View allAll Photos Tagged consistent
E.K.Yap, the MPA & MPAS multi-award winning photographer, has created many iconic masterpieces and photographed covers & campaigns for influential publications & luxury brands. His projects include Patek Philippe, Breguet, Chopard, Bvlgari, Cartier, Chanel & Franck Muller to name a few.
With his wide-ranging experience in art as a creative director in the advertising & publishing industry, he consistently achieves the best results with his precision skill, specialising in luxury projects particularly jewellery, timepiece, product, interior, portrait & fashion.
PHILOSOPHY
“I'm passionate in capturing more than just a beautiful image, I like to craft an inspiring masterpiece with soul & meaning”
AWARD
Advertising/Advertorial/ Editorial - MPA Far East
Architecture/ Cityscape/ Interior - MPA Far East
Illustrative & Creative - MPA Far East
Fashion - MPA Far East
Still Life - MPA Far East
Best Cover - MPAS
PROJECT
A. Lange & Söhne/ Audemars Piguet/ Azimuth/ Aston Martin/ ABN Ambro/ Arium Collection/ Arcatel/ Anlene/ Aqua Culture/ Adidas/ Aries Gold/ Bvlgari/ Breguet/ Bottega Veneta/ Boucheron/ Blancpain/ Breitling/ Baker Furniture/ BBDO/ Borobudur/ Bonhams/ Berggren Jewellery/ Cartier/ Chanel/ Chopard/ CitiGold/ Carat Club/ CapitaLand/ CLIO/ CEL Development/ Coty/ Confetti by Mui/ Canon/ Dolce & Gabbana/ Distillery/ D Editors/ Dell/ Franck Muller/ Flower Diamonds/ Fujitsu/ Fuchsia Lane/ Farm Best/ Ferrari/ Girard-Perregaux/ Genting/ Green Chapter/ Gucci/ Geyer/ Harry Winston/ Hassell Studio/ Hilton Hotel/ Heeton/ Hublot/ Hassell Studio/ HDB/ Hermès/ I.D.Department/ IWC/ Image Bank/ ICI Duluxe/ Inoue Japan/ Jobstreet/ Jaeger-LeCoultre/ Johnny Walker/ JOID/ Kwanpen/ Krieit Associate/ KrisShop/ KFC/ K-Suites/ Louis Moinet/ Levi’s/ Lalique/ Luminox/ Lloyd’s Asia/ Ladurée/ Lush Radio/ Louis Vuitton/ Leonard Drake/ Livita/ Lifelink/ Manolo Blahnik/ Montblanc/ Mediacorp/ MCL Land/ Mirinda/ Marc Anthony/ Maxis Mobile/ Novetel Hotel/ NTU/ National Geographic/ Omega/ Patek Philippe/ Piaget/ Philips/ Playboy/ Prada/ Pepsi/ Pure Earth/ Richard Mille/ Rolex/ Roger Dubuis/ Resort World Sentosa/ Richemont/ Reebonz/ SkysShop/ Singland/ Splendor/ Sarcar/ Sinn/ Shangri-La Hotel/ SIA/ Shelton/ Sally Hansen/ Skin Science/ StarAsia/ Skin79/ Sally Hansen/ Sports Toto/ Spritzer/ 7-Up/ The Mill/ Tag Heuer/ Tiffany/ Transware/ The Hour Glass/ Tudor/ TV3/ Universal Studio/ Ulysse Nardin/ UOI/ UOB/ Vihari Jewels/ Vacheron Constantin/ Van Cleef & Arpels/ Wild Rice/ Zenith
EDITORIAL
August Man/ Affluent/August Women/ Appetite/ Adore/ Awesome/ Business Time/ Baccarat/ Business Craft/ Crown/ CitaBella/ Esquire/ ELLE/ Fiori/ Golf Vacations/ Harper’s Bazaar/ Inspire Travel/ Jewels & Time/ Jewellery Craft/ L’Official/ Luxury Guide/ Luxury Insider/ Luxx Jewellery/ Legacy of Singapore/ Men’s Folio/ Man Stuff/ OASiS/ Prestige/ Prestige Lifestyle/ Pen Craft/ PC World/ PC Magazine/ Robb Report/ RWS Invites/ Solitaire/ Style/ Tatler/ Tatler Wedding/ Tatler Home/ Time Craft/ TiCTalk/ World of Watches
The Death of Canadian Journalism - Sean Condon on the homegrown media
giant that's holding the nation hostage.
Sean Condon's website: www.seancondon.com/index.html
The Death of Canadian Journalism
By SEAN CONDON
In a crowded bar in downtown Vancouver, a group of reporters from the city’s main daily newspaper, The Vancouver Sun, gather after work to do what most people revel in after a long week at the office: bitch about the boss. While images of the Iraq War, Wal-Mart and Kid Rock quickly flash and disappear on the television screens above them, editors are mocked, columnists are ridiculed and the paper their bylines appear in is panned up and down.
There’s nothing too radical about most of their complaints – it’s not secret to anyone in the city that the Sun is a dull suburban paper pretending to be a respectable urban broadsheet. With few exceptions, there’s little investigative journalism left within its pages, and most of what gets printed is so tepid and banal that it’s almost entirely useless to read.
It’s when the reporters start talking about what’s happening inside the newsroom that they reveal a deeper and more disturbing problem with the flagship newspaper in Canada’s third largest city: one that explains everything that is wrong with the increasing consolidation of the media around the world.
Overly anxious that they’re not caught exposing the paper’s dirty secret, reporters at the Sun say that morale has hit rock bottom and an alarming atmosphere of fear and paranoia has infected the newsroom. With a tone of anger and resentment, reporters tell stories about vindictive editors who spend more time attacking them over personal and petty grievances than they do worrying about the deteriorating quality of the paper. Anyone that dares question the authority of Editor-in-Chief Patricia Graham is bullied, isolated and forced out of the paper.
Reporters say the story inside the Sun is that inexperienced editors rise through the ranks because they toe the company line or are personal friends with senior editors and not because they produce good journalism or defend the public trust. There newly empowered editors are known for not letting reporters pitch their own ideas and for pushing press releases onto veteran journalists who grudgingly grind out copy before deadline, caring very little about what they write. Reporters who challenge this system are moved out of their department, questioned about their stories and eventually given an ultimatum by the editors: quit or we’ll make your life hell.
“The culture at The Vancouver Sun is incredibly poisonous and it extends right through the newsroom,” confides Charles Campbell, a former editorial board member at the paper, who says he was surprised at how much disdain senior management had towards the paper’s star reporters. “There are very few [reporters] who are particularly happy or proud of The Vancouver Sun as a newspaper.”
While the Sun has a long history of acrimonious newsrooms and lengthy labor disputes, it was also once a respected paper that boasted some of the top journalists in the country and consistently broke stories that changed the political landscape of the city and province. When the paper was part of the Southam chain, the newsroom had a bigger budget and more independence – reports were even allowed to criticize the paper in print. But once CanWest Global Communications got its hands on the Sun in 2000, it slashed funding, silenced writers and allowed an inexperienced, and strangely insecure, management to take control. The paper has never been as irrelevant or dysfunctional as it is today.
CanWest has such a stranglehold on the city that any reporter caught speaking out against them would have trouble finding work in Vancouver again. This toxic environment has created such a chill amongst reporters that getting them to talk about the turmoil is extremely difficult. One news staffer that initially agreed to be quoted as an anonymous source later backed out for fear of repercussion. A former reporter was so worried by the ruthless reach of the editors that they would only talk off-the-record. Most wouldn’t even take that risk.
“If [the Editor-in-Chief] found out I talked, I’d be finished,” said one reporter when declining an interview. “If there was another game in town it’d be different, but there’s nothing else in this city. There’s nowhere to go.”
CanWest’s dominance over Vancouver is extraordinary even in an era of unprecedented global media consolidation and convergence.
Led by CEO Leonard Asper and the powerful Asper family, the Winnipeg-based corporation now owns both of Vancouver’s daily newspapers (the Sun and the tabloid Province), the city’s top-rated television station (GlobalTV), 12 community newspapers, eight analog and digital television stations, and one of two national papers. For good measure, it also owns the only daily in the nearby provincial capital, Victoria’s Times Colonist. A throwback to the classic Company Town, CanWest has turned Vancouver into the single-most media concentrated city in the western world.
Cities thrive in diverse media markets. In Montreal, four different companies own the city’s four major dailies, each presenting four unique perspectives on issues that concern its citizens. The same is true in cities from Toronto and New York to London and Paris. But as a small number of corporations swallow up more media outlets every year, the conflicts within the Sun are being duplicated across the country. With the largest private newspaper publisher in Canada, Black Press, recently taking ownership of Osprey, one of the most diverse, just four corporations now control 70 percent of the country’s newspaper circulation.
Cities stagnate in consolidated media markets. CanWest has a total of 13 daily newspapers in Canada, where its only competitors are often vapid tabloid or commuter dailies. On the East Coast, the Irving family owns every English-language newspaper in the province of New Brunswick and a series of dailies and weeklies throughout the Maritimes. Without any real competition, these newspapers can manipulate their content to push a single point of view. In Canada, this had led to a one-sided debate on the country’s role in Afghanistan, where editorials back the country’s military intervention and pay little attention to the mounting civilian causalities and ongoing human rights violations. But nowhere is the freedom of the press in as much danger as Vancouver, where the CanWest monopoly controls an astonishing 70 percent of the entire media market and is the only voice of record for the city.
“The story of the Sun should be presented as a cautionary tale [to the rest of the world],” says Marc Edge, a former Vancouver journalist and author of Pacific Press: The Unauthorized Story of Vancouver’s Newspaper Monopoly. “If you want to see the future of media, just look at Vancouver where you have the tightest control of media in the free world. If you allow cross-media ownership like the [Federal Communications Commission in the United States] has been considering, this is how it could end up.”
Editorial Eclipse
The internal turmoil of the Sun is a stark contrast to the colorless content on its pages. While almost all corporate newspapers have an obvious pro-business slant, the Sun leaves little doubt about where its bias lies. Corporate press releases are disguised as news stories, puff pieces on right-wing politicians pose as investigative journalism and hatchet jobs on activists purport to be fair and balanced reporting. In 2002, the Sun spent $3 million to run a series of advertorial stories praising the virtues of British Columbian businesses called ‘Believe BC.’ The stories weren’t marked as advertising features as they should have been, but were either listed as a ‘Special Feature’ or left completely unmarked.
The timing of the Believe BC series was especially insulting since it came right after the newly elected right-wing provincial government had slashed social services for the poor by $2 billion while cutting taxes for the rich by $2 billion. But there has been little coverage in the paper since then of how the cuts caused Vancouver’s homeless population to double in just three years. Although Sun reporters aren’t given direct orders to write glowing reports about the provincial government, they say they are discouraged from writing claims made by government critics. There has also been a conscious decision from the paper’s management to ignore government protesters, even when their actions are top stories for national news agencies. More often than not, the Sun is not the voice of the community, but a mouthpiece for the provincial government – over the years CanWest has donated thousands of dollars to the current provincial government and the Sun employs the premier’s brother as a columnist.
However, most troubling of all is that the Sun refuses to be held to account to the many criticisms lobbied at them by media analysts and their own current and former employees. A request for an interview with the paper’s Editor-in-Chief, Patricia Graham, was denied because Adbusters is protecting the identity of the Sun reporters who have spoken out.
“The Vancouver Sun has a policy of avoiding the use of unnamed sources,” wrote Graham in an email. “We consider it a violation of journalistic ethics to permit people to criticize others while remaining anonymous. I do not care to participate in interviews with publications whose ethical standards I do not share.”
Aside from the fact that any Sun reporter named would immediately be fired, Graham overlooks the fact that most media outlets allow anonymous sources if the importance of their information outweighs the potential for public skepticism. But Adbusters couldn’t even get a copy of the Sun’s code of ethics to verify what the paper’s policy on using anonymous sources actually is. While other news agencies post their code of ethics online, a request to the Sun was denied on the grounds that it’s not available to the public. Like much of what is happening in the Sun, the paper seems to prefer keeping the public in the dark.
Black Hole
The Aspers bought the Sun and over 130 newspapers across the country from Conrad Black’s Hollinger Inc. at a time when major media corporations around the world were clamoring for convergence. But while CanWest had one of the largest television networks in the country, it had zero experience in newspapers. Like many newly formed media conglomerates at the time, it quickly lost millions of dollars trying to make its different media outlets work together. Just as newspaper circulation was plummeting across North America, the Aspers paid Black an inflated $3.5 billion for a product in an ailing industry that they had no idea how to run.
With their fledgling newspaper empire quickly crumbling and its newly adopted national daily The National Post hemorrhaging profits from the other dailies, the Aspers tried to stop the hemorrhaging with massive layoffs – leaving already thin newsrooms stretched beyond repair. Today, reports at CanWest papers have to write more stories in less time, which adds another level of pressure in already tense environments. Instead of investigative journalism, there has been an increase in one-source stories. Many reporters have been moved off of beats and turned into general assignment reporters, giving them less knowledge on the issues they cover and less access to sources that help them cultivate and uncover breaking news.
CanWest further exasperated the problem by carelessly spending $5 million launching its now-defunct, youth-oriented commuter daily, Dose, while saving $4.6 million this past June by abandoning its partnership with the national newswire, Canadian Press (CP). Reporters across the chain have been extremely distressed by this latest move, saying it will force shorthanded newsrooms to produce extra copy for which the CP co-operative could once be relied upon. Since newspapers are still the best, and often the only, mechanism that gives the public in-depth analysis on issues, all of these cuts have damaged the public’s ability to have the kind of qualified and informed debate required in a democracy.
“This whole corporatization of journalism is not healthy,” says Mike Gasher, director of journalism at Concordia University and a former Vancouver Province reporter. “I know journalism is a business, but I think it’s just a question of how you strike the balance between the quality of the product and the bottom line. My concern is that when you have these conglomerate ownerships, that not only own several newspapers, but radio, television, internet, then I think by definition the commitment to any one of those properties is decreased.”
CanWest did not return multiple requests for an interview. Adbusters Media Foundation is currently suing CanWest along with another national broadcaster for refusing to air its public awareness campaigns about mass consumerism on their stations, which was also one of the reasons that Graham gave for turning down an interview.
Burnout
The acrimony inside the Sun is excessive when compared to other newspapers, but there are high levels of dissatisfaction and depression in all of CanWest‘s dailies. Not long after CanWest bought Black’s chain, it sparked international uproar when it broke the journalistic autonomy and implemented a national editorial policy. In 2001, the Aspers dictated a series of editorials from Winnipeg and demanded its papers not run any editorial that held views opposed their “core positions” – which primarily focused on lowering taxes and supporting Israel in the Middle East. After journalists at Montreal’s The Gazette angrily withheld their bylines, the controversy forced CanWest to drop the policy. However, it sent an early message to its newsrooms that their independence had vanished.
“I can say to our critics and to the bleeding hearts of the journalist community that it’s the end of the world as they know it, and I feel fine,” callously said David Asper, the family’s publication chairman, about the Gazette’s protest.
But the national editorial policy was almost benign compared to the firing of Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills for running a feature about then Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s suspicious financial dealings and an editorial calling for his resignation. Asper patriarch Izzy Asper (now deceased) had close ties to Chretien and the country’s ruling Liberal party, and the firing sent a chill throughout the entire CanWest chain that still exists today. Although CanWest has since toned down its editorial interference (its most recent act was to replace all mention of Palestinian “militants” with “terrorists” in newswire copy), reporters at its papers say the damage has already been done.
“People do their jobs, they roll their eyeballs, and a lot of them at quitting time stop thinking about it,” says one staffer at The Gazette.
The primary complaint heard from CanWest reporters today is that the corporation’s drastic financial cuts have done the most to sink morale. In almost revolutionary development, editors and publishers at CanWest papers have also begun to openly criticize the Aspers to their reporters because of the budget cuts. The Aspers make a sharp contrast to the CanWest papers’ original owners, the Southam family, which turned its newspapers into some of the most competitive and respected in North America. Ironically, CanWest reporters even refer to the Conrad Black era as the “golden age.” Although Black cut back on reporters and was reviled as a tyrant with an overt political agenda, he also invested more in his newsrooms. Today, the computers in the Edmonton Journal newsroom are so old that staff can’t even access their own paper’s website.
“It’s depressing,” says Journal reporter, “and it makes you wonder about the future. There are all sorts of new pressures going on in today’s media, and most of us don’t have confidence that the Aspers have the business acumen to deal with these pressures in an effective way.”
Shine A Light
While CanWest’s control over Canada’s media sheds a disturbing light on the future of media consolidation, the concentration of ownership has in actuality been a major problem brewing in Canada for the past half-century. When The Vancouver Sun and The Province first merged their competing newspapers under a single management company called Pacific Press in 1957 because of economic problems, the federal government investigated the deal and found it would likely be “to the detriment of the public.” However, it backed away from taking any action.
When corporate chains came to control an alarming 77 percent of the country’s circulation, the 1970 Davey Committee stated that “all transactions that increase concentration of ownership in the mass media are undesirable and contrary to the public interest – unless otherwise shown,” and recommended the country form a press review board to rule on mergers. However, none of its recommendations were implemented.
When two major newspaper chains, Southam and Thompson, colluded to each shut down a competing newspaper in Ottawa and Winnipeg in 1980 and both of Vancouver’s daily newspapers were officially handed over to the Southams, the Royal Commission on Newspapers stated that “freedom of the press is not a property right of owners,” and recommended strict ownership limits. Again, no action was taken.
And when a Senate committee on media concentration released a report in 2006 stating, “the concentration of ownership has reached levels that few other countries would consider acceptable” and recommended that large mergers be publicly reviewed, it was outright dismissed by Heritage Minister Bev Oda who argued that “convergence has become an essential business strategy in order to stay competitive.”
Despite an endless amount of evidence provided by federal commissions and investigations showing how dangerous it is to a democracy when fewer companies control the media market – foreign bureaus are reduced, staff is cut back and quality diminished – no Canadian government has ever tried to put the brakes on consolidation. By ignoring the problem for the past 50 years, it has been allowed to grow into a full-blown crisis.
Today, reporters at CanWest simply go through the motions and many veteran journalists say their main goal is to try and get an early buyout from the corporation. Others say they personally tell journalism students to stay out of the business. Seeing the writing on the wall, many journalism students at colleges and universities from Vancouver to Ottawa say they have little interest entering an industry that they had such high hopes for only a few years earlier. Once considered a respected and noble profession that challenged authority and represented its community, CanWest’s consolidation has killed any sense of pride Canadian journalist once had in their job.
The most obvious example of consolidation run amok is Vancouver, where one corporation has such a tight control over the city that it gets away with bullying its reporters and slanting its news coverage without ever being challenged. The problems inside the Sun and CanWest papers will be repeated across the country if consolidation is allowed to continue unabated.
Because the priority of the paper’s corporate controller is on the bottom line instead of the public trust, a once-proud newspaper chain has turned into a skeleton of its former self. Reporters at CanWest papers who don’t conform the corporate perspective have few options or alternatives since CanWest owns the majority of media in most of their cities. Despite the restrictions, some reporters have managed to produce good journalism, but those that try to speak out have been harassed, silenced and sent packing. When journalists are denied resources and can’t truthfully disseminate information, the entire public is held hostage. It’s time to set them free.
Who's looking out for you?
The University of Aarhus, which dates from 1931, is a unique and coherent university campus with consistent architecture, homogenous use of yellow brickwork and adaptation to the landscape. The university has won renown and praise as an integrated complex which unites the best aspects of functionalism with solid Danish traditions in form and materials.
The competition for the university was won by the architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller og Povl Stegmann in 1931. Stegman left the partnership in 1937, Fisker in 1942 and C. F. Møller Architects has been in charge of the continued architectural development and building design of the university until today.
The University of Aarhus, with its extensive park in central Aarhus, includes teaching rooms, offices, libraries, workshops and student accommodation. The university has a distinct homogeneous building style and utilises the natural contours of the landscape. The campus has emerged around a distinct moraine gorge and the buildings for the departments and faculties are placed on the slopes, from the main buildings alongside the ring road to the center of the city at Nørreport. All throughout the campus, the buildings are variations of the same clear-cut prismatic volume with pitched roofs, oriented orthogonally to form individual architectural clusters sharing the same vocabulary. The way the buildings emerge from the landscape makes them seem to grow from it, rather than being superimposed on the site.
The original scheme for the campus park was made by the famous Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen. Until the death of C. Th. Sørensens in 1979 the development of the park areas were conducted in a close cooperation between C. Th. Sørensen, C. F. Møller and the local park authorities. Since 1979 C. F. Møller Architects - in cooperation with the staff at the university - has continued the intentions of the original scheme for the park, and today the park is a beautiful, green area and an immense contribution to both the university and the city in general.
In 2001, C. F. Møller Architects prepared a new masterplan for the long and short term development of the university. Although the university has been extended continuously for more than 75 years, the original masterplan and design principles have been maintained, and have proven a simple yet versatile tool to create a timeless and coherent architectural expression adaptable to changing programs. Today, the university is officially recognized as a Danish national architectural treasure and is internationally renowned as an excellent example of early modern university campus planning.
Pregos idênticos à aqueles usados para crucuficar Jesus Cristo na cruz. Os pregos se encontram em uma prateleira de vidro de uma sala ao lado do altar da Igreja Real de São Lourenço (San Lorenzo) em Turim, Itália.
A seguir, texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:
O Sudário de Turim, ou o Santo Sudário é uma peça de linho que mostra a imagem de um homem que aparentemente sofreu traumatismos físicos de maneira consistente com a crucificação. O Sudário está guardado fora das vistas do público na capela da catedral de São João Baptista em Turim, Itália.
O sudário é uma peça rectangular de linho com 4,4 metros de comprimento e 1,1 de largura. O tecido mostra as imagens frontal e dorsal de um homem nu, com as mãos pousadas sobre as partes baixas, consistentes com a projecção ortogonal, sem a projeção referente à parte lateral do corpo humano. As duas imagens apontam em sentidos opostos e unem-se na zona central do pano. O homem representado no sudário tem barba e cabelo comprido pela altura dos ombros, separado por uma risca ao meio. Tem um corpo bem proporcionado e musculado, com cerca de 1,75 de altura. O sudário apresenta ainda diversas nódoas encarnadas que, interpretadas como sangue, sugerem a presença de vários traumatismos
* ferida num dos punhos, de forma circular; o segundo punho está escondido em segundo plano;
* ferida na zona lateral, aparentemente provocada por instrumento cortante;
* conjunto de pequenas feridas em torno da testa; e
* série de feridas lineares nas costas e pernas.
A 28 de Maio de 1898, o fotógrafo italiano Secondo Pia tirou a primeira fotografia ao sudário e constatou que o negativo da fotografia assemelhava-se a uma imagem positiva do homem, o que significava que a imagem do sudário era, em si, um negativo. Esta descoberta lançou o mote para uma discussão científica que ainda hoje permanece aberta: o que representa o sudário?
As primeiras referências a um possível sudário surgem na própria Bíblia. O Evangelho de Mateus (27:59) refere que José de Arimateia envolveu o corpo de Jesus Cristo com "um pano de linho limpo". João (19:38-40) também descreve o evento, e relata que os apóstolos Pedro e João, ao visitar o túmulo de Jesus após a ressurreição, encontraram os lençóis dobrados (Jo 20:6-7). Embora depois desta descrição evangélica o sudário só tenha feito sua aparição definitiva no século XIV, para não mais ser perdido de vista, existem alguns relatos anteriores que contêm indicações bastante consistentes sobre a existência de um tal tecido em tempos mais antigos.
A primeira menção não-evangélica a ele data de 544, quando um pedaço de tecido mostrando uma face que se acreditou ser a de Jesus foi encontrado escondido sob uma ponte em Edessa. Suas primeiras descrições mencionam um pedaço de pano quadrado, mostrando apenas a face, mas São João Damasceno, em sua obra antiiconoclasta "Sobre as imagens sagradas", falando sobre a mesma relíquia, a descreve como uma faixa comprida de tecido, embora disesse que se tratava de uma imagem transferida para o pano quando Jesus ainda estava vivo.
Em 944, quando esta peça foi transferida para Constantinopla, Gregorius Referendarius, arquidiácono de Hagia Sophia pregou um sermão sobre o artefato, que foi dado como perdido até ser redescoberto em 2004 num manuscrito dos arquivos do Vaticano. Neste sermão é feita uma descrição do sudário de Edessa como contendo não só a face, mas uma imagem de corpo inteiro, e cita a presença de manchas de sangue. Outra fonte é o Codex Vossianus Latinus, também no Vaticano, que se refere ao sudário de Edessa como sendo uma impressão de corpo inteiro.
Outra evidência é uma gravura incluída no chamado Manuscrito Húngaro de Preces, datado de 1192, onde a figura mostra o corpo de Jesus sendo preparado para o sepultamento, numa posição consistente com a imagem impressa no sudário de Turim.
Em 1203, o cruzado Robert de Clari afirmou ter visto o sudário em Constantinopla nos seguintes termos: "Lá estava o sudário em que nosso Senhor foi envolto, e que a cada quinta-feira é exposto de modo que todos possam ver a imagem de nosso Senhor nele". Seguindo-se ao saque de Constantinopla, em 1205 Theodoros Angelos, sobrinho de um dos três imperadores bizantinos, escreveu uma carta de protesto ao papa Inocêncio III, onde menciona o roubo de riquezas e relíquias sagradas da capital pelos cruzados, e dizendo que as jóias ficaram com os venezianos e relíquias haviam sido divididas entre os franceses, citando explicitamente o sudário, que segundo ele havia sido levado para Atenas nesta época.
Dali, a partir de testemunhos de época de Geoffrey de Villehardouin e do mesmo Robert de Clari, o sudário teria sido tomado por Otto de la Roche, que se tornou Duque de Atenas. Mas Otto logo o teria transmitido aos Templários, que o teriam levado para a França. Apesar desses indícios de que o sudário de Edessa seja possivelmente o mesmo que o de Turim, o assunto ainda é objeto controvérsia.
Então começa a parte da história do sudário que é bem documentada. Ele aparece publicamente pela primeira vez em 1357, quando a viúva de Geoffroy de Charny, um templário francês, a exibiu na igreja de Lirey. Não foi oferecida nenhuma explicação para a súbita aparição, nem a sua veneração como relíquia foi imediatamente aceite. Henrique de Poitiers, arcebispo de Troyes, apoiado mais tarde pelo rei Carlos VI de França, declarou o sudário como uma impostura e proibiu a sua adoração. A peça conseguiu, no entanto, recolher um número considerável de admiradores que lutaram para a manter em exibição nas igrejas. Em 1389, o bispo Pierre d’Arcis (sucessor de Henrique) denunciou a suposta relíquia como uma fraude fabricada por um pintor talentoso, numa carta a Clemente VII (em Avinhão). D’Arcis menciona que até então tem sido bem sucedido em esconder o pano e revela que a verdade lhe fora confessada pelo próprio artista, que não é identificado. A carta descreve ainda o sudário com grande precisão. Aparentemente, os conselhos do bispo de Troyes não foram ouvidos visto que Clemente VII declarou a relíquia sagrada e ofereceu indulgências a quem peregrinasse para ver o sudário.
Em 1418, o sudário passou a ser propriedade de Umberto de Villersexel, Conde de La Roche, que o removeu para o seu castelo de Montfort, sob o argumento de proteger a peça de um eventual roubo. Depois da sua morte, o pároco de Lirey e a viúva travaram uma batalha jurídica pela custódia da relíquia, ganha pela família. A Condessa de La Roche iniciou então uma tournée com o sudário que incluiu as catedrais de Genebra e Liege. Em 1453, o sudário foi trocado por um castelo (não vendido porque a transacção comercial de relíquias é proibida) com o Duque Luís de Sabóia. A nova aquisição do duque tornou-se na atracção principal da recém construída catedral de Chambery, de acordo com cronistas contemporâneos, envolvida em veludo carmim e guardada num relicário com pregos de prata e chave de ouro.
O sudário foi mais uma vez declarado como relíquia verdadeira pelo Papa Júlio II em 1506. Em 1532, o sudário foi danificado por um incêndio que afectou a sua capela e pela água das tentativas de o controlar. Por volta de 1578 a peça foi transferida para Turim em Itália, onde se encontra até aos dias de hoje na Cappella della Sacra Sindone do Palazzo Reale di Torino. A casa de Sabóia foi a proprietária do sudário até 1983, data da sua doação ao Vaticano. A última exibição da peça foi no ano 2000, a próxima está agendada para 2010. Em 2002, o sudário foi submetido a obras de restauro.
As primeiras análises ao sudário foram realizadas em 1977 por uma equipe de cientistas da Universidade de Turim que usou métodos de microscopia. Os resultados demonstraram que o linho do sudário contém inúmeras gotículas de tinta fabricada a partir de ocre. Entretanto, a hipótese de uma pintura realizada por ação humana foi completamente descartada por experimentos posteriores.
Em 1978, a equipe americana do STURP (Shoud of Turin Research Project) teve acesso ao sudário durante 120 horas. A equipe era composta por 40 cientistas, dos quais apenas 7 católicos e um ateu, Walter C. McCrone, que retirou-se logo no início das investigações. Foram realizados muitos experimentos que envolveram diversas áreas da ciência, como fotografias com diferentes tipos de filme, radiografia de raios X, raio X com fluorescência, espectroscopia, infravermelho e retirada de amostras com fita.
