole life.
Considerado el referente más característico del edificio de la CEPAL, esta estructura con forma de cono, se ubica en el centro del edificio, contiene en su interior la sala del Plenario y la sala circular Raúl Prebisch, en su exterior una escalera caracol permite llegar a lo alto de la estructura, en el muro del cono, se homenajea a las culturas precolombinas con diversos grabados que hacen alusión a algunas tradiciones e hitos históricos.
Los diferentes extremos del edificio con forma de anillo, se comunican a través de puentes peatonales, los que se superponen dentro de esta estructura con forma de caracol.
Vitacura, Región Metropolitana.
Fuente: plataformaarquitectura.cl - onu.cl
“Southwest” includes Kim Kardashian (34) as children’s names categorically. But the compass has still more to offer: Now the pregnant It Girl “Easton” did as the name of her son from this week.
That your next child “Southwest” might mean, reality TV star...
failerz.com/kim-kardashian-considers-her-son-to-call-easton/
In consider myself a "business" and my company activity revolves around getting to know myself. As such, as can see here, I am "heavily invested in R&D"
Esta iglesia es considerada como una de las mejores muestras del arte mudéjar en Toledo, con sus muros de mampostería con verdugadas de ladrillo, la entradas enmarcadas en arcos de herradura dentro de arcos polilobulados y la torre exenta, cuyo primer cuerpo es indudablemente anterior al resto, ya del siglo XIII.
Los dobles arcos ciegos de ladrillo que recubren los tres ábsides son de medio punto, apuntados y polilobulados. En el interior, en el muro norte del crucero se observan pequeños recuadros sobre los rosetones con la Mano de Fátima.
La techumbre es de madera, con inscripciones árabes. Sin embargo, los arcos de las altas naves son apuntados, a estilo gótico, al igual que la bóveda ojival del crucero.
El retablo del ábside central es una magnífica muestra del Renacimiento, con decoración plateresca, obra de Francisco de Espinosa, que narra la vida de Cristo y de Santiago. Desde el ricamente decorado púlpito de esta iglesia San Vicente Ferrer consiguió en 1405 enardecer los ánimos de los fieles hasta el punto de llevarlos a ocupar y cristianizar por fuerza la sinagoga hoy conocida como Santa María la Blanca.
En esta iglesia se conserva la imagen procedente de la Ermita de la Virgen de los Desamparados. Las restauraciones y obras de urbanismo en la segunda mitad del siglo XX dejaron la iglesia exenta, libre de las construcciones adosadas a lo largo de los siglos, que hacían unión con la Puerta de Bisagra.
Placa Patente: DR4668
Año: 1981
País de Origen: España
Buena pillada, curioso ejemplar considerando la placa que tiene, correspondiente al año 1991 aprox, pero corresponde al camión... lo mas seguro es que haya sido reinscrito o bien sea una ex unidad del Ejército o la Fach que se inscribió al rematarse... ellos tuvieron varios 1135 como este...