Depois de três anos de análise do STURP, ficou provado que existia sangue humano no sudário e que as gotículas de tinta ocre eram resultado de contaminação. Existiram diversas tentativas de se recriar algo semelhante ao sudário, realizadas durante os séculos, feitas por dezenas de pintores, mas que nunca chegaram a um resultado minimamente próximo ao sudário examinado pelo STURP. Quando questionados sobre se o sudário não era a mortalha de Jesus Cristo, de forma unânime, foi afirmado que nenhum dos resultados dos estudos contradisse a narrativa dos evangelhos. Entretanto, como cientistas, também não podiam afirmar que a mortalha era verdadeira porque essa é uma hipótese não falseável.
Cientistas do STURP também mostraram a completa improbabilidade de aquela ser uma imagem gerada pela ação de um artista, ou seja, é humanamente impossível que o sudário seja uma pintura. A habilidade e equipamentos necessários para gerar uma falsificação daquela natureza são completamente incompatíveis com o período da Idade Média, época em que o sudário apareceu e foi guardado.
As principais conclusões científicas do STURP após cerca de 100.000 horas de pesquisa sobre o artefato foram as seguintes:
a) as marcas do Sudário são um duplo negativo fotográfico do corpo inteiro de um homem. Existe a imagem de frente e de dorso. O sangue do Sudário é positivo;
b) a figura do Sudário, ao contrário de todas as outras figuras bidimensionais já testadas até então, contém dados tridimensionais;
c) o material de cor vermelha do Sudário é sangue;
d) não existe ainda explicação científica de como as imagens do Sudário foram feitas; e
e) o Sudário está historicamente de acordo com os Evangelhos, pois mostra nas imagens as marcas da paixão de Cristo com precisão.
Na época, o STURP não foi autorizado a fazer o teste por datação carbono-14.
A Igreja Católica não emitiu nenhuma opinião acerca da autenticidade desta alegada relíquia. A posição oficial a esta questão é a de que a resposta deve ser uma decisão pessoal do crente. O Papa João Paulo II confessou-se pessoalmente comovido e emocionado com a imagem do sudário, mas afirmou que uma vez que não se trata de uma questão de fé, a Igreja não se pode pronunciar, ao mesmo tempo que convidou as comunidades científicas a continuar a investigação. O grande problema reside na dificuldade de acesso ao sudário, que não é de propriedade da Igreja Católica, mas de uma fundação italiana que alega que novos e constantes testes podem danificar o material da suposta relíquia. A Catholic Encyclopedia, editada pela Igreja Católica, no seu artigo sobre o Sudário de Turim afirma que o sudário está além da capacidade de falsificação de qualquer falsário medieval.
Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud)
The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It is believed by many to be the cloth placed on the body of Jesus at the time of his burial.
The image on the shroud is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The striking negative image was first observed on the evening of May 28, 1898, on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. According to Pia, he almost dropped and broke the photographic plate from the shock of seeing an image of a person on it.
The shroud is the subject of intense debate among scientists, people of faith, historians, and writers regarding where, when, and how the shroud and its images were created. From a religious standpoint, in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, celebrated every year on Shrove Tuesday. Some believe the shroud is the cloth that covered Jesus when he was placed in his tomb and that his image was recorded on its fibers at or near the time of his resurrection. Skeptics, on the other hand, contend the shroud is a medieval forgery; others attribute the forming of the image to chemical reactions or other natural processes.
Various tests have been performed on the shroud, yet the debates about its origin continue. Radiocarbon dating in 1988 by three independent teams of scientists yielded results published in Nature indicating that the shroud was made during the Middle Ages, approximately 1300 years after Jesus lived.[4] Claims of bias and error in the testing were raised almost immediately and were addressed by Harry E. Gove.[5] Follow-up analysis published in 2005, for example, claimed that the sample dated by the teams was taken from an area of the shroud that was not a part of the original cloth. The shroud was also damaged by a fire in the Late Middle Ages which could have added carbon material to the cloth, resulting in a higher radiocarbon content and a later calculated age. This analysis itself is questioned by skeptics such as Joe Nickell, who reasons that the conclusions of the author, Raymond Rogers, result from "starting with the desired conclusion and working backward to the evidence".[6] Former Nature editor Philip Ball has said that the idea that Rogers steered his study to a preconceived conclusion is "unfair" and Rogers "has a history of respectable work".
However, the 2008 research at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit may revise the 1260–1390 dating toward which it originally contributed, leading its director Christopher Ramsey to call the scientific community to probe anew the authenticity of the Shroud.[7][8] "With the radiocarbon measurements and with all of the other evidence which we have about the Shroud, there does seem to be a conflict in the interpretation of the different evidence" Gordan said to BBC News in 2008, after the new research emerged.[9] Ramsey had stressed that he would be surprised if the 1988 tests were shown to be far off, let alone "a thousand years wrong", and insisted that he would keep an open mind.
The shroud is rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 × 1.1 m (14.3 × 3.7 ft). The cloth is woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils. Its most distinctive characteristic is the faint, yellowish image of a front and back view of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin. The two views are aligned along the midplane of the body and point in opposite directions. The front and back views of the head nearly meet at the middle of the cloth. The views are consistent with an orthographic projection of a human body, but see Analysis of the image as the work of an artist.
The "Man of the Shroud" has a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle. He is muscular and tall (various experts have measured him as from 1.75 m, or roughly 5 ft 9 in, to 1.88 m, or 6 ft 2 in). For a man of the first century (the time of Jesus' death), or of the Middle Ages (the time of the first uncontested report of the shroud's existence and the proposed time of a possible forgery), these figures present an above-average although not abnormal height. Reddish brown stains that have been said to include whole blood are found on the cloth, showing various wounds that correlate with the yellowish image, the pathophysiology of crucifixion, and the Biblical description of the death of Jesus:
* one wrist bears a large, round wound, apparently from piercing (the second wrist is hidden by the folding of the hands)
* upward gouge in the side penetrating into the thoracic cavity, a post-mortem event as indicated by separate components of red blood cells and serum draining from the lesion
* small punctures around the forehead and scalp
* scores of linear wounds on the torso and legs claimed to be consistent with the distinctive dumbbell wounds of a Roman flagrum.
* swelling of the face from severe beatings
* streams of blood down both arms that include blood dripping from the main flow in response to gravity at an angle that would occur during crucifixion
* no evidence of either leg being fractured
* large puncture wounds in the feet as if pierced by a single spike
Other physical characteristics of the shroud include the presence of large water stains, and from a fire in 1532, burn holes and scorched areas down both sides of the linen due to contact with molten silver that burned through it in places while it was folded. Some small burn holes that apparently are not from the 1532 event are also present. In places, there are permanent creases due to repeated foldings, such as the line that is evident below the chin of the image.
On May 28, 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the shroud and was startled by the negative in his darkroom.[3] Negatives of the image give the appearance of a positive image, which implies that the shroud image is itself effectively a negative of some kind. Pia was immediately accused of forgery, but was finally vindicated in 1931 when a professional photographer, Giuseppe Enrie, also photographed the shroud and his findings supported Pia
Image analysis by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that rather than being like a photographic negative, the image unexpectedly has the property of decoding into a 3-D image of the man when the darker parts of the image are interpreted to be those features of the man that were closest to the shroud and the lighter areas of the image those features that were farthest. This is not a property that occurs in photography, and researchers could not replicate the effect when they attempted to transfer similar images using techniques of block print, engravings, a hot statue, and bas-relief.
Many people, including author Robin Cook,[42] have put forth the suggestion that the image on the shroud was produced by a side effect of the Resurrection of Jesus, purposely left intact as a rare physical aid to understanding and believing in Jesus' dual nature as man and God. Some have asserted that the shroud collapsed through the glorified body of Jesus, pointing to certain X-ray-like impressions of the teeth and the finger bones. Others assert that radiation streaming from every point of the revivifying body struck and discolored every opposite point of the cloth, forming the complete image through a kind of supernatural pointillism using inverted shades of blue-gray rather than primary colors. However, science has yet to find an example of a reviving body emitting radiation levels significant enough to produce these changes.
There are several reddish stains on the shroud suggesting blood. McCrone (see above) identified these as containing iron oxide, theorizing that its presence was likely due to simple pigment materials used in medieval times. This is in agreement with the results of an Italian commission investigating the shroud in the early 1970s. Serologists among the commission applied several different state-of-the-art blood tests which all gave a negative result for the presence of blood. No test for the presence of color pigments was performed by this commission.[57] Other researchers, including Alan Adler, a chemist specializing in analysis of porphyrins, identified the reddish stains as type AB blood and interpreted the iron oxide as a natural residue of hemoglobin. But the problem with a blood type AB for an authentic shroud is that it is today known that this type of blood is of relative recent origin. There is no evidence of the existence of this blood type before the year AD 700. It is today assumed that the blood type AB came into the existence by immigration and following intermingling of mongoloid people from central Asia with a high frequency of the blood type B to Europe and other areas where people with a relatively high frequency of the blood type A live.
As a depiction of Jesus, the image on the shroud corresponds to that found throughout the history of Christian iconography. For instance, the Pantocrator mosaic at Daphne in Athens is strikingly similar. This suggests that the icons were made while the Image of Edessa was available, with this appearance of Jesus being copied in later artwork, and in particular, on the Shroud. Art historian W.S.A. Dale proposed (before the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud) that the Shroud itself was an icon created in the 11th century for liturgical use. In opposition to this viewpoint, the locations of the piercing wounds in the wrists on the Shroud do not correspond to artistic representations of the crucifixion before close to the present time. In fact, the Shroud was widely dismissed as a forgery in the 14th century for the very reason that the Latin Vulgate Bible stated that the nails had been driven into Jesus' hands and Medieval art invariably depicts the wounds in Jesus' hands.
Although the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano covered the story of Secondo Pia's photograph of May 28 1898 in its June 15, 1898 edition, it did so with no comment and thereafter Church officials generally refrained from officially commenting on the photograph for almost half a century.
The first official connection between the image on the shroud and the Catholic Church was made in 1940 based on the formal request by Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli to the curia in Milan to obtain authorization to produce a medal with the image. The authorization was granted and the first medal with the image was offered to Pope Pius XII who approved the medal. The image was then used on what became known as the Holy Face Medal worn by many Catholics, initially as a means of protection during the Second World War. In 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, and declared its feast to be celebrated every year the day before Ash Wednesday.
In 1983 the Shroud was given to the Holy See by the House of Savoy. However, as with all relics of this kind, the Roman Catholic Church has made no pronouncements claiming whether it is Jesus' burial shroud, or if it is a forgery. As with other approved Catholic devotions, the matter has been left to the personal decision of the faithful, as long as the Church does not issue a future notification to the contrary. In the Church's view, whether the cloth is authentic or not has no bearing whatsoever on the validity of what Jesus taught nor on the saving power of his death and resurrection. The late Pope John Paul II stated in 1998, "Since we're not dealing with a matter of faith, the church can't pronounce itself on such questions. It entrusts to scientists the tasks of continuing to investigate, to reach adequate answers to the questions connected to this shroud." He showed himself to be deeply moved by the image of the shroud and arranged for public showings in 1998 and 2000. In his address at the Turin Cathedral on Sunday May 24 1998 (the occasion of the 100th year of Secondo Pia's May 28 1898 photograph), Pope John Paul II said: "... the Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin" and "...The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."
Recent developments
On April 6, 2009, the Times of London reported that official Vatican researchers had uncovered evidence that the Shroud had been kept and venerated by the Templars since the 1204 sack of Constantinople. According to the account of one neophyte member of the order, veneration of the Shroud appeared to be part of the initiation ritual. The article also implies that this ceremony may be the source of the 'worship of a bearded figure' that the Templars were accused of at their 14th century trial and suppression.
On April 10, 2009, the Telegraph reported that original Shroud investigator, Ray Rogers, acknowledged the radio carbon dating performed in 1988 was flawed. The sample used for dating may have been taken from a section damaged by fire and repaired in the 16th century, which would not provide an estimate for the original material. Shortly before his death, Rogers said:
"The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken."
"It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate."
"...I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."
A text, in english, about The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo and Turin:
The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo, restored on the occasion of the two Ostensionis of the Shroud (happened in 1998 and in 2000), he/she offers to the visitor, is assiduous, the vision is occasional marveled of this jewel of Guarino Guarini.
The Priests of the church of S. Lorenzo wish to each to bring itself, after having tasted how much the creation guariniana offers to the intelligence and the heart, that feelings of architectural and religious harmony that Guarino Guarini, father Teatino, knew how to amalgamate with his genius of architect and with the faith of the believer.
A visitor to the Church of San Lorenzo – a veritable work of art – reaches piazza Castello and sees no façade marking the church. Piazza Castello is a square with a theatre without a façade (Regio), a façade of a palace (Madama) with no corresponding palace, and a church without a façade. One in fact was designed but never built to maintain the architectural harmony of the square.
The church is next to the gates of the royal palace.
On the church front there is a plaque commemorating the dead on the Russian front and above a bell that strikes 10 times at 5.15 p.m. every day.
Why is this Royal Chapel dedicated to San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence)?
In 1557, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and his cousin Phillip II, King of Spain, were fighting the French at Saint-Quentin in Flanders.
They made a votive offering to build a church in the name of the saint whose feast fell on the day of their eventual victory; that victory came on 10 August, St. Lawrence’s day.
Turin:
Turin, Torino in Italian, is an interesting and often overlooked city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Famous for the Shroud of Turin and Fiat auto plants, Turin has a lot more to offer. From its Baroque cafes and architecture to its arcaded shopping promenades and museums, Turin is a great city for wandering and exploring. Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and makes a good base for exploring nearby mountains and valleys.
Turin is in the northwest of Italy in the Piemonte region between the Po River and the foothills of the Alps.
Turin is served by a small airport, Citta di Torino - Sandro Pertini, with flights to and from Europe. There is bus service connecting Turin's airport with Turin and the main railway station. A railway links the airport to GTT Dora Railway Station in the northwest of Turin. The closest airport for flights from the United States is in Milan, a little over an hour away by train.
Turin is a major hub on the Italian train line and intercity buses provide transportation to and from Turin.
Turin has an extensive network of trams and buses that run from 5AM until midnight. There are also electric mini-buses in the city center. Bus and tram tickets can be bought in a tabacchi shop. A 28km metropolitan line is due for completion in 2006.
Turin's main railway station is Porta Nuova in central Turin at the Piazza Carlo Felice. The Porta Susa Station is the main station for trains to and from Milan and is connected to central Turin and the main station by bus.
There are tourist offices at the Porta Nuova Railway Station and at the airport. The main office is in Piazza Castello and there is also one in Piazza Solferino.
You can find landromats and internet points in Turin with Lavasciuga.
Turin discount cards: See Turin and Piedmont Card for information about discount passes and the ChocoPass for chocolate tastings.
The Piedmont region has some of the best food in Italy. Over 160 types of cheese and famous wines like Barolo and Barbaresco come from here as do truffles, plentiful in fall. Turin has some outstanding pastries, especially chocolate ones. Chocolate for eating as we know it today (bars and pieces) originated in Turin. The chocolate-hazelnut sauce, gianduja, is a specialty of Turin.
Turin celebrates its patron saint in the Festa di San Giovanni June 24 with events all day and a huge fireworks display at night. Turin's big chocolate festival is in March. Turin has several music and theater festivals in summer and fall. During the Christmas season there is a 2-week street market and on New Year's Eve an open-air conert in the main piazza. The Turin Marathon in April attracts a huge number of international participants.
Turin has many museums. Walking around the city with its arcades, Baroque buildings, and beautiful piazzas can be very enjoyable.
* The Via Po is an interesting walking street with long arcades and many historic palaces and cafes. Start at Piazza Castello.
* Mole Antonelliana, a 167 meter tall tower built between 1798 and 1888, houses an excellent cinema museum. A panoramic lift takes you to the top of the tower for some expansive views of the city.
* Palazzo Carignano is the birthplace of Vittorio Emanuele II in 1820. The Unification of Italy was proclaimed here in 1861. It now houses the Museo del Risorgimento and you can see the royal apartments Royal Armoury, too.
* Museo Egizio is the third most important Egyptian museum in the world. It is housed in a huge baroque palace which also holds the Galleria Sagauda with a large collection of historic paintings.
* Piazza San Carlo, known as the "drawing room of Turin", is a beautiful baroque square with the twin churches of San Carlo and Santa Cristina as well as the above museum.
* Piazza Castello and Palazzo Reale are at the center of Turin. The square is a pedestrian area with benches and small fountains, ringed by beautiful, grand buildings.
* Il Quadrilatero is an interesting maze of backstreets with sprawling markets and splendid churches. This is another good place wo wander.
* Elegant and historic bars and cafes are everywhere in central Turin. Try a bicerin, a local layered drink made with coffee, chocolate, and cream. Cafes in Turin also serve other interesting trendy coffee drinks.
....of fragments which bend with (consistently slaughtered by me) recalls of memory cells connections.
O! Holiness of NOT THINKING!
Drowned in the smoke of just now created another curtain for the sake of your eyes I'm shutting mine....
and defragmenting images of the fragments,
which I managed to keep by a flip of the digital makeweight to the next extension of the brain,
an intelligent mirror antennae which saves that time passing between the next development of the image ...
(There are structures of thought (acids) which appear only once, and if you do not catch them in the in the right moment they will scatter as ants who have lost their queen's signal).
Good Night
:P
Dining Room and Cocktail Lounge
Featuring Barbecued Steak and Spare Ribs. Home-made Pies and the double Rickburger. Consistent high quality in the show place of Santa Maria is always maintained by the constant supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Rick. 90 luxurious rooms. Heated pool. Recreation room.
James J. Gillick
CAPA-008791
Seen from Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, a few years ago. I assume that the landscape looks quite different now, still consistent with this urban style
Foto da foto do Santo Sudário ou o Sudário de Turim em tamanho real. Esta foto se encontra na parede de uma sala ao lado do altar da Igreja Real de São Lourenço (San Lorenzo) em Turim, Itália.
A seguir, texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:
O Sudário de Turim, ou o Santo Sudário é uma peça de linho que mostra a imagem de um homem que aparentemente sofreu traumatismos físicos de maneira consistente com a crucificação. O Sudário está guardado fora das vistas do público na capela da catedral de São João Baptista em Turim, Itália.
O sudário é uma peça rectangular de linho com 4,4 metros de comprimento e 1,1 de largura. O tecido mostra as imagens frontal e dorsal de um homem nu, com as mãos pousadas sobre as partes baixas, consistentes com a projecção ortogonal, sem a projeção referente à parte lateral do corpo humano. As duas imagens apontam em sentidos opostos e unem-se na zona central do pano. O homem representado no sudário tem barba e cabelo comprido pela altura dos ombros, separado por uma risca ao meio. Tem um corpo bem proporcionado e musculado, com cerca de 1,75 de altura. O sudário apresenta ainda diversas nódoas encarnadas que, interpretadas como sangue, sugerem a presença de vários traumatismos
* ferida num dos punhos, de forma circular; o segundo punho está escondido em segundo plano;
* ferida na zona lateral, aparentemente provocada por instrumento cortante;
* conjunto de pequenas feridas em torno da testa; e
* série de feridas lineares nas costas e pernas.
A 28 de Maio de 1898, o fotógrafo italiano Secondo Pia tirou a primeira fotografia ao sudário e constatou que o negativo da fotografia assemelhava-se a uma imagem positiva do homem, o que significava que a imagem do sudário era, em si, um negativo. Esta descoberta lançou o mote para uma discussão científica que ainda hoje permanece aberta: o que representa o sudário?
As primeiras referências a um possível sudário surgem na própria Bíblia. O Evangelho de Mateus (27:59) refere que José de Arimateia envolveu o corpo de Jesus Cristo com "um pano de linho limpo". João (19:38-40) também descreve o evento, e relata que os apóstolos Pedro e João, ao visitar o túmulo de Jesus após a ressurreição, encontraram os lençóis dobrados (Jo 20:6-7). Embora depois desta descrição evangélica o sudário só tenha feito sua aparição definitiva no século XIV, para não mais ser perdido de vista, existem alguns relatos anteriores que contêm indicações bastante consistentes sobre a existência de um tal tecido em tempos mais antigos.
A primeira menção não-evangélica a ele data de 544, quando um pedaço de tecido mostrando uma face que se acreditou ser a de Jesus foi encontrado escondido sob uma ponte em Edessa. Suas primeiras descrições mencionam um pedaço de pano quadrado, mostrando apenas a face, mas São João Damasceno, em sua obra antiiconoclasta "Sobre as imagens sagradas", falando sobre a mesma relíquia, a descreve como uma faixa comprida de tecido, embora disesse que se tratava de uma imagem transferida para o pano quando Jesus ainda estava vivo.
Em 944, quando esta peça foi transferida para Constantinopla, Gregorius Referendarius, arquidiácono de Hagia Sophia pregou um sermão sobre o artefato, que foi dado como perdido até ser redescoberto em 2004 num manuscrito dos arquivos do Vaticano. Neste sermão é feita uma descrição do sudário de Edessa como contendo não só a face, mas uma imagem de corpo inteiro, e cita a presença de manchas de sangue. Outra fonte é o Codex Vossianus Latinus, também no Vaticano, que se refere ao sudário de Edessa como sendo uma impressão de corpo inteiro.
Outra evidência é uma gravura incluída no chamado Manuscrito Húngaro de Preces, datado de 1192, onde a figura mostra o corpo de Jesus sendo preparado para o sepultamento, numa posição consistente com a imagem impressa no sudário de Turim.
Em 1203, o cruzado Robert de Clari afirmou ter visto o sudário em Constantinopla nos seguintes termos: "Lá estava o sudário em que nosso Senhor foi envolto, e que a cada quinta-feira é exposto de modo que todos possam ver a imagem de nosso Senhor nele". Seguindo-se ao saque de Constantinopla, em 1205 Theodoros Angelos, sobrinho de um dos três imperadores bizantinos, escreveu uma carta de protesto ao papa Inocêncio III, onde menciona o roubo de riquezas e relíquias sagradas da capital pelos cruzados, e dizendo que as jóias ficaram com os venezianos e relíquias haviam sido divididas entre os franceses, citando explicitamente o sudário, que segundo ele havia sido levado para Atenas nesta época.
Dali, a partir de testemunhos de época de Geoffrey de Villehardouin e do mesmo Robert de Clari, o sudário teria sido tomado por Otto de la Roche, que se tornou Duque de Atenas. Mas Otto logo o teria transmitido aos Templários, que o teriam levado para a França. Apesar desses indícios de que o sudário de Edessa seja possivelmente o mesmo que o de Turim, o assunto ainda é objeto controvérsia.
Então começa a parte da história do sudário que é bem documentada. Ele aparece publicamente pela primeira vez em 1357, quando a viúva de Geoffroy de Charny, um templário francês, a exibiu na igreja de Lirey. Não foi oferecida nenhuma explicação para a súbita aparição, nem a sua veneração como relíquia foi imediatamente aceite. Henrique de Poitiers, arcebispo de Troyes, apoiado mais tarde pelo rei Carlos VI de França, declarou o sudário como uma impostura e proibiu a sua adoração. A peça conseguiu, no entanto, recolher um número considerável de admiradores que lutaram para a manter em exibição nas igrejas. Em 1389, o bispo Pierre d’Arcis (sucessor de Henrique) denunciou a suposta relíquia como uma fraude fabricada por um pintor talentoso, numa carta a Clemente VII (em Avinhão). D’Arcis menciona que até então tem sido bem sucedido em esconder o pano e revela que a verdade lhe fora confessada pelo próprio artista, que não é identificado. A carta descreve ainda o sudário com grande precisão. Aparentemente, os conselhos do bispo de Troyes não foram ouvidos visto que Clemente VII declarou a relíquia sagrada e ofereceu indulgências a quem peregrinasse para ver o sudário.
Em 1418, o sudário passou a ser propriedade de Umberto de Villersexel, Conde de La Roche, que o removeu para o seu castelo de Montfort, sob o argumento de proteger a peça de um eventual roubo. Depois da sua morte, o pároco de Lirey e a viúva travaram uma batalha jurídica pela custódia da relíquia, ganha pela família. A Condessa de La Roche iniciou então uma tournée com o sudário que incluiu as catedrais de Genebra e Liege. Em 1453, o sudário foi trocado por um castelo (não vendido porque a transacção comercial de relíquias é proibida) com o Duque Luís de Sabóia. A nova aquisição do duque tornou-se na atracção principal da recém construída catedral de Chambery, de acordo com cronistas contemporâneos, envolvida em veludo carmim e guardada num relicário com pregos de prata e chave de ouro.
O sudário foi mais uma vez declarado como relíquia verdadeira pelo Papa Júlio II em 1506. Em 1532, o sudário foi danificado por um incêndio que afectou a sua capela e pela água das tentativas de o controlar. Por volta de 1578 a peça foi transferida para Turim em Itália, onde se encontra até aos dias de hoje na Cappella della Sacra Sindone do Palazzo Reale di Torino. A casa de Sabóia foi a proprietária do sudário até 1983, data da sua doação ao Vaticano. A última exibição da peça foi no ano 2000, a próxima está agendada para 2010. Em 2002, o sudário foi submetido a obras de restauro.
As primeiras análises ao sudário foram realizadas em 1977 por uma equipe de cientistas da Universidade de Turim que usou métodos de microscopia. Os resultados demonstraram que o linho do sudário contém inúmeras gotículas de tinta fabricada a partir de ocre. Entretanto, a hipótese de uma pintura realizada por ação humana foi completamente descartada por experimentos posteriores.
Em 1978, a equipe americana do STURP (Shoud of Turin Research Project) teve acesso ao sudário durante 120 horas. A equipe era composta por 40 cientistas, dos quais apenas 7 católicos e um ateu, Walter C. McCrone, que retirou-se logo no início das investigações. Foram realizados muitos experimentos que envolveram diversas áreas da ciência, como fotografias com diferentes tipos de filme, radiografia de raios X, raio X com fluorescência, espectroscopia, infravermelho e retirada de amostras com fita.
Depois de três anos de análise do STURP, ficou provado que existia sangue humano no sudário e que as gotículas de tinta ocre eram resultado de contaminação. Existiram diversas tentativas de se recriar algo semelhante ao sudário, realizadas durante os séculos, feitas por dezenas de pintores, mas que nunca chegaram a um resultado minimamente próximo ao sudário examinado pelo STURP. Quando questionados sobre se o sudário não era a mortalha de Jesus Cristo, de forma unânime, foi afirmado que nenhum dos resultados dos estudos contradisse a narrativa dos evangelhos. Entretanto, como cientistas, também não podiam afirmar que a mortalha era verdadeira porque essa é uma hipótese não falseável.
Cientistas do STURP também mostraram a completa improbabilidade de aquela ser uma imagem gerada pela ação de um artista, ou seja, é humanamente impossível que o sudário seja uma pintura. A habilidade e equipamentos necessários para gerar uma falsificação daquela natureza são completamente incompatíveis com o período da Idade Média, época em que o sudário apareceu e foi guardado.
As principais conclusões científicas do STURP após cerca de 100.000 horas de pesquisa sobre o artefato foram as seguintes:
a) as marcas do Sudário são um duplo negativo fotográfico do corpo inteiro de um homem. Existe a imagem de frente e de dorso. O sangue do Sudário é positivo;
b) a figura do Sudário, ao contrário de todas as outras figuras bidimensionais já testadas até então, contém dados tridimensionais;
c) o material de cor vermelha do Sudário é sangue;
d) não existe ainda explicação científica de como as imagens do Sudário foram feitas; e
e) o Sudário está historicamente de acordo com os Evangelhos, pois mostra nas imagens as marcas da paixão de Cristo com precisão.
Na época, o STURP não foi autorizado a fazer o teste por datação carbono-14.
A Igreja Católica não emitiu nenhuma opinião acerca da autenticidade desta alegada relíquia. A posição oficial a esta questão é a de que a resposta deve ser uma decisão pessoal do crente. O Papa João Paulo II confessou-se pessoalmente comovido e emocionado com a imagem do sudário, mas afirmou que uma vez que não se trata de uma questão de fé, a Igreja não se pode pronunciar, ao mesmo tempo que convidou as comunidades científicas a continuar a investigação. O grande problema reside na dificuldade de acesso ao sudário, que não é de propriedade da Igreja Católica, mas de uma fundação italiana que alega que novos e constantes testes podem danificar o material da suposta relíquia. A Catholic Encyclopedia, editada pela Igreja Católica, no seu artigo sobre o Sudário de Turim afirma que o sudário está além da capacidade de falsificação de qualquer falsário medieval.
Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud)
The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It is believed by many to be the cloth placed on the body of Jesus at the time of his burial.
The image on the shroud is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The striking negative image was first observed on the evening of May 28, 1898, on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. According to Pia, he almost dropped and broke the photographic plate from the shock of seeing an image of a person on it.
The shroud is the subject of intense debate among scientists, people of faith, historians, and writers regarding where, when, and how the shroud and its images were created. From a religious standpoint, in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, celebrated every year on Shrove Tuesday. Some believe the shroud is the cloth that covered Jesus when he was placed in his tomb and that his image was recorded on its fibers at or near the time of his resurrection. Skeptics, on the other hand, contend the shroud is a medieval forgery; others attribute the forming of the image to chemical reactions or other natural processes.
Various tests have been performed on the shroud, yet the debates about its origin continue. Radiocarbon dating in 1988 by three independent teams of scientists yielded results published in Nature indicating that the shroud was made during the Middle Ages, approximately 1300 years after Jesus lived.[4] Claims of bias and error in the testing were raised almost immediately and were addressed by Harry E. Gove.[5] Follow-up analysis published in 2005, for example, claimed that the sample dated by the teams was taken from an area of the shroud that was not a part of the original cloth. The shroud was also damaged by a fire in the Late Middle Ages which could have added carbon material to the cloth, resulting in a higher radiocarbon content and a later calculated age. This analysis itself is questioned by skeptics such as Joe Nickell, who reasons that the conclusions of the author, Raymond Rogers, result from "starting with the desired conclusion and working backward to the evidence".[6] Former Nature editor Philip Ball has said that the idea that Rogers steered his study to a preconceived conclusion is "unfair" and Rogers "has a history of respectable work".
However, the 2008 research at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit may revise the 1260–1390 dating toward which it originally contributed, leading its director Christopher Ramsey to call the scientific community to probe anew the authenticity of the Shroud.[7][8] "With the radiocarbon measurements and with all of the other evidence which we have about the Shroud, there does seem to be a conflict in the interpretation of the different evidence" Gordan said to BBC News in 2008, after the new research emerged.[9] Ramsey had stressed that he would be surprised if the 1988 tests were shown to be far off, let alone "a thousand years wrong", and insisted that he would keep an open mind.
The shroud is rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 × 1.1 m (14.3 × 3.7 ft). The cloth is woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils. Its most distinctive characteristic is the faint, yellowish image of a front and back view of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin. The two views are aligned along the midplane of the body and point in opposite directions. The front and back views of the head nearly meet at the middle of the cloth. The views are consistent with an orthographic projection of a human body, but see Analysis of the image as the work of an artist.
The "Man of the Shroud" has a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle. He is muscular and tall (various experts have measured him as from 1.75 m, or roughly 5 ft 9 in, to 1.88 m, or 6 ft 2 in). For a man of the first century (the time of Jesus' death), or of the Middle Ages (the time of the first uncontested report of the shroud's existence and the proposed time of a possible forgery), these figures present an above-average although not abnormal height. Reddish brown stains that have been said to include whole blood are found on the cloth, showing various wounds that correlate with the yellowish image, the pathophysiology of crucifixion, and the Biblical description of the death of Jesus:
* one wrist bears a large, round wound, apparently from piercing (the second wrist is hidden by the folding of the hands)
* upward gouge in the side penetrating into the thoracic cavity, a post-mortem event as indicated by separate components of red blood cells and serum draining from the lesion
* small punctures around the forehead and scalp
* scores of linear wounds on the torso and legs claimed to be consistent with the distinctive dumbbell wounds of a Roman flagrum.
* swelling of the face from severe beatings
* streams of blood down both arms that include blood dripping from the main flow in response to gravity at an angle that would occur during crucifixion
* no evidence of either leg being fractured
* large puncture wounds in the feet as if pierced by a single spike
Other physical characteristics of the shroud include the presence of large water stains, and from a fire in 1532, burn holes and scorched areas down both sides of the linen due to contact with molten silver that burned through it in places while it was folded. Some small burn holes that apparently are not from the 1532 event are also present. In places, there are permanent creases due to repeated foldings, such as the line that is evident below the chin of the image.
On May 28, 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the shroud and was startled by the negative in his darkroom.[3] Negatives of the image give the appearance of a positive image, which implies that the shroud image is itself effectively a negative of some kind. Pia was immediately accused of forgery, but was finally vindicated in 1931 when a professional photographer, Giuseppe Enrie, also photographed the shroud and his findings supported Pia
Image analysis by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that rather than being like a photographic negative, the image unexpectedly has the property of decoding into a 3-D image of the man when the darker parts of the image are interpreted to be those features of the man that were closest to the shroud and the lighter areas of the image those features that were farthest. This is not a property that occurs in photography, and researchers could not replicate the effect when they attempted to transfer similar images using techniques of block print, engravings, a hot statue, and bas-relief.
Many people, including author Robin Cook,[42] have put forth the suggestion that the image on the shroud was produced by a side effect of the Resurrection of Jesus, purposely left intact as a rare physical aid to understanding and believing in Jesus' dual nature as man and God. Some have asserted that the shroud collapsed through the glorified body of Jesus, pointing to certain X-ray-like impressions of the teeth and the finger bones. Others assert that radiation streaming from every point of the revivifying body struck and discolored every opposite point of the cloth, forming the complete image through a kind of supernatural pointillism using inverted shades of blue-gray rather than primary colors. However, science has yet to find an example of a reviving body emitting radiation levels significant enough to produce these changes.
There are several reddish stains on the shroud suggesting blood. McCrone (see above) identified these as containing iron oxide, theorizing that its presence was likely due to simple pigment materials used in medieval times. This is in agreement with the results of an Italian commission investigating the shroud in the early 1970s. Serologists among the commission applied several different state-of-the-art blood tests which all gave a negative result for the presence of blood. No test for the presence of color pigments was performed by this commission.[57] Other researchers, including Alan Adler, a chemist specializing in analysis of porphyrins, identified the reddish stains as type AB blood and interpreted the iron oxide as a natural residue of hemoglobin. But the problem with a blood type AB for an authentic shroud is that it is today known that this type of blood is of relative recent origin. There is no evidence of the existence of this blood type before the year AD 700. It is today assumed that the blood type AB came into the existence by immigration and following intermingling of mongoloid people from central Asia with a high frequency of the blood type B to Europe and other areas where people with a relatively high frequency of the blood type A live.
As a depiction of Jesus, the image on the shroud corresponds to that found throughout the history of Christian iconography. For instance, the Pantocrator mosaic at Daphne in Athens is strikingly similar. This suggests that the icons were made while the Image of Edessa was available, with this appearance of Jesus being copied in later artwork, and in particular, on the Shroud. Art historian W.S.A. Dale proposed (before the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud) that the Shroud itself was an icon created in the 11th century for liturgical use. In opposition to this viewpoint, the locations of the piercing wounds in the wrists on the Shroud do not correspond to artistic representations of the crucifixion before close to the present time. In fact, the Shroud was widely dismissed as a forgery in the 14th century for the very reason that the Latin Vulgate Bible stated that the nails had been driven into Jesus' hands and Medieval art invariably depicts the wounds in Jesus' hands.
Although the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano covered the story of Secondo Pia's photograph of May 28 1898 in its June 15, 1898 edition, it did so with no comment and thereafter Church officials generally refrained from officially commenting on the photograph for almost half a century.
The first official connection between the image on the shroud and the Catholic Church was made in 1940 based on the formal request by Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli to the curia in Milan to obtain authorization to produce a medal with the image. The authorization was granted and the first medal with the image was offered to Pope Pius XII who approved the medal. The image was then used on what became known as the Holy Face Medal worn by many Catholics, initially as a means of protection during the Second World War. In 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, and declared its feast to be celebrated every year the day before Ash Wednesday.
In 1983 the Shroud was given to the Holy See by the House of Savoy. However, as with all relics of this kind, the Roman Catholic Church has made no pronouncements claiming whether it is Jesus' burial shroud, or if it is a forgery. As with other approved Catholic devotions, the matter has been left to the personal decision of the faithful, as long as the Church does not issue a future notification to the contrary. In the Church's view, whether the cloth is authentic or not has no bearing whatsoever on the validity of what Jesus taught nor on the saving power of his death and resurrection. The late Pope John Paul II stated in 1998, "Since we're not dealing with a matter of faith, the church can't pronounce itself on such questions. It entrusts to scientists the tasks of continuing to investigate, to reach adequate answers to the questions connected to this shroud." He showed himself to be deeply moved by the image of the shroud and arranged for public showings in 1998 and 2000. In his address at the Turin Cathedral on Sunday May 24 1998 (the occasion of the 100th year of Secondo Pia's May 28 1898 photograph), Pope John Paul II said: "... the Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin" and "...The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."
Recent developments
On April 6, 2009, the Times of London reported that official Vatican researchers had uncovered evidence that the Shroud had been kept and venerated by the Templars since the 1204 sack of Constantinople. According to the account of one neophyte member of the order, veneration of the Shroud appeared to be part of the initiation ritual. The article also implies that this ceremony may be the source of the 'worship of a bearded figure' that the Templars were accused of at their 14th century trial and suppression.
On April 10, 2009, the Telegraph reported that original Shroud investigator, Ray Rogers, acknowledged the radio carbon dating performed in 1988 was flawed. The sample used for dating may have been taken from a section damaged by fire and repaired in the 16th century, which would not provide an estimate for the original material. Shortly before his death, Rogers said:
"The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken."
"It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate."
"...I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."
A text, in english, about The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo and Turin:
The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo, restored on the occasion of the two Ostensionis of the Shroud (happened in 1998 and in 2000), he/she offers to the visitor, is assiduous, the vision is occasional marveled of this jewel of Guarino Guarini.
The Priests of the church of S. Lorenzo wish to each to bring itself, after having tasted how much the creation guariniana offers to the intelligence and the heart, that feelings of architectural and religious harmony that Guarino Guarini, father Teatino, knew how to amalgamate with his genius of architect and with the faith of the believer.
A visitor to the Church of San Lorenzo – a veritable work of art – reaches piazza Castello and sees no façade marking the church. Piazza Castello is a square with a theatre without a façade (Regio), a façade of a palace (Madama) with no corresponding palace, and a church without a façade. One in fact was designed but never built to maintain the architectural harmony of the square.
The church is next to the gates of the royal palace.
On the church front there is a plaque commemorating the dead on the Russian front and above a bell that strikes 10 times at 5.15 p.m. every day.
Why is this Royal Chapel dedicated to San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence)?
In 1557, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and his cousin Phillip II, King of Spain, were fighting the French at Saint-Quentin in Flanders.
They made a votive offering to build a church in the name of the saint whose feast fell on the day of their eventual victory; that victory came on 10 August, St. Lawrence’s day.
Turin:
Turin, Torino in Italian, is an interesting and often overlooked city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Famous for the Shroud of Turin and Fiat auto plants, Turin has a lot more to offer. From its Baroque cafes and architecture to its arcaded shopping promenades and museums, Turin is a great city for wandering and exploring. Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and makes a good base for exploring nearby mountains and valleys.
Turin is in the northwest of Italy in the Piemonte region between the Po River and the foothills of the Alps.
Turin is served by a small airport, Citta di Torino - Sandro Pertini, with flights to and from Europe. There is bus service connecting Turin's airport with Turin and the main railway station. A railway links the airport to GTT Dora Railway Station in the northwest of Turin. The closest airport for flights from the United States is in Milan, a little over an hour away by train.
Turin is a major hub on the Italian train line and intercity buses provide transportation to and from Turin.
Turin has an extensive network of trams and buses that run from 5AM until midnight. There are also electric mini-buses in the city center. Bus and tram tickets can be bought in a tabacchi shop. A 28km metropolitan line is due for completion in 2006.
Turin's main railway station is Porta Nuova in central Turin at the Piazza Carlo Felice. The Porta Susa Station is the main station for trains to and from Milan and is connected to central Turin and the main station by bus.
There are tourist offices at the Porta Nuova Railway Station and at the airport. The main office is in Piazza Castello and there is also one in Piazza Solferino.
You can find landromats and internet points in Turin with Lavasciuga.
Turin discount cards: See Turin and Piedmont Card for information about discount passes and the ChocoPass for chocolate tastings.
The Piedmont region has some of the best food in Italy. Over 160 types of cheese and famous wines like Barolo and Barbaresco come from here as do truffles, plentiful in fall. Turin has some outstanding pastries, especially chocolate ones. Chocolate for eating as we know it today (bars and pieces) originated in Turin. The chocolate-hazelnut sauce, gianduja, is a specialty of Turin.
Turin celebrates its patron saint in the Festa di San Giovanni June 24 with events all day and a huge fireworks display at night. Turin's big chocolate festival is in March. Turin has several music and theater festivals in summer and fall. During the Christmas season there is a 2-week street market and on New Year's Eve an open-air conert in the main piazza. The Turin Marathon in April attracts a huge number of international participants.
Turin has many museums. Walking around the city with its arcades, Baroque buildings, and beautiful piazzas can be very enjoyable.
* The Via Po is an interesting walking street with long arcades and many historic palaces and cafes. Start at Piazza Castello.
* Mole Antonelliana, a 167 meter tall tower built between 1798 and 1888, houses an excellent cinema museum. A panoramic lift takes you to the top of the tower for some expansive views of the city.
* Palazzo Carignano is the birthplace of Vittorio Emanuele II in 1820. The Unification of Italy was proclaimed here in 1861. It now houses the Museo del Risorgimento and you can see the royal apartments Royal Armoury, too.
* Museo Egizio is the third most important Egyptian museum in the world. It is housed in a huge baroque palace which also holds the Galleria Sagauda with a large collection of historic paintings.
* Piazza San Carlo, known as the "drawing room of Turin", is a beautiful baroque square with the twin churches of San Carlo and Santa Cristina as well as the above museum.
* Piazza Castello and Palazzo Reale are at the center of Turin. The square is a pedestrian area with benches and small fountains, ringed by beautiful, grand buildings.
* Il Quadrilatero is an interesting maze of backstreets with sprawling markets and splendid churches. This is another good place wo wander.
* Elegant and historic bars and cafes are everywhere in central Turin. Try a bicerin, a local layered drink made with coffee, chocolate, and cream. Cafes in Turin also serve other interesting trendy coffee drinks.
A consistent performer nowadays on the 246 is this ex South Coast Olympian. With the ever increasing push to low floor operations, one wonders how long these Olympians hve left at Cumnock, the last stronghold of them with Western.
Taken in 2010 of one of my oldest & best friends with her little sister, whose not so little now. Excuse the water marks, I never was consistent when it came to cleaning my film & removing the stains. I kind of like them.
Shot on Ilford HP5 Plus 400ISO 35mm black & white film. Taken on a Phenix DC303K manual film camera on either a 50mm f/1.7 or 24mm f/2.8 prime lens (I honestly forget which). Developed by myself using Ilford DDX developer & related chemicals. Printed by myself in our college darkroom onto Ilford Multigrade IV Satin paper. Exact enlarger used is unknown, I just remember that it was a Kaiser one. Scanned using my dad's relatively cheap printer.
This makes me feel so nostalgic for working in the darkroom.
Seen at motorway services on the M4. This Zonda was painted like an England team shirt. It has at least a couple of things in common with the England team: incredibly expensive & ostentatious, but its performance is probably more consistent and its more fun to watch.
Its a crop of a photo taken from my phone, through the dirty windscreen of my car, hence the quality.
The lesser of the Lufthansa Group carriers, Brussels Airlines is an airline that has consistently received fewer investment compared to other carriers within the group. Even so, Brussels Airlines has been updating their fleet within the past 5 years ranging from both their short-haul and long-haul aircraft.
Late-2023 saw Brussels Airlines receiving their first brand new aircraft since their creation in early-2007; Brussels Airlines took delivery of 5 brand new Airbus A320neos which has allowed the carrier to replace their ageing Airbus A319/A320s. At present, Brussels Airlines are not expected in the near term to receive more Airbus A320neos although this could change with Lufthansa Group's large Airbus A320neo family order book.
Amongst the 5 Airbus A320neos, there is a 40% chance of seeing their Airbus A320neos in special colours, whilst the first example features a different variation of their standard livery promoting Less CO₂. Less Fuel. Less Noise. which has appeared on other Lufthansa Group Airbus A320neos, the second aircraft receives a new version of Tomorrowland colours. The remaining 3 Airbus A320neos feature their standard livery.
On a daily basis, Brussels Airlines operates 4 daily flights from their main Brussels-Zaventem hub to London Heathrow, all 4 flights being scheduled to utilise Airbus A320neos.
Currently, Brussels Airlines operates 36 Airbus A320 family aircraft, which includes 15 Airbus A319s, 16 Airbus A320s and 5 Airbus A320neos.
Sierra Bravo Delta is one of 5 Airbus A320neos operated by Brussels Airlines, delivered new to the flag-carrier on 12th June 2024 and she is powered by 2 CFM International LEAP-1A26 engines.
Airbus A320-251N OO-SBD on final approach into Runway 27R at London Heathrow (LHR) on SN2095 from Brussels-Zaventem (BRU).
Yesterday
Ddoe
God was cruel ere yesterday –
Ever Dafydd’s blessed day.
Yesterday – fair nature’s gift –
Gave the day-before short shrift.
How foolish that yesterday
Is brother to lesser days
Before it. Glorious Mair,
Don’t let yesterday expire!
One True God, give me, I pray,
Ere death, one more yesterday!
You surpass that previous day:
Bless you, perfect yesterday!
Yesterday, old Dafydd got
His own back on the coarse clot
Who injured him out of wrath.
I’m resilient as a withe
Of apple wood; I bend back,
Flex, thrash out, and do not break.
I have the soul of an old
Cat that shudders with the cold:
No matter how the grey sticks
Of my ribs are beaten, tricks
Always save me: so, I stalk
Slowly. Some cats are too slick
For words, but can’t take the strain.
Screw them. I’ll put up with pain,
Embrace the aches of passion.
I go far, and gold, poison
Or pleasure don’t daunt or gall
Me. Pwyll always badgers Gwawl;
Lovers always trounce the churl
Eventually. Love won’t chill
At coldness. Morfudd’s amends
Did much to massage a man’s
Ego. I shall praise her well –
If I fail, I deserve hell!
Good night, girl of the soft voice.
Good day too: you had a choice,
And chose well, upon my life –
Aha! I had Bwa Bach’s wife!
Poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym, paraphrased by Giles Watson, 2012. This is perhaps Dafydd’s most demanding, triumphant and audacious poem. He claims to have slept with Morfudd, the woman with whom he fell in love in Bangor Cathedral during a mystery play (see his poem, ‘The Spear’: www.flickr.com/photos/29320962@N07/4085337557/). Morfudd subsequently married a churlish wife-beater (by Dafydd’s account), who is consistently called either Eiddig or Bwa Bach by the poet. The latter name appears in a legal document of the later fourteenth century, which may suggest that the affair was not simply a fictional device. There are two particular points of interest in this poem. The first makes it virtually untranslatable in any literal sense: the rhymes in the opening lines hinge on the fact that the Welsh language has a specific word for “the day before yesterday” (echdoe), and Dafydd rhymes this with “yesterday” (ddoe) three times in the first twelve lines. The second is the sustained, punning reference to the first branch of the Mabinogion. In that tale, Pwyll, utterly entranced by the gorgeous horse-riding Rhiannon – who may be a manifestation of the Celtic goddess Epona – is almost beaten to the altar by the trickster Gwawl, but ends up defeating the interloper by engulfing him in a bottomless bag and pummelling him half to death in a game of “Badger in the Bag”. Dafydd deliberately references this story, and puns on Gwawl’s name at line 25, where he describes his feat (of seducing Morfudd) as “dazzling” (wawl). I have reserved the reference until later in the poem. Still more audacious is Dafydd’s invocation of God and the Virgin Mary (rendered untranslated, as “Mair”, the Welsh spelling of her name, in all of these paraphrases), on the assumption that both will approve of the liaison – and, as if that is not enough, his affirmation that he deserves the torments of hell if he does not give sufficient praise to his adulterous lover. Even here, however, the self-irony is inescapable: Dafydd is "old" before he achieves the goal which has been the subject of a multitude of poems.
bauhaus building, dessau, germany, 1925-1926, architect: walter gropius
Gropius consistently separated the parts of the Bauhaus building according to their functions and designed each differently. He thereby arranged the different wings asymmetrically – in relation to what is today the Bauhausstraße and the Gropiusallee respectively. In order to appreciate the overall design of the complex, the observer must therefore move around the whole building. There is no central viewpoint.
The glazed, three-storey workshop wing, the block for the vocational school (also three storeys high) with its unostentatious rows of windows, and the five-storey studio building with its conspicuous, projecting balconies are the main elements of the complex. A two-storey bridge which housed, e.g., the administration department and, until 1928, Gropius’s architectural practice, connects the workshop wing with the vocational school. A single-storey building with a hall, stage and refectory, the so-called Festive Area, connects the workshop wing to the studio building. The latter originally featured 28 studio flats for students and junior masters, each measuring 20 m². The ingenious design of the portals between the foyer and the hall and a folding partition between the stage and the refectory, along with the ceiling design and colour design, impart a grandiose spatial coalescence to the sequence of foyer-hall-stage-refectory, shaping the so-called Festive Area. The façade of the students’ dormitory is distinguished in the east by individual balconies and in the south by long balconies that continue around the corner of the building.
The entire complex is rendered and painted mainly in light tones, creating an attractive contrast to the window frames, which are dark. For the interior, the junior master of the mural workshop, Hinnerk Scheper, designed a detailed colour plan that, by differentiating between supporting and masking elements through the use of colour, aimed to accentuate the construction of the building.
Amber Valletta, Katy Perry
Amber Valletta, Katy Perry , Talent Manager Kathleen Checki at New Chanel Boutique opening and Charity Event hosted by Simply Consistent, Beverly HIlls
SIMPLY CONSISTENT INC.
May 29,2008
www.simplyconsistent.com/artist-management
"-Chanel Boutique."
"-Kathleen Checki."
"-Checki."
"-Simply Consistent."
"-Simply Consistent Management."
"-Simply Consistent Charity Event."
"-Kathleen Checki Charity Event."
"-Kathleen Check."
~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~
Love represents a range of emotions and experiences related to the senses of affection and sexual attraction.[1] The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction. This diversity of meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.
As an abstract concept love usually refers to a strong, ineffable feeling towards another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual. Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.
Spiritual love, or longing for God, is highly valued and sought after by many religions of both Eastern and Western origin.
Definitions
The English word love can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts which English relies mainly on love to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love". Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition.[2] American psychologist Zick Rubin try to define love by the psychometrics. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring and intimacy.[3][4]
Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't "love". As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, though other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts. When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. narcissism).
In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, though the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.[5] Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to The Beatles' "All you need is love". Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value", as opposed to relative value. Theologian Thomas Jay Oord said that to love is to "act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being".[6]
A person can be said to love a country, principle, or goal if they value it greatly and are deeply committed to it. Similarly, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers' "love" of their cause may sometimes be borne not of interpersonal love, but impersonal love coupled with altruism and strong political convictions. People can also "love" material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with that item. If sexual passion is also involved, this condition is called paraphilia.
Interpersonal love
Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love which are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania.
Scientific views
Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the nature and function of love.
Chemistry
Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.[8] Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly-overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust exposes people to others, romantic attraction encourages people to focus their energy on mating, and attachment involves tolerating the spouse long enough to rear a child into infancy.
Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side-effects such as an increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.[9]
Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding which promotes relationships that last for many years, and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin than short-term relationships have.[9] In 2005, Italian scientists at Pavia University found that a protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these levels return to as they were after one year. Specifically, four neurotrophin levels, i.e. NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4, of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in love were compared with levels in a control group who were either single or already engaged in a long-term relationship. The results showed that NGF levels were significantly higher in the subjects in love than as compared to either of the control groups.
Psychology
Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives. Intimacy is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last and most common form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components.
Following developments in electrical theories, such as Coulomb's law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract". Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality; people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g. with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby which has the best of both worlds.[11] In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.
Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose works in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another", and simple narcissism.[12] In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling.
Comparison of scientific models
Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst.[citation needed] Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. There are probably elements of truth in both views — certainly love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love — sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate). Companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.
Studies have shown that brain scans of those infatuated by love display a resemblance to those with a mental illness. Love creates activity in the same area of the brain that hunger, thirst, and drug cravings create activity in. New love, therefore, could possibly be more physical than emotional. Over time, this reaction to love mellows, and different areas of the brain are activated, primarily ones involving long-term commitments. Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist, suggests that this reaction to love is so similar to that of drugs because without love, humanity would die out.
Persian
Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth "you owe me".
Look what happens with a Love like that!
- It lights the whole Sky. (Hafiz)
Rumi, Hafez and Sa'di are icons of the passion and love that the Persian culture and language present. The Persian word for love is eshgh, deriving from the Arabic ishq. In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life. Over seven centuries ago, Sa'di wrote:
The children of Adam are limbs of each other
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time afflicts one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others
You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man".
Chinese and other Sinic cultures
In contemporary Chinese language and culture, several terms or root words are used for the concept of "love":
* Ai (愛) is used as a verb (e.g. Wo ai ni, "I love you") or as a noun, especially in aiqing (愛情), "love" or "romance." In mainland China since 1949, airen (愛人, originally "lover," or more literally, "love person") is the dominant word for "spouse" (with separate terms for "wife" and "husband" originally being de-emphasized); the word once had a negative connotation, which it retains among many on Taiwan.
* Lian (戀) is not generally used alone, but instead as part of such terms as "being in love" (談戀愛, tan lian'ai—also containing ai), "lover" (戀人, lianren) or "homosexuality" (同性戀, tongxinglian).
* Qing (情), commonly meaning "feeling" or "emotion," often indicates "love" in several terms. It is contained in the word aiqing (愛情); qingren (情人) is a term for "lover".
In Confucianism, lian is a virtuous benevolent love. Lian should be pursued by all human beings, and reflects a moral life. The Chinese philosopher Mozi developed the concept of ai (愛) in reaction to Confucian lian. Ai, in Mohism, is universal love towards all beings, not just towards friends or family, without regard to reciprocation. Extravagance and offensive war are inimical to ai. Although Mozi's thought was influential, the Confucian lian is how most Chinese conceive of love.
Gănqíng (感情), the "feeling" of a relationship, vaguely similar to empathy. A person will express love by building good gănqíng, accomplished through helping or working for another and emotional attachment toward another person or anything.
Yuanfen (緣份) is a connection of bound destinies. A meaningful relationship is often conceived of as dependent strong yuanfen. It is very similar to serendipity. A similar conceptualization in English is, "They were made for each other," "fate," or "destiny".
Zaolian (Simplified: 早恋, Traditional: 早戀, pinyin: zǎoliàn), literally, "early love," is a contemporary term in frequent use for romantic feelings or attachments among children or adolescents. Zaolian describes both relationships among a teenaged boyfriend and girlfriend, as well as the "crushes" of early adolescence or childhood. The concept essentially indicates a prevalent belief in contemporary Chinese culture that due to the demands of their studies (especially true in the highly competitive educational system of China), youth should not form romantic attachments lest their jeopardize their chances for success in the future. Reports have appeared in Chinese newspapers and other media detailing the prevalence of the phenomenon and its perceived dangers to students and the fears of parents.
Japanese
In Japanese Buddhism, ai (愛) is passionate caring love, and a fundamental desire. It can develop towards either selfishness or selflessness and enlightenment.
Amae (甘え), a Japanese word meaning "indulgent dependence", is part of the child-rearing culture of Japan. Japanese mothers are expected to hug and indulge their children, and children are expected to reward their mothers by clinging and serving. Some sociologists have suggested that Japanese social interactions in later life are modeled on the mother-child amae.
Ancient Greek
Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word love is used. For example, Ancient Greek has the words philia, eros, agape, storge and xenia. However, with Greek as with many other languages, it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agapo being used with the same meaning as phileo.
Agape (ἀγάπη agápē) means love in modern day Greek. The term s'agapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a "pure", ideal type of love rather than the physical attraction suggested by eros. However, there are some examples of agape used to mean the same as eros. It has also been translated as "love of the soul".
Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as "love of the body".
Philia (φιλία philía), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. Can also mean "love of the mind".
Storge (στοργή storgē) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring.
Xenia (ξενία xenía), hospitality, was an extremely important practice in Ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and their guest, who could previously be strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was only expected to repay with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout Greek mythology, in particular Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
Turkish (Shaman & Islamic)
In Turkish the word "love" comes up with several meanings. A person can love the god, a person, the parents or the family. But that person can "love" just one person from the opposite sex which they call the word "ask". Ask is a feeling for to love, as it still is in Turkish today. The Turks used this word just for their romantic loves in a romantic or sexual sense. If a Turk says that he is in love (ask) with somebody, it is not a love that a person can feel for his or her parents; it is just for one person and it indicates a huge infatuation.
Ancient Roman (Latin)
The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word 'love'.
Amare is the basic word for to love, as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense, as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come amans, a lover, amator, 'professional lover', often with the accessory notion of lechery, and amica, 'girlfriend' in the English sense, often as well being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is amor, which is also used in the plural form to indicate 'love affairs' or 'sexual adventures'. This same root also produces amicus, 'friend', and amicitia, 'friendship' (often based on mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to 'indebtedness' or 'influence'). Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship (de Amicitia) which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria (The Art of Lovers), which addresses in depth everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents.
Complicating the picture somewhat, Latin sometimes uses amare where English would simply say to like; this notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by placere or delectare, which are used more colloquially, and the latter of which is used frequently in the love poetry of Catullus.
Diligere often has the notion 'to be affectionate for', 'to esteem', and rarely if ever is used of romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun diligentia, however, has the meaning 'diligence' 'carefulness' and has little semantic overlap with the verb.
Observare is a synonym for 'diligere'; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun 'observantia' often denote 'esteem' or 'affection'.
Caritas is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean 'charitable love'. This meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan Roman literature. As it arises from a conflation with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.
Religious views
Christian
The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman, eros in Greek, and the unselfish love of others, agape, are often contrasted as 'ascending' and 'descending' love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing. [13]
There are several Greek words for Love that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.
* Agape - In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love seen as creating goodness in the world, it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.
* Phileo - Also used in the New Testament, Phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "brotherly love".
* Two other words for love in the Greek language, Eros (sexual love) and Storge (child-to-parent love) were never used in the New Testament.
Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life (the greatest commandment of the Jewish Torah, according to Jesus - c.f. Gospel of Mark chapter 12, verses 28-34). Saint Augustine summarized this when he wrote "Love God, and do as thou wilt".
Paul the Apostle glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poem in 1 Corinthians he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." - 1 Cor. 13:4-7 (NIV)
John the Apostle wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." - John 3:16-18 (NIV)
John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." - 1 John 4:7-8 (NIV)
Saint Augustine says that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an over indulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, “I was in love with love.” Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as, “jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention.” According to Saint Augustine to love God is “to attain the peace which is yours.” (Saint Augustine Confessions)
Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves.
Benedict XVI wrote his first encyclical on God is love. He said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice love: to give himself to God and others (agape), by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.[14]
Buddhist
In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish.
Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom, and is necessary for enlightenment.
Adveṣa and maitrī are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from the ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex, which rarely occur without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others' welfare.
The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. The strongest motivation one has in order to take the path of the Bodhisattva is the idea of salvation within unselfish, altustic love for all sentient beings.
Indic and Hindu
In Hinduism kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools it is the third end (artha) in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugarcane and an arrow of flowers: he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kaama and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chenna Keshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kāma.
In contrast to kāma, prema or prem refers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term meaning 'loving devotion to the supreme God'. A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti which can be found in the Bhagavatha-Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada) distinguishes eleven forms of love.
Arabic and Islamic views
In a sense, love does encompass the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood which applies to all who hold the faith. There are no direct references stating that God is love, but amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud or 'the Loving One', which is found in Surah 11:90 as well as Surah 85:14. It refers to God as being "full of loving kindness". All who hold the faith have God's love, but to what degree or effort he has pleased God depends on the individual itself.
Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism. Sufis believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks" at itself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices to see the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of Love. God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through Love humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being "drunk" due to their Love of God hence the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music.
Jewish
In Hebrew Ahava is the most commonly-used term for both interpersonal love and love of God. Other related but dissimilar terms are Chen (grace) and Hesed, which basically combines the meaning of "affection" and "compassion" and is sometimes rendered in English as "loving-kindness".
Judaism employs a wide definition of love, both between people and between man and the Deity. As for the former, the Torah states: "Love your neighbor like yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). As for the latter, one is commanded to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5), taken by the Mishnah (a central text of the Jewish oral law) to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one's life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all one's possessions and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity (tractate Berachoth 9:5). Rabbinic literature differs how this love can be developed, e.g. by contemplating Divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature.
As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: "See life with the wife you love" (Ecclesiastes 9:9). The Biblical book Song of Songs is considered a romantically-phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading reads like a love song.
The 20th century Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point-of-view as "giving without expecting to take" (from his Michtav me-Eliyahu, vol. 1). Romantic love per se has few echoes in Jewish literature, although the Medieval Rabbi Judah Halevi wrote romantic poetry in Arabic in his younger years (he appears to have regretted this later).
Teammates Staff Sgt. William Chavis (left) and 1st Lt. Mitchell Messick navigate a balance beam on their way to taking top honors in the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command Best Warrior Completion Aug. 12. Chavis and Messick are now both among 33 top USAREUR Soldiers, NCOs and officers who will compete in the USAREUR Best Warrior Competition and Best Junior Officer Competition at Grafenwoehr, Germany, Sept. 14-19. The lieutenant defined the best warrior as somebody who can overcome adversity, displays the Warrior Ethos, consistently displays a never-quit attitude, and does not accept defeat, no matter how dire the situation. (Photo by Sgt. Christina M. Dion)
Hyles lineata
Species of moth
Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. They are sometimes known as a "hummingbird moth" because of their bird-like size (2-3 inch wingspan) and flight patterns.
Quick Facts White-lined sphinx, Scientific classification ...
As caterpillars, they have a wide range of color phenotypes but show consistent adult coloration. With a wide geographic range throughout Central and North America, H. lineata is known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults.
Larvae are powerful eaters and are known to form massive groupings capable of damaging crops and gardens. As adults, they use both visual and olfactory perception to locate plants from which they collect nectar.
Description
Caterpillar
Larvae show wide variation in color. The larvae are black with orange spots arranged in lines down the whole body. Their head's prothoracic shield, and the anal plate, are one color, either green or orange with small black dots. A tail-like spine protruding from the back of the body is a typical for sphingid moth caterpillars, known as “hornworms”. This horn, which may sometimes be yellow and have a black tip, is not a stinger, and the caterpillars are not harmful to humans. The larvae can also sometimes be lime green and black.
Dark green larva
Light green larva in Colorado
Yellow larvae in Arizona
Adult
The forewing is dark brown with a tan stripe which extends from the base to the apex. There are also white lines that cover the veins. The black hindwing has a broad pink median band. It has a wingspan of 2 to 3 inches. This moth is large and has a stout furry body. The dorsal hind region is crossed by six distinct white stripes and similar striping patterns on the wings. The hindwings are black with a thick, red-pink stripe in the middle.
Geographic range
Hyles lineata is one of the most abundant hawk moths in North America and has a very wide geographic range. This range extends from Central America to southern Canada through Mexico and most of the United States. Some regions of South Asia like Sindh, Pakistan are reported to have habitates to these Moths. They can also be found occasionally in the West Indies. Rarely, specimens have also been reported in Eurasia and Africa.[additional citation(s) needed]
The abundance of Hyles lineata populations in specific locations varies significantly from year to year, and has been thought to influence selection on flower phenotypes, although studies throughout the years show mixed results.
Habitat
White-lined Sphinx hovering over flowers in Vail Village. Vail, CO.
Hovering over flowers in Vail Village. Vail, Colorado
With such a wide geographic range, H. lineata are known to live in a variety of habitats, including deserts, gardens and suburbs. They have also been seen in abundance in the mountains of Colorado, but their presence varies from year to year in many places.
White-lined Sphinx moth hovering over Honeysuckle in Fort Collins, Colorado
Food resources
Caterpillars
Source:
Willow weed (Epilobium)
Four o'clock (Mirabilis)
Apple (Malus)
Evening primrose (Oenothera)
Elm (Ulmus)
Grape (Vitis)
Tomato (Solanum)
Purslane (Portulaca)
Fuchsia
Clarkia
Adults
Source:
Columbines
Larkspurs
Four o'clock (Mirabilis)
Petunia
Honeysuckle
Moonvine
Bouncing bet
Lilac
Clovers
Thistles
Jimson weed
Trumpet Vine
The adults will feed on different flowers depending on time of day. If at night, they will choose flowers that are white or pale colored, which are easier to identify in contrast to the dark foliage surrounding the flower. If during daylight, they will choose flowers that are more brightly colored.
Behavior
The foraging patterns of H. lineata varies according to altitude, temperature and other factors, all of which are highly variable over its vast geographic distribution.
White-lined sphinx resting on an outdoor structure near grape leaves at dusk in Santa Barbara, CA
Resting near grape leaves at dusk. Santa Barbara, California.
Hyles lineata prefer flying at night but also sometimes fly during the day. They are most commonly seen at dusk and dawn.
Pollination
H. lineata are common pollinators and are known to collect nectar from flowers. As caterpillars they feed on a huge diversity of host plants and as adults they prefer nectar over flowers. A study from the 1970s focused on H. lineata nectar feeding patterns in Emerald Lake, Colorado, specifically on Aquilegia coerulea flowers. Of the H. lineata individuals that had visited A. coerulea flowers, two groups of moths were identified, one with patches of pollen near their eyes and ones with no detectable pollen on their bodies. Between the two groups, tongue length was significantly different, with longer-tongued individuals having no pollen and shorter-tongued individuals having pollen. These results suggest that within H. lineata, some individuals are effective pollinators while some are not pollinating at all, with shorter-tongued individuals carrying out the most effective pollination.
Other studies have investigated its role as pollinators in flower morphology. Individuals visiting Aquilegia chrysantha flowers in Pima County, AZ, had proboscis lengths very similar to the length of the nectar spur of the flower, suggesting coevolution.
Hawk moths, including H. lineata, are considered long-tongued nectar foragers, although nearly 20% of all hawk moth species have very short tongues compared to H. lineata. A 1997 study found correlations between tongue length and latitude distribution: mean tongue length declines from around 40 mm to as short as 15 mm as northern latitude increase from 0 to 50 degrees. The author speculates that tongues have lengthened in hawk moths of extratropical regions where it is more difficult and energetically costly to find larval food plants that are often inconspicuous, thus they need to take up more nectar at once to fuel their longer flights. Conversely, in more northern regions, short tongues are sufficient because finding larval food plants is an easier task and they do not need to take up as much nectar to fuel their flights.
One 2009 study showed that whiter flowers are associated with an annual presence of hawk moths, including H. lineata. Their data also showed that the annual presence of H. lineata populations selects for whiter flowers. Other hawk moth species with similar range overlap, specifically Sphinx vashti, show a correlation of annual presence with longer spurs on flowers. Thus hawk moths in general have been demonstrated to impact selection on flower morphology.
Life history
Oviposition
In the spring, adult females lay eggs on various types of plants, on which the resulting larvae feed. Each individual female can produce hundreds of eggs over her life.
Seasonality
Larvae overwinter and can emerge between February and November, at which point they begin to feed on a variety of host plants. Caterpillars are known to be ardent eaters. When preparing to transition into the pupal stage, caterpillars dig shallow burrows in the ground where they then stay for 2 to 3 weeks, at which point they emerge as adults. As they get closer to pupating, they will wiggle up closer to the surface which makes it easier to emerge.
Adults typically do not survive cold northern winters, but larvae overwinter and moths begin to appear in mid-May. Depending on abundance, a second flight may occur in late August or early September. Larvae are known to gather and form giant hordes in search of host plants, and they can eat entire plants, cover entire roadways and form huge slick masses as they go.
Typically there are two generations per year, but warmer climate see more generations.
Physiology
Flight
H. lineata, when feeding, tend to hover in front of flowers and control their hovering by visual cues from the flowers.
Vision
Close-up of eye & head
Though hawk moths can be both diurnal or nocturnal (or both), they all have three spectral receptors that are sensitive to blue light, green light and ultraviolet. Though it was originally assumed that hawk moths relied primarily on olfactory cues to locate flowers, due to their prevalence at particularly odorous plants, studies have shown that hawk moths actually have great vision and are very sensitive to light.
Olfaction
Though vision is a key component of H. lineata physiology, they do also have strong olfactory capabilities. They have been shown to be very sensitive to odors coming from flowers, and they have a strong ability to learn flower odors quickly.
Interactions with humans
Food source
The caterpillars have been (and in some places still are) gathered and eaten by Native Americans (e.g.,). After collection, they would be skewered and roasted for a feast, and any leftovers were stored whole or ground up after being dried. The nutritional value of the larvae has been analyzed, and found to be significant; they contain almost as much fat as hamburger meat, but have almost one-third less saturated fat, and more energy (in calories), protein, carbohydrate, riboflavin, and niacin than hamburger meat.
Pest of crop plants
Caterpillars often form massive groups in search for food. Outbreaks have been reported in Utah that have damaged grapes, tomatoes and garden crops.
References
Consistent with the old saying, "Mackerel in the sky, three days dry," there was no rain for many days after this beautiful morning.
(BEST READ LARGE !!)
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARCH 8TH- WELL STACKED OTHER WOMEN
I generally don’t categorise female writers as a gender but for International Women’s Day I thought I might put together a small representative compilation of some of the books written by learned ladies whose fiction I’ve found inspirational over the years. If there’s a consistent theme it’s that these writers create female characters that are strong, capable, determined and, more frequently than not, more than able to hold their own against and alongside the larger than life blokes that characterise the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction genres that most (but not all!) of these adept writers grace.
That or the feisty novelists themselves could be classified as “Arse Booting Sheilas”, as we say Downunder.
Along with the never to be underestimated ladies intersecting my life (including my formidable Flickr chums!) , it’s writers like these who’ve formed my ideal of what women are and can be. This is not, incidentally, a complete list. I just didn’t have regular paperback sized editions of the works of some equally fine favourites that would fit into the stack!
From the top down:
JANE AUSTEN- It is a truth universally acknowledged that centuries later Jane’s still one of the wittiest! PERSUASION was her last published novel, which was released posthumously.
MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY- It’s her Arthurian themed MISTS OF AVALON that I like the most of all her books, but the copy I’ve got is a hardcover and wouldn’t fit into this little compilation. HUNTERS OF THE RED MOON is one of her Science Fiction books.
SUSAN COOPER- THE GREY KING is one of Cooper’s THE DARK IS RISING Arthurian themed sequence. Okay, I tend to encounter a lot of female genre writer’s first in their Arthurian writings...which will become increasingly obvious.
LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD- A master of slick but amusing heroic space opera, in particular her famous tales of the adventures of the resourceful if somewhat physically fragile Miles Vorkosigan. This book, KOMARR, belongs to that series.
DIANE CAREY- One of my all time favourite writers of Star Trek spin-off fiction. She has an excellent feel for the character ensembles matched only by her ability to instil in her stories a strong nautical flavour that perfectly suits the idea of Star Fleet being a continuation of planetary surface naval traditions. BATTLESTATIONS ! was the sequel to her equally worthy DREADNOUGHT !
C.J.CHERRYH- Second only to Larry Niven when it comes to cat aliens. THE PRIDE OF CHANUR is the cat’s meow of feline E.Ts.
LINDSEY DAVIS- I’m a fan of historical themed detective fiction and naturally admire this writer’s Marcus Didius Falco/ Helena Justina novels, set in Vespasian’s Roman Empire. THE COURSE OF HONOUR isn’t about Falco, it’s Vespasian’s story, which Davis wrote first, but didn’t see published until well after the Falco series had otherwise made her name.
BARBARA HAMBLY- One of my absolute favourite writers. Adeptly crosses genres from Science Fiction to Fantasy to Historical Detective fiction. TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD is one of her superb genre defining vampire novels, but I equally love her Benjamin January (If they ever did a television series Avery Brooks would be perfect to play the role!) New Orleans detective stories as well as her Star Trek, Star Wars and sword and sorcery books.
ZENNA HENDERSON- Henderson’s generally gentle stories of The People, alien refugees who quietly became colonists on Earth without all that spectacular mucking around with invasions, had a big influence on me. THE PEOPLE: NO DIFFERENT FLESH, is a collected anthology of those tales.
ROBIN HOBB- Robin’s fantasy stories are wonderfully detailed and peopled with fascinating characters. SHIP OF MAGIC is book one of her Liveship Traders series. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview her twice now, and thoroughly enjoyed the privilege to gain an insight into her marvellous imagination and writing process.
PHYLISS ANN KARR- Another writer whose Arthurian work I treasure, starting with THE IDYLLS OF THE QUEEN, which features the much neglected Sir Kay, to her authoritative reference work THE KING ARTHUR COMPANION. I got to meet Phyliss at an S.F convention, where we were on a panel about, what else, King Arthur.
GABRIEL KING- Her Wild Road books, co-written with M. John Harrison, are masterpieces of anthropomorphic ‘talking animal’ fiction. Up there with Kenneth Grahame, Wiliam Horwood and Richard Adams. Her real name is Jane Johnson and she’s also a powerhouse editor....
TANITH LEE- Tanith Lee’s work is wickedly lyrical, reminding me of Ray Bradbury’s considerable output. Lee is almost equally prolific. NIGHT’S MASTER is one of her unique fantasy novels.
URSULA K. LE GUIN- One of the world’s best Science Fiction writers. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is of course one of her most famous and influential novels.
ANN MCCAFFREY- Although I’m not a big fan of her dragon novels some of her other books have made me sit up and take notice, like TO RIDE PEGASUS, an enthusiastic exploration of what implications psionic powers might have.
VONDA N. MCINTYRE- Another great Star Trek spin-off fiction writer whose work beyond that field is equally acclaimed. THE ENTROPY EFFECT was the first of her Trek novels, she also wrote particularly expansive novelisations of three of the movies that went well beyond the confines of the scripts.
ELIZABETH MOON- Her Deed Of Paksenarrion Fantasy books are where I first encountered this former U.S Marine’s work, but I’ve learnt to appreciate her Science Fiction as well, particularly the singleton novel, Remnant Population. OATH OF GOLD is the third Paks book.
ANDRE NORTON- One of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy, she was also incredibly prolific, especially in the Young Adult category. MERLIN’S MIRROR happens to be one of her Arthurian themed novels. Most genre fans I encounter seem to have read one of Norton’s books somewhere along the way.
NAOMI NOVIK- Instantly became one of my favourite writers with the release of her remarkably clever Temeraire series, set in an alternate universe Regency where the Napoleonic Wars are fought with the addition of dragons! Dead clever, and her stories read like a happy cross between the works of Bernard Cornwell and C.S Forester. THRONE OF JADE is the second book in the series. The Peter Jackson movie adaptations are going to be something to see and then some!
ELLIS PETERS- Peters elegant Brother Cadfael stories, set in the 12th Century, were key elements in me becoming keen on the Historical Detective genre. THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST is the 14th chronicle in the cunning monk’s adventures. I would have loved to have interviewed Ellis Peters, but never got the chance. I did, however, revel in the opportunity that I got to interview Cadfael, that is to say, Sir Derek Jacobi, who played the character in the television series based on the books.
LAURA JOH ROWLAND- Her Sano Ichiro/ Reiko samurai detective stories take place in 17th century Japan and are evocative, richly textured masterworks of the Historical Detective genre.
BLACK LOTUS is one of the series.
JESSICA AMANDA SALMONSON- Her TOMOE GOZEN female samurai series is a fantasy spin on the adventures of the real life warrior woman of 12th Century Japan.
ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH- THE HEALER’S WAR is her Fantasy novel set in Vietnam but this writer is an all rounder and can handle any genre, usually with a dash of whimsy.
MARY SHELLEY- Need I say Shelley was one of the earliest modern Science Fiction writers? Her writing style may have dated but it’s a challenge that’s worth accepting in order to experience her seminal classics in the genre, including, of course, FRANKENSTEIN.
MARY STEWART- Another Arthurian writer whose Merlin series, of which THE HOLLOW HILLS was book three, had a lot of influence upon the genre. She has written a lot more historical novels but those are my favourites.
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF- Growing up, Sutcliff was one of my favourite Historical Fiction writers. THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH and THE LANTERN BEARERS are still great reads. SWORD AT SUNSET is one of her many Arthurian novels.
LIZ WILLIAMS- A Techno Gothic British Science Fiction writer whose eccentric work could go toe to toe with William Gibsons or China Mievilles. THE POISON MASTER is one of her baroque convoluted alchemical novels.
Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.
The second largest land mammal in the world (after the elephant), the rhino has a reputation for having a tough skin. While the skin can be up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) thick, it is surprisingly sensitive, being susceptible to sunburn and insect bites.
For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...
In my experience tippers are consistently the worst driven vehicles on the road - as a pedestrian, as a motorist and as a cyclist. This lack of care, and impatience with others is no doubt due to the productivity they need to achieve (i.e. X loads per day).
Although the artwork on this truck conveys a safety message, I do feel like there is an element of victim blaming.
Tippers are exempt from spray suppression equipment. This one doesn't have any rear mudflaps which is unusual. Never follow a tipper too closely. Debris will be ejected from the tyre treads, or from between the twin tyres - usually when the tipper achieves high speed. That debris could be half a brick.
....... well, at least I'm consistent ! ;o)) LOL
Another view of the very beautiful and photogenic Scotney Castle, Kent.
Although it is called a "castle" it was in fact a manor house designed to be heavily fortified and to withstand attack. The 14th century wasn't an especially peaceful time and towns in the south of England were at constant risk from French marauders.
Like all proper castles, Scotney has its own ghost. The spirit of a man haunts the castle and is usually described as dripping wet having been seen emerging from the moat !
This shows the Ashburnham Tower, the last remaining medieval tower of the original four, and the ruins of the later 1580 Elizabethan style addition to the castle
Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan, both deceivers & brazen liars, are zealous crusaders for the advancement of meanness, pain & death which Obama, too, in a merely slightly less virulent way, has consistently supported in practice (but not, of course, in his devious speeches). But I don't want to talk about the Republican candidates here, nor in any concentrated way, Obama.
We Americans now live in a society that economically, politically & religiously cherishes psychopathic values. Poor, powerless, rich & powerful people who were similarly bent have always been among us, clamoring for more soldiers, more dreadful weapons, more police, more saber rattling, more wars, harsher laws, more prisons, fewer rights - or no rights - for those who disagree with or are unlike them. But today such people tyrannically rule in almost all political offices, court chambers & boardrooms. They rule the 'economic team' of rich, vicious cutthroats that Obama hand selected to save the big banks, not the nation or its people. They rule in many other places, too - on television news networks, in editorial quarters at many newspapers, in the economics departments of universities that are usually said to be the nation's best, & in the general staff at the Pentagon. They own the private corporation that creates & controls the presidential 'debates.' They increasingly own both lower school public & higher education. And insofar as they own our health care, own the medicines we are allowed to get at great personal expense, & have commodified every disease so that they might benefit from our illnesses, they own both the present & ultimate fate of our bodies. And insofar as they control the means of the distribution of information, including the manufacture & distribution of propaganda, they own our minds ... or, if one believes we have souls, they own those, too.
One need only note, for instance, that in the first two 'debates' the urgently pressing, most momentous threat all living things have ever faced, global anthropogenic climate change, has not been mentioned once. No one thinks it will be mentioned in the third & final 'debate' - that is, charade - either. Upon reflection, one may rationally conclude that nothing that really matters to the welfare & future of America has been or will be mentioned.
Harper's Magazine, in which the article cited below appears, is, since 1850, America's oldest continuously published monthly. It's very serious & also immensely funny, brilliantly illustrated, literate & readable, & at its low cost (presently $16.97 for 12 issues) it should be in most homes. Its fact checking is U.S. journalism's gold standard.
The Elephant/Donkey political duopoly that now rules this empire was shaped by the multibillionaire propagandists in the TV & print nooze biz, & by their superrich cohorts who since Ronald Reagan became president have steadily spent whatever it took to own not only almost every politician in the nation, but almost all institutions that once were public. The public is bamboozled, kept ignorant, overworked, underpaid, purposefully uninformed, forced to be anxiety ridden, & robbed at every turn. - In short, what has happened & is surely going to get worse is not the public's fault. We are not to blame. They are.
And why do They lie & cheat? Because the manure They heap upon us that They claim explains the causes of our trouble & the solutions for them is so bereft of validity & virtue that only incessant lying & cheating & endlessly shitting up the same crap could get anybody to believe there is nothing else. Men like Rupert Murdoch & the Koch brothers are maggots occupying, eating & growing in our minds.
Romney & Obama are the two sides of the turd that is the Elephant/Donkey duopoly. Together they are the two-faced Janus mask that is the present countenance of America, impenetrably duplicitous & meaningless, but plainly brutal & cruel because, no matter what either says that one might think makes the one or the other likable, they are agreed in their actions that everything must be taken from us & be given to the rich, who already took almost all that we once had - our homes, schools, courts of law, retirement funds, good jobs, decent pay, financial assets, composure, sense of self-worth, civil rights, education, air, water, Earth's very health, & any feeling that the future might be better, & finally our faith that voting can ever be an expression of our own preferences & interests.
So what is it that Obama never speaks of, nor shall Romney? Why, the real way to our salvation, of course. Mentioning it is taboo, because the rich wouldn't give these narcissistic candidates nor any other kind of candidate a dime for it, despite the fact - repeat, fact - that what you're about to read would make large private financial fortunes more secure & durable. Why? Because when capitalism goes into catastrophic runaway, as was its condition before the crash of 2008 & already is again, it collapses & leaves behind a Demand Crisis, in which great numbers of people lose their savings & property, lose their jobs & income, & so become unable to buy the goods & services that only by being purchased enable capitalists to acquire & increase wealth, & keep their wealth from disappearing as much of it did in 2008, or did in the Great Depression (which I experienced directly), & did following other booms that led implacably to busts & Demand Crisis depressions.
OK - federal stimulus delivered into the pockets of workers who will spend it, followed by increased taxation, is what you're going to read about below. Before you blanch, read on, & either keep in mind what governments exist for, & what at their best they do for commerce & the welfare & peace of citizens, or - if you cannot put your fear that this must be wrong in check - indulge me & the author of this thesis, & let's then talk about it. Remember, if you are blanching, a vast array of institutions owned or supported by the superrich have for a long while controlled the information your opinions are based upon, & you've no reason whatsoever to trust that those people & their institutions ever had your interests in mind or, much less, at heart.
Thanks for reading along,
Robin
–––––––––––––––––
NOTE: I added all bracketed comments & highlights.
The Entitlement Crisis That Isn't
By Jeff Madrick
Published in Harper's Magazine
November 2012
EXCERPTS: But as Bruce Bartlett, a high-level advisor to Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush –– & no fuzzy-headed liberal –– put it .... "Almost every country in Europe has a tax/GDP ratio high enough to cover all of the projected increase in spending in the United States through higher revenues alone" ... Roughly speaking, the average nation among the thirty-four members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) collected some 38 percent of its citizens income in taxes. U.S. citizens are taxed –– including all federal, state & local income taxes, sales taxes, & payroll taxes (the taxes that are taken out of every employee's paycheck for Social Security & Medicare) –– at only about 26 percent of their income. Yet the high-tax economies grow about as fast as ours does, sometimes faster. Prosperous Denmark, Norway, & Sweden have tax rates well above 40 percent.
To be clear, no one should raise taxes now, because the economy is still too weak [that is, the demand crisis that began in the crash of 2008 continues]. On the contrary, we need bigger deficits for a while [in accord with the empirically tested principles laid down by the late economist John Maynard Keynes]. But when the economy is righted, we will have our chance. Imagine if the the United States raised taxes by 10 percent. If this seems far-fetched, that is for purely political, not economic reasons: such an increase would put our taxes on par with the OECD average, still well below the levels of nations like Norway. This hike would bring in about $1.5 trillion in one year alone &, by my estimate, $17 or $18 trillion over ten years. To put this in perspective, the bipartisan agreement in 2011 to cut the future deficit under the Budget Control Act demanded a total deficit reduction of only about $1.5 trillion. That additional $16 0r $17 trillion would cover all imaginable increases in entitlement programs, even over a span of sixty years or more –– & it would also wipe out the deficit.
Let's keep in mind that Medicare is expected to rise by only 2 percent of GDP –– to just under 6 percent –– by 2035, even if the health-care system is not made significantly more efficient. Social Security benefits are forecast to increase from 5 percent of GDP today to, at worst, somewhat more than 6 percent, then level off in the mid-2030s. These increases are readily manageable.
.... [In conclusion] There is no debate of good conscience in America about how to pay for the nation's most profound needs. if there were, raising taxes would be a major part of it. Instead, the lower & middle classes will bear the brunt of deficit reduction.
Politicians & ideologues are playing a cruel game by keeping serious tax increases off the table, but it is especially hypocritical to do so in the name of fiscal responsibility. America's budget problem is a revenue problem, not a spending problem. The current national conversation about tax hikes is a fine example of political deference to the rich & powerful. It is not good economics.
INSTAGRAM. @hollographic
7.10.24
Man... I am feeling so ragged and run down. I am trying to keep myself consistently busy but I have some goals I want to hit by the end of the year and I an determined.
National Library (a.k.a. Book Tower) 1954-62
The University of Aarhus, which dates from 1931, is a unique and coherent university campus with consistent architecture, homogenous use of yellow brickwork and adaptation to the landscape. The university has won renown and praise as an integrated complex which unites the best aspects of functionalism with solid Danish traditions in form and materials.
The competition for the university was won by the architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller og Povl Stegmann in 1931. Stegman left the partnership in 1937, Fisker in 1942 and C. F. Møller Architects has been in charge of the continued architectural development and building design of the university until today.
The University of Aarhus, with its extensive park in central Aarhus, includes teaching rooms, offices, libraries, workshops and student accommodation. The university has a distinct homogeneous building style and utilises the natural contours of the landscape. The campus has emerged around a distinct moraine gorge and the buildings for the departments and faculties are placed on the slopes, from the main buildings alongside the ring road to the center of the city at Nørreport. All throughout the campus, the buildings are variations of the same clear-cut prismatic volume with pitched roofs, oriented orthogonally to form individual architectural clusters sharing the same vocabulary. The way the buildings emerge from the landscape makes them seem to grow from it, rather than being superimposed on the site.
The original scheme for the campus park was made by the famous Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen. Until the death of C. Th. Sørensens in 1979 the development of the park areas were conducted in a close cooperation between C. Th. Sørensen, C. F. Møller and the local park authorities. Since 1979 C. F. Møller Architects - in cooperation with the staff at the university - has continued the intentions of the original scheme for the park, and today the park is a beautiful, green area and an immense contribution to both the university and the city in general.
In 2001, C. F. Møller Architects prepared a new masterplan for the long and short term development of the university. Although the university has been extended continuously for more than 75 years, the original masterplan and design principles have been maintained, and have proven a simple yet versatile tool to create a timeless and coherent architectural expression adaptable to changing programs. Today, the university is officially recognized as a Danish national architectural treasure and is internationally renowned as an excellent example of early modern university campus planning.
...it's best to grind your own. As discussed earlier in the series the best way to make consistently good coffee is to purchase whole beans and grind them yourself. To do this you need a good burr grinder. Krups, Cuisinart, KitchenAid, and Bodum all make burr grinders for home use along with other manufacturers and come in a wide range of prices. Top of the line is KitchenAid, but it comes with a hefty price at $300 retail while a Cuisinart grinder retails for around $50. The beauty of a KitchenAid grinder is it's relatively quiet while the lower end models tend to be noisy. But since you operate the grinder for approximately 15 -30 seconds each time you use it noise isn't a major factor.
As mentiond before coffee beans should be stored properly until ready to grind. Then grind only the amount you're going to need/use...you want the aromatic oils in your cup, not evaporating into the air. Once ground, coffee beans lose 50% of their flavor within seven minutes. Which is the primary reason it's best to buy whole beans versus preground canned coffee.
It's also important when using a burr grinder at home to match the grind to the brewing method. If you brew coffee in a French press a course grind is required/best as on the left. For espresso you want an extremely fine grind as on the the above right. In between would be a medium grind that is suitable for drip coffee makers or a percolator. But if you use a drip coffee maker, as most people do at home and work, you should experiment by trying different grinds towards either coarse or fine depending on the type of roasted beans you buy to suit you individual perference in flavor and taste.
The next and last installment in the series will be on brewing methods. Take care...and I hope everyone has a great Friday and upcoming weekend.
Lacey
ISO100, aperture f/4.5, exposure 1 second (1/1) focal length 70mm
The University of Aarhus, which dates from 1931, is a unique and coherent university campus with consistent architecture, homogenous use of yellow brickwork and adaptation to the landscape. The university has won renown and praise as an integrated complex which unites the best aspects of functionalism with solid Danish traditions in form and materials.
The competition for the university was won by the architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller og Povl Stegmann in 1931. Stegman left the partnership in 1937, Fisker in 1942 and C. F. Møller Architects has been in charge of the continued architectural development and building design of the university until today.
The University of Aarhus, with its extensive park in central Aarhus, includes teaching rooms, offices, libraries, workshops and student accommodation. The university has a distinct homogeneous building style and utilises the natural contours of the landscape. The campus has emerged around a distinct moraine gorge and the buildings for the departments and faculties are placed on the slopes, from the main buildings alongside the ring road to the center of the city at Nørreport. All throughout the campus, the buildings are variations of the same clear-cut prismatic volume with pitched roofs, oriented orthogonally to form individual architectural clusters sharing the same vocabulary. The way the buildings emerge from the landscape makes them seem to grow from it, rather than being superimposed on the site.
The original scheme for the campus park was made by the famous Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen. Until the death of C. Th. Sørensens in 1979 the development of the park areas were conducted in a close cooperation between C. Th. Sørensen, C. F. Møller and the local park authorities. Since 1979 C. F. Møller Architects - in cooperation with the staff at the university - has continued the intentions of the original scheme for the park, and today the park is a beautiful, green area and an immense contribution to both the university and the city in general.
In 2001, C. F. Møller Architects prepared a new masterplan for the long and short term development of the university. Although the university has been extended continuously for more than 75 years, the original masterplan and design principles have been maintained, and have proven a simple yet versatile tool to create a timeless and coherent architectural expression adaptable to changing programs. Today, the university is officially recognized as a Danish national architectural treasure and is internationally renowned as an excellent example of early modern university campus planning.
Autumn is consistently a great time to visit, with the foliage adding so much in spectacular, rich colors. And even during the latter part of the season, there is something so special about the bareness of many trees and vegetation. The nice thing as an observer of nature’s critters is that the birds are so much more visible. Even if they are at a fair distance, at least, one can appreciate their features. Also, many fall berries and other fruits and nuts, often with bright colors and interesting shapes, accentuate the landscape as seen only at this time of year.
The late, Doris Duke, had left a wonderful legacy in converting her magnificent estate into a Natural Wildlife Preserve for the public’s education and enjoyment. The paths throughout the estate offer such splendid scenery. One is forever exploring, always seeing something subtly beautiful. There are always pleasant surprises, from the general scenery to the world of the wildlife, even tiny insects and flowers are enjoyable to observe. The bucolic nature of the preserve is so relaxing—akin to meditating while experiencing the landscape. The beauty of visiting Duke Farms is that so many incredible views are there simply by observing all of the surroundings. Spotting new and fascinating wildlife—both animals and plants—always adds to the experience.
Visita nuestro Blog de Semana Santa en:
asociacionredobles.blogspot.com
Actos que se van a desarrollar durante la conmemoración del 200º aniversario del
rescate del Cristo de la Cama, consistente en el traslado de la Imagen desde la Iglesia
de Santa Isabel de Portugal (vulgo San Cayetano) a la Basílica del Pilar.
El rescate se produjo el 17 de febrero de 1809 del Convento de San Francisco, lo que
actualmente es la Diputación Provincial. El día 10 los franceses volaron el Convento,
que era defendido por unos cuantos aragoneses y por los voluntarios de Valencia. El
día 17, María Blánquez entro en el convento y vio que todos los pasos que
procesionan en Semana santa, quince en total, estaban destruidos, salvo el Santísimo
Cristo de la Cama, que estaba indemne en su Capilla de la Hermandad. Salió a la
calle, cogió a cuatro hombres, volvió a entrar al convento y todos ellos cogieron al
Cristo de la cama. Lo llevaron primero a la parroquia de la santa Cruz, después a la
de Santiago y finalmente al Palacio Arzobispal, lugar en donde vivía el general
Palafox, que enfermo lo venero y ordeno fuera llevado al interior de la Basílica del
Pilar, siendo colocado en el Altar de los convertido mirando a su Madre, la virgen del
Pilar.
Este hecho es el que conmemoramos.
A las 18´00 horas se oirá en la Ciudad de Zaragoza a los Artilleros de Aragón
anunciando el comienzo de la procesión cívico religiosa.
Con la salida desde San Cayetano de la Bandera de la Hermandad de la Sangre de
Cristo dará comienzo la procesión, encontrándose el resto de participantes ubicados
en la plaza. Seguidamente saldrá la peana, portada a varal, del Cristo de la Cama. Lo
hará con un toque preparado para la ocasión por la Sección de Tambores de la
Hermandad de San Joaquín y Virgen de los Dolores. Una vez que nuestro Cristo de la
Cama este en la plaza sonara el Himno Nacional interpretado al órgano por Ignacio
Navarro Gil.
Finalizado el himno, se descubrirá una placa en cerámica de Muel, promovida por la
Asociación Cultural Redobles. Dicha placa será descubierta por el Ilmo. Sr. D.
Francisco Javier Lambán Montañés, o persona en quien en delegue, acompañado por
el Hermano Mayor de la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo. A la vez que se descubre
la placa, don José Antonio Armillas, Comisario del Bicentenario glosara brevemente
la figura de María Blánquez y lo que ella significo.
Finalizado este acto, dará comienzo en sí el desfile.
Por la calle Manifestación, calle Alfonso y calle Coso, nos dirigiremos a la plaza de
España, en donde se realiza el segundo acto del desfile. Este consiste en depositar dos
coronas de laurel. La primera en la placa que recuerda al Convento de San Francisco
y la segunda en el monumento a los Mártires.
La del Convento de San Francisco será portada por mujeres ataviadas con el traje
regional, en recuerdo y homenaje a María Blánquez. Entregada por don Francisco
Javier Lambán Montañés (o persona en quién delegue), le acompañaran el
Comandante Militar de Zaragoza, General Juan Pinto y el Hermano Mayor de la
Sangre de Cristo. La recibirán dos soldados del Batallón Pardos de Aragón.
La segunda corona, la entregara don Juan Alberto Belloch Julve (o persona en quién
delegue), acompañado también por el Comandante Militar y el Hermano Mayor,
siendo recibida por dos soldados del Batallón de Infantería Voluntarios de Aragón.
Durante este acto sonara en la plaza el Carillón de la Diputación Provincial con
marchas alusivas a los Sitios.
Finalizado el acto, continuaremos el desfile en dirección a la Plaza de la Seo por calle
don Jaime, calle Mayor, calle Dormer, calle Cisne y calle Cuellar.
En la plaza de la Seo se realiza el tercer y último acto. Consiste en una breve
alocución del General Pinto, Comandante Militar de Zaragoza y Teruel, en recuerdo
y homenaje del General Palafox. A Su conclusión, el Batallón de Infantería
Voluntarios de Aragón hará una descarga de fusilería.
Ya para finalizar, nos encaminaremos a la plaza del Pilar, finalizando el desfile,
alrededor de las 20´30 horas, con la entrada del Cristo de la Cama en la Basílica, en
donde permanecerá hasta el miércoles 25 de febrero.
Finalizado el desfile y por lo tanto el traslado, la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo
realizara una ofrenda a la Virgen del Pilar.
La Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo, con el fin de dar mayor realce a este
acontecimiento histórico, ha invitado a participar a todos aquellos Ayuntamientos e
Instituciones galardonados con la Medalla del Bicentenario “Defensor de Zaragoza”,
distinción que también ha obtenido la propia Hermandad. Han confirmado su
asistencia una representación de los Ayuntamientos de Alcañiz, Barbastro, Calatayud,
Cariñena, Chelva, Huesca, Jaca, monzón y Valencia. También han confirmado su
participación los Artilleros de Aragón, Batallón Pardos de Aragón, Batallón de
Infantería Ligera Voluntarios de Aragón, la Asociación Cultural Royo del Rabal
(ronda y escenificación de personajes históricos de la época), la Asociación Cultural
Los Sitios (personajes históricos de la época), la Hermandad de San Juan de la Peña,
la Cofradía del Santo Sepulcro, la Hermandad del santo Refugio, la Real Ilustre
Congregación de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Madrid y la Real Maestranza de
Caballería.
La parte musical durante el desfile correrá a cargo de la Banda de Guerra de la
Brigada de Caballería Castillejos II, de la Banda Música de la Academia General
Militar y la Ronda de jotas de la Asociación Cultural el Rabal. Durante el desfile y
con el fin de que los peaneros lleven el ritmo adecuado, les acompaña un piquete de
diez instrumentos, cuyos miembros son de la cofradía de la Institución de la Sagrada
Eucaristía, que lo harán sin los distintivos propios de la Cofradía.
Cabe destacar el estreno de una marcha procesional en las calles de Zaragoza. La
primera y ultima pieza que interprete la Banda de Música será la Marcha al Cristo de
la Cama, cuyo autor es don Abel Moreno y que fue donada a la Hermandad por la
Asociación para el Estudio de la Semana Santa.
Ernesto Millán Lázaro
Hermano Mayor
Hermandad Sangre de Cristo
Like father, like son
George Augustus Handley was a crack shot who consistently performed well while competing as a volunteer with the Victoria Rifle Company during the late 1880s.
His son Charles could also handle a weapon, a talent he no doubt put to good use during World War One.
Sadly neither man ever got to know each other terribly well. George was just 26 when he succumbed to tuberculosis on August 21, 1980. Charles, his only child, was a two-year old toddler.
George had lived with his family at Arch Hill (a suburb at the back of Ponsonby) where he'd worked as a stone carver.
A memorial notice placed in the Observer newspaper by one of his volunteer soldier mates paid tribute after his death
"Poor old Gus Handley," it said, "...an erstwhile member who died of consumption ... he was of one the best shots in the Auckland province."
George's widow, Alice, married Edwin Barnes Walker six years later and had two more babies. But her second chance of domestic bliss was marred by the death of Athol, the youngest of the children, in 1898.
Charles grew up in Auckland where he wed Ethel Nelson in 1911. But their life was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914. Charles, possibly inspired by his late father's experiences, was quick to enlist as Sapper number 20898 with the New Zealand Engineers. He was shipped home among the wounded in 1918 and died in Auckland on August 5, aged 30. History repeated itself with yet another generation of Handleys left to grow up without a father.
Charles is buried with his dad and half-brother in the same plot at Waikumete Cemetery.
His mother outlived her second husband and died in 1944, aged 77. She is interred nearby.
source: Matthew Gray's book Tales from the crypt
There died at the Auckland Hospital on Saturday. Mr. C. A. Handley, well known in musical circles, and in connection successively with the Salvation Army, Helping Hand Mission, and lastly the Central Mission, of which he was a prominent member. He died in the prime of life of influenza and an internal trouble, and leaves a widow and two children. The funeral left his late residence, Rose Road, Ponsonby, for Waikumete, after a short service had been held by the Rev. H. J. Walker, assisted by Sister Howard and Mr. J. Wilson. there were present a large and representative attendance of the various mission workers, and of the Salvation Army, to show respect to the memory of an earnest and good man. The Central Mission band preceded the hearse and played the "Dead March" in "Saul." Mr. Walker officiated at the grave, and eulogised the deceased worker. Several hymns were sung, and the band played several selections. In the evening a memorial service was held in the Central Mission Hall, and was so crowded that many were unable to obtain admission. Mr. W. H. Smith, superintendent of the mission, paid a tribute to the deceased brother, whom he had known for 16 years, and Mr. Walker followed. The mission orchestra played Chopin's "Funeral March" with muffled drums. Sirs. J. H. Wood contributed a solo, with quartette chorus. Mr, J. Wilson, in a brief address, concluded the meeting.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19010930.2.24
Plot 48: George Augustus (Gus) Handley – Stone Carver – Tuberculosis
Athol Agnew Walker (4 months) 27/1/1898 – Cholera * mother Emmeline in N.D.C. R27, Pl 40
Charles Burgoyne Handley (30) 1918 – Returned Soldier – Consumption
Plot 50: Charles Ashby Handley (34) 1901 – Range Maker – Pneumonia – at Hospital
Mary Alice Handley (47) 1938 – Miss
In Memory
of
G. AUGUSTUS HANDLEY
who died 21st Aug. 1890
aged 26 years
For ever with the Lord
also
Pte CHARLES BURGOYNE
son of the above
died 2nd Aug. 1918.
aged 32 years
There is no death tis but transition
plaque
CHARLES B. HANDLEY
20898 1st N.Z.E.F. Spr.
Engineers
(fern)
(New Zealand)
Died 2.8.1918 Aged 30 YrsIn
Loving Memory
of
CHARLES
beloved husband of
Sophia HANDLEY
who died 28 September 1901.
Aged 34 years.
My heart is fixed Eternal God.
taxed on Thee.
And unchanging choice is made.
Christ for me.
plaque
Our ALICE
died 3 June 1938
aged 47 years
Resting
DEATHS
HANDLEY.—At his residence, Pollen-street, Surrey Hills, George Augustus, the eldest son of George Handley, and beloved husband of Alice Froude, Auckland ; aged 23 years.
Private interment.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18900821.2.38
HANDLEY.—At Auckland Hospital on September 28, 1901, Charles Ashby, the beloved husband of Sophia Handley; aged 34.
Gone to be with Jesus, which is far better. The funeral will leave his late residence, Rose Road, Ponsonby, to-morrow. (Sunday), at 2 p.m. Friends please accept this intimation.
HANDLEY.—At Auckland Hospital on September 28, 1901, Charles Ashby, the beloved second son of George and Mary Alice Handley; aged 34. Also, George Augustus (Gus), who died August 21, 1890; aged 26; the eldest beloved son.
Submissive would we still reply, "Thy will be done."
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19010928.2.60
HANDLEY—On August 3, at his mother's residence, 53, Sea View Road, Remuera, Sapper Charles Burgoyne, dearly-beloved son of Mrs. A. E. White; in his 31st year.
The funeral will leave the above address for Waikumete this day at 2 p.m.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19180805.2.2.3
HANDLEY.—On June 3, at 6 Rose Road, Mary Alice, beloved daughter of Sophia and the late Charles Handley; aged 47 years.
Funeral will leave above address to-day (Saturday) at 2 p.m. for Waikumete.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19380604.2.6
View Charles' military personnel file on line:
ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...
View and/or contribute to Charles' profile on the Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph data base:
www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/recor...
Copyright - All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images
Since October 2018 the NSW Mid North Coast has had very little worthwhile rain. Once upon a time you could say that the period from Mid December to May was the time when one could expect consistent rainfall with afternoon thunderstorms sometimes bringing heavy rains. This period also had potential for strong low pressure systems to develop with flooding events in the Manning and Wallamba River catchments likely every few years.
It appears times are changing. Drought now seems the order of the day with longer periods between rainfall events. When the rainfall does come it is often in the form of short sharp storms which can dump a lot of rain on a short space of time, most of which has little opportunity to soak in.
The period from October 2018 to March 2018 has seen the lowest rainfall I can ever remember.
These grey clouds in this image are typical of what now appears to be happening, lots of grey clouds but very minimal rainfall actually falls from them.
The NSW election is coming up on the 23rd March 2019 and all the major parties are promising to make it rain. Lets see if they can.
The New Chanel Boutique Opening and Charity Event, on Robertson Blvd , SIMPLY CONSISTENT INC.
Kathleen Checki President
"-Chanel Boutique."
"-Kathleen Checki."
"-Checki."
"-Simply Consistent."
"-Simply Consistent Management."
Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.
Watching the power of this animal as he leaps for the incoming food is just breathtaking. You can see the deadly canines in the powerful jaw. At 16, Omar was already old for a tiger, and he died 16 months after this was taken.
For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...
May was crazy. I had the opportunity to work with Lauren Lavigne several times, and she consistently made me look good. After completing a shoot for a magazine cover, we went on an impromptu excursion to a construction zone and created an exceptional image with the huge chasms cut into the concrete. I was indeed fortunate to have Lauren return to the studio again and again.
I had several flickr friends virtually visit the red sofa, and the red sofa continued to bail me out when I was at a loss for a concept for "We're Here" or my 365 project. I hit a few blues clubs and photographed several musicians for promotionals and album covers.
I got to work with Carolyn, who was willing to try almost anything, and her portrait among bubble wrap and cardboard remains a favorite of mine. I put potato salad and friend chicken on my head for Mel's birthday. Don't ask. Everything doesn't have to make sense. I follow my gut.
I added a bit of new grip to the studio, a Matthews MAXine lightstand and boom. I had been needing to get a hair light, and after much research, this seemed to be the ideal solution between safety, portability, reach and versatility. I like it.
I photographed my good friends Waddy and Val Salomon, and with Waddy's encouragement, I plan to undertake a very different photographic enterprise in June. I took a vaction at the end of May, thinking that I would get some behind the scenes work done at the studio, and I have. I managed to make my office workable, replace the awning outside, and clean the sensors of my cameras among other things.
In May I learned of new developments around Studio d'Xavier that are extremely exciting. In May I also turned down a contract to shoot fulltime for a major player. There were many considerations, but I finally let my family needs and artistic freedom make the decision for me. May was an exhilarating month. If it keeps on like this, I will need another vacation.
1. Paradigm Shift, 2. Danny Comes to Breakfast, 3. Lauren Lavigne, 4. A Most Unusual Course of Events, 5. Strobe on a Stick, 6. Still I Rise, 7. Empire, 8. Paradigm Fracture, 9. The Man Who Saw Everthing in Black & White, 10. Lauren, 11. The Hairdresser Cuts More than Hair, 12. 99 Luftballoons, 13. Mail Order Bride, 14. Portrait on Red Sofa With Lauren Lavigne, 15. Val Salomon, 16. Fille dans le Chapeau Rouge, 17. Song to a Seagull, 18. Max Safety, 19. Fille dans le Chapeau Rouge, 20. Portrait at the House of Equilateral Blues, 21. Affected, 22. How Blue are You?, 23. Sweet Dreams, 24. Waddy Salomon, 25. Fried Chicken and Potato Salad
Kamera: Nikon F3 (1982)
Linse: Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f1.4 (1970)
Film: Kodak 5222 @ ISO 250
Kjemi: Rodinal (1:50 / 9 min. @ 20°C)
Wikipedia: Gaza Genocide
- ATHENS, GREECE / 3 September 2025 — The Hind Rajab Foundation announces that on 3 September 2025, it has formally submitted a criminal complaint (μηνυτήρια αναφορά) before the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Greece, represented by its legal counsel Ms. Evgenia Kouniaki, against Major Yair Ohana, an officer of the Israeli armed forces. Ohana served as a company commander and logistics officer in the Givati Brigade’s 432nd Infantry Battalion “Tzabar”, one of the core units deployed in the genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Mr. Ohana is now visiting Greece as a tourist.
The complaint, supported by a comprehensive evidentiary report prepared by the Foundation, demonstrates that Major Ohana bears individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, torture, and genocide. As a company commander within the 432nd Battalion, and an officer responsible for logistics, Ohana played a critical role in supporting the Battalion’s operations in Gaza and was therefore directly involved in its criminal conduct.
Nature of the Crimes
Systematic Attacks on Civilian Objects Without Military Necessity
As part of the so-called “Generals’ Plan,” the 432nd Battalion executed the wholesale devastation of Netzarim and Jabaliya, destroying homes, schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure. These attacks were deliberate and controlled demolitions aimed at rendering large areas of northern Gaza permanently uninhabitable and served the strategic aim of erasing entire communities. Such acts may amount to directing attacks against civilian objects, extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity, as well as attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives, war crimes under the Rome Statute and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Torture and Inhumane Treatment
Evidence shows Ohana’s involvement in the transfer of Palestinians detained in Gaza under conditions of humiliation and abuse — blindfolded, bound, and transported to Israel. These acts violate the UN Convention Against Torture and constitute war crimes.
Genocidal Conduct
By creating conditions of life designed to prevent the survival of the civilian population in northern Gaza — through the destruction of entire residential neighborhoods and other civilian objects — the acts contribute to the crime of genocide, as defined in Article 6(c) of the Rome Statute: “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a people, in whole or in part.”
By transferring Palestinians arrested by the army in inhumane conditions to places where they were likely subjected to torture and ill-treatment, he also “caused serious bodily or mental harm,” as defined in Article 6(b) of the Rome Statute.
Jurisdiction of Greece
The presence of Yair Ohana on Greek territory establishes the obligation of the Greek state to act:
Article 28 of the Greek Constitution: international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention Against Torture form part of domestic law and prevail over conflicting provisions.
Article 8 of the Greek Penal Code: Greek criminal law applies to crimes committed abroad when international treaties so require.
Article 7 of the UN Convention Against Torture (Law 1782/1988) and Articles 49, 50, 129, and 146 of the Geneva Conventions (Law 3481/1955) impose an absolute duty on states to prosecute or extradite perpetrators of torture and grave breaches (“aut dedere aut judicare”).
Accordingly, Greece cannot ignore the presence of a suspected war criminal and genocidaire within its territory. The law requires the initiation of a criminal investigation and, where evidence is substantiated, prosecution before Greek courts.
Regional and International Cooperation
The complaint and the full dossier of evidence against Yair Ohana were also shared with all neighboring countries of Greece — Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Cyprus — to encourage parallel action and prevent safe haven for suspected war criminals in the region. Furthermore, the report was also transmitted to Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, South Africa, Brazil, and Peru, countries that have taken a leading role in supporting accountability for international crimes. A copy has also been submitted to Interpol, to facilitate international arrest mechanisms, and to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, thereby forming part of the Court’s broader consideration of atrocities committed in Gaza.
The filing against Major Yair Ohana represents not only a demand for justice for the victims of Gaza, but also a test of Greece’s adherence to its international obligations. The crimes documented are not abstract violations — they are acts of calculated brutality, aimed at extinguishing a civilian population through destruction, displacement, and terror.
By opening proceedings against Ohana, Greece has the opportunity to stand on the side of international law, justice, and humanity, and to send a clear message that impunity for war crimes and genocide will not be tolerated on its soil.
- Source - Hind Rajab Foundation: No Safe Haven: HRF Seeks Prosecution of Israeli War Criminal Yair Ohana in Greece (Publ. 3 September 2025)
- BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / 31 August 2025 — Today, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) submitted a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the massacre at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on 25 August 2025. The attack killed 22 civilians, including five journalists, three hospital staff, one doctor, a civil defense worker, and one child, 14-year-old Rayan Omar Mahmoud Abu Omar. More than fifty others were injured in what can only be described as a deliberate double-tap strike carried out with full knowledge of the civilian presence.
Golani at the Center of the Operation
The Golani Brigade, under the command of Col. Bar Ganon, was at the heart of this atrocity. Evidence demonstrates that Golani forces engineered the attack from its inception. Their reconnaissance unit, Sayeret Golani (Recon 631), Lead by Lt. Col. Bar Veakart, conducted continuous UAV surveillance over Nasser Hospital and may have executed the first strike themselves using a drone-fired munition. The footage and testimonies establish that Golani’s operators had uninterrupted “eyes on the target,” observing the stairwell where Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri positioned his live camera every day. They knew precisely who was present — journalists in clearly marked press vests, civil defense workers in uniform, doctors, patients, and even a child.
The first strike killed al-Masri and cut his live broadcast. Nine minutes later, once rescue workers and journalists had gathered to assist the wounded, Golani requested and coordinated a second strike. The timing and method show that this was no accident, but a calculated decision to maximize civilian casualties.
Tactical Execution by the 188th Armored Brigade
The 188th Armored Brigade, commanded by Col. Miki Sharvit, executed the second strike. Forensic analysis of debris and video footage confirms that at least two LAHAT laser-guided missiles were fired in near-simultaneous salvo from Merkava tanks, striking the exact same stairwell landing within a second of each other. This precision was only possible because Golani’s UAVs provided the laser designation that guided the missiles directly onto the stairwell filled with civilians.
The 188th Armored Brigade therefore carried out the tactical launch of the massacre, fully aware—thanks to drone oversight—of who their victims would be.
Divisional Oversight by the 36th Armored Division
Above these units stood the 36th Armored Division (“Ga’ash”), commanded by Brig. Gen. Moran Omer. This division held operational responsibility over both the Golani Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade in Khan Younis. Brig. Gen. Omer personally toured the area in the days before the attack, meeting with his subordinate commanders and overseeing their deployment. His division had ultimate control over fire missions in the sector, and the precision strikes against the hospital stairwell could not have taken place without his approval.
Sectoral Authorization by the Southern Command
The next level of responsibility lies with the Southern Command, led by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor (b. 1972). All operations in Gaza fell under his authority, including the approval of attacks on highly sensitive sites such as hospitals. Reports confirm that the first strike on Nasser Hospital was approved specifically as a drone attack due to the sensitivity of the location. The second strike, launched with guided missiles only minutes later, likewise required his approval. His authorization allowed the escalation that transformed one lethal strike into a massacre.
Strategic Oversight by the Chief of Staff
The overall command rested with Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (b. 1966), Chief of Staff of the Israeli military. Zamir visited Khan Younis just days before the massacre, together with Maj. Gen. Asor and Brig. Gen. Omer, meeting directly with Golani and 188th commanders. As Chief of Staff, Zamir was responsible for the rules of engagement and permitted the use of double-tap tactics: an initial strike, followed by a second strike once journalists, doctors, and rescue teams had rushed to assist the wounded. By endorsing such methods, Zamir effectively institutionalized a strategy designed to maximize terror and death among civilians.
Political Responsibility of the Prime Minister
At the very top stands Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (b. 1949), who provided the political and ideological framework that made this massacre possible. By repeatedly branding journalists as “Hamas affiliates” and hospitals as “terrorist infrastructure,” without offering evidence, Netanyahu legitimized attacks on civilians and created an environment in which the targeting of hospitals and journalists became state policy. His leadership role makes him not only an enabler but also an architect of this policy of extermination and erasure.
Weapons Analysis: Precision and Intent
The weapons analysis carried out by HRF’s forensic team underscores the deliberate nature of the attack. The first strike was carried out with a drone-fired munition, consistent with eyewitness accounts and the localized damage that killed Hussam al-Masri without collapsing the hospital building. The second strike involved at least two LAHAT guided missiles launched from Merkava tanks, homing in on the stairwell designated by Golani’s UAV. Debris collected at the site showed modular alloy casings consistent with guided missile systems, not conventional shells.
The presence of UAVs over the hospital during the entire attack confirms that the perpetrators saw exactly who was on the ground. The choice to strike the same spot twice, with such precision, proves that this was intentional killing rather than incidental harm.
War Crimes and Genocide
The massacre at Nasser Hospital is not an isolated event but part of a wider pattern. Since October 2023, more than 270 journalists have been killed in Gaza, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers in modern history. At the same time, 94% of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. This systematic targeting of both healthcare and the press shows a dual strategy: to deprive Palestinians of survival and to erase the evidence of their suffering. Such acts are consistent with a genocidal policy.
HRF and PCHR therefore conclude that the Nasser Hospital massacre constitutes war crimes under the Rome Statute, including willful killing, deliberate attacks on a hospital, and disproportionate harm. It also constitutes genocide, as it involves the intentional killing of members of a protected group and the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to destroy that group in whole or in part.
A Call for Justice
With today’s filing before the ICC, the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights demand that the Court open proceedings and issue arrest warrants against those responsible — from the Golani operators who designated the target, to the tank commanders who launched the missiles, to the generals who approved the attack, and ultimately to Prime Minister Netanyahu who provided political cover.
This massacre was not the result of chaos or confusion but of a carefully executed plan under a clear chain of command. Journalists, doctors, rescue workers, and even a child were killed deliberately, under the watching eyes of Israeli drones. This was not only a war crime — it was an act of genocide.
The world cannot allow impunity to continue. Justice for the victims of Nasser Hospital demands accountability at the highest level.
- Source - Hind Rajab Foundation: HRF and PCHR File ICC Complaint on the Nasser Hospital Massacre: Exposing the Command Chain Behind the Killing of 22 Civilians (Publ. 31 August 2025)
- BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / 12 August 2025 — By any measure, Anas Al-Sharif (1996-2025) should still be alive.
On the morning of 10 August 2025, the 28-year-old Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent was doing what he had done since the first days of the Gaza onslaught — reporting from the frontlines, armed only with a camera and a press vest. Outside the main gate of Al Shifa Hospital, in one of the last corners of northern Gaza where journalists could still work, Al-Sharif was filing footage of bombardments that shook the streets around him. Moments later, a missile struck the tent where he and his colleagues were sheltering.
Seven people died instantly. Among them: Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa — four Al Jazeera journalists who, like Al-Sharif, had refused to stop documenting the Genocide.
Mohammed Al-Khaldi, also a journalist who worked for Sahat Media Platform, and Saad Jundiya, a Palestinian civilian who happened to be present in the scene at the time of attack were also killed.
The Israeli military would later admit the strike was deliberate. Their justification? The same recycled accusation used in killing over 220 journalists since October 2023: that the victims were “terrorists in press vests.”
For the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), this was not just another tragedy in a long war on the press. This was a clear-cut criminal act — a war crime and part of a broader genocidal campaign — and it demanded a direct, targeted legal response.
A Joint Case to The Hague
The new Article 15 Communication to the International Criminal Court was filed jointly by HRF and PCHR. While HRF focused its investigation on the chain of command and operational decisions that led to Al-Sharif’s killing, PCHR brought to the case its meticulous documentation of the other Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza — cases that fit the same pattern of premeditation and deliberate targeting.
PCHR’s files cover the assassinations of Hossam Shabat (2001-2025), Ismail Al-Ghoul (1997-2024), Ahmed Al-Louh, Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh (1996-2024), and Samer Abu Daqa (d. 2023), among others — all journalists marked by Israel as “terrorists” before being eliminated in targeted strikes. These cases show that Al-Sharif’s killing was not an isolated event but part of an established policy.
Following the Chain of Command
When HRF investigators began reconstructing the strike, they followed the trail from the moment a drone camera locked onto Al-Sharif’s position to the instant the missile hit.
Using operational patterns, signals intelligence reports, and expert military analysis, the foundation identified the chain of command behind the killing:
* Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir (b. 1966) – IDF Chief of the General Staff
* Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar (b. 1969) – Commander of the Israeli Air Force
* Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor (b. 1972) – Southern Command Commander
* Brig.-Gen. Yossi Sariel (b. 1978) – Former Commander of Unit 8200 (Israel’s signals intelligence branch)
* General A. : Current Commander of Unit 8200
* Palmachim Airbase Commander – Name undisclosed
* 161 “Black Snake” Squadron Commander – Name undisclosed
* Col. Avichay Adraee (b. 1982) – IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Arab Media Division, responsible for a sustained smear campaign against Al-Sharif
At the political summit stands Benjamin Netanyahu (b. 1949), the Prime Minister who presided over — and encouraged — a strategy to eliminate journalists as part of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
The Smear Before the Strike
If the missile was the killing blow, the campaign to delegitimize Anas Al-Sharif (1996-2025) had begun long before. For nearly two years, Avichay Adraee (b. 1982), Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesperson, used social media to accuse Al-Sharif of being a Hamas operative. He mocked the journalist’s emotional reporting, called his on-camera tears “crocodile tears,” and framed his work as propaganda.
This smear playbook is familiar. Before being killed, journalists such as Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh (1996-2024), Ismail Al-Ghoul (1997-2024), and Hossam Shabat (2001-2025) — whose cases PCHR has fully documented — were branded “terrorists” by Israeli officials. Days or weeks later, they were dead — killed in precision strikes on clearly marked press vehicles or while wearing “PRESS” vests.
A War on Witnesses
The killings of Anas Al-Sharif and his colleagues are not isolated incidents. Together, HRF and PCHR’s investigations reveal a systematic policy targeting Al Jazeera journalists:
1. Label them terrorists without any plausible proof.
2. Smear them publicly to dehumanize and justify their killing.
3. Eliminate them in targeted strikes.
In the Gaza war, local journalists are not just chroniclers—they are the last line of independent witness to a conflict foreign reporters are barred from entering. Silencing them is not collateral damage; it is strategic.
From Evidence to Action
The joint submission to the ICC does not mince words. It accuses the identified military and political figures of:
* War crimes under Article 8(2)(a)(i) of the Rome Statute (willful killing)
* Genocide under Article 6(a) of the Rome Statute (as part of the broader campaign to destroy the Palestinian people and erase those documenting their suffering)
And it makes three urgent demands to the ICC Prosecutor:
1. Issue arrest warrants for the military officials named in the submission.
2. Expand Netanyahu’s arrest warrant to include crimes against journalists.
3. Formally include all 220+ journalist killings in the ICC’s Palestine investigation.
Hunting the Perpetrators
This is not symbolic litigation. HRF is tracking these individuals, identifying their roles, and preparing to pursue them in any jurisdiction willing to act. The case is being built not only for The Hague, but also for prosecution in national courts that recognize universal jurisdiction for war crimes and genocide.
“The assassination of Anas Al-Sharif was so blunt, so arrogant, and so drenched in contempt for human life, truth, the legal order, and humanity itself, that it cannot and will not be allowed to pass into silence.” says HRF Chairman Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971).
The Message to The ICC
The evidence is there. The legal foundation is unshakable. The jurisdiction is established beyond question. What remains is for the International Criminal Court to move past statements of “grave concern” and take the decisive step that justice demands: act.
The killing of journalists in Gaza is not a footnote to the story — it is the method by which every other war crime is hidden from the world. It is the deliberate blinding of humanity’s eyes, the extinguishing of the witnesses who stand between atrocity and oblivion. To ignore this is not neutrality — it is complicity. It is to give the perpetrators the silence they seek.
Anas Al-Sharif (1996-2025) knew this better than anyone. His last words, prepared in anticipation of his own assassination, still echo across the digital world:
“If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.”
But voices like his are not so easily buried. The joint HRF–PCHR case ensures that his words will rise again—in the courtroom of the ICC, in the ink of arrest warrants, and in the unyielding memory of history. They will stand as testimony not only to his courage but to the moral imperative that binds us all: that truth must be defended, justice must be pursued, and those who kill to hide their crimes must one day answer for them.
- Source - Hind Rajab Foundation: The Hunt for Anas Al-Sharif’s Killers: HRF and PCHR Bring Israel’s War on Journalists to the ICC (Publ. 12 August 2025)
Ardea
Geografia
Ardea sorge su una rocca tufacea, in vista delle propaggini occidentali dei Colli Albani, dalla quale domina la zona circostante; il comune è inserito nell'Agro Romano e si estende a sud di Pomezia, con ai lati la veduta dei Castelli romani e del Mar Tirreno, confinando a sud con il comune di Anzio ed Aprilia.
L'origine geologica di quest'area si deve prima all'emersione dal mare del terreno, caratterizzato da lagune e paludi, e quindi dal deposito di consistenti strati di tufi e pozzolane di origine vulcanica in seguito alle eruzioni del cosiddetto Vulcano Laziale. Raffreddandosi il materiale vulcanico si era spaccato, costituendo profonde e strette gole, che si addolciscono mano a mano che si procede verso sud.
La costa, formata da lunghe spiagge sabbiose, era caratterizzata dalla presenza di dune conservatesi, oramai, solo in alcuni tratti.
Clima
Il clima di Ardea è compreso nella regione climatica "Tirrenica meridionale", che risente fortemente dall'influenza del mar Tirreno, la cui distanza massima dall'estremo confine del Comune è di circa dodici chilometri. Il clima è caratterizzato da estati molto calde rinfrescate da venti termici provenienti dal mare, da forti piogge autunnali e primaverili e dalla presenza di correnti umide soprattutto durante l'inverno.
Classificazione climatica: zona C, 1295 GR/G
Storia, Le origini mitiche
Il mito ha elaborato varie versioni sulle vicende della fondazione della città di Ardea, legate al racconto dello sbarco di Enea sulle coste del Lazio e quindi alla nascita di Roma.
Una prima leggenda, riportata da Dionigi di Alicarnasso, fa risalire la fondazione della città ad Ardeas, figlio di Odisseo e Circe. Una diversa versione lega le origini di Ardea, nel XV secolo a.C. a Danae, figlia del re di Argo, che dopo la nascita di Perseo da Zeus, sarebbe giunta sulle coste laziali e avrebbe sposato il rutulo Pilumno. Insieme decisero di fondare una nuova città: il luogo fu scelto in corrispondenza di una ripida rupe tufacea, scoperta risalendo il fiume Incastro su una piccola imbarcazione.
Ovidio riferisce l'origine del nome di Ardea all'alzarsi in volo di un airone cenerino (ardea cinerea) dopo l'incendio e la distruzione della città ad opera di Enea, vittorioso sul re rutulo Turno, figlio di Dauno, che a sua volta era figlio di Danae e di Pilumno.
« Turno muore. Ardea cade con lui, città fiorente finché visse il suo re. Morto Turno, il fuoco dei Troiani la invade e le sue torri brucia e le dorate travi. Ma, poi che tutto crollò disfatto ed arso, dal mezzo delle macerie un uccello, visto allora per la prima volta, si alza in volo improvvisamente e battendo le ali, si scuote di dosso la cenere. Il suo grido, le sue ali di color cenere, la sua magrezza, tutto ricorda la città distrutta dai nemici. Ed infatti, d'Ardea il nome ancor gli resta. Con le penne del suo uccello Ardea piange la sua sorte »
(Ovidio, Metamorfosi, XV.)
Preistoria e protostoria
Il territorio di Ardea era già frequentato nel Paleolitico e sono state rinvenute tombe dell'età del rame, con sepolture in posizione rannicchiata, risalenti agli inizi del II millennio a.C.
Nell'età del ferro l'insediamento era formato da tre villaggi di capanne rispettivamente sui tre pianori sui quali sorge ancora oggi la città (Civitavecchia, Acropoli e Casalazzara), dove sono state rinvenute le tracce dei fori di palo delle capanne e una necropoli a "Monte della Noce", sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, con tombe a fossa infantili e una tomba principesca femminile dell'VIII secolo a.C., con ricco corredo.
Plinio riporta il popolo dei Rutuli, a cui appartenevano anche i centri di Antium, Satricum e Lavinium, come uno dei più antichi popoli del Latium vetus. Ardea, nata come agglomerato essenzialmente agricolo, si sviluppò tuttavia soprattutto grazie agli scambi commerciali, favoriti dalla posizione della città, compresa tra Latini, Volsci ed Etruschi e dalla dotazione di un porto-canale alla foce del fiume Incastro (Castrum Inui). Nei secoli dall'VIII al VI fu uno dei centri più importanti del Lazio meridionale, con un ricco artigianato e oggetti importati anche da regioni lontane.
La città arrivò al suo periodo di massimo sviluppo nel VII secolo a.C. e furono occupati da edifici religiosi e civili l'Acropoli e la Civitavecchia. Era particolarmente rinomata per la produzione di armi e di oggetti ornamentali.
Rutuli e Romani
A più riprese gli Ardeati furono alleati o nemici di Roma, nell'ambito delle vicende della Lega Latina: un primo attacco sotto Tarquinio il Superbo, di cui parla la tradizione, sembra non avesse avuto successo, e poco dopo, nel primo trattato tra Roma e Cartagine del 509 a.C., la città era riportata tra gli alleati dei Romani. Nel corso del V secolo a.C. la vita cittadina fu dominata dalla contesa contro i Volsci e nel IV i Galli, dopo aver saccheggiato Roma, si rivolsero contro Ardea e la assediarono, senza successo; furono anzi gli Ardeati, guidati da Furio Camillo, in esilio nella città, che dopo aver respinto l'assedio, marciarono verso Roma e la liberarono dall'occupazione gallica.
Nel secondo trattato romano-cartaginese del 348 a.C., Ardea è nuovamente nominata tra le città alleate dei Romani. A quest'epoca risale il rifacimento delle mura di cinta: il precedente triplice recinto difensivo venne sostituito da mura in opera quadrata, di cui si conservano alcuni resti, che cingevano i pianori dell'Acropoli e della Civitavecchia. Tuttavia, durante la seconda guerra punica, Ardea fu una delle dodici colonie che rifiutarono ai Romani gli aiuti militari. Dopo la sconfitta cartaginese, i Romani si rivolsero contro le città ribelli della Lega Latina sconfiggendole, e le privarono dell'autonomia.
Tra il III e il II secolo a.C. Ardea decadde, probabilmente soprattutto per la crisi economica dei centri laziali, le cui risorse si erano prosciugate nelle guerre puniche e nella successiva guerra contro i Sanniti. La città era quasi completamente in abbandono entro l'età imperiale romana, sebbene resti di abitato sopravvivessero fino al V secolo, mentre delle grandi ville furono costruire lungo la via in direzione del mare.
Medioevo ed età moderna
La città, sopravvissuta probabilmente come piccolo luogo fortificato, riprese a crescere solo dal IX secolo, in seguito al progressivo spopolamento delle domus cultae, piccoli centri agricoli fondati dai papi nelle campagne per la coltivazione e la bonifica, e alle necessità di difesa contro i Saraceni.
Ardea ospitò nel 1118 papa Gelasio II in fuga da Roma per sfuggire all'imperatore Enrico V che pretendeva la conferma dei privilegi concessigli nel 1111 dal suo predecessore, il papa Pasquale II, e l'incoronazione in San Pietro.
Nel 1130 l'antipapa Anacleto II attribuì la civitas Ardeae ai monaci benedettini della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura. Successivamente il controllo feudale della città fu oggetto di aspre contese tra le famiglie nobiliari romane. Nel 1419 papa Martino V diede la città ai propri familiari, i Colonna. Il feudo passò successivamente ad altre famiglie papali: dai Borgia tornò ai Colonna, finché nel 1564 venne venduto a Giuliano Cesarini. In questo periodo la città visse essenzialmente come borgo agricolo, seguendo le sorti delle famiglie che di volta in volta la governavano.
Nel 1816, a causa dell'esiguo numero di abitanti, la città divenne una frazione di Genzano di Roma e il borgo, alla vigilia della bonifica integrale pontina, risultava disabitato. A partire dal 1932 l'area circostante fu oggetto di lavori di bonifica idraulica, regimentazione delle acque e appoderamento, curati dall'ONC e dai consorzi di bonifica, cui seguì il ripopolamento controllato del centro e delle campagne circostanti. Il borgo fu praticamente "ri-fondato", ristrutturandone i resti, e divenne parte del comune di Pomezia fin dall'atto della sua costituzione.
Nel 1970 Ardea tornò ad essere comune autonomo.
Chiesa di Santa Marina
La chiesa di Santa Marina si trova all'interno del cimitero di Ardea, adagiata alla roccia tufacea del paese, nel luogo dove, secondo una leggenda, si sarebbe trovata l'entrata della grotta dove visse la santa in eremitaggio, dopo che i monaci ne scoprirono il sesso e la cacciarono dal convento in cui viveva.
La costruzione è datata al 1191, ad opera di Cencio Savelli, futuro papa Onorio III, dall'iscrizione posta sopra il portale di ingresso.
Sulla facciata era un portico di ingresso, oggi quasi del tutto scomparso, mentre l'ingresso è ancora inquadrato da colonne sorrette da leoni stilofori, con architrave decorato da un bassorilievo. L'interno è ad unica navata e in origine si presentava interamente affrescato.
Dietro l'altare sono ancora visibili i resti di un ninfeo del II secolo d.C., scavato nel tufo.
Chiesa di S. Pietro Apostolo
La chiesa di San Pietro Apostolo fu edificata nel XII secolo dai monaci dell'abbazia di San Paolo fuori le mura, in stile romanico presso i resti di un tempio di epoca ellenistica. Incorpora una precedente torre di vedetta contro i Saraceni, trasformata in campanile. Conserva materiali più antichi: fregi marmorei del II secolo sono stati riutilizzati come stipiti della porta di ingresso, e di reimpiego è anche un capitello del presbiterio e un'ara sepolcrale.
L'interno è a tre navate, divise da archi.
Tra il XIV e XVI secolo, quando divenne chiesa baronale subì notevoli trasformazioni. A questo periodo risalgono gli affreschi (XV secolo), un crocifisso ligneo (XVI secolo) e un dipinto di scuola caravaggesca (XVII secolo).
L'ultimo restauro risale al 1940 e fu eseguito per espressa volontà di Benito Mussolini durante una sua visita ad Ardea. In epoca recente lo scultore Giacomo Manzù ha realizzato la fonte battesimale e il tabernacolo della navata.
Architetture militari [modifica]La prima fortificazione della città è uno degli esempi meglio conservati di aggere arcaico: la difesa era assicurata dallo scavo di un fossato, e il materiale di scavo veniva a formare lungo il lato interno un muro di terra, con un pendio più ripido verso l'esterno e più dolce verso l'interno, per facilitare l'accesso ai difensori. Le difese erano quindi completate da palizzate in legno.I tre pianori della città, in parte fortificati naturalmente dai pendii scoscesi delle colline, erano dotati di aggeri nei punti più facilmente accessibili, verso l'entroterra. La costruzione di queste prime difese è stata attribuita al VII secolo a.C.
Le fortificazioni vennero ricostruite nel IV secolo a.C., con mura in opera quadrata che circondavano l'Acropoli, i cui resti sono visibili sul lato nord-orientale, insieme ad un bastione a pianta pentagonale, aggiunto modernamente con il riutilizzo dei blocchi più antichi.
Siti Archeologici
Le fonti antiche riportano l'esistenza di culti dedicati a Giunone Regina, a Castore e Polluce, a Venere, a Ercole, a Natio, e al fondatore Pilumno. Gli scavi archeologici hanno rimesso in luce i resti di quattro grandi templi, due sull'Acropoli e due sulla Civitavecchia, dei quali tuttavia si ignora la dedica.
Il maggiore dei templi dell'Acropoli, dotato di tre celle e con scalinata frontale, era forse il principale della città, dedicato a Giunone Regina. Ne resta un tratto del pronao, in corrispondenza dell'attuale Municipio e un tratto del muro di cinta del santuario.
Un secondo tempio di epoca ellenistica, si trova in corrispondenza della chiesa di San Pietro.
Nella località "Casarinaccio" sul pianoro della Civitavecchia, sono conservati i resti di un altro tempio, riferibile al VI secolo a.C., epoca di massimo splendore della città. Gli scavi del tempio, eseguiti negli anni trenta, hanno riportato alla luce il podio del santuario, costituito da tre filari di blocchi di tufo poggianti direttamente sulla roccia, decorati all'esterno da modanature. Il tempio viene convenzionalmente identificato con quello di Venere.
Un secondo tempio arcaico, datato al V secolo a.C. è stato rinvenuto nella località "Monte della Noce", sempre sul pianoro della Civitavecchia. Il tempio fu in uso fino al I secolo a.C., mentre in seguito venne abbandonato e i materiali riutilizzati per la costruzione delle ville della zona.
Nei pressi doveva trovarsi il foro cittadino, al quale era annessa una basilica, la cui costruzione è stata datata intorno al 100 a.C. e di cui si conservano resti del pavimento in signino.
Una rete di cunicoli scavati nel tufo e realizzati nel V secolo a.C. costituiscono un notevole sistema idraulico, destinato al drenaggio delle acque o per le fognature cittadine. Altri ambienti scavati nella roccia erano utilizzati come magazzini o cisterne, in alcuni casi suddivisi in navate da pilastri di tufo. Ambienti scavati sul pendio della Civitavecchia sono stati interpretati come apprestamenti artigianali per l'attività della concia delle pelli (I secolo a.C.).
Castrum Inui
Alla foce del fiume Incastro scavi archeologici in corso dal 1998, diretti dal dott. Francesco Di Mario, responsabile di zona della Soprintendenza ai beni archeologici del Lazio, hanno riportato alla luce i resti di un centro portuale fortificato (dal IV-III secolo a.C. fino al III secolo d.C.) e di una precedente area sacra (dal VI secolo a.C. al II secolo d.C.), che sono stati identificati con il Castrum Inui e con il santuario internazionale noto come Aphrodisium, dedicato ad Afrodite Marina.
I reperti attestano la presenza di un insediamento urbano numericamente consistente ed organizzato che si avvaleva di grandi cisterne per la riserva idrica, era dotato di impianto termale, di elaborati meccanismi di deflusso delle acque, di costruzioni a più piani con decorazioni murali e numerosi mosaici, sia con tessere grandi, sia con tessere molto piccole. Le parti più antiche sono caratterizzate da strutture imponenti realizzate con blocchi di tufo di grandi dimensioni. Questi manufatti sono stati inglobati nelle costruzioni successive, che si sovrappongono e intersecano tra loro. Con il passare dei secoli le ristrutturazioni diventano meno raffinate e realizzate prevalentemente riutilizzando il materiale esistente. Le recenti campagne di scavo hanno portato alla luce un'area sacra molto estesa, con edifici e strutture in tufo, provvisoriamente datate fra il VI secolo a.C. ed il II secolo d.C. una delle porte di accesso al Castrum ed importante materiale collegato al culto dei Dioscuri, di Venere, di Minerva e di Esculapio.
Altro [modifica] Giardini della Landriana [modifica]I Giardini della Landriana sono dei giardini disegnati da Russel Page, famoso architetto di paesaggi, che sistemò la notevole collezione di piante e fiori realizzata da Lavinia Taverna sulla propria proprietà della "La Landriana" nel corso di una decina di anni.
La proprietà si articola su una serie di giardini a tema (giardino degli aranci, giardino delle eriche, valle delle rose, ecc.), da cui il nome della tenuta.
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 carrier fighter (零式艦上戦闘機, rei-shiki-kanjō-sentōki), or the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen. The A6M was usually referred to by its pilots as the Reisen (零戦, zero fighter), "0" being the last digit of the imperial year 2600 (1940) when it entered service with the Imperial Navy. The official Allied reporting name was "Zeke", although the use of the name "Zero" (from Type 0) was used colloquially by the Allies as well.
The Zero is considered to have been the most capable carrier-based fighter in the world when it was introduced early in World War II, combining excellent maneuverability and very long range. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) also frequently used it as a land-based fighter.
In early combat operations, the Zero gained a reputation as a dogfighter, achieving an outstanding kill ratio of 12 to 1, but by mid-1942 a combination of new tactics and the introduction of better equipment enabled Allied pilots to engage the Zero on generally equal terms. By 1943, due to inherent design weaknesses, such as a lack of hydraulic ailerons and rudder rendering it extremely unmaneuverable at high speeds, and an inability to equip it with a more powerful aircraft engine, the Zero gradually became less effective against newer Allied fighters. By 1944, with opposing Allied fighters approaching its levels of maneuverability and consistently exceeding its firepower, armor, and speed, the A6M had largely become outdated as a fighter aircraft. However, as design delays and production difficulties hampered the introduction of newer Japanese aircraft models, the Zero continued to serve in a front-line role until the end of the war in the Pacific. During the final phases, it was also adapted for use in kamikaze operations. Japan produced more Zeros than any other model of combat aircraft during the war.
Lamborghini Veneno
In the year of its 50th anniversary Automobili Lamborghini is presenting an extremely exclusive model at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. Only three unique units of the Lamborghini Veneno will be built and sold. Its design is consistently focused on optimum aerodynamics and cornering stability, giving the Veneno the real dynamic experience of a racing prototype, yet it is fully homologated for the road. With a maximum output of 552 kW / 750 hp, the Lamborghini Veneno accelerates from 0-100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds and the top speed for this street-legal racing car stands at 355 km/h. It is priced at three million Euros plus tax - and all three units have already been sold to customers.
The Lamborghini Veneno features a twelve-cylinder power unit with a displacement of 6.5 liters, an extremely fast-shifting 7-speed ISR transmission with 5 driving modes and permanent all-wheel drive, as well as a racing chassis with pushrod suspension and horizontal spring/damper units. Above all, however, the Veneno benefits from the very special expertise that Automobili Lamborghini possesses in the development and execution of carbon-fiber materials - the complete chassis is produced as a CFRP monocoque, as is the outer skin of this extreme sports car. The inside, too, features innovative, Lamborghini-patented materials such as Forged Composite and CarbonSkin.
Fully in keeping with the tradition of the brand, the name of the Veneno originates from a legendary fighting bull. Veneno is the name of one of the strongest and most aggressive fighting bulls ever. He is also famous for being one of the fastest bulls in the history of bullfighting. His name became popular in 1914, when he fatally wounded the famous torero José Sánchez Rodríguez during the bullfight in the arena Sanlúcar de Barrameda's, Andalusia, Spain.
Lamborghini Veneno (2013)
2013 Lamborghini Veneno
The Design
The Lamborghini Veneno brings the aerodynamic efficiency of a racing prototype to the road. Every detail of its form pursues a clear function - exceptional dynamics, optimum downforce with minimal drag and perfect cooling of the high-performance engine. Yet the Veneno is unmistakably a Lamborghini; it sticks firmly to the consistent design philosophy of all the super sports cars from Sant'Agata Bolognese. That includes the extreme proportions, as well as the powerfully arrow-shaped front end and the interplay between razor-sharp lines and precise surfaces.
The entire front end of the Lamborghini Veneno has been laid out for perfect airflow and downforce. The front end works as a large aerodynamic wing. Large channels guide the air to the outlets in the front hood and in front of the windshield, as well as to the front wheels. Characteristic for Lamborghini is the Y shape of the angular headlamps that reach well into the fenders as well as the scissor doors.
The division of the fenders from the car body is a reference to the world of sport prototypes and optimizes at the same time the aerodynamic flow. The side line of the Veneno is therefore dominated by enormous sills and the mighty wheel arches front and rear. Here, too, sophisticated aerodynamics ensure perfect airflow to the large openings for engine cooling and intake air.
Just like the front end, the rear of the Lamborghini Veneno has also been optimized for underbody aerodynamics and high speed cornering stability. The smooth underbody transitions into a substantial diffuser framing the four sizable exhaust pipes divided by a splitter to increase the level of downforce peak. Large openings serve to ventilate the engine bay and manage the airflow to the rear wing, with the only sealed area at the rear being reserved for the license plate. The rear lights, including brake lights, indicator lights and fog lights, pick up the Y theme as well. The engine cover sports six wedge-shaped openings, with the focus here, too, on optimum dissipation of heat from the engine. The engine cover extends into a large central "shark" fin, which improves efficiency during braking and rear-end stability, by delivering additional downforce at high yaw angles and thus increasing the high-speed cornering performance.
The adjustable rear wing's design is the product of Motorsport experience and extensive aerodynamic simulation to ensure the best performance of rear wing interaction with rear diffuser air flow.
The exclusive alloy wheels measure 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear and are equipped with center mountings. Their design is also determined by aerodynamic functionality - a carbon-fiber ring around the wheel rim works like a turbine to deliver additional cooling air to the carbon-ceramic brake discs.
The Lamborghini Veneno is painted in an all-new, grey metallic-look color with individual parts gleaming in the black of the visible carbon-fiber structure. The only car to display all three colors of the Italian flag as an accent is the car shown at Geneva, the unit which will remain property of Lamborghini. The three cars sold to customers each feature a single color of the Italian national flag, together a triology in green, white and red accents and thus representing each a unique piece.
The Technology
The Veneno is further proof of Automobili Lamborghini's unique competence in CFRP-based lightweight design. A monocoque made from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer forms the basis of the Veneno. It is largely similar to the Aventador monocoque - as are the aluminum sub-frames front and rear - although its form has been adapted to the new design. All exterior parts are made from CFRP. The Lamborghini Veneno meets all safety and registration requirements worldwide, and naturally also incorporates a full complement of safety systems from airbags through to the adapted ESP handling system.
Carbon fiber dominates the interior of the Lamborghini Veneno, too. The carbon fiber monocoque becomes visible inside the car in the area of the central tunnel and the sills. The two lightweight bucket seats are made from Lamborghini's patented Forged Composite. The woven carbon-fiber CarbonSkin® is used to clad the entire cockpit, part of the seats and the headliner. This unique material is soaked in a very special kind of resin that stabilizes the fiber structure, while allowing the material to remain supple. Like a hi-tech fabric, this extremely fine-looking carbon-fiber matting fits perfectly to any form, and it reduces weight.
The racing personality has been transferred also to the instrument panel. It has been completely redesigned and now, thanks to an aggressive graphics and to the introduction of some additional features like the G-meter, provides all necessary information to the driver for control of the car.
The systematic, carbon-fiber, lightweight design of the Lamborghini Veneno is not only visible, it is also evident on the scales: With a dry weight of just 1,450 kilograms (3,190 pounds), the Veneno is even 125 kilos (275 pounds) lighter than the already extremely lean Aventador. The highly beneficial power-to-weight ratio of 1.93 kg/hp (4,25 lbs/hp) guarantees a performance that is nothing short of mind-blowing. Even the stunning acceleration figure of 2,8 seconds cannot adequately describe it. Despite an aerodynamic setup configured for extreme downforce, the Veneno possesses exceptionally low wind resistance which allows it to reach a top speed of 355 km/h (221 mph).
The twelve-cylinder with a displacement of 6.5 liters is a thrilling combination of absolute high-revving frenzy and phenomenal pulling power. Its output has been raised to 552 kW / 750 hp, facilitated through enlarged intake paths, optimized thermodynamics, a slightly higher rated rpm and an exhaust system with even lower back pressure. The ISR manual gearbox, permanent all-wheel drive and pushrod suspension have all been specifically adjusted to meet the demands of the Lamborghini Veneno.
The Lamborghini Veneno celebrates its first public appearance at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The vehicle on show is the number 0, the Lamborghini test vehicle. Its future has not been determined yet, but it will allow Lamborghini to continue its activity of testing and innovation, both on the road and on the race track. The trilogy made of three unique vehicles will be produced in the course of the year 2013 and handed over to their future owners.
© yohanes.budiyanto, 2014
PRELUDE
The 1st of August, 2014 was such an historic day as the world finally welcomed the birth of the first in line to the Parisian throne after a painstaking and extraordinary "labor" process that took four years in creation, and almost a decade in the making. I was not talking about a French rival to baby George, but instead a newborn that has sent shivers down the spines of Paris' oldest and current Kings and Grand Dames from the day it was conceived. Yes, I was referring to The Peninsula Paris, the youngest sister to the legendary Peninsula Hong Kong (circa 1928).
Ever since the project was announced to the public four years ago, it has been on my top list of the most eagerly awaited hotel openings of the decade. So when the hotel announced 1st of August as an opening date back in March, I immediately issued my First Class return tickets to the City of Light, risking the usual opening delay. A man of his word, Peninsula Paris finally opened as scheduled.
HISTORY
The Peninsula brand needs no introduction, as it is synonymous with quality, technology, innovation, craftsmanship and sophistication, -much like a slogan for French top brands and their savoir faire. Despite having only 10 current properties worldwide in its portfolio (Paris is its tenth), each Peninsula hotel is a market leader in each respective cities, and consistently tops the chart in many bonafide travel publications and reigns supreme as the world's best, especially elder sisters in Hong Kong and Bangkok. The Peninsula model is different from other rival hotel groups, which usually expand aggressively through both franchise and managed models worldwide. Instead, the Peninsula focuses on acquiring majority to sole ownership on all its properties to ensure control on quality (Hong Kong, New York, Chicago and Tokyo are 100% owned; Bangkok, Beijing and Manila are over 75%; Shanghai is 50%, while Beverly Hills and Paris are the only two with only 20% ownership).
The history of the Peninsula Paris could be traced back to a modest villa aptly called Hotel Basilevski on the plot of land at 19 Avenue Kleber back in 1864, -named after its Russian diplomat owner, Alexander Petrovich Basilevski, which caught the attention of hotelier Leonard Tauber for his prospective hotel project. The Versailles-styled property was partly a museum housing Basilevski's vast and impressive collection of 19th century medieval and Renaissance art, which eventually was acquired by Alexander III, -a Russian Tsar, at the sums of six millions francs. These collections were later transported to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and formed the base collection for the newly established Department of Medieval and Renaissance Art. After Basilevski sold the villa and moved to a more palatial residence at Avenue du Trocadero, the property was then acquired and rebranded the Palais de Castille as the residence of the exiled Queen Isabella II of Spain in 1868, who seeked refuge and continued to live there until 1904. Upon her death, the property was later demolished in 1906 to make way for the Majestic hotel, which finally opened in 1908 with much satisfaction of Leonard Tauber, who has eyed the premise from the very beginning.
The Majestic Hotel was exquisitely designed in the Beaux-Art style as a grand hotel by prominent architect of that time, Armand Sibien. Together with The Ritz (circa 1898), the two became the most preferred places to stay and entertain in Paris of the time. The Majestic has attracted the well-heeled crowd, and hosted many high profile events, most notably for a particular dinner hosted by rich British couple Sydney and Violet Schiff on 18 May 1922 as the after party of Igor Stravinsky's 'Le Renard' ballet premiere, and the hotel becomes an instant legend. The guests list were impressive: Igor Stravinsky himself, Pablo Picasso, Sergei Diaghilev, and two of the 20th century most legendary writers: James Joyce and Marcel Proust, who met for the first and only time before Proust's death six months later. Since then, the Majestic continued to draw high profile guests, including George Gershwin on 25 March 1928, where he composed "An American in Paris" during the stay.
If the walls could talk, the Majestic has plenty of stories to tell. It was once converted into a hospital during the infamy in 1914, and the British took residency at the hotel during the Paris Peace Conference back in 1919. The hotel was then acquired by the French State in 1936 as the offices of the Ministry of Defence; and later had a stint as the German Military High Command in France between October 1940 to July 1944 during the World War II. Post war, it then became the temporary home for UNESCO from 16 September 1946 until 1958. More than a decade after, the Paris Peace talks was opened by Henry Kissinger in one of its spectacular Ballrooms in 1969 with the Northern Vietnamese. Four years later, the Paris Peace Accord was finally signed at the oak paneled-room next to the Ballroom on 27 January 1973, which ended the Vietnam War. This triumphant event has also led to another victorious event when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize that same year.
The hotel continued to serve as the International Conference Center of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs until it was up for sale by the government in 2008 as part of the cost cutting program to the Qatari Diar, -which later transferred its ownership to Katara Hospitality, for a staggering USD 460 million. An excess of USD 600 million was further spent on the massive rebuilding and refurbishment not only to restore the hotel to its former glory, but also to transform it into a Peninsula with the highest standard.
The epic restoration work was led by prominent French architect, Richard Martinet, who has also previously work with the restoration of Prince Roland Bonaparte's former mansion into the Shangri-La Paris and also the Four Seasons George V; and involved teams of France's leading craftsmen; heritage designers and organisations; stonemasons from historic monument specialist; master glass crafters; crystal manufacturer; wood, moulding and gilder restoration experts, -many of whom are third generation, and have carried out high profile projects such as the Palace of Versailles, Louvre Museum, the dome of Les Invalides, the Grand and Petit Palais, and even the flame of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The result is truly breathtaking, and it was certainly money well spent to revive and recreate one of the nation's most treasured landmark. One of my favorite places within the hotel is the Main Lobby at Avenue des Portugais where the grand hall is adorned with a spectacular chandelier installation comprising 800 pieces of glass leaves inspired by the plane trees along Avenue Kleber. The work of Spain's most influential artist since Gaudi, Xavier Corbero, could also be found nearby in the form of a beautiful sculpture called Moon River.
Katara Hospitality owns 80% of The Peninsula Paris, and already has a spectacular portfolio ownership consisting some of the world's finest hotels, including The Raffles Singapore, Le Royal Monceau-Raffles Paris, Ritz-Carlton Doha, Schweizerhof Bern, and most recently, 5 of the InterContinental Hotel's European flagships, including Amstel in Amsterdam, Carlton in Cannes, De la Ville in Rome, Madrid and Frankfurt. It is interesting to note that Adrian Zecha, founder of the extraordinary Amanresorts chain is a member of the Board of Directors at Katara since September 2011, lending his immense hospitality expertise to the group.
At over USD 1 billion cost, the Pen Paris project is easily the most expensive to ever being built, considering it has only 200 rooms over 6 storeys. As a comparison, the cost of building the 101 storey, 494m high Shanghai World Financial Center (where the Park Hyatt Shanghai resides) is USD 1.2 billion; whereas Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building on earth at 163 storey and 828m, costed a 'modest' USD 1.5 billion to build. The numbers are truly mind boggling, and The Peninsula Paris is truly an extraordinary project. It might took the Majestic Hotel two years to build; but it took four years just to restore and reincarnate it into a Peninsula.
HOTEL OPENING
On a pleasant afternoon of 1 August 2014, the hotel finally opened its door to a crowd of distinguished guests, international journalists, first hotel guests and local crowds who partake to witness the inauguration and rebirth of a Parisian legend and grande dame (Many A-list celebrities and even Head of State flocked to the hotel to witness its sheer beauty). It was an historic day not just for Paris, but also for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Group as it marks their arrival in Europe with its first ever Peninsula, while the second is already on the pipeline with the future opening of The Peninsula London, located just behind The Lanesborough at Knightsbridge.
The eagerly-awaited opening ceremony was attended by the Chairman of Katara Hospitality, His Excellency Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani; CEO of Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Limited (HSH), Clement Kwok; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Fabius; General Manager of the Peninsula Paris, Nicolas Béliard; and the event kicked off with an opening speech by the famous French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, Madame Fleur Pellerin, who clearly stole the show with her public persona. A ribbon cutting and spectacular lion dance show concluded the event, which drew quite a spectacle on Avenue des Portugais as it brought a unique display of Asian heritage to the heart of cosmopolitan Paris.
LOCATION
The Peninsula Paris stands majestically at the tree-lined Avenue Kléber, just off the Arc de Triomphe. Personally, this is an ideal location in Paris as it is a stone's throw away from all the happenings at the Champs-Élysées, but is set away from its hustle and bustle, which is constantly a tourist trap day and night. Once you walk pass the leafy Avenue Kléber, the atmosphere is very different: peaceful and safe. The Kléber Metro station is just a few steps away from the hotel, providing guests a convenient access to further parts of town.
Champs-Élysées is the center of Parisian universe, and it is just a short and pleasant stroll away from the hotel, where some of the city's most legendary commercial and cultural institutions reside. For a start, Drugstore Publicis at the corner by the roundabout has been a legendary hang-out since the 1960s, and is my ultimate favourite place in town. The Post Modern edifice by architect Michele Saee (renovated in 2004) houses almost everything: a Cinema; side walk Brasserie & Steak House; Newsagency; Bookshop (you can find Travel publications and even the Michelin Guide); upscale Gift shop and Beauty corner (even Acqua di Parma is on sale here); Pharmacy (whose pharmacist thankfully speaks English and gladly advises you on your symptoms); upscale deli (stocking pretty much everything from Foie gras burger on the counter, to fine wines & cigar cellar; to Pierre Herme & Pierre Marcolini chocolates; Dalloyau bakery; Marriage Freres tea; and even the Petrossian Caviar!). Best of all, it features a 2 Michelin star L'atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile on its basement; and the store is even opened on Sunday until 2am. It is a one stop shopping, eating and entertainment, showcasing the best of France.
Further down the road, Maison Louis Vuitton stands majestically on its own entire 7 storey building, which was opened in 2005 as one of the biggest flagship stores in the world, covering a total area of 1,800m2. Designed by Eric Carlson and Peter Marino, the entire store is an architectural marvel and the temple of luxury, elegance and sophistication. This is one of the very few stores to open in Sunday as the French Labour Unions prohibits commercial stores to open on Sunday, unless if it involves cultural, recreational and sporting aspect. Initially, Maison LV was ordered by the court to close on Sunday, but LVMH finally wins an appeal in 2007 on the grounds of cultural experience; and the store has continued to draw endless queue on Sunday.
A block away from Maison LV is the legendary Parisian Tea Room of Ladurée, which was founded in 1862 by Louis Ernest Ladurée on its original store at 16 Rue Royal as a bakery. The Champs-Élysées store was opened in 1997 and has since attracted an endless queue of tourists and locals who wish to savour its legendary Macarons and pastries. The Ladurée phenomenon and popularity could only be rivaled by fellow Frenchmen Pierre Hermé, who has also attracted a cult of loyal fans worldwide. It may not have a flagship store at Champs-Élysées, but one could easily stop by Drugstore Publicis for a quick purchase to ease the craving.
For those looking for upscale boutiques, Avenue Montaigne located just nearby on a perpendicular, and features the flagship presence of the world's finest luxury fashion labels: Armani, Bottega Veneta, Valention, Prada, Dior, Versace, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Fendi and Salvatore Ferragamo to name a few. For the ultimate in shopping extravaganza, head down to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré where all money will (hopefully) be well spent.
Champs-Élysées is the most famous and expensive boulevard in the world, yet it has everything for everyone; and myriad of crowds flocking its grand boulevards for a pleasant stroll. It has no shortage of luxury stores, but it also offers mainstream stores for the general public, from Levi's to Zara and Lacoste; to McDonalds and Starbucks; and FNAC store (French answer to HMV).
In terms of fine dining experience, the areas around Champs-Élysées has plenty to offer. I have mentioned about the 2 Michelin L'atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile at the Drugstore Publicis, which was excellent. Robuchon never disappoints as it consistently serves amazing French cuisine amidst its signature red and black interior everywhere I visited, including Tokyo (3 Michelin), Hong Kong (3 Michelin), Paris (2 Michelin) and Taipei.
During my stay, I also managed to sample the finest cuisine from the kitchens of two, 3-Michelin Paris institutions: Pierre Gagnaire at Rue Balzac, just off Champs-Élysées; and Epicure at Le Bristol by Chef Eric Frechon on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which was undoubtedly the best and most memorable dining experiences I have ever had in Paris to date. It is certainly the gastronomic highlight of this trip.
Other 3 Michelin establishment, such as Ledoyen is also located nearby at an 18th century pavilion by the Gardens of Champs-Élysées by newly appointed famous French Chef Yannick Alléno, who previously also resided at the Le Meurice with 3 Michelin, until Alain Ducasse took over last year during the Plaza Athénée closure for expansion.
August is a time of misery for international visitors to Paris as most fine dining restaurants are closed for the summer holiday. When choices are limited, foodies could rely on Epicure and Robuchon, which are opened all year round; and also the 2 Michelin star Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V. Although its food could not compete with Robuchon, Epicure and Gagnaire, guests could still enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
ROOMS:
On my visit to Paris last year, I was not too impressed with my stay at the Four Seasons George V, as everything seemed to be pretty basic: the room design; the in-room tech and amenities; and even the much lauded service. It simply does not justify the hefty price tag. The only thing stood out there were the ostentatious designer floral display at the lobby, which reportedly absorbed a six digit figure budget annually. When I saw them at the first time, this was what came to mind: guests are paying for these excessive flowers, whether you like it or not.
Fortunately, the Peninsula Paris skips all this expensive gimmick, and instead spends a fortune for guests to enjoy: advance room technology; a host of complimentary essential amenities, including internet access, non-alcoholic minibar, and even long distance phone calls. In fact, every single items inside the room has been well thought and designed for guest's ultimate comfort.
Ever since The Peninsula Bangkok opened in 1998 to much success, the group has used it as a template for its signature rooms for future sister hotels, which consists of an open plan, ultra-wide spacious room equivalent to a 2 bays suite, with 5-fixtures bathroom, and a separate Dressing Room, which soon becomes a Peninsula signature.
The Peninsula Tokyo followed this template when it opened in 2007 to rave reviews; and it was soon adopted as a model for Peninsula Shanghai, which later opened in 2009 as the flagship property in Mainland China. This layout is also being applied at The Peninsula Paris, albeit for its Suites categories, i.e. Junior Suite, which measure at an astonishing 50 - 60m2. The entry level Superior and Deluxe Rooms lack the signature layout with smaller size at 35 - 45m2, but they are already spacious for a Parisian standard; and each is equipped with Peninsula's signature technology.
Technology is indeed at the core of the Peninsula DNA, and no expense is spared in creating the world's most advance in-room technology. When other hotels try to cut costs and budgets on in-room technology with lame excuses, the Peninsula actually spends a fortune to innovate and set a new benchmark. In fact, it is probably the only hotel group to have its own Technology laboratory at a secret location deep inside Aberdeen, Hong Kong, where in-room tech is being developed and tested. It was here where innovative devices, such as the outside temperature indicator; my favourite Spa Button by the bathtub; or even the portable nail dryer for the ladies are invented. The Peninsula took the world by storm when it introduced the Samsung Galaxy tablet device at the Peninsula Hong Kong in 2012, which is programmed in 11 languages and virtually controls the entire room, including the lights, temperature, curtains, TV, radio, valet calls and Do Not Disturb sign. It even features touch screen Room Service Menu, hotel information, city guide, and a function to request room service and housekeeping items, thus creating an entirely paperless environment.
All these technological marvel are also being replicated at the Peninsula Paris, together with other 'standard' features, such as Nespresso Coffee Machine; flat-screen 3D LED television; LED touch screen wall panels; an iPod/iPad docking station; memory card reader; 4-in1 fax/scanner/printer/photocopier machine; DVD player; complimentary in-house HD movies; complimentary internet access and long distance calls through the VOIP platform. Even the room's exterior Parisian-styled canopy is electronically operated. All these technological offerings is so extremely complex, that it resulted in 2.5 km worth of cabling in each room alone.
Bathroom at the Junior Suite also features Peninsula's signature layout: a stand alone bathtub as the focal point, flanked by twin vanities and separate shower and WC compartments amidst acres of white marble. Probably the first in Paris, it features a Japanese Toilet complete with basic control panel, and a manual handheld bidet sprayer.
When all these add up to the stay, it actually brings a very good value to the otherwise high room rates. Better yet, the non-alcoholic Minibar is also complimentary, which is a first for a Peninsula hotel. The Four Seasons George V may choose to keep looking back to its antiquity past and annihilate most technological offerings to its most basic form, but the Pen always looks forward to the future and brings the utter convenience, all at your finger tip. The Peninsula rooms are undoubtedly the best designed, best equipped and most high-tech in the entire universe.
ROOM TO BOOK:
The 50 - 60m2 Junior Suite facing leafy Avenue Kléber is the best room type to book as it is an open-plan suite with Peninsula's signature bathroom and dressing room; and the ones located on the Premiere étage (first floor) have high ceilings and small balcony overlooking Kleber Terrace's iconic glass canopy. Personally, rooms facing the back street at Rue La Pérouse are the least preferred, but its top level rooms inside the Mansart Roof on level 5 have juliet windows that allow glimpse of the tip of Eiffel Tower despite being smaller in size due to its attic configuration. Superior Rooms also lack the signature Peninsula 5 fixtures bathroom configuration, so for the ultimate bathing experience, make sure to book at least from the Deluxe category.
If money is no object, book one of the five piece-de-resistance suites with their own private rooftop terrace and gardens on the top floor, which allow 360 degree panoramic views of Paris. Otherwise, the mid-tier Deluxe Suite is already a great choice with corner location, multiple windows and 85m2 of pure luxury.
DINING:
Looking back at the hotel's illustrious past, the Peninsula offers some of the most unique and memorable dining experiences in Paris, steep in history.
The area that once housed Igor Stravinksy's after party where James Joyce met Marcel Proust for the first time is now the hotel's Cantonese Restaurant, aptly called LiLi; and is led by Chef Chi Keung Tang, formerly of Peninsula Tokyo's One Michelin starred Hei Fung Terrace. Lili was actually modeled after Peninsula Shanghai's Yi Long Court, but the design here blends Chinese elements with Art Nouveau style that flourished in the late 1920s. It also boasts a world first: a spectacular 3x3.3m fiber optic installation at the entrance of the restaurant, depicting the imaginary portrait of LiLi herself. The Cantonese menu was surprisingly rather simple and basic, and features a selection of popular dim sum dishes. The best and most memorable Chinese restaurants I have ever experienced are actually those who masterfully fuse Chinese tradition with French ingredients: Jin Sha at the Four Seasons Hangzhou at Westlake; 2 Michelin Tin Lung Heen at Level 102 of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong; Jiang at Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou by Chef Fei; and Ya Ge at Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Ironically, the world's only 3 Michelin star Chinese restaurant, Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hong Kong failed to impress me.
The former Ballroom area where Henry Kissinger started the Paris Peace talks with the Vietnamese has now been transformed as The Lobby, which is a signature of every Peninsula hotels where the afternoon tea ritual takes place daily. The spectacular room with intricate details and crystal chandeliers has been meticulously restored, and is an ideal place to meet, see and be seen. Breakfast is served daily here, and guests could choose to have it either inside or outside at the adjoining al fresco La Terrasse Kléber, which connects all the F&B outlets on the ground floor, including Lili. Guests could choose from a Chinese set breakfast, which includes dim sum, fried vermicelli, and porridge with beef slices; or the Parisian set, which includes gourmet items such as Egg Benedict with generous slices of Jamon Iberico on top. The afternoon tea ritual is expected to be very popular as renowned Chef Pattissier Julien Alvarez, -who claimed the World Pastry Champion in 2009; and also the Spanish World Chocolate Master in 2007 at the tender age of 23, is at the helm; and the venue quickly booked out from the opening day.
Next to the Lobby is a small, intimate bar covered in exquisite oak panelling where Henry Kissinger signed the Paris Peace Accord back in 1973 that ended the Vietnam War. Kissinger politely declined the offer to have the Bar named after him, and instead it is simply called Le Bar Kléber.
On the top floor of the hotel lies the signature restaurant L'Oiseau Blanc, which is named after the French biplane that disappeared in 1927 in an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight between Paris and New York. A 75% replica of the plane has even been installed outside the main entrance of the restaurant with the Eiffel Tower on its background. The restaurant is divided into 3 distinct areas: a spectacular glass enclosed main dining room; a large outdoor terrace that runs the entire length of the hotel's roof; and an adjoining lively bar, all with breathtaking uninterrupted views of Paris' most identifiable landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré-Cœur at the highest point of the city at Montmartre.
L'Oiseau Blanc is led by Chef Sidney Redel, a former protégé of Pierre Gagnaire, and serves contemporary French cuisine focussing on 'terroir' menu of locally sourced seasonal ingredients from the region. During my stay, tomato was the seasonal ingredients, and Chef Redel created four courses incorporating tomato, even on dessert. While the food was of high quality, personally the menu still needs fine tuning, considering the sort of clientele the Pen is aiming for: the ultra rich (Chinese), who usually seek top establishments with luxury ingredients, such as caviar, black truffle, foie gras, blue lobster, Jamon Iberico, Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork and Challans chicken.
LEISURE:
The Peninsula Paris features one of the best health and recreational facilities in the city, housed within the basement of the hotel, and covers an expansive area of 1,800m2. For a comparison, rival Mandarin Oriental Spa covers a total area of only 900m2 over two floors. The Peninsula Spa is undoubtedly one of the nicest urban spa that I have been to, it easily beats the Spa at the Four Seasons George V. The pool is also one of the city's largest at 22m long, -compared to both the Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental at 15m; the George V at only 9m, which is more like a bigger jacuzzi. The only two other pools better than the Peninsula is the one designed by Phillippe Starck at the Le Royal Monceau at 28m; and the spectacular grand pool at the Ritz.
There is the usual 24 hours gym within two fitness spaces equipped with Technogym machines and free weights; and the locker rooms features steam, sauna, and experience shower room. There is a total of 8 treatment rooms within the Spa area, and the highlight is certainly the Relaxation Room, which is equipped with amazing day beds with specially placed deep cushions. The best part? the beds are electronically operated, much like a first class seat on a plane.
X-FACTOR:
The Peninsula signature technology; The Spa Button in the bathroom; VOIP technology for complimentary long distance calls; The top suites (Historic, Katara and Peninsula Suites); Xavier Corbero's Moon River sculpture at the Lobby; Lili; The Lobby and Bar where Henry Kissinger signed Paris Peace Accord; L'Oiseau Blanc Restaurant; The 1,800m2 Peninsula Spa; and the 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II.
SERVICE:
There are a total of 600 staffs for just 200 rooms, so the service level is expected to be high; but it is perhaps unfair to judge the service during the opening weeks when all staffs were not at their best due to the intense preparation leading to the opening event. Furthermore, teething problems are expected for a newly opened hotel as great hotels are not born overnight, but takes a good few years of refinement.
Nonetheless, I was actually quite impressed with the level of service during the whole stay, as the majority of the staffs showed great attitude and much enthusiasm, which is a testament of great intense training. As one of the first guests arriving on the opening day, check-in was truly delightful and memorable as a battalion of staffs of different ranks welcomed and wished the most pleasant stay. The mood could not have been more festive as moments later, the hotel was finally inaugurated.
I was also particularly impressed with the service at both LiLi and The Lobby where staffs performed at an exceptional level like a veteran. There are two distinct qualities that made a lot of difference during the stay: humility and friendliness, which is quite a challenge to find, not only in Paris and the entire Europe, but even in Asian cities, such as Hong Kong. It is like finding needles in a haystack. A genuine smile seems to be a rare commodity these days, so I was happy to see plenty of smiles at the Peninsula Paris during the stay, from the signature Peninsula Pageboys to waiters, Maître d, receptionists and even to Managers and Directors. In fact, there were more smiles in Paris than Hong Kong.
When I woken up too early for breakfast one day, the restaurant was just about to open; and there were hardly anyone. I realized that even the birds were probably still asleep, but I was extremely delighted to see how fresh looking and energetic the staffs were at the dining room. There was a lot of genuine smile that warmed the rather chilly morning; and it was a great start to the day. One of the staffs I met during the stay even candidly explained how they were happy just to be at work, and it does not feel like working at all, which was clearly shown in their passion and enthusiasm.
That said, the Shangri-La Paris by far is still my top pick for best service as it is more personalized and refined due to its more intimate scale. The Shangri-La Paris experience is also unique as guests are welcomed to a sit down registration by the historic lounge off the Lobby upon arrival, and choice of drinks are offered, before being escorted to the room for in-room check-in. Guests also receive a Pre-Arrival Form in advance, so the hotel could anticipate and best accommodate their needs. During the stay, I was also addressed by my last name everywhere within the hotel, so it was highly personalized. I did receive similar treatment at The Peninsula Paris, -albeit in a lesser extent due to its size; and even the housekeeping greeted me by my last name. Every requests, from room service to mineral water were all handled efficiently at a timely manner. At times, service could be rather slow at the restaurants (well, it happens almost everywhere in Paris), but this is part of the Parisian lifestyle where nothing is hurried; and bringing bills/checks upfront is considered rude. I did request the food servings to be expedited during a lunch at LiLi on the last day due to the time constraint; and the staffs managed to succeed the task not only ahead of the time limit, but also it never felt hurried all along. Everything ran as smooth as silk.
VERDICT:
It was a personal satisfaction to witness the history in the making during the opening day on 1 August 2014, as the Peninsula Paris is my most eagerly awaited hotel opening of the decade. It was also historic, as it was a first in my travel to dedicate a trip solely for a particular hotel in a particular city (in this case Paris, some 11,578km away from home), without staying at other fine hotels. It was money well spent, and a trip worth taking as it was an amazing stay; and certainly a lifetime experience.
The Peninsula Paris could not have arrived at a better time, as two of the most established Parisian grande dames (Ritz and de Crillon) are still closed for a complete renovation, and will only be revealed in 2015; so there is plenty of time to adapt, grow and hone its skills. But with such pedigree, quality and illustrious history, the Pen really has nothing to be worried about. The Four Seasons George V seems to have a cult of highly obsessed fans (esp. travel agents) worldwide, but personally (and objectively), it is no match to the Peninsula. Based on physical product alone, the Pen wins in every aspect as everything has been meticulously designed with the focus on guest comfort and convenience. In terms of technology, the Pen literally has no rival anywhere on the planet, except from the obvious sibling rivalry.
The only thing that the Pen still needs to work on is its signature restaurants as all its rival hotels have at least 2 Michelin star restaurants (L'abeille at the Shangri-La; Sur Mesure at the Mandarin Oriental; and 3 Michelin at Epicure, Le Bristol; Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V and Alain Ducasse at Le Meurice). L'Oiseau Blanc design is truly breathtaking and would certainly be the most popular gastronomic destination in Paris, but at the moment, the food still needs some works.
There were the expected teething problems and some inconsistencies with the service; but with years of refinement, The Peninsula Paris will no doubt ascend the throne. Personally, the Shangri-La Paris is currently the real competitor, together with the upcoming Ritz and de Crillon when they open next year, especially when Rosewood has taken over Crillon management and Karl Lagerfeld is working on its top suites. The two, however, may still need to revisit the drawing boards and put more effort on the guestrooms if they ever want to compete; because at the moment, The Peninsula Paris is simply unrivaled.
UPDATE 2016:
*I have always been very spot-on with my predictions. After only two years since its opening, The Peninsula Paris has been awarded the much coveted Palace status. In fact, it is the only hotel in Paris to receive such distinction in 2016. Congratulations, it is very much deserving*
PERSONAL RATING:
1. Room: 100
2. Bathroom: 100
3. Bed: 100
4. Service: 90
5. In-room Tech: 100
6. In-room Amenities: 100
7. Architecture & Design: 100
8. Food: 80
9. View: 80
10. Pool: 95
11. Wellness: 95
12. Location: 95
13. Value: 100
Overall: 95.00
Compare with other Parisian hotels (all with Palace status) that I have stayed previously:
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, PARIS: 95.00
PARK HYATT PARIS-VENDOME: 90.00
My #1 ALL TIME FAVORITE HOTEL
LANDMARK MANDARIN ORIENTAL, HONG KONG: 95.38
THE PENINSULA, PARIS
19, Avenue Kléber, Paris
Awarded Palace Status in 2016
General Manager: Nicolas Béliard
Hotel Manager: Vincent Pimont
Executive Chef: Jean-Edern Hurstel
Head Chef (Lili): Chi Keung Tang
Head Chef (L'oiseau Blanc): Sidney Redel
Head Chef (The Lobby): Laurent Poitevin
Chef Patissier: Julien Alvarez
Architect (original Majestic Hotel, circa 1908): Armand Sibien
Architect (renovation & restoration, 2010-2014): Richard Martinet
Interior Designer: Henry Leung of Chhada Siembieda & Associates
Landscape Designer: D. Paysage
Art Curator: Sabrina Fung
Art Restorer: Cinzia Pasquali
Artist (Courtyard installation): Ben Jakober & Yannick Vu
Crystal work: Baccarat
Designer (Lili fiber optic installation): Clementine Chambon & Francoise Mamert
Designer (Chinaware): Catherine Bergen
Gilder Specialist & Restorer: Ateliers Gohard
Glass Crafter (Lobby Installation): Lasvit Glass Studio
Master Glass Crafters: Duchemin
Master Sculptor (Lobby): Xavier Corbero
Metalwork: Remy Garnier
Plaster & Moulding Expert: Stuc et Staff
Silverware: Christofle
Silk & Trimmings: Declercq Passementiers
Wood Restoration Expert: Atelier Fancelli
Hotel Opening Date: 01 August 2014
Notable owners: Katara Hospitality; Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Group (HSH)
Total Rooms & Suites: 200 (including 35m2 Superior, 45m2 Deluxe, 50m2 Grand Deluxe, 55m2 Premier and 60m2 Grand Premier Rooms)
Total Suites: 34 Suites (including 70m2 Superior, 85m2 Deluxe and 100m2 Premier
Top Suites: Historic Suite, Katara Suite, and The Peninsula Suite
Bathroom Amenities: Oscar de la Renta
Restaurants: The Lobby (All day dining & Afternoon tea), LiLi (Cantonese), L'Oiseau Blanc (French), La Terrasse Kléber
Bars and Lounges: Le Bar Kléber; Kléber Lounge; Cigar Lounge; and L'Oiseau Blanc Bar
Meeting & Banquets: Salon de l'Étoile for up to 100 guests, and 3 smaller Function Rooms
Health & Leisure: 24 hours gym & 1,800m2 Peninsula Spa with 22m indoor swimming pool and jacuzzis; Steam & Sauna, Relaxation Room, and 8 treatment rooms
Transport: chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce Extended Wheel Base Phantom; a 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II; 2 MINI Cooper S Clubman; and a fleet of 10 BMW 7 Series
Complimentary facilities: Non-alcoholic Minibar; Wired and Wireless Internet; VOIP long distance calls; HD Movies; Daily fruit Basket; International Newspaper; Chauffeured MINI Cooper S Clubman for Suites guests; and Chauffeured Rolls Royce for top Suites
paris.peninsula.com
PUENTES CASCARA
Son dos puentes gemelos construidos con una lámina de 15 cms. de hormigón autonivelante que forma una superficie con doble curvatura, de la que cuelga el tablero. Se conciben como dos pabellones a los que acceder para cruzar el río,El equipo Madrid Río-West 8 ha elaborado un diseño en el que se combina lo funcional con lo artístico. El resultado son dos puentes gemelos, con tableros que alcanzan una anchura máxima de 8,5 metros en los estribos y de 4,5 en el centro del vano, que cuelgan de las bóvedas a las que están unidos a través de 136 cables de acero. La decoración de tales bóvedas, es uno de sus principales atractivos. Daniel Canogar, de Madrid un artista joven y vanguardista, a base de mosaicos, ha utilizado más de 6,6 millones de teselas de vidrio reciclado para plasmar en las bóvedas, a 50 ciudadanos anónimos de los distritos de Arganzuela y Usera. Entre ellos hay un profesor que lleva más de 80 años viviendo en Legazpi, parejas de enamorados, padres con sus hijos o, incluso, una mujer con su perro.
estos puentes se inaguraron en los años 2010-2011
MADRID RIO
Madrid Río es un parque de la ciudad española de Madrid, consistente en una zona peatonal y de recreo construida entre los años 2006 a 2012 en los dos márgenes del río Manzanares, en buena parte sobre el trazado soterrado de la vía de circunvalación M-30,1 desde el nudo Sur hasta el enlace con la A-5. En 2016, el proyecto se hizo con el galardón Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design de la Universidad de Harvard por su diseño e impacto social y cultural en la transformación del río
Entre 2003 y 2007 se llevó a cabo la obra de soterramiento del arco oeste de la M-30 en el ámbito del río, obra que hizo posible la eliminación del tráfico en superficie y la consiguiente liberación de más de cincuenta hectáreas de terreno ocupado anteriormente por las calzadas. A esta superficie se sumaron otras casi cien hectáreas correspondientes a los diferentes suelos infrautilizados adyacentes a la autopista.
Tras la construcción de los túneles afloró una herida vacía formada por un rosario de espacios desocupados, que atesoraban la potencia latente de convertirse en nexo de unión de un corredor ambiental de casi tres mil hectáreas dentro del término municipal, que se extiende desde El Pardo hasta Getafe y que enlaza importantísimas áreas verdes de la ciudad como la Casa de Campo, el Parque de la Arganzuela o el Parque del Manzanares Sur.
Por tanto, los beneficios obtenidos al enterrar la antigua autopista, obviamente, no han quedado reducidos a la mejora de ciertos aspectos de la movilidad urbana, ni siquiera a la rehabilitación local de los barrios, sino que pueden adquirir en un futuro próximo, una dimensión de gran escala que necesariamente deberá repercutir en las relaciones entre la ciudad y el territorio, entendidas en su mayor alcance. La enorme trascendencia para la ciudad de los espacios liberados como consecuencia del soterramiento de la M-30, llevó al Ayuntamiento de Madrid a convocar un Concurso Internacional de Ideas para concebir y proyectar los nuevos espacios libres en el entorno del río. El concurso lo ganó el equipo de arquitectos dirigido por Ginés Garrido y formado por Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, Porras & La Casta y Rubio & Álvarez-Sala y West8, con la solución para la construcción de un parque urbano de más de ciento veinte hectáreas, que ocupa la superficie liberada por el soterramiento de la autopista. Los inicios del proyecto pasaron por el intento de comprender en su totalidad las cualidades geográficas de la cuenca fluvial. Las características del territorio y la diversidad de sus elementos naturales constituyen un conjunto de claves que han sustentado muchas de las ideas contenidas en el proyecto.
Sumariamente, la estrategia del éste se basa en la convicción de que, a través del río es posible conectar la ciudad, expresión máxima de la acción artificial, con los territorios del norte y el sur de Madrid, en los que aún perviven los elementos naturales propios de la cuenca fluvial. El río se convierte en puerta o enlace entre interior urbano y exterior territorial y, a través de sus márgenes, se establece la continuidad y la permeabilidad, hasta hoy aniquiladas por los sucesivos anillos concéntricos, hollados por los cinturones viarios, M-30, M-40, M-45, M-50 …, que fueron el resultado de aplicar a la red circulatoria los modelos de movilidad propios de mediados del siglo XX.
El proyecto se ha concebido en sucesivas aproximaciones o escalas a partir de las que se ha aplicado la reflexión sobre el campo de juego, obteniendo respuestas o soluciones diversas, desde el ámbito territorial o estratégico al local o específico.
En la escala territorial se han establecido los parámetros de partida para que, en el medio plazo, sea posible la regeneración de las márgenes del río en toda su longitud, como verdaderas áreas de integración entre el paisaje y la actividad humana, bajo un entendimiento contemporáneo capaz de superar el antagonismo implícito en el binomio urbano-rural.
En la escala metropolitana, a través del proyecto y de su concepción como gran infraestructura, se lleva a cabo la incorporación del corredor que se extiende sobre los bordes fluviales a su paso por la ciudad como parte del GR 124 (Gran Recorrido de la Red de Senderos Europeos) que ya, en 2011 se podrá transitar en toda su extensión, desde Manzanares el Real hasta Aranjuez.
En la escala urbana, el proyecto incorpora el río como doble línea de fachada inédita y configura un conjunto enlazado de espacios verdes que se infiltra en la ciudad; establece en la superficie un nuevo sistema de movilidad y accesibilidad; incrementa la integración y calidad urbana de los barrios limítrofes al río; protege y revaloriza el patrimonio histórico y detecta áreas de oportunidad que, sobre este ámbito de nueva centralidad, serán capaces de generar un cambio potencial del conjunto de la ciudad en el largo plazo.
En la escala local, la propuesta se ejecuta como una operación radicalmente artificial, materializada sin embargo con instrumentos eminentemente naturales. No se debe olvidar que se actúa mayoritariamente sobre una infraestructura bajo tierra. El proyecto se implanta sobre un túnel o, más bien, sobre la cubierta de un conjunto complejísimo de instalaciones al servicio del viario enterrado. Un edificio de hormigón de más de seis kilómetros de longitud, con enormes y determinantes servidumbres y con una topografía cuya lógica obedece exclusivamente a la construcción de la infraestructura, que emerge inopinadamente sobre el suelo y con la que ha sido necesario negociar. Sobre esta edificación subterránea, la solución adoptada se ha basado en el uso de la vegetación como principal material de construcción. El proyecto establece como estrategia general la idea de implantar una densa capa vegetal, de carácter casi forestal, allá donde sea posible, es decir, fabricar un paisaje con materia viva, sobre un sustrato subterráneo inerte, modificado y excavado para el automóvil, sobre una construcción que expresa por sí misma el artificio máximo.
Las familias, formas y asociaciones de especies vegetales seleccionadas provienen de la extrapolación del estudio de la cuenca del río y su adaptación, en cada caso, al medio urbano específico. La ordenación de los distintos entornos y su caracterización como lugares de uso público se ha producido teniendo en cuenta, por un lado, las funciones requeridas y las necesidades detectadas en cada distrito y por otro, la capacidad de conformar espacios habitables, inherente a los conjuntos organizados de vegetación de distinto porte.
La solución se concreta en tres unidades de paisaje principales. Primero, el Salón de Pinos, o corredor verde que discurre por la margen derecha del río. Es la estructura que permite la continuidad de los recorridos y reacciona en su encuentro con los puentes existentes dando lugar a distintos tipos de jardines de ribera (Jardines bajos de Puente de Segovia, Jardines del Puente de San Isidro, Jardines del Puente de Toledo y Jardines del Puente de Praga). Segundo, el enlace definitivo del centro histórico (representado por la imagen imponente del Palacio Real y la cornisa elevada de la ciudad), con la Casa de Campo, parque de más de mil setecientas hectáreas. En este entorno se incluyen la Avenida de Portugal, la Huerta de la Partida, la Explanada del Rey y los Jardines de la Virgen del Puerto. Tercero, la ancha franja sobre la ribera izquierda donde se sitúa el conjunto del Parque de la Arganzuela que incluye el centro de creación de arte contemporáneo de Matadero, y que representa la mayor superficie de espacio verde unitario de la propuesta.
Además de estas tres grandes operaciones paisajísticas coherentes entre sí, el proyecto propone ciento cincuenta intervenciones de diferente carácter, entre las que destaca el sistema puentes que dotan de un inédito grado de permeabilidad al cauce. Se han desarrollado soluciones sobre más de veinte puentes o pasarelas sobre el río, rehabilitando las siete presas, reciclando algunos puentes existentes y creando nuevos pasos, unas veces con un lenguaje silencioso y otras, intencionadamente expresivo. Como en una acción microquirúrgica el proyecto incorpora, eslabón por eslabón, una cadena de fórmulas de integración del río en la ciudad y de la ciudad en el río. Son elementos que garantizarán el contagio de los nuevos valores de las orillas regeneradas sobre los ámbitos y barrios cercanos. Con este efecto de resonancia, se prevé una sucesión de operaciones que aseguren una renovación de gran alcance. Desde ahora y de manera irreversible, se está fraguando una radical metamorfosis, sin precedentes para la ciudad de Madrid.
La superestructura lineal del Salón de Pinos es el elemento que organiza la continuidad de recorridos a lo largo de la ribera derecha del río. Está construida sobre los túneles en su práctica totalidad y tiene un ancho medio de treinta metros. Sobre la losa de hormigón que cubre el paso de los automóviles se han plantado más de 9.000 unidades de diferentes especies de pinos, de diversos tamaños, formas y agrupaciones con un marco de plantación forestal. Los ejemplares han sido seleccionados fundamentalmente en campos en los que hubiese posibilidad de extraer plantas con morfologías naturales (troncos no lineales, troncos dobles, troncos inclinados, etc.) De este modo se obtiene una prolongación controlada de los pinares de la sierra situada al norte de Madrid que parecen extenderse hasta el confín de la ciudad. Estos árboles han sido anclados a la losa de los túneles mediante cables de acero y bridas biodegradables, para potenciar su estabilidad y el crecimiento de sus raíces en horizontal sobre el paquete de tierras disponible. No obstante, este paseo se encuentra frecuentemente con estructuras de gran valor urbano o patrimonial.
Dos ejemplos simbólicos de esta intersección son los puentes históricos de Segovia (1582) y de Toledo (1732). En estos enclaves el salón reacciona como espacio de estancia, ampliando sus límites y ofreciendo un diseño específico, con árboles de ribera de hoja caduca y alineaciones de setos y bancos de piedra. Las actividades integradas en el salón se incorporan con un lenguaje coherente con su carácter forestal. Un claro ejemplo de este procedimiento lo forma el conjunto de áreas de juegos infantiles, diseñado específicamente como un sistema completo de formas naturales.
Jardines del Puente de Segovia
El puente de Segovia está declarado Bien de Interés Cultural. Fue construido a finales del siglo XVI por el arquitecto Juan de Herrera, por encargo de Felipe II. El proyecto de ajardinamiento de su entorno conforma una excepción en el ámbito del Salón de Pinos, constituyendo un ensanchamiento de éste y ofreciendo un modo diferente de aproximación al río. Los jardines se ordenan mediante una serie de líneas de traza orgánica que modelan sucesivas terrazas que descienden hacia el río. Estas líneas están construidas con unas piezas de granito de gran formato que sirven también de bancos. Entre ellos se extiende una superficie de hierba de bajo consumo hídrico arbolada con diferentes especies de árboles frondosos de ribera de la familia de los populus. En las inmediaciones de la fábrica almohadillada del puente se han construido dos estanques de agua limpia sobre los cuales, por un lado alza una fuente monumental de 16 chorros con forma de ciprés y por otro se extiende un pequeño jardín de lirios acuáticos. Los estanques son accesibles mediante unas gradas de piedra que se acercan a ellos hasta sumergirse.
Jardines del Puente de Toledo
Los jardines del Puente de Toledo constituyen una de las áreas más significativas del Proyecto Madrid Río, ya que se están situados en un enclave de excepcional importancia en el que el Salón de Pinos se encuentra con uno de los puentes monumentales de Madrid, el puente de Toledo, construido entre 1718 y 1732. El proyecto aprovecha dicho monumento en un doble sentido: Por un lado se compone un espacio concebido para ser visto desde lo alto del puente que se convierte así en un mirador privilegiado. De este modo los jardines ofrecen una nueva e inédita panorámica de Madrid ya que sus trazados dibujan un enorme tatuaje que se extiende como una alfombra sobre la superficie, reproduciendo un motivo figurativo vegetal. Por otro lado, los jardines incorporan el Puente de Toledo, que es una estructura barroca diseñada por el arquitecto Pedro de Ribera, como un objeto al que admirar, al que tocar y bajo el que pasar. La disposición de los setos está organizada de modo que conforma una serie de líneas que toman como referencia los jardines barrocos de la época borbónica, aunque están trazadas con un lenguaje contemporáneo. Asimismo en este punto se ha construido un graderío que permite la máxima aproximación a la lámina de agua del río, y la mejor contemplación de los arcos del antiguo puente.
Segunda unidad de paisaje: La Escena Monumental
La vinculación del centro histórico y el barrio de La Latina con la Casa de Campo ha estado vedada a los peatones de forma secular. El nuevo contacto, que ya es posible por la desaparición de los automóviles bajo tierra, ha sido resuelto con diversas intervenciones que asumen el carácter monumental y panorámico de esta zona, en la que el zócalo elevado del Palacio Real (germen primigenio del nacimiento de la ciudad) contacta con el río. Se han propuesto diferentes soluciones afrontando con extremada atención el contexto en el que se sitúan: La “Explanada del Rey”, explanada abierta pavimentada con un gran patrón figurativo y que sirve de gran atrio ante la Casa de Campo. La huerta de la partida, que es un recinto cerrado en el que se han plantado diferentes retículas de árboles frutales (perales, manzanos, moreras, granados, higueras, nogales, avellanos, etc) acoge un extraordinario mirador de la cornisa. La avenida de Portugal, convertida en un bulevar pavimentado por calceteiros portugueses y poblado por cuatro especies de cerezos (Prunus avium, P. avium ‘Plena’, P.yedoensis y P.padus ‘Watereii’ ) permite la contemplación de una espectacular floración que se alarga más de un mes en primavera. Por último, los jardines de La Virgen del Puerto, en la otra margen del río, estructurados mediante la disposición de parterres orientados según los ejes de los principales acontecimientos urbanos del área: el puente de Segovia, el puente del Rey, la avenida de Portugal y la puerta del Rey que ha sido restaurada y resituada según los datos disponibles en la cartografía histórica de Madrid.
Plataforma del Rey
En el acceso monumental que enlaza el centro histórico de Madrid con la Casa de Campo, antiguo cazadero real, destaca la Explanada o Plataforma del Rey, que es un espacio abierto de una superficie aproximada de 14.000 m2 y un frente paralelo al río de poco menos de 250 m. El destino de este espacio es el de formar un escenario capaz de acoger diferentes manifestaciones cívicas (conciertos, celebraciones oficiales, actividades culturales, etc.) en un entorno de extraordinaria calidad ambiental, que permite contemplar la Cornisa Histórica de la Ciudad. Este lugar está conectado con el Salón de Pinos y forma parte de él, aunque por exigencias de su uso, sea un área casi desprovista de arbolado. En ella el principal elemento organizador es el pavimento que, de forma muy suave, se adapta a una topografía que integra todas las emergencias de los túneles hasta hacerlas imperceptibles. En este pavimento las pequeñas piezas de granito y basalto forman un patrón que desciende desde la Avenida de Portugal y se esparce sobre la superficie del suelo a una escala en aumento progresivo. Dicho patrón vincula la plataforma con el pavimento proyectado en la avenida. De este modo la Plataforma es un elemento que liga de manera natural importantes piezas del escenario monumental que se produce en este punto, como son el Puente del Rey, la Casa de Campo, la Avenida de Portugal y el Salón de Pinos.
Huerta de la Partida
Se trata de un espacio recuperado que en las pasadas décadas se dedicó a albergar uno de los principales nudos de la autopista. La propuesta de regeneración de este lugar incluye varias operaciones: En primer lugar la construcción de una tapia, a veces opaca, a veces permeable que constituye un cierre que confiere al recinto el carácter de huerto cerrado. En segundo lugar, el modelado artificial del terreno, regularizando su superficie y tallando un único plano inclinado de suave pendiente que se desliza hacia el río. En tercer lugar la plantación de diferentes agrupaciones de árboles frutales (granados, moreras, manzanos, perales, avellanos, almendros, higueras, olivos y nogales) que se incorporan en el entorno describiendo cuadrantes reticulados con sutiles variaciones de orientación. Por último, se ha proyectado una ría húmeda que describe la trayectoria del Arroyo Meaques, actualmente entubado y oculto. Este proyecto ha sido fruto del estudio minucioso de la historia del lugar, ya que en el pasado, cuando Felipe II adquirió esta finca después de establecer la capitalidad de Madrid, en esta posición se plantaron algunas huertas que producían el alimento necesario para los trabajadores de la Casa de Campo.
Tercera unidad de paisaje: La Ribera del Agua. Arganzuela y Matadero
En la margen izquierda del cauce la ciudad se separa del río. El ejemplo más importante de la propuesta en esta orilla es el nuevo Parque de la Arganzuela, construido sobre antiguas dehesas de pasto de uso comunal. En este entorno se construyó el Matadero Municipal, notable ejemplo de arquitectura posindustrial de la segunda década del siglo XX. Con el soterramiento de la autopista, Madrid dispone ahora en este punto de 33 hectáreas de espacios libres que forman el mayor parque del proyecto. Éste se ha concebido como un gran espacio en el que el río se ha retirado dejando su huella ancestral. Está organizado con diferentes líneas que se entrecruzan, como surcos por los que pasó el agua, dejando entre sí espacios para distintos usos. Estas líneas, de carácter marcadamente longitudinal, son los caminos de distinta especie que recorren el espacio de norte a sur.
Paseo junto al matadero
Un camino más plano y ancho (el Camino Rápido), otro más sinuoso y de pendiente variable (el Camino Lento) y una franja empedrada de márgenes frondosos (el Arroyo Seco), que vertebra el centro del parque. La construcción del espacio se plantea como una gran arboleda que contiene varios paisajes, algunos más naturales y otros más construidos, configurados por una variación de especies, alturas, densidades y texturas. De este modo el parque, concebido como un retazo de la cuenca del río, incorpora tres áreas botánicas: bosque mediterráneo, bosque atlántico y fronda de ribera. El carácter de estos paisajes interiores está relacionado con los trazados longitudinales del parque, con árboles que siguen los caminos y las sendas, con sotos y bosques que emergen sobre la topografía. La textura boscosa se intercala con las superficies plantadas de aromáticas entre los caminos y el Arroyo Seco. Siguiendo la orilla izquierda del río, se dispone una franja húmeda y verde, con una pradera de césped que se inclina hacia el agua. Una constelación de fuentes ornamentales y un conjunto de tres láminas elípticas de agua pura introducen este elemento como materia narrativa que relaciona las distintas asociaciones de vegetación. Cada fuente presenta un distinto juego sonoro y visual y se rodea de pequeñas laderas plantadas de frutales que remiten a la imagen de los jardines de las leyendas o del Paraíso. Las líneas entrelazadas que estructuran el parque permiten la formación de recintos en los que se han situado importantes instalaciones para el recreo al servicio de los usuarios de todas las edades. En él se incluye un campo de fútbol , dos pistas de patinaje y tres importantes conjuntos de juegos infantiles. El parque así mismo incorpora el conjunto dedicado a la creación de arte contemporáneo de Matadero, como una gran dotación cultural que vive dentro de él. A través de los caminos se accede a las naves del antiguo complejo, cuya rehabilitación está a punto de finalizar. El diseño de los trazados permite entender la relación entre Matadero y el parque como un continuo entre el río y la ciudad.
El sistema de puentes sobre el río
La implantación de puentes sobre el Manzanares se lleva a cabo como una estrategia global, es decir, como un conjunto en que cada elemento resuelve problemas puntuales detectados en el entorno próximo, pero también forma parte a su vez de un sistema integral de conectividad transversal de acuerdo con la relación entre la ciudad y el río. Las unidades de este conjunto son de diferente carácter: puentes y presas rehabilitados o reciclados, puentes rodados existentes acondicionados al nuevo sistema de tráfico ciclista y peatonal, puentes singulares que constituyen hitos en el recorrido del río, pasarelas funcionales situadas en los nodos de máximo tránsito transversal y puentes de grandes luces que enlazan los recorridos del parque con los territorios exteriores a la ciudad al norte y al sur, haciendo realidad la principal aspiración territorial del proyecto.
Entre los puentes existentes destaca la operación llevada a cabo con las siete presas que han sido convertidas en pasarelas peatonales a través de su restauración integral y la incorporación de un tablero de madera accesible. En segundo lugar dentro de esta serie, se debe destacar el reciclaje del puente rodado de la M-30 que cruzaba el río al sur del Puente de Segovia, reconvertido en un puente peatonal y ciclista que incorpora un talud plantado con pinos. Entre los puentes singulares cabe mencionar el puente con forma de Y construido con cajones de perfiles metálicos, que evoca el lenguaje de los puentes ferroviarios del s. XIX colgados sobre los desfiladeros forestales y los puentes gemelos de hormigón que se dan acceso al complejo Matadero, proyectados como elementos de paso capaces también de configurar un espacio al que se ingresa, como pabellones que gravitan sobre el río, pero que verdaderamente pertenecen al parque.
Pasarela de Almuñécar
Fabricada de una sola pieza con fibra de carbono, para salvar una luz de algo más de 40 metros. Se sitúa sobre el único tramo del cauce que carece de cajero de hormigón. Su diseño final responde a las capacidades del material con que está fabricada, extremadamente ligero y resistente.
Restauración de Presas
Las siete presas que regulan el río a su paso de la ciudad han sido restauradas y puestas al servicio del nuevo sistema de pasos transversales. Sus mecanismos y exclusas han sido reparados y se les ha incorporado un tablero accesible de madera y una escala de peces para favorecer la continuidad de la fauna subacuática a lo largo del río.
Puente Oblicuo
Esta estructura viaria coetánea de la M-30 se ha reciclado para incorporarla al Salón de Pinos como un paso privilegiado a través del cual los peatones, los ciclistas y los árboles pasan de una a otra orilla. La losa aligerada que componía el tablero de hormigón postesado se cortó y apeó reforzándose para soportar las cargas debidas a su nuevo uso.
Puente del Principado de Andorra
Es uno de los nuevos puentes singulares del proyecto. Está construido por jaulas de perfiles abiertos, de expresividad algo arcaica, que toma como referencia las estructuras ferroviarias sobre los desfiladeros boscosos que se construyeron en Europa y Estados Unidos a finales de siglo XIX. Antes conocido como Puente Y, en julio de 2011 se le cambió de nombre al actual de Principado de Andorra, para agradecer al gobierno de Andorra la construcción del Puente de Madrid en Andorra la Vieja. Se escogió este puente para nombrarlo como Principado de Andorra porque representa también la geografía de Andorra: el país pirenaico está formado por dos valles, el del Valira del Norte y el del Valira de Oriente, los cuales confluyen en Escaldes-Engordany y se convierten en uno solo, de nombre Gran Valira. Esta disposición de los valles y sus ríos es similar a una Y.
Puentes Cáscara
Son dos puentes gemelos construidos con una lámina de 15 cm de hormigón autonivelante que forma una superficie con doble curvatura, de la que cuelga el tablero. Se conciben como dos pabellones a los que acceder para cruzar el río. Su bóveda se ha ornamentado con un mosaico creado por el artista Daniel Canogar.
Pasarela de la Princesa
El canto necesario para el funcionamiento de la pasarela se incorpora en las barandillas que en realidad conforman una pareja de vigas de alma llena y rigidizadores verticales. El lenguaje de la pasarela es intencionadamente sobrio.
phases @ Milk Glass Co.
www.facebook.com/events/569222199799436/
Show runs: November 23 - December 8
Opening night: November 23, 6 pm - 11 pm
PHASES is a group show in consistent dimensions.
Phases, as a theme, is open to a wide range of interpretations and all participating artists were given no limitations regarding the mediums they used. However, what is unique to this show is its consistent dimensions. All artists have created pieces using a congruent size in order to bring structure and harmony to the show. Within the boundaries of a 12" x 12" size constraint, the limitless possibilities surrounding the theme and form creates a thought-provoking collection of work.
Phase (noun):
Any of the major appearances or aspects in which a thing of varying modes or conditions manifests itself to the eye or mind.
A stage in a process of change or development: Each phase of life brings its own joys.
A side, aspect, or point of view: this is only one phase of the question.
A state of synchronous operation: to put two mechanisms in phase.
Astronomy:
The particular appearance presented by the moon or a planet at a given time.
One of the recurring appearances or states of the moon or a planet in respect to the form, or the absence, of its illuminated disk: the phases of the moon.
Featured artists include:
Tiffany Alice;
Paul Chin;
Robin Clason;
Char Da Silva;
Yeliz Gedik;
David Gillespie;
Sena Gonulkirmaz;
Terra Hazelton;
Chris Joynt;
Evie Lepietuszko;
Michael Linington;
Marcelo Martins;
Taryn Mooradian;
Sasha Moroz;
Caroline Mosby;
Vini Nascimento;
Mike Ness;
Alexandria Pellegrino;
Kathleen Reichelt;
Wes Rickert;
Jen Rose;
Igor Sinitar;
Alëna Skarina;
Micheal Toke;
Freddie Towe;
Kathleen Troy;
Asia Vickovic;
Meichen Waxer;
Juliann Wilding.
Music provided by Raymond Gillespie
First Light, South Tufa. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.
First light of dawn illuminates tufa towers and distant mountain at Mono Lake, California.
This photograph was made at the usual spot - anyone who has photographed at Mono (and who hasn't!? :-) knows that the most consistent spot to shoot sunrise light is at the South Tufa area, down the road from highway 395 a bit south of Lee Vining. On a good morning you'll have at least some clouds, and the location of those clouds may dictate what your foreground subject is; do you want to shoot to the north and the low hills, to the east and towards the sunrise, or toward the Sierra Nevada crest? You arrive very early, usually well before dawn, and walk out to the edge of the water where the towers are. You find a composition and wait, with the only sounds being the cries of seagulls (a sound I immediately associate with Mono) and possibly the voices of other photographers. The sky begins to lighten and then, almost before you know it, the warm glow of the first dawn light begins to light up the towers. (Am I the only one who marvels that this happens in almost complete silence?)
This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.G Dan Mitchell
I've actually been pretty consistent taking photos this year for the project, but due to a number of things, including my camera roll disappearing under Flickr (it's been months!) I've been terrible about posting them.
I hope to eventually catch up but I realize that I need to start with the current photos and get back into that habit. So here is a photo from my son's team ride yesterday. We typically ride in this park every week, but the weather has been so wet and we've avoided it. Finally had a nice day and I snapped this photo of the kids riding away from me. 73/366